Climate Change (10) - Governments and Councils

The fourth trumpet affects the sun, the moon and the stars.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night (Rev 8:12).

This is another change from the atmosphere. However John is not referring to a literal darkening of the sun, moon and stars. For the Old Testament prophets, the heavenly bodies represent kings and political rulers. The sun and moon being darkened symbolised the collapse of a king or emperor. One example is in Ezekiel 32:7,

When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.

Ezekiel is speaking about the defeat of Egypt by Babylon. His words give a graphic description of the collapse of Egypt before a greater power. They were not fulfilled literally, but in a prophetic sense they were fulfilled.

The fourth trumpet is a warning that global warming will cause enormous problems for political rulers. Some kings and governments will collapse under stresses that overwhelm them. All the stars will be turned to darkness at the same time. This suggests that all the local government will also be seriously affected by global climate change. City, county and regional councils will struggle to deal with the problems caused by changes in global weather patterns. National and local politicians who have been elected because they promised to solve all problems will prove to be powerless.

This full series can be found here.