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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_6:12-17
12I 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; 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15Then 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; 16and 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; 17for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Rev_6:12 "He broke the sixth seal" This verse is Jewish apocalyptic language for the end of the age (cf. Joe_2:30-31; Joe_3:15-16; Isa_13:9-10; Isa_34:4; Jer_4:23-28; Hag_2:6; Mat_24:29; and The Assumption of Moses, Rev_10:5). Notice the seven items in Rev_6:12-14. This language is used in the OT for the Lord's Day. Its use here in the sixth seal and later in the sixth trumpet is the one reason, I believe, that each of these series of sevens terminates with the end of the age, the Second Coming of Christ (cf. Rev_6:12-17; Rev_11:15-18; Rev_14:14-20; Rev_16:17-21; Rev_19:11-21; Rev_22:6-16). Revelation is not chronologically sequential. It is a drama of seven acts.
▣ "there was a great earthquake" There are many earthquakes mentioned in this book (cf. Rev_8:5; Rev_11:13; Rev_11:19; Rev_16:18). It is interesting to note that there are seven aspects to this end-time, apocalyptic event. There are also seven different categories listed in Rev_6:15 (see Special Topic: Symbolic Number in Scripture at Rev_1:4). This is another example of the highly structured, literary pattern of apocalyptic literature (cf. Rev_5:12).
▣ "the sun became black. . .moon became like blood" This is an OT allusion to judgment day (cf. Isa_13:10; Isa_24:23; Isa_50:3; Eze_32:7; Joe_2:2; Joe_2:10; Joe_2:31; Joe_3:15; Mat_24:29; Mar_13:24-25; Luk_21:25).
Rev_6:13 "stars of the sky fell" This metaphor may have two origins:
1. the stability of God's created order (cf. Job_38:31-33; Psa_89:36-37; Isa_13:10; Jer_31:35-36; Jer_37:20-21; Enoch 2:1) dissolves amidst God's judgments (cf. Mat_24:29)
2. stars falling is a common intertestamental apocalyptic metaphor (which usually refers to angels, i.e., Rev_12:4; Dan_8:10)
In this context #1 fits best.
Rev_6:14 "the sky was split apart" The ancients viewed the sky as a solid dome of stretched skin (cf. Job_22:14; Psa_104:2; Pro_8:27; Isa_40:22). This is a metaphor of deity breaking into the natural order (cf. Isa_34:4).
▣ "every mountain and island were moved out of their places" In the OT, whenever God visited His creation, either for blessing or judgment, it convulsed. The description is often painted in apocalyptic terms. Revelation 15-17 describe God's wrath on the unbelieving persecutors (cf. Rev_16:20). These same descriptions are used in the OT to make physical access to God's presence easier, like the lowering of mountains, the drying up of rivers, etc. (cf. Isa_40:4).
Rev_6:15 "hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains" As God's persecuted people had to hide from the persecutions of unbelievers (cf. Heb_11:38), so now the rich and powerful (possible allusion to Psa_2:2) seek shelter from God's wrath (cf. Isa_2:10; Isa_2:19; Isa_2:21). This verse describes fallen, unbelieving mankind in seven ways. This use of sevens is a basic pattern in John's book (see Special Topic at Rev_1:4).
Rev_6:16 "fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne" This is an allusion to Hos_10:8 (cf. Isa_2:19; Isa_2:21 and Luk_23:30). Notice that the Father's and the Son's wrath are linked as they deplore what is happening to their family of faith. They act in history to vindicate the faithful and punish the rebellious (cf. Gal_6:7).
▣ "wrath of the Lamb" This is a powerful mixed metaphor. This imagery of a victorious lamb is from Jewish interbiblical literature. For "wrath" (orgç) see note at Rev_7:14.
Rev_6:17 Rev_6:17 seems to be an allusion either to Joe_2:11 or Mal_3:2. Many commentators believe that Rev_6:17 sets the stage for the interlude found in chapter 7, which attempts to answer the question, "What about the believers who are on the earth during these apocalyptic events and series of judgments?" There has always been a debate among commentators as to whether the seals in chapter 6 are redemptive or judicial (cf. Rev_9:20-21; Rev_14:7-8; Rev_16:9; Rev_16:11). Chapter 6 refers to God's judgment on unbelievers who refuse to believe. These judgments start out effecting 1/4 of the world, then 1/3 and finally in the bowls the entire unbelieving world (cf. Zep_1:14-18).
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS TO Rev_7:1-17
A. Chapter 7 forms an interlude between the sixth seal and the opening of the seventh seal (cf. Rev_8:1, as does Rev_10:1 to Rev_11:13 between the sixth and seventh trumpets). It deals with the question of what is happening to believers during these cycles of God's judgment on unbelievers. The seventh seal becomes the seven trumpets.
B. This interlude deals with two groups of believers
1. The 144,000 from the Twelve Tribes on earth (cf. Rev_7:1-8, esp. Rev_7:4)
2. The innumerable host from the tribes of the whole earth who are now in heaven (cf. Rev_7:9-17, esp. Rev_7:9)
C. God acts in powerful, protective, assuring ways on behalf of His people. There is no distinction in Revelation between believing Jews and Gentiles (cf. Rom_2:28-29; Rom_3:22; 1Co_12:13; Gal_3:28; Col_3:11). The OT's racial distinctions have been universalized into believers and unbelievers.