<p>6:14 <i>And the sky was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up- </i>Remember this is all in the context of the scroll being opened by the lamb. For that book to be opened, the scroll / heaven NEV &quot;sky&quot; of political Israel has to be closed and removed for ever. The Old Testament passage in view here in this section is clearly Is. 34:4-8. This however speaks of God's final judgment of Edom, which is Esau (Gen. 36:1,8). Revelation 6 is talking about judgments against Israel; but the point is that what latter day Esau / Edom does to Jacob will be done to them: &ldquo;All of the army of the sky will be dissolved, the sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree. For My sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom and on the people of My curse for judgement. Yahweh&rsquo;s sword is filled with blood, it is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.&nbsp; The wild oxen will come down with them and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood and their dust made greasy with fat.&nbsp; For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion&rdquo;.</p><p><i>And every mountain and island were moved out of their places</i>- In the first century application, the removal of every mountain would refer to the Roman legions flattening the approach roads: &quot;Vespasian sent both footmen and horsemen to level the road, which was mountainous and rocky&quot; (Josephus, <i>Wars of the Jews</i> 3.7.3). Having outlined the mountainous setting of Jotapata, Josephus says that Vespasian decided &quot;to raise a bank against that part of the wall which was practicable&quot; (<i>Wars</i> 3.7.8).</p><p>I mentioned in notes at the beginning of Revelation 6 that the things done to Israel / the land during the seals are then repeated to Israel&rsquo;s abusers during the trumpets and vial judgments. The cup they made her drink must be drunk by them. And in keeping with this, the same ideas are found in Rev. 16:20- when Babylon falls, &ldquo;every island fled away, and the mountains were not found&rdquo;. However, the repetition of the terms shows that literal islands and mountains are not in view- they cannot totally disappear twice. The supporters of Israel, the powers represented by mountains and islands, those who seemed so stable and eternally fixed in their place, will remove; just as the figurative mountains and islands supportive of Babylon will likewise. I have explained elsewhere that the West must fall or be rendered ineffective. <br />The final tribulation of Israel will be at the same time as the Elijah ministry; and the intention is to bring down the mountains, making a smooth way for the second coming of the Lord Jesus (Is. 40:4; Lk. 3:5). These judgments, involving mountains moving, are all part of that preparatory process.</p>