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The Book of Revelation - Part 17

12 Jul 2026 · this lesson on the church site

Taught by Dr. Keith Palmer, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, Texas — from the church’s Sunday School series on Revelation. These are lightly edited transcripts of the audio, posted for personal study; the teaching and its content belong to Dr. Palmer and Grace Bible Church. Listen to the originals and find his notes on the church website. Transcribed from the audio by AI. Edited only where the audio was unclear (all edits marked with *). Errors are possible — the recording is the authority.

Introduction to the Olivet Discourse (00:00)

Before you go back to Revelation out of habit, let me stop you prematurely. I want you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 24. We're going to start a little differently today. I was mentioning last time that the events in the chapters of Revelation we're looking at right now parallel what's called the Olivet Discourse. That's a fancy way of saying a time when Jesus' disciples asked him about the end times, and he gave an extended Bible lesson on that.

If the Bible is true, and if it really is God's Word, reliable, authoritative, and sufficient, we should expect that it fits together. The things we read in Matthew should go with Revelation, and the things we read in Revelation should go with Daniel. It's a cohesive whole. That doesn't mean we always understand every detail down to every minutia, but when we look at the Bible in the big picture, we see cohesiveness and unity. The Lego blocks fit together and make a picture that makes sense.

One way I want to show that to you, and I asked you to do this as a homework assignment, is to read Matthew 24 alongside the sections in the book of Revelation. If you took the time to do that, you'll see a remarkable parallelism between what Jesus describes and what the book of Revelation describes. That should be really helpful as we wrestle with how to interpret Revelation and how much to read into the imagery and symbolism. Jesus giving a more directive discourse on these things, which is not apocalyptic literature, helps us interpret the book of Revelation. It gives us guardrails and insights into some of the harder passages in Revelation. We'll get to the parallels in just a second.

When Revelation talks about the sun being darkened and the moon turning to blood, it's easy to say, "Well, maybe that means this, maybe that means that." But when Jesus says the exact same thing, and when Joel says the exact same thing, and you start seeing that congruity, you come away saying, "Hey, there's consistency here." We don't have to get too creative in our interpretation of Revelation when we see such congruity with other places in Scripture that are not apocalyptic literature. That's helpful, because what we're trying to do is figure out how to understand this book. I've told you before that our main interpretive tool is letting Scripture interpret Scripture. We let the Bible itself lead us to understand itself. That doesn't mean there aren't other tools we'll use, but that's the main one, and it's the tool Christians have used for millennia of church history.

Review of the Outline (03:17)

Okay, we'll get to Matthew in just a moment, but by way of review, I know some of you haven't been here recently. Here's our outline, taken from John MacArthur's commentary, which shows the overall big picture of the book. We're in that last section, the things that take place after. This very much has a future look to it. We're now at bullet point number two, the tribulation period.

You might say, "How do we know that what we're reading in Revelation chapter 6 is the tribulation?" You might think you know that because there's an eschatological system that gets everyone excited about the tribulation. Actually, that's not why it's called the tribulation. We know these seal judgments reflect the tribulation in part because of the parallelism with Matthew 24, and because Jesus calls it the tribulation. So we don't have to guess when some of these things are going to happen, and we'll look at that in just a moment.

Here's the picture diagram, and you see it every week. I know you're having dreams about it because I keep showing it to you. You may not agree with a lot of what I conclude, but you're going to remember the picture, and I think that will be success in my eyes.

We're in Revelation chapter 6, the breaking of the seals, the seven seals on the scroll. We talked about the Lamb being worthy to open the book and break its seals. We did that last time, back up here, so we're in this little section right here. If you haven't been here recently, these are the series of visions in the yellow boxes. We've seen the vision of the throne room, and the Lamb takes the scroll. Over these next several chapters we'll see each of the seven seals broken, and that opens up all the different things that happen. Right now we're thinking about the four horsemen, and we'll get to the martyrs under the altar in just a moment.

