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Seven Seals: Church History and Who Shall Stand

Who shall be able to stand on the great day of God's wrath?

AdventAI

LESSON 3 : THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH REVEALED IN THE SEVEN SEALS Sunday, 18 / 10 - Sabbath, 24 /10 / 26 KEY TEXT. “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6 :17

AdventAI

The seven seals open the history of the true church through the whole Christian era — from the apostles' day to the Second Coming — and the question they end on, "who shall be able to stand?", has one answer: the sealed people of God.

Today's lesson, The History of the Church Revealed in the Seven Seals, takes us into Revelation 6 and 8. The memory text is the cry of the sixth seal: "For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:17. Let's walk through the seals, and watch God's purpose for His church unfold.

📖 The sealed scroll — and the only One who can open it

The vision begins in Revelation 5. John saw a book in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. It contained God's providences and the prophetic history of the nations and the church from earth's beginning to its close. No one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth was found worthy even to look on it, and John wept; but he was told, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book" — and he saw the Lamb standing as it had been slain, who took the book and began to break the seals. Revelation 5:1-7 Only the One who died for the world could make its destiny known.

The number seven in Scripture means completion and perfection, so the seven seals embrace the whole of a certain class of events, reaching down to the close of probationary time. They are events of a religious character, the history of the church from the opening of the Christian era to the coming of Christ. They run parallel to the seven churches and the seven trumpets — the churches showing the church's inner life, the trumpets the political commotions of the nations, and the seals the church in her experiences and conflicts with the wicked nations around her.

🕊️ The first seal — the white horse

The first seal shows a white horse whose rider carries a bow, receives a crown, and goes forth conquering, and to conquer Revelation 6:1, 2. It fitly represents the purity and power of the church as it was constituted by its divine Head. This is the gospel in its early triumph — Christ going forth in the glory of His message to conquer hearts, mightily as in the Pentecostal days of the early rain. The faith was pure, the church was one, and the word spread from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.

🔴 The second seal — the red horse

The red horse of the second seal had power to take peace from the earth, so that men should kill one another, and a great sword was given to its rider Revelation 6:3, 4. It marked the growing separation of the church from its primitive simplicity in doctrine and practice, and the entering in of war and strife. The second century witnessed the beginning of this change, as the mystery of iniquity accomplished its deadly work. As the apostles warned, grievous wolves entered in, and the church began to lean on earthly power.

⚫ The third seal — the black horse

The third rider sat on a black horse, holding a pair of balances, and a voice measured out wheat and barley for a penny Revelation 6:5, 6. The black horse means want, famine, and spiritual mourning — the balances mean the great of God's truth, doled out by weight. The church united its interests with the world; it bartered its purity, its simplicity, its holy character, for worldly gain and political power. Such was its condition in the times of Constantine and in the years succeeding his reign, when the church that had " the world and sought to rule it. The darkness of these ages was spiritual far more than earthly.

⚰️ The fourth seal — the pale horse

The fourth seal brings a pale horse; his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him, and power was given to them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth Revelation 6:7, 8. No more fitting figure could be found to represent the long, long reign of persecution which followed the corruption of the professed church. The pale-horse rider did his fiercest work during the 1,260 years of papal persecution in the Dark Ages. Fifty millions of dissenters were put to death, going down loaded with infamy, branded as heretics and enemies of God and humanity.

🙏 The fifth seal — the martyrs' cry

Under the fifth seal John saw, beneath the altar, the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and the testimony they held, crying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?" and white robes were given to each of them Revelation 6:9-11. Like the voice of Abel's blood, the blood of the martyrs cries for the time to come when truth will triumph and sin and persecution cease. They were bidden to rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants and brethren should be killed as they were. The Reformation of the sixteenth century opened the eyes of the truth-loving, and those who had been counted as the offscouring of the nations were seen in their true character as martyrs for God.

🌅 The sixth seal — the signs of the end

Then come the great events of the sixth seal: a great earthquake, the sun black as sackcloth, the moon as blood, the stars of heaven falling as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, the heaven departed as a scroll, and every mountain and island moved out of their places Revelation 6:12-14. Then the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich, the captains, the mighty, bondman and free, hide in the dens and rocks, crying to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:15-17.

These are not guesses about the future — they are events that have already come to pass, and that mark where we stand in prophecy. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 shook three-fourths of the globe and destroyed the city in six minutes. On May 19, 1780, the sun was darkened so that it became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon turned to blood. And on November 13, 1833, the stars of heaven fell to the earth in a great meteoric shower. These are the way-marks of the sixth seal, and we are now living amid the momentous events of this seal.

Settlers Watch the 1833 Meteor Shower by Alfred

Here the language of the prophecy changes suddenly from the highly figurative to the strictly literal, and we must accept that change. The early seals are symbols; the sixth seal's signs — a darkened sun, a blood-red moon, falling stars, a quaking earth — were seen by the eyes of men. After these signs, the events of verses 14 to 17 are still future: the heaven departing as a scroll and the appearing of the Son of man, when the wicked hide while the saints stand.

🤫 The seventh seal — silence in heaven

The seventh seal is brief: "there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour" Revelation 8:1. This brings us to the coming of Christ accompanied by all the holy angels. In prophetic time — a day for a year — half an hour is about a week, and this marks the period from the time Christ leaves heaven with all the angels until He returns with all the saints resurrected and changed, to the Father's house, when the heavenly harpers are absent and there is silence in heaven. Thus the seven seals run from the preaching of the gospel in its purity by Christ's first ministers, represented by the warrior on the white horse, down through the sad history of the church to the coming of Christ to raise the righteous dead and change the righteous living.

✨ Who shall be able to stand?

The question of the sixth seal — "who shall be able to stand?" — is answered in Revelation 7, which is placed between the sixth and seventh seals. There John saw four angels holding the four winds of the earth, and another angel with the seal of the living God crying, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads" Revelation 7:1-3. The sealing takes place while the people of God are still on probation, preparing them to stand through the time of trouble. Those who are sealed — the servants of God — are the ones who can stand when the great day of wrath comes.

This is where the lesson meets us today. The signs of the sixth seal are behind us; the winds are about to be loosed; the sealing work is going on now. Christ's counsel is to watch and pray always, that we may be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of man Luke 21:36. The white-horse Rider is still ready to conquer and to make conquerors of all who will receive Him — and the soul that hides in His pavilion, not in the rocks, is the one who will stand in that day.

