The scripture

Rev. 6:12 – Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; ¹³ the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴ the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” (HCSB)

The great day of Their wrath has come

Why are the wicked hiding? Because “the great day of Their wrath has come” (v. 17a). The word “Their” no doubt refers to the Father and Son, although some manuscripts read “His,” likely referring to the Son since the Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22).

In closing out chapter 6, John quotes the wicked, who ask, “And who is able to stand?” The obvious implication is that no one is able to stand. This may be taken in one of two ways. First, who is able to withstand God’s judgment? No one. All of the wicked will be consumed. Second, who is able to stand justified before God? Again, the answer is no one. Believers already have been justified – declared righteous before God; acquitted of their sins – by faith. The wicked, who have no faith in God, who have not received God’s gracious offer of forgiveness, have no works to offer on their own behalf. If they did, God would not accept them.

As Paul declares, “He saved us – not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). God does not need our works; He delights in our faith. “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). It’s not that the wicked have no works. Clearly they do. But when these works are examined before the great white throne, they will not determine degrees of reward but degrees of punishment (Rev. 20:11-15). “And anyone not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire,” reads verse 15. How are names entered into the book of life? By God’s grace through faith.

Drawing a parallel between God’s judgment of Israel in 70  A.D. and His judgment of the wicked at the end of time, Matthew Henry writes, “As men have their day of opportunity, and their seasons of grace, so God has his day of righteous wrath; and, when that day shall come, the most stout-hearted sinners will not be able to stand before him: all these terrors actually fell upon the sinners in Judea and Jerusalem in the day of their destruction, and they will all, in the utmost degree, fall upon impenitent sinners, at the general judgment of the last day” (Rev. 6:9-17).

The great day

Finally, what are we to make of the phrase “the great day?” Likely, this is a reference to the oft-mentioned Day of the Lord. In the Old Testament this phrase sometimes is aimed at God’s judgment of Israel for her unfaithfulness, or the promise of deliverance from evil enemies (Isa. 13:6, 9; Ezek. 30:3; Obad. 15). “The Day of the Lord is thus a point in time in which God displays His sovereign initiative to reveal His control of history, of time, of His people, and of all people,” according to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 397-98).

New Testament writers pick up this expression to point to Christ’s return and use several expressions: “day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6); “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8); “Day of the Lord” (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Thess. 5:2); “day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10; 2:16); “day of judgment” (1 John 4:17); “this day” (1 Thess. 5:4); “that day” (2 Tim. 1:12); and “the day of wrath” (Rom. 2:5).

Futurists often interpret these New Testament terms differently, with some referring to the rapture, or the tribulation or the millennium. Others see these terms as synonymous, describing in general terms the full work of Christ in His return, judgment and establishment of His kingdom. In any event, we may be sure that one day God will exercise His sovereignty over the earth, judge all people, usher in His kingdom, and create new heavens and a new earth.

Four major views

So, how do proponents of the four major interpretations of Revelation see the sixth seal?

