14 And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.
And every island went in flight, and the mountains were seen no longer.
And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.
They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:
And on all the high mountains, and on all the hills which are lifted up; And on every high tower, and on every strong wall; And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all the fair boats. And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.
Truly, the hills, and the noise of an army on the mountains, are a false hope: truly, in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light. Looking at the mountains, I saw them shaking, and all the hills were moved about. Looking, I saw that there was no man, and all the birds of heaven had gone in flight. Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.
So that the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field and everything moving on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth, will be shaking before me, and the mountains will be overturned and the high places will come down, and every wall will come falling down to the earth.
The mountains are shaking because of him, and the hills flowing away; the earth is falling to bits before him, the world and all who are in it.
The mountains saw you and were moved with fear; the clouds were streaming with water: the voice of the deep was sounding; the sun did not come up, and the moon kept still in her place.
They will come to their end; but you are for ever; they will become old as a robe; They will be rolled up like a cloth, even like a robe, and they will be changed: but you are the same and your years will have no end. But of which of the angels has he said at any time, Take your seat at my right hand till I put all those who are against you under your feet?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 6
Commentary on Revelation 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
The book of the divine counsels being thus lodged in the hand of Christ, he loses no time, but immediately enters upon the work of opening the seals and publishing the contents; but this is done in such a manner as still leaves the predictions very abstruse and difficult to be understood. Hitherto the waters of the sanctuary have been as those in Ezekiel's vision, only to the ankles, or to the knees, or to the loins at least; but here they begin to be a river that cannot be passed over. The visions which John saw, the epistles to the churches, the songs of praise, in the two foregoing chapters, had some things dark and hard to be understood; and yet they were rather milk for babes than meat for strong men; but now we are to launch into the deep, and our business is not so much to fathom it as to let down our net to take a draught. We shall only hint at what seems most obvious. The prophecies of this book are divided into seven seals opened, seven trumpets sounding, and seven vials poured out. It is supposed that the opening of the seven seals discloses those providences that concerned the church in the first three centuries, from the ascension of our Lord and Saviour to the reign of Constantine; this was represented in a book rolled up, and sealed in several places, so that, when one seal was opened, you might read so far of it, and so on, till the whole was unfolded. Yet we are not here told what was written in the book, but what John saw in figures enigmatical and hieroglyphic; and it is not for us to pretend to know "the times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power.'
In this chapter six of the seven seals are opened, and the visions attending them are related;
Rev 6:1-2
Here,
Rev 6:3-8
The next three seals give us a sad prospect of great and desolating judgments with which God punishes those who either refuse or abuse the everlasting gospel. Though some understand them of the persecutions that befel the church of Christ, and others of the destruction of the Jews, they rather seem more generally to represent God's terrible judgments, by which he avenges the quarrel of his covenant upon those who make light of it.
Rev 6:9-17
In the remaining part of this chapter we have the opening of the fifth and the sixth seals.