Hosea used this language to describe the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians, Hosea 10 and verse 8 [“Also the high places of Aven, the sin of Israel, Shall be destroyed. The thorn and thistle shall grow on their altars; They shall say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ And to the hills, ‘Fall on us!’”].

Isaiah used a description very similar to this when he was prophesying of Jerusalem’s fall at the hands of Babylonia, Isaiah 2 and verse 19 [“They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.”].

Perhaps the Scripture that is most familiar to us is the one that Jesus uses, Luke, chapter 23, verses 28-30. As He is being led away to Calvary, there are women who are crying, who are mourning. He turns to them and says, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ ³⁰Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’” So again, we see almost this exact description used by the Lord Himself.

Someone might say that what the Lord was talking about when He spoke these words was the final judgment. But not necessarily so. What He has in mind has to do with what is being done—the wrong, the evil that is being brought forth as the Son of God is marching off, carrying His cross to Calvary, about to be executed, about to be crucified. He concludes that section of Scripture, saying that if they do this when the wood is green—in the early days—if they do this kind of thing now, what is going to happen from this point forward? [Luke 23:31: “For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?”]

In verse 17 of Revelation, chapter 6, the conclusion is that “the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Indeed, good question. “Who is able to stand?”

Isaiah had described the day of Jehovah as cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it, Isaiah 13 and verse 9 [“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”].

We might also look at what some of the other prophets have to say along this line:

Joel 2:11, 30-31: “The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One Who executes His Word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?... And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.”

Zephaniah 1:14-15: “The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness….”

The Lamb, the only One found to be worthy, has taken the scroll—the book. We’ve said that THAT is God’s purpose; that’s God’s plan. That is the unveiling of His plan for all of mankind for all of eternity. He has taken it out of the Father’s hand, and He has been delegated to carry out the plan. It IS “the great day of their wrath”, God’s and the Lamb’s. Thus, “who can stand?”

Nahum asked the same question as Jehovah’s impending judgment was about to fall on Nineveh in the long ago. He will ask, in Nahum 1 and verse 6, “Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger?”

“No one!” is the answer. [Nahum 1:6 continues: “His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him.”]

No one was able to stand against Jehovah’s indignation in the city of Nineveh in the long ago. No one will be able to stand against the indignation of God as He brings punishment, or destruction, against nations on earth as time goes on, or whether it, indeed, is in that final day. Every knee WILL bow. Every tongue WILL confess that Jesus is Lord.

Let me share with you one commentator’s summary of Revelation, chapter 6. He says, “This lesson has presented us with the four horsemen, representing conquest, strife, famine and death. In contrast, the suffering of those who had been slain because of their faith called for the vindication of righteousness in a godless world, and the concluding seal emphasizes the terror of godless men, of godless nations and empires, as they confront the presence of God and Christ. The four horsemen of Revelation have ridden many times through human history, and the people of God have suffered persecution many times. The assurance of this lesson is that the persecuted triumph and the godless are judged.”