The Cry Of The Martyrs
THE CRY OF THE MARTYRS
REVELATION 6:9-17
The response the martyrs receive to their call for vengeance tells them to remain patient. Is there a lesson for you there?
It is often very difficult to establish causal connections, to be sure which is cause and which is effect, or whether both alike are evidence of the depravity of the human heart. It is a fact of experience, however, that the breakdown of society, linked with war and the persecution of God’s people, go hand in hand. So after we have seen the horrors of war, we are introduced to the sufferings of the saints.
Many interpretations of “the altar” (6:9) have been offered. It could be the golden altar of incense, which is not specifically mentioned until 8:3, but this does not explain why the souls of the martyrs are under it—note that the same word, “slain,” is used for the Lamb in 5:6 (see also John 16:2). It is probably better to understand it as the earth, which has been sanctified to God by the blood of the martyrs from Abel onwards. The dwelling place of the dead is always pictured as under the earth. It is often said that Christ’s second coming is delayed so that the total number of the elect may be gathered into the church. Here (6:11) the delay is so that the total of the martyrs may be complete! The “white robe” is a guarantee of the verdict, when they stand before Christ’s judgment seat (see also 2 Timothy 4:8). It would be dangerous to draw conclusions from this passage about the amount the righteous dead know, but it certainly affirms their consciousness, as against those who teach “soul sleep,” and that they are not yet in heaven, even if the altar mentioned is there.
The language of 6:12-14 was common in apocalyptic and eschatological literature. If we realize this, it will keep us from attributing scientifically impossible meanings to it. In general the pictures speak of the collapse and vanishing of all that seems fixed and stable in life. Nothing human can endure, if the “earthquake” is sufficiently strong; the “sun” and “moon” not merely give light but also fix the seasons (Genesis 1:14-18). The “stars” speak of God’s sustaining role (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 147:4), and their vanishing is linked with the rolling up of the sky in Isaiah 34:4. Just as the “island” (6:14) seems to provide fixity in the midst of the stormy seas, so the “mountain” seems to be the most stable element in a changing landscape (see also Psalm 46:2; 121:1; Isaiah 54:10; Jeremiah 42:4). The “great ones” (6:15-17) recognize the disasters for what they are, for by that time the gospel has been preached to all nations (Matthew 24:14).