v.12, “And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood.”
The sixth seal changes the scene from in heaven back to the physical world on earth:
· The first five judgments had been directed toward specific areas, but this judgment was over the entire earth.
The first question we have to ask ourselves is, "Are we to take this literally or figuratively?"
· Students of Revelation have had difficulty interpreting this passage, and the tendency has been to regard these judgments as symbolic rather than literal.
· The reason behind this interpretation has been a reluctance to accept a literal interpretation of these judgments falling on the entire earth at this time:
o They would see these disturbances as referring to changes in human government.
o And judgment on the earth as referring to the upsetting of tradition and commonly held ideas.
· I believe the most convincing reason to take the events as literal is Jesus’ words in the Olivet Discourse, when He prophesies of the coming earthquakes in Matt. 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11:
o Jesus’ language could hardly have been figurative.
o Also, nothing short of an overwhelming ending of the world would have such a shocking impact on the heart of mankind as this sixth seal does.
o The literal fulfillment of these words is necessary to be true to Old Testament prophecies, the Olivet discourse, and the truth that God is Lord over all of His creation.
· There are some who would like to combine both a literal and a figurative interpretation but this creates too many interpretive problems.
· While it's true that the physical happenings will result in political and social turmoil, the first cause of all the political and social problems is the literal heavenly and earthly catastrophes.
· There is a precaution, however, against complete literalness and misinterpretation, even if using a literal process:
o John uses strong language and it can be taken as exaggerated on purpose.
o Here’s what I mean: If the moving of mountains and islands from their places in 6:14 were universal and complete, there would be no hiding places left for men to seek in vv.15-16.
o At the same time, the events are unparalleled in human history.
o These events are catastrophic enough to leave human beings with a complete understanding that the end has arrived, but they’re not complete enough to amount to a total destruction of creation.
o Human life will continue after these judgments occur.
· For certain, the entire population will be afraid when the earth itself starts to tremble:
o So, the first part of the fear-evoking series of events is "a great earthquake."
o This is only a foretaste of the final catastrophes that are yet come.
· The English word “earthquake” doesn’t really describe this seal because the heavens are shaken, so are the seas and the dry land:
o Another translation might be "convulsions."
o These convulsions are a preview of the end, but they are not the final judgment.
· So there will be "a great earthquake," followed by other cosmic disturbances.
v.12, “and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood”:
· The literal darkening of the sun will be as a blackness comparable to sackcloth:
o Sackcloth was a coarse cloth usually made of goats’ hair and black in color.
o It was traditionally worn as a visible expression of mourning and despair.
· The reddening of the moon is another preview of what lies ahead:
o The reddish color expressed by the phrase “as blood,” may come from the deep copper color of the moon during an eclipse when the moon is observed through a smoky atmosphere.
o Because the appearance of the whole moon is affected, this is probably a total eclipse that adds to the panic of the world’s population.
· Scientist Dr. Henry M. Morris explains what could cause such a phenomenon: "The great earthquake described here, for the first time in history, is worldwide in scope. Seismologists and geophysicists in recent years have learned a great deal about the structure of the earth and about the cause and nature of earthquakes. The earth's solid crust is traversed [crisscrossed] with a complex network of faults with all of them resting upon a plastic mantle, whose structure is still largely unknown. Whether the crust consists of great moving plates, is a current matter of controversy among geophysicists, so the ultimate cause of earthquakes is still not known. In all likelihood, the entire complex of crustal instabilities is a remnant of the phenomena of the great flood, especially the breakup of the fountains of the great deep. In any case, the vast worldwide network of unstable earthquake belts around the world suddenly will begin to slip and fracture on a global basis and a gigantic earthquake will result. This is evidently, and naturally, accompanied by tremendous volcanic eruptions, spewing vast quantities of dust and steam and gases into the upper atmosphere. It is probably these that will cause the sun to be darkened and the moon to appear blood red."
The third heavenly disturbance is an outbreak of meteors and comets like never before.
v.13, “and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind”:
· The Greek word “asteres” can refer to larger heavenly bodies such as the sun, but its meaning is not limited to this:
o The meaning of the word is broad enough to include smaller objects that fall through space from time to time.
o In this passage, the stars are not being referred to because they are still in place by the time of the fourth trumpet.
o This phenomenon is so large that it appears as if the stars are falling.
o More than likely it's a very large meteor shower that crashes through earth's atmosphere.
· The scope of this astronomical event is so violent that it is compared to a fig tree that loses its fruit in a severe windstorm.
· This part of the judgment will be terrifying because these meteors will appear to be dropping like figs from a tree. They will be innumerable!
As we look at the fourth disturbance, we’ll see how it will affect the whole expanse of the heavens as John sees them.
v.14, “And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places”:
· Heaven appears to split and roll back in opposite directions:
o What John sees is the sky curling up like paper and forming a roll at either end of the sky.
o Isaiah wrote, in Isaiah 34:4, that in the day of God’s wrath “the sky will be rolled up like a scroll.”
o People will think that the universe is falling apart!!
· This is the human perception of this disaster, but it’s not the ultimate destruction of the heavens, which comes later in Rev. 20:11, 21:1.
· In the second part of the verse, the scene returns back to the earth, "and every mountain and island were moved out of their places":
o The movement of the mountains with the islands is probably due to the great earthquake in v.12 and possibly to volcanic eruptions, which causes the mountains and islands to rise and fall.
