Cosmic Disturbances as mentioned in Mat 24 and Rev 6 have a double meaning. The glory of nations are said to be measured in brightness. When a nation is destroyed by God using foreign armies, which was very common, God "puts out the lights" of that nation. In boxing we use a similar phrase, "He knocked the lights out of his opponent." In Daniel 12:3 we see that the righteous are described as bright lights, "Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever."
The below is another example of God darkening a country He is destroying, using familiar cosmetic disturbance language.
585 BC - Destruction of Egypt (Ezek 32): 2 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him: 3 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will therefore spread My net over you with a company of many people, And they will draw you up in My net. 7 When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. 8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,” Says the Lord God.
539 BC - Destruction of Babylon (Isa 13): The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. The Lord of hosts musters The army for battle. 5 They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— 9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
598-582 BC - Destruction of Judea (Joel 2): Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations. 3 A fire devours before them, And behind them a flame burns; The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; Surely nothing shall escape them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like swift steeds, so they run. 10 The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.
66-70 AD - Destruction of Judea and Jerusalem (Joel 2): “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem...
Mat 24: 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Rev 6: 12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Thus, the Presence of God/Jesus often precede the destruction which befalls a nation about to face God's judgment. It should be noted, in Mat 24, Jesus is not talking about coming after the Great Tribulation but rather after the tribulation of Mat 24:9, the slaughtering of Christians. Divine wrath presence always precedes the enemy forces doing the destruction.