REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 6.10

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

(The Apocalypse)

 

Chapter Six

 

 

(Verse 10)

 

And they were crying in a loud voice, saying, "Until when, O Lord, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood from those dwelling upon the earth?"

 

Millions will accept Jesus Christ during a time when great turmoil is instigated by Antichrist. As seen in the previous study, people will be persecuted and martyred for their faith. Apart from being seen, the soul can be heard while in the spirit. The souls of martyrs under the altar of God's Throne are loudly crying out for their blood to be avenged. It is a prayer for vengeance or a plea for justice only God can accomplish premised on His holy Law.

Romans 12:19 - 'Vengeance is Mine, I will recompense, saith the Lord.'  (YLT)

 

However, we must recall what the martyrs endured on earth:

1.  The agony of the fiery flames

2.  The beheadings

3.  The arenas of wild beasts

 

So, they are invoking the One on the Throne to act on their behalf against evil. Picture the saints desiring punishment of their persecutors. They, of course, are bewildered because of God's inactivity to vindicate.

 

Also notice, in one verse, in a state of separation from the body, the suffering righteous souls are identifiable in several ways:

1.  They are visible

2.  They are conscious

3.   They are audible

4. They are impatient

5.  They have reason

6.  They distinguish between good and evil

7.  They acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Master

 

Their dynamic plea resounds, "How long do we need to wait until our blood is avenged?"

 

 

(Verse 11)

 

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

 

White robes were given unto every one of them

Symbolizing purity and victory, a white robe (Greek; stole, a long fitting gown that flowed to the feet) was given to each of them as a reward for God's grace. God's gift of eternal righteousness, blessedness, dignity, honor, and glory is granted for their steadfast faithfulness and endurance. However, a white robe is only a temporary covering suited for Heaven but is later replaced with an everlasting resurrection body until the end of Tribulation at the time of Christ's Second Return.

 

And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

The martyred souls are told to rest (souls are resting, not sleeping). God is not rebuking them by saying, "Rest or wait and be patient," but extending an invitation until His vengeance is complete because there is one more wave of persecution that ensues (elaborated in Revelation 20:4) before the Kingdom is established.

 

A little season

A little while longer means the time will no longer be delayed for an extended period. In God's plan, all believers will have an equal opportunity to accept Jesus Christ during Tribulation. Coinciding with Romans Chapter 11, Israel's remnant will be delivered throughout this phase.

 

Their fellowservants also and their brethren.

Two groups of people are identified:

1.  Fellow servants – Those who are alive and willing to die like martyrs

2.  Brethren – Those brothers in the Lord who are killed

 

Before the Sixth Seal is opened, it is important to note that God's judgment never comes to destroy but to judge or wake people up. Even though one-quarter of the world's population is lost, multitudes upon multitudes come to faith in Jesus Christ during this period (cf. Joel 3:14 ff.) – The essence of God's wrath and mercy, solely intended for hearts to turn toward Him.

 

 

The Sixth Seal

 

(Verse 12)

 

And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.

 

The action of all seals is an act of God's wrath, and it is literal. The judgments of the first five seals were under the jurisdiction of the Antichrist and are natural consequences of the conqueror. However, the sixth and seventh seals are an outpouring of God's anger.

 

Opening at the midpoint, the sixth seal launches the beginning of the last half of the Great Tribulation commonly known as "the Great Day of His Wrath." God will administer supernatural judgments from Heaven upon the Earth causing great upheavals and havoc in the natural universe affecting the sun, the moon, and the stars.

 

Also, for the Seal's duration, the scene shifts from Heaven back to Earth. When reading Matthew Chapter 24 [the Beginning of Sorrows, meaning birth pangs (cf. verse 8)], Jesus describes the signs of the times, however, they are presently being restrained. This judgment will open an era in the earth's history when earthquakes and everything else will be unrestrained.

 

Luke's Gospel records:

Luke 21:11 - And great earthquakes shall be in divers (various) places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

 

And, lo, there was a great earthquake

 

Earthquakes

The word for an earthquake in Greek is seismos from which we acquire the word seismograph, an instrument used to reveal the frequency duration, and energy of large earthquakes. Seismos is defined as a general shaking of the earth. The Hebrew word ra‛ash is defined as an uproar or shaking.

 

The word for great in Greek is megas signifying mighty and exceedingly great, i.e., greater than other quakes. Even though man believes earthquakes are natural disasters, Almighty God is in total control.

