Revelation 6:12-17

THE SIXTH SEAL.

I must ask the reader to attentively examine the latter portion of Revelation, chapter VI., before reading what. have to say under the head of the sixth seal. It runs as follows:

And. beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was. great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as. fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of. mighty wind. And the heaven departed as. scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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 freeman, bid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him 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?--6:12-17.

The scenes beheld by the apostle are startling, and calculated to fill the soul with awe and consternation. The earth reels in. mighty earthquake, that hurls mountains and islands from their places, and the awful agitation extends from the earth upwards to the heavens. The sun is black as sackcloth, the, moon is red as blood, stars fall from their places in the the heavens, and the heavens themselves are rolled away as. scroll. As he gazes, the face of the earth and sky is so changed that there might be said to be. new heavens and. new earth. At the same time he hears the agonized cries of men, both great and small, who cry to the hills to fall upon them and hide them from the face of the Lamb.

The imagery described is most striking, and certainly portrays remarkable changes. We have already found that this is symbolism, and we are not to look for. literal fulfillment, but for historical events which would correspond to the symbolical pictures. We are not to expect that this seal will be fulfilled by literal earthquakes, falling stars, blackened sun and moving islands and mountains, but by the events of which these physical signs are symbols.

Before we point out the fulfillment we must pause to indicate the symbolical meaning of some of the terms which are employed. These may be gathered from any good dictionary of symbols, and, indeed, the signification of most of the terms must be apparent.

An earthquake, in agitation of the earth, must refer to great political or religious commotion upon the earth. As John's "earth" is constantly the Roman Empire, this commotion will be within its limits. The Lord, speaking of the revolution which would be effected by Christ, says, Haggai 2:6-7: "Yet once, it is. little time, and. will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and. will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come." The earthquake is often used by the prophets as. symbol of political or religious agitation. The sun, moon and stars refer to earthly dignitaries, great lights in the political or religious heavens. In the dream of Joseph, which so maddened his brethren, these terms are used in this meaning, as well as by the ancient prophets. In the East it was common to liken the king or emperor to the sun, and stars are the symbols of princes and rulers. For the use of the term we refer the reader to Daniel 8:10. The blackness of the sun and the bloody hue of the moon point out scenes of sorrow and bloodshed. The, falling of the stars would indicate the downfall of those who had held high places on the earth, or rather within the Roman Empire. Mountain and island are used to denote earthly the latter referring more especially to European provinces which were often called "the isles of the sea." From the period of Diocletian, the great persecutor, the title, "Your Eminence," or, in other words, "mountain," was bestowed upon princes. As. mountain stood above the plain, so the rulers or the earth were exalted.

With these definitions before our minds, it is easy to discover that the sixth seal is. period of mighty and startling revolutions, not in the heavens, but upon the earth, which are wrought out amid scenes of sorrow and blood. The various phenomena in earth and sky, the earthquake, the falling stars, the heavens rolled away, the mountains and islands moved out of their places, all foreshadow. violent, bloody, remarkable upheaval of systems, rulers, government, kingdoms, and the establishment of. new order upon the earth. It is on earth, it is in history that we are to look for the fulfillment of the prophecy. And since the "earth" that is present to the mind of John is the civilized world known to the ancients, the Roman Empire, it is within its boundaries that we must look for the fulfillment. There can be no doubt that this is "the seal of revolution."

Some who have held that we were to look in history for the explanation of John's symbols, have thought that the sixth seal was fulfilled in the rush of the savage nations of the North down upon the decaying Roman Empire,. movement which resulted in the destruction of the old nations and the establishment of new kingdoms and races. We shall take. different view, for the reason that there is another revolution, nearer in point of time, closely following the great persecution of the fifth seal, that in. surprising manner fulfills the imagery; and, in addition, the invasions and destruction wrought by the savage hordes from the North are symbolized by, the events connected with the blowing of the first four trumpets, as narrated in the eighth chapter.

Several circumstances help us to fix the meaning. 1. The time. It follows immediately after the great persecution indicated by the fifth seal, which closed in A. D. 311. These events occur, then, near that time. 2. It is. time of blood and mourning. Who are the mourners? Kings, great men, rich men, bondmen and freemen. Are these Christians? They are enemies of the Lamb, who fear his wrath and mourn over his power. The mourners are the opposers of the Church.--(Verse 16.) 3. The seal is followed by. period of great joy and prosperity on the part of the Church.--(See chapter VII.) An innumerable multitude are sealed with the seal of the Lamb, of which the next chapter gives record. Have we, near A. D. 311, the time when the great persecution closed,. period of mighty revolution, that filled the unbelieving world with mourning, and which was followed by. time of triumph, prosperity and glory to the Church of Christ? We ask the reader's attention to the history of that epoch.

