"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?"
Revelation 6:15-17
This is talking about some of the consequences of opening the sixth seal of the book of God (Revelation 5:1). As soon as it is opened, an earthquake happens, and the sun, moon, and heavens are changed. Apparently, the changes make it clear to everyone that God exists, and isn't very happy with the way things have been going, because it seems like everyone wants to hide. The question "who shall be able to stand?" could be rhetorical, the idea being that no one can stand before the wrath of God... and maybe that is true. It was interesting thinking about it this morning as though maybe someone could though, and I found a few scriptures that talk about standing in the presence of God. Moses was able to (Moses 1:31), and Gabriel did (Luke 1:19). Alma was frightened by the possibility (Alma 36:15) because he didn't want to be judged for his evil deeds.
Maybe the reason people are scared here is the same reason that Alma was scared. Because they'd done wrong, and were frightened of being judged fairly for their actions. Which perhaps offers some hope that, if anyone can stand (or kneel) in that day, it will be people who don't fear that judgement. And I think the only way to be one of *those* people is to do exactly what Alma did. He repented of his sins, was converted to the Lord, and he turned his life around completely. If we clear up our sins now, and keep clearing them up as we go, we won't need to fear God noticing us... because he already has, and we've worked through it and gotten on the same page. :)
Today, let's work on our relationship with God... on making things right between us. As we do, we'll stop being afraid, and be able to be filled with his love, and know how much he wants to help us, not scare us. Let's work on that until someday maybe we'll be confident enough to stand in the presence of God, knowing that he wants us there to help him with his work. Let's be the people who make the world better and who don't have so much guilt that we start asking mountains to crush us.
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?"
Revelation 6:15-17
This is talking about some of the consequences of opening the sixth seal of the book of God (Revelation 5:1). As soon as it is opened, an earthquake happens, and the sun, moon, and heavens are changed. Apparently, the changes make it clear to everyone that God exists, and isn't very happy with the way things have been going, because it seems like everyone wants to hide. The question "who shall be able to stand?" could be rhetorical, the idea being that no one can stand before the wrath of God... and maybe that is true. It was interesting thinking about it this morning as though maybe someone could though, and I found a few scriptures that talk about standing in the presence of God. Moses was able to (Moses 1:31), and Gabriel did (Luke 1:19). Alma was frightened by the possibility (Alma 36:15) because he didn't want to be judged for his evil deeds.
Maybe the reason people are scared here is the same reason that Alma was scared. Because they'd done wrong, and were frightened of being judged fairly for their actions. Which perhaps offers some hope that, if anyone can stand (or kneel) in that day, it will be people who don't fear that judgement. And I think the only way to be one of *those* people is to do exactly what Alma did. He repented of his sins, was converted to the Lord, and he turned his life around completely. If we clear up our sins now, and keep clearing them up as we go, we won't need to fear God noticing us... because he already has, and we've worked through it and gotten on the same page. :)
Today, let's work on our relationship with God... on making things right between us. As we do, we'll stop being afraid, and be able to be filled with his love, and know how much he wants to help us, not scare us. Let's work on that until someday maybe we'll be confident enough to stand in the presence of God, knowing that he wants us there to help him with his work. Let's be the people who make the world better and who don't have so much guilt that we start asking mountains to crush us.
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