Martyrs & Cosmic Signs: Seals 5 & 6

THE FIFTH SEAL:  MARTYRDOM

(Revelation 6:9 KJV)

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

The opening of the 5^th seal displays the souls of the believers who died (slain) for teaching, preaching, or adhering to the word of God and for their testimony which they did not renounce.  The altar imagery is taken directly from the tabernacle in Exodus 39-40 and is the altar of sacrifice.  The souls were underneath or covered over by the altar where the sacrifice for sin was made.

Dying a physical death for the word of God and for His testimony is the ultimate sacrifice.  Therefore, these souls are kept under the altar, near to God, because they are pleasing to God.  The scripture indicates these individuals were killed only for the word of God.

These souls do not represent the rapture because they are under the altar of God.  Some claim these must be rapture saints because they speak.  God allows them to speak.  In the Old Testament, God allowed Samuel, although he was dead, to speak to Saul, much to the surprise of the witch of Endor (see 1Sam. 28).

Alan Kruschner in his book, Antichrist Before the Day of The Lord:, believes these people were killed by command of the beast (antichrist) because they refused to renounce Jesus Christ and worship the image of the beast.  If true, this would place the image of the beast or the abomination of desolation, in addition to the halting of the daily sacrifice and the beast declaring himself to be ‘god’, at the beginning of the 7 year midpoint with the 5^th seal occurring somewhat later.

While loudly weeping, they asked God why He is waiting to judge the earth dwellers and to avenge their blood.

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:10)

The souls were asked to wait for a while until the number of others to be killed in like manner should be fulfilled.  They were given white robes in preparation for the fulfillment of the number of slain fellow servants and brethren should reach its limit, thus signifying that the wrath of God is yet a near future event.

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.   (Revelation 6:11 KJV)

 

THE SIXTH SEAL:  CELESTIAL AND EARTHLY UPHEAVALS

For the great day of his wrath is come:

(Revelation 6:12-17 KJV)

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Unprecedented cataclysms and disturbances in the heavens, in the sky, and on the earth will be unleashed when the sixth seal is opened.  There will be an earthquake so extraordinary that every mountain and island will be moved out of their places.  Every continent and land mass of every size will move or slide.  Every hill and mountain will no longer be found at their original location.

The glory of God will be displayed to earth’s inhabitants and the soon approaching wrath of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, appears to be known to all. Due to the severity of the judgments of God, all walks of life, from mighty to weak, seek to hide, but there is no place to hide because the wrath of the Lamb has come. People attempt to hide in the escape mechanisms of this world, but even the mountains and rocks cannot hide us, except for one Rock:  Rock of Ages, cleft for me; Let me hide myself in thee; Not the labor of my hands can fulfill the law’s demands;  Nothing in my hand I bring: Simply to thy cross I cling:

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.  (Luke 21:36 KJV)

Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?  (Job 13:11 KJV)

The Lord, Jesus Christ, has been given authority to execute wrath and judgment.

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.   (John 5:27 KJV)

The sun became black as a sack made from the hair of a black sheep.  The sun does not burn out as some suggest.  That would result in total annihilation.  It could be the smoke and cinders from volcanic eruptions, although they are not mentioned in the scriptures, or it could be caused by the dust from the world wide earthquake.

The color of the moon appears to be that of blood and not that it turns into blood.  This is not a blood moon eclipse since the sun is turned black and fails to give light.  There is no lunar eclipse without the sun radiating behind it.

The gospel of Luke adds that the oceans and large bodies of water will be filled with roaring waves.  In addition, Revelation 6:14 and Isaiah 34:4 state that the heaven or sky will have the appearance of a scroll that is being rolled up.  The excerpt from Joel 2:30-31 was quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts.

And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.   (Joel 2:30-31 KJV)

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

(Isaiah 13:9-10 KJV)

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:   (Matthew 24:29 KJV)

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. (Isaiah 34:4-5 KJV)

Matthew 24 is the eschatological account of Jesus which parallels the last days discourse of the 7 seals.  In Matt 24:29, Jesus states that the cosmological events will occur “immediately after the tribulation of those days.”  When the tribulation of the beast is “cut short”, the rapture will occur, “immediately” followed by cosmic and earthly episodes. 

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:   (Matthew 24:29 KJV)

The souls of the 5^th seal request the wrath of God, whereas the 6^th announces the extremely imminent beginning of the wrath of the Lamb.

From the Believer’s Bible Commentary:  A faint idea of what it will be like is given in Velikovsky’s description of what would happen if a heavenly body came close to the earth and caused it to tilt on its axis:  At that moment an earthquake would make the earth shudder. Air and water would continue to move through inertia; hurricanes would sweep the earth and the seas would rush over continents, carrying gravel and sand and marine animals, and casting them on the land. Heat would be developed, rocks would melt, volcanoes would erupt, lava would flow from fissures in the ruptured ground and cover vast areas. Mountains would spring up from the plains and would travel and climb on the shoulders of other mountains, causing faults and rifts. Lakes would be tilted and emptied, rivers would change their beds; large land areas with all their inhabitants would slip under the sea. Forests would burn and the hurricane and wild seas would wrest them from the ground on which they grew and pile them, branch and root, in huge heaps. Seas would turn into deserts, their waters flowing away.

The above comment, from the BBC, came from the book, Worlds In Collision, written by Immanuel Velilovsky and published in 1950.  Part of his summary of the book states:  “Venus was expelled as a comet and then changed to a planet after contact with a number of members of our solar system”.  Being a historian, he gathered his evidence from ancient literature from around the world.  Among other things, he joined this event with the plagues of Egypt during the era of Moses during the Hebrew withdrawal.

In addition to the events listed that come from the 6^th seal, here is a list of even more events occurring during the trumpet judgments:  hail and fire mixed with blood; 1/3 of trees burned; all grass burned; a large mountain lands in the ocean; 1/3 of ocean waters become blood; 1/3 of various sky lights were darkened. 

It is my (somewhat) opinion that a comet or large stellar object (maybe planet X) will come extremely close to the earth to initiate this type of massive damage.