Read with Me
Revelation 6:12-17 (NET)
Then I looked when the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place; the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red; and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”
Listen with Me
The disasters pointed to in this passage are evil omens of doom that portend the fall and complete destruction of those who had been persecuting God’s people. Like nearly everything in apocalyptic literature like Revelation, these things are symbolic rather than literal. (See Ezekiel 30:18-23 for another example of this same kind of symbolic language foretelling the complete overthrow of a nation attacking Israel.)
Signs in the skies, the darkening of the sun, the red color of the moon, and the great fall of meteors would all be interpreted as signs of God’s judgment. Add to that the catastrophic earthquake, and there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the time for divine retribution had come.
The response of those not on God’s side, even those who had mighty armies at their disposal and great resources that could be used, was to run and try to hide from the judgment that was being unleashed. There was a sudden and sickening realization that even a great army was of no use in fighting against the one who holds the sun, the moon, and the stars in his hand, and who could attack the very pillars of the earth. They called out to the mountains to cover them and hide them from God’s wrath and from the wrath of the Lamb.
Pray with Me
Father, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the emperor or his minions who were carrying out the actual persecution of the Christians to understand the kind of God you are. Their gods were inert. They did not speak and, the mythology notwithstanding, they did not act in any way that could be positively identified by those who poured out drink offerings before them. But they had dared to attack the people of the one true God. They had done so with impunity, refusing to believe that You really existed. But now, You were striking back. And as dire and as terrifying as these events are depicted as being, there was a clear understanding by these powerful leaders that this in itself was not Your judgment. It was only the first sounding of the battle trumpet. The real judgment was about to be unleashed, and it would make this opening salvo pale into insignificance by comparison. No wonder they hid! Lord, help us to live every day in the calm assurance that no matter how bad things might look, You are the Almighty God, and You are in control. Amen.