When the Sky Began to Fall - Revelation 6:12-17

You knew that destruction was coming.

How would that change the way you interact with those you love. The larger picture of human history actually deepens our passion for what we do. Understanding the coming terror gives us a greater desire than ever to not just raise civilized third-graders that even possible, but to lead to the truth of the gospel of this righteous and soon coming King of God's wrath being poured out on those who have rejected.

There are two times in Scripture were mankind attempts to hide from God. The first is at the very beginning when Adam and Eve sinned against God and tried to hide second time is what we are studying today when God comes back to judge the world as the thunder of God's footsteps echo upon the earth.

There's one all encompassing realization you can't hide from God. This is wisdom for the heart.

The Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davey were in a very sobering but very important section of Scripture in a lesson that Stevens calling when the sky began to fall. Let's rejoin our study at the opening of the next seal. Revelation chapter 6 Revelation chapter 6 verse 12. I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, the whole moon became like blood in the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe things, when shaken by a great win. Sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places and the kings of the earth and the great men and commanders and the rich and the strong, and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountain and they said to the mountains into the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. The great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand the profits often ridiculed and ignored for the prophecies of the coming judgment spoke centuries ago with predictions of this coming day of wrath. Isaiah wrote these words, he wrote of a time when men will go into the caverns of the rocks in the clefts of the cliffs before the terror of the Lord in the splendor of his majesty, when he arises to make the earth tremble is it to 21 further in chapter 13. Isaiah prophesied for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shed its light is a 1310 Hosea spoke of men one day begging the mountains to cover them in the hills to fall. Hosea 10 eight.

The prophet Nahum said I quoted mountains quake because of him and the hills dissolve. Indeed, the earth is all peeved by his presence. The world and all the inhabitants in it who can stand before his indignation who can endure the burning of his anger, his wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by him in 1561 more. The prophet Zephaniah prophesied in chapter 1 verses 14 to 18. Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. A day of wrath is that day a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom.

A day of clouds and thick darkness a day of trumpet and battle cry, who will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath. In all the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete and even a terrifying one of all the inhabitants of the need to understand this phrase the day of the Lord is an expression used often to describe different periods of time with God intersects a group of people Laura were a nation of people or as in this final day of the Lord the entire world. Great judgment phrase the day of the Lord is not limited to future final wrath, but sometimes it refers to imminent historical judgments. Joel is the example of this in chapter 2 he describes the universal day of the Lord, but earlier in chapter 1. He describes an actual locus play comes on Judah that active judgment is intended by God to preview the day of the Lord, which is actually the Babylonian captivity which is then used to preview the day of the Lord, which is the final ultimate day of wrath discovered later in chapter 2 of Joel lived out here in Revelation and the tribulations of this phrase the day of the Lord can be used for Nero that and yet illustrate even greater future events. The Old Testament use this phrase about 19 times in the New Testament. I used it about four times, broadening it even more fact Paul told the Thessalonians that the day of the Lord would begin in the tribulation. Second Thessalonians 5 to the apostle Peter even use the phrase the day of the Lord and second Peter 310 to include the end of the millennial kingdom. That's a little longer than a thousand years. No wonder Peter addressed us in that same paragraph and he said, but remember one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day fly by.

By the way that you'll need to know this for the test. Any efforts to limit the day of the Lord to the middle part of the tribulation for or to just the battle of Armageddon, the end of the millennial kingdom is simply not defensible with the prophets and the literal understanding of their words all the way through the apostles with the breaking of the first seal and the first rider that rides out in the early days of the tribulation begin to enroll days that now you nobles will include very soon war and murder and famine and pestilence, so much so that one fourth of the world's population will die.

Men and women will assume the end of the world is near the gospel of Luke.

Jesus Christ preached on this and he said in Luke 21. There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves men fainting from fear. The word fainting literally needs to breathe out to stop breathing. In other words, when the day of the Lord is unrolled and all these things begin to unfold.

People are literally going to drop dead from fear, terror for what will happen next. This is all the wrath of the Lamb. This is the awful beginning days of the day of the Lord. There are those that believe the rapture will occur here in chapter 6 of Revelation with the opening of the six seal because soon after, is a trumpet call, and there are those that believe this is the trumpet call of the rapture view is called pre-wrath rapture.

I get asked about often will deal with later detail as we look at these trumpets.

There are actually seven of the but for now this particular paragraph alone and that particular view because simply the rapture doesn't even rescue these people from the outpouring of wrath and tears. Furthermore, escape Denver 17 of chapter 6, Revelation and notice what humanity is saying for the day of their wrath. That is the wrath of the Lamb. This has come the day of their wrath has come, 10 so that verb has come in Aris indicative which means these people are concluding wrath of the Lamb, which has already begun to be poured out not only in the sixth seal, but they're in their minds with his heirs indicative are going only back to the beginning of the opening of the first seal they are concluding that is the wrath of the Lamb.

