Revelation 6:9-17 Understanding Scripture / Greg L Bahnsen {Part 24 of 63 }

Have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for sending us rain and crops. We thank you for taking care of every material need of our lives. We pray this day that you would sustain us spiritually, that we might feed upon Christ, that we might know him as our Lord and our Savior, and that his word might enlighten our eyes, might direct our steps. We thank you that we have that provision of truth. We pray that we might respect it, and we might study it and know it, and Lord most of all, that we might live it. And we pray that your spirit would give power to us as we study this day. To that end. In Jesus name, amen. Hey, we're in Revelation, chapter six, and I'd like to read the entire chapter this morning as we go on to study seals five and six of the seven seals. Last week we studied the four seals, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the week before that, the significance of the opening of the seals. So we take up from that, and let's begin reading at verse one. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, come. And I saw, and behold a white horse. And he that sat thereon had a bow, and there was given unto him a crown. And he came forth conquering and to conquer. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come. And another horse came forth, a red horse. And to him that sat thereon, it was given to take peace from the earth that they should slay one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, come. And I saw, and behold a black horse. And he that sat thereon had a balance in his hand. And I heard, as it were, a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a measure of wheat for a shilling and three measures of barley for a shilling, but the oil and wine hurt thou not. And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come. And I saw and behold a pale horse. And he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and Hades followed with him. And there was given unto them authority over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and by the wild beasts of the earth. And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God. And. And for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a great voice, saying, how long, O Master, the holy and true, Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And there was given them to each one a white robe. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little time until their fellow servants also and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have fulfilled their course. And I saw when he opened the sixth seal. And there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. And the whole moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the princes and the chief captains and the rich and the strong and every bondman and freeman hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. And they say to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne. And from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath is come. And who is able to stand? What is the significance of the opening of the seals? Let's review here a second. When each of the seals is opened, we see a vision of something. And that is what? What does that sign? It's a preview of what's going to be found in the scroll itself. And the scroll represents. It's slow coming one of these days, isn't. Won't do us any good to go on trying to talk about the significance of each one of the scrolls if we don't have the general context down. The opening of the seals is a preview of the contents of the scroll. And the scroll is telling us of what woes. God's judgment. God's historical judgment. That's right. Course of history. All right. And the first four seals to be broken pointed out four horsemen. Four horses with horsemen upon them. The first being a white horse, the key to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The second being a red horse, the third a black, and the fourth a pale horse. And what's the meaning of these four horses in succession? The white horse is Christ going forth, conquering, and to conquer. And in his service he brings three other horsemen. The red, the black and the pale. And they symbolize what? The red horse, warfare. The black horse, economic distress or scarcity. Right. And the pale horse, Death, warfare, famine, pestilence, bubonic plague, and then finally being devoured by the wild beasts of the earth. And I concluded last Sunday, very hurriedly, because we'd run out of time. I concluded last Sunday that Christ uses these dreadful judgments of warfare, economic scarcity and death. To what end? He's going forth conquering, and to conquer. A little bit louder, establish his kingdom. But in what way? That's right. If men will not turn to the gospel, then Christ brings the dreadful results of turning away from God's word. They won't submit to the Prince of Peace, and the Prince of Peace sends them warfare and economic scarcity. And so Christ is continually not only sending his church with the gospel to convert the world, but he is also treading out the winepress of the wrath of God the Almighty. And so God does send historical judgments and fierce judgments upon peoples and cultures, societies that will not submit to the word of God. Now, as we go to the fifth and sixth seal, we're going to see that in particular God is going to use this kind of judgment in a particular way. The first seal was Christ coming, coming forth, conquering to conquer. The second, war. The third, economic oppression. The fourth, death in Hades. The fifth seal, however, shows us the cry of the martyrs for judgment. The martyrs of God are crying out that their blood would be avenged upon