Is there any significance to a full moon in the Bible?

Answer

The moon is one of the “great lights” that God made on the fourth day of creation (Genesis 1:14-18). These great lights were meant to help humanity mark the passage of time and the earth’s rotation. Ancient civilizations based their seasons, and even festivities, on the moon’s phases. Recently, there has been much talk about “blood moons” as a sign of Jesus’ imminent return, but does a full moon hold any biblical significance?

Full moons are referenced in a few places in Scripture, but not in ways that denote any particular importance. New moons indicated the start of months in the Hebrew calendar based on the lunar cycle and also signaled when the Israelites were to present offerings to the Lord (Numbers 10:10;Numbers 28:11). Psalm 81:3 hints at festive gatherings held “when the moon is full.” The prophet Joel predicted that the sun would be darkened and the moon turned to blood before the arrival of the great and awesome day of the LORD” (Joel 2:31;cf: Revelation 6:12). Isaiah 30:26 mentions an unusually bright moon that will have a role when the Day of the Lord arrives.

Humans have a tendency to worship anything that appears greater than themselves, and moon worship (or worship of the moon goddess) has been a historical issue. God cautioned us about this in Deuteronomy 4:19: “When you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be tempted to bow down to them.” Some societies have ascribed divine attributes to the sun and moon, constructing altars and offering worship. However, the moon is a creation of God, just like the earth, and is not deserving of worship or adoration. When we shift our focus away from the C

Creator to the creation, we are guilty of idolatry «who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. », (Romans 1:25).

An important spiritual truth we can learn from the full moon is that, as bright and beautiful as a full moon appears, it has no brilliance of its own. It relies entirely upon the sun for its light. Without the sun, the moon is merely a hunk of dark rock. Likewise, we human beings have no light of our own. We were created in the image of God to reflect His brilliance and glory «So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. », (Genesis 1:27). When we are turned to face the majesty of Almighty God, when we surrender to Him and seek Him with all our hearts, we reflect His glory «Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. », (Matthew 5:14). We were created to be reflectors of His light in this world (John 1:4-5). When we shine in the glory of God, we are not to be worshiped, as the moon is not to be worshiped. We are to point people to Jesus by committing ourselves to reflect His light «Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. », (John 8:12).