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.
Upon what condition may one expect answers to prayer?
What reference is made in the Psalms to Christ's use of parables?
By what is the Medo-Persian Empire represented in the great image?
What did Joseph, in Egypt, say when tempted to sin?
What were these stones to commemorate?
What special miracle is finally to be performed to deceive men, and fasten them in deception?
What comes to all men as the result of the Fall?
Questions & Answers are from the book Bible Readings for the Home Circle