16. How long, O Lord

Revelation 6:9-17 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: 10 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? 11 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. 12 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. 15 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; 16 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: 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

We are just beginning to deal with the events related to the Tribulation.   The Tribulation Period itself is a seven year period of time that is divided into two 3 ½ year segments.   The first half is known as the Tribulation and the last half as the Great Tribulation. In Revelation 6:1-8 we see the first of four seals broken.   We witnessed the rise of the Antichrist, and the coming wars, famines and pestilence that will claim the lives of ¼ of the earth’s population.   The first four seals deal with the first 3 ½ year portion of the Tribulation.   The two seals we will consider today will deal with the last 3 ½ year portion of the Tribulation. As we continue to move through the book, we are going to be seeing events that will overlap one another from time to time.

      Today we e see people in Heaven and people on the earth in prayer.  

Both saints and sinners engaged in prayer.  

We want to study these two seal judgments today.  As we do, I would like to talk to you about a couple of the events that will take place during the latter portion of the Tribulation Period.  I would like to preach for a while on Two Worlds In Prayer.

      You might think that the Tribulation Period will be a time period of no prayer and religious activity.  We are about to see that just the opposite is true.  

There will be prayer in Heaven and there will be prayer upon the earth.  

I. SAINTS IN HEAVEN PRAYING … AVENGE US

We are taken back up into Heaven and we are shown a scene of souls under the altar.  

Moses was instructed to build the Tabernacle, he was to build it after the pattern of things in Heaven, Heb. 8:5.  

In other words, Moses built and altar where animals would be slain.  That altar was merely a shadow of the altar in Heaven.  

Everything Moses built was only a shadow of what actually exists in Heaven.  

When these verses tell us that there are souls under Heaven’s altar, they mean what they say!

These souls are people who have given their lives for the cause of Christ.  

When a lamb was slain on the altar, the blood and ash would be a testimony to its sacrifice.  These souls bear testimony to their own sacrifice, like a sacrificial lamb

A.  The word “slain” means “to butcher, or slaughter”.  

These people who turned to faith in Jesus, given their lives after the Rapture.

They held fast to their testimony even the threat of death could not cause them to turn away.

      Yes, there will be people saved during the Tribulation.  The Bible tells us that an army of Jewish evangelists are going to cover the globe preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.  

These evangelists will see a multitude that no man can number come to faith in Jesus.  We will begin looking at these events in our next study.  

It is worthy to note that only those people who have never heard the Gospel will have the opportunity to be saved in that day.

Most of the people who come to faith in Jesus during this time period will be called upon to lay down their lives for Jesus.  These Tribulation saints will refuse follow the Antichrist.  They will reject him and his system.  They will be hunted down like dogs and they will be executed for their testimony of faith in Jesus Christ.

  The history of the church is a history of persecution.  Since Stephen was stoned to death in Acts 7, many millions have been put to death for their faith in Christ.  From the coliseums of ancient Rome to the Christians killed by Muslims.

      There is no way we can tally the total of those who have been killed for nothing more than professing faith in Jesus.  Over the last 2,000 years, believers have been crucified, burned alive at the stake; sawn in half; drowned; stoned; sawn into the skins of dead animals while wild beasts were released in them; shot; stabbed; sealed in their churches and burned alive; raped; humiliated and tortured. 

     the Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Emperor Nero tied Christians to poles, dipped them in flamable substance and set them on fire to light his dinner parties.      

These sacrificed saints are under the altar!  They are in the place where the blood ran down.  They are in a place of safety, salvation and security.  They paid a terrible price, but now they are home and they are safe.  We will say more about these people and the price they paid for their faith in Jesus when we get into ch7.

B.  Their Prayer “cried with a loud voice” and filled Heaven with their petitions.  

This is not a prayer for mercy for their enemies like Jesus prayed at Calvary, Luke 23:34.  

This is not a prayer like Stephen prayed as he was dying, Acts 7:60.

It is prayer for judgment…. praying that calls on God to move in judgment.  

It is the kind of praying you read about in the OT, Psalm 94:1-4.

      In the NT age, age of grace, we are taught to pray for those who wrong us, Matt. 5:44.  

We are in a day of mercy and grace in this age.  

But,  When the church and the Holy Spirit are removed and the Tribulation Period begins in this earth, it will not be a time of grace and mercy.  It will be a time of justice and judgment.  

Friend, the day of grace will end some day!  

C.  Their reward These saints are given “white robes”.  

This signifies their purity and their saved condition.  They are clothed in white because they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.  

They are told to “rest yet for a little season”.  …. be patient until the Lord finishes His work upon the earth.

      These people surely do not understand how the Lord can allow the martyrdom of His saints to progress upon the earth.  They are comforted here by the Lord’s words, as He tells them, “You just be patient for a while; this thing is winding down and it’ll be better after while!”

There are many things we do not understand in this world today.  Why do the wicked prosper while God’s children seem to suffer?  Why are there such injustices in this world?  Why does God allow these things?

      We must learn to take our comfort from the fact that our God is working out an eternal plan. It will be better down the road.  He will balance all the accounts one of these days.  Our duty now is to remain faithful even when we don’t understand what He is doing. He knows best!)

II.  SINNERS ON EARTH SAY HIDE US

While prayer for judgment in Heaven; prayer for protection is being lifted up on the earth.  While those in Heaven are at peace, those on the earth are in panic.  

