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Rev 6:12-17, Part 2 – The Sixth Seal

[Additional material added October 16, 2009]

Updated May 10, 2024

Rev 6:12  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;
Rev 6:13  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.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Introduction

Last week we saw that all the symbols of this sixth seal, herald “the great day of His wrath.”

Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The book in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the revelation of Jesus Christ is the revelation of the great day of His wrath, and the great day of His wrath includes seven trumpet judgments, culminating in the seven last plagues and the “sea of glass mingled with fire” for those who are given the victory over the beast and his over his image and over his mark and over the number and his name”:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

The realization of the magnitude of this revelation prompts us all to ask, “Who shall be able to stand?” Our study today will be centered around finding the Biblical understanding and meaning of all the symbols which the holy spirit is using to signify the principalities and powers which dominate the heavens and the earth of our old man, “the first man Adam.”

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

What do all these symbols mean?

1) What is a great earthquake?

We already know that the “earth” is Bible-speak for God’s own people in rebellion against Him and His Word.

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

Jer 22:5  But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

What does Christ say of “those Jews which believed in Him” but could not abide in His Word? What does Christ tell us of the multitudes who believe in Him to this very day but cannot do the things He tells us to do?

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Just a few verses later Christ tells us what “the Truth” is concerning the multitudes who have come to Christ, as a whole.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

“If you will not hear these words… this house shall become a desolation… You cannot hear my word.” That is the meaning of the “earth” within us, and that is what we are told experiences “a great earthquake… in the great day of God’s wrath…against all ungodliness within us.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

2) What is the sun?

We already know that the sun in scripture also stands for Christ, “the Sun of righteousness.”

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Christ tells us that He is “The Light of the World.

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

“The sun” therefore signifies the doctrine and words of Christ which are “a lamp unto [us]”:

Psa 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The darkening of the sun, or the sun becoming black as sackcloth of hair, is the blotting out of The Truth by the multitude of lies which dominate our flesh, our beast. Our flesh much prefers the damnable doctrines and “smooth things” proffered by the false prophet, and all the churches of the great whore, Babylon.

Isa 30:8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9 That this is a rebellious people,
lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

Christ reveals in His parables that we first appreciate the good news of His Word, but then we succumb to the trials and tribulations which fidelity to Christ and His doctrine automatically produce:

Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

3) What is signified by the moon?

We already know that “the moon” is “the lesser light, to rule the night.” The moon has no light within or of itself, but it is given to reflect a certain amount of the light from the sun, so it is said to “rule the night.”

Gen 1:16  And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

Psa 136:9  The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.

The ‘moon’ signifies the carnal-minded wife of the Lord’s carnal-minded people under the law of Moses, as Jacob interpreted Joseph’s dream:

Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Joseph’s father, Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, signifies the Lord’s first carnal nation of Israel, who insisted on the crucifixion of our Lord.

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Joseph’s mother, Rachel, is signified by the moon in Joseph’s dream. From Eve, in Genesis, to Jezebel in Revelation, women and wives signify both the Lord’s first whorish wife who is rejected and destroyed. It is only through that death and destruction that we are transformed and we can then begin to be prepared to become His faithful and true wife. The Lord’s first ‘wife’ is signified by the ‘moon’ the “lesser light which rules the night.” In Christ’s time here on this earth in a body of flesh and blood, that ‘wife’, signified by the moon became which became “as blood”, signifying her murderous hatred of Christ and His Christ, was apostate Judaism:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Mat 23:5  But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Mat 23:6  And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
Mat 23:7  And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

That is “the moon that rules the night.” The “moon” wants to appear as light, but it has no light within it. It has no real light of its own, unlike Christ when He is within.

Then there is this:

Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We are all ruled by the moon, and we are all “of our father the devil” before we become “children of light… sons of our Father which is in heaven.”

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Eph 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

4) What is the meaning of the moon becoming blood?

We already know that blood is where the “nephesh”, meaning ‘the creature’, dwells. The life is not in the blood. “It is the spirit that gives life.” The spirit is not in the blood, but the nephesh which is sustained by the spirit, is in the blood.

Gen 9:4  But flesh with the life [Hebrew: nephesh, soul] thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (ASV)

The verse in Genesis 9 above tells us that “the soul”, or ‘nephesh‘ is in the blood.” It does not say the life is in the blood.  The point being that a  “living soul” is also a dying soul, whereas a life-giving spirit is not subject to death.

Eze 18:4  Behold, all souls [nephesh] are mine; as the soul [nephesh] of the father, so also the soul [nephesh] of the son is mine: the soul [nephesh] that sinneth, it shall die.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening [Greek: life giving] spirit.

When both the sun and the moon are unable to give their light, then indeed the Son of God, who is also the Sun of righteousness, has been slain and “the moon has become as blood.” Peter knew the meaning of this phrase, and he tells us as much in his words on the day of Pentecost. Peter knew that his forsaking of and his denial of Christ, along with all the disciples, made him complicit in Christ’s death. Peter knew that in his unconverted state, the blood of our Lord was upon his hands and that “the sun had been turned into darkness, and the moon [had] become as blood” with his denial of the Lord, ushering in the day of God’s wrath and the beginning of His judgment upon our sinful flesh.