• Preterists – who see the seal, bowl and trumpet judgments as fulfilled in the first centuries of the church age, either at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. or at both the fall of Jerusalem and later at the fall of Rome in the fifth century – say this vision depicts the end of the Jewish state and the fall of its leaders. While most of the language is to be regarded figuratively, some may be taken more literally, such as the Jews’ seeking to hide in the rocks and caves. Jewish historian Josephus writes, “So now the last hope which supported the tyrants and that crew of robbers who were with them, was in the caves and caverns underground; whither, if they could once fly, they did not expect to be searched for; but endeavored, that after the whole city should be destroyed, and the Romans gone away, they might come out again and escape from them. This was no better than a dream of theirs; for they were not able to lie hid either from God or from the Romans” (Wars, 6:7:3).
• Historicists – who view the events of Revelation as unfolding throughout the course of history – say these apocalyptic signs symbolize the fall of paganism to Christianity in the Roman Empire, associated with the conversion of Constantine. Others, however, place the events later in the history of the empire, either its division into East and West or the invasions of the Goths and Vandals in the late fourth century and early fifth century. Earthquakes, they argue, are symbolic of political or spiritual revolutions. And the sun, moon and stars are metaphors for earthly dignitaries – the “pagan firmament” as some call them.
• Futurists – who argue that the events of Revelation are largely unfulfilled, especially chapters 4-22 – tend to see these events as future signs of Messiah’s imminent return. Not all futurists see these events literally; some read them figuratively or as a combination of literal and symbolic. Others, however, insist this prophecy is to be taken at face value. These catastrophic events are calculated “to strike terror into the hearts of men living on the earth…. At this point men will know assuredly that the tribulation has begun, for they recognize it as ‘the great day of his wrath’” (Henry Morris, quoted in Revelation: Four Views, p. 125). Hal Lindsey, author of The Late, Great Planet Earth and other futurist commentaries, argues that the sixth seal describes an exchange of nuclear weapons, leading to what astronomer Carl Sagan once called “nuclear winter.”
• Idealists, or spiritualists – who see Revelation setting forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil – are divided. Some say the sixth seal describes God’s final judgment upon the earth, while others contend it is too early in the book for the return of Christ; rather, they say, these calamities represent the judgment of God upon those oppressing believers in John’s day. Some point out that this seal features seven structures of creation (earth, sun, moon, stars, sky, mountains and islands) and seven classes of people (kings, nobles, military commanders, the rich, the powerful, slaves and free persons) in order to symbolize the universality of these disasters, thus spelling the end of the universe as we know it.

Next: The sealed of Israel — Rev. 7:1-8

The scripture

Rev. 6:12 – Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; ¹³ the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴ the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” (HCSB)

“Fall on us and hide us …”

The earth’s wicked cry out to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb …” (v. 16). There is an interesting parallel between this verse and other places in scripture where the wicked, who have shunned God in favor of idols made of earthly elements, are left calling upon these elements for help.

One such example may be found in the apostate people of Israel in Jeremiah 2. Take note:

• First, the leaders get comfortable in God’s grace and stop seeking the Lord. “They [the fathers] stopped asking: Where is the Lord … The priests quit asking: Where is the Lord? The experts no longer knew Me, and the rulers rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols” (Jer. 2:6a, 8).
• Next, the people embrace idols. “My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols….For My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer. 2:11b, 13).
• Then, they insist they have done nothing wrong; in fact, they celebrate their religious diversity. “[Y]ou have said: I have not sinned” (Jer. 2:35b).
• Finally, God’s judgment falls. “Have you not brought this on yourself by abandoning the Lord your God while He was leading you along the way … Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Think it over and see how evil and bitter it is for you to abandon the Lord your God and to have no fear of Me…. The stain of your guilt is still in front of Me” (Jer. 2: 17, 19, 22b).
• Rather than acknowledge their sin, confess it and repent of it, the people are left invoking their idols for deliverance. “They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets say to a tree: You are my father, and to a stone: You gave birth to me. For they have turned their back to Me and not their face, but in their time of disaster they beg: Rise up and save us! But where are your gods you made for yourself? Let them rise up and save you in your time of disaster if they can” (Jer. 2:26b-28a).

In Romans 1 the apostle Paul describes a similar spiral of descent for the Gentile world. Having rejected the evidence for God in creation and conscience, the wicked suppress the truth, embrace unrighteousness, celebrate ungodliness and, as a result, are without excuse. In fact, Paul writes that God delivers them over to “sexual impurity … degrading passions … [and] a worthless mind” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28).

As the sixth seal is opened in Revelation 6 and God’s wrath falls on the wicked – both those who boast “a form of godliness” (2 Tim. 3:5 KJV) and those who openly embraced paganism – there is clear recognition that God is the author of this judgment. Just as it is clear to the apostate Israelites in Jeremiah 2 and the wicked Gentiles in Romans 1 (“they know full well God’s just sentence,” Rom. 1:32), there is no escaping the reality that a day of reckoning with the Lord has come. Yet they would rather be covered by tons of rock and dirt than cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. The utter depths of man’s depravity are echoed in the mountain caves as the wicked respond to God’s wrath the only way they know how – by calling on the mountains and rocks to hide them.

“The contents of chapter 6 should put to rest the false teachings that God, being a God of love, could not judge a wicked world” (J.F. Walvoord, R.B. Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, Rev. 6:15–17).