Would you like to go deeper into any one seal — say the sixth seal's signs, or the sealing of Revelation 7? I'd be glad to walk through it with you, or to show you what Ellen G. White and the pioneers wrote on a particular verse.

Sources · 16
  1. ST Mar 27, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 13 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  2. ST Aug 8, 1916Signs of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 31 — Advance Heralds of the EndEditor
  3. Lt 65, 1898, par. 16–23Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898) — Lt 65, 1898Ellen G. White
  4. ST Jan 3, 1878Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 1 — THE BIBLICAL INSTITUTEUriah Smith
  5. ST Nov 25, 1889Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 45 — MATTHEW TWENTY-FOURJ. H. Waggoner
  6. ST Nov 28, 1895Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47 — EVIDENCE FROM THE APOCALYPSEF. M. W.
  7. ST May 8, 1907Signs of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 19 — The Seven-Sealed Book
  8. RH Dec 3, 1914The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 91, No. 51 — The Gospel in Its Purity and SimplicityF. M. W.
  9. ST Feb 14, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 7 — THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTMilton C. Wilcox
  10. ST Oct 25, 1905Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 43 — A WONDERFUL BOOKMilton C. Wilcox
  11. RH Feb 4, 1909The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 86, No. 5 — Cry of Souls Under the AltarW. A. S.; Leonard Schoener
  12. RH May 6, 1873Review and Herald, Vol. 41, No. 21 — Where Are We?G. W. A.
  13. ST Apr 17, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 16 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  14. RH Sep 16, 1862The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 20, No. 16 — Thoughts on the Revelation
  15. RH Apr 29, 1875Review and Herald, Vol. 45, No. 18 — SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GODR. F. Cottrell
  16. ST Aug 2, 1877Signs of the Times, Vol. 3, No. 30 — SEALING OF THE SERVANTS OF GODElder R. F. Cottrell

QUESTION 1. Of what was John a witness in vision and what did he see coming forth? Rev. 6:1,2

AdventAI

John saw the Lamb open the first of the seven seals, and then he saw a white horse come forth, its rider holding a bow and receiving a crown, going forth conquering and to conquer. Revelation 6:1, 2

The Rider on the White Horse With a Bow

Let's look at what happened, step by step.

📖 Verse 1: The Lamb opens the first seal

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. Revelation 6:1

It is the Lamb — Christ — who opens the seals, beginning with the first, and the first of the four living creatures around the throne, the lion, calls with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." The thunder-like voice speaks of power and majesty, and it shows that God does not do His work in a corner with a weak voice, but sends His plans and purposes through heaven and earth to be heard and examined by all created intelligences. Revelation 6:1

It is also more than a call to John to look. It is an invitation to Christ Himself to come — the cry of a groaning creation for the Overcomer to save the lost and end the reign of sin. The call is repeated with each of the first four seals, a fourfold appeal that has been raised since sin entered the world.

🐴 Verse 2: The white horse and its rider

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. Revelation 6:2

The white horse denotes purity of faith and of life among Christ's first ministers and followers. It represents the church in its original pure and powerful condition as constituted by Christ its divine Head. The whiteness marks purity of faith and life, and the horse itself, a war-horse, shows that this is a picture of conquest — but conquest won by truth, not by carnal weapons.

The rider is Jesus Christ, going forth in the power of the gospel as conquering King and Captain. The bow represents God's word, whose arrows of truth are spiritual weapons, piercing hearts with conviction and bringing salvation; and the crown that is given to Him marks Him as a conqueror with the right to reign.

"Going forth conquering, and to conquer" means the gospel went without limit to all the world — winning thousands at Pentecost through the Spirit, and continuing on until Christ comes. As the writers put it:

Christ goes forth in the glory of His Gospel message to conquer hearts; mightily did it go forth in the Pentecostal days of the early rain. Mighty in God to save has it been in hearts receiving it thru earth's sad centuries. More mightily shall it close in these days of the latter rain, in the development of a church fitted for translation.

This first seal covers the period of the Ephesus church, from the beginning of Christianity to about A.D. 100, the time of the last apostles. It portrays the gospel in its early triumph — the apostolic church going forth in purity and power, winning great victories through the Holy Spirit.

✨ What it means for us

The white-horse Rider's conquest is not finished. The same gospel that went forth mightily at Pentecost has continued through the centuries, and it will go forth more mightily in the latter rain, developing a church fitted for translation when Christ comes. And "conquering and to conquer" is the motto for every believer — Christ has conquered Satan, and shares that victory with all who believe in Him.

Would you like to go on to the second seal, the red horse, next?

Sources · 19
  1. RH Nov 20, 1900The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47 — BEREAN LIBRARY STUDY
  2. ST Jul 18, 1916Signs of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28 — The Struggle Against ApostasyEditor
  3. RH Apr 25, 1865The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 25, No. 21 — The Seven SealsJames White
  4. ST Jun 27, 1878Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 24 — Come and SeeUriah Smith
  5. RH Jan 20, 1874Review and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 6 — Come and SeeUriah Smith
  6. ST Feb 14, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 7 — THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTMilton C. Wilcox
  7. ST May 8, 1907Signs of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 19 — The Seven-Sealed Book
  8. ST Feb 21, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 8 — The Closing Seals
  9. ST Dec 1, 1914Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 47 — The One Important ThingM. C. W.
  10. RH Jul 8, 1862The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 20, No. 6 — THOUGHTS ON THE REVELATION
  11. RH Dec 3, 1914The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 91, No. 51 — The Gospel in Its Purity and SimplicityF. M. W.
  12. ST Nov 28, 1895Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47 — EVIDENCE FROM THE APOCALYPSEF. M. W.
  13. ST Mar 27, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 13 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  14. ST Oct 24, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 42 — A ReviewMilton C. Wilcox
  15. RH Feb 12, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 15 — THE SEVEN CHURCHES, SEVEN SEALS, AND FOUR BEASTSJames White
  16. RH Feb 2, 1864The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 23, No. 10 — Dr. Rice on the Seven SealsM. E. Cornell
  17. RH Mar 19, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 20 — A LETTER TO A FRIEND, ON THE SEVEN CHURCHESJohn Norton Loughborough
  18. RH Oct 25, 1906The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 83, No. 43 — Hard ProblemsEditor
  19. RH Jul 21, 1903The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 80, No. 29 — Conquering Now, and Still to Conquer

2. What happened when the second seal was opened? Rev. 6:3,4

AdventAI

The second seal shows a red horse whose rider took peace from the earth and carried a great sword — the time of persecution and bloodshed that followed the church's fall from its first purity.

The Four Horsemen Ride Across the Plain by emmanuel_higgins

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. Revelation 6:3

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Revelation 6:4

Let's walk through what John saw and what it means.

📖 Verse 3: "Come and see"

When the Lamb opens the second seal, the second living creature — the one with the form of a calf or ox, signifying sacrifice and service — calls John to come and see what follows. It is not a written description read aloud, but a living, moving representation of events taking place on earth. The cry "Come and see" is also an appeal for Christ to come — the second of a fourfold cry rising from a groaning creation, longing for deliverance from a world cursed by sin.

🐴 Verse 4: The red horse and its rider

The red horse denotes blood and carnage. Its fiery color carries the meaning of fire, and it pictures blood-red judgment in which peace is removed and people are turned against one another. James White wrote plainly of its meaning:

The red horse denotes blood and carnage, and has reference to those times of persecution of the followers of Jesus Christ, covering much of the period called the ten persecutions, the same as the Smyrna church of chap. ii, 8-11.

The rider's power to take peace from the earth means strife, confusion, division and mutual killing, so that people kill one another with no safety. The great sword signifies the violence, bloodshed and slaughter of Christ's church — a sacrificial knife, as it were, sacrificing the progress of truth.

What historical period this covers: The red horse runs from the close of the first century, after the days of the apostles, to the days of Constantine the Great, about A.D. 323. It is the period of the Smyrna church, covering much of the time called the ten persecutions, when the saints were killed by Roman authorities and wild beasts, and there was no safety for God's people on earth. During this persecution the church remained faithful and was purified rather than destroyed — the martyrs became the seed of the church, and God's power was shown in their endurance and witness.

Why it came: The change from the white horse to the red marks the loss of the gospel's original purity after apostolic days. From the second century the mystery of iniquity worked within the church as error, superstition, love of the world and wrong teachings entered, and the great apostasy developed. When people reject the white gospel of peace and purity, their rebellious passions bring upon them the red horse of war, strife and bloodshed. The church sought alliance with secular power, and that corruption ripened to a climax about A.D. 323 under Constantine, whose rule joined church and state and gave Christianity the emblem of civil power amid continual war and trouble.

The Four Horsemen of Revelation Ride Together by Stephenoch

💡 What it means for us

Two lessons stand out for today. First: the destructive work of the red-horse rider is not confined to the past — he rides back and forth throughout the world, portraying the continuing activity of evil, and his work lasts until Jesus comes. War, strife and bloodshed still arise when men reject the gospel's message of peace. Second: even amid this war and mutual killing, the forces remain under God's control — He alone gives and removes national peace, and His angels oversee and limit the calamities. And the white-horse Rider still conquers in everyone who submits to Christ, even if they die amid human conflict, until He closes His work in the sealing of God's servants.

The call of the second seal is still sounding: "Come and see" — and more than that, "Come" to God for rest and peace in Christ amid a troubled world. Would you like to go on to the third seal, the black horse?

Sources · 21
  1. RH Nov 20, 1900The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47 — BEREAN LIBRARY STUDY
  2. ST Nov 28, 1895Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47 — EVIDENCE FROM THE APOCALYPSEF. M. W.
  3. ST Mar 27, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 13 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  4. ST May 8, 1907Signs of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 19 — The Seven-Sealed Book
  5. RH Apr 25, 1865The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 25, No. 21 — The Seven SealsJames White
  6. ST Feb 14, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 7 — THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTMilton C. Wilcox
  7. ST Mar 27, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 13 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  8. ST Mar 4, 1903Signs of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 9 — XVI. THE SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD
  9. ST Feb 21, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 8 — The Closing Seals
  10. RH Jul 8, 1862The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 20, No. 6 — THOUGHTS ON THE REVELATION
  11. ST Jul 18, 1916Signs of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28 — The Struggle Against ApostasyEditor
  12. ST Jan 3, 1878Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 1 — THE BIBLICAL INSTITUTEUriah Smith
  13. RH Feb 12, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 15 — THE SEVEN CHURCHES, SEVEN SEALS, AND FOUR BEASTSJames White
  14. RH Nov 20, 1900The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47 — READING CIRCLE STUDYS. N. H.
  15. RH Nov 20, 1900The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47 — READING CIRCLE STUDYS. N. H.
  16. RH May 22, 1913The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 90, No. 21 — The Seven Seals. Revelation 6Mrs. M. E. Steward
  17. ST Oct 25, 1905Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 43 — A WONDERFUL BOOKMilton C. Wilcox
  18. RH Nov 20, 1856The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 3 — ON KEEPING THE HEART. No. 6.Flavel
  19. ST May 31, 1883Signs of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 21 — Remarks upon Zechariah 6:1–8John Nevins Andrews
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  21. ST Apr 8, 1897Signs of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 14 — Come in a Troubled World

3. What happened when the third seal was opened? Rev. 6:5

AdventAI

The third seal shows a black horse whose rider holds a pair of balances — the period when the church fell into error, spiritual darkness and apostasy, uniting with the world in the way to the papacy.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. Revelation 6:5

Let's walk through what John saw and what it means.

🐴 The black horse: darkness in place of purity

The black horse is the opposite of the white horse: where white denotes the purity of the gospel, black denotes error, spiritual darkness, moral corruption, and the departure of the church from its first love. The darkening from white to red to black across the first three seals marks increasing error, corruption and apostasy, as the professed church adopted wrong doctrines, superstitions, heathen practices and worldliness, exchanging purity, simplicity and holy character for worldly gain and political power. That decline culminated in the papacy, when a man was put in God's place in the church.

Black also signifies mourning, want, famine, pestilence, plague and calamity. The famine follows rejection of the gospel, when people reap the results of their choices, and it also comes when God's people are faithless, so that crops fail and bread is rationed by weight. These calamities are fruits of sin which God permits the world to reap so that people may learn its terrible consequences.

