RANDOM THOUGHTS ON THE SIXTH SEAL
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; 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. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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; 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: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
(Rev 6:12-17)
I have been doing a lot of thinking on this passage....
As you know, Elliot interprets this as the banishment of paganism from the Roman Empire. Elliot was severely taken to task over this interpretation and I myself have wondered about it.
I feel that his interpreatation of the four horsemen is practically ironclad, and just about as solid and as brilliant of an exposition as I have ever read. The persecution of Christians following those riders, as signified by the fifth seal, also fits perfectly into history. But when we come to the sixth seal, I have to wonder. Is it the pagans being banished from the empire that are frightened and declaring that God's judgment has come in the form of 'Christianized' Roman government under Constantine? Why am I just a little uncomfortable with that interpretation?
This brings me to what I see as one great weakness in Elliot's exposition; namely that he tends to favor 'Orthodoxy' in his interpretations. The Council of Nicea under Constantine was a great triumph for 'orthodoxy', but was it a great triumph for the truth? I feel that this blind allegiance to 'orthodoxy' tainted Elliot in some matters.
For the life of me, my mind cannot make the leap from the banishment of Paganism from the Roman Empire on the one hand, to those who are afraid of the Judgments that are about to fall. In my mind, the 'christianization' of the empire was itself a great triumph of paganism. This was not a victory for the truth, but would become its greatest catastrophe.
I am inclined to look for more here than the fact that Constantine banished paganism from the Empire. Is that what caused the elements to be removed; the stars to fall-- The sun to become black and the moon turn to blood and the heavens to depart as a scroll? Why would these be indicative of the success of an emperor who was himself an unconverted pagan?
If I may say so, I think Elliot completely missed the point. I don't believe that the catastrophe was simply that paganism was banished from the Empire, but that under Constantine TRUTH was banished from the empire. It was not the overthrow of 'paganism' but the banishment of the TRUTH of the Gospel that would incur the wrath and judgment of God.
It was under Constantine that Christianity became that which it was never meant to be - a state religion. It was under Constantine that the doctrine of the trinity was fostered upon mankind, burying for centuries the truth about God and the simplicity of the Gospel. It was under Constantine that those who held to this truth were banished from the empire, or killed. It was under Constantine that the way was made clear for the full-blown Papal apostasy to break forth upon the world. Over 1000 years of 'dark ages' would follow. In short, the cataclysm of the sixth seal is not the banishment of 'paganism' from the empire, the real catastrophe is that truth itself was banished from the empire.
It was in this collapse and nearly total eclipse of the truth that the luminaries in the heavens were extinguished and the heavens departed as a scroll. Can one think of any better words to describe the fact that at this point in history the truth of the Gospel was in danger of nearly being extinguished that:
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 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. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places
The Roman Empire was judged by God because it departed into apostasy. I see little significance in the fact that 'Christianity' under Constantine banished 'paganism' from the empire. I feel that Elliot's commitment to orthodoxy blinded him to this truth.
I welcome your comments.
--David
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; 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. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 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; 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: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
(Rev 6:12-17)
I have been doing a lot of thinking on this passage....
As you know, Elliot interprets this as the banishment of paganism from the Roman Empire. Elliot was severely taken to task over this interpretation and I myself have wondered about it.
I feel that his interpreatation of the four horsemen is practically ironclad, and just about as solid and as brilliant of an exposition as I have ever read. The persecution of Christians following those riders, as signified by the fifth seal, also fits perfectly into history. But when we come to the sixth seal, I have to wonder. Is it the pagans being banished from the empire that are frightened and declaring that God's judgment has come in the form of 'Christianized' Roman government under Constantine? Why am I just a little uncomfortable with that interpretation?
This brings me to what I see as one great weakness in Elliot's exposition; namely that he tends to favor 'Orthodoxy' in his interpretations. The Council of Nicea under Constantine was a great triumph for 'orthodoxy', but was it a great triumph for the truth? I feel that this blind allegiance to 'orthodoxy' tainted Elliot in some matters.
For the life of me, my mind cannot make the leap from the banishment of Paganism from the Roman Empire on the one hand, to those who are afraid of the Judgments that are about to fall. In my mind, the 'christianization' of the empire was itself a great triumph of paganism. This was not a victory for the truth, but would become its greatest catastrophe.
I am inclined to look for more here than the fact that Constantine banished paganism from the Empire. Is that what caused the elements to be removed; the stars to fall-- The sun to become black and the moon turn to blood and the heavens to depart as a scroll? Why would these be indicative of the success of an emperor who was himself an unconverted pagan?
If I may say so, I think Elliot completely missed the point. I don't believe that the catastrophe was simply that paganism was banished from the Empire, but that under Constantine TRUTH was banished from the empire. It was not the overthrow of 'paganism' but the banishment of the TRUTH of the Gospel that would incur the wrath and judgment of God.
It was under Constantine that Christianity became that which it was never meant to be - a state religion. It was under Constantine that the doctrine of the trinity was fostered upon mankind, burying for centuries the truth about God and the simplicity of the Gospel. It was under Constantine that those who held to this truth were banished from the empire, or killed. It was under Constantine that the way was made clear for the full-blown Papal apostasy to break forth upon the world. Over 1000 years of 'dark ages' would follow. In short, the cataclysm of the sixth seal is not the banishment of 'paganism' from the empire, the real catastrophe is that truth itself was banished from the empire.
It was in this collapse and nearly total eclipse of the truth that the luminaries in the heavens were extinguished and the heavens departed as a scroll. Can one think of any better words to describe the fact that at this point in history the truth of the Gospel was in danger of nearly being extinguished that:
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 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. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places
The Roman Empire was judged by God because it departed into apostasy. I see little significance in the fact that 'Christianity' under Constantine banished 'paganism' from the empire. I feel that Elliot's commitment to orthodoxy blinded him to this truth.
I welcome your comments.
--David
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