Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation Series #10

 

*Seven Sealed Book p2*

*Seals 5 and 6 *

*Rev 6:9-17*

 

*READ  *

 

*5.

Fifth Seal  - Martyrs Under the Altar*

 

*Saw *them *Under *the Altar

- Souls of the Slain

- Because of the Word of God

- Because of the Testimony they had Maintained

 

They *Called Loudly*

- How Long until you Judge

- How Long until you Avenge

 

*Given* a White Robe

*Told * Wait

- a little longer

- until the number of martyrs is complete

 

Differing Viewpoints

 

Historicist - most would see this era of History as the Era of the Martyrs between AD 270 and 306 under Dioclesian and Maximian the bloodiest of the 10 persecutions before Constantine ended the persecution in 313

 

Preterist  - The souls under the altar is like the blood poured out at the base of the altar in a sacrifice.

They were asking for vengeance so their persecutors were still on the earth.

John saw the vision prior to AD 70 and thus the major persecutors were Jewish Leaders in Jerusalem.

Mt 23:35 shows them that God was calling Jerusalem to account for generations of killing prophets and righteous people and compare it to Luke 18:1-8 - The Bloodshed called for Action and Judgment by God

 

Futurist - under the altar are the martyrs of the Tribulation - all who had been martyred during the 1st 4 Seals period.

TO the dispensationalist, this is after the Rapture of the church and the Martyrs are not identified with the Church - It would seem that anyone converted after the Rapture must be martyred except the remnant of Israel.

Debate is to whether these are martyred in the first 1~/2 , 2nd ½ or entire Tribulation.

Non dispensationalists would see these as Christian Martyrs from the Church during the Tribulation

 

Spiritual~/Idealist - These are Christian Martyrs who have died thus far for their faith i.e. 1 Peter 4:6  - Emphasizes the sacrificial picture of their deaths.

Whether all Martyrs or those in Domitians reign this reminds us that all anticipate vindication of the Lord

 

Let's Review

 

1st Seal - Antichrist is brought in on a white horse as a counterfeit of Christ unifying the world in peace with a bloodless revelation

2nd Seal - The Red Horse Rider though shatters peace with war following this "peaceful" leader.

Peace is always shattered when the fake smiling dictator is opposed

3rd Seal - The Black Horse sees famine follow war as it often does

4th Seal - the Pale Horse brings death to One Quarter of the population of the earth that remains after the Church is taken out.

That would be 6% by Sword (War~/Murder) 6% by Famine 6% by Disease 6% by Wild Beasts - Literal - Well I think so and I think the context, grammar lead to the same conclusion

 

SO we come to the 5th Seal.

The First 4 and the last two plus all the bowls and trumpets reveal ACTION to us but this one reveals the RESULTS of the Action that takes place on earth so, we are left to assume the action that takes place.

The Result of the Action is Death of Saints, Followers of Christ.

Who are they?

- Souls of the Martyrs.

Well … who is there?

The 24 Elders are THERE so these do not appear to be part of that group which we believe to be the Church, the Priests of the New Covenant, the Church.

So, who are they are those martyred in the period since the Church is no longer spoken of on the earth.

They are SOULS not Resurrected, New Body Given Believers.

We know from the end of Revelation that these will experience their own Resurrection at the end.

So these come out of the action that has taken place on earth.

We know that 25% of the population goes out in the 4th Seal.

We know that there is bloodshed in the 2nd Seal.

A portion of these who die are those who have turned to Christ and received salvation from Him

 

How did They Get there?

Because of the Proclamation of the Word of God and the Refusal to bow down to the new christ  on earth the rider of that white horse, they have lost their lives.

We can only imagine what that was like for these.

But from reading the rest of the book we know that people are excluded from purchases because of their refusal to bow to the new leader.

They refused to bow down and worship him and like Shadrach, Mechach, and Abednego (Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah) they were sent to the executioner for their faith.

