Revelation 6: The Cry of the Tribulation Martyrs (vs 9-11)
Last week, we returned to our journey through Revelation, wrapping up our study of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These Four Horsemen represented Antichrist in his conquest by diplomacy (white horse), war (fiery red horse), famine (black horse) and death (yellowish green horse). Twenty five percent of the population of the world will die during these first four seal judgments. It will be a time unequaled in the history of the world; conservatively over one billion people will die, from war, starvation, plague and animal attacks.
This week, we will study the The Cry of the Martyrs. But first, let's also talk again about our responsibility in the gospel.
Because we have been forgiven so much--so much more than we could ever in a thousand lifetimes repay--we should view presenting the gospel not as a favor to someone but instead as a duty. As a debt. We owe it to everyone. Not just the pretty, the handsome, the privileged, the self-righteous, the rich or powerful, the athletic or those with a Ph.D. No, this gospel is meant for all people. Jews, Gentiles, people of all nation, race and color. Not only those close to you, but to your enemies as well.
Paul wrote "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 1:16a). We must pray for boldness in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. For everything that Jesus has done for us, why should we ever hold back?
If a organ donor gave you a heart, wouldn't you be grateful to that man? Would you not want to honor him for that sacrifice? This is exactly what Jesus Christ did for you, brothers and sisters in Christ. He has taken the heart of stone and exchanged it with a heart of flesh, a saved heart. Not just to the nation of Israel in the future, but to you at salvation.
The church, the body of Christ, while awake in spots, has largely fallen asleep. It is as though we, the bride of Christ, has been cast under a spell like the Evil Queen did with Snow White. The Queen used a poisoned apple; Satan feeds us lies, and we believe it: people have time. You can witness to them later. You do not know enough. What if they object. What if they get mad at me. What if, what if, what if?
It is my hope and prayer that these devotionals that display God's future wrath on a sinful world will wake brethren from their sleep, and bring boldness to the heart in sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with all men.--JH
"Thousands will be martyred, sealing their testimony with their own blood. Those who trust in Christ in that day will be forced to stand the acid test of being faithful even unto death." Dr. John F. Walvoord
We come to this fifth seal after seeing war, famine and death being let loose on the world. If you have the idea that only the evil and unsaved would be affected during this time, you are sadly mistaken. In verse 6, we see that John "saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God". What is this altar?
There are some different ideas about this altar. This is the first mention of an altar in Revelation; the term is thusiasterion (thoo-see-as-tay'-ree-on) and refers to any altar of sacrifice, but Thayer states two in particular: the altar of whole burnt-offerings and the altar of incense. Thayer states that it is the altar of incense in particular in view here.
However, there are good arguments for both. First, these are people that are slain; they have sacrificed themselves which we will focus on in a few days.
Easley notes in Holman New Testament Commentary: "At the anicent tabernacle of the Israelites, the blood of slaughtered animals drained from the base of the altar, with the blood representing the life (soul) of the animal (Exodus 29:12, Leviticus 4:7, 17:11). Though wicked humans may kill Christians from God's point of view their deaths are a special heavenly sacrifice."
Robert Thomas notes in his landmark "Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary" (Moody) that this altar would be instead the altar of incense for a number of reasons that have merit. First, the idea that the blood of these saints should not be compared to the blood of Christ, and second that the altar of incense was located adjacent to the sanctuary in the tabernacle, yet the altar of burnt sacrifice was outside of the tabernacle. Also, the altar of incense represented the prayers of the saints (Revelation 8:4).
Although there is some difference of opinion about which altar this would be--the altar of burnt sacrifice or the altar of sacrifice, a combination of either or neither--Kendall Easley makes the point that the altar is a key method in the Revelation of Jesus Christ of communicating with God.
Easley quotes seven passages concerning the altar, and comments "The heavenly altar, then, reflects the open gateway of communication between a holy God and His people. The prayers of believers are heard through a heavenly altar. God in His holiness untimately punishes the evil done against his people, sometimes beginning with events announced from the altar".
It is important to remember that in either case, that in that day lives will be lost, and they will be lost by God's people and in massive numbers never seen prior.
