If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 36

Great Signs in Heaven

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Great Signs in Heaven

Let's pray before beginning this lesson:

Our Father,

As we study the seven seals contained in the prophetic book of Revelation, we discover wonderful messages filling us with confidence in Your Word, and hope in Your promises.

Today we start on the sixth seal. Please guide us during this lesson, so that we may properly understand what You want to tell us.

In Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen.

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Great Signs in Heaven

Revelation 4:1	Comments
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ŤCome up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.ť	The opening of the seven seals, which Jesus made possible, reveals to us Ťthings which must take place after thisť. Now, let's study the sixth seal.
Revelation 5:5
Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

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Revelation 6:12-14	Comments
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.	The sixth seal opens with a spectacular scene marked by a great earthquake and amazing signs in heaven.

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Revelation 6:12,14	Comments
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake (...). Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.	We have seen that the letter to the sixth church, Philadelphia, covers the period of great spiritual awakening from 1755 to 1844. In 1755, the terrible Lisbon earthquake awoke Christians to the fact that the return of Jesus was really imminent. The sixth seal also describes those events, but also includes the period of the seventh church, Laodicea, that is, from 1844 to the return of Jesus.

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Revelation 6:12,13	Comments
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.	After the great earthquake of 1755, the sixth seal presents a real astronomical calendar, identifying signs in heaven that will succeed one another until the return of Jesus: - first, the darkening of the sun; - then, the moon becoming like blood; - and finally, the fall of the stars. These three heavenly phenomena are also listed elsewhere in the Bible...

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Signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, before the return of Jesus:

ŤImmediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven.ť (MATTHEW 24:29,30)

ŤAnd there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars (...). Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.ť (LUKE 21:25,27)

Ť"And it shall come to pass in the last days," says God, "that (...) the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord."ť (ACTS 2:17,20)

ŤThe sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it?ť (JOEL 2:10,11)

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Matthew 24:29	Comments
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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.	Jesus confirms the seals' chronology, specifying that the signs in heaven will take place Ťafter the tribulation of those daysť, that is, after the persecutions of the Middle Ages. Now, let's study these signs one by one.
Revelation 6:12,13
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.

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Revelation 6:12

Comments

The sun became black as sackcloth of hair.

This phenomenon, recorded in books about the history of Astronomy, took place on May 19, 1780: it was not an eclipse, and this fact still remains unexplained.

An eyewitness declared: ŤA sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet.ť (Samuel Tenney, Letter (1785) in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society).

The darkening of the sun lasted many hours, leaving many places in America in total darkness.

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Revelation 6:12	Comments
The moon became like blood.	The night following the dark day of May 19, 1780, the clouds dispersed to unveil the moon which was, according to eyewitnesses, Ťas red as bloodť. This additional historical fact, also still unexplained, can be verified in any good Astronomy encyclopedia.
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

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Revelation 6:13	Comments
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.	The great star shower took place during the early morning hours of November 13, 1833. This heavenly spectacle produced such a light that it was possible to read the newspaper in the street. Those who witnessed this fantastic phenomenon thought that the end of the world had come. This is another historical fact that can easily be verified in any Astronomy encyclopedia.

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Revelation 6:13,14	Comments
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.	Both Jesus and the sixth seal announce that after the fall of the stars, the next sign in heaven will be the return of Jesus Himself. The remainder of the sixth seal thus describes what will happen on this glorious day.
Matthew 24:29
The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

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Revelation 6:14	Comments
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.	First, the day of Jesus' return will be marked by great natural upheavals. The lessons about the seven bowls will come back to this.
Revelation 16:17,18,20
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ŤIt is done!ť And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. (...) Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

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Revelation 6:15-17	Comments
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, ŤFall 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?ť	The sixth seal reveals that the day of Jesus' return will also bring about great social upheavals, plunging the nations into confusion and anguish.

