How Long O Lord!?
We are living in the end times and our Lord is coming soon to bring about the final end. Last week we saw God’s judgments in action on earth with the first four seals. He allows human sinfulness and evil to run their course. This brings about much suffering and death on earth, even for God’s people as they are persecuted and some are killed. This is not the end yet, but the events which are leading up to the end and telling us that the Lord is coming soon. Now with the fifth seal the scene shifts from earth to heaven and we see the souls of the slain believers beneath the altar crying out to God for justice and vindication. With the sixth seal, we have arrived at the end of history and the final judgment. The unbelievers now face the wrath of God and the Lamb. Together these two seals are a strong encouragement to us to stand and endure as faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ.
1. How Long, O Lord?
Vv. 9-11 — When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had and they cried out with a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood from those who live on earth? And a white robe was given to each one, and they were told to rest a little longer until the until the number would be completed of their fellow slaves and their brothers, who were about to be killed just as they had been.
Heaven is often portrayed as God’s temple. The altar combines the themes of sacrifice and prayer. The souls under the altar represent those who have been killed as well as those who suffer. They have been slain because of the word of God, because they obey God’s Word and lived the kingdom life. They have been slain because of their testimony, because they proclaimed the gospel message of God’s kingdom. Throughout history, God’s people have always suffered persecution and martyrdom at the hands of unbelievers. Followers of Jesus do not flee for their lives. We do not compromise in order to avoid persecution, but we boldly and faithfully maintain our witness no matter how desperate the situation is. Placing the believers under the altar emphasizes God’s protection all the time. He protects us during the tribulations and when we die our souls are still under his protection. Our suffering and deaths are sacrifices to God at the heavenly altar.
“How long, o Lord?” This has been the anguished cry of God’s people through the ages as they endure suffering and persecution and await the return of Christ. This is a call for divine and public justice. They want to know that their perseverance, suffering, and death were not for nothing. It was all worth it and served God’s purposes. This is not a cry for bitter, personal revenge (Ro 12:19; 1 Pet 2:23), which would be contradictory to Jesus’ teachings to love and pray for our enemies and persecutors (Matt. 5:44). We pray for the repentance of our enemies and persecutors leading to forgiveness. At the same time we pray that God’s kingdom will come and his will be done (Matt. 6:10). We overcome evil with good while we continue to proclaim the gospel to our enemies.
This cry is not a question of doubting whether the Lord will act but how soon. The delay of the Lord’s return does not call into question its certainty. God is patient and long-suffering, but He will eventually act to right the wrongs and condemn evil. We will all stand before his throne. There He will judge the unbelievers and show them that they were in the wrong all along. There He will vindicate the blood of the believers and show that they were in the right all along. God will justify them in the heavenly court by overturning the wrong verdict given by the earthly courts. Then the whole universe will see that our sufferings and deaths were not in vain. They were victories over Satan and advanced God’s kingdom.
2. Wait, Rest a Little Longer
God answers their prayers. First, He gives them white robes. These are symbolic of their salvation in Christ; symbolic of their purity and holiness because they have been made righteous by the blood of Christ. Thus, the white robes are an annulment of the guilty verdict given against them by the world. The robes are also symbolic of their victory by enduring faithfully in their witness.
Then, He tells them to rest, to wait a little bit longer until the number, the sufferings, of their fellow slaves and brothers who are about to be killed has been fulfilled. We are to be patient. It’s going to get worse, far worse before it gets better. Something else must still happen before God’s final judgment. The evil represented by the four horsemen must run its course until the world is fully and thoroughly deserving of his judgment. And many more believers will suffer and be killed.
However, God’s answer gives us the assurance that there is an end to all this. He is in sovereign control. He has determined exactly how long before the end and how many martyrs will be killed. This assurance motivates and encourages us to persevere, endure patiently, and rest in peace. The end will come. Our blood will be avenged. Our final victory is assured.
But another very important thing must also happen before the end. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). In his sovereign mercy, God delays so that more can be saved but they need to hear the gospel before the end. The conversion of peoples from all the nations happens because of our faithful witness. We are all fellow slaves of God. He bought us with the blood of Christ. God is our Master. He owns us. We are under his complete control and lordship. We live in absolute dependence on and service toward God. We are not to wait for the end resting with our arms folded and doing nothing. No, we are slaves of God called to be key players in His mission to establish his kingdom and to do so by making disciples of all peoples.
3. Who Can Stand?
Vv. 12-17 — And I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and a great earthquake occurred, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of goat hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a strong wind, and the heaven was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from their place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones (princes/nobles/most important) and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb because the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
The sixth seal is God’s response to the question, “How long?” It is the final judgment on the unbelieving earth-dwellers and the vindication for the believers. These are no mere earthquakes. These are no mere eclipses of the sun and moon. These are earth-shattering events literally. This is the coming apart of the cosmos and the end of the world as we know it and brings terror to human hearts. This is the shaking of the cosmos when Jesus returns in power and glory to judge the wicked. This is the dissolution of the universe as God ends earthly history, resulting in the new creation and the final, eternal deliverance of his people.
