Fall On Us
“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:” (Rev 6:15-16)
These people (the lost who are alive at the Second Coming) are calling for mountains and rocks to fall on them. That would cause great physical injury and perhaps death. That they would rather be crushed by rocks than come face to face with God and the Lamb shows that the mental anguish would be far more painful than the physical.
The next verse says:
“For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev 6:17)
“To stand” is not referring to physically standing on two feet.
“But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:” (Mal 3:2)
Malachi links the words “abide” and “stand” in the verse above. Joel uses “abide” in the same context.
“And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:11)
We sometimes say that we “can’t stand something.” That is the sense in which “to stand” is used here. People will be overwhelmed with the realization of their own sinfulness especially as they will be in the very presence of the Lamb Who died for them.
Whether saying “the wrath of the Lamb” indicates the lost correctly understand the truth about God’s “wrath” or not is unclear but clearly they wish to avoid coming face to face with the One they have rejected. This corresponds to the emotional state of the lost at the final judgment as described in Zech 14:12.
April 10, 2017 @ 9:05 am
This is how they are destroyed by the brightness of His coming (2 Thess. 2:8).
“Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to them a consuming fire.” (The Great Controversy, p37)
April 10, 2017 @ 10:02 am
I think we need to better understand “consuming fire” and its effect on people. “Fire” is often used in scripture in a figurative sense, for example:
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.” (Rom 12:20)
The consumption is in more of a psychological than a physical sense as in my explanation of Zech 14:12.
June 10, 2017 @ 7:08 pm
I tend to agree with you Ray. A study of Scripture reveals that divine fire is consuming psychologically rather than physically. We must be cautious of a simplistic, surface reading of Scripture.
In my study, I believe that the lost, at the Second Coming, either die of shock and fear of a Lamb threatening them with pure love which they hate, or they end up killing each other off. There are hints in Scripture for this conclusion as well as elsewhere.
There is also a very interesting EGW quote where she says that their pleas to the rocks and mountains are ignored by nature that prefers to obey God rather than men, or something to that effect.
February 5, 2018 @ 4:50 am
“At the second advent of Christ the wicked shall be consumed “with the Spirit of His mouth,” and destroyed “with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
“The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked.” DA 107.4
February 5, 2018 @ 7:51 am
True. Your comment has prompted me to add the word “brightness” to the list of words I will be including in The Character of God and the Gospel Glossary. Brightness means more than bright light in this case.