6th Seal What is it? When is it?

The 6th seal is the sixth part of a prophecy of the 7 seals found in Revelation 6,8. I believe the 6th Seal is predicting a crucial moment in time when the tables will suddenly turn in favour of the oppressed people of God. Great convulsions of heaven and earth will begin to follow in quick succession and uncontrovertedly evidence the existence of an almighty God who is engaged in the destiny and well being of mankind. All the inhabitants of the earth will be allowed to look upon God their maker and Jesus Christ their saviour and be forced to come to terms with the choice they have made and the part they have played in the great controversy between good and evil. This will be an hour of great horror to those who followed after wickedness, but a time of indescribable joy of redemption to the reveled sons of God.

When we let the bible interpret itself the symbols used in prophecy unlock the mystery of the interpretation and allow us to determine the fulfillment events. The meaning of the symbols is in the bible itself, lets examine:

6th Seal

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. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every island was moved out of its place. 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 (God) and from the wrath of the Lamb! (Jesus) For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Overview

• Great Earthquake
• Sun Became Black, Moon Like Blood, Stars of Heaven Fall
• Sky Receded like Scroll
• Every Island Moved Out of Place
• Great Day of Wrath
• Rocks Fall on Us
• Who is able to Stand?
• Interpretation

Great Earthquake

It is very clear from the reading of the 6th seal that the events described are literal and climactic events that bring in a sudden and drastic change upon the inhabitants of the world and mark the removing of the celestial veil and revealing of the face of God and of Jesus in fullness of His glory.

The great earthquake therefore is a literal event which causes every island to be moved out of place. This great earthquake appears to be the same as the one that follows the resurrection of the two witnesses:

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour (hour of wrath has come) there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell... and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.

We can see the many similarities in this event. The earthquake is also described as great, the people are afraid, and glory is being given to God of heaven who has now revealed himself through an unexpected resurrection of his witnesses.

Of further note is that the latter verses mention "in the same hour" and the hour terminology is always used with respect to Jesus second coming and "the hour of his coming" and with respect to wrath of God which comes on Babylon "in one hour her judgement has come".

Therefore the great earthquake occurs some time after the end of the 1260 days of witnessing and aligns with the beginning of the 6th seal. The group of people symbolised by the two witnesses, was preaching the three angels message to the world and was then persecuted and killed as a result in a great war. (See 5th Seal) After they are killed and as they are divinely resurrected marks the beginning of the events of the 6th seal.

Likewise, we can also link the earthquake here to the events of the 7th trumpet, even the prophecy of the two witnesses in Revelation 11 concludes with the 7th Trumpet and we can conclude that the resurrection of the two witnesses ushers in the events of the 7th trumpet.

7th Trumpet

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (God & Jesus), and He shall reign for ever and ever!" (God & Jesus reveal themselves)

..."We give you thanks O Lord, God Almighty The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. (God takes matters into his own hands now) The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come. And the time of the dead, that they should be judged (hour of judgement has come),... And should destroy those who destroy the earth (hour of judgement has come).... And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake and great hail.

Again we see a here exact parallel events to the 6th seal and the latter part of the two witnesses. There are loud voices same as the one that call up the resurrection of the two witnesses. God & Jesus finally show up in their glory to reveal themselves to the world like in the 6th Seal, God has taken his place on his throne. It is evident that God & Jesus are here to usher "in the same hour" the "hour of judgement" and "wrath" on the wicked who are terrified and asking the rocks to fall on them and hide them from face of God and Jesus.

If that were not enough there is a fourth parallel prophecy to help us understand the seriousness and importance of these events:

7th Bowl

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying "It's done!". And there was noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake... and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found....

We see here clearly many links back to the 6th Seal and the 7th Trumpet and the Two Witnesses. There is a loud voice from God which intervenes in the affairs of humanity, and there is a great earthquake which causes mountains and islands to flee away. We can see the wrath of God, the "hour of his judgement", has come on all the wickedness of Babylon, the false religious system instituted by the Beast, which has lead the whole world into apostasy.

These four prophecies are invariably linked and help us to sequence all other events of prophecy accordingly.

Sun Became Black, Moon Like Blood, Stars of Heaven Fall

The sun becoming black could have some symbolic meaning like darkness and obscuring of light of truth. Likewise the moon and stars can have symbolic meanings in prophecy. However, given symbolic spiritual darkness has already been foretold by the preceding 3rd Seal, this is actual referring to literal events as confirmed by Jesus himself in Matthew 24:

Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

We can see here word for word that Jesus is describing the events of the 6th seal. We have the sun darkening. We have the moon not giving light which happens during a solar eclipse when the moon has insufficient light to reflect of the sun and is in effect dimmed and turns reddish (blood moon) due to the aura of the earth eclipse. And we also have the stars falling from heaven otherwise known as a meteor shower. The powers of the heaven are also shaken which could indicate any of the other signs mentioned in the 7th trumpet like lightnings, thunderings and great hail.

We also have here the long anticipated revealing of Jesus (the Son of Man) in the fullness of his glory, and we have the whole world mourning which is similar to being terrified and hiding in the rocks because of sudden awareness of the extent of their wicked rebellion against Him.

Furthermore we have a great sound which is similar to loud voices from heaven which call forth the RESURRECTION of the dead (See 1 Thessalonians 4:16) which is in fact the resurrection of group represented by the two witnesses.

It should be carefully noted that the signs in the sun, moon and stars and the sign of Jesus appearing occurs AFTER the "tribulation of those days" which if you look back to Matthew 24:15-28 is none other then the "great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world". Therefore the truest fulfillment of these verses is yet in the future and cannot be any dark day in history, or blood moon in history or meteorite shower in history because none of those occurred AFTER the great tribulation of the apocalypse and none of those were immediately followed by the coming of Jesus and God in glory. For more biblical evidence on future interpretation of revelation see Bible Proofs for Literal Future Fulfilment of 1260 days, Two Witnesses, Seals & Trumpets.