No one can escape God’s final judgment, no one. All of the human race, all classes, and all ranks, from the highest down to the lowest, from kings to the common people, from the richest to the poorest, from the strongest to the weakest, both slave and free, everyone, will quake in fear and hide in terror as they realize that the Lord’s Day has indeed arrived. All social distinctions drop away. United in fear they flee and hide from God’s wrath. Filled with terror, they plead for an avalanche of mountains and rocks to hide them from God’s face. They prefer death rather than face God and the Lamb but even death will not keep them from God’s judgment. They are hiding in what will disappear and leave them face to face with God. God judges all on an equal basis regardless of their social, political, or economic standing. The wrath of God and the Lamb has come down on the earth-dwellers for their rebellion against God, for their rejection of Christ’s lordship, for their idolatry, and for their cruelty to his people.
The Lord’s Day, the day of the wrath of God and the Lamb has come. Who is able to stand? The rest of Revelation answers this question. When God appears in wrath and pours out his judgment none of his enemies will stand. However, the next chapter shows us that there are some who are able to stand before God and the Lamb, by grace.
4. Where Will We Be?
These visions leave us with some very important questions. Where will we be? Under the altar with the martyrs or hiding with the rest of humanity? There is no middle ground. Humanity is divided into two groups: those who follow Jesus and those who reject Him. Revelation 6 presses us to choose a side. Neutrality is not an option. The faithful who have suffered on earth ultimately find rest and reward in heaven, while the rest of humanity, who appear secure on earth, will ultimately experience God’s wrath.
But the question remains: are we willing to persevere and remain faithful to Christ in the midst of terrible persecution, suffering, and even death? We often find ourselves asking, “How long, O Lord?” Waiting is especially difficult in a culture completely captivated by instant everything. In the world today, life happens on fast-forward. But God often works slowly.
What will we do while we wait for the Lord to come back? All of us are sent into the world to make disciples of all peoples. This involves sacrifice, persecution, suffering, and even death, asking us to be living sacrifices to God (Ro 12:1). Sadly, many Christians are complacent and satisfied with their own conversion and personal spiritual growth. Their passion for the gospel lacks shamefully when compared with the zeal and passion demonstrated by Muslims and the members of various cults. Some Christians show a burning passion for political ideologies and economics but there are no flames only cold ashes for the gospel.
The current generation of North American Christians shows little inclination to sacrifice for Christ, much less die for Him. Paraphrasing one author — Point a gun at each of the 97 million people who are born-again Christians. Tell them to renounce Christ or have their heads blown off, and then take a recount. I think we would find the numbers dwindling. Actually, the price probably wouldn’t have to be so extreme today. Threatening to confiscate their TV sets, video games, smartphones, and computers might just produce the same results. When faith is cheap, it is easily pawned.
We must persevere and proclaim Jesus until the end. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt 24:14). We don’t know when or how that will be. Perhaps only Jesus’ return will verify that we have sufficiently completed the mission of evangelizing the world. The fact that He has not yet come indicates that we have not yet completed the task. His day is delayed because God wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). However, our task will be finished only at a great price to ourselves. The fifth seal with the rest of the book and the NT warns us that we cannot value our lives or possessions more than our calling. We cannot have one foot in the world and the other in God’s kingdom.
The good news will not be fully proclaimed to all nations until a generation of Christians rises who are radical enough to literally die for the sake of reaching the unreached, willing to die for Christ. It currently appears that some of the hard Islamic and Hindu strongholds will be reached only the way other mission fields were originally pried open — through the blood of martyrs. Perhaps that is the only way also that we will see revival in the US again when people are willing to live the kingdom life in such a radical way that it will bring about persecution, suffering, and the blood of martyrs.
[ILLUSTRATION — young people, look around you. These people will die and be gone. If Jesus has not come back at that time — it means that our mission, your mission, to preach the gospel to all peoples is not yet complete. You, all of us, proclaim the gospel in whatever we do, wherever we are. But have you considered that the Lord may call you to full-time missions? Why not? Older people — the same applies to all of you but additional responsibility — model sacrificial leadership and witnessing to the next generation. If not, who will do it?]
We may never live to see the full impact of our witnessing and lives. God’s time is not always our time. Even if we do not live to see the fulfillment of all our prayers, we can die in the hope that God will bring about the things He promised. On that day no human power and wealth will provide refuge to God’s enemies. On that day the true Lord and King will execute justice on the entire social order and human population, from Caesar, kings, presidents, prime ministers, senators, congressmen, billionaires, and chiefs of staff, all the way down to the poorest, to every human being. Where will you be? Hiding under the mountains and rocks? Or safely under God’s heavenly altar? The Lord is coming soon!