Bible Questions and Answers

Can you tell me the meaning of Revelation 6.9-11?If the souls were dead, how could they cry and also be clothed?

Revelation 6.9-11 When 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 testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

Revelation is a book of symbols. What John saw is not to be understood literally. It is no more literal than what happens when the sixth seal is opened:

Revelation 6.12-14 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; 13 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. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

The ‘souls under the altar’ represents those Christians who were killed in the persecutions carried out by the pagan Roman authorities. The altar represents Christ. The souls under it represents the lives lost. Under the Law, the blood of the sacrifices (the life is in the blood) was poured at the bottom of the altar.

Those who had lost their lives are represented as crying to God for retribution. This in the same way that the blood of Abel is said to cry to God.

Genesis 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

It means that God is fully aware of their sacrifice and has not forgotten those who were slain. The giving of the white robe signifies the attribution of righteousness to them.

Revelation 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

This guarantees their resurrection to eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ. This was (and is) still in the future, so they are told to rest, signifying they are to remain unconscious in the grave until that time.

1 Corinthians 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

The import of the vision is for the benefit and encouragement of those still alive who will in their turn suffer persecution and lose their lives for the sake of the gospel. God will not forget them, and their reward is guaranteed.

Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

I hope you find this helpful.

God bless,
Glenn