Getting Revelation -Pt 11- The Sky is Falling

Rev. 6:12-17 - This passage is the most plain and obvious reference to the destruction of the Jewish nation in 70AD in this entire book. To the average reader it may not be so, but to anyone more than casually familiar with the major and minor prophets of the OT, and the four gospels in the NT, the connotations of this passage are clear and in-your-face.

Let us start with the first few verses here - 6:12-14 - "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 mountain and island was moved out of its place."

Now compare the descriptions above with a few similar Old Testament passages:
Is. 13:9-13 - A prophecy foretelling the fall of the ancient kingdom of Babylon - "the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine."
Is. 34:3-5 - A prophecy concerning the coming destruction of the old city of Edom - "All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as [fruit] falling from a fig tree."
Ezek. 32:7-8 - A prophecy against the ancient city of Egypt, foretelling her destruction - "When [I] put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you, And bring darkness upon your land,' Says the Lord GOD."

All of these passages utilize the very poetic and metaphorical language of the old Jewish prophets (apocalyptic language) to foretell the fall of an ancient city. They use physical descriptions of disturbances in earth and heaven (earthquakes, mountains melting, the heavens shaking, the stars going dark, the moon and sun going dark, etc) to foretell the utter destruction of wicked nations. The language is not to be taken literally of course (if it was, then the earth and the universe has been destroyed numerous times already according to scripture :) - it was simply foretelling the divine "wiping out" of a wicked people group.

No doubt the first century Jews knew this symbolism very well and that is why, when Christ came along, he himself quoted these same passages from the prophets when foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem in his Olivet discourse. Read Mat. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. He quotes these passages in response to his disciples question of when their first century Jewish temple (Herod's temple), with all its massive stones and beautiful buildings, would be destroyed:

"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 land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

So, Revelation 6 was not describing the end of the physical world and universe, but rather the final and utter destruction of the ancient Jewish city and nation.

This fact is further solidified by the next few verses in our study - Rev. 6:15-17 - "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'"

This is a direct allusion to the words of Christ as he was being led away after being beaten to be crucified - Luke 23:28 - "And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also 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 the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.'"

Suffice it to say that this passage of the opening of the sixth seal in Revelation is a direct fulfillment of the words of Christ against the Jews just a few decades earlier. The seven-fold judgment of God against the twelve tribes of Israel, as foretold by Moses himself, was finally and forever coming to pass.

In the next installment we will proceed with Revelation chapter 7.