“…for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17, NASB)

Who is able to stand when the day of God’s judgment comes? One day, the Lamb of God will break open the sixth seal of the book of judgment, and all hell will break loose on earth. Read the description for yourself in today’s passage. It says,

“And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?’”

The great day of God’s judgment, also known as the Great Tribulation, is coming soon. There will be a great earthquake, the sun will turn black, the moon will become like blood, the stars will fall to the earth like unripe figs falling from the tree, the sky will split into two, and every mountain and island will be moved out of their place. As a result, the people of the earth will begin to carve out hiding places in the rocks of the mountains and say, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” It sounds crazy, but it looks as though every scene from every disaster movie is about to come true!

Yes, we have had many natural disasters in the past. However, these disasters will be anything but natural, for they are a direct result of the “wrath of the Lamb.” In other words, these disasters will come upon the earth because the Lamb of God will cause it to happen, and he will execute it with the full wrath of God. So who will be able to stand in those days? No one. It is interesting to note that the leaders of the earth will carve out a hiding place among the “rocks of the mountain.” People will be making bunkers in their basements. Governments will be building deep underground bunkers in the mountains to protect themselves from debris falling from the sky. Isn’t this something that people have been doing for years? Furthermore, since the sun becomes black, the moon turns red, and the stars fall from the sky, we can assume there will be no natural light on Earth in those days. No light will mean prolonged darkness, cold weather, reduced oxygen levels, famine, and food and water shortages. Who will be able to endure? In addition to these things, think of the byproduct or the aftermath of these events that will arise on the earth. The obvious ones will be outbreaks of viruses and other diseases that will affect human bodies. We can also assume that breakdowns in government, riots, anarchy, martial law, bloodshed, and panic in the streets will occur. What about uprising and insurrection over who gets to choose who will go into the “rocks in the mountain” when the stars of the sky begin to fall? Who is able to stand in those days?

However, among all these strange things, the strangest of all is that people still will not repent before God. They will struggle to survive by carving out a bunker in the mountain, but there is no mention of them crying out to God for forgiveness and mercy when the day of the Lamb’s wrath comes. Instead, they will cry out to “mountains” and “rocks” for help, to somehow protect them from the judgments of God! God’s judgment comes to punish our sin and wickedness, but it is also a call for us to repent. And when people repent and turn to God, He will forgive us and perhaps deliver us from disaster. In times of judgment, God’s mercies are great, which allows us to stand in the midst of the storm. Habakkuk 3:2 says, “LORD, I have heard the report about Thee and I fear. O LORD, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.” So, who is able to stand when the wrath of God comes? Not one person, except those who will call upon God for mercy. No one, except those who will pray, “In wrath remember mercy.”

• Why do you think these people in today’s reading sought all means to save themselves, except to repent before God?
• If you were to make a Christian movie about today’s passage, what would you title it, and how would you film it?