Dinsmore  Alter (1973) writes:


Ancient Romans worshipped the Moon under the names Luna and Diana. Wikipedia lists more than 100 ancient Moon deities!

The Bible doesn't state what the Moon is made of, merely calls it a light (Genesis 1:16), but teaches it's not a god to be worshipped:


The entire ancient world, billions of people, practiced idolatry including Moon-worship. The Bible rightly opposed it:




Iranian-born mathematician Alexander Abian taught at Iowa State University. In 1991 he publicized a plan to "Blow Up The Moon" with "nuclear powered rockets" to change Earth's climate to "an eternal spring." (The News 1991, April 23, p.8

What Abian advocated is beyond human power to do and also dismissed by the Bible!

The Moon has craters 150-km wide blasted out by asteroids. To produce only one crater this big required an asteroid impact 10,000 times  more powerful than exploding all of the world's nuclear bombs. Yet the Moon has seven craters bigger than 150km on its near side, and one at its South Pole 2500km in diameter! None of this destroyed the Moon!

Obviously, humans cannot "blow up the Moon"! The Bible, in agreement with science, predicts that the Moon will exist long into the future reign of the Messiah:






"The Sun shall not strike you" could refer to sunburn, skin cancer, premature skin aging, dehydration, blindness, and financial loss from heatwaves.

The full Moon's alleged connections to madness, menstruation, murder and werewolves have been refuted. In ancient times, however, street lighting was rare, even in cities, and Moonlight would have been preferred to total darkness for committing crime. Moonlight also permitted night-time travel when accidents would be more likely due to dim light; and dangerous animals such as lions would be active.

Psalm 121 provided reassurance and probably made people more careful.




British astronomer Edward Maunder (1908) explains this event psychologically, similar to the feeling that "the time seemed to stop" or "slow down" or "pass quickly".

Joshua's army had marched for 31 hours. Exhausted from this effort and the Sun's heat they were revived by a sudden rain storm and Joshua's inspiring and audacious Sun/Moon-stand-still speech. They resumed the pursuit and overtook and defeated the fleeing enemy. Two days worth of marching and fighting were accomplished in one day:


To explain their miraculous physical effort it seemed to the Israelites that "The sun stopped in mid heaven..." and this was how the Book of Jashar put it.




The Hebrew Calendar consists of 12 lunar months. The Bible names most of them but usually designates them by number — first, third, fourth, fifth, etc. (Exodus 19:1; Leviticus 23:1-44; Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 1:3; II Kings 25:3; I Chronicles 27:1-9; Esther 3:7; Ezra 10:9)

Originally the first month was Ethanim and began in Autumn but, when the Israelites left Egypt, was redesignated 7th month (I kings 8:2) The new year thereafter started in spring, in the month Abib (later renamed Nisan). (Exodus 12:2; 13:3-4; 23:14; Deuteronomy 16:1)

Each month began when the new Moon crescent became visible at sunset, which made each month 29 or 30 days long. This "lunar year" is 11 days shorter than our solar year of 365¼days. A 13th month was added seven times every 19 years to keep the new year synchronized with spring.

Every 19 years the Lunar phases recur. The Jewish new-year (Nisan 1), for example, varies from March 11 to April 11, but in both 2004 and 2023 occurred on March 22.

	Month	Modern equivalent
1	Abib / Nisan	March-April
2	Iyyar	April-May
3	Sivan	May-June
4	Tammuz	June-July
5	Ab	July-August
6	Elul	August-September
7	Ethanim / Tishri	September-October
8	Marchesvan	October-November
9	Chislev	November-December
10	Tebeth	December-January
11	Shebat	January-February
12	Adar	February-March

 



The 20th century saw 81 total lunar eclipses when Earth's shadow completely covered the Moon.

A total lunar eclipse can last several hours and the Moon appears red. Bible verses that describe the moon as "blood" are often interpreted as lunar eclipses. (Acts 2:20)

The darkening of Sun and Moon occurs also before the "day of the LORD":


Predictions of darkness at Isaiah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7 may have been fulfilled by eclipses, dust storms, or clouds. In Ecclesiastes 12:2 the darkening refers to loss of sight due to advancing age. In Isaiah 60:19 the darkening of sun and moon seems figurative, a way of emphasizing the spiritual light that God gives.




"Signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars…" (Luke 21:25) are seen apparently in the "great tribulation". The corresponding section in Matthew 24 says: "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light".

Instead of either Matthew or Luke quoting Jesus wrongly, I propose that Jesus spoke both statements, separated by a sentence or two, and they therefore describe different events.

If so, what are the "signs in the moon"?

Comparison of II Peter 2:6; 3:10 and II Thessalonians 1:6-8 with Genesis 19:24-28 indicate that Christ's return will coincide with worldwide destruction by fire. Genesis 19 in the NRSV Bible speaks of "sulphur and fire" from heaven. The KJV Bible, however, says "brimstone and fire" referring to fiery or burning rocks. These would be thrown up and cover the sky worldwide if a large asteroid or comet exploded on or near land.

If this analysis is accepted then the "signs in the moon" include evidence for a future world-destroying fire.