⚖️ The balances: church and state united

The pair of balances in the rider's hand represents the union of religious and civil power, in which the ruler exercises executive authority and claims judicial authority in both church and state. That pattern belonged to the Roman emperors from Constantine to Justinian, after which Justinian gave the same judicial power to the bishop of Rome. James White, quoting William Miller, set it plainly:

"When the church became connected with worldly power and wisdom, she lost her purity of doctrine and practice… The balances denoted that religion and civil power would be united in the person who would administer the executive power in the government, and that he would claim the judicial authority both in church and state. This was true among the Roman emperors, from the days of Constantine until the reign of Justinian, when he gave the same judicial power to the bishop of Rome."

The balances also picture weighing by worldly standards, for the Christian religion came to be weighed by the world, and a worldly, commercial spirit took full possession of the professed church. Christian graces became scarce, food was weighed out under justice and scarcity, and the oil and wine, the Spirit's grace, leaked away amid ruinous prices.

🕰️ The period covered: from Constantine to 538

The third seal covers the period from Constantine's rise and favor to Christianity to the unrestricted rule of the papacy in A.D. 538. Its beginning is given with varying dates as A.D. 313, A.D. 321 and A.D. 325. The period answers to the Pergamos church, when Satan's seat was in the midst of believers.

During this time emperors favored Christians and offered worldly positions, and church and state united. Constantine united church and civil power, the bishop of Rome first spoke with authority, and a Sunday law was passed in 321. Heathen philosophy crowded God's word from view, paganism was incorporated into Christianity, and superstition nearly displaced true religion while the false system that developed into the papacy rapidly took shape and grew to full strength. The mystery of iniquity begun in Paul's day grew toward the full stature of the man of sin, ready to be revealed when the fourth seal opened in 538.

🕊️ The oil and the wine: God preserved His people

The measures of wheat and barley for a penny signify famine and mourning, marked by the high price and weighing out of food under conditions of justice and scarcity. Wheat represents God's word, and the blackness represents a famine for hearing the true word of God as well as for bread. A day's wages bought only a measure, too little to sustain a person or family, showing a scarcity of Christian graces. Through the demand of actual conditions God speaks in providence, and severe scarcity calls people back to God.

John on Patmos Sees Christ Among the Lampstands by emmanuel_higgins

Yet the command not to harm the oil and wine means God preserved His people, so that the Bible and the Holy Spirit would not become entirely extinct. Oil represents the Spirit of God, His graces of faith, and wine represents Christian doctrine and love. That true life was endangered by the worldly spirit taking possession of the professed church, yet the oil and the wine remained as the true church continuing beside the apostate church.

✨ What it means for us

The lesson of the third seal reaches to the last days, when worldliness and apostasy rise again in the last falling away, and it warns against being overcome by them. War, famine, destruction and death follow rejection of Christ, His law and means of grace. Safety lies only in harmony with God and the overcoming of all sin, which only the Lion of the tribe of Judah, triumphant over all sin in sacrifice as a Lamb, can secure in breaking the seven seals that confine the secret of man's salvation and bringing men back to harmony with Him.

The work represented by each of the first four seals continues after the next seal opens, and persists until Jesus comes. And the white, red and black horses remain instruments God uses to carry out judgments in the world, including war, pestilence and death — yet they remain under His control, for He restrains and directs them so their destructive power cannot exceed the limits He sets. Would you like to go on to the fourth seal, the pale horse, next?

Sources · 27
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  20. ST Jul 18, 1916Signs of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28 — The Struggle Against ApostasyEditor
  21. RH Feb 2, 1864The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 23, No. 10 — Dr. Rice on the Seven SealsM. E. Cornell
  22. ST Jan 3, 1878Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 1 — THE BIBLICAL INSTITUTEUriah Smith
  23. ST May 4, 1904Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 18 — LESSON VII.—THE SEVEN SEALS
  24. ST Mar 14, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 11 — An Alarm of War
  25. ST Dec 1, 1914Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 47 — The One Important ThingM. C. W.
  26. ST Feb 21, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 8 — The Closing Seals
  27. RH Nov 20, 1856The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 3 — ON KEEPING THE HEART. No. 6.Flavel

4. What conditions are represented by the fourth horse? Rev. 6:7,8

AdventAI

The fourth seal shows a pale horse whose rider is named Death, with the grave following after — the long age of persecution under papal Rome, when fifty million martyrs were put to death by sword, hunger, pestilence, and wild beasts.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. Revelation 6:7

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. Revelation 6:8

Let's walk through what John saw and what it means.

🦅 Verse 7: The voice of the fourth living creature

When the Lamb opens the fourth seal, the fourth living creature — the one like a flying eagle, suggesting swift judgment — calls John to behold what comes with that seal. The eagle's likeness is connected with the woman's eagle's wings and her flight into the wilderness, and the fourth living creature represents the true church during this fourth-seal period. James White writes that the first four seals each have their own living-being call, and the first four churches, seals, and living creatures cover matching periods for nearly eighteen hundred years.

The call "Come and see" is more than an invitation to look. It is part of a fourfold cry — merciful and loving — inviting people to come to God for peace and rest, set against the world's strife, suffering, famine, and death. It is also a plea directed to Christ the King and Deliverer to come, expressing the longing of a groaning earth under sin's curse, travailing for deliverance from His reign of sin and misery.

🐴 Verse 8: The pale horse and Death

The pale horse is sickly yellow, an unnatural, corpse-like color, unlike the natural white, red, and black of the first three horses. That color portrays the corrupt, diseased condition of the professed church in apostasy, allied with the world. The opening of this seal brings the horse and its rider into view as the condition of the church under unrestrained papal rule.

Its rider, named Death, is the papacy in its unrestrained, persecuting reign, acting with a fanatical and destroying spirit in a period when the church became a destroyer. Hell following with him means Hades, the grave, following because of the great mortality his work caused — not a place of conscious torment, but the general abode of the dead, entered by death and left by resurrection. Death and Hades are not living persons but personified powers, lifeless things given the figure of rational beings to picture them cutting down mankind. Their acting as enemies never means the dead are conscious, for Hades is a place of darkness and silence.

Power over the fourth part of the earth means the territory under papal jurisdiction — the reach of this judgment. Killing with sword, hunger, death, and the beasts of the earth names the means of its martyrs' deaths — war, famine, pestilence, and destruction by beasts, the four sore judgments of Ezekiel 14:21 turned into terrible persecution. Christians were killed by the sword, imprisonment, stoning, torture, flame, hunger, and exposure, and some thrown to ferocious beasts, with tens of thousands dying under the Inquisition's torments. Those killed under this seal are the martyrs seen when the fifth seal opens, whose blood cries from under the altar.

