We could summarize all of Revelation 6 with one word: blood! There is blood everywhere! Revelation 6 may be the bloodiest chapter in the Bible!
Last week we looked at verses 1-8, where the Apostle John saw a vision of Jesus opening the first four seals of the scroll which unveiled God’s plan of judgment and redemption for the world. The breaking of these seals unleashed the coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, demonic agents whom God has used to carry out his judgments upon the sinful world throughout the past two-thousand years. They have come in the forms of conquest, civil war, famine, and death, and they have left blood all over the earth.
In Revelation 6:9-17, with the unfolding of the fifth and sixth seals, we continue to see blood—blood on the earth, blood in heaven, and even blood in the sky. Let’s take a look!
Blood on the Earth (9, 11a)
When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, he saw the souls of the Christians who had been oppressed and killed. These martyrs were persecuted because their obedience to the Word of God and their faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is possible that only literal martyrs are in mind here, but it is more likely that the word “slain” is a metaphor for all saints who have suffered for the sake of the faith. This all-inclusive identification is probable from the use of the word “overcome” in chapters 2-3 and throughout the rest of the book for those not only who die for their faith but primarily for those who maintain their faith by conquering temptation, refusing to conform to the world, and persevering through trials and tribulations. Whether or not these saints have been literally put to death for their faith, they have so committed themselves to the Word of God and the testimony of Christ that they have generally become identified with the suffering and blood of the Lamb.
John sees the “souls” of those who have suffered because they have not yet received their glorified bodies, which won’t take place until Christ consummates his kingdom. These souls are under the altar. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, an animal was placed on the altar, slain, and the blood would drip under the altar. The saints under the altar are pictured as those who have been sacrificed for Christ. The purpose of this picture is to emphasize that, as with Christ, Christian’s sacrificial suffering and apparent defeat will be turned into victory. This victory is guaranteed by the white robe (a symbol for victory) that is given to them in verse 11.
Now John doesn’t tell us exactly who he saw under the altar, but I wonder if he saw John the Baptist, his brother James, and the Apostle Paul, who were all beheaded for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? I wonder if he saw Stephen the deacon and Jesus’ brother James, who were stoned to death for their faith? I wonder if he saw the Apostle Peter, who was crucified upside down? I wonder if he saw the early Christians who were taken away from their families and thrown to the lions in the arena! I wonder if he saw the Christians who were wrapped in the hides of wild beasts and fed to the dogs! I wonder if he saw those saints who were set in wax, strung up in axle-trees, and burned as human candles to illuminate the evil Roman Emperor Nero’s garden at night!
In response to Jesus’ great sacrifice for us, these Christians were willing to suffer and sacrifice anything and everything for him. The opening of the fifth seal forces us to ask ourselves, “How much am I willing to suffer to remain obedient to Christ? How much am I willing to sacrifice to maintain my testimony for Christ? Am I willing to do for Christ what Christ did for me? Do I really believe that sacrificial suffering will be transformed into victory?”
Blood in Heaven (10, 11b)
As these Christians gather under the altar, they ask God how long it will be until he judges the inhabitants of the earth and avenges their blood. Even though this is phrased in the form of a question, it is really a petition or a prayer—not a plea for personal vengeance, but a request for public justice. Just as any victim of a crime desires justice, these Christians want God to bring their unbelieving persecutors to justice. The titles “Sovereign Lord” and “holy and true” show that they believe that God is a just judge, but they wonder how long their persecutors will be allowed to get away with their evil crimes until they are brought to final justice.
God answers their question and request in verse 11. He tells them to be patient and wait a little longer until his plan was completed. The final judgment will begin when all believers whom God has appointed to suffer finally fulfill their destiny. God will continue to use the suffering and death of his saints to advance the greater purpose of expanding his church and therefore bring ultimate redemption and salvation to more people.
Since John saw this vision, there have been many more souls added to the area under God’s altar asking, “How long, O Lord?”From Polycarp, the Apostle John’s disciple and Bishop of Smyrna, who was martyred in A.D. 155 to Cassie Bernall, the seventeen-year-old Columbine High School girl that was shot in the head on April 20, 1999 for saying, “Yes, I believe!”—there have been countless Christians who have suffered injustice for the faith.
