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Study 10: Souls Under the Altar

Revelation 6:9-11 -- What Does This Vision Teach?

A Note on How to Study

Throughout this series, we distinguish between what the Bible explicitly says and what people infer from the Bible. These are not the same thing.

  • Explicit: You can point to a verse and quote it. The text directly says this.
  • Inference: Someone claims the Bible teaches something, but no single verse says it. They have drawn a conclusion -- possibly a good one, possibly not -- but the conclusion itself is not in the text.

This distinction is especially important in this study. Revelation 6:9-11 is one of the most frequently cited passages in debates about the state of the dead. But does the passage describe what happens to people after death, or is something else going on?

Section A: The Apocalyptic Setting

  1. Read Revelation 1:1. The text says the book was "signified" (Greek: semaino, to communicate through signs/symbols). What does this tell you about how Revelation communicates its message?

  2. Read Revelation 6:1-8 (the first four seals). The first seal presents a rider on a white horse; the second, a rider on a red horse; the third, a rider on a black horse; the fourth, riders named Death and Hades on a pale horse. Are these meant to be literal descriptions -- actual horses with actual riders -- or symbolic imagery?

  3. Now read Revelation 6:12-14 (the sixth seal). The sun becomes black, the moon becomes blood, stars fall to earth, and heaven rolls up like a scroll. Is this a literal description of astronomical events, or apocalyptic vision imagery?

  4. The fifth seal (Rev 6:9-11) sits between the personified horsemen (seal 4) and the cosmic upheaval (seal 6). Every other seal in the sequence uses symbolic imagery. What does this context suggest about how the fifth seal should be read?

Section B: The OT Altar-Blood Framework

  1. Read Leviticus 17:11, 14. What does the text say the nephesh (life/soul) of the flesh is? Where is the nephesh located?

  2. Read Leviticus 4:7, 18, 25, 30 and Exodus 29:12. In the OT sacrificial system, where was the blood of the sin offering poured?

  3. Revelation 6:9 says John saw psychas (souls/lives) "under the altar." Given that psyche is the Greek equivalent of nephesh, and nephesh is in the blood, and sacrificial blood was poured at the base of the altar -- what is John seeing in this vision?

Section C: Abel's Blood and the Crying Motif

  1. Read Genesis 4:10. God says to Cain: "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground." Is the dead Abel literally conscious and speaking from the ground, or is his shed blood personified as crying for justice?

  2. Read Hebrews 11:4. Abel "being dead yet speaketh." Does this mean Abel is conscious and talking, or that his faithful sacrifice still testifies?

  3. Read Hebrews 12:24. The blood of Christ "speaketh better things than that of Abel." Does blood literally vocalize, or is this the same forensic personification pattern?

  4. Read James 5:4. Withheld wages "crieth" out. Can wages literally cry? What kind of language is this?

  5. Now read Revelation 6:10 again. The psychas cry "How long, O Lord?" In light of the Abel parallel, the blood-speaking pattern, and the wages-crying pattern, is this cry best understood as literal vocalization by conscious dead people, or as forensic personification of shed blood demanding justice?

Section D: The Sphazō Vocabulary and the Rest Command

  1. The Greek word sphazō (G4969, "to slaughter/slay") is used for both the Lamb in Revelation 5:6, 9, 12 and the martyrs in Revelation 6:9. The same word is used for Abel in 1 John 3:12. What does this shared vocabulary tell you about the framework in which the martyrs are being presented?

  2. Read Revelation 6:11. The psychas are told to "rest" (Greek: anapauō, G373). Now read Revelation 14:13. The blessed dead "rest [anapauō] from their labours." The same Greek word describes the martyrs' condition and the condition of the blessed dead. What does this connection suggest?

  3. Read Daniel 12:13. Daniel is told he will "rest" (nuach) and then "stand in thy lot at the end of the days." What is the pattern here -- rest now, resurrection later?

Section E: The First Resurrection Connection

  1. Read Revelation 20:4-5. This passage describes psychas (souls) who were killed for the martyria (testimony) and the logos tou Theou (word of God). Now read Revelation 6:9 again, which describes psychas slain for the logos tou Theou and their martyria. Is this the same group?

  2. Revelation 20:4-5 says this group "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection." If the same group transitions to "living" at the first resurrection, were they "living" before it?

  3. Revelation 20:5a says: "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." What does "lived not" tell you about the condition of the dead before the resurrection?

Explicit or Inference?

For each statement below, decide: Does the Bible explicitly say this (you can point to a verse), or is it an inference (a conclusion someone draws that no verse directly states)?

A. "In an apocalyptic vision, John sees souls under the altar who were slain for the word of God and for their testimony." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

B. "The dead martyrs are consciously present in heaven, aware of earthly events, and communicating with God." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

C. "Abel's blood cried from the ground without Abel being literally conscious." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

D. "The same group of martyrs in Rev 6:9 'lived' at the first resurrection (Rev 20:4-5)." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

E. "The 'white robes' given to the souls prove that the dead receive rewards before the resurrection." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this

F. "Revelation communicates through signs and symbols (Rev 1:1, semaino)." - [ ] Explicit -- the Bible says this - [ ] Inference -- someone concluded this