Martyrs Of The Future
Since the time of Christ, many have given their lives for Christ. I think that many people do not want to think about sacrifice in any form, whether it be giving of our time to God, our talent to God, our treasure to God and certainly not our lives to God. No, many want the warm fuzziness of the love and comfort of God. While God is the God of love and comfort, God does call us to sacrifice.
God calls us to sacrifice, or give up freely, our time to Him. This means that we should never, ever complain about being in the Sunday morning assembly but also should be willing to do and go for Christ well beyond that. Think about this: if you can't give time to God and the cause of Christ when times are easy, then why in the world would you think you would in times of trial and persecution?
Also, God calls us to use our talent and gifting. Your talents and gifting are not for your benefit; they are for the glory of God and the benefit of others. They are not to glorify you, and you are not to hoard them! But it is our treasure that is most neglected in the area of sacrifice. And it is also the one that is the sorest subject to broach in the church. How often have we heard, and yes sometimes rightly so, that "organized religion is all about money"? If God does not control your time, talent and treasure then you seriously need to re-assess your priorities in life. Now let me get off of my soapbox and back to the subject.
Who are these "souls" under the altar, and why were they put to death? I did a good bit of research on this, and saw two main thoughts. One commentator viewed these souls--psuche (psoo-khay') in Koine Greek, meaning life, soul, mind, the entire being--as being solely Jews. However, the consensus among nearly all scholars that I have studied is that these are Christian converts both Jew and Gentile. Quite simply, the context would demand this; when we study Revelation 7 you will see that both Jew and Gentile alike will be in this group.
This goes back to the statement that I quoted a few weeks ago by a well meaning pastor at revival at our church years ago. The pastor, a gifted speaker, did a wonderful job regarding events ramping up to the end times, but on the third and last night he announced that once the Rapture of the Church happened that no one would be saved afterward. Who then would these people be if that were the case? These have to be "tribulation saints" mentioned here, and also in Revelation chapter 7 as we will see in a future devotional. Also, they will not be, as some think, martyrs from all time periods but will be martyrs from the time of the Tribulation.
In countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and many other Islamic countries, people are put to death because of their stand for Jesus Christ. More men, women and children were put to death because of their Christian faith than in any other century prior. From the time of Christ to now, people are willing to die for Jesus Christ. All of the apostles with the exception of John were martyred for their faith.
During the end times, there will be an unprecedented march by the people of the earth against God and all that are of Christ. It will be beyond a hatred, it will be a passion against those that are children of God. And the deaths will not be "humane", they will be brutal. The term for slain means "to slaughter". If you have ever seen a slaughterhouse with hanging beef, you get the idea. There will be a brutality not seen before. It will be a time of unimaginable evil in the world. The church--the salt and light of the world--will be gone from the planet. And those that do these executions will most likely take great pleasure in torturing those that are executed; Wikipedia lists 38 instruments of and 48 methods of torture. People will die for their faith, but those doing the murdering will take great pleasure in the torture as well.
Why will these "tribulation saints" be slaughtered? "for the word of God and for the testimony which they held." The Word of God can be viewed in two ways; either God's Word being the Bible or the Word of God being Jesus Christ (John 1:1). However, the meaning is primarily the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good News that Jesus died for the sins of those that would accept Him as Savior and believe that He was raised from the dead. That believe that He is the "Son of God", which means that Jesus IS GOD. Being with God forever in Heaven surely is the best news that anyone can hear.
Then we come to the next part: "for the testimony which they held." Robert Thomas makes two excellent observations: "First and foremost, this is a testimony they held, not so much as one they preached...the testimony which they received from the faithful witness and which they continued to hold...their testimony was a badge of allegiance to Christ, one that was visible to others. Their loyalty to Christ was conspicuous, and preaching it was only one way it showed.
So what does all that mean? Their faith will be conspicuous. It will be noticeable. There will be a quality to their lives that will reflect their faith in Christ. Many will preach and share Christ with others, but these souls will lose their lives--in many cases their heads in the process--because of the testimony that their lives will bear.
To quote an old saying, "If you were to go on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you of the crime?" Do you reflect a Christian testimony? Do you take the time to share your faith as well?
How Long? Not Why?
Let's face it--we hate injustice. Yes, it is true what our parents have told us, and what we have told our children--Life is not always fair--but we sure do not like it.
One thing to remember about life is this. Each and every sin that has ever been committed will be dealt with. It will be punished. For the Christian, our sins have been paid for in full by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. For the unsaved, they will face the judgment and wrath of God. So for all of those times that you said life is unfair, just remember that God will take care of things in the long run. No, it is not "karma", that is a Hindu thought. When God deals with things, it will be absolutely perfect in the execution of the judgement.
Here we see that they--being the martyred souls here--will cry out with a loud voice regarding the judging and avenging of those who had executed them. One thing for certain is that it will at times be quite loud in Heaven; these voices will most certainly gain attention. In Revelation four and five, we saw the shouts of the angels and the saints in praise around the throne, here we see the martyrs cry out a prayer of petition. This is not a prayer to God that asks if he is going to do something about their slaughter, it is instead a prayer of asking when He will take care of business--how long.
Now lets look at how these martyrs will address God: O Lord, holy and true. The Koine Greek word for Lord (Soverign Lord, NIV, ESV, Living Bible), despotes, is better translated Master. We get the English word despot from this word, an absolute ruler. The antonym, or opposite word, would be slave or bond slave. When these martyrs cry out in a loud voice, first and foremost they recognize God as being their MASTER. They recognize Him as being soverign, or in complete undisputed control. And they recognize Him as being holy (separate, different "holy, holy, holy, Revelation 4, Isaiah 6). And they recognize God as not only being true, but being the truth. In John, Jesus refers to Himself as "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". God is in charge, totally different than anyone--human or angel--and is the very fountainhead of truth.
These martyrs cry out to their God and Master, but do so in respect, in regards to their executioners not with the question of why but instead with the question of "how long must we wait?" They are not disputing God's fairness, but long for God's justice to be done.
Now if there is any question whatsoever about if these are tribulation saints, the next phrase until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth eliminates all doubt. They were asking judgment on those who had executed them, and they were still dwelling on the earth. Now here is an important point; we should forgive, but at the same time we should expect God's judgment to fall on those who do evil. Allow Him only to seek vengance.
Death...and Torture
The horrors of torture and persecution documented in the last century have been unprecedented. Hitler's Nazi Germany was responsible for the death of six million Jews, but also millions of mentally handicapped and homosexuals were put to death. Over sixty percent of the Jews in Germany were executed; many were experimented on, raped by guards, skin from bodies made into lampshades and gold teeth removed and melted down and formed into ingots for the German treasury. When Pol Pot ruled in Cambodia, the government under his leadership was responsible for the torture and deaths of between 1.7 to 2.5 million people. Saddam Hussein directed atrocities against the Kurds in Iraq, often gassing them and using biological weapons. Not only were these people killed, but some survived and lived a nightmarish life suffering from the after effects of the weapons.
Yet, for all of this, these occurrances will pale in comparison to what will happen to those that profess Christ in the end times. The scale of persecution will be unprecendented. There will be no restraining the evil present in the world at that time, yet God will be glorified in all of this because of the stand that many will take for Christ.
A few more important points should be noted. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer... Each person will be given a white robe, symbolizing that their sins were washed away not by their blood, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. And they are told, perhaps by God Himself, that they are to rest for a little longer; Heaven is a place of rest. We often say "Rest in Peace" when someone dies, but only those that are in Heaven with Jesus Christ will rest in peace.
"Until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been." Only God knows the end of all things, when it will be and how it will happen. We do not know when any of us will die. When the people died on 9/11, for instance, it was at the hand of evil men in execution but it was the time that God had appointed for those men and women. God knows the day that each of us will die. Now let's give this one last, great thought. If you were under persecution for your faith, and given the opportunity to renouce Jesus Christ to live, would you stay firm in your stand? Would you falter? Not an easy question to answer. During those times, the testimony that these tribulation saints give--in their lifestyle, in their preaching the Good News of Christ, and in their stand in death--will be used as an instrument of God in the salvation of others in that horrible time.
