What was given these martyrs?
Answer
"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 fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were,
should be fulfilled [have fulfilled their course, R.V.]." Verse 11.
NOTE - These had been slain during the hundreds of years covered by the preceding seal. Their
persecutors, most of them, at least, had died. And if they had at death passed to their punishment, as is by
some supposed, why should the martyred ones still importune for their punishment? In this, as in other
parts of the Bible, the figure of personification is used, in which inanimate objects are represented as alive
and speaking, and things that are not as though they were. See Judges 9:8-15; Rom. 4:17. These martyrs
had gone down as heretics under the darkness and superstition of the preceding seal, covered with
ignominy and shame. Now, in the light of the Reformation, their true character appears, and they are seen
to have been righteous, and hence are given "white robes." "The fine linen [white robes] is the
righteousness of saints." Rev. 19:8. Righteousness is ascribed to them; and when they have rested a little
longer where they are-under the altar-till all others who are to fall for their faith have followed them, then
together they will be raised to life and immortality.
Why did Israel fail to attain unto righteousness?
Who has borne our sins, and stands ready to help us?
What does the fifth commandment require of children?
Besides the court, how many parts had this sanctuary?
How is the church of the last days described?
Who notes the groans of the prisoner?
For what did Abraham look?
Questions & Answers are from the book Bible Readings for the Home Circle