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Revelation 6:14	Comments
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up.	Furthermore, the sixth seal uses the image of the sky receding Ťas a scroll when it is rolled upť, calling to mind a worldwide disaster, a divine punishment falling on all nations.
Isaiah 34:2-4
For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; their stench shall rise from their corpses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; all their host shall fall down.

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The Ťday of the Lordť will plunge the nations into confusion and anguish:

ŤWail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames.ť (ISAIAH 13:6-8)

ŤFor what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or as though he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.ť (AMOS 5:18,19)

ŤAnd on the earth [there will be] distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.ť (LUKE 21:25-27)

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Revelation 6:15	Comments
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.	At the time of Jesus' return, the people trying to hide themselves are those who have received the mark of the beast.
Revelation 13:16
And [the beast] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.

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Revelation 19:17,18	Comments
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ŤCome and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.ť	Furthermore, the same groups of people trying to hide themselves, in the sixth seal, finally end up on the menu of the birds of prey.

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Revelation 6:15	Comments
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.	Ironically, at the end of the world, men in high places will lie low in caves, just as they had previously forced the persecuted people of God to do.
Hebrews 11:37,38
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

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Men in anguish will hide away in the rocks at the return of Jesus:

ŤIn that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily.ť (ISAIAH 2:20,21)

ŤDo not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, "Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never nursed!" Then they will begin to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?ť (LUKE 23:28-31)

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Revelation 6:16	Comments
[They] said to the mountains and rocks, ŤFall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!ť	ŤHim who sits on the throneť is Jesus Himself, the Judge of the nations.
Matthew 25:31,32
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

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Revelation 6:16,17	Comments
[They] said to the mountains and rocks, ŤFall 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?ť	Having stubbornly rejected God's loving call to salvation, the nations will soon have to face His wrath.
Romans 2:5,6
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds.

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The unrepentant nations will soon face the wrath of God:

ŤThe mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire.ť (NAHUM 1:5,6)

ŤThe Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to abide His indignation.ť (JEREMIAH 10:10)

ŤI saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. (...) Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.ť (REVELATION 19:11,15)

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Revelation 6:17	Comments
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?	Before the awesome demonstration of God's wrath, all the inhabitants of the earth having rejected the offer of salvation in Jesus Christ will give this cry of despair: ŤWho is able to stand?ť
Nahum 1:5,6
The mountains quake before Him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at His presence, yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?

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Before the wrath of God, the unrepentent cry: ŤWho is able to stand?ť

ŤBut who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire.ť (MALACHI 3:2)

ŤThe earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before His army, for His camp is very great; for strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it?ť (JOEL 2:10,11)

ŤYou, Yourself, are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry? You caused judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared and was still.ť (PSALM 76:7,8)

ŤIf You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?ť (PSALM 130:3)

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Psalm 130:3,4	Comments
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness in You, that You may be feared.	The Bible very clearly answers the question: ŤWho is able to stand?ť. Whoever follows God with perseverance, after having accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins, will be able to stand at the day of God's wrath.
Hebrews 2:3
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?

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For God's people, the day of His wrath will be a day of deliverance:

ŤThe sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.ť (JOEL 3:15,16)

ŤIn the last days, says God, (...) the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.ť (ACTS 2:17,20,21)

ŤAnd there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. (...) Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.ť (LUKE 21:25,28)

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Isaiah 25:9	Comments
And it will be said in that day: ŤBehold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.ť	At Jesus' return, the cry of deliverance of God's people will contrast with the cry of despair uttered by those who have rejected His salvation.
Psalm 95:1
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

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Psalm 2:10-12	Comments
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.	God is calling each one of us, both old and young, small and great, to respond here and now to His invitation, to follow His Son, Jesus Christ, and to trust Him, before the great wrath of the Lamb bursts upon the earth, as announced in the sixth seal. The choice is ours to make.

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We invite you to pray with us:

Father,

It is written: ŤIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.ť (Hebrews 10:31) The sixth seal draws a picture which illustrates this statement.

Please help us to follow Jesus' advice: ŤWatch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.ť (Luke 21:36)

In His precious name we pray.

Amen.

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