So those who believe in getting rescue from the rattle and waylaid it happens here in chapter 617 before I go any further, let me address a question which most believers might have in the larger church world, maybe even here, why do we even bother with this information. Why does God inform us of all the terror and fear and bloodshed – and earthquakes.

It is he trying to ruin a good night sleep so he might be tempted to ask you what what does all this information do for me. It doesn't help me at work to help me on Monday morning doesn't help me understand my my third grader was I redefined the word earthquake. You should see his room will listen all this wrath and doom. Some would say doesn't help me understand my spouse or even give me some little nuggets to help me deal with my crabby boss on Monday morning, although he could use a little of God's wrath. I'm sure part of the reason we think this is all kind of take it or leave it in and and I for one have never heard a sermon on the sixth seal ever or any seal is that our attention churchwide like never before, is riveted on us.

We are we are soon with us. We are focused on our lives that we would expect the world to be focused on themselves, but in the church like never before. Most of the sermons.

Most of the stuff most of the books are focused on overcoming the aches and pains of life and how to resolve everything from having had bad parents dissolving bad health to living with dad.

And here's the irony of it all.

Our world is now admitting the stress of acute compounding deal and a feeling of a sense of dread about life now and hopelessness about life in the in the future and in the church.

At the same time as all assortment have your best life. That is the title of the seller.

Guess what, instead of being like our forefathers who at least sounded a warning by Jonathan Edwards to preach sinners in the hands of an angry God that would never sell that sparked the great awakening church is absorbed with itself missing the moment there's more ladies and gentlemen there's more than raising third-graders getting out of debt. Misunderstandings are good and noble duties.

There is a bigger picture to understand. In fact, understanding the larger purpose of God for planet Earth, which he evidently wanted us to know the larger picture of human history actually deepens our passion for what we do. Understanding the coming terror gives us a greater desire than ever to not just raise civilized third-graders. That's even possible. But to lead to the truth of the gospel of this righteous and soon coming King of the iron for a leave it this tragic irony at the very time in our generation. When people are fairly convinced that Tuesday is coming that something bad is going to happen that the human race needs rescuing from itself in an aging planet.

We are determined as a church, never to talk about what doomsday wrath judgment were missing.

The moment when we could say to a receptive audience listened that thought that you have of upcoming trouble that sense of doomsday coming for for the human race that movie you just watched about the end of civilization as we know it. The basic idea is actually true. In fact, let me tell you why you don't want to be here when it happened there was a promise of rescue coming from the wrath to come in first Thessalonians 110, and in it is in believing in the Lamb of God who can forgive your sin and and secure your future with him forever. Frankly, studying the wrath of the Lamb is a body of believers should deepen our gratitude for the grace of the Lamb cause us to more quickly, more easily deeper understanding say you are Lord was take a closer look at what happens is this sixth seal is broken, the scroll arose a little further will call these five disturbances on earth you'd rather watch from heaven. Okay the first disturbance of verse 12 was a great earthquake notice is there in verse 12 there was a great earthquake.

The original language calls this the Greek language causes a Medigap size loss recognizes words we use mega to refer to something huge.

This is a major earthquake. The Greek word for earthquake's size loss. We've adopted that word today. Seismology is the science of studying so John is an eyewitness to my sister Clay, literally, a shaky of the earth second disturbance is a total eclipse of sun and moon, John records and the sun became black as sackcloth literally black as hair.

This is a reference to the black goat hair worn by those in in a funeral mourning the loss of loved one. It's as if he says the sun was covered with a sackcloth used in mourning the dead. The moon is eclipsed as well in the description.

John writes it it it it fits perfectly with the deep reddish color of the moon during an eclipse the fact that these things bring terror to the planet. Some well respected men believe that this is ash and debris spewing up covering as it were, the moon, I don't believe that would create any new sense of terror which this does earthquake followed by darkness with a blood red would the word for stars. I stay or refers to any luminous body in sky other than the sun and moon stars here are what we would call shooting stars. These are meteors asteroids that literally hold the earth on November 13, 1833 eye witnesses testify that hundreds of shooting stars could be seen simultaneously and people actually fell to their knees begging God NASA scientist Don Youmans who manages the near Earth asteroid tracking program. Yes, there is one out there.

They've identified a couple thousand potential asteroid impacts, he said and I quote the probability of an asteroid impacting Earth is low, but it is also a high consequent as event two of the way scientists talk a high consequent event. The last major asteroid to cause damage by colliding with earth occurred in a sparsely populated region of Siberia in 1908 and its impact literally toppled 700 mi.² of forest. Think about the city of Raleigh and Carrie combined is about 130 mi.². The impact of one asteroid level DCC mi.² of whatever was standing but as humorous as I researched this to read one scientist who works for research laboratory, California. He concluded that I quote the most sensible thing to do about earth striking asteroids is to try to not think about it.

