Read with Me
Revelation 6:9-11 (NET)
Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice: “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before You judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.
Listen with Me
When the Lamb broke the fifth of the seven seals on the scroll that detailed God’s plans to rescue and avenge the people of His kingdom, it did not unleash another rider. Instead, it opened a vision to John’s eyes.
The vision was of many souls gathered under the altar of God, the place where the blood of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus was poured out before Him to pay for the sins of all mankind. These were the souls of the martyrs, the faithful witnesses who had poured out their own blood rather than renounced Jesus and His work.
These souls were not settled in restful repose after their suffering as one might suppose. Instead, they were crying out to God to avenge their blood quickly, so that others of His people would be spared the same fate. It seemed to them that God was sitting idly by while His people were being slaughtered by the persecution, the Great Tribulation, that the emperor had begun. It seemed like there was no end in sight, so they cried out, “How long before you act and bring judgment on those who are killing your people?”
The answer is surprising to many. God was not sitting idly by while all this was going on. Instead, He was purposefully allowing this persecution to continue until the emperor had fully earned not only punishment but complete annihilation. Then the judgment would fall.
Only God knew the number of Christians who would die before that point was reached, and He did not share it with those souls or with John. Instead, every faithful souls was given a long white robe, signaling purity and faithfulness to God, and then they were told to wait. The time would come. They simply needed to trust that God had them safe and secure forever in His care, and that all the others who suffered and died for Him and His kingdom agenda would be equally well cared for.
Pray with Me
Father, I’m afraid that it is all too easy for us to fall into a very temporal mindset, seeing what happens to us here in the world, the suffering and privations we face, and even the persecution and mistreatment we undergo, as the most important things. We might agree with Paul that “our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18), but in actual practice, those sufferings often loom so large that we cannot clearly focus on the glory to come. But in the end, Lord, You are the omnipotent, omniscient God of the universe, and You have promised to keep us right in Your hands, whether we live in peace here and now, or if we suffer and die. Help me to live every day with that in mind. Amen.