“Revelation 6:12-17”

Monday, December 11, 2017

“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; 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 sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then 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; 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; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”

---End of Scripture verses---

With the breaking of the seals of the sacred scroll, and the unleashing of the four horsemen (verses 1-8) and their riders, Jesus and His redemptive work were proclaimed, but also the persecution and turmoil that ensue from following the Lord and remaining true and faithful to His Gospel. When Jesus broke open the fifth seal, the plaintive plea of the souls of the saints who had been slain for the cause of Christ was, “how long, O Lord” will this unjust oppression and torture be allowed to continue, and the wicked go unpunished for their evil deeds (verses 9-10). Even though there was no definitive answer given about the specific duration of time, with the breaking of the sixth seal, the Lord assured His loyal disciples that He will not allow evil to continue unabated. Satan will be toppled, his subordinates will be thwarted and God’s children will be vindicated.

“When He broke the sixth seal” (verse 12), a cataclysmic calamity on the cosmological scale was displayed. We must always remember that God reveals these visions, vividly, physically and figuratively to impress upon our minds just how consequential and inescapable matters of the spiritual nature are. The images of great quakes, fierce winds, a darkened sun and a bloody moon were used frequently in the Old Testament to portend God’s ferocious judgment upon the wickedness of mankind (Joel 2:10; Isaiah 13:10; Jeremiah 4:23-24). “What is symbolized is that things seemingly impossible of happening will occur. Those things wherein man feels secure shall be turned upside down when the Lord comes in his mighty power of judgment.” (Harkrider)

I believe that Final Judgment is depicted in today’s verses and not God’s vengeance against the enemies of His people in the first few centuries A.D. Even though Jesus revealed to John “things which must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1), it seems obvious that chapter six is a snapshot glimpse into heaven’s view of historical events that transpire from Christ’s arrival through the time that He returns. Chapter six gives a general overview from Christ’s advent until His return, while most of the rest of the letter hammers out these events with much greater attention to detail. Chapter 8 through most of chapter 20 deals with God’s judgment against the Roman world for the atrocities it committed against His people, and the remainder of the book depicts scenes of Final Judgment, and the eternal reward in realms above reserved for those who “overcome” the tempters attempts to lead them astray.

No one can escape the severity and certainty of God’s righteous wrath, all are included from kings to slaves, rich to poor, weak to strong (verses 15-17). “These catastrophic events in nature wreak dismay in the hearts of men who put their trust in things of this world rather than in God… Their fear is not of death. They seek to die rather than to face God.” (Harkrider) Beware “the wrath of the Lamb!” We dare not lose sight of the fact that this “meek Lamb” has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 5:6)! Jesus is the all-powerful, all knowing and perfectly holy God of heaven and earth! His yoke is easy and is burden is light but His judgment will be without mercy to those who have shown no mercy!

Please read Revelation 7:1-8 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

-Louie Taylor

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