🕰️ The period: papal supremacy, 538–1798

The fourth seal opened about A.D. 538, when the papacy reached supremacy and the man of sin prepared during the previous period was revealed as the culmination of antichrist's development. It covers the long period of papal supremacy and deadly persecution, continuing until the Reformation in the early sixteenth century restrained that persecuting power by exposing its corruption.

Its fiercest work came during the 1,260 prophetic days — 1,260 literal years of papal persecution in the Dark Ages, from 538 to 1798, identified with the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21. God interposed to shorten that tribulation, or all who were loyal to Him would have been destroyed. On the lowest estimate, over fifty million martyrs died by the means named in the prophecy, with one estimate placing sixty to one hundred million killed for faith. Condemned as heretics at the time, they were later recognized by the Reformation as martyrs for God, clothed in the white robe of Christ's righteousness.

✨ What it means for us

The pale-horse rider's work is not only past. The same spirit is seen today that is represented in Revelation 6:6-8 — a spirit that works to confuse and perplex, bringing dissension in every nation and disorder and strife in the church. History is to be repeated; that which has been will be again. Those who reject the light God has given become confused and act blindly, driven by unholy ambition.

Yet through it all, the white-horse Rider still goes forth for God, carrying His work through to the sealing of God's servants. The fourfold cry "Come" still stands as a merciful invitation to come to God for peace and rest amid the world's strife and death. And the same death that entered the world through sin — the breaking of God's law damaging human character and leaving people vulnerable to disease — is answered by the Lamb who alone opens the seals and brings men and women back into harmony with God.

Would you like to go on to the fifth seal, the martyrs' cry under the altar, next?

Sources · 37
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  2. ST Apr 10, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 15 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  3. ST Nov 28, 1895Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47 — EVIDENCE FROM THE APOCALYPSEF. M. W.
  4. RH Nov 20, 1900The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 77, No. 47 — BEREAN LIBRARY STUDY
  5. RH Apr 25, 1865The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 25, No. 21 — The Seven SealsJames White
  6. ST Feb 14, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 7 — THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRISTMilton C. Wilcox
  7. RH Feb 12, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 15 — THE SEVEN CHURCHES, SEVEN SEALS, AND FOUR BEASTSJames White
  8. RH Feb 12, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 15 — THE SEVEN CHURCHES, SEVEN SEALS, AND FOUR BEASTSJames White
  9. RH Feb 12, 1857The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 9, No. 15 — THE SEVEN CHURCHES, SEVEN SEALS, AND FOUR BEASTSJames White
  10. ST Feb 6, 1893Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 14 — EditorialEditor
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5. What was revealed to John under the fifth seal and of what was he a witness? Rev. 6:9-11

AdventAI

Under the fifth seal John saw, beneath the altar, the souls of those slain for the word of God and for the testimony they held — the martyrs of the long papal persecution — crying for judgment, and receiving white robes, with rest for a little season until their fellow servants should also be killed.

The question — "of what was he a witness?" — is answered in what the vision shows: John was a witness to a prophetic scene of the church's martyrs, given ahead of time to comfort and encourage God's people who would face the fiery ordeal. Let's walk through the three verses one by one.

📖 Verse 9: The souls under the altar

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: Revelation 6:9

"Souls" here means the slain persons themselves — their lives, their whole beings — not an immortal part surviving separately from the body. The word is also translated "life," and is used of those who can be killed, so nothing here teaches that the dead are conscious. John saw them in a vision that presented future victims as already beneath the altar for its lesson, just as the parable of Dives and Lazarus portrays the dead as if in distinct states.

The altar is the earthly altar of sacrifice, symbolizing where the witnesses' lives were offered and their blood poured out — not an altar of incense in heaven. To be slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held means giving one's life in loyalty to God's word and Christian witness, opposing corruption and upholding the gospel. The testimony is the testimony of Jesus, and the slain stand as witnesses and examples of faith and patience.

God who vision is prophetic, a representation of a future period, not a present reality — it comes before the faithful are called out of Babylon. The slain include the millions of martyrs put to death under papal power and the Inquisition, including Waldensian missionaries and Reformation witnesses; their persecutors destroyed their bodies, but not their faith or hope. The fifth seal belongs to the Reformation era, after the pale horse and before the sixth seal's signs, and its martyrs were slain through the 1,260 prophetic days — 1,260 literal years, from 538 to 1798.

The blood that cries is a figure of speech, like Abel's blood crying from the ground. It does not mean the dead are conscious or literally praying for vengeance; they rest unconscious in the grave until the first resurrection. The cry asks that truth triumph and persecution cease, not that enemies be sent to hell — for many victims prayed for their persecutors, as Stephen did.

📖 Verse 10: The cry, "How long?"

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? Revelation 6:10

"Loud voice" conveys the earnest, anguished yet confident appeal of God's suffering people: how long will oppression and bloodshed continue before God judges and delivers them? "How long" is the watch-cry of the faithful church, longing for Christ's return, the end of evil and misery, and truth's vindication — the apparent delay does not mean God has forgotten the slain. The appeal is for justice, not personal revenge, and it echoes the question of Daniel 8:13 about how long the persecution would continue.

"Lord, holy and true" addresses God as Master, appealing to His character as the one who remembers the slain and can judge their persecutors. "Them that dwell on the earth" means the persecuting, earthly-minded powers whose religion and conduct oppose God's people. The slain include millions put to death under papal power — the Waldensians killed by Roman power in the valleys, whose blood cries out like Abel's — and the cry also points to loyal end-time people persecuted for refusing to worship the beast or his image.

The cry is not without an answer. The fifth seal's historical answer came through the Reformation, which exposed papal corruption, restrained persecution, and vindicated the martyrs' character, and through the papacy's loss of civil power in 1798 — before the final judgment of the wicked.

📖 Verse 11: White robes and a little season

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Revelation 6:11

The white robes are not literal garments; they are Christ's righteousness and Heaven's favorable judgment — purity, acceptance, triumph, and vindication of those condemned as heretics for God's word and their testimony. God pronounces them pure and holy, removes their reproach, and honors them as His redeemed when earthly judgments are reversed. The sixteenth-century Reformation exposed the papacy's errors and false accusations, restoring the martyrs' reputations before enlightened nations while Rome's reputation declined. Ellen G. White wrote:

Those who have suffered for the truth's sake, those who have been maligned by Satan and his host, shall be clothed in change of raiment and their reproach shall be taken away.

