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Article		January 20, 2017
Hiding in Caves

Revelation 6:15-17 has caused a lot of trouble for many people.

And the Kings of Earth and the Princes and Captains of thousands and the rich and the mighty and every Servant and every Free Person, hid themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from before the face of the Lamb, ¹⁷ Because the great day of his anger has come, and who is able to stand? (Revelation 6:15-17)

The scene begins with a great earthquake and the description of the events that follow sound like the events at the very end of time. Therefore, some people think that this earthquake is the same one described in Revelation 16:18, but the book of Revelation is full of earthquakes. I've mentioned before the danger of trying to match similar events to say they are the same event.

Part of the trouble these verses cause comes from the people's request to "hide us from before the face of the Lamb" because "the great day of his anger has come." These verses need to be understood a little more figuratively. Is every person on the planet hiding in the mountains? No. Is everyone actually speaking these words? No. A concept is being described.

When prophecies show people speaking, as these verses do, the people do not tell you about themselves, their beliefs, their concerns, or anything else related to them. Their voices are just another way to tell the story of what is going to happen or the meaning behind that story.

A good example of this comes from Isaiah's prophecy about John the Baptist in Isaiah 40:3 "A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" The words ascribed to John "prepare the way for the Lord …" are not the words of John but the mission of John. John will be preparing the people of Israel for the coming Messiah. John's actual words will be more like "Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand" and "Behold, after me shall come he who is mightier than I."

Therefore, you can't say that those hiding in the rocks know who the Lamb of God is or that they should hide from him. Nor do they know that there is a day of his anger that will come. Instead, the people who should hide will be those who know none of these things.

These people's voices tell us only that the time of the end has come. The final result will be the Second Coming and the plagues poured out on mankind. However, the end itself has not yet come. This is an anticipation of what will come - a statement that things are about to get bad.