The Four Horsemen Contest (05:22)

For the four horsemen we talked about some imagery. Through the joy of graphic AI, you don't have to be an artist to come up with things like this. In the spirit of the contest we had for the four living creatures, I said we would do another contest. I think some of the adults were a little jealous of the Braum's gift card, because I had some entries from adults. So, "I like ice cream, Pastor Keith." Okay, let's look at some of them. I can't remember who submitted these, so if you want to be bold, raise your hand so we can recognize you. Who came up with this one? Did I show this one last year? Okay. I like ice cream. No, actually, I don't. Here we go. This is Roger's, is this yours? Roger, Rex Diner. What do you think? Huh? All right, give him your applause. It's kind of disappointing. I thought you did a good job.

Oh, and this one is yours too, right? Okay, that's not bad. Okay, and you guys are silent. Was this one yours? This is David, I'd Svug. That's pretty good too. It's all ChatGPT, right? Okay.

So why don't we do this? We had a couple of entries, and if you'd like to make a final submission, even if you missed the deadline today, we'll extend it one more time. Should we do Braum's again? Yes, we'll do Braum's again. So for the four horsemen, submit your entries, and you guys need to be ready to judge. I feel like you're half asleep in the judging this morning, so we'll do that.

So by way of review, we talked about the seals. Look with me at Matthew chapter 24. This is interesting, and I want to encourage you to read Matthew 24 and the parallel in Luke, which we'll talk about a little today. Remember the context. Matthew 24:1 says Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him. He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down." The disciples are like, "Hey, look how pretty the temple is," and Jesus says, "It's all going to get wrecked, right?"

That leads to the disciples asking two questions in Matthew 24:3, as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives. That's why we call it the Olivet Discourse. The disciples came to him privately saying, "Now notice the questions: Tell us when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

Jesus' Answer: The Sign of His Coming (09:38)

Here's where I want you to think with me. I wish we could get off on this, and we'll probably come back to it in a couple of weeks when we have more time. The disciples ask a series of questions here. First, when will these things happen? That is, when will the stones of the temple be torn down? Then they ask, "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" They group those together in a way that makes it sound like they think all of this is going to happen at once.

What's interesting when you look at the parallel in Luke is that Luke records Jesus' answer to the first half of the question, about the temple being destroyed. Matthew records his answer to the second half, about the sign of his coming and the end of the age. That's really interesting. Go read that study and see whether it makes sense to you, because it makes sense to me. It's the same event, and we get a comprehensive teaching from Jesus. Luke focuses on one part of the answer, and Matthew focuses on the other part.

Thinking about Matthew's focus on the end of the age, the end times, what's the sign of your coming? Jesus says in Matthew 24:4 and following:

The Abomination of Desolation (10:44)

He will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, you say, what's that? And we need to get to Daniel, guys. I'm trying to get all these pieces on the table, and we'll have a time where we talk about how Daniel fits in here. We don't have to wonder whether Daniel's prophecy, particularly his mention of the abomination of desolation, fits into the end times. Jesus tells us it does. Jesus connects those two issues together, Daniel's prophecy and the end times.

So he says, when you see that, let the reader understand. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. Pray that your flight will not be in the winter or on a Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation.

A Unique Time in History (11:45)

There's our language here: such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. So this is something that's unique in history. One of the things we have to ask is, are the judgments we're seeing in the book of Revelation just ongoing? The world has always been fallen, and there have always been bad things. Or is this something unique? What Jesus just said is that it's going to be something unique that hasn't been seen yet and won't be repeated.

Matthew 24:22: "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."

Then Matthew 24:23-25: "If anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There he is,' do not believe him. For false christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance."

So if they say to you, "Behold, he is in the wilderness," do not go out. If they say, "Behold, he is in the inner rooms," do not believe them. For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. Meaning, this is going to be instantaneous, and everybody's going to know.

Matthew 24:29: "But immediately after the tribulation..." After the tribulation. So again, he's saying this is a unique time in history, and he's calling it the tribulation. He says, "After those events the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."

Okay, and then he goes on in verse 42 and following and talks about getting ready.

