The “watch” group Open Doors USA reports that around the world, 5,621 Christians were killed for their faith last year. That’s approximately 15 a day. Of these, 89% were in Nigeria a shocking 5,014 believers were murdered in the country where violence continues to escalate. North Korea is again number one on the World Watch List: the place where Christians face the most persecution for following Jesus. The persecution score of 98/100 is the highest a country has ever received in World Watch List research. This is a horrible state of affairs for believers in these counties and yet it pales in comparison to the persecution and systematic murdering that will take place once the Fifth seal is open and the anti-Christ takes control.

This kind of persecution will become extremely bad during the Tribulation when if you are a Christian you will not be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast.
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. — Rev. 13.7

I The Fifth Seal (9-11)

1. During the opening of the first four seals, there was war, famine, pestilence, and general violence on the earth, but now the judgments intensify, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:8, All these are the beginning of sorrows. It has already been bad, but now it’s going to get worse.

When this fifth seal is opened John sees under the altar the souls of those who had been slain, slaughter during the Tribulation. How do we know this? Go to verse 10, which tells us the murderers are still on the earth. Therefore, these martyrs were only recently killed if their executioners are still alive, so they cannot be Christians of the first century. Neither can they be the church because the church was raptured in Revelation 4: 1. They are under the “altar” a word generally used to describe where blood had been sacrificed which stood in the court of the priests in the temple. However, here it is indicative of an altar of sacrifice where martyrs are slain as ones victims. We can conclude these martyrs are the souls of tribulation believers who were slain early in the tribulation. These are the martyrs, who refused the mark of the beast.

2. Take a moment and note that these believers are dead yet they have awareness and are crying. Be assured that when our loved ones die in Christ they are with the Lord as Paul noted in II Corinthians 5:8 and made inferred to in I Thess. 4:14 let’s look at it together. The doctrine of soul sleep is not a biblical doctrine. Jesus brings the dead and reunites them with their bodies.

Note the judgments are not called the “tribulation” in the book of Revelation itself, but we can clearly see that what Jesus described in Matthew 24 are these judgments, and He called them the “great tribulation.” From Matthew 24:15-21 it is evident people will be saved during the tribulation, but it will be the most horrible time to be a Christian because of the great persecution, the likes the world has not seen. (Zephaniah 1:14-16)

3. These martyrs now cry out to God for vindication. Please remember the age of grace is over, and the day of judgment has begun on the earth for all who have rejected the Lord Jesus. This cry for vengeance is in complete contrast to how Jesus and Stephen responded to their executioners. However, during this age of judgment upon the earth, the Lord will be long-suffering, allowing many to turn to Him.

Revelation 6:11 says, and white robes were given unto every one of them. … In spite of the tremendous persecution, there will be a great revival, thousands (or as Rev. 7:9 puts it, a ‘great multitude’) will be saved! Perhaps for the first time those Bibles and testimonies left behind by the rapture saints will become precious and very valuable!

The Lord dresses them in the white robes of purity; these saints have a resurrected body or a temporary new body until the appointed time because they are not the Bride. Then he tells them to wait until their number is complete!! God will take care of their executioners! Fellow servants is most likely a reference to the 144,000 Jewish witness as fellow servants, one who serves the same master with another.

Application:
His answer may offer us a glimpse into the complicated problem of why God allows evil to go unchecked in the world-so His own purpose can be fulfilled, which can only be seen and understood from His vantage point of eternity. We must simply trust Him to work out all things according to His will. Now, the scene returns to earth at the opening of.
II. The Sixth Seal (6:12-17)

1. There will be a great earthquake. This great earthquake could be a natural earthquake of catastrophic proportions, resulting in volcanic ash that would blot out the sun and make the moon appear red. The earthquake and resulting tidal waves would cause worldwide destruction. We have witness in our time how these earthquakes and tsunami can be. They will pale in comparison to this.

2. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima shook the earth for several miles, and the sun became darkened by the pillar of smoke and ash that rose 20,000 feet. It has been said that for several nights the moon appeared to be blood-red through the ash and smoke.

3. In verse 13 it says, 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. Stars of heaven” may refer to meteorites but remember the only weapons John had ever seen were the Roman sword, spear, and bow. If what he saw was a nuclear war, how else could he describe it?

Before the discovery of the atomic bomb, the accounts in the book of Revelation of one-fourth of the world’s population being killed in a short time were thought to be impossible. Today, it is not only a possibility but also a grim reality. It has been estimated that in the arsenals of the world is the equivalent of 15 tons of TNT for every human being living on earth.

We measure megatons for our thermonuclear bombs. One megaton bomb would make the first atomic bomb look like a firecracker. His description that the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together in verse 14 is shockingly close to the mushroom effect an atomic bomb.

No one can say for certain whether the terrible judgment that takes place at the opening of the sixth seal is natural or nuclear, but whatever the cause, it will be one of the most awesome judgments ever to come upon the earth. These terrible happenings will strike terror in the hearts of people living on the earth, and they will hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains (verse 15).

4. It appears heaven will be opened for a moment, or perhaps through the preaching of tribulation believers, the people on earth will know that these awesome judgments are the result of him that sitteth upon the throne, for they cry out to be saved from the wrath of the Lamb (verse 16).

It should not be shocking that even in the midst of terrible judgment people still will not turn to God. Even suffering and pain cannot cause a person to change his behavior. That is why the penitentiary is an ineffective institution, and why most released prisoners break the law again and return to prison. People who reject God and His Word cannot be changed.

a) Apparently, during the great judgments described in the book of Revelation the people on earth will know … the great day of his wrath is come … (Rev. 6:17). However, there will be no widespread turning to God in repentance with a plea for His mercy, but rather a seeking to … hide … from the face of him that sitteth on the throne … (verse 16).
This seal proves that judgment alone does not change the human heart, for the people on earth would rather run from God in fear than come to Him in faith. Like Adam and Eve after their sin, people will try to hide themselves from God, but the day is coming when there will be no place to hide.

This chapter ends with a very pertinent question, … who shall be able to stand? (6:17). The answer to that question is found in John 3:36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

b) The sixth seal brings us to the final seal that, when opened, will reveal what will happen at the end of the world and at the establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom. As we can see from these first six seals, the end of the age is not a single event but rather a series of events already preplanned by God.

Conclusion/ Communion

Why so much destruction and awesome judgments upon the earth? Thus, if Christ’s sacrifice has in fact satisfied God’s requirement for the sin of those who put their faith in him, then it is absolutely necessary that God at some point act against those who oppose his mercy and grace. There must be a satisfaction of the justice of God. (Hodge). Jesus satisfied God’s wroth for our sins…no one need to suffer hell or judgment. — Hebrews 9:16-28