From whom do the wicked wish to hide? From “the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb” (v. 16). Obviously, this a reference to God the Father – the One seated on the throne – and His Son, the Lamb. There is a singular wrath from these two Persons of the triune Godhead. Our sins offend a holy God, who exists as three co-equal, co-eternal persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet the Father sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14) and then sent the Holy Spirit to convince lost sinners of their desperate need for Christ (John 16:7-11).

Those who reject God in spite of His gracious offer of salvation have chosen God’s wrath and preferred to cast their eternal lot with “the ruler of the world” for whom hell was created (John 16:11; Matt. 25:41). God is angry at sin – so angry, in fact, that He judged sin in His own Son on the cross. Should not His wrath be poured out on those who both sin and reject God’s provision for forgiveness?

Next: The great day of Their wrath has come (Rev. 6:12-17)

The scripture

Rev. 6:12 – Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; ¹³ the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴ the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” (HCSB)

The kings … hid in the caves

John lists seven classes of people seeking to escape God’s wrath. Just as God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34) and welcomes people from every tribe, language, people and nation into His kingdom (Rev. 5:9), people of all economic, social and political stripes choose to reject Him and thus partake as equal partners in His wrath. John specifically mentions kings, the nobles (statesmen and high civil officers), military commanders, the rich, the powerful (a reference to physical strength), slaves and free persons.

Those who are most feared on earth become the most fearful, and those who are from the lowliest castes receive no special mercy for having rejected the exalted place offered them in Christ’s kingdom. “No authority, nor grandeur, nor riches, nor valour, nor strength, would be able to support men at that time; yea, the very poor slaves, who, one would think, had nothing to fear, because they had nothing to lose, would be all in amazement at that day” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, Rev. 6:9-17).

All are sinners; all have rejected God’s Son and His provision for their sin through His sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross; all have taken part in abusing His grace and persecuting His people; and now all of them together know that His righteous wrath is falling equally on them. Whether this is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D, as preterists and some historicists contend, or to the yet-future Day of the Lord, as futurists insist, there is no mistaking that God is bringing His judgment to bear on the world’s wicked.

We would be wise at this point not to overlook the lesson for believers. Though John is describing God’s wrath toward the wicked, He holds us accountable for our stewardship as saints. Before we become too smug in our satisfaction as we watch unbelievers get their just desserts, Paul reminds Christians that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). The apostle John indicates that some of us will be ashamed at His coming (1 John 2:28), while Paul writes that some of us will emerge from this judgment like a person escaping a burning house (1 Cor. 3:15). For believers and unbelievers alike, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).

Next: “Fall on us and hide us” (Rev. 6:12-17)

The scripture

Rev. 6:12 – Then I saw Him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair; the entire moon became like blood; ¹³ the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; ¹⁴ the sky separated like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the military commanders, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ¹⁶ And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁷ because the great day of Their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” (HCSB)

When Jesus opens the sixth seal, terrifying natural disasters take place on the earth and in the heavens. There is a violent earthquake. The sun turns black and the moon turns blood red. The stars – perhaps meteors – fall to earth. The sky parts and the land masses shift. But these are not merely natural calamities; they are God’s judgments, and the wicked on earth know this. Rather than repent of their sins, however, they hide themselves in the earth and call upon the rocks and mountains to shield them from the wrath of God.

When do these events occur? What is the great day of God’s wrath? And why do the wicked refuse to repent? How do John’s first-century readers understand this passage? And what does it mean to us today?

The sixth seal

The sixth seal matches a portion of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25. Just as the second and third seals – portending sword, famine and pestilence – echo Jesus’ words in Matt. 24:6-7; and just as the fifth seal – describing martyrdom – matches our Savior’s prediction in Matt. 24:9-10; so the sixth seal – foretelling cosmic calamity – is eerily similar to Christ’s words in Matt. 24:29: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken.”

What follows in Matthew 24 is Jesus’ return “on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (v. 30). The people of the earth will mourn, He says, a fitting match to the response of the wicked who know the day of God’s wrath has come. “Fall on us and hide us,” they cry to the rocks and mountains, “from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16).

