Revelation 6:9–11 (ESV)
The Seven Seals (Part 5)
9When 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. 10They 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?” 11Then 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.
We see that under the altar the souls of those who had
been slain for the word of God. These are fellow believers who have been martyred for their faith. Luther writes: “We must look, as He does, upon the total number [of martyrs], which is not yet complete, but is daily in the process of being
completed, until we have all been brought together. Meanwhile we must comfort ourselves that we have this King seated as our Lord, who has already subdued many of these enemies under His feet and continues to overthrow one after another. Ultimately He will
destroy them all at once. And though we die, oppressed and trampled by them, as it appears, we have the comfort that He will not forget us but fetch us when His time comes, and seat us above, so that they must forever lie under our feet,” [Luther’s
Works AE (American Edition) 13:260]
I pray: O Lord, help me to remain firm in my faith and to remain faithful unto death… even in the midst of persecution.
Amen.