What Is the 6th Seal of Revelation?
The sixth seal can be found in Revelation 6:12-17.
"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. 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?”
Learn More:
>> The 7 Seals of Revelation
>> The 7th Seal and the Silence in Heaven
>> The 5th Seal and the Souls Under the Altar
The Sixth Seal: Earthquake, Sun & Moon Darkened, and Stars Fall
The first part of the sixth seal focuses on specific signs in the heavens that show that the coming of Christ is very soon.
The Lisbon Earthquake
A great earthquake, as mentioned in the sixth seal, occurred in Lisbon, Portugal on November 1, 1755. Nelson’s Encyclopedia calls this event “the most notable earthquake of history.” It took only six minutes for the great city to be almost completely destroyed.
The Dark Day
Twenty-five years later an event called the great Dark Day of May 19, 1780 occurred in the New England area. On this day a mysterious darkening of the sun took place which scientists still cannot explain. Darkness began to creep over the earth at 10 am. Birds went to roost, and frogs peeped as if it were nighttime. People reported seeing a moon red as blood rise that night. Many people were convinced that the end of the world was at hand.
Stars Falling
Another event occurred 53 years later on the night of November 13, 1833. This time stars fell over North America in the most gigantic display of celestial fireworks ever seen by the eye of man. Eyewitnesses of the falling stars describe with vivid words that never-to-be-forgotten night when the whole sky seemed to be on fire with blazing stars. These falling stars or meteors came as from one central spot. Just as a tree might be shaken and the fruit fly in all directions from it, so these stars seemed to radiate from a central point near the constellation Leo. Notice that these three events occurred in the same order as the events mentioned in Revelation 6.
Deeply impressed that these signs in the heavens were a sign of Jesus’ second coming, L.D. Santee wrote the following lines:
“Let your eyes to heaven be turning,
Darkened sun and falling stars,
See the crimson heavens burning,
Earth prepared for final wars;
Hear the scoffer ask with jeering,
‘Where’s the sign that He is nigh?’
Turn your eyes with joy and fearing
To the omens in the sky.” — L. D. Santee
According to Revelation chapters 18, 19 and 20, these signs will be repeated to a greater degree at the second coming of Christ. Then, the fourth sign mentioned, “the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up”, will occur as Jesus splits the sky wide open and comes racing back to earth rescue His children.
The second part of the sixth seal focuses on the negative side of God’s judgment upon the people who reject God and His Sacrifice for them and who insist on persecuting the faithful followers of the Lamb. These multitudes are pictured as unprepared for His appearing. They have no faith in God's Word or His promise to return.
In fact, when Jesus does appear, they are completely terrified. They do not know the Person who sits on the cloud or have a relationship with Him. Because of this, they are so afraid of this foreign presence that they ask the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the awesome, glorious power of the victorious Lamb. Eventually, God will grant their request. They will not be happy in heaven with the saints they have persecuted and the Savior they have rejected, so God gives them their wish to NOT live in His presence for eternity.
At the end of the sixth seal, the question is asked, “Who is able to stand?” The ones who stand are the ones who are covered by the blood of Jesus. Jesus has draped them with His pure white robe of righteousness (Revelation 7:14). This is not a righteousness that is earned by hard work, but a righteousness that is freely given, a free gift to the one who requests it. The one who does this is able to stand in the final judgment, not because he is holy on his own account or because she has performed so many righteous acts. No, it is because they both have requested the clean character of Christ to wear before God in the judgment. Because Christ allows God to see His own character instead of our own, God can say with confidence, “Welcome, my beloved, to your eternal home with Me.’
