These passages were compiled by our brother, Alan E. Kurschner, Ph.D., Eschatos Ministries. I have the pleasure and liberty to comment on them briefly.
In passage #6, we examined the fiery trial which shall come upon the believers spoken by our brother Apostle Peter. It will be so fiery that it will be as though a strange thing happened to us. It is the Great Tribulation. In passage #7, we shall look at the martyred saints whose souls were quartered under the Goden Altar of incense in the Holy Place of the Temple of God in Heaven.
PASSAGE #7
Revelation 6:9–11
“Now when the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. They cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” Each of them was given a long white robe and they were told to rest for a little longer, until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been.”(NET).
The KJV says: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”(Rev.6:9-11).
This is the fifth seal. It is a heavenly scene. It is concurrent with the fourth seal. It is superimposed on the fourth seal. The fourth and the fifth seals are the only two seals which are concurrent, coincident, and simultaneous. The others are consecutive and progressive. The fifth seal represents the martyrdom of the saints that goes on under the fourth seal which is the Great Tribulation. There is no distance in the realm of the spirit. As soon as these dear and faithful saints are martyred here on Earth under the fourth seal, during the Great Tribulation, their disembodied souls and spirits arrive in heaven almost immediately they are killed, and are quartered under the Golden Altar of incense in the Holy place of the Temple of God in Heaven. That they are quartered under the Golden Altar in the Holy Place indicates they are priests; for under the law of Moses, only the priests from the family of Aharon have access to the Holy Place(Num.18:7). Christ has made us to God a kingdom of priests and kings . For we are a chosen generation, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, meant to show forth the excellencies of Him that has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light(1 Pe.2:9).
There is a complement of the saints to be martyred. When that number is reached, God terminates the Great Tribulation with cosmic and celestial disturbances. This is the darkening of the Sun, Moon, and Stars associated with the breaking of the sixth seal which is the sign of the End Of The Ages. These dear saints call upon God to avenge their death at the hands of the antiChrist and his acolytes. God answered in the affirmative, but they have to wait until their fellow believers who are destined to be killed during the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist is fulfilled. When that complement of believers to be martyred is reached, the killing spree by the antiChrist is terminated. God knows the number of saints to be martyred and who they are: for the secret things belong to God, but the things which are revealed are for us and our children(Deut.29:29). That a complement of believers are to be killed under the fifth seal indicates that they were chosen in Eternity past. It is not weakness to be martyred during the Great Tribulation. It is a matter of divine choice. They died for the word of God, and the testimony which they upheld. They should not be disparaged or denigrated. They are heroes and heroines of the Faith.
How can anyone regard these dear saints who are martyred for the word of God, and the testimony which they upheld as feeble saints who could not make the first round up? Assuming these saints who suffer martyrdom during the Great Tribulation are “left behind” after the Rapture, how were they able to acquire such innner fortitude within a short period of three and one-half years to withstand the horrors of the Great Tribulation by the antiChrist? This is a formidable question to which proponents of the pretribulational Rapture view have not been able to provide answer considering the fact that the good pastors and teachers are gone in the Rapture before the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel. In addition to that, the false prophets and false teachers are performing outstanding miracles which are difficult to refute.
“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”(2 Thess.2:9-10).
And false teachers and false prophets shall arise and deceive many.
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”(Matt.24:11).
In the midst of all these deceitful signs and wonders, there shall be a very strong delusion upon men to believe the LIE that man is God.
“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”(2 Thess.2:11-12).
And there is no evidence that the deceitful power of the antiChrist and his acolytes to perform miracles is matched by those of the “tribulation saints.”
The KJV translation is not right here. The Greek phase is “te pseude.” It is the lie. It is a definite lie, a specific lie. What is the lie? It is that man is God. It is humanism, the philosophical concept and teaching that man was not created. That he evolved, that he is God unto himself, and therefore not subject God’s moral standard. How can man be God when his breath is in his nostrils. When his breath is taken away, he dies. Therefore, do not trust in man whose breath is in his nostrils(Isa.1:22). Who is “man.” It could be any man no doubt. But in context, he is the antiChrist who has deified himself and demands that all men worship him. He shall be slain at Armageddon. Yet shall he come to his end and no man shall help him(Dan.11:45). He elevates himself to the throne of God in the Throne Room of God in the Holy Of Holies of the rebuilt Third of Temple on Mount in Jerusalem, but he will die like man that he is, taken captive in battle and slain(Isa.14:19).
The truth therefore, brethren, is that there is no “Rapture before The Great Tribulation.” Every living saint who shall be raptured must of necessity and without fail pass through the Great Tribulation. Every living saint who shall be raptured must pass through the intelligence of the antiChrist.
Avraham Shallom.
Mt Zion Heritage Ministries 