Be Ready (13:50)

We won't have a chance to talk with you guys before next Sunday morning, very, very early. We are going to high school camp. Those of you who aren't coming, adults, other siblings, please be praying for us. The camp theme is "The King Is Coming." So this is what we're going to focus on all week at camp, and it's going to be amazing. But that's what Jesus is talking about here. He's saying, in light of all these things I'm telling you now, so that you can be ready.

Okay, with that in mind, and you've got that fresh in your mind now, let's turn back to the book of Revelation, chapter 6. We'll do some more detailed comparison, but I wanted you to have Jesus' message in your heads as we turn to Revelation, because we're going to see a lot of the same language, a lot of the same features, a lot of the same vocabulary, even between these two.

Review of the Seals (14:54)

By way of review, we looked last time at seal number one, the white horse. Remember, the Lamb breaks the first seal, the living creature says, "Come," and a rider emerges on a white horse. This rider has a bow and a crown, and he went out conquering and to conquer. We talked a little bit about what that means, and some ideas about who the rider is and what this is about. I want to push back on one of the options, that this is Jesus. We talked a little bit about this last time, and I wanted to do a little more study for you on it, just to press into that idea. I think I gave an opinion, but I wanted to study it a little more for you. This is not in your notes. You can just look up here, and I'm happy to send this to you if you're interested.

But just notice: if we compare Revelation 6, where we're at, the white horse and the rider, with Revelation 19, where Christ shows up on a white horse, there are some similarities and some differences.

Similarities: - Both are on a white horse.

Differences: - Both appear to be wearing crowns, but the words are different. The Greek word in Revelation 6 for the unidentified rider's crown is stephanos, a wreath made of foliage. Think of when you win a contest and they give you a little plant-based crown, as we call it, because everything's plant-based, right? That's what we're thinking about there. - When Jesus comes on a white horse, my version says He wears "many diadems." That's transliterated straight out of the Greek, diadema, which means a royal crown, a kingly crown. So that would be more appropriate. Someone who wins a contest or an athletic event gets a wreath. This is royalty. So they're different. - In Revelation 6 the rider is holding a bow. Christ isn't holding anything. - In chapter 6 he's coming to conquer and to be conquered, "conquering and to conquer." The verb actually means to be a victor, to win in the face of obstacles, which goes with the type of crown he's wearing. - Where is Christ in chapter 19? He's coming judging and waging war. And by the way, He has all the armies of heaven following Him on white horses.

So the white horse seems to be the one common link, but beyond that there's not a lot of congruity. In fact, there's a lot of incongruity. That's part of the reason why, while it's possible, and a few commentators think this is Christ, the rider on the white horse is probably not Christ. There's enough difference there.

Just comparing context to context, as I mentioned last time, Jesus is the Lamb who breaks the seal that calls forth the rider. So it would be a little odd for Jesus to call forth Himself in that way. Not that that's impossible, but it makes Jesus as the rider on the white horse a bit more unlikely. Hopefully that helps. I'm not pounding the pulpit on this. I'm just saying there's enough evidence here that this is probably not the best view to take.

Seal Two, Seal Three, Seal Four (18:04)

Again, we're reviewing. Seal number two was the red horse. The interesting part about the red horse is that there's some sort of established peace on the earth that is then taken. This second living creature calls forth the rider and the red horse, and the rider is granted to take peace from the earth. He's given a great sword to do that, so that men would slay one another. One of the questions we looked at last time is where this peace on the earth came from. If you go back to seal number one, now understanding that it's more about victory, winning a contest or something like that, you wonder whether that's connected to seal number two. Again, we don't know for sure, but it's possible. Was the peace on the earth mentioned in seal number two established by the first rider's activity? It fits the context. It just doesn't explicitly say that about seal number one and rider number one. So again, we can't pound the pulpit too much, but that would make sense: if this rider comes and gains victory, bringing peace, and now that peace is taken

  1. There's a clear chronology of events here. Again, even John's language, "after this," shows a chronology that corresponds to the events of these seals being subsequently broken.
  2. The development seems to indicate an escalation of death and judgment on the earth.
  3. Some of the events, like death, economic issues, and the conquering of peoples, could have already happened or are happening.
  4. Other events seem to be yet future: the established peace on the earth suddenly taken, and the death of one fourth of the world's population. Taken in their plain sense, those are things that have not happened yet and are likely yet future.

