A great earthquake takes place! The sun becomes black; the whole moon becomes like blood; the stars fall to the earth; mountains and islands are moved out of their places; people—all people—want to die… Why? Because they know Who is causing all this… they know why He is causing it… and they know they deserve it…
I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair… Revelation 6:12
John looked when Jesus broke the sixth seal; there was a great earthquake and the sun itself became black as sackcloth.
Now, did it become rough like sackcloth that was made of hair? No. It became black. Sackcloth can be made out of a woven fabric almost like a burlap that lets in quite a bit of light. A sackcloth made of hair doesn’t let the light through so this is referring to the great darkness of the sun.
...and the whole moon became like blood… Revelation 6:12
The whole moon does not become blood, but it becomes like blood (at this point anyway).
...and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. Revelation 6:13
When a fig tree is shaken by a great wind and casts its unripe figs they fall almost all at once. This is how the stars of the sky will fall to the earth—all at once.
The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Revelation 6:14
The sky will be split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up—possibly the way the sky will look as a result of the stars falling from it all at once. Every mountain and island on earth will be moved out of their places—the obvious result of the great earthquake God will send during this seal. There will be major catastrophes in the universe and on our earth.
Let’s take a moment to correct a little misunderstanding about the teaching in a very popular song. We need to examine the words to “It is Well With My Soul”. The song says that the sky will be rolled up like a scroll when our faith is made sight. That means when Christians see Jesus, which is either at death or the Rapture, the sky will be rolled up like a scroll. The trouble with this otherwise wonderful song is that it teaches a wrong version of eschatology.
The song is referring to this verse, but it is all wrong in the timing. The song uses the phrase “when my faith is made sight” which is referring to when you go to be with Christ. It teaches that the sky is broken apart like a scroll at that time. Being with Christ has nothing to do with what God is going to do to the sky. This is a judgment; it is not a grand, glorious day (not in the life of those on earth, anyway). When the sixth seal is broken, the earth is going to shake so much that everything is going to jitter before your eyes. It will be devastation and destruction everywhere.
The Bible clearly says the sky will be split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up during the sixth seal and it does not connect the Rapture to the sixth seal in any way, shape, or form. We will be caught up to be with Him in the clouds at the Rapture, but the sky is not going to change in any way whatsoever. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) We are to comfort one another with the words from 1 Thessalonians 4. And it most certainly can be well with our soul if we understand what is going to take place because we have listened to Him in His Word and believe that His judgements are righteous and true.
So… was the person who wrote the song sinful? No. The person that wrote the song just didn’t hear the whole truth; maybe he didn’t study diligently, I don’t know. He found a wonderful phrase in the Bible but used it out of context. I did the same thing when my husband and I were going to have our babies. I looked in a baby book to find Bible names. You don’t know how close we came to naming our boys after evil men because I didn't study correctly. Do you see what I’m saying? We don’t always know what we think we know! God does not wipe your tears away in the present heaven, and Christians do not meet Him at the time the sky is broken apart like a scroll. Everything is going to happen in the way and in the timing that He says it will—His Word is perfect. He guarantees it.
Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us…” Revelation 6:15-16
The mountains are breaking apart and huge rocks are falling because of the great earthquake God will send. Men will want the rocks to fall on them in order to kill them because they are in such misery from the previous judgments. Which men will want to die? The kings of the earth, the great men and the commanders, the rich men, the strong men, the slaves, and the free men—the judgments of God will make all men want to die… but death will not save them from the wrath of God…
...and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Revelation 6:16-17
The men of the earth think that dying will hide them from the presence of God, Who sits on the throne (the only sovereign throne), and from the wrath of the Lamb, but they are wrong. God’s wrath has only begun. It will be poured out in full before He is done, and those who have rejected Him as God will spend all of eternity suffering the consequences of their decision. They see this sixth seal, which is, of course, a terrible judgment, as the beginning of the great day of the wrath of God. In one way they are right, because it is most definitely coming, but His full wrath won’t officially be poured out until later in the book of Revelation—when the seventh trumpet sounds.
For those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, it will be well with ours souls because we know and believe that His judgments are righteous and true. During the judgments it will not be well with the souls of those who dwell on the earth, those who have rejected the salvation of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.
Regarding God’s judgments and vengeance on those who dwell on the earth, the souls under the altar say, “They deserve it.” We all deserve God’s wrath—everyone… every single person who has ever lived…
I deserve it, too… but praise God and His Lamb I’ve been spared from it…
