Revelation 6:12-14; Terror Worldwide
Revelation 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; 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. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Lockyer observed well, “As the sixth seal opens, we have the premonitions of coming events: convulsions in nature and consternation among men. For a picture of social chaos in which nature shares the violent disruption, general catastrophe, and universal terror, these verses are unparalleled. Is the language literal or symbolic? Perhaps both are interwoven in John’s description of governmental and moral collapse, of disasters and disturbances in social and material realms. In this awful picture of the terrible results of apostasy, kings are found leading the agonizing hosts of earth. We have now reached the wrath of the Lamb, as it produces unlimited terror among men. A disturbed heaven and earth bring about the destruction and complete overthrow “of all civil and moral order. The whol structure falls.”
A most disturbing scene of a great catastrophe befalling the earth. The sun was given to bring sunshine and light and brightness to life on earth. Because the inhabitants have spurned the goodness of the Creator, refusing to acknowledge the good they have received, the sun became black.
When Jesus hung on the cross bearing our sins, the sun was darkened at mid-day for three hours till the work of redemption was completed and He gave up the ghost.
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
What a relief! The battle to snatch souls out of the clutches of Satan and hellfire is finally won. Since the time when Adam and Eve fell into sin and the earth was cursed and men had to die, God had conceived this plan to save men from the curse of sin that is death. God said to Satan in Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Jesus is the woman’s seed. Jesus was conceived in the womb of the virgin who knew no man. Supernaturally, by the Holy Spirit, the seed of the woman is unheard of. We are born of the seed of men tainted with sin. But Jesus was born the seed of the woman, never before and never after. He was born to die to bruise Satan’s head, dealt the serpent with a fatal blow. This is accomplished upon the cross. Satan will bruise the heel of Christ. Indeed, viciously the people energized by the evil one demanded Christ’s crucifixion. This is the fruition of the plan. What a relief.
Jesus was prepared when death came. John’s gospel recorded in 19:30
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
He has finished His redemptive suffering and was ready to return to God. The salvation that Jesus achieved by His suffering and death is complete, comprehensive, culminating. He restores life to the dead first spiritually in the new birth, when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and then physically at the resurrection.
Jesus had to make His victory over death complete and final. He uttered these words of relief, It is finished!
He had been on the cross for the last 6 hours. Humanly speaking, it is excruciating. Spiritually speaking, it is most excruciating. He was bearing upon Himself our sins.
In both Luke and Mark’s gospel, it was described how Jesus literally “breathed out” or He breathed His last breath.
Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:45-46 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
A breathtaking moment, a complete relief that sins have been dealt with once and for all.
Hebrews 10:10-12 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
The sacrificial system of the Jews pointed to Jesus and His sacrifice. It was a relief because the death of Christ was necessary to satisfy divine justice. Sin has to be dealt with, no human system of priestly sacrifice can help and sin was finally dealt with when Jesus took gave up the ghost.
In the darkness of the Lamb’s wrath, may the people be reminded of the Lamb’s sacrifice that they may escape that coming judgment by repenting of their sins and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Amen.