Excerpt from Daniel
and Revelation by Uriah Smith-
Revelation 6 -
Verse 9 And when he
had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 and they
cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11 And white robes
were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The Fifth Seal.--
Under the fifth seal
the martyrs cry out for vengeance, and white robes are given to them.
The questions that
at once suggest themselves for solution are, Does this seal cover a period of
time, and if so what period?
Where is the altar
under which these souls were seen?
What are these
souls, and what is their condition?
What is meant by
their cry for vengeance?
What is meant by
white robes being given to them?
When do they rest
for a little season, and what is signified by their brethren being killed as
they were?
To all these
questions we believe satisfactory answers can be returned.
It seems consistent
that this seal, like all the others, should cover a period of time, and that
the date of its application cannot be mistaken if the preceding seals have
rightly located. Following the period of papal persecution, the time covered by
this seal would begin when the Reformation began to undermine the papal
fabrication, and restrain the persecuting power of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Altar.--
This cannot denote
any altar in heaven, as it evidently the place where these victims had been
slain--the altar of sacrifice. On this point, Adam Clarke says: "A
symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar; and
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under it the souls
of these who had been slain for the word of God--martyred for their attachment
to Christianity--are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry
and superstition. The altar is upon earth, not in heaven."
A confirmation of
this view is found in the fact that John is beholding scenes upon the earth.
The souls are represented under the altar, just as victims slain upon it would
pour out their blood beneath it, and fall by its side.
The Souls Under the
Altar.--
This representation
is popularly regarded as a strong proof of the doctrine of disembodied spirits
and the conscious state of the dead. Here, it is claimed, are souls seen by
John in a disembodied state, and yet they were conscious and had knowledge of passing
events, for they cried for vengeance on their persecutors. This view of the
passages is inadmissible, for several reasons.
The popular view
places these souls in heaven, but the altar of sacrifice on which they were
slain, and beneath which they were seen, cannot be there. The only altar we
read of in heaven is the altar of incense, but it would not be correct to
represent victims just slain as under the alter of incense, as that altar was
never devoted to such a use.
It would be
repugnant to all our ideas of the heavenly state to represent souls in heaven
shut up under an altar.
Can we suppose that
the idea of vengeance would so dominate the minds of souls in heaven as to make
them, despite the joy and glory of that ineffable state, dissatisfied and
uneasy until vengeance was inflicted upon their enemies? Would they not rather
rejoice that persecution raised its hand of their Redeemer, at whose right hand
there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore?
But, further, the
popular view which puts these souls in heaven, puts the wicked at the same time
in the lake of fire, writhing in unutterable torment, and in full view of the
hea-
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venly host. Now the
souls brought to view under the fifth seal were those who had been slain under
the preceding seal, scores of years, and most of them centuries, before.
Beyond any question,
their persecutors had all passed off the stage of action, and according to the
view under consideration were suffering all the torments of hell right before
their eyes.
Yet, as if not
satisfied with this, they cry to God as though He we delaying vengeance on
their murderers. What greater vengeance could they want? Or, it their
persecutors were still on the earth, they must know that they would, in a few
years at most, join the vast multitude daily pouring through the gate of death
into the world of woe. Their amiability is put in no better light even by this
supposition. One thing at least is evident: The popular theory concerning the
condition of the dead, righteous and wicked, cannot be correct, or the
interpretation usually given to this passage is not correct, for they are
mutually exclusive.
But it is urged that
these souls must be conscious, for they cry to God. This argument would be of
weight were there no such figure of speech as personification. But while there
is, it will be proper on certain conditions to attribute life, action, and intelligence
to inanimate objects. Thus the blood of Abel is said to have cried to God from
the ground. (Genesis 4: 9, 10.) The stone cried out of the wall, and the beam
out of the timber answered it. (Habakkuk 2: 11.) The hire of the laborers kept
back by fraud cried, and the cry entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
(James 5: 4.) So the souls mentioned in our text could cry, and not thereby be
proved to be conscious.
