Revelation 6:12-17 — Seal #6 Earthquake, Blackened Sun, Blood-like Moon, Falling Stars, Split Sky, Moving Mountains and Islands, Hiding Men, Great Day of Wrath

Rev. 6:12   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;  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.  14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  15 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;  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;  17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Prayer and Bible Expo

Who breaks the sixth seal? (6:12)

“He” (6:12) – the Lamb.

What happens when John looks and the Lamb breaks the sixth seal?  (6:12-14)

“. . . 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” (6:12-14).    

•   Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,

            Cruel, with fury and burning anger,

            To make the land a desolation;

            And He will exterminate its sinners from it.

10        For the stars of heaven and their constellations

            Will not flash forth their light;

            The sun will be dark when it rises

            And the moon will not shed its light.

11        Thus I will punish the world for its evil

            And the wicked for their iniquity;

            I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud

And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.

• Joel 2:10 Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. 11  The LORD utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, And who can endure it?

Who hides in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains? (6:15)

Kings of the earth, great men, commanders, rich, strong, every slave and free man (6:15).

What do those who hide themselves say to the mountains and to the rocks? (6:16)

“Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the

wrath of the Lamb” (6:16).

From whom are the men in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains trying to hide?

“. . . from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (6:16).

What day has come?  (6:17)

“for the great day of their wrath has come. . .” (6:17).

·      Joel 2:1    Blow a trumpet in Zion,

            And sound an alarm on My holy mountain!

            Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,

            For the day of the LORD is coming;

            Surely it is near,

2          A day of darkness and gloom,

            A day of clouds and thick darkness.

            As the dawn is spread over the mountains,

            So there is a great and mighty people;

            There has never been anything like it,

            Nor will there be again after it

To the years of many generations.

·      Mal. 3:1   “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts.  2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.  3 “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.  4 “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.

What is the final question asked? (6:17) (It will be answered in Rev. 7)

“. . . who is able to stand?” (6:17).

What impresses you about the sixth seal? 

The magnitude of the sixth seal is reflected in the absolute terror of the greatest men on earth who resort to pleading with the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the presence of Yahweh and from the wrath of Jesus. Even in the fury of judgment, these men do not seek refuge in God. Instead, they plead with the lifeless mountains and rocks to hide them, reflecting the hardness of their unbelieving hearts. The great day of the wrath of Yahweh and of Jesus the Messiah has arrived. 

Who will be able to stand?

In the 8th century BC, over seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah called the people of his age to “Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Isa 13:6). The prophets describe the day:

•        “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger; to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it” (Isa 13:9).
•        “For the day is near; even the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations” (Ezek 30:3).
•        “Alas for the day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15).
•        “. . . Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; surely it is near” (Joel 2:1).
•        “The LORD utters His voice before His army; surely His camp is very great, for strong is he who carries out His word. The day of the LORD is indeed great and very awesome, and who can endure it?” (Joel 2:11).

 The Old Testament prophets proclaimed that the day was near. In the sixth seal, the day has come. The earth quakes, the sun becomes black, the whole moon becomes red like blood, the stars fall from the sky to earth, the sky splits apart, and every mountain and island are moved from their natural abodes. Quite literally, the earth is shaken to its core. Who will be able to stand?

What do you learn about the Lord in Revelation 6?

God is holy, wholly distinct from what is common to man. God is immutable. His attributes do not evolve. What has been true about God eternally is true about God today and forever will be. Holiness is an attribute of God. He is distinct and separate from all that is sinful and foreign to His character. Because God is holy, He cannot condone sin.

Sin is common to man, but foreign to God. When the holiness of God encounters sinful man, there is an eruption of divine wrath. Wrath is not an attribute of God, because it has not always existed. God’s wrath is the result of God’s holiness becoming offended by sin. All have sinned, and all incur the wrath of God and become natural enemies of God upon birth into sin, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Jesus bore the wrath of God for the sin of the world on the cross, offering His body as a sacrifice for sin. And He defeated sin and overcame death, evidenced by His resurrection from the dead. All who believe in Jesus, becoming like Him in death and being raised in newness of life by the power of His resurrection, share in His victory over sin and death. 

By faith in Jesus, the perfect righteousness of Jesus is imputed to the sinner. God’s wrath is appeased. Salvation is by God's grace through faith in His Son, Jesus the Messiah.

All who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus are reconciled to God in peace and love. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:1-4).

Who can be saved from the day of the wrath of God and the wrath of Jesus the Messiah?

“But what does it say? ‘ THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART’ — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and  believe in your heart that  God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes,  resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,  resulting in salvation.  For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE  DISAPPOINTED.”  For  there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is  Lord of  all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (Rom 10:8-13).

Repent and believe. The day of the LORD is near.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4).

Stand on the Rock of salvation today.

Father,

You are holy, holy, holy. Your wrath towards sin reveals Your holiness and justice. The day of Your wrath and the wrath of Jesus is drawing near. May You open the eyes of the unredeemed. Open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to You, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Jesus. May hearts be turned to You and feet stand on the Rock of our salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.