The opening of Seal 6 introduces an era in prophetic history quite different from that described in those first five Seals. Fortunately however, we have much to build on for understanding, because the evidence previously assembled in this study has dovetailed together to produce the following results.

• Concordant texts connecting Seal 6 with the Olivet Discourse require that Seal 6 must follow the Times of the Gentiles.

• It has already been learned from that timeline in Daniel's 70th Week that we should be presently living during the final phases of the End Times just prior to the Lord's return.

• Likewise, the unfolding pattern of the Davidic Kingdom also confirms that we should be presently witnessing the concluding phases of Israel's restoration just before their redemption and the arrival of the Millennial Kingdom.

The harmony that exists among these interrelated findings now allows us to proceed with the assumption that the timeline constructed in Daniel's 70th Week must be fundamentally correct, thereby requiring that we search for ways to interpret Seal 6 so that it might also remain consistent with the above findings.

The arrival of Daniel's 70th Week should have been a time when the Lord turned from the Gentiles back to Israel, reversing the consequence of their first century refusal to accept Him, following the first 69 Weeks of Daniel's prophecy. Just as their rejection of Messiah in AD 32 marked the end of the Lord's economy of Law and the beginning of the Times of the Gentiles during the Age of Grace, the 1988 arrival of Daniel's70th Week should have correspondingly marked the end of the Times of the Gentiles and the beginning of a new economy in God's Plan, leading mankind from the Age of Grace to the Millennial Kingdom.

The Olivet Discourse makes it clear that this transition from the Times of the Gentiles to the Kingdom period would be accompanied by apocalyptic effects, and those Discourse texts indicating that transition are concordant with Seal 6. Therefore Seal 6 should be coincident with the arrival of Daniel's 70th Week.

This conjunction appears to be confirmed by the text of Psalm 87/1987 that depicts a time when the Lord counts and registers His redeemed. It was pointed out in the previous section on Seal 5 that it's strikingly appropriate for this particular Psalm to occur here in the Psalter, because its text is singularly correct for the termination of the Times of the Gentiles and Covenant of Grace, just prior to Psalm 88/1988 which should depict the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week and a totally different kind of situation. Viewed in this way, it would be altogether fitting for the Lord to count and register those saved during the Times of the Gentiles just prior to His officially turning to Israel for the final countdown to the Millennial Kingdom.

For the first time in our reading of the Revelation, we find text in Seal 6 that contains apocalyptic language totally different from the language describing those earlier scenes in Heaven, or depicting Seals 1-5. Seal 6 pictures "mighty earthquakes", "stars falling", "sun and moon turning dark", and "sky being rolled up". If Seal 6 is to be assigned to the 1988 time frame of the arrival of Daniel's 70th Week, it is obvious that such cataclysmic effects could not be reconciled with that historic period, if they must be taken literally. So an issue is raised: Must this language be understood "literally", or should it be taken "figuratively"?

1. OBJECTIONS TO INTERPRETING APOCALYPTIC LANGUAGE "LITERALLY"

While it is true that some modern scholars ascribe to a literal interpretation of apocalyptic statements like those in Seal 6, it must also be pointed out that such an approach immediately creates an issue with the scientific community. 

1. A literal interpretation for all apocalyptic events in the Revelation will surely subject it to intense skepticism and even ridicule from scientists who can argue that mankind's survival on earth is already dependent on an extremely delicate ecological balance. Celestial disturbances causing the sun literally to turn dark, or "stars", i.e. comets, to fall to earth, or effects causing the sky, i.e. atmosphere, to be physically removed, must force us to ameliorate the physical consequences of such happenings, otherwise there would be no one left alive to occupy Messiah's Kingdom. Yet strangely, it is observed that the Revelation continues to describe many other subsequent apocalyptic events of like severity following Seal 6, while mankind inexplicably continues to survive on planet earth.
   
   Certainly severe earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, objects from outer space, or tempestuous weather conditions are always possible, nonetheless we must be willing to qualify any literal reading of apocalyptic texts in the Revelation with what we already know about the physical realities of our world, and mankind's extremely limited ability to survive such effects.

In addition, Messiah's own remarks concerning the times leading up to His second coming seem to cast serious doubt on an interpretation of apocalyptic events within the Revelation, based strictly on natural phenomenon.