Three years before, or A. D. 308, the vast Roman Empire had been broken up between no less than six emperors. Jealous of each other, each determined to grasp an undivided power, they watched one another, and prepared for mortal combat. They hesitated four years before the Roman world was dyed in blood. We will observe the course of only one of the six, Constantine, afterwards called Constantine the Great.

In the year 312, leaving Britain, marching through Gaul, he launched his armies upon Italy. The Church watched his progress with singular interest; for although he bad, as yet, made no profession of Christianity, his mother, Helena, was. Christian, and it was felt that he was favorable to his mother's faith. The Italian emperor opposed to him, Maxentius, was. firm Pagan, and around him centered the interests of the Pagan faith. Indeed, he gave public assurance that he would extirpate the Christian religion, and vowed to Jupiter that, in the event he was successful, he would make his worship universal on the ruins of Christianity. He and his adherents were the avowed enemies of Christ, and Paganism staked all upon his success. Three great battles were fought, the last in the suburbs of Rome. In the retreat Maxentius was slain, and Constantine was master of Italy and the West. In the meantime Licinius, also. Pagan, another of the six, had made himself master of the East by the overthrow and death of rivals, and in A. D. 314 the armies of the West and East were arrayed against, each other, to determine who should be the master of the world. With some truces and treaties, which were made only to be broken, the mighty contest that convulsed the civilized world lasted until A. D. 324, when Licinius, defeated, powerless,. prisoner, was put to death, and Constantine remained the sole master of the possessions of the six emperors.

We have, then, surely. time of blood,. time of mourning,. time when kings and earthly dignitaries fall and mourn,. time when the kingdoms, signified by mountains and islands, are moved out of their places.

But these are not the most remarkable changes of this period. Let us note these: 1. The votaries of the old Paganism had rallied around the enemies of Constantine, because he was felt to be its unrelenting foe, who would compass its destruction. When he was seated in triumph upon the ruins of six imperial thrones, there was great mourning from the enemies of the Cross. They felt that theirs was. doomed religion. They were right. 2. In the year 319, before his final triumph, he had decreed that his mother's religion should be tolerated as an acknowledged faith of the empire. 3. In 321 he decreed that Sunday, the sacred day of Christianity, should be observed in all the cities by the cessation of trade and labor, 4. In 325 he abolished by decree the bloody combats of the gladiators, where men killed each other to amuse the populace,. Roman institution that had existed for. thousand years. 5. He convoked, by imperial authority,. great council of Christian bishops, the one known in history as the Council of Nice. 6. In 331 he decreed that the Pagan religion should exist no longer, and that all the heathen temples should be leveled, or converted into churches, 7. At the same time the old Roman laws were remodeled according to the precepts of the Christian religion, and. Pagan empire was transformed into an empire of the Christian faith, under new institutions. Surely the old heavens were moved away as. scroll is gathered together. But this is not all.. name another wonderful change of this age of revolution. It was not enough that he was determined to destroy the old Roman faith and the old Roman customs and laws--he aimed. blow at Rome itself. For near eleven hundred years it had been the seat of empire, growing from. village, with. few miles of territory, to be the mighty capital of the world. In 324 he determined to shake the Roman world to its very center, and to deprive the imperial city of the crown worn for eleven centuries by removing the capital from Italy to. new city upon the banks of the Hellespont, that should henceforth be called Constantinople, from his own name. The mighty mountain of the West is moved from its place.

In these events, constituting the most remarkable revolution that has occurred in the history of the world, we realize. complete fulfillment of the symbolism. Sun and moon are dark and bloody, the stars fall, and mountains and islands are removed; but it is proper to ask whether, in the mourning of great men, and freemen and bondmen, there was. feeling that they were suffering from the wrath of the Lamb? It is apparent that all regarded the great contest as one between Christianity and Paganism, though Constantine did not proclaim warfare in behalf of the Church. It was also entirely in accordance with Pagan superstition for them to believe that Christ was fighting against them. It was held by Pagans that their gods fought upon the fields of battle by giving strength to the arms of those whom they feared; and when Pagan hopes were blasted by the success of Constantine, it was recognized as the triumph of Christ. The vengeance that was wrought, the sweeping revolutions that took place, the upturning of the old order, and the overthrow of the heathen temples, were all recognized as exhibitions of the wrath of the Lamb; and we are told that more than one imperial champion of Paganism called, in his hour of distress, to Christ, to have mercy. Some of the Pagan writers almost adopted the language of Revelation in describing this period. The ruin of the Pagan religion is described by the Sophists, says Gibbon, "as. dreadful and amazing prodigy, which covered the earth with darkness, and restored the ancient dominion of chaos and night. "