Mark 13:24-25

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.”

As we have seen above this briefly summarises what Luke gives in more detail and includes or concludes the scattering of the Jews, the times of the Gentiles and the periods of tumult and fear that he describes, based on the words of Jesus.

We must remember that to Mark, who specifically draws attention to the fact that ‘these things' were said about the Temple and its destruction, the destruction of the Temple was still in the future, although how far in the future he did not know. And to him what would follow that earth shaking event could await the future. His next main concern would be with the second coming of Christ.

This is the first real example we have of apocalyptic language in the passage (as opposed to apocalyptic ideas) apart from the Desolating Abomination, and we do well to note that Jesus' words in this respect are firmly rooted in the Old Testament. His words have suffered much from the application to them of ideas which were probably far from His mind, as is evident in many commentaries. But He was not an enthusiastic Apocalyptic even though He did occasionally borrow its language, and that mainly from Daniel and the prophets.

To repeat what we have said above, the words about the sun and moon are taken from Isaiah 13 describing the cataclysm of a Medan invasion of Babylon, and the description of the stars falling from heaven may come from Isaiah 34:4 LXX describing God's judgment on Edom and its neighbours which took place in history, or from Daniel 8:10 referring to political activity. They thus speak of great political events and how they are seen in men's eyes, and the effect that they have on them. At such times it seems as though the heavens are falling in. The stars falling from heaven may, however, indicate supernatural activity behind the affairs of the world, as may the shaking of the powers of the heavens (compare Revelation 12:4; Revelation 12:9; Luke 10:18). Alternately they too may indicate similar events to the sun and moon. What they are certainly saying is that there will be events beyond the power of man to control which will be devastating for man.