those that dwell on the earth. Again, that doesn't sound much like the types of prayers that we hear these days in Christian circles, but it's a very appropriate type of prayer that God will avenge the blood of his innocent servants, those who have stood firm for the word of God, those who have taken their stand for the kingdom have lost their lives. God should judge in history. In fact, God should judge and avenge for that shedding of blood. And then the sixth. Well, the reply to the cry of the martyrs for judgment, you'll notice, is in essence, weight. Be patient, wait God's time for that. But the sixth seal shows us immediately God bringing the judgment to bear. So that's why. That's one of the reasons why I insisted that the seals are not to be taken in chronological order or in somehow a succession of temporal events. Because the fifth seal says white. The sixth seal says, here's the judgment. And the interesting thing is, before we get to the seventh seal, now the whole seventh chapter of the book of Revelation will be something of a parenthesis between the sixth and the seventh seal. Chapter eight begins in when he opened the seventh seal. So chapter six ends with the sixth seal being opened Chapter eight opens with the seventh seal being opened. So all of chapter seven is interlude. And the important thing to see in chapter seven, we'll study it in detail later, is that the saints have got to be sealed. They must have the mark of God upon them before his historic judgment falls. It must be clear to the angel of death, if you will, whose household to avoid when God sends this historical judgment upon the persecutors of his people. So the seventh chapter functions as a preparation of the people of God so that they won't undergo the historic judgment. And yet we see already in the sixth seal that the judgment has fallen. So quite clearly this is not in strict chronological order. Let's go on and look at the fifth and the sixth seal in detail now. And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held underneath the altar. John sees something. This imagery is taken from the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, quite obviously. Let's look at Exodus 40:29, Exodus 40:29. And he set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. And he offered upon it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as Jehovah commanded Moses. We've already noted before that the imagery of the. Of the heavenly scene that John is given is an imagery of the temple or the tabernacle. And now we have filled out even further the imagery by telling us that there is in essence, an altar standing there. But the blood that was to be poured out in the Old Testament, the blood of the sacrifice was to be poured at the base of the altar. John now sees the souls of the saints at the foot of the altar. That's an extremely significant sign because the sacrificial victim's blood was to be poured out by the priests at the foot of the altar in the Old Testament. And now John sees the soul to the saints. By the way, blood and soul are two words that often go together in the Scriptures in the Old Testament as well as the New. The life or the soul is in the blood, as we're told. But now John sees the blood of the martyrs, the souls of the martyrs, the martyrs themselves, underneath the altar. A place of privilege and safety in one sense, and yet a place of sacrificial offering. And I think the meaning of that is that because these martyrs have come to Christ, they are found in Christ. They are Christians who suffer. The New Testament often sees Christians who suffer as suffering in connection with the suffering of Jesus Christ himself and his death. Christ suffered, of course, as the expiation for sin. He was the redeeming sacrifice for sin. But nevertheless, the New Testament says that Christians who suffer and shed their blood are filling up the sufferings of Jesus Christ himself. And it's interesting to see how often the New Testament portrays the life of the Christian in sacrificial language. Let's just look at a series of passages here to demonstrate that Romans 12, verse 1 will be well known to all of you. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies how a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable of God, which is your spiritual service, present your bodies a living sacrifice. In 2 Timothy 4. 6 Notice how Paul speaks of his blood being poured out. 2nd Timothy 4:6 For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come now. The Greek word therefore offered in my translation actually means poured out as a drink offering, the Septuagintal word for the Old Testament parallel of pouring out the life for a drink offering. Paul says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. Look at Philippians 2:7. I'm sorry, verse 17 Philippians 2:17. Yea, and if I am offered again the word poured out as a drink offering and if I am poured out as a drink offering, upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. Philippians 3:10 that I may know him in the power of his resurrection and the fellowship, the communion of his sufferings. Being conformed unto his death, Paul would know the fellowship of Christ's suffering, and would conform his life to his death. Galatians 2:20. I have been crucified with Christ, but it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me, and that life which I now live in the flesh. I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 2nd Corinthians 4:10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. We are always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus. Colossians 1:24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. That's probably one of the most significant of the series of verses we're