The sixth seal previews the destruction of the first heaven and earth, some commentators say (see Rev. 20:11; 21:1). Others argue that this seal describes God’s judgment on Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 A.D. Perhaps both views are true since there are times when prophecies in scripture have both a near-term and long-term fulfillment. In any case, John’s words have terrifying relevance to his first-century readers. Most of the seven cities mentioned in Revelation 2-3 experienced devastating earthquakes in the century prior to John’s Apocalypse. Christians in these cities may graphically envision the day of God’s wrath. What’s more, earthquakes in scripture often announce the terrifying arrival of the Lord in His glory (Ex. 19:18; Ps. 97:5; Ezek. 38:19-20). But His final coming shakes both heaven and earth.

Let’s look more closely at what occurs:

• “A violent earthquake” (v. 12). While many commentators take this literally, as a great seismic shaking, some interpret this religiously (the destruction of the temple and the fall of Jerusalem) or politically (the crumbling of the once-unshakable Roman Empire).
• “The sun turned black like sackcloth make of goat hair” (v. 12). Again, some see this as a natural, God-ordained occurrence such as a total eclipse of the sun or, perhaps, the smoke from a violent earthquake masking the sun’s light. Others see this from a political posture as the light goes out on the leaders of Judaism and the Roman Empire.
• “The entire moon became like blood” (v. 12). Atmospheric conditions can change the color of the moon, making it appear a dark red. But for those viewing this event figuratively, this is a reference to “lesser lights” in Jewish and Roman leadership positions.
• “The stars of heaven fell to the earth” (v. 13). This could be a reference to a meteor shower – a spectacular night-time show that also results in dangerous debris falling to the earth. Or, as some interpreters insist, these are men of note in Judaism or the Roman Empire.
• “The sky separated like a scroll being rolled up” (v. 14). For the literalist, God is moving the heavens with the ease of a scribe closing a scroll. For others, this is the end of Judaism’s great era, or the end of the Roman Empire’s chapter in world history.
• “Every mountain and island was moved from its place” (v. 14). All of creation is shaken violently in preparation for its renovation into new heavens and a new earth, although some see this in figurative terms as the dramatic end to the times of the Jews and/or the Roman Empire.

While there may be good reason to see these events in figurative terms, parallel passages in the Old Testament seem to favor a more literal interpretation. Note:

• Isa. 13:9-10: “Look, the day of the Lord is coming – cruel, with rage and burning anger – to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners in it. Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will not shine.”
• Isa. 34:2-4: “The Lord is angry with all the nations – furious with all their armies. He will set them apart for destruction, giving them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains flow with their blood. All the heavenly bodies will dissolve. The skies will roll up like a scroll, and their stars will all wither as leaves wither on the vine, and foliage on the fig tree.”
• Joel 2:30-31: “I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.”

Note how R.B. Sloan helps set the stage for the rest of Revelation: “The earthquake is a consistent sign in Revelation for the destruction that immediately precedes the end (see 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18–19) of history and the appearance of the Lord. The repeated references to the earthquake at strategic spots in Revelation do not mean that history itself repeatedly comes to an end but that John employed the well-known literary technique of ‘recapitulation’ (see Gen. 1–2), that is, the retelling of the same story from a different ‘angle’ so as to focus upon other dimensions of and characters in the same story.

“Thus, in Revelation we are repeatedly brought to the end of history and the time of Christ’s return. But John withheld his final (and fullest) description of this world’s end until the end of his document (19:1–22:5). In the meantime he used the literary technique (among others) of retelling to prepare his readers for both the traumas and hopes of human history” (“The Revelation,” in D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman Concise Bible Commentary, p. 672).

Next: The kings … hid in caves (Rev. 6:12-17)

The scripture

Rev. 6:9 – When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice: “O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹So, a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until [the number of] their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been, would be completed. (HCSB)

Until their fellow slaves were killed

The martyrs are told to rest “until [the number of] their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been, would be completed” (v. 12). It appears that many more will experience martyrdom before the return of Christ. While we may wonder why God doesn’t put a stop to the killing – some brashly question whether He is able to do so – we may be confident that He is sovereign over human history, causing or allowing all things for reasons we may not fully understand. God has determined that a number of saints will give their lives because of His word and the testimony they have. Only God know when this number – like the measure of sins being filled up by the wicked – will reach capacity.

