“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;”
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, full of hair, and the full moon became like blood — the sixth seal unleashes cosmic catastrophe: earthquake (seismos) shaking creation, sun darkened (not merely eclipsed but become black like mourning cloth), moon turned blood-red (Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31). These signs invoke the exodus plagues and prophetic imagery of the day of the Lord.
Church Fathers on Revelation 6:12
“And I saw, when he had opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake.” In the sixth seal, then, was a great earthquake: this is that very last persecution. “And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.” The sun becomes as sackcloth; that is, the brightness of doctrine will be obscured by unbelievers. “And the entire moon became as blood.” By the moon of blood is set forth the Church of the saints as pouring out her blood for Christ.
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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