The Great American Solar Eclipse of August 21—Does It Fulfill Bible Prophecy?

On August 21, an eagerly anticipated total solar eclipse will take place across the United States. As the first solar eclipse to darken America’s mainland since 1979, and the first in 99 years to cross over the country from coast to coast, the event is causing great excitement among astronomers.

But it’s not just sky-watchers who are stirred up about this cosmic occurrence. This eclipse also has numerous religious commentators claiming that it’s a sign from God showing that the last days—prophesied in the Bible—are now upon on us.

Millions of religiously minded Internet users have viewed the videos and read the articles on these topics, and a great percentage of them appear to be totally convinced that these events are of prophetic significance.

There are numerous variations of these predictions and speculations. But one of the main Bible prophecies that some of these commentators point to is Joel 2:31, which says, “The sun shall be turned to darkness” before the “day of the Lord come.”

If you place this passage in the context and time order of the end-time events that the Bible discusses, the truth about this August 21 eclipse becomes clear.