We continue with the dramatic opening of God’s Book of Destiny that spells out the future of the world. We should be reminded that Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the only one worthy of opening this book. He has stepped forward, taken the book from God’s hand and has begun to break the seven seals that hold the book closed.
When Jesus began to break the seals in order to open the book the most astounding things began to happen. When He broke the first seal, our from under the seal leaped a horseman. What was written in the book was actually leaping off its pages and being acted our before John and the heavenly host.
We saw 4 of the 7 seals broken last time. Tonight we look at the fifth seal as it is broken.
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When Jesus Christ breaks the fifth seal, the souls of all the martyrs of the world are seen under the altar of God. What is it talking about when it says martyrs? It COULD be a picture of all those who have died for the Lord Jesus Christ down through the ages.
But this particular reference is probably to the martyrs of the end time. The reason we suspect that is that they cry out for justice against those who killed them and that judgment falls in the sixth seal. So these martyrs seem to be referencing the end time martyrs.
So John and the heavenly host see the souls of the martyrs. Where are these martyrs? They are under the altar. We need to digress a moment back to the Old Testament and the furnishings of the tabernacle. These furnishings were only patterns of the worship center in heaven.
This means that there is a perfected altar of sacrifice in the throne room of heaven. The altar in the tabernacle was where the animals were sacrificed. The blood was poured out at the foot of the altar, symbolizing that the animal was being sacrificed for the person offering it.
This is the picture here. The lives of the martyrs, their blood, has been sacrificed and poured out for God. The martyrs have offered their lives up for God. So, in heaven, the martyrs have a very special place before God: they stand at the foot of the altar. They are given a very special place near to God.
There’s a strong lesson in this for all believers. That lesson is that God has a very special place for those who are faithful until death, a place that is close and dear to his heart and throne. This alone should cause us to be faithful to Him every minute of every day.
That gives you a warm feeling, doesn’t it? To be close to God, close to His throne and to His presence, serving him throughout all of eternity and then laying down one’s life for Him. Remember what Jesus said? “In Matt. 16:25, he said, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
In verse 9 we see that these martyrs are slain for God’s Word and for the testimony they had borne for Christ. There are two things here that we need to look at:
1. They were slain for the Word of God. And
2. They were slain for the testimony they had borne concerning Jesus Christ.
What does it mean when we read they were slain for the word of God? In the last days of human history some people will still love Christ and still believe the Scriptures. They will love the Word of God. They will believe it, live by it, study it, teach it, preach it, and pray over it.
Because of this, the world will react against the Word of God and kill believers. Why? In the end time under the antichrist, the people of the world will be required to give their first loyalty to the state. The government will demand loyalty to the state first, then the people can have freedom of religion and worship whatever god they wish.
The state will develop the idea of what could be called a state religion, something close to what exists in some states today. But believers in Jesus Christ can only give their loyalty to Him, so they will be killed. They will be killed because they cannot deny the Word of God. I hope we fall into this category.
Also, the world has always rejected God, cursed God, denied God, ignored God, disobeyed God, and disbelieved God. In the end time, all this rejection will be intensified.
The point is this: the world in the end time will reject God’s Word. The world and its government will demand that believers give their first allegiance to the state and that they keep quiet about the righteousness proclaimed in Scripture. The state will be atheistic and exalt itself as God.
The second thing we said is that the believers will be slain for the testimony they had borne concerning Jesus Christ. The martyrs will believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. But the world rejects that. In the end time the world’s rejection of Christ will be intensified so much that they will kill all those who proclaim Christ to be the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
So the believers of the end time will be martyred because they refuse to deny Christ.
In verse 10 the slain martyrs cry out for justice. They address God as the sovereign Lord, holy and true. This continues to remind us that God is supreme Master and Sovereign of the universe.
God is holy, meaning “set apart” from all other beings in the universe. The martyrs want all sin and evil erased so that God will not be disobeyed any more by unholy living. So they address Him as Sovereign and holy.
God is true to His Word. If justice is to be executed upon earth, He is the One who has to do it. Therefore, the martyrs address God as the Sovereign Lord, holy and true.
Note that their cry is not one of vengeance against men upon earth instead of loving them and longing for them to be saved. Their cry is a cry for vindication of the Word of God. They are crying out to God for Him:
• To stop the injustice against His Word and against His Son.
• To stop the injustice against His own glory and justice.
• To stop the injustice of sin and evil against Himself.
• To stop the injustice of unrighteousness and to bring righteousness to the universe.
They were actually praying for God’s kingdom to come upon earth. This is why I feel that Jesus taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come,” and “forgive those who trespass against us.”
Let’s think about the martyr for a moment. No one suffers the hell and wrath of sin any more than a martyr. A martyr has endured the greatest wrath and hell that sin can cast against a person. It’s the fire and wrath of sin that kills him. So the martyr, above all others knows how terrible sin insults and rages against God. Would you agree?
So when a martyr reaches heaven and sees the Lord and the Father and all the glory and majesty of heaven and then begins to share with the Lord, the martyr is bound to cry out:
Rev. 6: 10 – “How long, sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
Ps. 74:10 – “How long will the enemy mock you, O God? Will the foe revile your name forever?”
Ps. 79: 5-6 – “How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? How long will you jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
Ps. 94:3-4 – “How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked be jubilant? They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting.”
We can kind of begin to see why the psalmist felt as he did.
In verse 11 we see that the slain martyrs are given white robes. Again these white robes stand for purity and righteousness. Believers are made pure and righteous in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. These martyrs are wearing the robes that all believers upon the earth will wear, the white robes of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Also in verse 11 the slain martyrs are assured of justice. As we close this portion of Scripture out tonight we do so with a beautiful picture and a challenge.
The slain martyrs are said to be waiting or resting in heaven.
- They are waiting in the peace of Christ, free from all struggle. I am reminded of the writings of the Book of Hebrews 4:9 which says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath—rest from all struggle.”
- They are resting from all their exhausting labor upon earth. Later on in Rev. 14:13 we will read, “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord form now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’”
- They are resting from the wicked of the earth. In Job 3:17 we are told, “There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.”
- They are resting from all the trials and temptations of life; they are to be freed from all tears and sorrow and crying and pain and death. Again later on in Rev 21:4 we will read, “He will wipe every tear form their eyes. There will be o more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old has passed away.”
- They are resting in the perfection of a new life, even in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied in Is. 57:2, “Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”
Note what the Lord tells the martyrs. It will still be a little while before the end of the world comes. It is not a question of if it will come but when. But the martyrs are told it is not yet time.
The name of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed enough to the world, not yet. And some believers are still to be martyred for the name of Christ. The number of martyrs is not yet fulfilled.
You see, that is where we are now—waiting. This is a challenge for us. To be on fire for God and to be proclaiming Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t be afraid. We have to be willing to witness for Him even if it means that we must die for Him and His cause of eternal salvation.
I am reminded of what Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:8).
“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”
I close with Peter’s and John’s words in Acts 4:20, “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