looking at. Paul says that he is filling up. He is doing his part to fill up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ that he suffers with Christ. He is crucified with Christ, he pours out his life a drink offering to the Savior. First Peter 4:13 will be the last one we look at here. 1 Peter 4:13. But insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. And so we are partakers of Christ's sufferings. We bear about in our bodies the suffering of the Lord. We fill up on our part the afflictions of the Savior. And so when God's people, God's witnesses, give their lives, it is seen in sacrificial language. Their martyrdom is seen in connection with the giving up of Christ's own life for the sake of his people. And so John sees underneath the altar, you see the shed blood, he sees the souls of the martyrs, and from underneath the altar they are crying out. Now the reason that they have been killed, by the way, the reason they have been slain is for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. They obviously viewed God's word and testimony to Jesus Christ being more valuable than earthly life. And that too is something of a rebuke to a good deal of 20th century Christendom. Because so often we are lax when it comes to standing strong for a high view of God's Word and for the truth of God's word. We are very silent when we're in situations calling for a testimony to Jesus Christ. But here we're told that these people, these martyrs, viewed earthly life as as of lower value and lesser priority than the word of God and the testimony of Christ. The word and the testimony go together throughout the book of Revelation. There will be deep hostility throughout history toward those who are deeply committed Christians, those who will be willing to offer their lives as a sacrifice to God. Let's look at Acts the 14th chapter, verses 19 to 22, as an illustration of that. Acts 14 beginning at verse 19. But there came Jews, thither from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and entered into the city. And on the morrow he went forth with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the Gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and exhorting them that, what, through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. Paul had been stoned, left as though he were dead, and yet he returned to exhort the believers that through many tribulations they would enter the kingdom of God. So, for the word of God and for the testimony which they held, there's the cry of the martyrs from underneath the sacrificial altar in heaven. It's interesting here in Revelation, chapter six, that they cry out to God as master. Actually, the Greek word for master here is transliterated as despot. And they cried with a great voice, saying, how long, O despot, the holy and true, Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood? The martyrs addressed God, you see, as a slave would address a master, emphasizing the absolute power which he has. However, you'll notice that God is different from any earthly despotism, for he is the despot who is called holy and true. He's not just powerful, but he's holy and just. He's true and he's faithful. In chapter three, verse seven, that designation is given to Jesus Christ. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true. How long, O Master? The holy and true God is good, he's righteous, he is reliable, he is true. And for that reason he can be counted upon to judge and avenge the blood of his saints. The martyrs are not seeking indiscriminate revenge, not just a display of God's power, but they're asking that justice be performed on earth. And they want their blood to be avenged on them that dwell on the earth. The phrase them that dwell on the earth is used throughout the Book of Revelation, chapter 3, 8, 9, 13, 17. Throughout the book of Revelation, that phrase is used for all of unregenerate mankind, all unbelievers as a whole. And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a great voice, saying, how long, O Master, the holy and true? Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth, on the unregenerate? And there was given them to each one a white robe. And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little time until their fellow servants also, and their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, should have filled their course, fulfilled their course in a sense. The blood of the martyrs has been crying out since that first murder. In Genesis, chapter four, we read that Abel's blood cried out to God from the ground. Abel's blood cried out for vengeance from the ground. In Luke 18, verse 7, we notice Jesus is mindful of the need for vengeance. We read there. And shall not God avenge his elect? That cry to him day and night, and yet he is long suffering over them. God will indeed avenge his elect. He will hear the cry of Abel's blood from the ground. Although God's people do not call for this as a matter of personal request, as a matter of personal vengeance, they are calling for God's retribution. Romans 12:19 tells us, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. God will hear their cry. And so there's no question about God wishing to do this avenging. But he says here that they must wait. And those who must wait are described as having been given white robes. That is the sign of justification. They stand pure and righteous before the throne of God, and the robes are given to them. Because they are not righteous in themselves, they have not justified themselves. They have been given their justification as the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to them. But action is deferred for those who are justified, those who have witnessed to the word of God. Those whose blood needs to be avenged. Action will be deferred by God. The consummated victory of God's people over their persecutors will await God's plan, will await God's timetable. And so they are told they must patiently rest, or actually they must be steadfast in resting. Chapter 8, verses 3 to 5, points out, Again, they will be heard nevertheless, and their prayer will be answered. And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. There was given unto him much incense that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that was before the throne. So an angel comes to the place where there's this cry of the martyrs. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel taketh the censer. And he filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it upon the earth. And there followed thunders and voices and lightnings, earthquakes. See, at the very place where the prayer of the saints, the prayer of the justified martyrs goes up, the angel will take the fire of God's altar and cast it upon the earth in answer to those prayers. Chapter 19, verse 2, declares the answer to the prayer I'll read verse 1 after these things. I heard, as it were, a great voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. Why? For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great harlot, her that corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. So there's no question but that God's saints will be avenged in history, that those who persecute the church of Jesus Christ and those who force them to the point of martyrdom will in fact be judged by God himself. And there is going to be a chorus in heaven praising God, that in fact the prayer of the martyrs is heard and their blood is avenged. For the Christian, then, the destruction of evil is certain. That in itself is worth thinking about. Just stop and meditate upon that. For us, the destruction of evil is certain. Unlike the unbeliever. It's not a question of whether evil will be destroyed, it's simply a question of when. It's certain God will hear our prayers. God will avenge our persecutors. When will he do it? Well, according to his wise plan, Calvinist knows how to wait upon God, knows how to be patient. He should. Our Calvinism, our view of the sovereignty of God, should teach us to be patient, to wait God's timetable and plan. In fact, our waiting, the Bible says, will often include waiting through the midst of further martyrdom, waiting until all the servants who have been chosen by God to suffer such a fate have fulfilled their course. Okay, let's go to verse 12 now. And when he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. And the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Verses 12 through 14 use very, very familiar scriptural imagery. And that's what makes it so appalling to me that so many commentators have misapplied it. This language is very common to the Old Testament, and it's not difficult to let scripture interpret scripture at this point. But just at this point, commentators have been very prone to assume that this kind of imagery must mean the end of the world. I mean, here you have the heavens being changed, the star, stars are falling, the moon's becoming like Blood, the heavens rolled up like a scroll. Every supposedly unmovable object, the islands and the mountains, are moved out of their places. Clearly this is the end of the world. But that isn't what the symbol means. Throughout Scripture, it's a familiar scriptural symbol for the downfall of something which had been considered unshakeable. When you see a mighty kingdom which appeared in the power of man to be an unshakeable kingdom, which, when that kingdom falls, then it's as though the whole heavens have been moved out of place. In the Old Testament, this is common imagery for the destruction of a city or a nation. As I said, there are widespread Old Testament allusions to this sort of heavenly apocalyptic scenery. Such metaphorical scenery describes the fall of the Old Order at God's church. Judgmental power. When God moves in judgment, he will shake the apparently unshakable. And it says, though the heavens have been moved and the moon turned to blood and all the rest, obviously this is not the complete breakup of the cosmic system. It's simply vivid and forceful language using the breakup of the cosmic system as a symbol. And the reason you know that it's not literal is because you'll see in just a couple, couple of verses that men are hiding themselves in the caves and the mountains. The whole cosmic system has not been destroyed and moved out of place because men are still calling upon the mountains to do them service. So it's not literal at all. It's symbolic. What it points to is, well, we do know that there will be an establishment of a new heavens and earth that will be consummated in the physical world and the physical cosmos. Second Peter 3 tells us that all these things about us will be burned with fire and God will institute a new heavens and a new earth. But that will come as a result of the shakeup in the spiritual realm, the establishment of God's kingdom and the outworkings of his kingdom in blessing and in cursing, in blessing and in judgment upon the world. So what we have here is a symbolic manifestation of the coming of God's kingdom, kingdom and the significance of the Old Order passing away some unshakeable power. Apparently unshakeable power is now going to be shaken and it's going to be as though the whole heavens have been removed. I'd like to demonstrate that because it is such a pervasive misunderstanding of this passage. I think we need to get a little bit of Old Testament perspective. Let's notice eight elements of the description. We've only read verses 12 to 14. Let's finish out this