“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ And a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:9-13.
The above has been included to maintain context, we will begin this study with Revelation 6:14 below.
“Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” Revelation 6:14.
When you think of every mountain and island being moved out of its place, you have to think that the earthquake mentioned in Revelation 6:12 earlier pretty much has to be the granddaddy of them all.
The perplexing question is; how does the sky roll up like a scroll? The answer is simple once you see it. Imagine that you are standing next to a table that has a black surface; now imagine a roll of paper that is sky blue on one side and black like the table on the other. Then take the paper and lay it blue side up covering the whole table; now roll the paper up from both ends like you would a scroll.
Do you see the blue sky receding as it rolls up? Look how the Authorized Version of the King James Bible translates this verse.
“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together…” Revelation 6:14a.
Have you ever watched the moon as it rose and noticed that it was reddish orange? If you continued watching you would have seen that when it is about 15 to about 30 degrees off of the horizon it turns back to its normal silver/white color.
What you are seeing is the moon through miles of air pollution which then changes color when it rises above this pall of dust and filth. Imagine now, what it will be like when some sort of coming pollution is so thick that you can barely see the sun and moon directly above you.
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” Revelation 6:15-17.
This can only be a description of the return of Jesus Christ to rule the earth at the end of the tribulation, for at no other time is He acknowledged by men as anyone to be reckoned with.
Notice too the description of the men who hide in terror from the Lamb of God, the kings of the earth, great men, rich men, commanders, mighty men, every slave, and every free man.
The kings, and great men, who are nobles, courtiers in the presence of the king, I believe politicians would fall into this category. Commanders, would be generals and the like in military command, rendered as “the chief captains” in the King James Bible.
Consider this carefully, “every slave”, a man of servile condition, a slave. This may be those who are sold into slavery, or perhaps those who sell themselves just so they might eat.
Do not believe anything a liberal, socialist, communist, or one world politician tells you, not one of these ideologies will free you or mankind. They will always lead into slavery, always.
And this is what the tribulation government will be, the ubermensch (the over man), will lie cheat and kill to be on top, while the common man/woman will wind up in slavery, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Moreover these kings and mighty men had initially gathered to fight the Lord at Armageddon.
“And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him [Jesus Christ] who sat on the horse and against His army.” Revelation 19:19.
If you go back and read Revelation 6:15-17 posted earlier, then read again Revelation 19:19 above. You will see that the beast is not mentioned in Revelation 6:15.
This tells us that these armies do not panic until Jesus Christ takes out the beast. It is then that they realize that the battle is hopelessly lost and try to hide from Christ.
Not only do they fear His wrath but they acknowledge that He is the Lamb of God, which means that the martyrs and evangelists had done their job of preaching Christ Jesus and Him crucified through out the world successfully.
Tim LaHaye, author of the book “Revelation Unveiled” (good book, easy read) says the tribulation will see the greatest ingathering of souls of all time. He is absolutely correct.
“After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” Revelation 7:1-3.
The first three words of this passage are, “After these things”, meaning that the following events are after the opening of the sixth seal, giving us an uninterrupted time line.
There are four angels holding the four winds, all points of the compass, over all the earth, the sea, and even trees are not disturbed.
I am not a meteorologist so I do not know what would happen if the winds of the world just stopped, but I am really curious. One thing is certain, it would be disastrous.
Smog for instance can be anywhere there are industrial pollutants, auto exhaust, forest fires; even chemicals given off by some trees can create it.
Cities in basins like Los Angeles California are particularly vulnerable when the upper layer of air is warm and will not allow the colder air in the basin to circulate. So instead of being aired out the pollutants collect and become quite deadly.
This happens all over, from Mexico City to London to Southeast Asia. What happens when the air stops moving altogether?
What about areas where hurricanes are formed, will this create a mega-hurricane or none at all? What effect will it have on ocean currents? No matter what, this will be an event that will be noticed all over the world, with many deaths.
Here is another interesting thought, it is not stated how long it will be necessary to hold these winds while the 144,000 Israelites are sealed by the angels as shown in Revelation 7:4-8, covered below.
“[an angel] saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” Revelation 7:3.
A process like this might take as long as it takes us to read Revelation 7:4-8, or it may days or months. The reasoning here is that these 144,000 Israelites will have to accept Christ as their Savior before they are sealed to serve Him.
This would have to happen after the rapture of the church and before the beginning of the judgments of God in chapter 8. Something like this could happen all at once like a thunder clap, or it could take some time.
The angel who ascends out of the east with the seal of God calls to the “four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea.”
These angels are identified by this statement; they are either the four who blow the first four trumpets of judgment or the four who carry out the first four judgments in chapter 8. All of which affect the earth and the sea in one way or another.
These servants of God, who are sealed, evidently survive the entire seven years of the tribulation, and as you will see, this seal, which presumably is invisible, also protects them from at least one of the judgments.
“And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed…of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.” Revelation 7:4-8.
The bulk of the narrative in verses 5-8 has been left out to save a mess of typing (and reading), but it does enumerate twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes which is a grand total of 144,000 children of Israel.
There are two tribes left out (not by me), that of Dan and Ephraim. A possible reason for this is that Ephraim led in the rebellion in Israel and both of them were involved in idolatry, see: Judges Chapter 18 and I Kings 12: 25-33.
Revelation 7:4 above says very plainly that these 144,000 individuals are from the tribes of the children of Israel. It is a simple; “See spot run, run spot run!” sentence, no one has to check their Buck Rodgers secret decoder ring to translate it.
Yet there are people who continue to read some arcane message into this. The Jehovah’s Witnesses for instance felt that they were the 144,000 who would go to heaven. But when their membership exceeded one hundred and forty-four thousand, their theology had to be revised.
A plain statement has to be taken literally. But many Jews do not know which tribe they are from, is this not so? Yes, but it is God who does the sealing; and you know what, a staggering thought, He can keep track of all this!
“Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.’” Isaiah 44:6-8.
The Lord God Almighty has declared these things which are to come. He has also declared His love for all of us by giving His only begotten Son for our sins.
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [payment in full] for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10.
“Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel [or any person on earth]?’” Ezekiel 33:11.
Revelation 6:14-7:8 taken from godisrevealed.com updated on 11-12-16, reposted on 7-1-22.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.