The incongruity of
the popular view on this verse is apparent, for Albert Barnes makes the
following concession: "We are not to suppose that this literally occurred,
and that John actually saw the souls of the martyrs beneath the altar--for the
WHOLE REPRESENTATION IS SYMBOLICAL; nor are we to suppose that the injured and
the wronged in heaven actually pray for vengeance on those who wronged them, or
that the redeemed in heaven will continue to pray with reference to things on
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earth; but it may be
fairly inferred from this that there will be as real a remembrance of the
wrongs of the persecuted, the injured, and the oppressed, as if such prayer
were offered there; and that the oppressor has as much to dread from the divine
vengeance as if those whom he has injured should cry in heaven to the God who
hears prayer, and who takes vengeance." [12]
On such passages as
this, the reader is misled by the popular definition of the word
"soul." From that definition, he is led to suppose that this text
speaks of an immaterial, invisible, immortal essence in man, which soars into
its coveted freedom on the death of the mortal body. No instance of the
occurrence of the word in the original Hebrew or Greek will sustain such a
definition. It most often means "life", and is not infrequently
rendered "person." It applies to the dead as well as to the living,
as may be seen by reference to Genesis 2: 7, where the word "living"
need not have been expressed were life an inseparable attribute of the soul;
and to Numbers 19: 13, where the Hebrew concordance reads "dead
soul." Moreover, these souls pray that their blood may be avenged--an
article which the immaterial soul, as popularly understood, is not supposed to
possess. The word "souls" may be regarded as here meaning simply the
martyrs, those who had been slain, the words "souls of them" being a
periphrasis for the whole person. They were represented to John as having been
slain upon the altar of papal sacrifice, on this earth, and lying dead beneath
it. They certainly were not alive when John saw them under the fifth seal, for
he again brings to view the same company, in almost the same language, and
assures us that the first time they live after their martyrdom is at the
resurrection of the just. (Revelation 20: 4-6.) Lying there victims of papal
bloodthirstiness and oppression, they cried to God for vengeance in the same
manner that Abel's blood cried to Him from the ground.
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The White Robes.--
These were given as
a partial answer to their cry, "How long, O Lord, . . . dost Thou not
judge and avenge our blood?" They had gone down to the grave in the most
ignominious manner. Their lives had been misrepresented, their reputations
tarnished, their names defamed, their motives maligned, and their graves
covered with shame and reproach, as containing the dishonored dust of the most
vile and despicable of characters. Thus the Church of Rome, which then molded
the sentiment of the principal nations of the earth, spared no pains to make
her victims an abhorrence to all people.
But the Protestant
Reformation began its work. It began to be seen that the church was corrupt and
disreputable, and those against whom it vented its rage were the good, the
pure, and the true. The work went on among the most enlightened nations, the
reputation of the church going down, and that of the martyrs coming up, until
the corruptions of the papal abominations were fully exposed. Then that huge
system of iniquity stood forth before the world in all its naked deformity,
while the martyrs were vindicated from all the aspersions under which that
persecuting church had sought to bury them. Then it was seen that they had
suffered, not for being vile and criminal, but "for the word of God, and
for the testimony which they held." Then their praises were sung, their
virtues admired, their fortitude applauded, their names honored, and their
memories cherished. White robes were thus given to every one of them.
The Little Season.--
The cruel work of
Roman Catholicism did not altogether cease, even after the work of the
Protestant Reformation had become widespread and well established. Not a few
terrible outbursts of hate and persecution were yet to be felt by the true
church. Multitudes more were to be punished as heretics, and to join the great
army of martyrs. The full vindication of their cause was to be delayed a little
season. During this time Rome added hundreds of thousands to the vast throng
whose blood she had already become guilty.
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But the spirit of
persecution was finally restrained, the cause of the martyrs was vindicated,
and the "little season" of the fifth seal came to a close.
*******
Revelation 6 -
Verse 9 And when he
had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 and they
cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Our Savior opened
the fifth seal. No beast spoke, not one of the 24 elders talked, simply- the
fifth seal was opened.
John saw under the
altar … and as all the previous seals were showing prophetic visions of
symbolic things to take place upon earth, this one was no different. John saw symbolically under the altar - just
as John saw various colored horses in the first four seals- people who had been
murdered because they believed in the truth of God and kept it. These dead when
they were living, just as we live, know we would want vindication (by God) that
all evil endured is done so knowing all good will come. All the tortures of our
lives little and small will one day vindicated. Satan and all evil people will
meet their end one day, their eternal end and they will suffer proportioned to
the evil committed. This is truth in God's word!
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses' law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye,
shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and
hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy
thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance
belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall
judge his people.
2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to
recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us,
when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among
you was believed) in that day.
11 And white robes
were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
More up until the
end of time will be martyred, this is truth!
During this time
many will WANT Christ to come- as through each age- but we are told- not yet.
Time is passing
inevitably, each age unfolding.
We are in an age of
prophecy as well, not a single person can escape this truth. Prophecy does not
end until it's all fulfilled and that isn't until our Savior returns for us!
Please, Lord Jesus,
please come soon, save us! We would be yours!
By the grace of God,
through His love now and forever!
Amen.