description. Verse 15 and the kings of the earth, and the princes and chief captains, and rich and strong, and every bondman and freeman hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They say to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath is come. And who is able to stand? You will notice there are eight separate elements in this description of the sixth seal. An earthquake, the sun being blackened, the moon turning to blood, falling stars, the heaven rolled up like a scroll. Islands and mountains being moved, men hiding themselves in caves and calling for the rocks to fall on them. The day of God's vengeance and wrath being declared. And finally the declaration who can stand? Those eight elements are all found in the Old Testament. And let's go back and look at this. Working from Isaiah the prophet up Isaiah the second chapter, verses 12:19. The whole passage is significant, but let's just read to shorten our discussion. Isaiah 2:19 and men shall go into the caves of the rocks and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake mightily the earth. You see, when God rises in judgment, and he shakes the earth in judgment, men are going to go into the caves, into the rocks, the hide. Isaiah 3:1013. Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked. It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have done shall be done unto him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they that led thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths. Jehovah standeth up to contend, and standeth to judge the peoples. Now this is a declaration against Babylon in Isaiah, so let's turn also to Isaiah chapter 13. And here you have some of this. Now as the declaration of God against the nations judgmental declaration against the nations is given the imagery is this beginning in verse 10 for the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light the sun shall be darkened in its goings forth, and the moon shall not cause its light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible I will make A man more rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold of Ophar. Therefore I will make the heavens to tremble, and the earth shall be shaken out of its place in the wrath of Jehovah of hosts in the day of his fierce wrath. Isaiah 34:3,4. Their slain also shall be cast out, and the stench of their dead body shall come up, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood, and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fade away as the leaf fadeth from off the vine, and as a fading leaf from the fig tree begin to see how amazing this is. Every element of the description in Revelation is Old Testament imagery for the fall of a great power. And so against the proud idolaters, Isaiah declared, men shall hide in the caves. Before the judgment of God against Babylon we have the declaration that there will be earthquakes and the blackening of the sun and the moon ceasing against the nations, especially edom. In verse 34 the moon, of course is affected, and there are falling stars, and the heaven is rolled up like a scroll, and the falling stars are likened to a fig tree that gives off its figs. Look at Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53. Here's God's power to rebuke Israel. To describe I clothe the heavens with blackness I make sackcloth their covering. Isaiah 63:4. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come here in Isaiah 63, declared against the nations is the day of God's vengeance, the day of God's wrath being declared. Okay, let's go to another prophet. Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 4 and a prophecy against Judah, verses 23:26 Jeremiah 4:23:26 I beheld the earth, and lo, it was waste and void, and the heavens, they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and froz I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful field was wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah before his fierce anger. So the islands and the mountains are moving before the fierce anger of Jehovah. Now in another prophecy against Egypt, we find In Ezekiel chapter 32, verses 7 and 8, Ezekiel 32. 7 8. And when I will extinguish thee, I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof black. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not Give its light all the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord Jehovah in Joel, chapter three, a general prophecy against the nations. Joel 3:15. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. Look at Hosea 10 8. Hosea10 8. A prophecy against Israel. The high places also of Avon. The sin of Israel shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up upon their altars, and they shall say to the mountains cover us, and to the hills fall upon us. When Israel is judged, they will wish to escape the judgment of God in death. Look at Nahum 1:6 in a prophecy against Nineveh. Nahum 1 6. Who can stand before his indignation? Who shall abide in the fierceness of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him. Here again is the question, who can stand in the day of God's judgment when he brings this judgment against Nineveh? And then one last passage we can look at Malachi 3 2. Who can abide the day of his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire. Now, in light of all of this, from Isaiah chapter two through Malachi chapter three and all of the Old Testament prophets, now let's read again the declaration about the sixth seal in Revelation 6, beginning at verse 12. And when he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. The stars of the heaven fell unto the earth as a fig tree casteth her unripe figure when she is shaken of a great wind. The heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the