End Time Cosmic Blackouts/Signs

This article, like the previous one, is seeking to illustrate the possible danger of "over-cross-referencing", or turning passages into "parallel passages" on the basis of appearance only without contextual support.

Like the problem with the "general judgment theory" in the previous article, passages containing references to cosmic displays and blackouts are often assumed to be speaking of the same event. The cross-reference column in the margin of study Bibles is sufficient to show that the passages involved are assumed to be cross-references on the basis of similarity of words only without regard to context or usage. This problem seems to run across the various viewpoints on end-time chronology.

Here is a list of twelve such passages (not an exhaustive list) in a suggested sequence . . .

Isaiah 50:3
Joel 2:31; cp.Acts 2:16-21
Revelation 6:9-11
Isaiah 34:4
Revelation 8:12
Joel 2:10
Revelation 9:1-11
Revelation 16:10-11
Joel 3:12-17
Matthew 24:29
Isaiah 24:23
Isaiah 13:9-10.

I would suggest that there are at least ten different prophesied cosmic events spoken of in these passages, if not twelve! Just allow the passages in context to speak for themselves before attempting to correlate them. Trying to make them fit into a presupposed "system" will only produce great frustration. I would also suggest that some of the wording concerning end-time cosmic events is so broad that we may conclude that there will be a constant barrage of cosmic disturbances before and throughout the Day of the Lord.