All of these persecutions and martyrdoms are injustices, and many of you have been unjustly persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ. But in his sovereignty, he uses suffering to advance the cause of his church. The Ancient Church Father Tertullian was the first one to coin the phrase, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Our suffering always has a greater purpose in God’s plan!
Blood in the Sky (12-17)
Through the opening of the sixth seal, God continues to answer the saint’s prayer by presenting a picture of the final judgment upon the world. He will vindicate his reputation and display his justice by punishing the opponents of his people. This picture of the final judgment represents a collage of Old Testament prophetic imagery for the destruction of the cosmos.
There is considerable debate over whether this passage should be understood literally or figuratively. If it is meant to be literal, then we should expect a real cataclysmic earthquake, the sun turning black, the moon turning blood red, the stars falling to the earth, the sky rolling up, and every mountain and island disappearing from its place as a part of the final judgment. If these images are meant to be understood figuratively, then they are metaphors for the devastation of God’s judgment upon the unbelieving world and the opponents of his people. Since all of these images were figurative in the Old Testament prophets, I think they should be interpreted figuratively here as well. The prophets used these images to predict God’s judgment upon his people Israel because of their sin. When God used the foreign nations to conquer Israel and take them into exile, it felt like the cosmos was collapsing. Thus, when Jesus return to judge the earth, it will feel like the caving in of the cosmos.
Verse 15 depicts unbelievers from every social, political, and economic status. It doesn’t matter if they are kings or slaves, princes or paupers, or rich or poor, they must be judged for their sin, unbelief, and persecution of God’s people. They try to escape God’s judgment by hiding in the caves, rocks, and mountains. They prove their idolatry by praying to the rocks to fall on them so that they won’t have to see the face of him who sits upon the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. Unfortunately for them, rocks and mountains do not answer prayers. Only the living God has the power to answer prayers and deliver sinners from judgment, but these people chose to worship worthless idols instead of the one who could save their souls.
Verse 17 ends this section with a dramatic declaration and a provocative question. The declaration in the vision “for the great day of their wrath has come” is a guarantee that the great day of judgment when Jesus returns pours out his righteous wrath on the earth will happen. The only question is “who will be able to stand?” Thankfully, the Bible in general and the book of Revelation in particular, provides the answer to this question: The people who put their trust in the Lamb who was slain and remain faithful to him throughout their lives are the ones who will be able to stand on judgment day.
You may say, “Wait a minute. How can any sin deserve everlasting destruction? If God is just, how can he punish like this?”
The best answer I ever heard to that question goes something like this: Suppose a high school student punches another student in class. What happens? The student is given a detention. Suppose during the detention, this young man punches the teacher. What happens? The student gets suspended from school. Suppose on the way home, the same boy punches a policeman in the face. What happens? He finds himself in jail. Suppose some years later, the very same young man is in a crowd waiting to see the President of the United States. As the President passes by, the boy lunges forward to punch the President. What happens? He is shot dead by the secret service.
In every case the crime is precisely the same, but the severity of the crime is measured by the one against whom it is committed. What is the just punishment from sinning against an eternally holy God? Answer: Everlasting destruction!
Whether you take these images of the final judgment literally or figuratively, they paint a grave picture for sinners who have resisted God’s offer of salvation. Since God is a God of justice, he has to hold all of us accountable for our sins and punish us accordingly. But since he is also a God of love and mercy, he has offered us forgiveness and redemption through his sacrifice on the cross. The question that we should all be asking ourselves is: Will I stand when the great day of wrath comes?
As I mentioned at the beginning, Revelation 6 is probably the bloodiest chapter in the Bible. There is blood all over the earth from the judgments of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The blood of the martyrs is under the altar in heaven. The moon in the sky is pictured as blood red during the great judgment day. But the greatest image of blood is from the one who is opening the seals on the scroll. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was the one who allowed himself to be led like a lamb to the slaughter. He is the one who had blood come from his hands, feet, head, and side as he hung on the cross, and it is his blood alone that can provide atonement for our sins. Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?