A. We See Natural Disasters  – THE EARTH IS IN TURMOIL  

Earthquakes will rip through the earth with devastating power.  Great clouds of dust and ash will the thrown into the atmosphere, dimming the powerful light of the sun.  

“Sackcloth of hair” refers to the black garments worn by mourners.  The moon will take on the appearance of blood as it tries to shine through a ravaged atmosphere.

      This “great earthquake” is the first of three earthquakes mentioned in the book of Revelation.  They will all be terrible.

  We saw with our own eyes what an earthquake can do when a powerful quake occurred under the Pacific Ocean in December of 2004.  That earthquake spawned a tsunami that killed 300,000 people!

      In 1811-1812 there was a series of great earthquakes in Arkansas that rearranged the landscape of the area; caused Mississippi River to change their courses; filled the skies with dirt and ash; and caused fires.

      On May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helen’s in Montana, erupted.  This eruption was triggered by a violent earthquake that caused a rockslide of one-half cubic mile of rock.  As the summit and north slope of that volcano slid down her sides, pressure was released inside the volcano – where super hot liquid water immediately flashed to steam. The northward-directed steam explosion released energy equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT, which toppled 150 square miles of forest in six minutes. In Spirit Lake, north of the volcano, an enormous water wave, initiated by 1/8 cubic mile of rockslide debris, stripped trees from slopes as high as 850 feet above the pre-eruption water level. The total energy output, on May 18, was equivalent to 400 million tons of TNT - approximately 20,000 Hiroshima-size atomic bombs. The explosion showered down 250 miles with volcanic ash. like buring a footbal fiel under 150 miles of ash

But it will nothing compared to the big one – the earthquake of God’s wrath.

      We are also told that the stars of Heaven will fall down to the earth like the fruit of a fig tree that is shaken by a violent wind.  This verse is telling us that there will be tremendous meteor showers that will fall upon the earth in those days.  These meteor showers will cause tremendous death and devastation.  Whole cities and countries may be destroyed as the heavens come crashing down to the earth.

  In Winslow, AZ there is a meteor crater called the Barringer Crater.  It was formed when a meteor between 90 and 150 feet in diameter slammed into the earth.  That single impact left a crater 4,000 feet across, 2.5 miles in circumference and over 550 feet deep.

      Another meteor fell to the earth in 1908 in Siberia.  This one was estimated to be about 180 feet in diameter.  When it hit, it flattened trees in a 25 mile radius and the explosion caused by its impact was heard half way around the world in London, England.

      There is no stability as the heavens above appear to roll up like a book and as the mountains and islands are moved out of their places by the devastating geological occurrences that are unleashed upon the earth in those tragic days.

B.  We See the  Dread  – We are told that men of all ranks are overcome with fear.  

Kings are the rulers.  Great men are the governmental leaders and men of power.  

Rich men are those who control the wealth of the world. 

Chief Captains are the military leaders. Mighty men are the celebrities and of influence 

Bondmen and free men alike are affected.  

When God’s wrath is finally poured out upon this world, men will be reduced to the same level.  Fear in the face of wrath will be the rule of the day.  Let’s examine these verses for a few minutes.

1.  v12-14  What They See – As the universe in geological and astronomical upheaval, men will see everything they have ever considered stable and permanent taken away from them. The earth is always there and it is always stable.  It will be shaken.  The sun, moon and stars are always there.  

 Their world is literally coming apart at the seams and they are terrified!

2.  v15-16  What They Say – In their terror they cry out for the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the terrible wrath of the lamb of God.  Here is a world that has rejected God at every turn.  They have denied Him and His Son now, they must face His judgment and they are filled with fear.

3.  v16  What They Seek – They run to the “caves and dens of the earth” to find a refuge from the presence of God.  

            They want to hide themselves from the face of God and from Jesus.  They use a strange statement. They say they want to hide themselves from “the wrath of the Lamb”.  That is a strange picture!  There is probably no animal more tender or gentle than a little lamb.  Yet, these big, powerful men want to be delivered from the “wrath of the Lamb”.

            There are two words translated “wrath” in the New Testament. 

1. “thumos”. (Thee-mōs)It refers to a “sudden outburst of anger.”  It is like a shotgun blast that is over in a moment.  

2. “orge”.  (Oar-a-he)It speaks of anger that slowly rises like water against a dam, until the dam breaks and the flood comes.  It has the idea of someone standing, red-faced with heir fists clenched as they try to hold back their anger.

            Well, God has held His anger for 6,000 years and the water of His wrath has risen against the dam of mercy and that dam is at the bursting point.  

4.  v17  What They Sense – Man’s time is up and judgment is coming!  They pray, but their prayers will go unanswered.  Nothing can deliver them from the judgment whose time has come!

            Notice this: when these people begin to pray, they do not pray to God.  They call on this natural world.  That is where their faith is and this world will fail them in that day.  There is no cry for grace or mercy from God.  There is no confession of sin.  There is only a desire to be free from wrath.  

Conc:  The martyred saints in Heaven are praying for God to judge sin.  The lost sinners on earth are praying to be delivered from the unflinching gaze of God.  The saint’s prayer will be answered the sinner’s prayers will not!

Psalm 130:3 says, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”