Revelation 6, the great earthquake: identity of the sun

Previously: Revelation 6, the great earthquake

We have concluded, for now, that the symbolism of an earthquake is a complete shaking and revolution of all earthly order: government, society, religion, economy, and worldview. Next, the sun becomes black as sackcloth and the full moon blood red. These are the colors of the sun and moon in total eclipse. Historicists have traditionally held that the sun and moon, symbolically, represent the most important human powers, or at this time period, the Roman emperor. Speaking of Diocletian, the emperor so prominent in the fifth seal, we read:

As a divinity, the emperor had now become an oriental Sun- god and he was officially called the “Invincible Sun.” His birthday was on the twenty-fifth of December; that is, about the date when the sun each year begins to turn northward after he has reached his southernmost limit. The inhabitants of each province might revere their particular gods, undisturbed by the government, but all were obliged as good citizens to join in the official sacrifices to the head of the State as a god. …

The necessity of leading the army against New Persia, the new oriental enemy, carried the emperor much to the East. The result was that Diocletian resided most of the time at Nicomedia in Asia Minor. As a natural consequence, the emperor was unable to give close attention to the West. Following some earlier examples, and perhaps remembering the two consuls of the old Republic, Diocletian therefore appointed another emperor to rule jointly with himself, to give his attention to the West. The second emperor was to live at Milan in the Po valley, really the most important region of Italy. All government edicts, whether issued in the East or the West, were signed by both emperors. It was not Diocletian’s intention to divide the Roman Empire, any more than it had been the purpose to divide the Republic in electing two consuls. The final result was nevertheless the division of the Roman Empire into East and West …

In order to avoid the recurrence of civil war at the death of an emperor, Diocletian endeavored to arrange the transfer of power from one emperor to the next. He and his fellow emperor each bore the title of Augustus. The two Augustuses appointed two subordinates, to be called Caesars. There were thus two emperors, or Augustuses, and two subordinate emperors, or Caesars, intended to be something like vice presidents. For it was provided that at the death or resignation of either Augustus, one of the Caesars should at once take his place as Augustus, and another Caesar was then to be appointed.

What better symbolism to represent the dual state of the Roman emperors in this epoch than the sun and the moon, especially since Diocletian obligingly deigns to represent himself as such, two hundred years after the vision is given to John? The sun and moon, or the dual emperors, are, in Revelation 6, depicted in total eclipse, so let us see if history bears us out …

To be continued …

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Update: continued in Revelation 6, the great earthquake symbolism