Revelation 6 The Sun Turned Black

[hotcoffee]

Revelation 6:12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.​

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”​

This seems to be a pretty well studied seal. All the commentaries point to the same direction. Here's a link to the one that breaks it out easily.

Have you ever noticed that when things get really horrible people say "Oh God!" Think back there was "really horrible" in everyone's life. If you don't have your own then think back on 9-11.

Yes.... this is a figurative seal just like the ones with the horses and the martyred souls under the alter. Let's face it.... it makes sense that the descriptions here in Revelation cannot begin to describe what's actually happening in Heaven. Why would Jesus put people under the alter and keep them there? Is there really a fiery red colored horse? Are there really animals with eyes all over the body? All these things mean something. John's doing his best.

The heavens will open up when Jesus comes back. But that is later in Revelation. This is a description of when everything around you is horrible. When your family, your friends, your government, even those in your church.... when everyone you would normally go to for help... is gone. There is no sun, there is no moon, there are no stars, you can't stand on your own two feet. Nothing is as it should be. Everything is upside down and dark. This is when your ground is shaking so bad that you can't get your inner gps to work and you just want to everything to stop! Been there?

IMHO that's what these verses describe. People beg for it to be over and it just won't stop.... How we as humans have handled these situations... that's what sealed our fate.

Remember.... I'm not a preacher.... I'm only a reader....

 

[baydoll]

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

The people who are still alive on earth at that time have now barely survived a nuclear war, bloodshed, famine, pestilence, and disease. And though we may think things are pretty bad (and getting worse by the day) in the world now the current situations is NOTHING compared to what is going to take place after the church is removed and God's judgement breaks loose on this evil world.

I can't imagine a more frightening scenario on earth than what we read here. Forget all your worries, fears, phobias, and petty grievances of today, these events will cause even the most hard hearted to fail in fear. No wonder the author of Hebrews said, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31)

Which begs this rhetorical question: who is able to stand in the Great Day of God's Wrath? And the answer is no one... APART from the grace of God.

 

[hotcoffee]

The people who are still alive on earth at that time have now barely survived a nuclear war, bloodshed, famine, pestilence, and disease. And though we may think things are pretty bad (and getting worse by the day) in the world now the current situations is NOTHING compared to what is going to take place after the church is removed and God's judgement breaks loose on this evil world.

I can't imagine a more frightening scenario on earth than what we read here. Forget all your worries, fears, phobias, and petty grievances of today, these events will cause even the most hard hearted to fail in fear. No wonder the author of Hebrews said, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb. 10:31)

Which begs this rhetorical question: who is able to stand in the Great Day of God's Wrath? And the answer is no one... APART from the grace of God.

There are two sections in Revelation when the Heavens open. The first is the seal being open here... the second is when Jesus Himself physically appears to fight.

I've had times in my life when I wanted it all to end. The scene here brings those times to my life. When I had to run with three babies because the marriage was too dangerous for us, when my babies were stolen from me, when my daughter lost a battle with cancer [not the war... just the first battle], when my dad died, when my aunt died, when my other daughter lost her baby.... these are all times that I felt like I was hiding in a cave and I begged God to end it. I actually got mad at God when I asked Him to let me die after my children were stolen. I stomped my feet and yelled.... but in His time.... it's getting better.... because I talked to Him....

The scroll that Jesus is opening here.... is our fate.... that we have sealed over the generations since Adam & Eve.... Jesus is in control of our Fate... He's the only one that can open up the seals and look at our fate.... He's the only one that can help us change it.

It's up to us....
How do we handle it when people tell us there is no God?
How do we handle it when people are mean to us?
How do we handle it when we are hungry or we see others who are hungry?
How do we handle it when people kill one another?
How do we handle it when powers and principalities tell us we have to do something that we know is not right?
How do we handle it when everything everywhere is dark and falling down around us?

Those are the things that seal our fate.... as humans, as Christians, as individual children of God....

Do you talk to Him about it? Do you pray? Do you put your faith in Him?

 

[baydoll]

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-8)