Such evidence first became visible in 1609-1610 CE when Italian astronomer Galileo looked at the Moon with the newly invented telescope and saw circles and published a crude map of the Moon in his book Siderius Nuncius (1610). Using improved lenses German astronomer Johannes Hevelius in Selenographia (1647) published a map showing several hundred circles. In 1893 geologist Grove Gilbert suggested that the circles, now called craters, were formed by impacts of large asteroids. In the 1970s this was confirmed and astronomers began to realize that future world-ruining impacts are inevitable.

The Scriptures indicate that human rebellion against God will be terminated by a global fire from the sky when Christ returns. Therefore the "signs in the Moon" predicted by Jesus seem to be, or at least include, the Moon's large craters.

For centuries the world has observed confirmation on the Moon for the Bible's prophesied global devastation by fire but without recognizing it! Ironic! And pathetic!



German astronomer Johann Kepler (1571-1630) wrote Somnium (1611) a fantasy about the Moon inhabited by people.

French astronomer Adrien Auzout in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1665–1666) argued that if the Moon were inhabited we would see changes on the Moon like on Earth such as winter snow-covers, green spring-times, moving clouds, burning forests, city lights. But no such changes have been seen!

In 1835 The Sun, a New York paper, published six articles describing "recent discoveries" on the Moon seen by English astronomer John Herschel (1792-1871) using a new superior telescope. The alleged discoveries included animals, waterfalls, fields of vegetation, herds of zebra and unicorns, horned bears, beavers on two legs, and flying man-sized man-bats. Americans and Europeans widely believed it.

However, the reporter, Richard Adams Locke, made it all up. He reported fantasy in the same style as fact, leading to extensive theological and scientific debate about extraterrestrial life. The scandal is described in the book The Sun and the Moon (Goodman, 2008).

The Bible's creation story (Genesis 1) limits creation of living things to planet Earth. We see this by noticing that creation is described from an earthly viewpoint and leads on to events and history on Earth.

Furthermore, Psalm 8 says:


With the creation of physical life, and human dominion, both limited to planet Earth, claims of animals and humans living on the Moon were contrary to the Bible.




Psalm 115:16 says: "The heavens are the LORD'S heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings."

The Bible classes the Sun, Moon and stars as part of "the heavens". Are humans therefore permanently barred from the Moon?

The Apollo Space Program (1961-1972) put twelve men on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. 

On Christmas Eve, 1968, three astronauts, orbiting the Moon (during Apollo 8), read Genesis 1:1-10 aloud to the whole world.  

In 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) landed on the Moon. Aldrin, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, held communion in the landing module, using a chalice and silver cup from his Church and quoted John 15:5. Later, back on Earth, Aldrin said: "The very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were communion elements."

In August 1971 David Scott (Apollo 15 Mission Commander), seventh man to walk on the Moon, left a Bible there. Crew-member James Irwin, eighth on the Moon, later travelled worldwide to preach about Jesus.

Charles Duke (Apollo 16, 1972), tenth on the Moon, wasn't religious. Years later, however: "I began another walk—a walk with God. This experience is even more exciting ..."

Currently (2020s) NASA's Artemis program plans to put two astronauts on the Moon for six days.

What about permanent human life "in the heavens"? The scientific view is that nearly all of the Universe is out of reach.

However, in Investigator #156 I quoted Genesis 1:28:


I reasoned that the Hebrew words for "earth" do not mean planet Earth. They mean "land". And we now know there is land throughout the Universe, billions of planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Is reaching them, introducing life from Earth, and making them habitable, humanly achievable?  Yes:




Throughout history humans invented myths; but the Bible is reliable.



REFERENCES:

Alter, D. 1973 Pictorial Guide to the Moon, 3rd Revised Edition, Thomas Y. Crowell Company

Anonymous. Astronomy And The Bible, Investigator 159

Anonymous. Will The Gospel Be Preached On Mars? Investigator 156

Douglas, J.D. (Organizing editor) 1982 New Bible Dictionary, Inter-Varsity, 157-160

Goodman, M. 2008 The Sun and the Moon, Basic Books

Howe, A. Next Steps On The Moon, The Weekend Australian, September 24-25, 2022, p. 21

Maunder, E.W. 1908 The Astronomy of the Bible, Richard Clay & Sons

Wood, C.A. Scientific Knowledge of the Moon, 1609 to 1969, Geosciences 2019, 9(1)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/9/1/5

https://cdn.britannica.com/57/206457-050-8641EF6E/Apollo-space-program-United-States-NASA-moon-landing.jpg

https://eclipse.gfsc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/LE1901-2000.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Abian

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_craters_on_the_Moon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lunar_deities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_space

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/the-bible-verse-read-on-the-moon-as-buzz-aldrin-took-communion.htm

https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/origin-moons-craters

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/men/astronauts-who-trusted-science-and-god

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2019/07/19/the-only-bible-on-the-moon-was-brought-there-by-an-episcopalian-on-behalf-of-his-parish/

https://www.hebcal.com/holidays/rosh-chodesh-nisan

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Mi-Ni/Moon

https://www.space.com/7338-changing-view-moon

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jul/19/moon-buggies-and-bags-of-poo-what-humans-left-on-the-moon