Vesuvius and the End Time in A.D. 79

The eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79 was the End Time of Bible prophecy. 

The source of biblical signs in the sun, moon and stars was the ash plume from Vesuvius. These are the signs of the end time directly associated with the eruption of Vesuvius:

1. Earthquakes

2. Roaring of Sea and Waves

3. Signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars:

• The Sun will be darkened
• The Moon will not give its light
• The Stars will fall from the sky.

From Caesars Nero to Vespasian earthquakes increased in magnitude from mild tremors to jolts which destroyed whole cities. This increased activity from A.D. 63 to A.D. 79 was the "birth pangs" preceding the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on August 24, A.D. 79.

Roaring of the sea and waves occurs at the same time the signs are seen in the sun, moon and stars. What happened when Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79?  Upon Tacitus' request for a detailed account of his uncle's death, Pliny the Younger wrote a detailed account of the eruption. His uncle, Pliny the Elder commanded a fleet at Misenum and died during the eruption. Both Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were eyewitnesses.

Pliny said his uncle's vessel was in danger of being run a-ground from the sudden retreat of the sea. The waves were running extremely high and boisterous.  He also wrote about the eruption as experienced by himself and his mother at Misenum on the Bay of Naples nearly twenty miles from Vesuvius:
 

The sea seemed to roll back upon itself and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged and several sea animals were left upon it.

Generally, when the sea recedes like this, it indicates a tsunami. The motion of the earth was violent and convulsive and the waves in the Bay of Naples were high and boisterous. The people in the east (Asia and Judea) had no idea a volcano had erupted, but certainly they were perplexed at the mysterious roaring of the sea and waves.

Dio Cassius said "an inconceivable amount of ash was blown out and covered the land and the sea everywhere and filled all the air" It was so much it buried two whole cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii. The ash plume from Vesuvius traveled slowly east and south reaching as far as Africa, Syria and Egypt, according to Dio Cassius, and blotted out the sun for at least for some 1200 miles. Judea is around 1200 miles south-east of Vesuvius on the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

When the sun is obscured by clouds or ash, it is "darkened" by the cover of clouds or ash.

When the moon is obscured by clouds or ash, it cannot be seen. The moon "will not give its light".

On a clear starry night, a bank of ash plume sweeping across the sky (like a like a large carpet pulled across the sky) will cause the illusion of the sky filled with "falling stars".  The slowly moving ash plume appears stationary while all the stars appear as shooting stars, falling towards the leading edge of the ash plume. Since the ash plume sweeps from the west to the east of the Roman Empire, the stars throughout the Empire that night would all have been seen "falling from the heaven". 

Things to Consider:

1. The fundamental origin of End Time  prophecy is Matthew 24, Mark.13 and Luke 21.

2. The world of the disciples was referred to as the "habitable earth" or the "inhabited earth" which was the Roman Empire and the rest of the "known" world. This is why the signs seen by the populace was meant to be local to the Roman Empire.