the fifth seal - martyrdom
main text: revelation 6:9-11, 20:4-6
Puzzled About Revelation, Part 26, May 19 2022
Who are the people that John saw? Where did they come from? What happened to them and why? Who is doing it to them? What hope is there for them? Are they a nebulous group throughout history or definite group from a definite time period? What is the timing?
Revelation 6:9 “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.”
he - Only the Lamb of God (not the devil or any human agent) has the authority to open the seals (Revelation 5:6-14). Therefore, we have confidence that what is about to take place is the sovereign will of God despite any appearances to the contrary.
under the altar - The altar of the Old Testament tabernacle in the wilderness is where burnt offerings were placed. The Hebrew word olah signified a burnt sacrifice offered whole to God, and is the root of the modern word holocaust. The uncountable multitude of souls from every nation, tribe, people and language (Revelation 7:9) that John saw under the altar imply a greater holocaust. In Romans 12:1, Paul calls believers to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice to God...as a spiritual act of worship. Revelation 12:9-11 tells us that the saints overcome the fury of Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and that they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
souls - The souls under the altar are waiting: not yet resurrected, but having been given the covering of the white robes. This is a time period before the resurrection of the dead (Revelation 20:4-6).
because…maintained - These are martyrs, slain because of the Word of God and their testimony about Christ. They held on to their faith to the end. We must be prepared to do the same.
Revelation 6:10 “They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’”
loud voice - The souls cry out with a loud passion, fervor, and zeal for God to put an end to the lawlessness, evil and murder happening on the earth
Sovereign Lord, holy and true - The souls make their appeal to the only one who can help them, the Sovereign, Holy and True Lord of heaven and earth! He alone will judge with true justice and fairness.
avenge our blood - Vengeance belongs to God. (Rom. 12:17-21) (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Hebrews 10:31) “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.”
how long…? - I believe that the opening of the fifth seal happens at the mid-point of the seven-year peace “covenant with many” when the antichrist suddenly breaks the covenant. At this point, the antichrist turns his attention to the saints and begins to war against them for 42 months, leading up to seal 6 and the Day of the Lord. Daniel 7:21, Daniel 7:25, Daniel 8:23-24, Daniel 11:31-32, Galatians 4:28-29, Daniel 12:7, Matthew 24:9-10 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other...”
Revelation 13:7-10 “It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. Whoever has ears, let them hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.”
Revelation 17:6 “I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”
Matthew 24:15 Matthew 24:21 “For then [at that time] there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.”
Mark 13:9-13 “You will be handed over… stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them…And the gospel must first be preached to all nations…Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
We are not to fear. We need to be meditating on the word and filling our hearts with truth that God is with us, that God is able, that God is sovereign, that God sees, that God is powerful and mighty to save, and that He is a God of vengeance and justice and He is going to bring liberty to the captives when He comes. (Hebrews 10:38-39)
Church and state will come together during the final persecution, but the righteous will hold on to their testimony, declaring their faith and testimony to all nations before the end. The one who stands firm will be saved. Those who shrink back will be destroyed.
Revelation 6:11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants and brothers were killed just as they had been.”
white robe - They are wearing WHITE. These are the saints, the bride. (Revelation 19:6-8, Revelation 20:4-6) Jesus told a parable in Matthew 20:1-16 in which those who were hired last were the first to receive their pay, and it was the same pay as everyone else.
fellow servants and brothers - They are WORTHY. They are called “fellow servants and brothers”
killed - They are WITNESSES (martyrs). The word for witnesses used here comes from the Greek, martureo, the same word used for “martyr” - witness unto death. These are martyred because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
told to wait, full number - They are WAITING for the full number of their fellow servants and brothers to join them. Those on the earth are under pressure to receive the name or number of the antichrist. But God is also numbering His people, and He promises a new name to those who overcome. (Revelation 3:12)
Hebrews 11:35b-40 “There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”
God is delaying the end until the full number of gentiles enter in, then all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:25-26)
Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” There is a sovereign purpose to all of this. I believe that God will use the testimony of the saints to bring the full number of His people to Himself, including those who have rejected Him and refuse to listen any other way.
Romans 8:36, Psalm 44:22 “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
It has been said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. John 12:24-26 “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Romans 8:37-39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”