I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood [not darkened]. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs [unripe] when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
And the kings of the earth [rulers who govern the nations of the world], the great men [high officers of the state], the rich men [the socially wealthy], the commanders [commanders of armies], the mighty men [the great men in battle], every slave and every free man [regular everyday citizens], hid themselves [they are found naked according to Genesis 3:8; Revelation 16:15 and hide like Adam and Eve after sin] in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us [Hosea 10:8; Luke 23:30] from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? [Ephesians 6:14; I Peter 5:12; Luke 11:18].
....the great earthquake and the signs in the sun, the moon were literal events.
Q: Why?
A: We find the reason in the meaning of a Greek word that appears four times in Revelation 6:12, 13, the word “as” (hos). Ranko Stefanovic explained the meaning of this word: “. . . the repeated usage of the word ‘as’ or ‘like’ (Gr. hos) in the text appears to be very significant. The sun becomes black as sackcloth, the moon as blood, the stars of the sky fall as do the figs of the fig tree, and heaven splits as the papyrus scroll. In Greek, this word ‘introduces a figurative analogy to an actual event’ that is compared with something figurative. This suggests that these heavenly signs are intended to be taken literally.” (Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ, p. 244).
*The plea of the martyrs of the dark ages (“how long until you judge and avenge?”) in Revelation 6:10 finds its answer in Daniel 7:8-10; 8:13, 14 where the process of judgment begins to exonerate them from the faulty verdicts of earthly courts.
*According to these passages in Daniel, the trampling of the sanctuary and of God’s people would last until the conclusion of the 2300 days where the process of vindicating the sanctuary and its worshipers would begin.
*The signs in Revelation 6:12, 13 are the earthly announcement that the vindicating judgment is about to begin.
--It is noteworthy that the sixth church (the open door to the most holy place), the sixth seal (the sealing the 144,000) and the sixth trumpet (the vision of the Ark of the Covenant) all point to the events connected with the investigative judgment in the most holy place of the sanctuary.The signs of Revelation 6:12, 13 play several specific functions.
First, they announce that the great tribulation is about to end (Matthew 24:29).
Second, they serve as an omen of the fall of the papal power.
Third, they serve to draw attention to the approaching judgment in 1844.
Fourth, they serve as indicators of the beginning of the time of the end.
Finally, they announce the soon coming of Jesus.
C. Mervyn Maxwell well explained: “The location of the classic signs was highly significant. They happened in Europe and America primarily, where people were studying the Bible and pondering the prophecies. A dark day in the Sahara Desert or a star shower over New Guinea would have said little in those days about the second coming of Christ to cannibal headhunters or Muslim nomads.
Events need not be universal to deliver a global message. A few square miles at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were sufficient to announce the atomic age. A stable in Bethlehem ushered in the Christian era. Only a few hundred people saw Jesus after His resurrection—but they told others.” Magnificent Disappointment, pp. 93, 94.
Revelation 6 describes the signs in the very order in which they historically occurred: The great earthquake (1755)
The darkening of the sun (1780)
The moon becoming like blood (1780)
The stars falling from heaven (1833)
Lisbon Earthquake:
Charles Lyell wrote the following graphic description of the event: "In no part of the volcanic region of Southern Europe has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that which began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder was heard underground and immediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet above ordinary level. ... Among other extraordinary events related to have occurred at Lisbon during the catastrophe was the subsidence of a new quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense. A great concourse of people had collected there for safety, at a spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; but suddenly the quay sank down with all the people on it, and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface." Sir Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology, p. 495.
The Dark Day:
"May 19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31." E.G.W.
"Though at nine o'clock that night the moon rose to the full, "it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows." After midnight the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible, had the appearance of blood." Letter by Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, New Hampshire, December, 1785 (in Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 1792, 1st series, vol. 1, p. 97).Whittier, in a well-known poem, pictures it thus:
"Twas on a May-day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the Spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness, like the night
In day of which the Norland sagas tell,--
The Twilight of the Gods. The low-hung sky Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim
Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs
The crater's sides from the red hell below.
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky, that the dreadful face of Christ
Might look from the rent clouds, not as He looked
A loving guest at Bethany, but stern
As Justice and inexorable Law."
Samuel Williams who did extensive scientific research of the dark day had this to say: “The time of this extraordinary darkness was May 19, 1780. It came on between the hours of ten and eleven A. M., and continued until the middle of the next night, but with different appearances at different places. . . The degree to which the darkness arose was different in different places. In most parts of the country, it was so great that people were unable to read common print, determine the time of day by their clocks or watches, dine, or manage their domestic business, without the light of candles. In some places, the darkness was so great that persons could not see to read common print in the open air, for several hours together; but I believe this was not generally the case. The extent of this darkness was very remarkable. Our intelligence in this respect is not so particular as I could wish; but from the accounts that have been received, it seems to have extended all over the New England States. It was observed as far east as Falmouth [Portland, Maine]. To the westward, we hear of its reaching to the furthest parts of Connecticut, and Albany. To the southward, it was observed all along the seacoasts, and to the north as far as our settlements extend. It is probable it extended much beyond these limits in some directions, but the exact boundaries cannot be ascertained by any observations that I have been able to collect."
Falling of the Stars:
It began between two and four o’clock in the morning and continued until daybreak. It extended all over North America and as far south as Mexico and the Island of Jamaica. Lucy Reese lived in Lookout Georgia on November 13, 1833. She says: “I was fourteen years old at the time the stars fell. It seemed to me like a shower of rain. The people were greatly frightened, and there was much reading of the Bible because they thought the judgment had come.”
Rose Grace was living in Marion, Alabama: “I was seventeen years old when the stars fell. I watched them a long time. They appeared to go out when they were about ten feet from the ground. Everybody thought that the judgment day had come. I told them if that was so it was too late to pray.”
Henry Lewis, a slave of Harrisburg, Kentucky was nineteen years old at the time: “It seemed as if the starry heavens were coming down. I was about twelve miles from home with a horse I had stolen from my master, but when I returned they were all so excited and engaged in prayer that I slipped the house into the stable and escaped detection.”
“After collecting and collating the accounts given in all the periodicals of the country, and also in numerous letters addressed either to my scientific friends or to myself, the following appeared to be the leading facts attending the phenomenon. The shower pervaded nearly the whole of North America, having appeared in nearly equal splendor from the British possessions on the north, to the West India Islands and Mexico on the south, and from sixty one degrees of longitude east of the American coast, quite to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Throughout this immense region, the duration was nearly the same. The meteors began to attract attention by their unusual frequency and brilliancy, from nine to twelve o’clock in the evening; were most striking in their appearance from two to five; arrived at their maximum, in many places, about four o’clock; and continued until rendered invisible by the light of day.” Denison Olmstead, The Mechanism of the Heavens, p. 328 --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: Said to the mountains and rocks - Expressions which denote the strongest perturbation and alarm. They preferred any kind of death to that which they apprehended from this most awful revolution.
From the face of Him that sitteth on the throne - They now saw that all these terrible judgments came from the Almighty; and that Christ, the author of Christianity, was now judging, condemning, and destroying them for their cruel persecutions of his followers.***Revelation 6:17 ends with a question “For the great day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?”
--Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11
--Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19
--Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36
For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible,
who can endure it?
Joel 2:11
Drawn/taken from the book Daniel & Revelation by Uriah Smith---Study Guide by Stephen Bohr---Sermon by Walter Veith---Commentaries from Matthew Henry/Adam Clark---Revelation Made Clear
heaven about the space of half an hour. 
(see Habakkuk 2:20; Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:13).
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