What is the best interpretation of Matthew 24:29, from the perspective of an evangelical Christian?

Question

In the verse mentioned above, Jesus narrates:

"Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

Now, every educated evangelical is well aware of the fact that the moon does not emit its own light, and that the size of most stars is far greater than that of the Earth.

Taking note of the same, is an evangelical Christian supposed to take this verse literally or metaphorically?

In the case of the former, is there any valid explanation?

Answer 1

An evangelical understanding of scripture would affirm that the words of Jesus are accurately recorded in Matthew 24:29 and that they are infallible and inerrant. Therefore, evangelicals would not accept explanations like, "Jesus was wrong," or, "Matthew got it wrong."

Most Evangelicals interpret this verse metaphorically and the rest interpret it phenomenologically. The metaphorical explanation understands that the cataclysmic, universe-shaking language of Jesus is tapping into the apocalyptic/prophetic tradition of the Old Testament where it was perfectly common to use the language of "creation coming to an end" to signify real-life events that were complete reversals or "turning the world upside down."

The Evangelicals who interpret the verse phenomenologically would consider it to be describing events that would seem to an observer like the events described were happening, regardless of what was literally happening (e.g. saying "The sun rose" when really the earth just rotated revealing the sun). So the phenomenological interpretation would say something like, "it will be completely dark and the stars will seem to have disappeared (or firey star-like substances will fall to the earth!)" This kind of interpretation generally stems from evangelicals of more dispensationalist leanings who tend to think that unless there is a specific biblical indication that the verse is metaphorical it should be interpreted literally as the most faithful interpretation. In this case, the phenomenological approach is the closest to literal that is reasonable.

Answer 2

Revelation talks about a war in heaven. Satan and his angels(stars) cast down to earth a great earth quake and smoke darkening the sun the moon. Christ said he seen Satan cast from heaven . Most likely this verse is in reference to sixth seal.