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Commentary on Revelation 6 verses 9–17
In the remaining part of this chapter we have the opening of the fifth and the sixth seals.
I. The fifth seal. Here is no mention made of any one who called the apostle to make his observation, probably because the decorum of the vision was to be observed, and each of the four living creatures had discharged its duty of a monitor before, or because the events here opened lay out of the sight, and beyond the time, of the present ministers of the church; or because it does not contain a new prophecy of any future events, but rather opens a spring of support and consolation to those who had been and still were under great tribulation for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Here observe,
1.The sight this apostle saw at the opening of the fifth seal; it was a very affecting sight (Rev 6:9): I saw under the altar the souls of those that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. He saw the souls of the martyrs. Here observe, (1.) Where he saw them - under the altar; at the foot of the altar of incense, in the most holy place; he saw them in heaven, at the foot of Christ. Hence note, [1.] Persecutors can only kill the body, and after that there is no more that they can do; their souls live. [2.] God has provided a good place in the better world for those who are faithful to death and are not allowed a place any longer on earth. [3.] Holy martyrs are very near to Christ in heaven, they have the highest place there. [4.] It is not their own death, but the sacrifice of Christ, that gives them a reception into heaven and a reward there; they do not wash their robes in their own blood, but in the blood of the Lamb. (2.) What was the cause in which they suffered - the word of God and the testimony which they held, for believing the word of God, and attesting or confessing the truth of it; this profession of their faith they held fast without wavering, even though they died for it. A noble cause, the best that any man can lay down his life for - faith in God's word and a confession of that faith.
2.The cry he heard; it was a loud cry, and contained a humble expostulation about the long delay of avenging justice against their enemies: How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth? Rev 6:10. Observe, (1.) Even the spirits of just men made perfect retain a proper resentment of the wrong they have sustained by their cruel enemies; and though they die in charity, praying, as Christ did, that God would forgive them, yet they are desirous that, for the honour of God, and Christ, and the gospel, and for the terror and conviction of others, God will take a just revenge upon the sin of persecution, even while he pardons and saves the persecutors. (2.) They commit their cause to him to whom vengeance belongeth, and leave it in his hand; they are not for avenging themselves, but leave all to God. (3.) There will be joy in heaven at the destruction of the implacable enemies of Christ and Christianity, as well as at the conversion of other sinners. When Babylon falls, it will be said, Rejoice over her, O thou heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her, Rev 18:20.
3.He observed the kind return that was made to this cry (Rev 6:11), both what was given to them and what was said to them. (1.) What was given to them - white robes, the robes of victory and of honour; their present happiness was an abundant recompence of their past sufferings. (2.) What was said to them - that they should be satisfied, and easy in themselves, for it would not be long ere the number of their fellow-sufferers would be fulfilled. This is a language rather suited to the imperfect state of the saints in this world than to the perfection of their state in heaven; there is no impatience, no uneasiness, no need of admonition; but in this world there is great need of patience. Observe, [1.] There is a number of Christians, known to God, who are appointed as sheep for the slaughter, set apart to be God's witnesses. [2.] As the measure of the sin of persecutors is filling up, so is the number of the persecuted martyred servants of Christ. [3.] When this number is fulfilled, God will take a just and glorious revenge upon their cruel persecutors; he will recompense tribulation to those who trouble them, and to those that are troubled full and uninterrupted rest.
II. We have here the sixth seal opened, Rev 6:12. Some refer this to the great revolutions in the empire at Constantine's time, the downfall of paganism; others, with great probability, to the destruction of Jerusalem, as an emblem of the general judgment, and destruction of the wicked, at the end of the world; and, indeed, the awful characters of this event are so much the same with those signs mentioned by our Saviour as foreboding the destruction of Jerusalem, as hardly to leave any room for doubting but that the same thing is meant in both places, though some think that event was past already. See Mat 24:29, Mat 24:30. Here observe,
1.The tremendous events that were hastening; and here are several occurrences that contribute to make that day and dispensation very dreadful: - (1.) There was a great earthquake. This may be taken in a political sense; the very foundations of the Jewish church and state would be terribly shaken, though they seemed to be as stable as the earth itself. (2.) The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, either naturally, by a total eclipse, or politically, by the fall of the chief rulers and governors of the land. (3.) The moon should become as blood; the inferior officers, or their military men, should be all wallowing in their own blood. (4.) The stars of heaven shall fall to the earth (Rev 6:13), and that as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. The stars may signify all the men of note and influence among them, though in lower spheres of activity; there should be a general desolation. (5.) The heaven should depart as a scroll when it is rolled together. This may signify that their ecclesiastical state should perish and be laid aside for ever. (6.) Every mountain and island shall be moved out of its place. The destruction of the Jewish nation should affect and affright all the nations round about, those who were highest in honour and those who seemed to be best secured; it would be a judgment that should astonish all the world. This leads to,
2.The dread and terror that would seize upon all sorts of men in that great and awful day, Rev 6:15. No authority, nor grandeur, nor riches, nor valour, nor strength, would be able to support men at that time; yea, the very poor slaves, who, one would think, had nothing to fear, because they had nothing to lose, would be all in amazement at that day. Here observe, (1.) The degree of their terror and astonishment: it should prevail so far as to make them, like distracted desperate men, call to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the hills to cover them; they would be glad to be no more seen; yea, to have no longer any being. (2.) The cause of their terror, namely, the angry countenance of him that sits on the throne, and the wrath of the Lamb. Observe, [1.] That which is matter of displeasure to Christ is so to God; they are so entirely one that what pleases or displeases the one pleases or displeases the other. [2.] Though God be invisible, he can make the inhabitants of this world sensible of his awful frowns. [3.] Though Christ be a lamb, yet he can be angry, even to wrath, and the wrath of the Lamb is exceedingly dreadful; for if the Redeemer, that appeases the wrath of God, himself be our wrathful enemy, where shall we have a friend to plead for us? Those perish without remedy who perish by the wrath of the Redeemer. [4.] As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has his day of righteous wrath; and, when that day shall come, the most stout-hearted sinners will not be able to stand before him: all these terrors actually fell upon the sinners in Judea and Jerusalem in the day of their destruction, and they will all, in the utmost degree, fall upon impenitent sinners, at the general judgment of the last day.
