“How long, O Lord, holy and true..."

Revelation 6 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

6 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” ² I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

³ When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.” ⁴ And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

⁵ When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

⁷ When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” ⁸ I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

The Fifth Seal—Martyrs

⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

¹² I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴ The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; ¹⁶ and they *said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

The book of Revelation contains a lot of imagery and spiritual signs of things that will happen in the physical world. Again it is not my intention to do a deep study and interpretation of these things. There have been many Biblical scholars who have spent tremendous amounts of time studying Revelation and still there are many differing interpretations of much of the text. As I read today’s text, I thought of what Jesus said about the last days in Matthew 24:

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. ⁸ But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

Verse 7 is not being redundant when it says nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. The word translated nation is  the Greek word ethnos, from which the English word ethnic is derived. So nation against nation is not about governmental political entities warring against each other. Rather it is a reference to ethnic, tribal and racial conflicts. These have always existed but will increase in intensity and severity. As we look around the world much of the strife, terrorism and war is rooted in this ethnic struggle more so than political motive. Russia may be the only country with a political motive behind the military actions they are taking and even they are opportunistic, taking advantage of ethnic unrest and division for their own political gain. Most of the conflicts in the Middle East are centered on these ethnic/tribal/divisions.

Even here in the U.S. after a period of relative ethnic peace, this nation has become more ethnically and racially divided than ever. It is obvious that there are both those who choose to ignore these racial tensions and there are those who choose to escalate them, making everything about race. Matthew 7:1-2 speaks of a spiritual principle, it says:       “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. ² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.       This applies to racial prejudice just as it does to any other judgment. Often those who are the quickest and most vocal about racial prejudice are themselves the most racially prejudiced.

Though these things will increase as we move toward the return of Christ, as believers we are called to live differently. Romans 12:18-19 says:    If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹ Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.    I don’t believe that as believers, followers of Christ, we are to be victims of all those who would seek to harm or abuse us. Jesus Himself gave instruction to the disciples in Luke 22:35-38.      ⁵ And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” ³⁶ And He said to them, “But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one. ³⁷ For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.” ³⁸ They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”      It would seem that Jesus acknowledges that there may be a need to defend against physical attacks.

When these ethnic struggles cross over into religious struggles the zeal of evil men becomes even stronger. Jesus spoke of this too, when He spoke of the last days in Matthew 24.    ⁹ “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The hatred that will exist for those who are called by the name of Christ will overshadow and exceed the hatred that is centered on the color of a person’s skin or their tribal/ethnic origin. This too, Christians being singled out and killed for their faith has gone on since the days after Jesus resurrection. This too though we also see increasing exponentially even in the western countries who once were primarily Christian nations. More and more people are being killed, singled out and martyred for their faith in Christ throughout the world. The press and the government may try to down play and deny it. But scripture assures us that it will happen and it will increase. As the world becomes smaller through advances in technology and ability to travel this evil and hatred will be less confined by political borders.

Today’s text says: ⁹ When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; ¹⁰ and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, come what may I choose to trust fully in You and to declare even to my last breath that Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, that You are my God and my Savior. May my prayer be like the psalmist in Psalm 56, who says:

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me. ² My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me. ³When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. ⁴ In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? ⁵ All day long they distort my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil. ⁶ They attack, they lurk, They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life. ⁷ Because of wickedness, cast them forth, In anger put down the peoples, O God! ⁸ You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book? ⁹ Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me. ¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? ¹² Your vows are binding upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You. ¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living.     Amen.