Revelation 6:9, commentary and pictures

When the fifth seal is opened John is shown beneath the altar the company slain for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held, not as a present reality but as a prophetic representation of a future period before the faithful are called out of Babylon. With a loud voice they ask how long before God judges and avenges their blood, and white robes are given to each of them as a pronouncement of purity while they are told to rest a little season until their fellow servants and brethren who will be killed as they were shall be fulfilled. The vision represents the millions of martyrs slain under the papal power and the Inquisition, including the Waldensian missionaries and the faithful witnesses of the Reformation who sealed their witness with blood yet lost only the body and not faith or hope. Their deaths also belong to the coming crisis when national apostasy enforces laws that suppress Bible truth and oppress commandment keepers, and their voice rises again from the graves joining God's children in prayer for Him to act. They are shown alive among the redeemed in glory and in the world made new, wearing pure white robes with red borders and brilliant crowns, triumphing in death through the bright hope of immortality at the resurrection of the just with increased reward in heaven.

Vision's Setting and Meaning

At the opening of the fifth seal John is shown beneath the altar the company slain for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held. That sight comes before the scenes of Revelation 18 when the faithful and true are called out of Babylon. The scene was not a present reality but a prophetic representation of what would be in a future period of time.

The fifth seal belongs to the opening of the book sealed with seven seals in the hand of Him that sat on the throne. That book is a roll written within and on the backside, written within and without, with no blanks and space for no more writing. It contains the divine utterances, His authority, His commandments, His laws, and the whole symbolic counsel of the Eternal. In symbolic language it is the roll of God's providences, the prophetic history of nations and the church, the history of all ruling powers and the influence of every nation, tongue, and people from the beginning of earth's history to its close. As the book is unrolled all who look upon it are filled with awe.

The souls under the altar are martyrs slain for Jesus and for faithfulness to Christ. They include Christ's disciples, who were persecuted and put to death for testifying of what they had seen and heard concerning Jesus. God strengthened the disciples by angels to bear that witness. Faithful servants of God may still be killed for their ministry and for the testimony they uphold, and the disciples sealed that ministry and testimony with their blood, following their Master through reproach and suffering.

Martyrs' Cry and Vindication

Beneath the altar the slain for the word of God and for the testimony they held cry with a loud voice, asking how long it will be before God judges and avenges their blood on those who dwell on the earth. It is the voice of those sacrificed to human envy and hatred, crying from beneath the altar for retribution. Their cry is for the Lord to act because His law has been made void.

Their blood is ascending to heaven today. Their slaying adds to each century of profligacy treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. It fills up the cup of iniquity and the measure of the fathers, and wears out the patience of God until He must interfere with tremendous consequences to the disobedient.

White robes are given to every one of them, which means they are pronounced pure and holy. It is a change of raiment for those who have suffered for the sake of truth and have been maligned by Satan and his host, and their reproach is taken away. They are told to rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants and their brethren who will be killed as they were shall be fulfilled. The number of those also to be killed must be completed.

The chapter is full of meaning and shows the terrible judgments of God. The Lord goes forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth discloses her blood and no more covers her slain. Seven angels stand before God to receive their commission, and to them are given seven trumpets. When the plagues come, hail about the weight of a talent will fall upon the wicked who would not obey God but insulted Him and despised His mercies. Yet mercies are mixed with judgment, for the Lord has a people whom He will preserve.

The cry rose when the earth was filled with transgression, when God's holy law lay prostrate, despised and trampled underfoot, and when a crisis had come in the government of God. All heaven was prepared at the word of God to move to help His elect, ready to punish the inhabitants of the earth with fire and flame, with thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes and destruction. Instead of immediate justice, God so loved the world that He sent His beloved Son to save the world and to be the propitiation for sins.

The verse applies to God's persecuted commandment-keeping people, driven into caves and hiding places and called forth as faithful witnesses. Those who rejected truth face the wrath of God and the Lamb described in Revelation 6:15-17. The very caves that sheltered the faithful also contain written testimony against those who opposed them.

Martyrs Through History and Hope

The souls under the altar are the millions of martyrs slain under the papal power, including those hunted by the Inquisition, whose blood cries to God for vengeance and whose deaths stand as testimony against the apostate power that shed it. They include multitudes of Christians put to death for remaining faithful and preserving the purity of their religion amid persecution by religious authorities who opposed men following their own convictions and sought to keep them from reading the Bible. They are Christians killed for remaining faithful to God and holding their testimony, whose sufferings did not make them abandon faith. Among them are the Waldensian missionaries who died for the truth, whose blood bore witness to faithfulness and whose labor helped bring a rich harvest of souls. With them are the faithful witnesses of the Reformation, some permitted to seal their witness with blood, whose persecutors could destroy only the body and not their faith or hope.

Those who suffer and are killed for faithfulness are counted among God's martyrs, including the persecuted believers who refused to worship the beast or its image or honor the idol sabbath. Though hated and despised by the world, they are revealed near God's throne, where misery gives way to honor among heaven's martyrs. Their deaths for God's Word and the testimony of Jesus belong to the coming crisis of national apostasy, when Protestant rulers protect Roman Catholic principles and enforce laws against God's faithful people. When that apostasy leads to laws that suppress the protest of Bible truth and oppress those who keep God's commandments, their voice will be heard rising from the graves, joining the prayer of God's children for Him to act because His law has been made void. That cry is joined to the coming oppression of commandment-keepers, for whom God's promise of protection and reward brings comfort, while nations act on shortsighted policy and priests and rulers restore the lost ascendancy of the man of sin.

Their blood is ascending to heaven today, and their slaying adds to each century of profligacy treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. It fills up the cup of iniquity and the measure of the fathers, wearing out the patience of God until He must interfere with tremendous consequences to the disobedient. Their souls are as a voice rising from the graves when Bible truth is no longer tolerated by those who reject God's law. The martyrs are shown alive among the redeemed in glory and in the world made new, seen as a company traveling toward Mount Zion. There they wear pure white robes with red borders identifying them as martyrs, with brilliant crowns, and an innumerable company of little ones is with them, where Christ says they suffered for Him.

They triumphed in death through the bright hope of immortality at the resurrection of the just. They are beloved by God and secured to Jesus Christ as subjects of His kingdom, and their suffering increased their reward in heaven.