This signifies that the whole world, among the good and the saints, is going to find refuge in the church, so that made firm under [the church’s] protection it is able to endure unto eternal life, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
“The kings of the earth,” that is, those who exert power over it and possess nothing in heaven, they too shall pray with all the great and rich and with the servants of the things below and those free of the service of Christ, that they be hidden by the caves and the rocks and the mountains. For they do not want to experience the divine wrath that with divine consent will pour down upon them either at the coming of the antichrist in the form of punishments from famine and other plagues or in endless torments which are expected after the resurrection. For then the divine anger will burn righteously as a furnace, consuming those who built upon the foundation of faith with wood and chaff and stubble, as though food for the fire.
And hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. So that He may find us not as reprobates, but stable in faith when He comes, with our sins covered by the intercession of the saints and the mercy of God.
And they say to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. As if they were overtly saying, “Bend your hearts with mercy, and protect us from the wrath of the judge with kind intercessions. Do not hide us from his face when he is having mercy, but hide us from his face when he is angry.” As for why they are so terrified, they also say it afterwards:
And, he says, the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the powerful 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 face 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 can stand?" Kings again and great men, commanders and the rich and powerful, he calls wretched demons, as those who began to oppress the earth through violence and deceit; but slaves and free men, those who excel among the demons and are subject to them.
As for hiding themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and yet saying, "You will fall upon us and hide us," this is spoken figuratively; it hints at fugitives attempting to escape the punishment imposed on them by Christ. For if an invisible punishment and retribution were not inflicted upon them, what is the meaning of what was said by the prophet Isaiah concerning Christ's presence: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and among the nations there is no man with me; I have trampled them in my anger, and crushed them in my wrath, and their blood I have poured out upon the earth"? (Isa. 63:2-3) And what is the meaning of calling the God-hated [θεοστυγεῖς] demons by Matthew: "What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come to torment us?" (Matt. 8:29) But one might understand that these things spoken in the Revelation are not only the sufferings of demons, but also of the lawless Jews who crucified the Lord on the cross, who, being oppressed by the war against the Romans, became fugitives in the mountains and caves and the clefts of the earth, and were everywhere tormented by distress and anguish.
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SUMMARY
Revelation 6:16 captures the desperate cry of humanity in the midst of cosmic judgment, as kings, mighty men, and all classes of people seek to escape the terrifying presence of God on His throne and the righteous wrath of the Lamb. Overwhelmed by the unfolding divine judgment, they prefer the crushing weight of mountains and rocks to the inescapable gaze of the Almighty, revealing the ultimate fear of divine accountability.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: This verse is a climactic moment within the unfolding of the sixth seal in the book of Revelation. Preceding it, a series of cataclysmic events—a great earthquake, the sun turning black, the moon like blood, and stars falling—have plunged the world into chaos. The immediate preceding verse, Revelation 6:15, lists a comprehensive roster of humanity, from kings and great men to bondservants and free, all hiding in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. Verse 16 articulates their collective, terrified plea, revealing the ultimate source of their dread: not the natural disasters themselves, but the divine presence and judgment they signify. It sets the stage for the interlude before the seventh seal, highlighting the utter despair of those who have rejected God.
Historical & Cultural Context: In ancient Near Eastern thought, mountains and rocks often symbolized strength, refuge, or even places of divine encounter. However, they could also be associated with judgment or the futility of human efforts to escape divine power. The imagery of people calling for mountains to fall on them to hide from God's wrath has parallels in Old Testament prophetic literature, such as Hosea 10:8, which speaks of the judgment on Israel. This reflects a deep-seated human understanding that there is no true escape from divine scrutiny. The cultural context would also recognize the absolute authority of a king on his throne, making the "face of him that sitteth on the throne" a terrifying image of ultimate, inescapable power and judgment for those who stand condemned.
