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22.05.2015 Feature Article

How Long: The Cry For Vindication

How Long: The Cry For Vindication
22.05.2015 LISTEN

REVELATION 6:9-11
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, 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 dwelt on the earth?"

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 (NASB).

INTRODUCTION
Sometimes the cup of iniquity is full and people are ripe for judgment. In such a case, it may happen as it did in the flourishing and extraordinarily beautiful city of Messina, Italy. In the early morning of December 28, 1908, an earthquake struck, and 84, 000 human beings died. Only a few hours before that devastating earthquake, which laid Messina and the surrounding districts in ruins, the unspeakably wicked and irreligious condition of some of the inhabitants was expressed in a series of violent resolutions that were passed against all objections.

The journal II Telefono, printed in Messina, actually published in its Christmas issue an abominable parody, daring the Almighty to make himself known by sending an earthquake! And in three days, the earthquake came! (Cited by John Lawrence, Down to Earth [Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale, 1983] p. 51).

  1. THE VISION OF THE FIFTH SEAL V. 9

In the first four seals we have examined thus far, the events were all taking place on the earth. However, when the fifth seal was broken the action shifts from the earth to heaven. In verse 9, John sees the souls of those who have been murdered because of the word of God, and because of the testimony of Christ, they have maintained. This verse and many others in the Bible including the Book of Job smack the preaching and teaching that say that a Christian should not suffer. I have related to you that by the time John wrote the Book of Revelation many of his contemporary apostles have been killed. The Book of Revelation was written between A. D. 90-95. By this time, Peter and Paul had been killed by Nero, who was the predecessor of Domitian, the Emperor who banished the Apostle John to the Island of Patmos. You recall that John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ was killed by Herod Antipas, because John the Baptist condemned his immoral relations with his brother’s wife. The first Christian martyr was Stephen who was stoned to death. At his death, he prayed for the forgiveness of his enemies who took his life (Acts 7-8). As the Christian Church continued to spread or grow exponentially, Herod Agrippa seized James the brother of John and killed him with the sword (Acts 12). There are countless numbers of Christians who have been murdered because of their unwavering devotion to Christ.

It has been estimated that since 1950 over ten million Christians have been put to death because of their faith in Jesus Christ. This statistics came out of the Manila Conference on World Evangelism. The persecution yet to come will be much worse—in fact, it will be the worst persecution the world has ever known. The world that has witnessed in this century the Jewish Holocaust in Nazi Germany; the “killing fields” in Cambodia; the machete-style butchery of Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda; the eradication of the intellectuals, the educated, and the wealthy during the Cultural Revolution in China; and the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina has yet to see its most evil days. At the time of preparing this message, Christians in Pakistan are asking prayer for God’s protection and intervention for their lives. The reason is that the militant Muslims in Pakistan have vowed to bomb all the Christians unless they convert to Islam. Many of the Christians are leaving the country and others are in hiding.

It seems to me that some Christians and politicians in the United States and the Western world have put their heads in the sand or ignorant of the aim of the Islamic Jihadists. Their main intention is to eradicate Western ideas and technology and to annihilate all Jews and Christians unless we convert to Islam. However, the victorious Christ would thwart all their evil plots and intentions.

The persecution of Christians yet to come will make all other bloodletting combined seem pale in comparison. John sees those who have died for their faith in Christ. One thing is clear. That is, their death is not in vain, because their souls are underneath the altar. The altar is a representation of the altar of sacrifice in the temple, where animals were sacrificed to atone for sins. However, instead of animals, John sees the souls of martyrs who have paid with their lives for preaching the gospel of Christ. In the face of war, famine, persecution, and death, Christians will be called on to stand firmly for what they believe. Only those who endure to the end will be rewarded by God (Mark 13:13). These are part of the reason that Jesus challenges us who want to be His disciples to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him. The call to take up the cross was the call to suffer with Christ. The souls of these saints are preserved for John to see in this vision because they refused to recant their devotion and commitment to Christ while on earth. The question is “If you were threatened with death for your faith in Jesus Christ what would you do?”

A story is told of an Indian Evangelist who was apprehended by some extreme Hindus and was threatened with death. They said to him, “If you do not stop preaching Christ, we would kill you. He said to them I am already dead and to die is gain.” They asked him what he meant by that statement. He said to them the day I said yes to Jesus Christ, I died and therefore to die is gain because I am going to be with Jesus forever.” They said to him then we are not going to kill you but to beat you up. He responded, to suffer with Christ is joy. Finally, he said to them if you kill me I win, if you beat me I win, if you leave me I win. They did not know what to do with him so they let him go.

