Grace
in Judgment. Rev. 6:12-17
When we talk about the doctrine of judgment in Scripture there are many
people who think that somehow the Bible is all about judgment, that God is a
negative God, especially that “nasty” God of the Old Testament. But when we
study the Old Testament objectively we realise that throughout it what is being
taught are doctrines that always go together in tandem. One is the doctrine of
grace and the other is the doctrine of judgment. Another way we might put it is
the doctrine of salvation and judgment, for whenever God saves there is also
judgment. There is salvation at the garden of Eden but there is also judgment;
there is salvation with the Noahic flood but there is also judgment; there is
salvation as God redeemed the nation
The Tribulation period is a time of divine judgment. It is a time when
God is bringing to a conclusion His judgments in human history, a time when the
Lord Jesus Christ is talking the scroll that has been given to Him, which is in
effect the title deed of the earth, in order to establish His kingdom upon the
earth. Therefore it is a time of cleansing, a time of discipline for sin and
rebellion in the human race. But it is not just about that. The book of
Revelation is a book that explains the magnificent grace of God and we see a
tremendous display of God’s grace throughout the Tribulation, it is not just a
time of horrific judgments and cataclysms that take place and it is not just a
time of incredible and unimaginable suffering for many members of the human
race, but it is a time when we see that multitudes will trust Jesus Christ as
their saviour. The Scripture says in Revelation chapter seven that the number
of martyrs are without number. We see a hint of that as we come to the end of
chapter six.
In summary, we have seen that the sixth seal judgment is described in
terms of a great earthquake, the sun is turned black as sackcloth, the moon
turns red like blood, stars fall to the earth, the sky is split like a scroll,
and mountains and islands are moved out of their place. This is not simply hyperbolic
language, it is language that uses imagery and figures of speech but it is
expressing the harshness, the extremities of these judgments. Nothing like this
has ever been seen in human history.
What we see in these judgments is a pattern of divine judgment that has
taken place throughout history—not only divine judgment but when God appears
His appearance is often accompanied by earthquakes.
1) In the Old
Testament when God appeared on Mount Sinai to Moses to give him the Mosaic law
an earthquake occurred, according to Exodus 19:8; Psalm 68:8. So God’s presence
in His creation is such that it results in certain geophysical consequences.
2) Elijah on
3) At the crucifixion
of Christ there is an earthquake, and Matthew tells us that at the same time
the graves opened and out from them came certain believers who had died, and
they walked about
4) When Paul and Silas
are miraculously released by God from prison at
When we come to the end of history in the Tribulation period it also is
marked by earthquakes. There are four major earthquakes in the Tribulation
period and we have to distinguish these and relate them also to Old Testament
passages that predict the earthquakes, the darkening of the sun, the darkening
of the moon, at the time of the great day of the Lord. The day of the Lord
primarily relates to that culmination of judgments, the culmination of the
Tribulation period when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. So we have to
distinguish these events, they are not all the same events. The first
earthquake that is mentioned in the Tribulation period is in the sixth seal
judgment.
The second occurs at the beginning of the trumpet judgments. There is a
lull between the sixth seal judgment and the seventh seal judgment. When the
seventh seal is opened it reveals seven trumpet judgments, and it is at the end
of that lull between the sixth seal judgment and the beginning of the trumpet
judgment that we have another great earthquake.
Third, we see that in
Then at the end of the Tribulation period there is another large
earthquake that will split
We must distinguish these judgments from that final earthquake that
comes at the end, described in Matthew 24:29; Joel 2 and other passages that
relate to the earthquake at the end of the Tribulation period. Matthew
24:29 NASB “But immediately after the tribulation of those days
THE
SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL
FALL
from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” That is similar to
the sixth seal judgment but it is not the same. The sixth seal judgment is mild
compared to this final judgment. Joel, 2:9, 10 NASB “They rush on
the city, They run on the wall; They climb into the houses, They enter through
the windows like a thief.
It is in the midst of these horrendous events that the human race is
confronted with the fact that these things that are taking place—the wars, the
famines, the disease, all of the things that have been coming about for the
past several months—are not from just natural consequences, are not the result
of man’s use of combustible engines, the destruction of climate—are because God
is directly intervening in human history to bring judgment. But the purpose of
that judgment has a grace aspect to it because in that judgment God is also
revealing Himself, revealing His grace, so that there will be those who still
have time to respond to the gracious offer of salvation. There are passages in
the Old Testament that indicate the importance of people responding in fear in
times of judgment. We should recognise the validity of that, that there are
times when God has to scare people into trusting Christ. Luke 12:5 NASB
“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has
authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” The writer of Hebrews relates this same
principle in
There will be two responses to these judgments in the Tribulation
period. They will all have fear, but for some that fear will simply be an
occasion to harden themselves further against God, resisting Him. These are the
earth dwellers. Then there are those who will respond by trusting in Jesus
Christ. Some of those will be martyred but there will be many more who will
survive, even in this horrible time of the Tribulation, and they will go into
the Millennial kingdom.
The first thing that happens which we see described in Revelation
When we combine the devastating consequences of the earthquakes and the
shift of the earth’s crust that takes place, plus the damage that is done from
these comets or asteroids, we can see that the modern technology of man is
going to be pretty much wiped out. The reason that is important is that when we
get into certain Old Testament passages that describe the warfare during the
Tribulation period—they talk about horses, spears, bows and arrows—many people
have tried to explain that as just the ancient world’s inability or lack of
vocabulary to describe modern weapons. But it would seem that in understanding
these kinds of judgments that electrical grids are going to go down, computers
are going to be shot, and the use of all technology. All of these are wiped out
and man is restored to a somewhat primitive state.
Then in the midst of this John describes something that happens in the
sky. He lacks the technical vocabulary to explain it. Whether this is a type of
nuclear explosion in the upper atmosphere or whether it is generated by some
natural phenomenon in the midst of these judgments, John writes: “The sky was
split apart like a scroll.” He uses the image of rolling a scroll apart to
depict what he sees in the heavens. It is as if the sky itself is split open.
Then in conclusion the fifth thing that he mentions is that every mountain and
island is moved out of its place. This indicates a world-wide cataclysm, a
shift that occurs in the earth’s crust. All of the things that we now have to
produce power and energy, dams, generating plants, etc. There will be destruction
to nuclear power plants that will no longer be able to function. There will be
a phenomenal amount of damage that occurs in these judgments, and we are only
in the first part of the Tribulation.
“… the
earth’s crust, highly unstable ever since the great Flood, will be so disturbed
by the impacting asteroids, the volcanic explosions, and the worldwide
earthquakes, that great segments of it will actually begin to slip and slide
over the earth’s deep plastic mantle. Geophysicists for many years have been
fascinated with the idea of “continental drift” (although strong evidence has
been accumulating against any such phenomenon occurring in the present age).
Several have published theories of a past naturalistic catastrophism involving
what they call “the earth’s shifting crust.” Some such phenomenon may actually
be triggered under this judgment of the sixth seal, dwarfing the damage
occasioned by all the mighty earthquakes of the past – Henry M. Morris, The Revelation Record, p. 123.
So this is going to be a time of incredible devastation but it is not
just judgment. But there are in every segment of society those who will
continue to be hardened against God; even with all of these tremendous
international demonstrations they will continue to reject God. This points out
that the real issue is not intellectual, is not empirical evidence; the issue
is volition. Those who choose to reject God will continue to harden themselves
no matter what God does to call them back and to remind them of who He is.
We read of their response in Rev 6:16, 17 NASB “and they said
to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of
Him who sits on the throne [God the Father], and from the wrath of the Lamb;
This is the thinking of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who
understands his salvation. We have nothing to fear in life. We can rest upon
the eternal rock of our salvation and we are confident of His deliverance. No
matter what happens He is the one who can save us. As Job said, “Though he slay
me, yet will I trust him.” In Revelation, even though there is tremendous
judgment from God there is also the extension of His grace and the continual
offer of salvation.