And when it opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held;
The fifth seal breaks the pattern of the four riders. No horseman rides out over the earth. Instead John sees the dead — people killed for holding to God's word — beneath an altar in heaven. Who are they, why does the vision call them "souls," and what does it mean that they are under an altar?
The first four seals sent riders across the earth. This one turns the reader's eyes upward instead.
The Fifth Seal differs from what came before it and what follows: all its action stays in heaven. The Lamb on the throne in heaven opened the seal, and John was there too. But in this one he sees no horses going out to earth, and none of the scenes on earth found in the sixth and seventh. His vision here is entirely of heaven.
The altar in view is the altar for burnt offerings. Their place beneath it says how God regards their deaths.
The "souls under the altar" (the altar of burnt offering) plainly speak of them as a sacrifice given to God. The blood of such sacrifices was poured out at the base of the altar. In the life-blood, the soul — which is also the life — is said to be poured out. So Isaiah 53 says of Christ that He "poured out His soul to death." Here we have at once the implication that God accepts this offering of His people.
John does not see risen people, and he does not see them still alive on earth. The wording is deliberate.
Their souls appear in vision "underneath the altar." On the altar would express the whole burnt offering being offered. But underneath it — where the blood of the sin offering was poured out (Lev. 4:7) — signifies that the sacrifice is complete. The martyrdom of the saints was not taking place. The scene was over… The martyrs are not seen here in life, nor as risen, but in the separate state, "the souls of them that had been slain."
That wording also settles something about death itself:
Clearly their bodies were beheaded, for men cannot kill the soul. Their souls survived: they cried out with a loud voice, and they were told to wait for God's time to judge their enemies.
The verse names two reasons: the word of God, and the testimony they held. One writer explains why that message draws such hatred:
Here the true and real reason for their martyrdom is named, "slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." The word of God, faithfully declared with its sharp claims on a person's conscience, always stirs up the hostility of the world. Those who set it out most faithfully in life and public testimony must seal that witness with their blood… "The testimony which they held" is not to the grace of God as it is now, but to the righteous claims of God in setting up His kingdom on earth… The sacrificial word "slain" fits the special character of these witnesses, who are probably Jewish.
Commentators differ over who these sufferers are. Many take them to be Christians. One writer answers from the character of their prayer:
Many people think that those in question are Christians. But if we look more closely at the passage, we may learn that this again confirms that the church has already been removed to heaven. Is their prayer or desire in keeping with the grace of the gospel?… Take Stephen's prayer, following our blessed Lord, the pattern of all that is perfect. On the other hand we have similar language elsewhere: but where? In the Psalms and the Prophets.
Their cry gets an answer: a white robe, and a wait.
Their cry, "How long," shows that they know there is a limit to the persecution of God's people… Others are still to follow before the time of judgment is over. So they are told to wait a while longer, until the martyrdom of their brothers is complete. The white robes witness to their practical righteousness and so to God's approval. They witnessed for God as the Holy and the True, and men opposed and killed them, but God approved them and will avenge their blood.
- Seen — the fifth seal shows no rider and no disaster on earth. The whole scene is in heaven.
- Sacrificed — "under the altar" marks their lives as an offering God accepts, and the sacrifice as finished.
- Surviving — "souls" is exact: men killed their bodies, not them. They cry out, they are heard, and they are not yet risen.
- Silenced — they died for the word of God and the testimony they held. Faithful witness is what the world will not tolerate.
- Still waiting — the answer to "how long" is a white robe of approval now, and a wait until their brothers' martyrdom is complete.
and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O sovereign Ruler, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth?
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.