Let's get right to it. In my opinion, within the Sixth Seal we find both the resurrection of the saints along with the "catching up" of the living saints and also, the pronouncement of the immediate onset of the "Day of the Lord" and His wrath. Let's read:
"12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” - Revelation 6:12-17
Since this will be a multi-part article, I will illustrate one thing only for your consideration this week. I'd like to take notice of the remarkable similarities between the previous passage and the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection found in Matthew's gospel:
"45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”...51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” - Matthew 27:45-54
In both passages we explicitly see:
- An unexplainable darkness
- A rock-splitting earthquake
- Unnatural physical phenomena
- Confirmation that in this moment God's wrath is being poured out
- A terrible fear among the observers (the word "awe" in the ESV is the Greek 'phobeó' which means terror or fear)
- An acknowledgment of Jesus as God
I am of the mind that these parallels cannot be coincidental. There are far too many similarities to ignore the connection.
With that said, there is one major thing pertaining to our discussion that we do see explicitly in Matthew's crucifixion account, but do not see explicitly in John's Revelation prophecy. That is the resurrection of saints. For now, it is enough that we have acknowledged the parallel between the two passages. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the two texts and ponder their similarities. We will leave the resurrection issue for next week. Until then...
May we lift our eyes to the hills, where our help comes from! (Psalm 121)
Pastor Jeremy
