Double Dog Dare Question

May 17, 2020 (Sunday)

 

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.”  [Revelation 6:9 – 11 NIV]

 

The fifth seal may be more horrifying than the first four. This seal is the martyrs calling for justice and vengeance. We tend to think of the souls of the faithful in heaven as happy, but these are not. One idea is these people are unique to a specific time and location (see Luke 18:7). These souls cry out day and night for God to avenge the way they are treated and their deaths.

 

The reason for their death is because of the word of God (an image of Jesus, see John 1:1) and faithfulness in their testimony. The word translated “slain” in verse 9 is closer to our word “butcher.” This is the same word that is used of the “lamb” (Jesus) in Revelation 4. The Syriac and Arabic versions read, "For the testimony of the Lamb." They are not slaughtered because of some stubbornness or crime. It is because of Jesus! It is because of their faithfulness. It is because of their evidence to the life changing, life sustaining, and life giving blood of Jesus.

 

God’s holiness requires both justice and vengeance, but at this point there is a “full number” yet to be killed. In other words, the slaughter is not complete at this point in history. Verse 11 is a shift from “slain” to “killed” (two different Greek words). There is also a shift in verb tense between verse 9 and verse 11. The butchering has already happened, the “martyred” has yet to happen. The word in verse 11 carries the idea of a legal action and the intention to extinguish or abolish. It would appear John is speaking of a time when governments (or government) will attempt to abolish the church, most likely by legal action and execution.

 

The white robes represent righteousness. They are also considered wedding clothing. Throughout the book of Revelation, white is the color of victory. The word translated “a little while longer” in verse 11 is the word “chronos.” This generally means measurable sequential time, such as days and hours, rather than an opportune time or an general era. Wesley claimed this was a time period of 1111 years that began in 98 AD and continued to 1209 when the Waldenses appeared (one of the first of the “protestant” groups and the beginning of the Inquisition).

 

Despite the suffering, mayhem, and butchering; there is something worse than dying for your faith in Jesus. There are many people who are breathing but not living. They exist but only for today. Their eternal destiny is defined by separation from love. “God is love.” [1 John 4:8b NIV] No wonder eternal separation from God, spiritual death, and eternal Hell is miserable. No faith. No hope. No love. Even if we ignore the physical torment, the emotional toll must be unbearable. What I don’t understand is why anyone would chose the misery of Hell (using the common expression, not the technical one) over a loving God.

 

I have to ask: what is your choice?