What was that about the moon?

        I remember a poem from my high school days— I disliked it, but the imagery and alliteration were powerful: “The moon was a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas.” Remember those fairy stories about “the man in the moon” and “the green cheese”? Well, I want to look at how the moon is viewed in the Bible, not only as a light in the night sky but often as a sign or symbol or personification of something else.

        First of all, we’re told that God put it up there. King David says, “I consider…the moon and the stars, which You have set in place” (Psa.8:3), and Asaph says, “You established the sun and moon “ (Psa.74:16). Then, because of its regularity (cycling 12 times in a year), it was used to regulate human affairs. The very word “moonth” tells us this.

        The natural 29.5-day cycle of the moon as we see it is first a tiny sliver or sickle that grows and grows (“waxes) till it reaches a full circle (the “full” moon). Then it decreases daily (“wanes”) until it is gone for 36-48 hours. It the middle of this period of invisibility, it is renewed, and the cycle repeats. It is interesting that the full moon comes at 15 days into the cycle. The first month of the Hebrew year was Nisan, so Passover comes 14 days into the month or, essentially, at full moon (Lev.23:3, Num.9:3). If it was a clear night, Gethsemane was bathed in moonlight on Maundy Thursday.

        Other Old Testament celebrations were the New Moon feasts (Psa.81:3) established by Moses in Numbers 10:10 as “times of rejoicing”. They involved sacrifices and burnt offerings (Ezra 3:5, Num.28:14), and from the tabernacle and later from the temple, the calls of trumpets and ram’s horns would resound on that day. They served as a sort of calendar for scheduling other events. For instance, in 1 Samuel 20, David and Jonathan worked out a plan and a schedule around the day of the New Moon feast.

        Sometimes the moon was personified, as in Psalm 136:9 where “moon and stars govern the night.” In Joseph’s dream (Gen.37:9), the moon bowed to him, and in Joshua’s day, “the sun stood still and the moon stopped.” (Josh.10:12, 13). When Moses blessed the Israelites just before his death, he said about Joseph, “May the Lord bless his land with…the finest the moon can yield.” (Deut. 33:14). And years later, the Hebrew pilgrims to Jerusalem could trust that “the moon…will not harm you…by night.” (Psa.121:6). The psalmist is also quoted as saying, “Praise him, moon.” (Psa.148:3). But a day was coming when the Lord would punish celestial and terrestrial powers, and “the moon will be dismayed.” (Isa.24:23).

        Sadly, the people went way beyond literary personification and endowed the moon with real personal being—they worshiped it, bowing down and burning incense to it. That was forbidden foolishness (Deut.4:19). God told Isaiah (1:13) that their New Moons had become “worthless assemblies” and that He hated them “with all His being”. (Isa.1:14) In fact, He told Hosea (2:11) “I will stop all her celebrations…her New Moons.”

        Just how did they get so off-track? Moses warned them back in Deuteronomy, “Do not bow down and worship.” (4:19, 17:3) But they did just that in 2 Kings 23:5 where “the idolatrous priests…burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon.”   Job (31:26) talks about “…homage to the moon” and Jeremiah (8:2) tells us they loved and served and worshiped the moon (also confirmed by Stephen in Acts 7:42).

        The moon was central to some real, God-given prophecy too—David was promised that from his lineage, a king would endure as long as the moon exists (Psa.72:5), in fact, forever (Psa.89:37), because Isaiah (60:20) tells us that at some point “the moon will wane no more.” This King is Jesus!

        We recognize that some of the effects spoken of the moon are, instead, effects on the observers: “The moon is not bright in his eyes” refers to God’s own greatness and brilliance—God IS light! (Job 25:5). Habakkuk talks about the days when the Lord’s anger was so intense that “the sun and moon stood still in the heavens.” (Hab.3:11) Even in our own bodies, as we age, and eyesight fails, we experience that “the moon grows dark.” (Eccl.12:2)

        Finally, Joel (2:31, 3:15) and John (Rev.6:12) tell us of a time when the moon will be darkened and will turn to blood. Is this an indication that in the end times, there will be so much destruction and debris in the atmosphere that the moon will show red even when it gets high in the sky? (Like we see even now, when the moon is low on the horizon?)

         So, we’ve looked at most of the Scriptural involvement with the moon. In a sense, it oversees nighttime activity by lighting it, by timing or scheduling it, by backing up and confirming both good and bad prophecies, by encouraging times of rejoicing, by warning us of our own mortality, and ultimately by showing the greatness and beauty of the God Who put it in place.