part 28: The great shaking
Puzzled About Revelation, june 2 2022
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
main text: revelation 6:12-14
recap: the 6th seal and the end of the age
The importance of a right interpretation of the 6th seal:
1. Preterists and postmillennialists make it historical (already fulfilled).
2. Amillennialists make it allegorical (not literal, but spiritual).
3. Pre-tribulationists make it chronological (near the beginning or first half of the Tribulation).
The controversial but biblical interpretation of the nature and timing of the 6th seal:
1. The Great Day of the Lord’s wrath/Day of God/Day of Christ at the end of the age (“post-tribulation”).
2. The “Last Day”/Day of Resurrection/Day the heavens and earth “pass away” and are destroyed at the coming of the Lord (Job 14:12; Matt. 24:35)
3. The 6th seal coincides with the 7th trumpet and 7th bowl at the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 11:15-19; 16:12-21).
This week and next (parts a & b)
This week, Part A: We will look at several passages from the Hebrew Prophets and Psalms to see how they connect with the 6th seal, and what they had to say about the nature and timing of these catastrophic events. These OT Scriptures will fill in gaps and help to clarify some of the interpretive issues.
Next week, Part B: We will look at three major prophetic “types” in Scripture that further validate this interpretation, as well as the theological significance of the “great shaking”.
Part A: The Great Shaking & The Prophets
“The Great Shaking” Revelation 6:12-14
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”
The first thing that John notes upon the opening of the 6th seal is a “great earthquake”.
Remember that whenever God appears in Scripture, especially in the prophets, there is what is known as a theophany. This is the creation reacting to the presence of God in a profound way, because God’s presence is weighty and heavy. In fact, the Hebrew word for glory is kavod (heavy or weighty.) When God appears, the earth responds.
The prophetic Scriptures all speak of earthquakes, celestial disturbances, and the rolling up (“passing away”) of the heavens as “signs” pointing to the end of the age and the Day of the Lord. Let us consider what the Biblical Prophets say about each of these important events connected to the breaking of the 6th seal and the shaking of heaven and earth.
When Adam fell, all creation fell with him. All creation was subjected to the curse because of Adam, and is presently groaning, awaiting the day of redemption when the sons of God will be revealed. This will climax on the Day of the Lord when all of creation comes apart at the seams. It will be almost a reversal of creation.
The Prophet Isaiah:
Isaiah 2:19: “[In that day], people will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth.”
Isaiah 13:9-13: “See, the day of the Lord is coming—a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger—to make the [earth] desolate and destroy the sinners within it. 10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. 11 I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless. 12 I will make people scarcer than pure gold, more rare than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger.”
Note: Next references are Isaiah 24, not Isaiah 18 or Isaiah 13
Isaiah 24:18b-23: “The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. 20 The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again…
…21 In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. 22 They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days. 23 The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders—with great glory.”
Isaiah 29:5b-6: “Suddenly, in an instant, 6 the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.”
Isaiah 30:27-28: “See, the Name of the Lord comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire. 28 His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction; he places in the jaws of the peoples a bit that leads them astray.”
Isaiah 34:2-4: “The Lord is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. 3 Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. 4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”
Isaiah 51:6: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.”
Isaiah 54:10: “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
Isaiah 64:1-4: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. 4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” (Tribulation martyrs – Rev. 6:9-11)
The Prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 38:18-23: “This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign Lord. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23 And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
The Prophet Joel:
Joel 2:30-31: “I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”
Joel 3:14-16: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”
The Prophet Micah:
Micah 1:3-5a: “Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth. 4 The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. 5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel.”
The Prophet Nahum:
Nahum 1:5: “The mountains quake before Him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at His presence, the world and all who live in it.”
The Prophet Haggai:
Haggai 2:6-9: “6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Haggai 2:20-22: “20 The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: 21 “Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. 22 I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.”
The Prophet Zechariah:
Zech. 14:2,4-5: “I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it… 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.”
The Prophet-King David:
Psalm 18:6-15: “6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. 7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—the dark rain clouds of the sky. 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.13TheLordthunderedfrom heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.”
Jesus, the Son of God:
Matt. 24:29-31, 35: “29 “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 the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “Then(at that time) will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then(at that time) all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And (then, at that time) he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather (“rapture”)his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other…35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Conclusion: Jesus, the Final Prophet and Son of God, clearly interpreted these prophecies as literal events that occur when He comes visibly and in great glory, and they represent the “passing away” of the heavens and earth at the end of the age.Since the present heavens and earth are going to be destroyed in this way at the coming of the Lord, how now shall we live?
Heb. 12:25-29: “25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken ,let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Isaiah 24:1-5: “See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it; he will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants—2 it will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for seller as for buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth. 5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.”