Key Themes: The verse powerfully contributes to several overarching themes in Revelation and the broader biblical narrative. Foremost is the theme of Divine Judgment and Wrath, underscoring that God's patience has a limit and that a day of reckoning will come for all who oppose Him. The plea to the mountains highlights the Inescapability of God's Presence and judgment; there is no place on earth where one can successfully hide from the omnipresent God. Perhaps the most striking theme is the Wrath of the Lamb, a profound paradox that reveals the dual nature of Christ as both the sacrificial Lamb who takes away sin (John 1:29) and the sovereign Judge who executes righteous indignation. This demonstrates that even divine love and mercy have a holy boundary, beyond which lies just retribution for unrepentant rebellion.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Revelation 6:16 employs several powerful literary devices to convey the overwhelming terror of divine judgment. Hyperbole is evident in the plea for mountains and rocks to fall upon them, illustrating an extreme and unimaginable dread so profound that immediate, crushing death is preferred over facing God. This exaggerated language emphasizes the sheer terror of the moment. Personification is also at play, as the mountains and rocks are addressed as if they can hear and respond to the desperate cries, highlighting the futility of seeking refuge from inanimate creation when the Creator Himself is the source of fear. Most significantly, there is profound Juxtaposition in the phrase "wrath of the Lamb." The Lamb, traditionally a symbol of innocence, sacrifice, and gentleness, is here depicted as possessing "wrath," a term denoting settled, righteous indignation. This stark contrast creates a powerful and unforgettable image, underscoring the dual nature of Christ as both Savior and Judge, and revealing that even divine mercy has a boundary beyond which lies just retribution.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse vividly portrays the ultimate consequence of rejecting God's grace and the terrifying reality of divine judgment. It underscores the biblical truth that God is not only loving and merciful but also perfectly just and holy, and His righteousness demands a response to sin. The fear expressed by humanity here is not merely of physical destruction but of spiritual accountability before the Creator. The "wrath of the Lamb" is a profound theological statement, revealing that the one who bore the sins of the world is also the one who will execute perfect justice, demonstrating that His love does not negate His righteousness. This judgment is inescapable for those who have not sought refuge in the Lamb's atoning sacrifice.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Revelation 6:16 serves as a stark and sobering reminder of the ultimate reality of divine judgment and the inescapable accountability of every individual before God. The terrifying desperation of those who seek to hide from the "face of him that sitteth on the throne" and "the wrath of the Lamb" underscores the futility of attempting to escape God's presence or His righteous justice. This passage compels us to consider our own standing before a holy God. It highlights the profound blessing of salvation through Christ, which delivers believers from this very wrath, and simultaneously serves as an urgent call to repentance for those who have not yet embraced God's gracious offer. The true refuge is found not in physical hiding places, but in the spiritual shelter provided by the Lamb who has already borne the wrath for us.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Who are "him that sitteth on the throne" and "the Lamb" in this verse?
Answer: "Him that sitteth on the throne" refers to God the Father, the sovereign Creator and Ruler of the universe, whose majesty and authority are depicted throughout the book of Revelation, particularly in Revelation 4:2-3. "The Lamb" refers to Jesus Christ. This is a consistent title for Jesus in Revelation, emphasizing His sacrificial death as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The juxtaposition of the "wrath" with "the Lamb" is a powerful paradox, revealing Jesus's dual role as both Savior and righteous Judge.
Why do the people want the mountains to fall on them?
Answer: The desire for mountains and rocks to fall on them, effectively choosing immediate, crushing death, illustrates an extreme and overwhelming fear. It signifies that the terror of facing the holy God and His righteous indignation is far greater than any physical pain or suffering, including death itself. They perceive that the spiritual consequences of standing condemned before the Almighty are more dreadful than any earthly demise, indicating a profound realization of their guilt and the inescapable nature of divine judgment. This imagery is also found in Luke 23:30, where Jesus prophesies similar despair during a time of great distress.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Revelation 6:16, with its terrifying depiction of the "wrath of the Lamb," profoundly points to the Christ-centered fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. While the verse portrays Jesus as the righteous Judge, it is precisely His identity as "the Lamb" that offers the only true escape from this wrath. The Lamb's wrath is not arbitrary but flows from His perfect holiness and justice, a just response to humanity's rebellion against the God who offered salvation through His own sacrifice. For those who have put their faith in Him, Christ has already absorbed the full measure of divine wrath on the cross, as prophesied in Isaiah 53:5 and explained in Romans 5:9. Therefore, believers are not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9). The terrifying scene in Revelation 6:16 serves to highlight the immense grace and mercy extended by the Lamb in His first coming, offering refuge to all who would turn to Him, so that they might not face the dreadful day of His righteous judgment. He is both the object of ultimate fear for the unrepentant and the source of ultimate peace for the redeemed.