The day of the Lord is described in prophecy as "a day of darkness and gloom" (Joel 2:1-2), and that "there will be no lights in that day" (Zechariah 14:5-6). Therefore the interpretation as literal darkness is consistent and the signs of the beginning of the 6th seal are predicting literal events in the earth and sky. These events are triggered as the veil between our dimensions and the heavenly is torn and Jesus and God are finally revealed to this rebellious planet in fullness of their glory. Salvation to those who believed and followed the Lamb even at the cost of their own persecution, ridicule, and condemnation; weeping and gnashing of teeth in utter darkness to the wicked murderers who were moments earlier doing the bidding of the dragon and the beast powers.

Here is a summary of all the parallel prophecy events that link the 6th seal to the 7th Trumpet, the 7th Bowl and the latter time of Two Witnesses

Sky Receded like Scroll

The receding of the sky represents the opening up of the heavens to reveal the Son of God on his throne in glory. It a literal convulsion of the sky but also symbolically represents the removal of the veil that seperates our dimension with the heavenly dimension. For the first time since God walked among men in the garden of eden, mankind will again be able to freely gaze upon his creator. To the saved this will be a scene of inexpressible joy of redemption, to the wicked utter horror and doom.

Every Island Moved Out of Place

The earthquake described in the 6th seal is so great that it causes great convulsions and even mountains and island to be moved out of place. The same events are also described in the parallel prophecy of the 7th Bowl (Revelation 16:20)

Great Day of Wrath

This statement tells us the core of what the 6th seal is all about. The day of Gods wrath has come. The time has come for God himself to intervene on behalf of his people and save them from destruction by wicked agencies. The work of salvation has been thoroughly finished, every person that could be saved has been. God waited with great love and long suffering through even the persecution and slaughter of his own elect until every nation, tongue, tribe and people were reached with the gospel and final repeated warning of his imminent return. Just moments earlier the death of these faithful witnesses has been decreed, as a great war was raging against them, but in the 6th seal is revealed their full and complete deliverance. As the sky is rolled away, the veil is lifted and Jesus having been given all kingdom and power in heaven and earth is seen riding forth as conqueror to rescue his own.

The great day of wrath comes AFTER every case has been decided, and probation is closed. Jesus has completed his work of intercession on our behalf, and handed over the books of life and death to God to verify and approve every account. Having been satisfied that everything possible has been done for the salvation of mankind, with a single phrase from the mouth of God, "It's done", and the controversy is ended. The earnest expectation of all creation has been reached, the sons of God have been revealed.

Rocks Fall on Us

During the unveiling of the 6th seal there are clearly great convulsions of earth and nature. We already saw there is a great earthquake shaking the earth at this time and every island is being moved out of place. These events are a cause of great fear and trembling for the wicked inhabitants of the earth. Jesus also spoke of this time stating that "men's hearts will be failing them from fear and the expectation of things coming on the earth". (Luke 21:26) We see the same "fear fall on all" the inhabitants when the two witnesses are resurrected (Revelation 11:11) which links these events to the beginning of the 6th Seal as explained above.

At this time the wicked inhabitants of the world would rather hide in rocks then face the one who they have despised, rejected and rebelled against. His very love and righteousness is repulsive to their evil spirit and the very act of looking upon his purity is agony to them. They were not always like this, to every one ample opportunity has been given to be saved. With tenderness the saviour has made many an appeal to them to return from their wicked way and be saved. Despite his very best efforts, little by little they have rejected the promptings of conscience until finally their course has lead to direct worship of the beast and satan himself.

Who is able to Stand?

The echo of the cry "who is able to stand?" by the wicked betrays their eventual utter realisation of the holiness of God and the sin and rebellion that they have participated in and perpetrated. The question "who is able to stand" is like saying, who has a case in the day of judgement and wrath before a holy and righteous God. They finally have a full realisation of the wickedness they engaged in and are filled with fear of what is to come of them. We are all sinners, but is there a group who IS able to stand and escape wrath at this time? Yes.

Two Witnesses

And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

We can see that the group of people represented by the two witnesses are told to stand at this time. They have borne the burden of reproach and persecution holding fast the commandments of God and faith of Jesus, they have not betrayed their belief and conscience even at cost of death. Just moments earlier they were cast out of society into the crags of the earth in solitary places by the death decree of the beast, but how quickly the situation is reversed. They are told now to stand as victors, while their enemies flee from their just due.

How can we be found in the group of people who are able to stand? The instructions are clear and simple and have been given us long ago:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Everyone who believes in Jesus and follows him in this way till the end will be able to stand at the time of pouring out of Gods unmingled wrath.

Interpretation

The 6th Seal represents a crucial moment in time when the tables will suddenly turn in favour of the oppressed people of God. Great convulsions of heaven and earth will begin to follow in quick succession and uncontrovertedly evidence the existence of an almighty God who is engaged in the destiny of mankind and a great controversy with evil.

As the sky is rolled away and the veil lifted, the inhabitants of the earth will be given a glimpse into the heavenly courts, to look upon God their maker and Jesus Christ their saviour. The same Jesus who so humbly came to this planet to suffer for the redemption of all, was despised and rejected, but now riding forth a glorious conquer, He will begin his descent towards the earth to rescue his elect from the powers of darkness once and for all.

At this hour, the very bones of the wicked will shake in horror as they vainly attempt to flee from His presence, but dispersed among them are those who have kept the commandments of God and faith of Jesus to the very end. The sons of God now stand revealed as victors, glorified by the Spirit and filled with indescribable joy that only salvation can comprehend.