In Revelation 5, John saw a vision of a Lamb who had come forward in front of the throne and before the elders and creatures in heaven, a Lamb who had been slain so that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation could become priests in the kingdom of God.
So this is a beautiful, conquering, and mercy-filled vision that John had received, but unfortunately, it is not the end of the story.
The Lamb had come forward because he was worthy to open the seals of the scroll, the scroll of the wrath that was to come upon the world.
And so as we read forward into Revelation 6, we see that is what happens. The Lamb begins to open those scrolls and the wrath of the Lamb begins to be poured out upon the world.
Upon opening the sixth seal, the sky became black, the moon like blood, the stars falls to the earth, the sky vanished, and the mountains and islands were removed. And what is more…
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Revelation 6:15-17
The leaders of the earth placed themselves in caves. They preferred that the rocks fall down upon them rather than even seeing the face of God, rather than even see the wrath of the Lamb. It would have been a terrible sight.
John’s vision is a vision of the future. It is a vision of what is yet to come. This is a time that is coming for us.
We often prefer to think of Revelation 5, where the Lamb comes to gather the people for his kingdom, but we rarely speak of Revelation 6, where the Lamb comes in wrath.
This is what we mean when we say that we are saved. Saved from what? Saved from the wrath that is coming. The Lamb will unleash the wrath of God upon the earth, in fact upon the entire universe, and those that are not found within the kingdom will not be saved. Like the kings and the generals mentioned in the passage above, they will be destroyed as a result of the coming wrath.
So let us place our faith in the one who promises salvation. Let us not be so proud to think that we can stand up to the wrath of the Lamb or that it will not come. It will come. Let us instead place our faith in the one who was slain and has paid the price to allow us to be part of his kingdom and enter, saving us from the coming wrath of the Lamb.