The question becomes whether or not this is a purely allegorical statement or something literal? There is also the question as to whether it could be both. Here are a few places where we see this type of phrase used essentially to herald the dawn of the Day of The Lord.
" The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:" (Joel 2:10)
" The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." (Joel 2:31-32) (The remnant of Zion's seed that have the testimony of Jesus Christ, the church: see Revelation 12:17. Joel prophesied it before the church age; Revelation identifies it as the church (saints) after the dawn of the church age.)
" The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining." (Joel 3:15)
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel...The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:16 & 20-21) (Peter's restatement of Joel's prophecy)
" Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty...For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." (Is 13:6 & 10)
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:" (Mat 24:29)
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind." (Rev 6:12-13)
While it is entirely possible that there will be physical signs in the sun, moon, and stars when His return is imminent, there may also be an allegorical meaning. For example, Jesus says in Matthew that the "stars" will fall from heaven. A literal star would disrupt the entire solar system and perturb the planetary orbits with its gravitation pull. If a literal star collided with the earth, that would be the end of the earth, and that's just one star, not stars plural. It is highly unlikely that a literal star will fall to the earth precisely because we know that God will set up His kingdom upon the earth. Therefore, the earth itself has to survive whatever cataclysmic events take place at the time of the end. Of course, some may argue that this might refer to comets, asteroids, and other stellar phenomena falling to the earth. Again, these types of things aren't necessarily ruled out.
What of the allegorical? Well, we know that stars can refer to angels. Revelation 12 talks of the dragon (Satan) drawing a third part of the stars of heaven and casting them to the earth ("stars shall fall from heaven"). Also, Revelation 9 talks of a star falling and says that unto "him was given the key of the bottomless pit" (Rev 9:1). This star releases Abaddon, the king of the pit whose name essentially means destroying angel. Now Revelation 12 speaks of a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and Satan and his angels. Satan and his angels lose this battle and are cast out of heaven and into the earth. After this we read about the persecution of the woman (Israel) and the remnant of her seed that have the testimony of Jesus Christ (the church or saints). Thus this war in heaven appears to be the catalyst for the dawn of what most people refer to as the end times. Now some will say that this war spoken of in Revelation 12 is about some ancient rebellion led by Satan and referred to in Isaiah 14. However, the term Lucifer used in Isaiah 14 is not a proper name. It is from Latin, and one should study up a bit on its use within the Latin Vulgate to better understand its meaning and usage. In other words, Lucifer is not Satan's angelic name. This is a metaphor describing and being applied to the king of Babylon. This is shown in verse 4 and throughout, such as when we read later about this Lucifer dying and descending into hell. His body will not lie in state like the honored kings before him. Does that sound like it's describing an angel? Now, there may be a bit more to this passage and why this particular metaphor was used by Isaiah, but I don't want to go off topic.
Furthermore, Satan, in Revelation 12, is cast out of heaven after he has spent some time accusing the brethren before the thrown of God. In like manner as we read in Job, Satan stands as the accuser of mankind. In particular here, he is accusing the brethren of the church. We know this because it says that "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb" (Rev 12:11). These are they who are later in this same chapter identified as the remnant of the woman's seed that have the testimony of Jesus Christ: the church. The woman represents Israel. Remember that the church is the branch that has been grafted into the tree. Therefore, this war cannot have happened sometime back in antiquity before the church age had even begun because we are told that it takes place after he has been accusing the brethren before The Lord day and night. After he is cast out, he tries to persecute the woman (Israel). However, she is provided two wings of a great eagle for protection for time, times, and half a time (a clear reference to the last 42 months: see Daniel 7 and 12 as well as Revelation 11 and the prophecy of the temple of God).
If we see the stars as angels, and we recognize the war in heaven described in Revelation 12, then Jesus' statement in Matthew 24 about the stars falling and the powers (or authorities or principalities) of the heavens being shaken from their place (positions of power and authority over this world as Satan is referred to as the god of this world: 2 Cor 4:4) starts to look like an allegorical reference to this war between the righteous angels and the wicked ones. What about the sun and the moon? Well what is the sun? It is a source of light, warmth, illumination, and life upon planet earth. The moon is a stellar body that helps with stabilizing the earth (tides and spin), and it reflects the light of the sun upon the earth in the darkness of night. Well who is the light of the world? Jesus Christ is The Light of the world. Therefore, He is like the sun: the source of light, warmth, illumination of truth, and life. What is the church? The church is supposed to reflect the light of The Son upon a sinful world just as the moon reflects the light of the sun at night. The church is supposed to be the salt of the earth. We are supposed to be a stabilizing influence on the world. Therefore, the moon turning into blood can be seen as a metaphor for the persecution of the church. We read about the persecution of the saints at the hands of the beast in both Daniel and Revelation. The sun does not give its light? As Jesus was dying on the cross, He uttered these words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mat 27:46). It certainly seemed to Christ that He had been abandoned at this, the darkest hour, of his life. It has at times in the past and will no doubt in the future feel this way to the saints that are persecuted. It will feel as if the sun no longer gives its light. They may well wonder if God has forsaken Israel and His church. However, shortly after this time of great upheaval, persecution, and judgment, He will appear to destroy the enemies of God, rescue His people (Israel and His church), and establish His Kingdom. So while there may be some literal events that transpire among the stellar bodies of the heavens and affect our perspective of them upon the earth, there may also be more to these statements than merely whether or not a meteor falls to the earth.
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