Perhaps vigilantes or individuals murdered them for their proclamation of Christ as the sword of the red horse was an assassin or slaughters' sword.

They are there because they were a "/martus"/ in life in deed and to the death.

They proclaimed the truth and they held on to the truth no matter the consequence or edict of the ruler

 

Where are they?

They are UNDER the altar.

There are 2 altars in the Temple which is a copy of Heaven according to God's instruction to Moses.

IN Heaven there was a Golden Altar that held the incense or the prayers of the people and there was a Bronze altar upon which the sacrifices were offered.

These are under the Bronze altar of sacrifice.

Why UNDER instead of upon?

When Paul talked of being sacrificed as a living sacrifice, or as himself a sacrifice, he referred to it with the understanding of being ON the altar, as an action taking place.

But toward the end of his life he said "even now I'm being poured out".

When the sacrifice was finished, the blood of the animal would then be poured at the base or under the altar thus the sacrifice was complete.

Paul was saying, I'm just about done.

Well these Martyrs were no longer ON the altar of sacrifice they were UNDER the altar as finished offerings of worship and sacrifice to God.

But there is also a beautiful picture of them being UNDER the table of sacrifice as being UNDER the wings of Christ for protection and provision.

Under his sacrifice they are safe in their sacrifice.

They will suffer no more because he covers them now.

I'm sure that these martyrs after placing their faith in Christ faithfully proclaimed Christ to any who would listen or would not and it resulted in their deaths.

A prophet of God will proclaim the Judgment of God.

They saw these worldwide shifts and catastrophes as the Hand of God and proclaimed it and the world doesn't want to hear of it.

They will say, "oh that's just the way things are"

 

What do they say?

They CRY OUT LOUDLY - Sovereign Lord (/des*pot*es) /<word only used HERE> HOLY AND TRUE - understanding It goes against your nature to look the other way … so …

HOW LONG?

Till you JUDGE /krino (*kree*-no)/- separate, put asunder, to determine, resolve

and AVENGE /ekdikeo (ek-dik-*eh*-o)/ to protect, defend, to avenge a thing, to punish a person or thing

Avenge our Blood - Return to them what they have done to us - Might point to a Jewish or non-Church - understanding of Eye for Eye ~/ Tooth for Tooth

 

The Answer of God

Given a Robe - - Why would they have been given a Robe if were souls without a resurrected body?

LOTS of Debate even among dispensational futurists over this.

If they don't get their resurrected bodies until the end of the Trib.

Then what kind of bodies do they have?

Walvoord says this "/they have not been raised from the dead and have not received their resurrected bodies … it is not the kind of body that Christians have, not a body of the earth, nor is it a resurrection body of flesh and bones … It is a temporary body suited for their presence in heaven but replaced in turn by their everlasting resurrection body given at the time of Christ's return/"  Dr.

Criswell says /I do not think a spirit can wear a white robe.

I think the gift is an earnest pledge of the resurrection which is soon coming.

There was given to them the promise that they should have this beautiful garment of the Lord, manifest righteousness, the glory of what God can do with a life that is devoted unto him/

Well I don't know if they have a temporary body or no body, but I DO believe that the Robe as a DEPOSIT or PROMISE of a coming Resurrected body is a beautiful way to prepare them for the answer he is about to give them ….

/In a Little While … NOT YET … SOON/  - It is beautiful that God says "until I give you a resurrected body righteous, holy and pure, let me give you this white robe, and I promise you it is coming shortly, and so I also promise you that you will be avenged and they will be judged shortly but Not yet.

Why NOT YET?

Why in a Little while?

Because those who will be martyred is not yet complete which means that those who will still come to Christ is NOT yet complete.

God's delays are always because he hasn't yet redeemed all whom he wants to redeem.

Our God is an Awesome God of Salvation, even in the midst of Judgment!

By the way … how did they come to Christ?

One writer calls it the Silent Witness.