Seal Five: The Souls Under the Altar (21:13)

With that review in mind, and you've got all that in your head now, let's look back at chapter 6. Look with me at verse 9. Revelation 6:9: "When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar..."

This is interesting. Remember the original vision. There's an altar, Him who sits on it, the Lamb who's slain, who's not originally seen but is there, the four living creatures, the 24 elders. We've got this throne room scene, and John has not moved away from that yet. He's seeing these riders, but the throne room apparently is still in view. As the Lamb breaks the fifth seal, John notices the souls of people under the altar. You wonder what that even looked like. But John identifies them here as real people, and as these

The Souls of the Martyrs (22:16)

These people begin to speak, and it becomes clear who they are and why they're here. John tells us that these are the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained.

Think back to chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches, and how often Jesus, writing to those churches, said what? Persecution is coming, and you need to endure. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He says that to one of the churches. So we're seeing some of that coming, and here we see the effect of it coming to fruition. These are men and women believers who have endured, who have persevered, and who have died because of their faith. They have been persecuted and even martyred.

So the souls of those who had been slain. Why does John use that language? Why the souls? Yeah, their bodies aren't there. Why are their bodies not there yet? That's kind of weird. It's an out-of-body experience. Well, sort of.

Souls Without Bodies (23:25)

Why? Yeah, the resurrection hasn't occurred yet. Let's review. I know you know this, but the Bible says that we are whole persons, comprised of:

  1. A spiritual part, which the Bible calls a spirit, a soul, or an inner man
  2. A fleshly part, a body, a physical substance

The inner man, the outer man, the soul, and the body are what make up a human being. When we die, we physically die. What happens? That soul and that body separate. The body ceases to be alive, and we typically might do a funeral and put it in a coffin, or handle it some other way, such as cremation, and that body goes into a grave or a tomb. But what happens to that soul, that spiritual part of the person? It's still very much alive. And depending on that person's relationship with Jesus, that determines where the soul goes.

Waiting for the Resurrection (24:31)

Those souls, the spirits of people who have died, await what the Bible calls a resurrection. For those who are in Christ, at that resurrection, at Christ's return, their bodies will be resurrected and glorified. So this is body 2.0. This is a better body. You are reunited with that spiritual part of the person, the soul, and then you enjoy eternity forever.

So John sees the souls, but he doesn't see the bodies. Why? Because the resurrection hasn't happened yet. That gives us hints on chronology. As the book of Revelation works toward the end, where there is that resurrection and those events do occur, we recognize that these souls are appearing previous to those events.

So what do they do? This is interesting: they cry out with a loud voice, and John records it for us here.

"How Long, O Lord?" (25:31)

They cry out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true?" That's interesting: "holy and true." We know who we're talking to. We know this is the holy one, the set-apart one, the one who is other, and there is none like him, and he is true. He is reliable. He is faithful. He doesn't do anything wrong, and that helps us to know that these martyrs, the souls of Christians who have died because of their faith, are asking God how long. They're not saying that in frustration. They're not saying that in anger. They're not saying that in unbelief. They're saying it in full assurance. We know who we're talking to, and we know he's faithful.

That helps us interpret their question. They're not critiquing him, right? They're not getting impatient with him. They're asking a question, but trusting his faithfulness to bring about the answer at the right time. It's interesting nonetheless. Here's their question: "How long will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

Again, it's not a frustration. It's not born out of impatience. It's an honest question: when's this going to end?

Anger, Justice, and the Image of God (26:32)

I preached on anger not too long ago, and remember, anger is an emotion of justice. Your anger, my anger, shows us that we are moral beings, made in the image and likeness of God, with the law of God stamped on our souls. People who don't believe in God still get angry, don't they? And when they get angry, they prove that they were made in the image of that moral God, because anger is a moral emotion that says, "That's not right. That shouldn't happen," because we have that moral code programmed into our souls by God himself.

