chapter nine
The Fifth Seal
About this
chapter:
a. The Martyred dead
b. a better understanding of these
events
Revelation 6:9-11:
These scriptures in the fifth seal are talking about the martyred dead. These souls are reminding God of the great price that they have paid for him. They have paid with their lives. Love could be no greater than this.
Although these souls are asking the Lord how long will it be until He avenges their deaths, we know that it is symbolic, an allegory. It reveals something very special to God. No true Christian would ever ask God to bring vengeance on anyone. This is simply because God's love has taught us to pray for them instead.
These souls under the altar represent all the righteous dead that have ever given their lives for God. People who have paid the ultimate price for their faith in God. The altar that these souls are under is a sacrificial altar, just like the one that was used in the tabernacle to burn sacrifices to God.
When a sacrifice was burned up the ashes fell into the bottom of the altar. This was all that was left, ashes. This is why God is showing the souls under the altar. These people gave up their lives, their bodies, as a sacrifice to God, only leaving their souls.
God showed us this in this manner because He wanted us to see that they had paid a sacrifice. There are no souls in heaven without bodies. Paul said that we would receive a heavenly body in heaven. There are no disembodied spirits floating around, other than Satan's demons, and they are constantly trying to get into you or me.
From the middle of the tribulation, which occurs during the third seal, the Antichrist will begin to murder millions of Christians and Jews. This will be his passion, to kill as many of God's people as he can. This is why the souls in the fifth seal are reminding God about His word. It is all symbolism showing us that there will be a time that God will remember all His children that have died for him in the past. He has been saving his wrath for a special time of vengeance.
You must realize that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. He has given mankind a long time to do this, because of His great mercy. In the past people have killed His people without experiencing His wrath. Why? Because He wanted to save the people who were committing such evil. Paul was one of these people that He changed. But now, things are coming to an end, and He can no longer allow these people to get a way with such a thing anymore.
In this seal God is pointing to a group of people that will be very special to Him. He told the souls under the altar that He would not destroy the people who are killing His children until another group of people has been killed the same as they had been. This group who will die is very important to Him.
God will tell us who this is in the seventh chapter of Revelation. This whole chapter is about this group of people. This chapter begins by telling us that there will be 12,000 men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, which will amount to 144,000. These people will be the man child of Revelation l2 who are the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb in Revelation l4:4. In Revelation l2 the woman in travail is Israel. She is having a baby. Her baby will be her firstfruits. This woman is the country of Israel in the Middle East. This 144,000 will come out of her. Remember this group in the east is under Judah's banner. There will be millions of Jews in the western part of the world saved before this group from Israel comes to God. Try not to confuse these people with the Jews under Ephraim's banner in the west.
God will then catch the 144, 000 up to seal them from the trumpets and vials of wrath to come. He will then return them to earth to preach the Gospel to the nations of the Antichrist. This is why they sing a song that no other man can sing. No other man has ever gone to Heaven in the flesh and returned in the flesh to this earth. Not even John here in Revelation. Remember, John is seeing things in the Spirit. He is seeing a vision.
Why would God want to take the Gospel to the nations that He is about to pour out His wrath upon? His love! Even in wrath God is merciful. Although their nations are about to be destroyed because of Abraham's curse, God is still trying to save their souls because of His great love.
How do I know that these people are the souls that God was telling us about in the fifth seal? In Revelation 14:4, we are told that the 144,000 will follow the lamb whithersoever that the lamb goeth. In explaining this I will ask you a question. Where did the Lamb go? If you think about it for a moment this is not hard to answer. He went to the cross. He died in obedience to his Father. He laid down His life for our sakes. That's where He went. And this is where the 144,000 will be going. They will be going to their deaths taking the Gospel to the nations of the Antichrist, giving people a last chance to receive eternal life.
In Revelation l4:4 it also tells that these men have not been defiled with women, and that they are virgins. Since Revelation is given to us in allegories it is hard for me to believe that these men are literal virgins, having never married or touched a woman in the natural since. In Matthew we read about ten virgins, five wise and five foolish. This represents the Church. God considers you and I to be virgins if we are keeping ourselves unspotted from the world.
The scripture also tells us that the marriage bed is undefiled. Unless you believe that women are just somehow unclean, I believe that you will have to agree with what I am saying. These men are holy, and are keeping the commandments of God. God is pointing out the fact that these men are very, very very obedient to him.
These men will reign and rule with Christ after His return. In Revelation 12:5 it says that she (Israel) brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Some people believe that this is talking about Jesus, but God has already revealed who this will be in Revelation 2:26-27:
This shows us once again that the 144,000 will be overcomers and will keep His works unto the end. This is why they are getting so much attention in the scripture. They will lose their lives preaching the Gospel. In Revelation 14:5 it says:
In the very next verse we see another angel with the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people. This angel is not going to preach the Gospel, but he has the Gospel that is to be preached. This is telling us that the Gospel will be preached to the whole world during the last 3 and 1/2 years. In Matthew 24:14 it says:
The 144,000 will not preach the Gospel to the whole world, but will preach the Gospel in the most dangerous part of the world and will be killed for it. In Revelation 14:9-13, an angel warns mankind not to take the mark of the beast nor to worship the beast. It is a warning that whoever does will suffer eternal damnation. But He tells in the l3th verse how blessed they will be if they refuse. He is promising a very great blessing on the saints that die from that time on, speaking of those who are killed by the Antichrist for refusing to worship him or take his mark. This again is telling us about the 144,000, but will include the souls that they win in the nations of the Antichrist.
The l5th Chapter of Revelation is again talking about the same thing. But in this chapter we are seeing God preparing to pour the seven vials of wrath upon the Antichrist and his evil nations because of the persecution on Gods people.
Rev. 15:1-2:
In order to understand what you are looking at I must remind you of Revelation.4:6. In this verse we see a sea of glass like unto crystal before the throne of God. Remember what I told you about the sea? This is not a literal sea. It is the same thing that was in Solomon's Temple. The bronze sea that was in the temple was a large tank of water that held 10,000 gallons of water. The priests washed themselves in it before going into the temple to do service for the Lord. This sea was for the purifying of the priest. Christ has made all of his believers priests in His Kingdom. We are kings and priests (Revelation .5:10).
Now maybe you can understand what we are seeing. This is the same sea of glass that we saw in the fourth chapter, only this time it is mingled with fire. We also see a large group of people standing on this sea. What an unusual thing to see. Remember the l2th chapter? A woman standing on the moon and clothed with the sun. It is the same kind of allegory. Only here we see people standing on a large purifying tank with flames coming up. This group of people is the 144,000 and the souls they converted to Christianity. All of these people have purified themselves in Christ and have gone through the purifying fire of self sacrifice for the kingdom of God. These are the same souls that we see in the seventh chapter of Revelation.
Revelation 7:9-17:
This group of people does not include the Church in the rest of the world. These are the people who will be killed by the Antichrist and his people in the fourth part of the earth that he has power over. The fulfillment of Revelation. 6:11. The souls that should be killed as they were.
As these souls are being killed God will cause seven vials of wrath to be poured out on the Antichrist and his people. These vials of wrath will be a warning to him to repent, but he will not repent. God will then avenge his elect at Armageddon.
End Chapter Nine
