Sixth and Seventh Seals : Book of Revelation

The angel in Chapter Ten stated ‘there will be no more delay’. The Lord’s final sequence of His wrath on the world starts with the Lamb breaking the sixth seal:

The Sixth Seal:

“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; 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. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” – Revelation 6:12-14

The Bible prophesied of these events: ” ‘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 powers of the heavens will be shaken.” ‘ ” – Matthew 24:29

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Acts 2:20-21 (Luke quoting the prophet Joel)

By combining the previous two Bible verses concerning the sun and moon, the order of events is revealed. The Lord Christ said in Matthew 24:29 that that happens after the tribulation – and Babylon has indeed just been destroyed ending the beast’s reign – and Acts 2:20 said that that happens before the coming of the Lord. The seventh trumpet and rapture are coming next. So the sixth seal is sandwiched in between the two prophetic events.

“All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves.” – Isaiah 34:4

“I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” – Joel 2:31 “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.” – Joel 2:32

A little background about goat hair: sackcloth, made of goat hair, was usually a dark colour or black, worn by mourners and was used to show sorrow, mourning, grieving and/or repentance. It’s just as relevant today. It also happened to be one of the materials used for the tabernacle – Exodus 36:14 – “Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle”.

Fig tree: in the Bible, fig trees were used to represent Israel as a nation. Remember Jesus, in Matthew 21:18-22, cursing the barren fig tree, symbolizing their rejection of Him though He had been with them and taught them for 3 1/2 years. It should have been the time/the season for ‘fruit’, but Israel was still ‘barren’. So it is today with the many unbelievers and ‘lukewarm’, Laodicean-type Christians – the unripe figs – their fate sealed. Now is the day to return to the Lord. Now is the time to repent and receive salvation through Jesus Christ.

In summary on the Sixth Seal, Revelation 6:12-14, the Scripture is foretelling all the changes that will then occur to our physical world. There’s a great earthquake, so great every mountain and island are moved, the sun becomes black, the moon turns red, the stars fall to the earth, the sky rolls up. Readers, please understand, there is not going to be a scroll that appears in the sky, like I’ve seen in so many images. Instead, we observe the sky – the heavens – vanishing, like a receding wave. The focus is on the sky, not a scroll. Contrary to the believers being changed ‘in a moment’, our sky disappears progressively, hence ‘rolled up’.

The Seventh Seal:

Revelation 8:1 – “When the Lamb opened the 7th seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

Similar to the Seven Thunders, there isn’t anything written about what will happen when the Seventh Seal is opened other than it silences heaven for about half an hour. Whatever is written in the 7th seal sounds rather ominous and apocalyptic.

The half hour of silence will be broken with the sounding of the 7th Trumpet.