This is interesting: that sense of justice, that morality, that anger demonstrates an impulse for justice, and that is a good thing. God does not want us, as his image bearers, to be indifferent to the evil and sin in the world. Some horrible thing happens, and we go, "Oh, well." No. We were made as moral beings. We're supposed to say, "That's not right," because we reflect the morality of the God who says that's not right.

I told you about the orphanage we visited in Ecuador a few weeks ago, and how some of the kids escaped. By the way, all but one of them have been found, so continue to pray. But they're going back to abuse scenarios, to abusive families who are manipulating them to come back by offering them:

They're coming back to abusive situations, to trafficking, to horrible situations. God, as his image bearers, did not make us in a way that we look at the horror of something like that and say, "Oh, that's no big deal." What rises up in your heart, and what rises up in my heart, when we hear about that is: that is horrible. That shouldn't happen. What do we do about it? That's the impulse of justice, and it's a good thing.

Now, do we sometimes make that an occasion for selfishness? Yes, we do. Do we sometimes get angry because we don't get our way? Sure, we do. Do we sometimes act sinfully on that impulse? Yes, we do. So our sin messes that whole thing up in lots of different ways. But the impulse, in so far as it follows the morality of God, is good, and that's what these souls, these martyrs, are saying: "How long until you bring justice?"

It is a godly thing, guys, to want justice in the world, to want God's reign and rule, and for him to right the wrongs that are happening. You say, "Why doesn't God judge right now?" Because he's giving people time to repent. That's why he's not doing it right now, and that's a good thing. But they're saying, "How long until this avenging of our blood, until justice comes?"

That's a common question. We've seen it in Psalm 13, Psalm 35, and other psalms, and in some of the prophets, Habakkuk in particular, where they cry out, "How long, Lord? Do we have to wait until we see this?"

Do the Dead Know What Happens on Earth? (29:40)

What's interesting too, and maybe you caught this reading it: do Christians who have died know what's going on on the earth? What do you think? That's a great question. Do they know that Norway lost yesterday? Do they care about soccer? They saw the referees on a foul and said, "How long, O Lord?" Right. Okay. Yes. All right. I hadn't thought about that application, George, but okay. That's an interesting question. Do Christians who have died have an awareness of what you and I are doing on the earth? We should talk about that sometime. That's an interesting question.

But this tells us a little bit. Jason is absolutely right: we don't know how much they know or to what extent they know. But this verse seems to indicate they know something. So you have to weigh that. They have an awareness, but they're not in a state where they can sorrow or mourn. Yeah, that's interesting. Now it's like, "Oh, wow, this is getting interesting."

So suffice it to say they do have some awareness of events on the earth, at least events related to God's judgment. Maybe that's all it is. Maybe in heaven there's a little light that says, "Vengeance is starting," and they're like, "It's on again." I don't know. Maybe it's as simple as that. Maybe it's more comprehensive. But they do have some awareness, and that's what's interesting.

"Those who dwell on the earth" is a phrase used consistently in Revelation to address the ungodly, unbelievers, so we see that in those passages. And it's interesting that there's a parallel in Luke 18. You don't need to turn there, but you can listen for a moment.

The Parallel in Luke 18 (31:49)

Luke 18:7-8. Listen: "Hear what the unrighteous judge said. Now will not God bring about justice for his elect, who cry to him day and night? And will he not delay over them? I tell you that he will bring about justice for them quickly. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

I know we're parachuting into a context. Jesus is talking about prayer in a parable, and he's making the conclusion that God hears the prayers of his people who cry out for him to bring justice. What we're seeing in part is the fulfillment of that here in the book of Revelation. They're crying out for God to intervene and bring about that justice.

So John says they were given white robes. We've seen that white robe consistent with believers in heaven, and they were told to rest for a little while longer. We're going to see this come back in chapter 10, when the events begin to unfold leading up to the resurrection.