"Rest yet for a little season" means the dead wait in the grave, because the appointed time to judge and avenge their blood had not yet come — and it reinforces that the scene is prophetic, not a present reality. In historic application, the little season ran from the beginning of the Reformation in the early sixteenth century toward the opening of the sixth seal about one hundred and thirty years later, and further fellow servants were killed as persecution continued after the Reformation began. The prediction was fulfilled by 1798, when the papacy lost its dominion; the sixth seal's great earthquake came on November 1, 1755, near the end of that season.

The future application reaches to the crisis of national apostasy, when laws suppress Bible truth and oppress commandment keepers; their voice will rise from the graves in a plea for God to act. Ellen G. White wrote of that day:

Then will the voice be heard from the graves of martyrs, represented by the souls which John saw slain for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held; then the prayer will ascend from every true child of God, "It is time for thee, Lord, to work, for they have made void thy law."

✨ What it means for us

The vision assures that God sees suffering, remembers every martyr, and will vindicate those persecuted for faithfulness. The martyrs' endurance warns that the path of faith may mean hardship and even death, but suffering draws the faithful closer to the Lord, increases their reward, and cannot destroy their influence. The martyrs are later seen near God's throne, among the redeemed in white robes with brilliant crowns, and children killed for Jesus and their parents' faith are among them. The call to us is to be patient and faithful, to pray "Come, Lord Jesus," and to labor on until probation closes, trusting that God will judge the oppressors and bring full vindication when Christ returns.

Would you like to go on to the sixth seal next — the earthquake, the darkened sun, the falling stars, and the cry, "Who shall be able to stand?"

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6. What happens at the opening of the sixth seal? Rev. 6:12

AdventAI

When the Lamb opened the sixth seal, John saw the signs that herald Christ's coming: a great earthquake, the sun turned black as sackcloth, and the moon become as blood Revelation 6:12.

The verses that give the sign are the words of Christ Himself: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory" Mark 13:24-26. The Revelator here describes the first of the signs to precede the second advent Matthew 24:29.

📖 The sixth seal turns to literal events

With the sixth seal the language of the prophecy changes suddenly from the figurative to the strictly literal — these are events in the sun, moon, and stars that were seen by the eyes of men, not symbols. Prophecy not only foretells the manner and object of Christ's coming, but presents tokens by which men are to know when it is near. These signs were witnessed before the opening of the nineteenth century, and they stand in a fixed, required order: first the great earthquake, then the darkening of the sun and the moon becoming as blood, then the falling of the stars.

🏚️ The great earthquake — Lisbon, 1755

In fulfillment of this prophecy there occurred, in the year 1755, the most terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known as the earthquake of Lisbon, it extended over the greater part of Europe, Africa, and America — an extent of not less than four million square miles.

The Lisbon Earthquake Destroys the City by KandD

In fulfillment of this prophecy there occurred, in the year 1755, the most terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known as the earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater part of Europe, Africa, and America.

It was felt in Greenland, in the West Indies, in Madeira, in Norway and Sweden, in Great Britain and Ireland; in Africa the shock was almost as severe as in Europe, destroying a great part of Algiers and swallowing up a village of eight or ten thousand inhabitants near Morocco. It was in Spain and Portugal that the shock manifested its extreme violence — at Lisbon a violent shock threw down the greater part of the city, and in the course of about six minutes sixty thousand persons perished.

🌑 The darkened sun and the moon of blood — May 19, 1780

In fulfillment of our Lord's prediction, May 19, 1780, occurred a most remarkable darkening of the sun, extending over the eastern portion of North America. The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is unknown — it was not an eclipse, not an ordinary cloud cover, but a supernatural darkening. Cattle returned home, fowls went to roost, and men and women wailed and wept, believing the day of judgment had come.

The following night, although the moon was at the full, it was so dark that a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eye was equally invisible with the blackest velvet; and at times, when the moon did appear, it was red as blood. Thus were fulfilled both parts of the prophecy — the sun becoming black as sackcloth by day, and the moon becoming as blood by night.

🕰️ Where these signs stand in prophecy

These heavenly signs are those Christ promised to declare His coming near. They are placed on the prophetic timeline after the 1,260 years of papal persecution, and before the falling of the stars in 1833. The great earthquake of 1755, the darkening of sun and moon in 1780, and the falling of the stars in 1833 stand as prominent waymarks under the sixth seal, and the remaining events of the seal are yet future. Together they testify that Christ's coming is near — without revealing its day or hour.

✨ What it means for us

As Christ gave His disciples a sign of Jerusalem's approaching ruin that they might escape, so these signs are given that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. The sun made black and the moon become as blood are signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, joined with distress of nations, that warn the world of that coming. Those who behold these harbingers are to know that it is near, even at the doors, and to watch, so they are not left in darkness for that day to overtake them unawares. The world was no more ready to credit this message than the Jews were to receive the warning concerning Jerusalem — but to the one who watches, these fulfilled signs are a sure anchor, proving that God's word has not failed and that Jesus soon comes.

People Panic Under Signs in the Sun, Moon and Stars

Would you like to go on to verse 13, the falling of the stars as the fig tree casts her untimely figs?

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  3. ST Jan 15, 1880Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 2 — SIGNS OF THE TIMES.—No. 2.James White
  4. ST Jan 2, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 1 — Signs of the TimesR. F. Cottrell
  5. RH Mar 9, 1916The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 93, No. 13 — The Great EarthquakeL. L. C.
  6. GC 304.2–305.2The Great Controversy — HERALDS OF THE MORNING—17Ellen G. White
  7. DA 841.3–4The Desire of Ages — APPENDIX.Ellen G. White
  8. ST Sep 27, 1899Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 39 — SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMINGJ. G. Whittier
  9. RH Oct 7, 1873Review and Herald, Vol. 42, No. 17 — AN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENOND. T. Taylor
  10. DA 841.5The Desire of Ages — APPENDIX.Ellen G. White
  11. 4SP 195.2Spirit of Prophecy Volume Four — CHAPTER XII.Ellen G. White
  12. ST Nov 28, 1895Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47 — EVIDENCE FROM THE APOCALYPSEF. M. W.
  13. GC88 38.1–2The Great Controversy (1888) — CHAPTER I.Ellen G. White
  14. GC 37.2–38.1The Great Controversy — THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM—1Ellen G. White
  15. ST Jan 3, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 1 — Signs of His ComingMilo Bostwick

7. What other supernatural sign was to take place to show that the advent of Christ was near? Rev. 6:13

AdventAI

The other supernatural sign was the falling of the stars of heaven to the earth, "even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind" Revelation 6:13.