 

Some infamous earthquakes as seen in the Old Testament occurred:

1.  During Noah's Flood (cf. Genesis 7:11)

2.   The giving of the Law to Moses on Sinai (cf. Exodus 19:18)

3. The toppling of Jericho's city walls (cf. Joshua 6;20)

 

Likewise, in the New Testament, quakes appear:

1.  During the Crucifixion (cf. Matthew 27:51-54)

2.   At the Resurrection (cf. Matthew 28:2)

3. In the prison at Philippi (cf. Acts 16:26)

 

Another example is found in Matthew's Gospel when the Lord was asleep in the ship and the disciples were afraid: 

Matthew 8:24 - And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep.

 

Interestingly, the word for a tempest in this passage is seismos, the same word employed for an earthquake.

 

Earthquakes existing in the present are not a fulfillment of prophecy, but merely a demonstration of what will transpire in God's timing. What John observed was far more powerful than any previous one.

 

Three great earthquakes recorded in Revelation affecting all nature are noted:

1.   Revelation 6:12 – At the beginning of the Great Tribulation

2.  Revelation 11:13 – At the battle of Gog and Magog

3. Revelation 16:18-19 – At Christ's Second Coming

– The last is unlike any other.

Revelation 16:18 - And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

 

And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair

On the heels of a great earthquake comes a second disaster - Darkness will envelop the earth and the sun --- the source of light for the planet --- will be blotted out. Even though a side effect of an earthquake is fire, God will supernaturally cause the moon to become black as soot.

 

This phenomenon has occurred several times in Scripture:

1.  A total eclipse during the plagues of Egypt (cf. Exodus 10:22)

2.  The shrouding of Mount Sinai with darkness (cf. Deuteronomy 4:11)

3.  Three hours while Jesus was on the Cross (cf. Luke 23:44-45)

 

John likens this scenario to a sackcloth of black hair. A sackcloth is a coarsely woven mesh bag made of goat hair, namely for bagging grain, and commonly worn as a token of mourning.

 

In describing Israel's sin, Isaiah writes the following similes:

Isaiah 50:3 - I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

It is also associated with a great worldwide quake.

 

And the moon became as blood

John is describing the moon becoming not blood but reddened like blood-red as ashes and smoke entirely eclipse the moon.

 

The prophet Joel and Jesus prophesied this event precisely to John's description, thus adding more reason for global panic.

Joel 2:31 – The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

 

Matthew 24:29 - Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

 

 

Continuing…

(Verse 13)

 

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

 

After the moon turns blood red, the sun is darkened, and the great earthquake, the fourth cosmic disturbance occurs - Stars of the heavens fall from the sky to earth. Once again, the description is literal – Earth means Earth.

 

Stars

As-tare' is the Greek word for stars and their meaning can be taken literally as actual stars, or figuratively as any heavenly bodies other than the sun, moon, or stars. Presumably, John is observing asteroids, meteors, and comets. Upon entering the earth's atmosphere, they incinerate, thus suggesting there will be meteor showers like gigantic bomb explosions. The language is very clear.

 

Even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind

 

The Fig Tree

The fig tree is mentioned or implied in the Bible as early as Genesis 3:7 after Adam and Eve used large fig leaves to cover their nakedness upon their disobedience.

 

Fig trees have no blossoms on their branches but rather inside their fruit. Many tiny flowers produce tiny edible flower seeds thus giving figs their unique texture. However, figs must ripen fully on the tree before being picked. Tiny immature figs will not ripen later.

 

John uses the analogy of untimely or unseasonable figs falling from their trees when shaken by gale-force winds to the stars of heaven falling. So, the readers in John's day are very familiar with the nature of fig trees.

 

As the following verses continue, two more catastrophes are brought to our attention in the Sixth Seal Judgment:

1.  Heavens open

2.  The Earth moves

 

 

(Verse 14)

 

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

 

Heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together

The first heaven, our sky, will split wide open and recede like a scroll, similar to the parting of the Red Sea so that man will get an awesome glimpse of God sitting on His Throne. Alluding to this event, God's prophet writes:

Isaiah 34:4 - And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

 

And every mountain and island were moved out of their places

Mountains are uprooted from their foundations and every island will be displaced. Other Prophets foretell:

Jeremiah 4:24 - I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

 

Nahum 1:5 - The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His presence.

Please notice there is no as or like in the sentence. Subsequently, this event will be a reality.

 

The following study details the consequences to the spectrum of humanity whose hearts are hardened and do not heed God's warning signs.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.   Why are the souls anxious for their blood to be avenged?

2.   What are some attributes of a soul?

3.   What is God's response to their request?

4.   What differentiates the Sixth Seal from the first five?

5.   What is the significance of quakes during the Tribulation?

6.   Name the consequences of the Sixth Seal.

7.   What is the motivation behind the wrath of God?

 

 

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