Fifth Seal
Revelation 6:9-11
Rev 6:9 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, (Soul's
slain under the previous seal, see Gen 4:9 the blood
of Abel cries from the ground) and for the testimony
which they held:
Verse 10 And they cried with
a loud voice, saying , How long , O Lord, Holy and true,
doest thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth?
Verse 11 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 fellow servants also and their brethren, that should
be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The fifth seal raises the question of
justice (Gen 4:10) throughout history men have wondered
why wickedness seems to always go unpunished. The fifth
seal brings assurance that it will not, but history must
first run its course in order to allow as many as possible
to accept Jesus Christ and even to die for Him if need
be. At the close of the middle ages, the Reformation
of the sixteenth century brought a new realization on
the part of many Christians of faith and valor of those
who had died for their faith under the oppression of
the church-state system that had developed.