Red Moon and Falling Stars Over a Ruined City by KandD

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. Revelation 6:13

📖 What the sign means

The stars that fell were not the great fixed stars or the planets, which could not fall in multitudes without destroying the earth. They were meteors — shooting stars, in the common use of the word — falling toward the earth in the only way such falling is literally possible. The comparison to a fig tree casting her untimely figs when a mighty wind shakes her exactly pictures how they appeared: meteors flashing across the heavens in countless numbers in every direction, each leaving a tail of light, seeming to fall directly upon the earth like green fruit torn off and flung outward and downward.

The sign is to be taken literally, not symbolically — these were events in the material sky seen by the eyes of men, not figures. It stands in the sixth seal in order after the great earthquake, the sun turned black, and the moon become as blood, and before the heaven departing as a scroll and Christ's appearing.

🌠 The fulfillment: November 13, 1833

The prophecy received a striking and impressive fulfillment in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833. It was the last of the signs promised by the Saviour as tokens of His second advent, and it came two years after William Miller began to present in public the evidences of Christ's soon coming.

In 1833, two years after Miller began to present in public the evidences of Christ's soon coming, the last of the signs appeared which were promised by the Saviour as tokens of his second advent.

For hours, under a serene and cloudless sky, the whole firmament over North America was in fiery commotion, with a dazzling play of brilliant luminosities thicker than rain toward the east, west, north, and south. It was the most extensive and wonderful display of falling stars ever recorded, seen over nearly the whole northern part of the American continent and far out at sea.

✨ What it means for us

This sign is a token and herald of the day of God and of Christ's second coming. Those who behold these signs in the sun, moon, and stars may know that His coming is near, even at the doors, and they are given as a merciful warning that all who will may flee from the wrath to come and not be overtaken unawares.

Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to "know that it is near, even at the doors."

The sign was fulfilled in 1833, eleven years before 1844, closing the series of the sixth seal's heavenly signs. The events that remain under this seal — the heavens departing as a scroll and the coming of the Son of man — are still before us, and the falling stars stand as a completed proof that He who promised is at the door.

Sources · 15
  1. RH Oct 28, 1852The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 3, No. 13 — MODERN PHENOMENA OF THE HEAVENSPortsmouth Journal; Mr. Henry Dana Ward
  2. RH Jun 23, 1863The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 22, No. 4 — Signs of the AdventVoice of the Prophets
  3. GC88 332.4–334.1The Great Controversy (1888) — CHAPTER XVIII.Ellen G. White
  4. ST Aug 21, 1893Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 41 — SOME SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING
  5. ST Feb 25, 1875Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 16 — The SermonPortsmouth Journal
  6. Ms 73, 1886, par. 1–2Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886) — Ms 73, 1886Ellen G. White
  7. ST Jan 15, 1880Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 2 — SIGNS OF THE TIMES.—No. 2.James White
  8. ST Apr 17, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 16 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  9. DA 841.5The Desire of Ages — APPENDIX.Ellen G. White
  10. ST Feb 21, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 8 — The Closing Seals
  11. GC 333.1–334.3The Great Controversy — AN AMERICAN REFORMER — 18Ellen G. White
  12. GC 37.2–38.1The Great Controversy — THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM—1Ellen G. White
  13. GC88 38.1–2The Great Controversy (1888) — CHAPTER I.Ellen G. White
  14. RH May 2, 1907The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 84, No. 18 — Nearing HomeC. M. S.
  15. ST Jan 3, 1878Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 1 — THE BIBLICAL INSTITUTEUriah Smith

8. Into what time does the sixth seal bring us? Rev.6:14

AdventAI

The sixth seal brings us down to the end of time, to the very time of Christ's second coming and the great day of God's wrath — and according to the prophecy, we are already living amid the momentous events of this seal.

The sixth seal is the last of the seals that describes earthly conditions under the history of the church, and it reaches to the end of time. The seventh seal that follows barely announces the ushering in of the advent of the Lord. So the question "into what time does the sixth seal bring us?" is answered plainly: it carries us forward to the close of this world's history, to the day when Christ comes in glory.

🕰️ The seal opened with the past signs

The sixth seal did not begin all at once. It opened with a series of way-marks that are now history:

  • The great earthquake — the Lisbon earthquake of November 1, 1755, which extended over at least four million square miles of Europe, Africa and America, and destroyed the city in about six minutes.
  • The darkened sun and the moon of blood — the wonderful dark day of May 19, 1780, and the following night, when the moon appeared red as blood.
  • The falling of the stars — the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833, which fulfilled the prophecy of the fig tree casting her untimely figs.

The first five seals were described in a highly figurative style; but with the sixth seal there is a complete change to the narration of literal facts. By no principle of interpretation can the language of the preceding seals be made literal, nor can the language of this one easily be made figurative. These events in the sun, moon and stars were seen by the eyes of men, and they stand as the completed tokens that Christ's coming is near.

Signs in the Sky Before Christ's Return

📖 Where we stand now: between verse 13 and verse 14

The falling of the stars in 1833 was the last great natural sign in the series that must precede the coming of the Master. Between this sign and the events that follow stands the present time — the day in which we live.

This strikes the keynote of the work in our hands, namely, the sounding of the advent proclamation in all the world, before the generation beginning at a definite point in the past, and now nearing the utmost limits of its existence, shall have all passed off the stage of action.

Believers now stand between Revelation 6:13 and 6:14 — the falling stars are past, and what remains is the shaking of the powers of heaven and the coming of the Son of man. This is why James White could write:

Such are the solemn and sublime scenes that transpire under the sixth seal. And a thought well calculated to awaken in every heart an intense interest in divine things, is the consideration that we are now living amid the momentous events of this seal.

⚡ Verse 14 brings us to the coming of Christ

Verse 14 — the verse in question — is the hinge where the seal passes from fulfilled signs to the closing events:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Revelation 6:14

This belongs to the time when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, taking vengeance on those who know not God and obey not the gospel 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8. It is the day of the Lord, when the heavens pass away with a great noise and the elements melt with fervent heat 2 Peter 3:10. The heaven that departs as a scroll and the mountains and islands that move are the shaking of the powers of heaven that attend Christ's presence, when He comes in the clouds with power and great glory Matthew 24:30.

