Great Signs in
Heaven
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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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Revelation 4:1
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,
«Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.»
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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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The opening of the seven seals, which Jesus made possible, reveals to us «things which must take place after this».
Now, let's study the sixth seal.
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Revelation 6:12-14
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.
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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
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.
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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
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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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:
«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. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear
in heaven.» (MATTHEW 24:29,30)
«And 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.» (LUKE 21:25,27)
«"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."» (ACTS 2:17,20)
«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?» (JOEL
2:10,11)
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Matthew 24:29
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 heaven,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
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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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Jesus confirms the seals' chronology, specifying that the signs in heaven will
take place «after the tribulation of those days», that is,
after the persecutions of the Middle Ages.
Now, let's study these signs one by one.
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Revelation 6:12
The sun became black as sackcloth of hair.
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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: «A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was
equally invisible with the blackest velvet.» (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
The moon became like blood.
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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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The night following the dark day of May 19, 1780, the clouds dispersed to
unveil the moon which was, according to eyewitnesses, «as red as blood».
This additional historical fact, also still unexplained, can be verified in any good
Astronomy encyclopedia.
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Revelation 6:13
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.
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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
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.
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Matthew 24:29
The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.
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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.
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Revelation 6:14
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up,
and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
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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, «It is
done!»
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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First, the day of Jesus' return will be marked by great natural upheavals.
The lessons about the seven bowls will come back to this.
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Revelation 6:15-17
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,
«Fall 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?»
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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
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up.
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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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Furthermore, the sixth seal uses the image of the sky receding «as a scroll when it is rolled up», calling to mind a worldwide
disaster, a divine punishment falling on all nations.
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The «day of the Lord» will plunge the
nations into confusion and anguish:
«Wail, 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.» (ISAIAH 13:6-8)
«For 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.» (AMOS 5:18,19)
«And 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.» (LUKE 21:25-27)
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Revelation 6:15
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.
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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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At the time of Jesus' return, the people trying to hide themselves are those
who have received the mark of the beast.
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Revelation 19:17,18
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,
«Come 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.»
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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
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.
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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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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.
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Men in anguish will hide away in the rocks at the return of Jesus:
«In 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.» (ISAIAH 2:20,21)
«Do 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?» (LUKE 23:28-31)
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Revelation 6:16
[They] said to the mountains and rocks,
«Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of
the Lamb!»
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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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«Him who sits on the throne» is Jesus Himself,
the Judge of the nations.
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Revelation 6:16,17
[They] said to the mountains and rocks,
«Fall 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?»
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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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Having stubbornly rejected God's loving call to salvation, the nations will
soon have to face His wrath.
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The unrepentant nations will soon face the wrath of God:
«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? His fury is poured out
like fire.» (NAHUM 1:5,6)
«The 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.»
(JEREMIAH 10:10)
«I 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.» (REVELATION 19:11,15)
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Revelation 6:17
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able
to stand?
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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 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:
«Who is able to stand?»
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Before the wrath of God, the unrepentent cry: «Who
is able to stand?»
«But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can
stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire.» (MALACHI 3:2)
«The 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?» (JOEL 2:10,11)
«You, 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.»
(PSALM 76:7,8)
«If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?» (PSALM 130:3)
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Psalm 130:3,4
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could
stand? But there is forgiveness in You, that You may be feared.
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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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The Bible very clearly answers the question: «Who is
able to stand?».
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.
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For God's people, the day of His wrath will be a day of deliverance:
«The 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.» (JOEL 3:15,16)
«In 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.» (ACTS 2:17,20,21)
«And 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.» (LUKE 21:25,28)
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Isaiah 25:9
And it will be said in that day:
«Behold, 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.»
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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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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.
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Psalm 2:10-12
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.
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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: «It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God.» (Hebrews 10:31) The sixth seal draws a picture which illustrates this
statement.
Please help us to follow Jesus' advice: «Watch 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.» (Luke 21:36)
In His precious name we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 36 is waiting for you!