NO. 70 THE AGE OF MARTYR

TEXT: REVELATION 6: 9- 11 9 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 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 fellowsevants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (KJV)

REVELATION 7: 9- 17 9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands:

10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?

14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (KJV)

The Bible tells that the great tribulation will come up in the end time and many people will live out their martyrdom in it. We are going to see these. We must grasp properly what will happen in the end time. For we will not be said to ourselves, “Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.”

The thing of the great martyrdom in the end time is written in Daniel.

DANIEL 7: 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” (KJV)

It is written that God’s people, Christians, will be given to the hand of the beast of the king for three and a half years and they will be about to be destroyed.

DANIEL 8: 10- 12 10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered. (KJV)

It is written that some of the host of heaven, the group of Christians, will be overruled of their faith and antichrist will be the chief of the Church.

And the similar thing is mentioned in the above Revelation. It is of the great martyrdom.

We are going to see the text.

“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 hey held.”

Here come the martyrs. They are the early part of the martyrs and the number of them is not big.

“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?”

Let’s pay attention to their words. They ask God to judge and avenge on those who have killed them.

Then, what is His answer to them? It is not that He will not judge or avenge on them because He is the God of love. On the contrary He says as below.

“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.”

God says only that the number will be fulfilled. That is, God will judge and avenge but the number of the martyrs is not yet fulfilled.

And when we see chapter 8 and onward, we know that the judgment begins suddenly. God says not yet in chapter 6 and the judgment starts in chapter 8. So, what happens between them? We are going to see that.

Then in chapter 7 a great multitude comes out.

“After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

They are many Christians who make a martyr of themselves in the great tribulation. It is written, “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” The nation of the beast will rule the whole world. The Christians of all county will go through the hardship under his rule. So the martyrs will come out from various countries.

The description “white robes” is the same as the one of the martyr in chapter 6. The judgment on the people on the earth begins after the description of the great multitude in Revelation. Then we know the number of the martyrs is fulfilled.

“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

When we find some to be questioned, it is many times in order to awaken our attention to the verse. Here the question comes, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?” We must know properly where they come from. That is the important point.

“And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The answer is given clearly without fail. They come out of the great tribulation.

The great tribulation in the Bible points out one and only thing. That is the great tribulation in the end time.

The word “great tribulation” used here is exactly the same as the one in its original language used in other verses. The verse below is the example.

MATTHEW 24: 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (KJV)

As to the description of the number of the multitude it is written, “a great multitude, which no man could number.” As the biggest number mentioned in Revelation is two hundred million, the multitude may be more.

We now understand that the Bible surely tells of the great martyr in the tribulation age of the end time.

Many kinds of deceptions may be involved in the doctrines and teachings of the end time. For the teaching of antichrist and the mystery of iniquity have begun in the early stage of the church age as Paul says. So we should understand the Word rightly in order to do His will in our time.

As I repeat it, the great characteristic of Revelation is the descriptions of the great disaster, martyr, and destruction to be happened in the end time. Why does the God of love allow such dreadful events happen? The reason is because of the great number of the martyrs in the age. These judgments upon those on the earth will be executed in order to avenge their blood of the multitude of the martyrs.

Let us see the word of Christ below.

MATTHEW 23: 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. (KJV)

MATTHEW 23: 35, 36 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. (KJV)

The vengeance for the blood of the multitude of martyrs and for the blood of Jesus is executed in that age, Jesus day. This thing is the type for the end time. The same will be reproduced in the end time. When the number of the martyrs is fulfilled in the tribulation age, God’s judgment upon those who dwell on the earth and walk to the world will be executed.

The very blood of the multitude of the martyrs in the tribulation age is the beginning of the age of Revelation and the reason of the judgment.

Although the Bible tells distinctly of the martyr in the tribulation age, many Christians are about to dash into the revival and then the following tribulation age with no preparation.

However, the command of God is “Ye have gone up into the gap, made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.”

Let’s prepare for the end time in the Lord.

End.