· In Matt. 17:21, Jesus used the moving of a mountain in a figurative way in a challenge to His disciples’ faith:
o Some interpreters want to take this description to speak figuratively of the unsettling of established international powers.
o But that would break the pattern that’s already seen in the rest of these literal judgments.
· We must be careful not to misinterpret here, because the complete removal of every mountain would leave no hiding places for men to seek in verse 16:
o Many mountains will be moved and even disappear, but complete destruction of all mountains will come at the seventh bowl judgment of Revelation 16:20.
· The impact of this six-part seal judgment on the earth will be nothing short of devastating!
In verse 15 we see the response of the people of the earth.
v.15, “And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains”:
· Every category of humanity is covered here with the upper classes in the first five items of the list.
· We need to keep in mind the culture that John was writing to as we look at these various classifications of leaders:
o "The kings of the earth" would be the highest rulers, the heads of state of heathen nations.
o "The great men" were high-ranking officials of the king's court. They were the civil officials in charge of implementing the executive functions of government.
o "The commanders" represents the military commanders. The Greek word used is a word for the Roman tribune. The name signifies an officer that commanded a thousand men.
o "The rich" controlled the commerce of the various regions. The power of money in this world society is undeniable.
o "The strong" will be those who exercise great influence over significant numbers of people, whether through bodily strength, force of personality, or some other means.
· The remaining people are covered by two more categories: "every slave and free man":
o Together, slaves and free men made up the lowest class of society with very little influence on other people.
o But they will still be frightened by what they will experience.
· All classes of people will respond in the same way:
o They will "hide themselves in the caves in the rocks in the mountains."
o They will be seeking shelter from the collapse of the natural world.
o The disasters happening all around tells them that there’s only one alternative left and that is to hide.
· It won’t be logical to hide in the very mountains that will be shaken by the earthquake, but they will no longer be thinking logically.
v.16, “and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb’”:
· The cry of people throughout the world is a call for the mountains, the place where they have gone to hide, to fall on them:
o That would be better to them, than having to face the wrath of God.
o They would prefer an avalanche fall on them rather than have to face God.
· The evil people on the earth dread God more than they dread death:
o They don’t realize that even death can’t help them to escape their judgment by God.
· They dread having to stand before a holy and righteous God:
o But they also dread "the wrath of the Lamb" at the end of v.16.
· If we think about it, the phrase the "wrath of the Lamb” is a confusing statement:
o Lambs are usually gentle. But this Lamb shows His "wrath" against those who have refused His grace.
o Isn’t it odd that men will recognize the Lamb’s role in casting judgment and inflicting misery, yet they refuse to submit to His authority? Why do they continue to reject Him?
o What’s more amazing is that they even appear to have an understanding of why His wrath was going to come.
From this point forward in Revelation, the wrath of God, and of the Lamb, is a continuing theme and is described in further detail by the trumpet and bowl judgments.
v.17, “for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
· In their rebellion, mankind correctly recognizes the catastrophes in heaven and on the earth:
o It’s part of the great end-time day of wrath coming from the One sitting on the throne and from the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
· The phrase "their wrath has come" refers to the previous arrival of wrath, not something that is about to take place:
o Wouldn’t it seem logical that they should have recognized it was already here with the death of one fourth of the population (6:7-8), the worldwide famine (6:5-6), and the global warfare (6:3-4)?
o These previous events all happen fairly quickly: a false Christ, war, famine, death.
o But the truth doesn’t dawn on them until the severity of the sixth seal.
· At the beginning of “the Day of the Lord,” human trials will be like a woman's labor pain before giving birth to a child.
· This is not the actual end, but a precursor of worse things to come under the seventh seal.
· This human agony will end with the Messiah's personal return to the earth:
o He will put an end to the wrath and judgment.
· With a general knowledge of what the Bible teaches about the future, the unsaved world correctly sees "the great day of their wrath" as already in progress.
· Their question, "and who is able to stand?" doesn’t refer to standing before God to be judged:
o It has to do with surviving on earth and realizing that things are only going to get worse as God's wrath intensifies.
o The question only has one answer: No one will survive!
How much of an incentive do you think this letter was for the seven churches to follow Christ carefully and closely, and to spread the gospel to everyone they knew?
· These events are almost indescribable. They are terrifying, and they were the first ones to read about it!
What we’ve learned is that the things we’ve read in chapter 6, should put to rest the false teaching that God, being a God of love, could not judge a wicked world:
· He is a God of love. He is also a God of justice.
· And His justice requires Him to judge a sinful, rebellious people who refuse to receive the free gift of His Son.
The question of v.17, “who can stand?” leads us to only one conclusion:
· Only those who have believed and received Jesus as their Savior!
· It will be only those who have received the free grace of God before the time of wrath that will be able to stand when God deals with the earth in this final period of great distress.
· Those who will be saved in the Great Tribulation are described in the next chapter, which we’ll look at next time, Lord willing.
What can we take away from this part of our Journey through Revelation?
Let’s look at Numbers 23:19.
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
· He will carry out His judgment!
We’ve just finished reading how God will judge those who reject His Messiah, the Lord Jesus.
Here are some questions for all of us to consider.
· Who do you know, right now, that you can pray for, that they would no longer reject the truth of the gospel?
· Who do you know, personally, that needs Jesus as their Savior?
· Who do you love so much that you don’t want them to go through this horrible time on earth or be condemned to eternal darkness?
· Who do you know that needs to bow their knee in humility and ask for forgiveness and eternal life by believing and receiving Christ, the King of kings, as their Savior and Lord?
May the Lord bless you as you continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of Him.
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D., D.Min.
