Fear of the Wrath to Come, Part 1 (Revelation 6:12–14)

Focus Keywords: Great Tribulation, Wrath of the Lamb, Sixth Seal, Day of the Lord, End Times Prophecy, Revelation 6, John MacArthur, Fear of God

This summary and rewrite draws on the analysis of Revelation 6:12–17, detailing the terrifying, universally experienced fear that accompanies the breaking of the Sixth Seal during the Great Tribulation. The message emphasizes that the greatest fear people should possess is the Fear of God, a reality the entire world will abruptly confront during this cataclysmic, divine intervention.

The Timeline of God’s Judgment: The Seven Seals

The events described occur during a future seven-year period known as the time of tribulation, also called the time of Jacob’s trouble or Daniel’s seventieth week. This period is characterized by Christ, the Lamb of God, unrolling a seven-sealed scroll, which details the events of His takeover of the universe from Satan, demons, and sinners.

The first five seals involve elements of human agency, but the Sixth Seal marks a shift to a level of intervention that is holy and solely God’s own.

The force described in the Sixth Seal is fear. This fear is so powerful that it compels people to prefer immediate death rather than facing the wrath of God.

The True Object of Fear: The Living God

Fear is a powerful human emotion that can be overwhelming, leading to irrational desires like praying for self-destruction. While normal, common fears include disease, injury, loss of family, money, or even public speaking, the sources highlight that people rarely fear what they truly should: falling into the hands of the living God.

• Phobias vs. Divine Wrath: A phobia is an abnormal, exaggerated, disabling, and uncontrollable response to a normal fear. People exhibit phobias regarding bizarre things (like falling into the toilet or fear of certain colors) or common things (like cats, dogs, crowds, or darkness). Jesus, however, warned believers to fear the One who, after killing the body, has the authority to cast into hell.
• Terrifying Judgment: Hebrews 10:31 states, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. God’s judgment is something people ought to be afraid of, far beyond the minimal issues of life like pain or pregnancy.

The church today is cautioned against promoting the idea of God as merely a benign, “cosmic good guy,” which dilutes the necessary and righteous Fear of God.

The Reason for Fear: Six Frightening Features of the Sixth Seal

The Sixth Seal reveals a dramatic, sudden, and unavoidable intervention by God. This event, described in Revelation 6:12–14, is so terrifying that it causes people to faint and die from sheer terror. This scene fits the chronology described by Jesus in Matthew 24 and Luke 21, and by the Old Testament prophets Joel and Isaiah.

The catastrophe involves six frightening, cosmic features:

1. A Great Shaking (Seismos): This is more than a localized earthquake. The Greek word seismos means a quaking or severe agitation. It would be better translated as “a great shaking” because it affects the entire universe (seismos in the universe), not just the Earth. This cataclysm is more destructive and intense than all previous earthquakes combined and is God’s wrath at full operation.
2. The Sun Becomes Black: The sun will become black as sackcloth made of hair. Sackcloth was a rough, dark garment worn for mourning. This blackness is likely caused by tremendous volcanic eruptions spewing vast quantities of dust, steam, and gases into the atmosphere. Blackness and darkness are often associated with God’s judgment, as seen during the judgment of Egypt, at Mount Sinai, and when Christ was judged on the cross.
3. The Moon Becomes Like Blood: The whole moon will become like blood. This total eclipse is vivid and is also likely caused by the volcanic eruptions. The sun’s blackness hides the moon, which only reflects the sun’s light.
4. Stars Fall to Earth: The stars of the sky fall to the earth, analogous to a fig tree casting its unripe figs when violently shaken. The Greek term asteres refers to any celestial body. It is best understood here as a massive asteroid or meteor shower plummeting from the sky, as true stars would incinerate the Earth. These fiery balls are evidence that the whole collapsing universe is beginning to disintegrate.
5. The Sky is Split Apart: The sky will be split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up. John sees the sky literally ripped down the middle, disappearing as the universe breaks up. This confirms the judgment is directed at the cosmos itself, which has been the domain of Satan.
6. Mountains and Islands Moved: Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. This feature indicates the unstable crust of the Earth begins to move and shift. This is projected to be a phenomenon akin to continental drift, dwarfing all previous earthquakes. The sources warn environmentalists that if they think man has messed up the Earth, they should “wait till you see what God does to it”—confirming this is a disposable planet.

The Response: Panic and Prayer for Suicide

When this terrifying reality hits, the world’s deceptive utopian narrative—falsely promised by the Antichrist and false prophets—is utterly shattered.

• Universal Panic: People will faint and die from sheer terror. Those who survive the initial shock will experience the ultimate paranoia and a universal panic attack.
• The World’s Largest Prayer Meeting: The kings, commanders, rich, strong, slaves, and free men—representing the entire spectrum of humanity—will hide themselves in caves and among the rocks. They will engage in the world’s largest prayer meeting, but they will pray to the mountains and rocks.
• A Prayer for Destruction: They will cry out, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb”. This is a prayer for suicide and destruction, showing they would rather die than face the realized wrath of God.

For the first time, after hearing the testimony of the massacred Christians and apostles who preached the coming wrath, the world will recognize that “the great day of their wrath has come”. What hits is so profound that it is unavoidably attributable only to God.

Escaping the Wrath to Come

The message concludes with the assurance that Christians do not need to fear this wrath because they have escaped the wrath of God through Jesus Christ. God’s wrath was borne by Christ on the cross.

Believers are delivered from wrath to blessing, from hell to heaven, and from terror to rejoicing. The call is to put faith in Jesus Christ to escape the wrath to come, and to be faithful in warning the world of the terror of the Lord before it is too late.