12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Comment: With the first five of the seals being broken we have heard of action which is going to happen but, although the potential is for much trauma and consequence little of these bad expectations have occurred. Not so when the sixth is opened. They have so far been an enacted speech about what is going to happen. I think that time would have been given between the openings for adequate time to be spent in realizing the importance of what was said each time but it may have been over in an hour or so! Possibly there was a longer interval between the openings for deep reflection. The opening of the sixth seal is full of action! a) There is a huge earthquake. Was there a seismic shift in tectonic plates? Did it affect huge areas? I suspect so. b) There were cataclysmic stellar happenings. c) People fled and hid from God. It reads as if they saw that this was Divine judgement – the promised wrath of the Lamb of God being carried out!
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5-8 Says that the 144,000 is made up up of 12,000 from each of the sons of Israel (Jacob).
Comment: The consequence of opening the sixth seal continues until the end 0f chapter seven. But first we read of God dealing with the people springing from the 12 sons of Jacob. Over the intervening nearly four millennia there have been millions born to each tribe but here there are only 12,000 from each of the twelve sons mentioned! What is special about the number 12,000. Apparently in the Bible it is the numerological equivalent of ‘perfection’. Thus God dealt perfectly with those who are called ‘His People’! We’ll wait until tomorrow to see what happens to the rest of us!
Deuteronomy 7: 6 – “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”
Prayer: Please help me to realize that even though the Jews are especially chosen, that You still love me.