Sixth Seal: A Great Earthquake

"I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." (Revelation 6:12-14 - New International Version)

Earthquake activity and that which comes with it is a sign of the end times throughout the Bible. Joel in describing the Day of the Lord states, “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: ... The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” (Joel 2:10, 31 - King James Version)

Haggai wrote, “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.” (Haggai 2:6 - King James Version)

Jesus said, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken.” (Matthew 24:29 - King James Version)

This earthquake that occurs upon the opening of the sixth seal will be great but it is only the beginning. Increasingly violent earthquakes will occur until the end of the Tribulation.

Earthquakes are a result of the movement of the world's tectonic plates. There is another natural event associated with the tectonic plates: volcanic eruptions. These often accompany strong earthquakes. From John's description of what follows this earthquake, it will trigger incredible volcanic activity.

The sun become black as sackcloth is a result of the heavy layer of volcanic ash thrown into the atmosphere by volcanic eruptions around the world. The moon becoming a blood red color is a result of light refraction in the atmosphere. This refraction is what makes the sky blue and makes sunsets red. It also makes the moon look orange when it is close to the horizon. Atmospheric refraction is increased when there is a lot of air pollution: such as ash. This will make the moon look red.

Verse thirteen may describe a meteor shower. Or this verse may just indicate that the stars are no longer visible due to the air pollution.

The sky receding like a scroll must be understood in light of what is occurring. As a scroll is rolled up from both ends the area in the middle that is visible steadily decreases. What is being described is the area of unpolluted atmosphere disappearing as the volcanic ash rolls across the atmosphere. Over a period of time this huge cloud of ash rolls up the entire sky and totally encircles the globe. The sun, moon and stars will disappear from sight behind an unending veil of dark clouds.

The mention of every mountain and island being moved gives us the extent of this earthquake. It will be the result of a great shifting and realigning of all the tectonic plates. Every place on earth will actually move when this earthquake hits!

If you want to know more about earthquakes, check this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake. For more infomation on volcanos, go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano.