Seals 5-7 Series

March 23, 2024

Last week we reviewed the 4 Horsemen of Revelation 6. We discovered that they represent God’s people through history, their response to the Gospel and the devastating consequences of rejecting the Gospel.

Let’s turn our attention briefly to the Gospels. There is a close connection between the 7 seals of Revelation 6 and the words of Jesus in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. In these chapters, Jesus gave His disciples a glimpse of what would happen on earth from their time to the end of time:

• 1 – Jesus described the realities of life on earth in terms of wars, rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, persecution, earthquakes, spiritual deceptions and heavenly signs (Matthew 24:4-14).

• 2 – Jesus talked about a long period of history, from the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) until the Great Tribulation, where God’s people would experience severe persecution (v. 15-28).

• 3 – Jesus pointed to Heavenly signs that would indicate that the 2nd Coming was quickly approaching, followed by specific signs announcing His imminent arrival (v. 29-31).

These events also occur in Revelation 6.

If we compare Leviticus 26, Matthew 24:4-14 and Revelation 6:1-8 we see that all three serve the same function – to keep God’s people awake and prepared for Christ’s 2nd Coming.

We will now turn our attention to the 3 remaining seals.

• 5th Seal = Saints under the altar (6:9-11)

As Jesus breaks the 5th seal, John’s attention is drawn to an altar.

The Old Testament temple had 2 altars:

o The Altar of SACRIFICE was in the court outside the temple.

o The Altar of INCENSE was inside the temple.

The altar John sees is the Altar of Sacrifice (Lev 4:7; 8:15; 9:9).

Under this altar are the “souls” of the martyrs. “Soul” in the Bible is a term used to describe the whole person (Genesis 2:7) NOT some wispy, disconnected entity.

This scene reminds us of the blood that was poured out at the base of the Altar of Sacrifice in the earthly Sanctuary.

o Exodus 29:12 - Take some of the bull's blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar.

And Paul’s declaration in 2 Timothy 4:6:

o For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.

Remember this is symbolic. The spirits of those who have died for their faith in Jesus are not all huddled under an altar in heaven. It is a representation of their sacrifice for the cause of Christ:

o Matthew 10:22 - All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

o Matthew 24:9 - Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

o Luke 21:16-17 - You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me.

John listens as the martyrs cry out to God:

o “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You not judge and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?” – 6:10

The suffering and death of those who have died for the cause of Christ is unjust. The cry of the martyrs is for justice to be done and their to be names cleared. This applies to every person who has died for Jesus, beginning with Abel.

God responds in 2 ways – v. 11:

o 1st - They are given a White Robe (symbol of Christ’s righteousness given to overcomers).

o 2nd - They are told that they must wait for a little while until those who must go through a similar martyrdom are made complete. In most Bibles you will find the word “number” – interpreted to mean that a specific quantity of martyrs must be reached before Jesus comes. However, “number” is not in the original Greek text. The text is not referring to a specific number of Martyrs, but to the perfecting/refining of their characters – as indicated by those overcomers who have received Christ’s robe of righteousness.

While the 5th Seal represents the experience of God’s oppressed people throughout history, it may also apply to a specific period in history (the middle/dark ages). During this period, it is estimated that more than 50 million Christians were martyred because of their faithfulness to the Bible. The prophecies of Daniel speak of the enemy power, described as a little horn “waging war with the saints and overpowering them for a time, times and ½ a time” (Dan. 7:21-27; 12:6-7). As we know, this is a prophetic period of 1260 days / years (538-1798).