Now we’re ready for the 6th seal to be broken and we’ll see this is where God really turns up the heat. So far we’ve seen war and the natural consequences that come with it, famine, disease and death. And, always remember the area directly affected by these events is that fourth part of the earth (Revelation 6:8), the revised old Roman Empire (Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa or all of the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea). There has been somewhat of an awakening in the world because of the rapture and the events described in the first 5 seals. Some are reading the Bible and actually understanding its literal meaning. So, I suspect there will be some degree of conflict in the rest of the world. There will be those who understand what is happening and want to let matters take their course, lest they find themselves fighting against God. And then there will be others who want to get involved to bring peace to this region (something that had been attempted over and over, but never accomplished by world leaders in the past).
But the 6th seal judgment will send a definite message to both those who are directly affected and those who are watching from other parts of the world. This is not simply a regional war that can be resolved with some peace initiative. And, it’s not a spiritual warfare issue that can be stopped by the religious, prayer warrior types yelling at the Devil. This is the hand of God meting out judgment. This is where the wrath God begins. The Greek word orge found in this passage is translated “wrath”, but can be translated anger, vengeance, indignation or retribution – all appropriate meanings. So far the destruction has been man-made, but the events that come with the 6th seal are supernatural and are recognized as coming from an angry God.
The details of the 6th seal are found in Revelation 6:12-17. We’ll just work our way through this passage point by point. The first thing mentioned in verse 12 is “a great earthquake”. There will be several more earthquakes in God’s judgment program: one between the 7th seal and the 1st trumpet (Revelation 8:5), at the 7th trumpet (Revelation 11:19) and at the 7th vial (Revelation 16:18). Then in a future lesson we’ll see a final, and the greatest, earthquake following the Millennium and leading into the Eternal Kingdom that results in the last renovation of the earth. This last earthquake will shape the topography of the earth into what is described as the “new earth” in Revelation 21:1. This final renovation is mentioned in Haggai 2:6-7, 21-23 and Hebrews 12:25-29 among others that will be discussed later.
This is not just an “earthquake”; it’s a “great earthquake”. The word translated “great” is megas and is used to describe the size or scope of something that is not normal or extraordinary. And, since the size of the earthquake is not specifically given, I would guess that it affects most, if not all, of the “fourth part” of the earth described above. This is a reasonable assumption on my part for two reasons: the first is that we’ll see in the descriptions and in the context of these descriptions of God’s judgments that follow, the whole area is involved; the second is the response of the men who experience this judgment, as we’ll see later in this lesson.
There are five more things described that accompany this judgment. The first is that the “sun became black”. When the sun’s light is blotted out to a distinct part of the world, it’s like putting a spotlight on that area. It’s the major news story of the day. And as it continues (we don’t know how long it lasts), the world’s experts will try to explain it. But, the fact that it is a supernatural event means that it will have no natural explanation. Therefore, the conclusion of most reasonable people will be that it is an act of God. There will be four more times the sun will be darkened during the tribulation period. This phenomenon will become a sort of signal that things are about to get worse than they already are.
Then, the “moon became like blood”, or literally, the “moon came to look like blood”. It turns red. Get the picture? There’s a great earthquake and with an earthquake of this size and magnitude there will probably be many frightening aftershocks. It’s dark, when it should be light. At night the moon is blood red.
The third thing is “stars of the sky dropped to the earth”. These are not the fixed stars that we see at night that are really suns in other solar systems, suns like our own that are many times larger than the earth. This is a meteor shower. Again, when you see a distinct area of the world affected by a continuing, destructive meteor shower, the same area that has experienced a huge earthquake, where the sun is dark and the moon at night is red, it gets noticed.
And, as if that’s not enough to get men’s attention, God does something else that is absolutely amazing. The description in the text is simple enough, “and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together”. Now here’s one the experts will really have a hard time explaining. If you’re in this “fourth part” of the earth and you look up into the sky at night, no stars will be visible. You’ll see a red moon, but he rest of the sky will be dark. This is evidently not a permanent situation, as we will see stars and the heavens mentioned later in Revelation, as in the 3rd trumpet judgment in Revelation 8:10.
The last thing mentioned is this: “and every mountain and island was moved from its place”. This is quite a statement. If you look at a map of the Roman Empire there are several sizeable mountain ranges (the Alps and the Caucasus are probably the largest) and some large islands in the Mediterranean Sea (Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Crete, Cyprus). If these are all moved from their original places, the destruction from such movement will have to be horrendous. However, the islands and mountains are not destroyed, as they are mentioned again in Revelation 16:20 at the time of the 7th vial judgment.
Now we come to the response of the men who experience this judgment. Without going into a lot of detail, there are 7 classes of men mentioned here. The “kings” are men who hold the highest positions of power or authority. The “great men” are those who have somewhat lesser positions of authority, probably political or religious leaders. Of course, the “rich men” are mentioned, men with money always have influence. The “chief captains” are the military. Then the “mighty men” are the famous, those widely known for whatever reason (athletics, entertainment, achievement in a particular field). The last two are the common people, whether “slave” and “free”. All these taken together are meant to illustrate a consensus. In other words, all men in this part of the world who have just experienced the judgments of this 6th seal have come to the same conclusion as illustrated by their actions and statement in verses 15-17.
What do they do? They try to hide themselves from God in caves and around the large rocks in the mountains (verse 15). It’s difficult to put yourself in this time and place. But, the picture I get is that of a terrified populace. It’s not safe in the cities, buildings are either destroyed or they are continuing to crumble from the strong aftershocks. Many have already died from the wars, famine and disease of the previous seal judgments. Now, many more have died and the conditions that have to be endured to simply survive have just gotten much worse. It’s dark during the day, at night the moon is red and they can’t see any stars. Their world has been turned up side down. And the realization has set in that all of this is a result of God’s anger, “And they called out to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb. Because that great day of His anger has come upon us, and who will be able to endure it?”
And, the amazing thing about all this is that it’s just the beginning. Things are going to get much, much worse. We’ll continue in the next lesson with the 7th seal.