Revelation 6:16

fall on us
So intense is their fear of God’s judgments that they temporarily seek even death—anything to flee from His manifest presence (Hos. Hos. 10:8; Luke Luke 23:30; Rev. Rev. 9:6+).

hide us from the face of Him
Attempting to hide from God illustrates how sin and fear warp the intellect, for it is impossible to hide from the Omnipresent One (Job Job 34:22). How different the motivation of the godly from the ungodly. Those with faith in Christ desire His presence and seek His face. (Ps. Ps. 17:15; Pr. Pr. 8:7; Isa. Isa. 45:19; Isa. Isa. 58:2; Isa. 65:1; Jer. Jer. 29:13; Amos Amos 5:4). Those who reject God fear His presence and flee His face. This dichotomy is seen today in the reaction of people to the preaching of the gospel:

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2Cor. 2Cor. 2:15-16)

At the scene of God’s final judgment of the ungodly, there will be nowhere available to hide from His face, for heaven and earth will have fled away (Rev. Rev. 20:11+). All things are naked in His sight!¹

who sits on the throne
See commentary on Revelation 4:2.

the wrath of the Lamb
Here we encounter a phrase of seeming contradiction. The Lamb who was silently led to the slaughter (Isa. Isa. 53:7) now metes out wrath. It is the Lamb which opens each of the seals bringing forth these judgments which are indicative of the wrath of God. See commentary on Revelation 5:5.

The wrath of God began earlier, when the Lamb arose from His seat to open the first seal. Now it is recognized for what it is. “It should be noted that the passage does not say that the wrath of God begins only with the sixth seal, but that only with the sixth seal do unbelievers recognize that it is the wrath of God.”² Those on the earth are ignorant of the Scriptures. Yet even they recognize that the time of God’s wrath has now come upon the earth (Rev. Rev. 11:18+; Rev. 14:9-10+, Rev. 14:19+; Rev. 15:1+, Rev. 15:7+; Rev. 16:1+, Rev. 16:19+). See commentary on Revelation 5:6.

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Notes

¹ Concerning the omniscience of God: 2S. 2S. 7:19; Job Job 24:1; Job 28:24; Job 31:4; Ps. Ps. 69:5; Ps. 139:2-4; Ps. 147:5; Isa. Isa. 40:28; Isa. 41:21-26; Isa. 42:9; Isa. 43:9; Isa. 44:7; Isa. 45:21; Isa. 46:10; Isa. 48:3-5; Jer. Jer. 12:3; Dan. Dan. 2:10, Dan. 2:27; Mtt. Mat. 6:8; Luke Luke 7:39; Luke 12:6; Acts Acts 15:28; Rom. Rom. 11:33; Rev. Rev. 2:23+.

² Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 221.