(12) And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (13) And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. (14) And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (16) And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: (17) For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Some have thought, that what is here said under the sixth seal, hath respect to the final judgment at the great day of God. And to be sure, the awful things which are here related seem, in the first view of the subject, to favor that opinion. But when it be considered, that there is another seal yet remaining to be opened, independently also of what hath not yet been brought forward, of the Trumpets and Vials, it must at once strike the mind with conviction, that however strong in allusion to the last day, the things here represented may be, it is impossible.
I do not presume upon this, or any other scripture, of doubtful signification, to speak in the least decidedly, but I venture to observe, that as it strikes me, the whole events here represented, in this strong figurative language, was only intended to point out the awful judgments which should take place, under the ministration of the sixth seal. According to the general calculation, as to the time of this sixth seal, there had only run out about three hundred years, when it was opened. And the Empire now becoming Christian, (that is in the profession of it.) the persecutions which then began against the true Church, though now arising from heresies instead of heathenism without, became more dreadful, if possible, than the former. It was somewhat about this period, that arose that heretic Arius, denying the Godhead of Christ; whose baleful influence hath showed its malignity in every period, from that time to the present. I venture therefore to believe, that what is here said under the several similitudes of an earthquake, the sun becoming black, and the moon as blood, and stars from heaven falling and the like, are intended to set forth the awful event, in a Christ-despising doctrine, such as in the present day, the world professing Christianity is remarkable for. And what figures more suited to speak the monstrous baseness and ingratitude in the foul dishonor shown to the Lord Jesus Christ, than, that at the view of which, the sun turns black, and the moon becomes red with blood? And the eventual consequences to the actors of this perfidious treatment of Christ, is as finely represented, in that their discovery when too late, of the glory of the Lord Jesus; and as set forth under all the alarms of their guilty souls, in calling to the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, to hide them, if possible, from the wrath of the Lamb? According to my view of this scripture, there appears a striking propriety in the whole, and nothing can be more suited to each other, than the guilt and the punishment. But having said thus much, I leave it with the Reader to make his own conclusion, under God's teaching.