Revelation 6:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

NIV: The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

NASB: The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

CSB: the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

NLT: The sky was rolled up like a scroll, and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places.

KJV: And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

NKJV: Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

In this verse John continues his description of what he saw when the Lamb opened the sixth seal. The sky convulsed like a scroll being rolled up. The exact implication John is making here is hard to visualize. John uses the Greek word hōs, which is used for comparisons, often translated "as it were," or "like." So John is not implying that the air itself is literally being "split apart," as if the atmosphere was being removed.

The earlier references to falling stars and eclipses are important to consider. Most likely, this somehow involves a blocking or cluttering of the sky, including the ability to see objects like the sun, moon, and stars. This seems to continue John's echo of Isaiah 34:4 from the prior verse. Then again, certain natural disasters can cause massive shockwaves of moving air and wind: the sky being "split apart." Seeing clouds racing due to storms, hurricanes, or pressure waves might fit this description as well.

That possibility coordinates with the description of each mountain and island being "removed from its place." Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions are consistent with the idea of shaking, blocking of the sky, and even the disruption of the sky and weather patterns.

As the next verse shows, a primary result of this chaos will be terror. The people of earth, even the rich and powerful, will be so terrified that they will hide in fear. Today, when a tsunami inundates a populated area or a volcano erupts, panic results. On the news we see evidence of the destruction and panic caused by natural disasters. We can only imagine the panic that will break out when the sky vanishes like a scroll being rolled up.

Revelation 6:12–17 continues the episode of Jesus' opening of the seven seals of God's judgment. The first four opened seals brought devastation at the hands of four horsemen. The fifth opened seal revealed a company of martyrs under the altar in heaven. This sixth opened seal launches horrific terrestrial and celestial disturbances that cause earth's mighty men to hide among the rocks of the mountains. These men call upon rocks to fall on them, hiding from the face of God and from the wrath of the Lamb. They know the day of the wrath of God and the Lamb has arrived.

This chapter typifies the dramatic, heavily symbolic description of end-times events for which Revelation is famous. John sees a series of visions corresponding to Jesus opening the first six seals of the scroll He received in chapter 5. The first four seals unleash four horsemen, respectively symbolizing a world leader, war, famine, and death. The fifth seal reveals the prayers of martyrs pleading with God to avenge their deaths. The sixth seal unleashes massive natural disasters. In response, the people of the world cower in fear, admitting that they are suffering under the wrath of God.

The largest section of Revelation extends from chapter 4 to the end and describes events ''that are to take place after this'' (Revelation 1:19). Chapter 5 focused on a scroll containing God's judgment on sin and a search for someone to open it. Only Jesus is worthy to open it. When Jesus took the scroll from God, He received praise from every creature in heaven and on earth. Now, in chapter 6 our attention focuses on the events that transpire when Jesus opens six of the seven seals, one at a time. This process will continue through chapter 8.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''