Wednesday Bible Study: the fifth seal

 

Rev 6:9  When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 

Rev 6:10  They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 

Rev 6:11  Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. 

I have to admit, this was a tough one.  So many different opinions on every part of this passage as to what is happening.  At first, I wondered if I might have to do the last three seals together.  That, it turns, was NOT going to happen.  Let me take you on my journey.

I saw under the altar

Wait a minute, some commentators noted (and I just paraphrased), "What altar?"  Here is the story.  When God gave Moses the plan for the Tabernacle in Exodus 25, he was told to make it "Exactly as I have told you" (v 9); and the Author of Hebrews explained that this was so it was an exact copy of what was in Heaven (Heb. 8:5).  In that vision, Heaven held TWO altars, just as Moses would then make them: a golden altar for incense (which will come up in a very soon post, God willing), and a bronze one for the sacrifice.  The blood of the sacrifice was poured at the foot of this altar.

This, then, is the altar of sacrifice; here are poured the souls slain for "the word of God and for the witness they had borne. "  Martyrs are special above other saints to the Lord; again, God willing, we will get to that.  

the word of God and for the witness

The commentators to a man found this phrasing significant, but for the life of me, I couldn't see why until I remembered this passage:

Isa 8:19  And when they shall say to you, Seek to the mediums and to wizards who peep and mutter; should not a people seek to their God, than for the living to the dead? 

Isa 8:20  To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because no light is in them. 

The Law, and the testimony- the prophets.  This is all they had before Christ, the Word of God.  After, they had the Word and the Testimony.  These, then were, as Jesus Himself named them...

Mat 23:33  Serpents! Offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 

Mat 23:34  Therefore, behold, I send prophets and wise men and scribes to you. And you will kill and crucify some of them. And some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city; 

Mat 23:35  so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Berachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar. 

And all those martyred after.

They cried out with a loud voice

The word here for loud is the word we get out prefix 'mega-' from.  Of all those who pray, God hears them the loudest.   That makes me wonder if I have at last found a reasoning for a passage I may have mentioned before...

Joh 12:20  Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 

Joh 12:21  So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 

Joh 12:22  Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

Joh 12:24  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 

Consider:  The Greeks came out of what appears to be curiosity; Jesus seems not to hear.  The Disciples came wanting to help them learn about Jesus; their desire to lead others to Himself, He hears!  The more obedient, the more desirous of His things we are, the more He hears us.

Then they were each given a white robe

I noted to myself, white robes were mentioned twice in the letters to the Churches: Once was when they were to be given to the survivors of Sardis, the dead Church.  The other was when the lukewarm Church in Laodicea was counselled to buy them....  God continually finds His best gems in the worst places...

 and told to rest a little longer

They have entered God's rest- their journey is complete.  Something in them, though, is discontent.  Not the desire for revenge, the desire to see God fulfill the promise they died for.  

Deu 32:35  Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.' 

Deu 32:36  For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. 

But here's the thing: God is going to allow their number to be ADDED to first.  To grasp this, I went here...

Rev 20:4  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

So here's the deal: Those under the altar died PRIOR to the Rapture- yet another proof of its reality.  These here in Rev 20 had died under the rule of the AntiChrist, and after his defeat, they get their resurrection.  Note the same wording: they died for word and the testimony- only this time it was the testimony of Jesus- the Revelation of Jesus, if you will- and not the prophets.  What need for a prophet when you're living through the last prophecies?

So this seal teaches us two valuable lessons:  The special place of martyrs for the faith, and the connection between our obedience and God hearing us.

Just a curious note to end:  My mind asked, if the martyrs get special billing- what must have happened to the 24 Elders we saw back in Chapter four?  And then I thought about my speculation, that perhaps the Apostles were half of those 24 elders.  And then I said, but one Apostle was NOT martyred...

And he's the one Raptured up to write the book...