Scripture Daily

Context No. 1380 of 4322 · Revelation

Context · Reflection

Revelation 6:7-11: in context

7When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see!” 8And behold, a pale horse, and the name of he who sat on it was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him. 9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. 10They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.

As the Lamb opens the seals, the fourth brings a pale horse, ridden by Death with Hades following, given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and beast. Then the fifth seal opens onto a different scene: under the altar John sees the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and their testimony. They cry out with a loud voice: how long, O Master, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Each is given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who are to be killed as they were should be complete.

The cry of the martyrs under the altar is one that rises in every age of suffering and injustice: how long, O Lord? These are people who have been killed for their faithfulness, and their question is not whether God will act but when; they cry out for the justice that has not yet come, the wrong that has not yet been righted. It is an honest cry, and scripture does not rebuke it; the longing for God to judge evil and vindicate the wronged is a righteous longing, and God receives it. But notice the answer they are given, which is neither never nor now. They are not told that justice will not come; they are given a white robe, the sign that they are vindicated already in God's sight, and told to rest yet a little longer, until the full number is complete. The answer to how long is a little longer, a delay that is real but bounded, held within God's purpose and his timing. There is something to hold onto here for all who cry out for a justice that seems slow in coming. The delay is not indifference; God has heard, the wronged are already robed in white, and the justice they long for is certain. But it is not yet, and the waiting is asked of them, a rest until God's purposes are complete. How long is a real question, and its answer is not never, but a little longer, in the hands of a God who has already vindicated his own and will surely judge.

When I cry out with the martyrs, how long, O Lord, for a justice that seems slow, can I trust that God has heard, that the answer is not never but a little longer, and that the wrong will surely be righted in his time even as I am asked to rest and wait?

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