Revelation – The Blood of the Martyrs – 14

Revelation 6:7-17 – 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

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We ended last week’s message with seeing Jesus open the fourth seal. When he opened that seal, a pale horse brought death, massive death that outweighs the worldwide death toll of the coronavirus by 317 times. It will be devastating. Death is always devastating. No one is ever really ready for it even when they think they are. It leaves a hole in families and friendships and in the world itself. We were made to live, so death goes completely against the life we were created for. It is a product of the fall. Death came because sin came (Rom 5:12). And now when this seal is opened, death will come about as judgment for sin, God’s wrath being poured out.

But there’s a different kind of death also mentioned here that is a product of this seal being opened. And it is a beautiful, horrible death. We see it starting in verse 9, and it’s where we ended our message last week. Martyrdom. People dying for their faith in Jesus.

We ended last week considering this question: Are you living in such a way that would merit your martyrdom? Would you be willing to die for following Jesus, and are you living in such a way that would lead to your martyrdom if we lived in a context where that was likely? Are you living your life in such a way that you would die for Jesus?

Jim Hamilton says of this passage, questioning why it is recorded here in scripture, “This scene is for me and you. This scene is to strengthen us to be faithful unto death, to tell us that some of us may be martyrs, so that we can be preparing ourselves for that now. Why is this passage here? To prepare us for martyrdom.”[1]

Here’s something we see about these martyrs and what we should see about ourselves. They didn’t compromise God’s truth even though it cost them their lives. That’s why they died. They not only believed God’s Word, but they shared it and lived by it no matter what the cost. “The Greek word martus, which gives us our English word martyr, simply means “a witness.” These saints were slain by the enemy because of their witness to the truth of God and the message of Jesus Christ.”[2]

One commentator said, “One of the repeated emphases of the entire New Testament is that it i