princes and so forth and so on, called to the rocks and the mountains to fall upon them before the great day of the wrath of God. And they declare who is able to stand. Very pervasive Old Testament imagery for the destruction of an apparently mighty and and indestructible power. Now let's start specifying even more what the great power is that is to be destroyed. Yes, Dave, if that verses 12 through 15 are imagery, is the hiding in the rock and calling on them to follow, Is that imagery? Yes, it is. Okay, so you're saying then that actually there are. No, these aren't to be taken as signs. They are not to be taken as a sign when these things happen. No, we aren't to look for this literally to happen. Well, we're going to talk about that mountains falling upon us in a minute. Jesus has a definite declaration about the meaning of that, and I think that will clear up some of these questions later. So let's wait till that point. Let's look at Luke 21:9 11. What I've been saying thus far is that this is imagery. And secondly, it's imagery for the shaking of a mighty power in the end of an old era, the end of an old age. A mighty city or empire is going to be judged of God. In Luke 21, begin reading at verse 9. Jesus says, speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must needs come to pass. But the end is not immediate. Then said he unto them, nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences, and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all these things they shall lay their hands on you and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake. The destruction of Jerusalem will be preceded by wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilence, terror and signs in the heavens. Jesus says that's amazing, because in Revelation 6 up to this point, what have we read of wars, famines, pestilence, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, earthquakes and heavenly signs and terror. The six seals, so seals 1, 2, 3 and 4 and 6 are all summarized in this declaration of Jesus in Luke 21 about the fall of Jerusalem. Now, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse was death and Hades, who would come bringing destruction by the sword, by famine, by pestilence and wild beasts. In Ezekiel, the 14th chapter, verse 21, the Old Testament again in Ezekiel 14:21, we find those four things brought together that seems to be the source of John's illusion. And notice who this is directed against. For for thus saith the Lord Jehovah, how much more when I send my four sword judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword and the famine and evil, beast and pestilence, to cut it off from man and beast. Now, what I'm suggesting is we've already got hints of what this sixth seal is going to mean. The four seals and the imagery of the sixth seal are all summarized in Jesus Declaration in Luke 21 as what it will accompany the fall of Jerusalem. In Ezekiel chapter 14, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse, death and Hades and the things that death will use to destroy are all summarized as Again, God's judgment against Jerusalem and Jerusalem's destruction is to be due to the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. Let's look at Luke 23 now, verses 27 to 30. Luke 23, beginning at verse 27. This is in the midst, of course, Christ has been tried. He's going to Golgotha. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them, said, daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains fall on us, and to the hills cover us for if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? Matthew 23:29 38 Jerusalem's destruction will come as a result of the crucifixion of Christ and because of blood persecution. Matthew 23, beginning at verse 29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness to yourselves that ye are the sons of them that slew the prophets. Fill ye up, then, the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? Therefore behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them shall ye kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachara, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets and stoneth them that are sent unto her. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings. But ye would not behold, your house is left unto you desolate, Jesus says, because of the blood persecution from Abel down to the present day, because you will persecute the people that I send to you, because you will Shed their blood. God is going to leave your house desolate. And then chapter 24 of Matthew begins. And what is the central theme of chapter 24? The Abomination of desolation. Luke explains the abomination of desolation. He says, when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is near and those who are faithful were to flee to the hills. Note then that the sixth seal is an answer to the cry of vengeance from the blood of the martyrs. And Jesus says that God will avenge the blood of all of his servants upon Jerusalem because Jerusalem is going to crucify the Son of God. And so in particular, the allusion to the stars and the sun and the moon and the men calling upon the mountains to fall upon them, the allusion is to the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Luke 21:11. Well, I'll tell you. Let's look first of all at Matthew 24. Then we'll come back to two passages in Luke, Matthew 24:29. Here, in the description of the fall of Jerusalem, we have the imagery. But immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. The stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. So that Old Testament imagery for the fall of a great power, for the destruction of the old age that will be consummated with the fall of