Three Days Of Darkness Coming?

Q

I was wondering if you’ve heard about the “3 days of darkness” that some say is coming in 2012. I have heard from some (so-called) Christians that the Lord has revealed three days of darkness as in OT times in Exodus. Is there any truth to this?

A

The Three Days of Darkness prophecy originated in Catholic writings as one of God’s final signs of coming judgment. It has apparently been tied by others to the Mayan “end of the world” prophecies to arrive at this year’s date.

In Rev. 6:12 John said that during the 6th seal judgment the sun will turn black and the moon will be blood red. Since the moon generates no light of its own but reflects light from the Sun, experts see this as a result of pollution in the atmosphere as a result of the great earthquake John spoke of there.

Partial darkness is also mentioned in Rev. 8:12 when during 4th Trumpet judgment light from the sun and moon will be reduced by one third. Again, this could be due to a polluted atmosphere.

A period of complete darkness such as took place in Exodus 10:21-23 can be found in Rev. 16:10 and describes the 5th bowl judgment during the Great Tribulation. No duration is given for this period. And finally, Jesus said that immediately following the end of the Great Tribulation the Sun will be darkened and the Moon will not give its light (Matt. 24:29).

Of these events only the one in Rev. 16:10 comes close to matching the darkness from Exodus 10:21-23, and the end times judgments haven’t progressed to a point where that could happen in what’s left of 2012.