According to the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the total number of Christian martyrs in the 20^th century alone reached 45 million. How many millions of others have given their lives from the time of Stephen, the first martyr, until now is impossible to know with certainty. But no doubt there is ample room beneath the altar in heaven for those who have identified with the slaughter of the Lamb.

R.J.D. Utley writes, “One of the major truths of this book is that God is in control of all things, even the death of Christian martyrs! All of history is in His hand. God is not surprised by any events, actions or outcomes. Yet there is still pain, suffering and unfairness in this fallen world. This concept of a completed number of martyrs (cf. I Enoch 47:4) is a symbolic way of referring to God’s knowledge and plan for mankind. This is similar to Paul’s concept of ‘the fullness of the Gentiles’ (cf. Rom. 11:12, 25) which refers to God’s knowledge of all the Gentiles who would be saved” (Utley, Hope in Hard Times – The Final Curtain: Revelation, Vol. 12, Study Guide Commentary Series, 63).

Four views

Briefly, here is a summary of the four major views of these verses:

• Most historicists see the fifth seal fulfilled during the rule of Diocletian, who persecuted the church in the last days of his rule from 284 – 304 A.D.
• Preterists argue that the souls under the altar are those of first-century Christians slain at the hands of the Jewish persecutors.
• Futurists contend that these saints are killed during the yet-future Tribulation.
• And spiritualists say this passage reveals the present state of those who already have died for their faith.

In any case, interpreters agree that Jesus comforts His martyrs, grants them rest and assures them that His judgment, whenever it falls, will be swift and sure.

Next: The sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17)

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The scripture

Rev. 6:9 – When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice: “O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹So, a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until [the number of] their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been, would be completed. (HCSB)

In response to the martyrs’ question about God’s plans for His day of vengeance, the Lord provides each of them with a white robe, and they are told simply to “rest a little while longer” (v. 11). We see white clothing in other places in Revelation:

• In Christ’s letter to the church at Sardis, He tells them, “but you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes” (Rev. 3:4-5a, emphasis added).
• In Rev. 3:18, Jesus urges the Laodiceans to “buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed …” (emphasis added).
• And in Rev. 4:4, we see that the 24 elders are dressed in white clothes. Surely these white clothes represent the righteousness of Christ.

In Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet (Matt. 22:1-14), the one thrown into outer darkness is not dressed in appropriate attire. It’s not that he is too poor, or ill-advised; rather, he refuses to wear one of the white robes the host provides freely to all guests. The white robes given to the martyrs in Revelation 6 no doubt symbolize that they were made white by the blood of the Lamb, and that those clothed in Christ’s righteousness may wait in confident expectation that He will avenge their untimely deaths.

Maimonides, one of the great Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, says the Jews used to array priests, when approved of, in white robes; “thus the sense is, they are admitted among the blessed ones, who, as spotless priests, minister unto God and the Lamb” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, Rev. 6:11).

The martyrs also are told to rest “a little while longer.” None of them presses the issue by asking, “How long is that?” It seems enough to have God’s assurance that He will be true to His word. The timing of the Lord’s plans for the ages is known only to Him and remains a mystery and at times a matter of considerable debate for us. One reason the Book of Revelation is so difficult to interpret is because of the timing of its content. Have most of these prophecies been fulfilled, as preterists argue? Are they fulfilled at various stages in human history, as historicists contend? Are they yet future, as futurists believe? Are they to be interpreted figuratively rather than literally, as spiritualists argue? Or is there perhaps some element of truth in all of these interpretations, as eclectics say? One thing we all can agree on is that God, who is “holy and true” (v. 10), will fulfill His promises. That truth alone enables the saints to rest.

Nowhere in this passage do the saints seek to take vengeance into their own hands. They know what the Lord has said: “Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay … As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me” (Deut. 32:35, 40b-41).