II. THE VOICE OF FAIRNESS V. 10
At the time of unjust suffering what do many people say? For example, when a parent loses her child to death due to a debilitating disease what does the parent say? Lord, why me? Lord, why did you take my child? When a calamity of an unimaginable proportion hits a city or country what do people say? When the tsunami hit Indonesia and the Islands of Southeast Asia what did some of the people say? Why didn’t God do something about it? When bad things happen to us we want to blame it on God. However, when good things happen to us we conclude that we are lucky. In verse 10 the martyrs address God as the Sovereign Lord. The word "Lord" used here is not the usual kurios. The word Lord as used in this context is the Greek despotēs, which in the English is “Despot.” It is the word used for a master of slaves and thus emphasizing God’s complete power. That is the same word that the disciples used in Acts 4:24 in their prayer when Peter and John had been arrested by the Sanhedrin. They were calling on God as the divine sovereign ruler over all things. Not only that, these martyrs also address God as holy, thus He is transcendent above all evil and who therefore cannot tolerate the evil that had been perpetrated upon the martyrs. He is also the true one, the one faithful to His covenant to His promises, who will finally save His people even though they have suffered martyrdom, and bring them into the full redemption of the kingdom of God. The expression emphasizes God’s goodness and reliability. These souls were crying for God’s vindication. They were standing upon the character and nature of God to address Him to vindicate their cause. The martyrs are crying for justice from God. Their prayer is that the divine judgment on wicked men who have slain the righteous, which is certain because God is holy and the true One should also be speedy and swift.

Sometimes when we see or hear of how our Christian brothers and sisters suffer in some of the nations that persecute Christians what is our reaction? Some of us ask, “Lord, why don’t you come and end it all?” I recall praying for Christians in the former Soviet Union when I was in Germany and learned of their plight. I wanted the persecution to end then and now, but it took several years before God dismantled the Soviet Union. One thing you must understand is that retribution is a divine prerogative.

What the martyrs are doing is that they are calling for the reversal of the world’s judgment on God’s people. The cry is intelligible only on the basis that the supreme power in the world is God’s power and that He exercises it in a moral way. One thing is clear. Those who have mistreated, persecuted, and killed Christians will not go unpunished unless, they repent, ask for forgiveness, and yield their lives to Christ. God will certainly vindicate His people. God will eventually balance the scale of justice in His own time. One of the mysteries of God that you and I do not understand is that God operates on a different timetable. We are limited by time and space. We are limited to twenty-four hours a day but God is not. We cannot see things in advance but God can. We have limited vision but God has limitless vision. He knows what will happen ten and hundred years from now. He has the big picture and He sees the end from the beginning. Nothing is hidden from Him and nothing escapes His attention. His patience in dealing with us is unbelievable. If God had not been patient with us, He would have killed many of us when we were living in rebellion against Him.

III. THE VERDICT THAT DEMANDS PATIENCE V. 11

As the martyrs were crying for vindication each of them was given a white robe. The white robe is a symbol of blessedness and rest, even though the state of final and perfected blessedness awaits the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body. The souls of the martyrs are seen as still resting beneath the altar; they have not yet entered into the enjoyment of the full presence of God. The martyrs must rest a little longer until the consummation of their blessedness, but in the meantime they are in the state of rest. The martyrs appear to have been defeated by their enemies. Actually they have been given the victory by God. When Jesus was crucified, the enemies thought that they had defeated Him, but what seemed to them a defeat actually became victory and vindication. The enemies could see only the cross and the grave but they had no clue of the resurrection. The enemies of Christ were conscious of that fateful Friday, but they were oblivious to the victory Sunday when Jesus came out of the tomb.

The martyrs must wait in patience “until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete.” This statement does not mean that God wants a specific number of martyrs and He waits until somehow that number is reached. God is working out His plan and in that plan there is a place for other martyrs. That plan will be neither hastened nor delayed. God is not in a hurry; neither is He behind schedule. Our God is patient in dealing with sin but when His patience is exhausted nothing can stop His wrath and judgment from falling on sinful and rebellious people. The first Christians found a problem in the fact that God does not punish sin here and now. We sometimes do the same. The earlier believers saw part of the answer in the cross. The cross of Christ does not mean the abolition of judgment. It means that people will be judged by their attitude to the sacrificial love of God shown on Calvary. But the cross also shows that God has no truck with evil. Finally, evil and evil men and women will be totally overthrown and condemned. God waits and the number of martyrs grows to its completion. Nevertheless, the final destruction of evil is certain. It is not a question of "whether but of when.”

God has promised in this verse that those who suffer and die for their faith in Jesus Christ will not be forgotten. The Bible says, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord.” Before Jesus went to the cross, He told the disciples that a time would come that those who kill you would think that they were doing God a favor. Our Omniscient and Sovereign God sees all the evils that are perpetrated against His children in this world and He will act at the appropriate time. When Christ returns to establish His eternal Kingdom every persecution, every unjust suffering, every tribulation, and every wicked act that had been inflicted on His followers will receive a just retribution. Those who are murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ are singled out for special honor. Today when we see how our brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering in countries such as China, Indonesia, Sudan, Eritrea, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Northern Nigeria, North Korea, and others, we cannot wait for immediate justice, but we must be patient. We must allow the patience of God to run its course. One thing that we need to understand and rest assured is that no suffering for the sake of God’s kingdom, however, is wasted (1 Cor. 15:58). Judgment day is coming for the enemies of Christ who mistreat and abuse Christians, and the day of Vindication is being prepared for the redeemed in Christ. Which side are you? Are you prepared for the day of Christ's judgment on this fallen world?

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