Revelation 6:14, commentary and pictures

The departing of heaven is the parting and rolling back of the atmosphere around the earth, opening a space from which the voice of God is heard and through which the Holy City will descend. It is a literal final sign still to come after the falling of the stars, when by the voice of God from His throne heaven and earth are shaken in a great earthquake before the sign of the Son of man appears. Every mountain and island is moved out of its place as the earth trembles and reels to and fro, rocks are scattered, trees are uprooted, and the sea boils and casts stones upon the land. It belongs to the great day of the wrath of the Lamb at Christ's coming in glory as King of kings with ten thousand times ten thousand angels, when the wicked flee to caves and rocks and are destroyed by the glory of His coming. To the loyal suffering anguish and want under mockery and threats for refusing false worship, the opened heavens reveal the throne of God with Jesus seated upon it amid angels and martyrs, and God then speaks to announce the day and hour of Jesus' coming and deliver the everlasting covenant.

Nature and Timing of Upheaval

The departing heaven is the air surrounding the earth parting and rolling back like a rolled scroll, not Paradise, not the region where the sun, moon and stars are, and not the church on earth. Its rolling back opens a space in Orion from which the voice of God sounds and through which the Holy City will descend. The shaking of the powers of heaven is the sun, moon and stars that rule in the heavens being moved out of their places by the voice of God, shaken yet not passing away. That shaking of heaven is distinct from and comes after the shaking of the powers of earth that rule on the earth by war and rumors of war, by sword, famine and pestilence, and by the anger of the nations, so that political upheaval and the shaking of angry nations in Europe is the shaking of earthly powers, not the shaking of heaven.

It is a literal event still in the future, the last sign before the sign of the Son of man appears and before the second advent, coming after the falling of the stars when the Lord shakes heaven and earth by the voice of God from the throne in a great earthquake in the time of trouble. The sky opens and closes in commotion while mountains shake and the earth is shaken before Jesus comes, and this scene of departing heavens, quaking earth, and mountains and islands moved from their places leads into the wicked fleeing in terror from the Son of man and marks the impending judgment. At that upheaval the heavens roll away like a scroll as Jesus comes in majesty and fiery glory, the earth trembles, and every mountain and island is displaced. Not only earth but the heavens themselves are shaken, the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and is removed like a cottage, the elements are in flames, and the heavens are rolled together like a scroll. The same displacement leaves mountains moved from their places, rocks scattered and trees uprooted, while the sea surges, boils and casts stones onto the land.

It is the same event as the shaking of the powers of heaven in Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24-25. It is the shaking of heaven as well as earth when God comes and does not keep silence, with devouring fire before Him and tempest round about Him to judge, with terrific convulsions of nature and the voice of God roaring from His holy habitation on high. In this the promise is fulfilled yet once more to shake not earth only but also heaven, in a far greater manifestation of divine power than when the law was proclaimed from Sinai and the earth shook and Sinai itself moved.

Judgment and Final Deliverance

It belongs to the scene of the last days when God judges every person according to works, going forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity so that the earth discloses her blood and no longer covers her slain. In that judgment His right hand dashes His enemies in pieces, bringing terrible judgments that reach to the plagues upon the earth. Then hail about the weight of a talent falls upon the wicked who would not obey God but insulted Him and despised His mercies. There those deceived by falsehood, who treat sin as harmless and rely on self-righteousness, are distinguished from the faithful. These upheavals belong to the sixth seal and to the great day of the Lamb's wrath, when the unrepentant hide and fear they cannot stand before Him.

It belongs to the great day of wrath and to Christ's coming in glory as King of kings, descending on the cloud wrapped in flaming fire with ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels. Then the wicked flee in terror from the Son of man, hide in caves and rocks, and seek to be hidden from Him who sits on the throne and from the Lamb. Even rocks and mountains cannot hide rebels from His wrath, and the caves that once sheltered faithful witnesses become places where their persecutors meet testimony against themselves. The altered landscape still leaves them places to hide, yet they cannot escape the glory of His coming and are destroyed by it. These events follow the signs of His coming, accompany the quaking of the earth and the moving of mountains and islands from their places, and mark the impending judgment.

It serves as a token and warning to the world that the day of final destruction and Christ's coming is near. Those who see these signs are to recognize its approach, watch, and heed the warning by fleeing from the coming wrath. At His coming the same shaking accompanies the general resurrection of the just, when all the precious dead from righteous Abel to the last saint that dies awake to glorious immortal life. Then not only earth but the heavens are shaken, the earth reels to and fro and is removed, the elements are in flames, and before Him and His angels His enemies cannot stand.

While the loyal who will not worship the beast or his image and will not accept and revere an idol sabbath are in anguish, weeping and praying under mockery, threats, poverty and inability to buy or sell, the heavens part like a rolled scroll. At the command to look up every eye is lifted as Stephen looked, and the parting reveals the throne of God with Jesus seated upon it, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands upon thousands around it, and the martyrs close about the throne, including those just now in abject misery whom the world knew not, hated and despised. That sight shuts out everything else, so the taunting and reviling and boasts of mockers threatening what they will do if faith is held fast are no longer heard. Then God speaks to His people, announces the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivers the everlasting covenant, amid a sky in commotion with shaking mountains casting out rocks and a boiling sea casting stones onto the land.

Its displacement of mountains leaves the earth broken and desolate, with mountains moved from their places, rocks scattered and trees uprooted. That ruined earth becomes Satan's home and confinement during the thousand years, where he sees the effects of his rebellion.