Day of Judgment, The

DESCRIPTION: "And the moon will turn to blood (x3), In that day. Oh you, my soul, And the moon will turn to blood in that day." "And you'll see the stars a-falling." "And you'll hear the saints a-singing." "And the Lord will say to the sheep ... go to him right hand."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates, p. 53, "The Day of Judgment" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #12013
NOTES [208 words]: The verses of this song all come pretty directly from the various Biblical apocalypses:
The moon turning to blood is from Rev. 6:12; Acts 2:20 also says the moon will turn to blood, citing Joel 2:31. In addition, Mark13:24=Matt. 24:29 tells of the moon not giving light.
The very next sentence in Matthew and Mark (Matt. 24:29, Mark 13:25) tells of the stars falling, as does Rev. 6:13. In addition, Rev. 8:10-11 tells of the great star Wormwood falling from the sky to the earth bringing destruction, and another evil star falls in 9:1, and in 12:4 the dragon is sweeping stars from the sky.
We find saints singing around the throne of God in 15:3, where "those who had conquered the Beast" gather; in addition, the elders sing around the throne in Rev. 5:9, 11:17, and someone (it's not entirely clear who) is singing in Rev. 14:3. The creatures before the throne sing in Rev. 4:8. (As you can probably tell, there is a lot of singing in the Revelation to John.)
The last three verses, about the Lord talking to the sheep and the goats, refers specifically to the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:32-45 (at the end of Matthew's apocalypse), which I've seen described as one of the most frightening parables in the New Testament. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG053

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