Revelation 6:9 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Under the altar’ means at the foot of the altar, very near to Christ, near to the risen Lord in heaven. It is ‘the souls of them that were slain’ – without bodies; with bodies left behind in the world, in the grave. Here are the martyrs – souls of believers – gone to be with Christ. But it is not necessarily only martyrs; it could include those who are ready to lose their lives for Christ. All believers are martyrs in a sense for Christ; they have surrendered all to him. Those believers who have died are now with Christ. They were slain for the word of God including the martyrs. They have suffered oppressions, as we will throughout this age, ‘and for the testimony which they held.’ They are asking, ‘When is the world going to come to an end? When is evil going to be judged? When is all the slaying of thy witnesses going to be seen to have borne fruit?’ They are saying it, we can be sure, in the most earnest and respectful tones. Those gone to be with Christ cry out for vengeance. They are disembodied souls waiting for Christ’s second coming. They cry out, not just for themselves, as if they are totally absorbed with their own personal vindication, having a lust for personal vengeance. We could think of the spirit of dying Stephen or Christ. Both prayed for their persecutors, and anyway they were incapable of vindictive thoughts. No, it is about the Lord’s word and the Lord being vindicated, and an end to further suffering of the people of God on earth. After all, persecution against them was really opposition to the Lord. But they are not going to be completely at peace while the kingdom of darkness still continues to stand and to operate. They are amazed at the longsuffering of God. We are all to hate sin and long for the end of human rebellion. We long, yes, for the conversion of lost souls, but in any event we long for the end.They are eager that this waiting should come to an end. They are in effect praying for the return of the Lord and the end of the age of sin and darkness. They learn then at least that the gospel age is a long time. It may not be long now, because it has already been two thousand years, but Christ emphasises that no man knows the day nor the hour of his return. Not until the purpose of God for all the elect will be brought about.