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. And the kings of
the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondsman, and every free man, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Revelation 6:12-17
This is the sixth seal: I thought there were seven! There are and I will address that seal in another blog for it is altogether different from these previous six seals. This sixth seal presents a horrible time when all people, no matter their rank in life will be affected by the wrath that is poured out by the One sitting on the throne. The Greek word translated "earthquake" is: "σεισμός" where we get the English words, seismic, seismology, and seismometry, and in the Greek it means "shaking rock," with the idea of concussion, and used for "tempest," in the sea, and earthquake. This earthquake had great concussion with it and if anyone, and I have in Los Angeles, and other California cities over the years experience the concussion affect of a large earthquake, the highway concrete, buckled and fire, water everywhere and people confused, not something I want to experience again but this earthquake is so large, so huge that it causes the sun to be blackened as sackcloth, an eclipse and the moon became as blood, probably from all the dust caused by this earthquake. This earthquake was so large that stars fell from heaven due to a mighty wind associated with this earthquake. The earth was racked, torn apart as the land divided, split into several pieces, even the mountains being thrown down, moved the island no longer in their places.
Many have attempted to give some definition as to what those terrible things are and there are about as many interpretations as there are interpreters. So, not to add to all this confusing interpretations I will only go so far as to look at them metaphorically. In Scripture the sun is often associated with power and for the sun to be blackened as in an eclipse could mean that men of power no longer hold that power. The lessor men of power as represented by the moon and the moon turning to the glow of red like blood, could also mean that they too no longer have the power they once had. In Scripture the word star outside of speaking of literal stars is also associated with men of influence and they too no longer have influence, they are fallen from that position. It is not those men of power and influence that are no longer having some affect for they too are no frightened and they hid themselves from this wrath. "hide" us, "hide" us they cry, for the great wrath of God is come.
Do you want to escape this great wrath of God? If this is what you want you must do something to be able to escape. Jesus said: "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38). This is not a new invitation: "Ho, every on that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isaiah 55:1). By the way, the word for "believeth" is a present tense participle and the literal translation is: "anyone who is presently believing," so to be a nominal Christian is not to be one who is presently believing. Authentic Christians are the ones who at all times are "presently believing." Furthermore, the pronoun for "if any man" is an indefinite pronoun, "tis," so it is to be translated anyone. You can come to the feast on the last day, but you can come now to be an Authentic Christian and have flowing out of you "living water." Those hiding from the wrath of God are not the ones presently believing and are not at the great feast. You as a child of God are there and this great earthquake causes you no harm.
Do you know something of this "thirst?" We ought to know something about this thirst. Do you believe in a world beyond the grave? You should for it has been revealed in God's truthful word that there is a world beyond the grave. To you believe in God's judgment against this world, the sinners? You should for God also has revealed His purpose to rid the world of all that is against Him. Do you feel unfit to meet God? You should! But God sees all His children through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. You are to come as that old hymn states: "Just as I am, without one plea, save that they blood was shed for me, and that Thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come!" You have the promise of God that if you come to Him, He will not throw you out but invite you and bring you to the great feast on the last day. Others, well, this sixth seal ought to bring upon them now great fear that they need to come to Jesus or they will be of the ones crying for the mountains, the rocks to fall on them, hiding in caves in great fear. Everyone who come to Jesus and puts true repentant faith on Him by faith shall receive an abundant supply of everything that he can desire for the relief of his own soul's wants.
J.C. Ryle in his book, Holiness, gives this: "There is a pass in Scotland called Glencroe, which supplies a beautiful illustration of what heaven will be to the souls who come to Christ. The road through Glencroe carries the traveller up a long and steep ascent, with many a little turn and winding in its course. But when the top of the pass is reached, a stone is seen by the wayside with these simple words inscribed upon it: 'Rest, and be thankful.'" (Italics mine).
The road of life may be hard for you now, but when the last day comes, the day you reach the summit, you will be able to rest from all that wearies you. But....you must come, the invitation has been handed out for all, but you must read it, and accept it.
As for me, I will behold thy face
in righteousness: I shall be
satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness.
Psalm 17:15
Trust and obey for there is no other way
Richard L.Crumb
No comments:
Post a Comment