Jerusalem. The symbol will be of the old order passing away as though all the heavenly bodies were being shaken. And now in Luke 21:11, another of the parallels in the Gospels, for the fall of Jerusalem, Luke 21:11. And there shall be great earthquakes in divers places, famines and pestilences, and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven. And then Luke 23, verses 27 to 30. Again, we've just looked at it. Jesus says to the women, you know, bewailing the fact that he's going to his crucifixion, that they should really be wailing for themselves. Why? Because if they do these things in a green tree, what's God going to do to them when the tree is dry, when Jerusalem is completely desolate? He says, here's what will happen. They'll begin to say to the mountains, fall on us. Into the hills, cover us. Who is the first enemy of God's people? Jerusalem. The first enemy of God's faithful were the apostate Jews who persecuted Christ's disciples, who in fact crucified the Lord of glory. And so Jerusalem is going to be judged by God. And when Jerusalem falls, we mustn't see that as just one more of many historical events, one. One more fall of a great city. Because, you see, when Jerusalem falls, that is the complete end of the old order. No longer will Jerusalem have the significance for God's people as it did in the years previous. Jerusalem will be left desolate. In fact, the fall of Jerusalem will be the final historical indication of the beginning of the new age. Look at Acts, chapter 2, verses 19 and 20. Acts 2. Peter is preaching, of course, on the day of Pentecost. And he's quoting from Joel, and he's applying Joel's prophecy to his day. He's saying, you see, this is the fulfillment of what Joel was looking for. Verses 19 and 20. And I show you wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath. Blood and fire, vapor and smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood. Before the day of the Lord come that great and notable day, and it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then Peter goes on, ye men of Israel, hear these words. And he goes on to apply it to Jesus of Nazareth and so forth. And he calls upon those in his audience to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. What's the significance of this? While the heavenly Spirit signs and so forth in connection with the preaching on the day of Pentecost, because the old age is past, because Jerusalem doesn't have its significance anymore. Jerusalem has rejected its Messiah. Jesus came into his own and his own received him not. And God returns the favor, you see, And God says, my people will no longer be my people. And he casts off Jerusalem and leaves its house desolate. And Jesus, remember, prior to his going to the cross, had described what happened to the temple. His disciples were so amazed at God's house there. And he said, I tell you, not a stone will be left standing up on a stone here. Well, in connection with all of this, Jesus has, it seems to me, given us the understanding of the sixth seal of the Book of Revelation. He's applied all of the imagery of that, including the men calling upon the mountains to fall upon them and to hide them from. From the wrath of God. He applies all of that imagery to AD 70. It turns out that the first enemy of God's people, the first persecuting enemy of God's people, is Jerusalem, the apostate Jews. And so it falls right into place in the book of Revelation in light of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Description of the sixth seal in light of the fifth seal being the cry of the martyrs that their blood be avenged. All of these things are interpreted by Christ in the Gospels as pertaining to Jerusalem's destruction. So let's review this, and then I'll give you an opportunity to ask questions. The first seal is broken. John is told there's a scroll of woe and judgment, God's movements in history to avenge his saints. The first seal is broken, and we see Christ right forth conquering and to conquer. The second seal is broken, and we see that God will use warfare. The third seal is broken, and economic scarcity and famine. And the fourth seal, he will use pestilence and death and wild beasts. And the fifth seal is broken, and we see that this is all in connection with the fact that the saints, those who have been martyred, are crying for vengeance because of their blood. They, from the foot of the altar, are crying out, the God would avenge their blood. And the sixth seal shows us God will avenge their blood upon the persecutors. When God makes all, it's as though the whole heavens are shaken and men will cry out for death to save them from the face of the wrath of the lamb when God judges Jerusalem, his enemy. That expression at the end of the chapter about the wrath of the Lamb is certainly a forceful answer to those who want to stress today and emphasize only the gentleness and goodness and love of God exclusively. Notice how that gentle creature, the lamb, is called angry. What a striking expression. Have you ever seen an angry lamb? You see, it doesn't fit. But John wants it to strike out. He wants it to stand out with bold, you know, contrast. The wrath of God is mentioned 16 times in the book of Revelation, and here it's applied to Jesus, the meek and lowly Lamb of God. The day of Noah's redemption in the Old Testament brought simultaneously the punishment of mankind, the wrath of God. At the first passover, the Israelites were delivered from the angel of death. It passed over their houses. But those who rejected the Lamb's blood fell under the wrath of the lamb. In Isaiah 63:4 we read that the day of God's wrath is the day of God's redemption. In fact, Isaiah 63:4 is quoted in Revelation 6:17, or alluded to. What