Previously: “It is done!” – Revelation 16:17-19

The scripture

Rev. 16:20 – Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. ²¹ Enormous hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe. (HCSB)

Every island fled

Verse 20 reads, “Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared.” Some translations say the islands “disappeared” or “vanished.” There is a similar image from the sixth seal in Rev. 6:14. We are told that “every mountain and island was moved from its place.” All of creation is shaken violently in preparation for its renovation into new heavens and a new earth, although some see this in figurative terms as the dramatic end to the times of the Jews and/or the Roman Empire.

Those who see this passage as a prelude to the return of Christ note that Rev. 21:1 tells us that the first heaven and earth have passed away and the sea exists no more.

Isaiah pictures a day when the Lord of Hosts is coming “against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up – it will be humbled – against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the high mountains, against all the lofty hills, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against every ship of Tarshish, and against every splendid sea vessel. So human pride will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day” (Isa. 2:12-17).

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