How long do they have to wait? This is interesting. It's the same thing Jesus said in Matthew 24 about the gospel going throughout all the earth. How long do they have to wait until the number of their fellow servants and brothers, who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also? Meaning there is an ordained number of martyrs by God, and when that number has been satisfied, then these events will follow.

That just reminds us again that God has this all under his sovereignty. As we read about cataclysmic events on the earth, war and famine, we're going to see judgment breaking loose here. This is all according to God's plan.

Questions on the Rapture (33:54)

Yes, Lee. I didn't say anything about the rapture in relation to the resurrection. So, yeah, do these people have bodies? Could they have died? It depends on when you think the rapture occurred, but I love that you're thinking ahead. Yes, I love that you're thinking ahead. We've got to come back to that. Okay, so if we're going to believe in a rapture, then we've got to figure that out. But for now we're just thinking about it in relation to the events of the book of Revelation.

No, I didn't think about the rapture. I said they don't have bodies, so the resurrection hasn't happened yet. But I'm glad you're tracking with me on that. Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry.

Resurrection and the Rapture Question (35:00)

Yeah, that's true. I'm talking about the resurrection that happens in the book of Revelation. Thank you, I love that you're tracking with me.

Yes. Yeah, it's not that they're resting, they're in heaven so to speak. But when we play all this out, you think there's a time when Christians who have died are with the Lord, to be absent from the body and present with the Lord, right? But that reunification with their glorified bodies hasn't happened yet.

Yes, sir. Well, again, that goes back to Lee's question. It depends on whether we believe in a rapture that happens before this, or after this, or doesn't happen at all. But we're getting to that.

This is why I love this class. You guys are awesome. Okay. All right. So what are the implications? I think we've talked about those. Let's look at the sixth seal, and that'll lead us into your homework assignment.

Revelation 6:12–17: The Sixth Seal (36:01)

Revelation 6:12: "I 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. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then 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, and 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; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'"

Remember Psalm 2. Remember the kings of the earth.

Talking about military folks, the rich, the strong, every slave and free man. What he's saying is everybody, from the strongest to the greatest to the powerful to the insignificant, ran into the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and hid themselves.

Breaking Down the Sixth Seal (37:08)

What does that tell us? It tells us that these events are so significant. Everybody on earth knows this is the wrath of God, not a really bad natural disaster. They have a consciousness that this is their Creator's judgment beginning.

And can you imagine something so bad happening that people are running to the rocks and the caves, desiring suicide, that the mountains and rocks would fall on them?

Let's take this apart very briefly. John again says he looked when the Lamb broke the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became black like sackcloth. The whole moon became like blood. These are self-explanatory.

The stars of the sky fell. Again, we saw that in Matthew 24. We see the parallels with Joel. Your homework assignment is to go back and read Joel 2.

The Undoing of the Universe (38:10)

So now you've got Joel, Matthew 24, and Revelation, and you'll see congruity coming between those passages. Joel talks about these same things.

Interestingly enough, the word for stars there just means heavenly bodies. The main way it's translated is stars, but it could also be translated as something like a meteor or an asteroid. So if these are stars hitting the earth, it's really, really bad. If they're asteroids or meteors, that's still pretty bad too. But the point is, the universe is coming unraveled. God's judgment is bringing about the undoing of the universe.

You ever go to a tree that has dead fruit on it or unripe fruit, and you shake the tree and it just falls? John says that's what it reminded him of: unripened figs falling from the tree as he sees this vision of the heavenly bodies falling from the sky.

I don't know what this must have looked like. What would it look like to see the sky split apart like a scroll unfolding when it's rolled up? You put yourself in the shoes of people experiencing this, and maybe we understand something of the impulse. We're going to run to the mountains and hope we die before the wrath of God shows up fully.

The sky is split apart like a scroll when it's rolled up, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. Again, there's seismic activity. There's the earthquake, and apparently these mountains and islands are moving out of their places. Tectonic shifts are taking place. The sky is falling apart, the luminaries are falling to the earth, and that's when everybody says, "We're out of here." They run to the mountains, they run to the caves, and they actually call out to the mountains and the caves to fall on them.