It is interesting to note that when Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue in Nazareth and declares that “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled” (see Luke 4:16-21), He stops quoting the prophet in mid-sentence. He has declared that his earthly ministry involves preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom to the captives, recovering sight for the blind, setting free the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. But then, abruptly, He stops. If He were to go on, the next line reads, “and the day of our God’s vengeance” (Isa. 61:2). Clearly, Jesus reserves that day of vengeance for a future time more closely associated with His second coming. When we finally get to Rev. 19:2 we see that “He has avenged the blood of His servants …”

The length of the martyrs’ rest is implied but not implicit. It is “a little while,” eti chronon nikron, yet a little time, just a little while. God’s timing is not ours. Peter writes, “Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: with the Lord one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). His delay is an opportunity for repentance (2 Peter 3:9). And judgment most certainly will come, followed by new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:10-13).

Next: Until their fellow slaves were killed (Rev. 6:9-11)

Is the leper whom Jesus healed really not to tell anyone? Obviously, he has to say something to the priest in order to fulfill the requirements of the law. But what about his family, friends and others in the community? Is he expected to hide this obvious miracle from their eyes — especially since now, for perhaps the first time in years, he’s able to have personal contact with the ones he loves? What’s the point of Jesus’ stern command?

Quite simply, it appears Jesus is making it clear that the time has not yet come for Him to be fully revealed as the promised Messiah. Although in some private settings — as with the Samaritan woman at the well and in the presence of His closest disciples — He affirms His Messianic identity, He carefully calculates the day in which He must ride triumphantly into Jerusalem and be hailed King of the Jews. Until Palm Sunday, however, He must continue His earthly ministry without inciting His followers to prematurely declare Him King or His detractors to prematurely seek His death. All is done in God’s perfect timing. His command to the healed leper to hold his tongue looks to His future date with destiny, when He is declared King and fulfills the role of Suffering Servant in a single week.

The apostle Paul puts it well in Gal. 4:4-5: “But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (KJV)

One final note: After Christ’s resurrection, the recipients of His grace are never commanded to hide the message of the Messiah.

The scripture

Rev. 6:9 – When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had. ¹⁰They cried out with a loud voice: “O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” ¹¹So, a white robe was given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little while longer until [the number of] their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were going to be killed just as they had been, would be completed (HCSB).

O Lord … how long?

John hears the martyrs in heaven cry out, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until You judge and avenge our blood from those who live on the earth?” (v. 10). A more literal translation asks, “Until when will You exact vengeance for our blood?” Warren Wiersbe raises an interesting question about the verse in his commentary: “But is it ‘Christian’ for these martyred saints to pray for vengeance on their murderers? After all, both Jesus and Stephen prayed that God would forgive those who killed them.”

Wiersbe then offers this insight: “I have no doubt that, when they were slain on earth, these martyrs also prayed for their slayers; and this is the right thing to do (Matt. 5:10–12, 43–48). The great question, however, was not whether their enemies would be judged, but when. ‘How long, O Lord?’ has been the cry of God’s suffering people throughout the ages (see Pss. 74:9–10; 79:5; 94:3–4; also Hab. 1:2). The saints in heaven know that God will eventually judge sin and establish righteousness in the earth, but they do not know God’s exact schedule. It is not personal revenge that they seek, but vindication of God’s holiness and the establishment of God’s justice. Every believer today who sincerely prays, ‘Thy kingdom come!’ is echoing their petition” (The Bible Exposition Commentary, Rev. 6:9).

If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit there are times we seek God’s justice for our own gratification and not for His glory. We tend to want justice for our enemies and mercy for ourselves. It is the old nature emerging in our words and deeds – and even in the words and deeds of those who walk most closely with the Lord. When a Samaritan village refuses to welcome Jesus, for example, James and John are quick to ask, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). Jesus quickly rebukes His followers for their fleshly desires in the following verse.

Of course, there is a day coming when the Lord will vanquish His adversaries. Paul writes in 2 Thess. 2:8b, “The Lord Jesus will destroy (“consume” KJV) him [the lawless one] with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming.” And the writer of Hebrews warns that there is a penalty for willful sin, “a terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10:28).

The martyrs in Revelation 6 are not questioning God’s righteousness; they call Him “holy and true.” Nor are they challenging His patience, for they know He does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). It appears they are simply asking God to reveal His timetable – a request He declines, but not without providing the saints with comfort and assurance.

Next: A white robe was given (Rev. 6:9-11)