Just don't think about my research, I saw an illustration of what an asteroid collision would look like stunning terrifying the same time. It's literally a ball of fire comes hurtling through the atmosphere striking the earth with the power of nuclear magic to see the earth shaking in the sky goes black, the moon appears red blood like color and then through the black sky. You see, screaming toward Earth fireball. It's the size of boats and all you can see through the darkness is what appears to be stars, fireball, scorching toward our planet and you hear the collisions you see the burst of flame you feel the rush of hot air from some nearby impacted trees are bursting into flame, along with homes and in skyscrapers alike and then people can only think of one thing the sky is falling, is the full fourth disturbance in verse 14 is the atmosphere tells us, it splits apart and rolls back into opposite directions. The vocabulary is impossible to describe. John saw but it's like the atmosphere high above the planet is shriveling up peeling away. This fiery ordeal. The fifth disturbance in verse 14 is the change in geography rights in verse 14. The mountains and islands were moved out of their places. The planet is still shaking, the sky is still dark, the earth is pummeled with fireballs the size of buses are exploding on the earth and everything is in so much upheaval that mountain shift and island's disappear out of sight. The Earth's crust shifts and moves in the devastating natural disasters accompanying the sixth seal that John doesn't even mention hurricanes that are caused by this tsunamis that sweep inland drowning, not told numbers of people, most terrifying, yet the devastation is absolutely on believable and just who is affected by these disturbances. John give this six categories of people impacted by the sixth seal first dimensions in verse 15. Quickly the kings of the earth.

These are the heads of state rulers, the president's the prime ministers of the nations of the earth, and at this moment they will recognize their power is power, less John mentions next. The great men senators senior ranking officials from all walks of life. John mentions next commanders there there caught up in the panic when everybody else, the word for Cmdr. here is the same word used elsewhere for Roman officer who commanded the thousand soldier. These are Leon below general experienced in battle fourth John mentions in this text, the rich use the word from which we get the phrase the hoi polloi Greek word used the rich and famous all the hoi polloi. None of their wealth can buy them safety their money is worthless planet where everything seems to be on fire for John mentions the strong reference to influential people. You could call them mighty. These are the movers and shakers of the planet.

Now they see the planet is being moved and shaken by an unseen hand and finally John wraps it up verse 15 by just including everybody else in this phrase, every slave and free man. This is a reference to all classes of people free and enslaved free and imprisoned. This is the way to say that everybody else know what is left out.

Everyone is without relief from King's the common laborer. They are all now running to try to find safety somewhere, anywhere, screaming, crying literally out of their minds as we can only imagine, and many of them dropping dead with heart attacks from the sheer terror of it all. Unbelievable. See how long it lasts.

What happens next is utterly amazing to me.

The last part of verse verse 15 and they hid themselves in the caves among the rocks of the mountains and they said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us in other words, all these terrifying events sparked the biggest prayer meeting world has ever seen. This is a universal call to prayer and all of humanity is praying, but you notice they're not praying to God. They are praying to objects of nature. God is behind this the land that they come to understand through the pages of this book is behind this, but they would rather die than trust. This is where I believe, by the way, God judicially abandons them. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in chapter 2 verse 11 of the second letter that these will be those who will be sent a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie of the antichrist. Now, almost finished dust settles. The earth settles back down. The fires are put out, we will discover the antichrist will move in Jerusalem to desecrate the altar of the newly constructed temple probably damaged as well claim to be God.

This is the perfect opportunity to say the God of the Jews is behind this. Look what he's done to you. Actually, God, and I will lead you in a different way. Follow me great opportunity he will see will belong. Hence beast will take over the planet and begin even greater times of bloodshed horror me ask you, are you to be rescued from all of this you know Jesus Christ, the wrath of God has already been appeased for you because Jesus took it upon himself at the cross. If you don't know Jesus personally today is the day to respond to the gospel. This is wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi. The lesson you just heard is called when the sky began to fall.

It comes from Stephen series entitled four horsemen in the coming world madness. Give us a call today at 86 648 Bible. That's 866-482-4253. You can use that number to reach our office today if you'd like to write to us. Our mailing address is wisdom for the hearts. PO Box 37297, Raleigh, NC 27627 it's wisdom for the heart PO Box 37297, Raleigh, NC 27627. I hope we hear from you today. You can also interact with us on our Facebook page and subscribe to our YouTube channel will upload a full-length message of Stephen's sermons each Wednesday morning. We have two more lessons to go in this series and I hope you'll be with us right here on wisdom for the horns