Why? Because they think that's their last effort at protection before they face the wrath of the Lamb. And notice, it's interesting: "from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb." Remember Psalm 2. Who did God delegate to be the agent of bringing judgment? His Son, King Jesus.

So this is not a Mr. Rogers Jesus. This is a great judge. This is the King of kings, the One who comes with all authority and all power to judge the living and the dead. And they say, "For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" And of course, the answer is no one can.

Yes, ma'am. I hear these things, and I get to teach while she's gone.

Yeah. Jesus upholds all things together as a function of His sustaining power. We see Him adjusting some of the levers on how He normally runs the universe, to where these things are starting to fall apart and change. Again, the point of this, gu

"The great day of their wrath" refers to the day of the Lord, which is the most significant day talked about in Scripture, maybe second only to the crucifixion and the resurrection. The day of the Lord: what is that? It is the day of God's great judgment and wrath. Sometimes it's used in a more regional way in the prophets, but often the prophets think of this futuristic, final day of judgment when God will return to judge all of humanity. That's what people are talking about, trying to avoid that day. It has begun, and humanity is aware of it, and they are so frightened by it that they are asking the mountains to help them commit suicide so that they can avoid the presence of the Lamb.

By the way, suicide or any physical death doesn't give you a pass from sitting under this wrath. It comes upon everybody, as we'll read later on in the book of Revelation.

So listen to Hebrews. Just listen. Hebrews 10:30–31: "For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' and again, 'The Lord will judge His people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Are You Ready? (44:27)

That's our takeaway. This is coming. The Bible has warned us. Revelation has given us graphic detail so that we don't play games with this, and we don't think, "Oh, this is a fun little story." Jesus Himself is saying this is coming. My question is, are you ready?

The Bible's hope is that if you are in Christ, and you are resting in His righteousness by faith alone and Him alone, this wrath does not come upon you in final judgment. But if not, don't deceive yourself, because it is coming. Remember how the psalm says, "for His wrath will soon be kindled. How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him." We don't know how much time we have. Today is the day of salvation.

So my prayer is that all of you will be resting and trusting in that, so that we have that hope and assurance. So let me pray for us.

Closing Prayer (45:30)

Father, these things are appalling. They're almost unbelievable to think about: the sky splitting apart, the sun and the moon darkened and turning to blood, the luminaries falling from the heavens, the mountains and islands shifted in these massive seismic changes. These things are so bad that the whole earth longs for suicide. Father, these things remind us that we don't realize how bad our sin really is and what it deserves. So we pray that we can take refuge from God in God, that we can make Christ our refuge, and that when He comes in His vengeance, He will be that shelter from the storm of His own wrath. He is the Savior from His own divine judgment. How thankful we are that You warn us, and that You also offer us our remedy.

And how we pray that we will be trusting in our Savior, taking refuge in Him and resting, that these things not come upon us. And if that is our confidence, we read these verses with great joy, knowing that we deserve this, and You have spared us. We read these things as well, recognizing that they will come upon those who are only playing games, who only know the gospel and don't believe it, and upon those who know the gospel but aren't living it. This is a sobering reminder that eternity is close, that judgment is real, and that only those who take refuge in Him are blessed.

Father, remind us too of our mission to share the gospel with our community, with our family, with our co-workers, with our friends, and around the world. This is the hope, and You've put the delivery of that hope into our hands. So we pray for Your mercy, that we might be faithful. But we thank You for Your Son, and we pray in His name. Amen.

* = the audio was unclear here and the words were reconstructed from context. Scripture read aloud is in red.

Taught by Dr. Keith Palmer, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, Texas — from the church’s Sunday School series on Revelation. These are lightly edited transcripts of the audio, posted for personal study; the teaching and its content belong to Dr. Palmer and Grace Bible Church. Listen to the originals and find his notes on the church website. Transcribed from the audio by AI. Edited only where the audio was unclear (all edits marked with *). Errors are possible — the recording is the authority.

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