2. Notice that Messiah stated that His return will be effected in a manner as though He were a "thief in the night". Such a surreptitious arrival hardly seems compatible with a purely physical rendering of these apocalyptic texts, for if a "thief" bulldozes a house down at some period of time before entering, his later entry would surely not come as a surprise to its inhabitants.

2. ARGUMENTS FOR INTERPRETING APOCALYPTIC LANGUAGE "FIGURATIVELY"

The alternative is to allow the Bible to interpret itself, by studying the context in which terms similar to those used in Seal 6 occur elsewhere in the Bible. The Revelation "search engine" technique used in connection with Seals 1-5 yielded concordant texts in the Old Testament to explain those Seals. Therefore, this approach will perceive such apocalyptic language to be "icons", for the purpose of linking us to concordant texts elsewhere in the Bible for their true meaning. Accordingly, we will query our "search engine" with  the following "apocalyptic terms".

• "earthquake"

• "sun & moon darkened"

• "stars extinguished or falling to the earth"

• "sky receded or rolled up"

Such a search will initially yield seven occasions when natural disturbances are recorded. Earthquakes are mentioned three times in the Bible, strange natural phenomena involving the sun or moon three other times, and one occasion when all three occurred.

1. (I Kings 19.11) records an earthquake at the time of the prophet Elijah.

2. (Amos 1.1) refers to an earthquake during the reign of king Uzziah.

3. (Zechariah 14.5) predicts that an earthquake will occur when the Lord physically returns to earth the second time.
   
   

4. (Exodus 10.21-23) records that the sun was darkened for three days on the occasion of the ninth plague against Egypt just prior to the Exodus.

5. (Joshua 10.12-14) records that the sun and moon did not set for a period of 24 hours during Joshua's military campaign against the Amorites.

6. (II Kings 20.9-11) records that the shadow of a sun dial strangely receded by 10 degrees when king Hezekiah prayed for extended life.
   
   

7. (Luke 23.44-45) records an earthquake, with the darkening of the sun and moon, at the time of Jesus' death on the cross.

Unfortunately, in none of these cases do the historic events seem to capture the intensity and grand scope of the celestial effects depicted in Seal 6. 

However, a continuing search will uncover other texts recorded by the Old Testament prophets that do have prophetic word pictures, either similar or identical with the Seal 6 language.

8. (Isaiah 13.10) describes the punishment to befall Babylon in terms of the "stars, sun, and moon being darkened".

9. (Isaiah 34.4-5) describes the Lord's anger against Edom as the "host of heaven being dissolved, and the heavens being rolled up like a scroll".

10. (Jeremiah 4.23-24) describes God's Judgement against the southern kingdom of Judah by Babylon, in terms of the "heavens failing to give light, and the mountains trembling".

11. (Ezekiel 32.7-8) describes the sorrows to befall Egypt as the "darkening of the stars, sun, and moon".

12. (Joel 2.10) describes an invasion of Judah as a time when the "earth will quake, the heavens tremble, and the sun, moon, and stars diminish their brightness". 

13. (Joel 2.30-32) and its concordant text in (Acts 2.19-21) use identical word pictures of "celestial effects in the heavens" to describe the occasion of Israel's opportunity for redemption in the time frame of Pentecost.

So if we simply allow the Bible itself to interpret such apocalyptic language in prophetic terms, we will conclude that it is not to be taken literally, but rather to signify acts of God carried out through commotions among the nations, political upheavals, wars, or other interventions into the affairs of men. 

In order to see that such an understanding follows historic mainline conservative thinking, consider the following remarks by some well-known traditional scholars concerning the proper way to interpret apocalyptic language in the Bible.

These extensive quotations from time honored Bible scholars are provided here, so that it can be asserted that the apocalyptic language used in Seal 6 does not have to refer to natural physical effects, but rather should refer to momentous events among the kingdoms of men, in a brief span of time before Messiah's Coming Glory, this view being consistent with mainstream historic conservative Bible scholars, as they have interpreted apocalyptic language repeatedly used by the Old Testament prophets. 

Before leaving the subject of the language used in Seal 6, a comment is needed regarding the phrase, "For the great day of His wrath has come", in verse 17. It might be thought that this wording requires that God's wrath would have had to begin at the advent of Daniel's 70th Week, if Seal 6 began at that time. However, the word hemera 2250, translated here as day, can either refer to a literal day, or it can refer to the arrival of a period of time, as illustrated by the following text.

(Luke 9.51) Now it came to pass, when the time (hemera 2250) had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. NKJV

Here is recorded the occasion when Jesus had completed His ministry in Galilee, and was about to make that final journey to Jerusalem where He would be crucified and received up to glory. Now His decision to make that journey occurred months before His crucifixion and ascension back to Heaven, so the word "time" (hemera), as used here, simply defines the beginning of a time period in which the events described would later occur. 

Similarly, the day (hemera) in Seal 6 must likewise define the arrival of a time period, i.e. Daniel's 70th Week, in which the Lord's wrath will later be vented upon mankind during its final phases. In fact, it will become clear in a moment that God's wrath could not have occurred at the inception of Seal 6, because 144,000 of the children of Israel are next "sealed", for the very purpose of protecting them against such troublous times yet to come. 

 

If we will reflect a bit on major world happenings since 1988, the following will come to mind.

• The advent of Daniel's 70th Week in 1988 was followed by a series of major upheavals in the world system involving (a) the fall of Communism in Europe, (b) the Persian Gulf war, involving a whole confederation of Gentile nations in the Middle East, and (c) the fall of the Soviet empire that had gripped much of the world in its evil clutches for 70 years. Remarkably, these events were all timed by a 360 day calendar, indicative of their prophetic association with Daniel's 70th Week, and marking them as occasions for the Lord's direct intervention into the affairs of mankind.
  
  

• Although the first Palestinian Intifada started in December, 1987, the political action that elevated it to the level of international critique occurred in 1988, when Yassir Arafat announced the PLO "Peace Initiative" for the resolution of the Palestinian problem. Not only did that policy increase the severity of the Intifada, but it also increased world pressures on Israel for them to compromise the West Bank and Gaza regions for the cause of peace, thereby jeopardizing their claim on the Land of their inheritance, and even their future existence as a nation. All of this came about in direct opposition to God's reinstatement of Israel back in the Land in 1948 for the express purpose of enacting His Millennial Kingdom.
  
  

• The distinct possibility of an angry God about to unleash His wrath against mankind is increasingly on the minds and lips of people as they witness the crescendo of ethnic cleansing, unparalleled religion persecution, unrestrained moral depravity, epidemic sexual diseases, drug mania, breakdown of the family, uncontrollable crime and violence, flagrant disregard for both unborn and infant children, widespread famines, and doomsday environmental forecasts. Surely, the historic record since 1988 has been one of dramatic rapid-fire events on a worldwide scale, and recently the appalling acts of terrorists within the continental United States forebode the employment of weapons of mass destruction both in the Western countries and across Asia. 

Consequently, since Daniel's 70th Week has already witnessed those events just enumerated, and since Seal 6 should have been initiated by its arrival, the apocalyptic language used in Seal 6 appears to be wholly in keeping with the character of the period in which we live.

Seal 6 should have begun in 1988 in conjunction with the advent of Daniel's 70th Week. This is sure to be questioned until we come to realize that the kind of apocalyptic language used in Seal 6 was quite common among the Old Testament prophets, who commonly used it to describe well known historic events. We know from the facts of history that the stupendous celestial and earthly effects used to describe them did not actually occur in connection with those events, but were simply used to characterize times when God intervened directly into the affairs of mankind in some notable way. This finding is singularly important, because it allows us to interpret Seal 6 in the proper context, and to place it at a point in time that is in complete harmony with our understanding of the significance of Daniel's 70th Week. 

When this is done, a very interesting phenomenon related to the overall chronology of the Revelation surfaces. It becomes evident that the timing of events during the first four Seals of the Times of the Gentiles were only within a century or so, then Seal 5 began to measure events to within a year using the Psalter, following Israel's 1948 rebirth as a nation. However, when we arrived at Seal 6 and Daniel's 70th Week in 1988, a third discrete magnification in the timeline occurred, causing events to be specified to an accuracy of one day. This stepwise magnification in time resolution not only suggests that we are now rapidly approaching the moment of the Lord's return, but also that we might be given increasingly accurate knowledge of our precise standing in time as we approach that momentous epoch in history.