we must begin to see is that God's redemption is twofold. It's redemption because it saves some and it judges others. Our being led in triumph, Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 2 is a savor of life, unto life and death. Unto death. The preaching of the Gospel cuts two ways. It saves those who adhere to it, and it condemns those who reject it. And so Christ's cross is not only our atonement, but. But Christ's cross in the New Testament is also the sign of the destruction of Satan and in fact, the initial trigger for the judgment of the unbelieving world. So we can't be universalist when it comes to the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, according to Scripture, expresses the wrath of God. And when Jerusalem will not accept the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, then the Lamb brings its wrath against Jerusalem and destroys it. And men will hide from the wrath of the Lamb. Symbolically, it's told to us, they will actually ask for the mountains and the hills to fall on them. That was man's first reaction, wasn't it? When Adam fell into sin, he hid from God. An attempt to hide from God's judgment, a plea to the mountains. In fact, the calamity will be so great that anything will be preferable to it. Men will think, in Proverbs 8:36, we read that all they that hate me love death. And men will prefer to die than to submit to the Savior and to the Lamb of God. And that's why we read of the wrath of the Lamb and the response of men. That's very much parallel to what people do today in the economic realm. You see people who get into trouble economically because they are indebted. They will think that the answer to indebtedness is further indebtedness. They'll go deeper and deeper into debt to take care of previous debts. And that's somewhat, I think, akin to what the natural man does before the wrath of God. He tries to solve his problems by going even deeper into his own problems. He tries to find relief for the judgment upon his rebellion by further rebellion. And so the foolish seek a solution to spiritual death and to their unrighteousness in physical death. They think death will be their refuge, when in fact it will only be the portal to their second death and greater judgment. Well, the end of the chapter says, For the great day of their wrath is come, and who is able to stand? We've been talking a lot about judgment this morning. And while we have some passages in the Old Testament that repeat this statement, I think it's interesting in light of the imagery we've been looking at to contrast the situation and the answer to that question, to contrast what we see in Revelation 6 to what we read elsewhere in the Scriptures about the righteous. Remember the Mountains are going to be called upon to fall upon these people. The mountains will be moving out of their places, and then the unrighteous will have addressed to them the question, who is able to stand in God's mighty day? Who will stand stand when the mountains are moving? In Isaiah 54:10 the answer for the righteous, I think, is given. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed but my loving kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah, that hath mercy on thee. In Revelation 7:9. After these things I saw and behold a great multitude which no man could number out of every nation, and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, with palms in their hands, there will be people who are able to stand in the great day of God's wrath. They will stand, stand, you see, with white robes. And they will know that when the mountains are removed, still the righteousness and the faithfulness of God will keep them. And so who is able to stand? In one sense the answer is no one in another sense the answer is only those who are covered with the blood of Jesus Christ. They can stand before the Lamb and not know his wrath. Let's look in Closing at Hebrews 12:27. And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of these things that are shaken as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. Hebrews 12 teaches us that God will shake the world and the reason God will shake the world is so that his sure kingdom shall stand. Only the unshakable will remain standing after God shakes the world. Verse 26 of Hebrews 12 through 29 now whose voice then shook the earth? But now he hath promised, saying, yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made that those things which are not shaken may remain wherefore receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well pleasing to God with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire. Well, I think the Scripture makes very clear what the sixth seal is all about. The shaking of the nations by God and his judgment. And only those who have the robes of righteousness and the Lamb of God will be able to stand. Only the kingdom of God will stand when God has finished shaking the earth again. Let's pray. Father, we want this day to be found in Jesus Christ, clothed with his righteousness. We ask that those white robes of justification might be upon us. That we would not have to see the wrath of the Lamb, but rather his grace and mercy. That we would not be shaken with the world when you judge it, but rather we would be in that unshakable kingdom of the Savior. Now we thank you that you indeed are just and true, that you avenge the blood of your faithful servants, that you see to it that your Son shall indeed conquer, and that the world shall have to submit to him, whether it be in blessing or in cursing. We praise you for this, and we pray that you would hasten the day in which the kingdoms of this world shall for all time be the kingdom of our Lord and of His Savior. We pray in his name. Amen.