Act 2:14  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:

Act 2:16  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;

Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Acts 2 is the account of the coming of the holy spirit to drive out the beast, the man of sin who was sitting on the throne of God in the hearts and minds of those who were given the holy spirit that day. There were no outward heavenly signs, yet Peter knew exactly what he was talking about when He said that the spiritual sun had been darkened at the death of our Lord and he knew that the spiritual moon had shed the blood of our Lord. Both the ‘sun’ and the ‘moon’ were within Peter and both are within each of us who have had our own part in the shedding of the blood our own Savior. We have all had our own spiritual apostate part in ‘turning the moon into blood’ before the Lord comes to destroy the man of sin within each of us with the brightness of His coming:

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

It is only through the judgment which begins at the house of God that we begin to turn from all our ungodliness and unrighteousness:

Isa 26:8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

These six seals are just the unsealing of the judgments of God upon our flesh, our ‘world.’ There are yet seven trumpet judgments, which culminate in the seven last plagues, and those are all yet to come as Christ are signified to be revealed within us.

5) What are the stars of heaven?

We already know that “the stars of heaven” are God’s angels, or messengers, for either good or evil, sent into the heavens of our hearts and minds, working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So “the Sun of Righteousness” is darkened by an angel, a star that “falls from heaven unto the earth.” This “star” is given the key to the bottomless pit. This is an evil messenger; “an evil spirit from the Lord,” sent to trouble us.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

6) What is the meaning of a fig tree with “untimely figs?”

We already know that the negative meaning of a fig tree (just as the negative application of the word ‘earth’) is just another type of God’s own people Israel, physical or spiritual, who turn their back on the Word of God. “Untimely figs”, like a woman with child, is immature fruit which will never be brought to term and must therefore be destroyed.

Hos 9:10  I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

Mat 24:19  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

There will be no “untimely figs” in the kingdom of heaven, and God will have no sucklings in His kingdom. All to whom it is given to be in that blessed and holy first resurrections will be “of full age.”

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child [Greek: nepios, a baby], differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [ to bear it], neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

7) What is the mighty wind?

While this word is not the Greek word ‘pneuma’, it is nevertheless, a symbol of the spirit of God, through which He operates to produce both good and evil. Here is how Paul uses this Greek word ‘anemos‘ (Strong’s number G417).

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind [Greek: anemos, spirit] of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

The spiritual opposite of being “tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine,” is “speaking the Truth in love”, which ‘love’ is defined as “keeping God’s commandments” (1Jn 5:2-3). One is a good and truthful “wind” while the other is “every wind of doctrine.”

For those with “eyes that see” Christ used the word “wind” in the very same way:

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds [G417: anemos] blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

It was the same plural “winds” that blew and beat upon both houses, and it is the same “winds” which proved what was the foundation of each house. We all first build on the sand, and we are all “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine”,  and our spiritual house experiences a “great fall” before we are given to build upon the rock. Both houses are tried by the “truth in love”  Word of God, and both house are tried by “every wind of doctrine.” Both houses are made manifest for their occupants of the foundation on which the house has been built. The one house will fall and be destroyed, while the other house and its occupant “abideth ever.”

Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

It is the winds of millions of false doctrines which will beat upon the house of God and prove whether it is built upon the rock of the sayings of Christ, and a desire to obey God, or whether it is built upon a desire to be seen of men and received by men. Our persecutions come from “they of your own [spiritual] household”, and they come “because of the word.” That is the meaning of “The winds beat upon that house…”

Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

The wind of Christ, “speaking Truth in love”, is the foundation of rock.

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

8) What are the heavens as a scroll rolled together?

We already know that God dwells in His people, and that the heavens into which Christ entered to cleanse them, is the hearts and the minds of His people.

Psa 123:1  Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

This is those heavens where God dwells:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [“the blood of calves and of goats” (vs 19)]; but the heavenly things themselves [His disciples, mankind] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [“Christ in you” (Col 1:27)], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

“Heaven itself” is the hearts and minds of His people. Our heavens are in need of being cleansed, simply because we have all been “children of disobedience”, and as the beast which we are by nature, we have all “defiled the temple of God.” As unbelievers, we have incurred the wrath of God. Therefore the “man of sin” within us must be destroyed by the brightness of His coming into the heavens of our hearts and minds.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the Lord’s day (Rev 1:10)] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

These verses, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 and Hebrews 9:23-24 reveal exactly where Christ dwells and what that “cloud” which received Him out of their sight is.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So our hearts and our minds are the heavens which had to be cleansed by “better sacrifices than the blood of bulls and goats”, and into which Christ is entering and destroying the man of sin who was sitting on His throne in our hearts. This is called “the great day of His wrath” in the prophets, and this is how that great day is described:

Isa 34:1  Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Isa 34:2  For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Isa 34:3  Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.
Isa 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.

Isa 34:8  For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

Why are our heavens likened to “a scroll when it is rolled together?”

Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

This is just the sixth seal, and we are told, “the great day of His wrath is come.” What do “the heavens” have to do with “the day of God’s wrath?” The answer to that question is found in these verses:

Heb 1:10  And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Heb 1:11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Heb 1:12  And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

The “folding up of a vesture,” and “a scroll when it is rolled together,” both signify “they shall perish, but you remain…” Our old heavens will perish in “the great day of God’s wrath”, but as is always the case, “he himself shall be saved yet so as by fire.” Look at these three verses.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

…and these verses:

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

“The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved… the heavens shall pass away…” That is the fate of our old defiled heavens and our old earth and our old defiled temple of God. That is what is signified by:

Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

We will pause at this point and finish in our next study of the significance of the symbols in the sixth seal which the holy spirit uses to reveal Christ within His own body to those who are given eyes that see and ears that can hear “the things of the spirit.”