The time into which the seal brings us, then, is the great day of God's wrath — the day when kings and great men, rich men, chief captains, mighty men, bondman and free man hide themselves in the dens and rocks, crying, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:15-17. This involves the presence of Him who sitteth on the throne, the revelation from on high of the once insulted, but now exalted and avenging Lamb. The scene is unmistakable, and it tells us plainly that the Lord will come.

✨ What it means for us

So the sixth seal has not yet run its course. Its opening events are behind us — the earthquake, the darkened sun, the falling stars — and they are the completed proof that the remainder is near. We now live in the interval between the last sign and the coming of the Son of man, working out the sealing of God's people before the winds are loosed Revelation 7:1-3. The shaking of the powers of heaven and the day of wrath remain future, but they are before the door. The question the seal ends on — "who shall be able to stand?" — finds its answer only in those who are sealed of God and made white in the blood of the Lamb Revelation 7:14.

Would you like to go on to the closing events of verses 15 to 17, or to the sealing of Revelation 7, which answers the question "who shall be able to stand?"

Sources · 14
  1. ST May 13, 1880Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 18 — MATTHEW XXIV
  2. RH Oct 1, 1914The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 91, No. 41 — The Present Crisis[^1]
  3. ST Jan 15, 1880Signs of the Times, Vol. 6, No. 2 — SIGNS OF THE TIMES.—No. 2.James White
  4. RH Apr 25, 1865The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 25, No. 21 — The Seven SealsJames White
  5. RH Jan 6, 1903The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 80, No. 1 — Former ThingsUriah Smith
  6. ST Apr 17, 1879Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 16 — The Seven SealsUriah Smith
  7. ST Jan 10, 1911Signs of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 2 — Signs of His ComingRoderick S. Owen
  8. ST Jul 29, 1913Signs of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 29 — What Christ’s Coming Means
  9. ST Oct 3, 1900Signs of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 40 — LESSONS FROM MATTHEW 24ALONZO T. JONES.
  10. ST Sep 18, 1884Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 36 — Shaking of the Powers of HeavenSubscriber
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  12. RH Jan 29, 1861The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 17, No. 11 — THOUGHTS ON THE ADVENT
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9. What event follows immediately after this? What will those pray at that time who neglect to pray to God today? What do they know about this day which has come upon them? Rev.6:15-17

AdventAI

Immediately after the falling of the stars, the heaven departs as a scroll and every mountain and island are moved out of their places — and then all the people of the earth, every rank, hide in dens and rocks and cry to the mountains to fall on them, because the great day of God's wrath has come and they cannot stand Revelation 6:14-17.

Let me walk through the closing verses of the sixth seal, which answer each part of your question.

📖 Verse 14: The heaven departs

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Revelation 6:14

The heaven that departs is the atmospheric heaven around the earth — the sky — not Paradise or the starry heavens. It will part and roll back like a scroll as the earth is convulsed by the voice of God, an event still future, belonging to Christ's actual appearing. Every mountain and island moved out of their places means a literal, worldwide upheaval: the earth trembles and reels, mountains topple, islands flee and sink, and the ground is broken into disorder at the coming of the King of kings. These events mark the close of probation, after Christ has left His mediatorial work and the sealing of God's servants is complete. James White wrote of the whole order:

After the heavens depart "as a scroll when rolled together," and the "mountains and islands are moved out of their places," "the kings of the earth, and great men, etc." "hide in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains," from the awful glory of the coming Jesus…

👑 Verse 15: Every rank hides

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; Revelation 6:15

The dens and rocks of the mountains are literal caves and caverns opened by the convulsions of the earth, not symbols of governments or refuge in other lands. The kings, great men, rich men, chief captains, mighty men, bondmen and freemen show that every rank of society is caught in the same terror — wealth, power and military might protect no one on that day. They are rebels who rejected truth and trampled God's law and Sabbath, and who rejected the atonement of Christ though He died to redeem them. No cave or rock can shield them from Christ's glory, which is life to those who love Him but death to those who refuse Him.

The Wicked Terrified Before Christ's Glory by KandD

🪨 Verse 16: The vain prayer to the rocks

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: Revelation 6:16

Here is the answer to the lesson's second question: those who neglect to pray to God today will, at that time, pray to mountains and rocks — but not with repentance or a plea for mercy. It is a cry of terror, asking to be hidden from the face of the One on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. The Lamb they rejected returns as Judge in His Father's glory, and every eye sees Him; those who mocked Him now recognize whom they opposed. The cry comes after the plagues, when the lost seek to escape the Lord's presence, not to enter it — the appeal is for concealment, not for pardon. The mountains themselves give no refuge: creation is loyal to its God and deaf to the frenzied call. Ellen G. White captured the scene:

The unsaved utter wild imprecations to dumb nature—their god: "Mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.'" … Creation is loyal to her God, and deaf to the frenzied call.

⚖️ Verse 17: What they know

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Revelation 6:17

Here is the answer to the third question: what they know about this day is that the great day of His wrath has come, and that they cannot stand. This is the day when Christ's mediatorial, priestly work is finished — He puts off the priestly robes, takes kingly power, and comes to execute judgment on the transgressors of God's law and the rejecters of His atonement. Probation has ended; there is then no repentance, no pardon, no Intercessor, and no renewed opportunity to change one's condition. The question "who shall be able to stand?" expresses their terror at divine majesty, and it is answered by the next vision: those who come through tribulation, wash their robes in the Lamb's blood, and stand before God's throne Revelation 7:14. Ellen G. White made the question personal:

Let the inquiry go forth from sincere hearts and trembling lips, "Who shall be able to stand?" … While mercy still lingers, while Jesus is making intercession for us, let us make thorough work for eternity.

✨ What this means for us

The lesson is plain: those who refuse to seek God now, while mercy lingers, will find every other refuge empty when He appears. The same day that is terror to the unprepared is joy to the faithful, who are hidden in Christ and welcome the returning Lord. The warning is urgent — seek the Lord, righteousness and meekness now, turn from sin, and perfect holiness while Jesus still intercedes, so you will be among those who can stand when the great day comes. Would you like to go on to Revelation 7, the sealing of the 144,000, which answers the question "who shall be able to stand?"

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