The Souls Under the Altar Revealed
Overturning an altar reveals what was under it.
To all who were my fellow parishioners at the Annunciation of the Lord when our altar was attacked,
Grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. In my first letter, I showed you how I found the reason why our altar was overturned. It was overturned so that God might reveal to us the identity of the souls under the altar in the Fifth Seal.1 In this letter, I will show you what I learned when I started asking for the revelation, in prayer, believing that we would receive it.2 For we have good reason to believe that we will receive it.
Don't worry. If we find that the revelation is bad news, then we will know that it must presuppose good news; because God does not give us the bad news without also giving us the good news. Since the souls under the altar are under the place of sacrifice, either they are the martyrs who gave up their lives as a holy sacrifice or they are the victims of an unholy sacrifice.
The Church has always thought that they are the martyrs; but since it is unlikely that God would orchestrate the overturning of our altar just to tell us that we were right, we will probably find that we were wrong. But again, don't be afraid of that happening, because there will not be any bad news without good news. Let's begin by prayerfully examining the first of three verses which make up the Fifth Seal in St. John’s vision.
| Revelation 6:9 (MKJV) |
| And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held. |
The Lamb (our Lord Jesus) is the one who opened the fifth seal, and St. John is the one who saw the souls under the altar. They were slain for two reasons. The first is "for the Word of God." This could apply to anyone, because it was through the Word of God that all things, including these souls, came into being.3
The second reason why they were slain is "for the testimony which they held." This also doesn't tell us much. But it's interesting, because the terms "Word of God" and "testimony" appear four times in the Apocalypse and this is the only time that the testimony is not the "testimony of Jesus".4 That's the first clue which suggests that the souls under the altar might not be the early Christian martyrs. Now, let's examine the second verse.
| Revelation 6:10 (MKJV) |
| And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "Until when, Master, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" |
Notice that the souls under the altar cry out to their "Master," which is despotes in the Greek text, rather than to their "Lord," which would have been kyrios. In all his inspired writings, this is the only time St. John wrote despotes. Contrast that to kyrios, which he wrote seventy-seven times, mostly in reference to our Lord Jesus.5 This is another clue which suggests that the souls under the altar might not be the Christian martyrs.
The souls under the altar are asking when their blood will be avenged, which is natural; but vengeance is the opposite of what Jesus and Stephen asked for when they were martyred, which was that their killers be forgiven.6 This is a third clue which suggests that the souls under the altar might not be the Christian martyrs.
It's also odd that the souls under the altar ask for their blood to be avenged on such a broad category of people, namely, "those who dwell on the earth." It's as though that they don't know who killed them. Now, let's examine the third verse.
| Revelation 6:11 (MKJV) |
| And white robes were given to each one of them. And it was said to them that they should rest yet for a little time, until both their fellow servants and their brothers (those about to be killed as they were) should have their number made complete. |
Let's consider the white robes. The only other group of souls who have white robes are the saints before the Lamb in Revelation 7:9-17, and they "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."7 Before they washed their robes, they must have made them dirty by committing personal sin.
Therefore, the saints before the Lamb must have been given their spiritual robes before they were old enough to commit their first personal sin; and since the souls under the altar were killed before they were given their spiritual robes, they must have been killed before they were old enough to commit their first personal sin.
Since the souls under the altar were too young to give up their lives as a holy sacrifice, they must be victims of an unholy sacrifice. People on earth must be giving up the lives of the young victims for some reason. The fact that they ask when their blood will be avenged on such a broad category of people, "those who dwell on the earth," suggests that the victims are not even old enough to know who killed them.
We have just received the revelation. The souls under the altar in the Fifth Seal are young victims of unholy sacrifices. To be more specific, I must bring up the most divisive topic on earth today. But don't worry, because I'm not about to take sides; and regardless of which side you are on, or what you may have done in the past, you will be called to be part of the solution to the problem. So, please stay with me, and you will be glad you did.
Who are the souls under the altar?
Most of them have been killed by abortion. I'll explain why that's a sacrifice. When a male makes a female pregnant, he incurs a debt of postnatal support; and if she consented to the act which caused the pregnancy, then she incurs a debt of prenatal support. If they are not married to each other, then they will likely be tempted to give up the life of their offspring to obtain for themselves the forgiveness of their debts to their offspring.
That's a most unholy sacrifice, because it's the antithesis of the Most Holy Sacrifice, the act of giving up one's own life to obtain for others the forgiveness of their debts to God. Only the Son of God was qualified to make the Most Holy Sacrifice, and he made it almost two thousand years ago.8 His death and resurrection make up the Gospel of Christ, or Evangelium Christi in Latin, the best message of good news ever.9
But the revelation in this letter is bad news, not only because the sacrifices are currently happening, but also because the victims are asking when their blood will be avenged on us "who dwell on the earth." Until when does their Master "not judge and avenge" their blood? The answer is, "Until both their fellow servants and their brothers (those about to be killed as they were) should have their number made complete."10
Since their number will be complete when the sacrifices have stopped, the answer can also be stated, "Until the sacrifices have stopped." The Book of Revelation says that a time will come when God "has judged" and "has avenged the blood of his servants."11 Those are the victims of the unholy sacrifices which will have stopped by then. Thankfully, the recipients of the vengeance will not necessarily be all "who dwell on the earth."
That gives us reason to believe that God will show us the way that we can participate in stopping the unholy sacrifices of the Fifth Seal, so that we can be clear from the blood of the victims. We just need to ask him, in prayer, believing that we will receive the answer.12
The answer to that prayer will be good news, a novus evangelium, and we can have the faith that is necessary to receive it, because why would God orchestrate the overturning of our altar and reveal to us the identity of the sacrificial victims if it is not to show us the way that we can participate in stopping the sacrifices?
So, without further ado, let the search for that way begin.
Footnotes
1 Revelation 6:9-11
2 Mark 11:22-24
3 John 1:1-3
4 Revelation 1:2, 1:9, 6:9, and 20:4
5 John, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John, and Revelation
6 Luke 23:34 and Acts 7:60
7 Revelation 7:14
8 Matthew 6:12, 26:28, and John 15:13
9 1st Corinthians 15:3-4
10 Revelation 6:10-11
11 Revelation 19:2. In a separate study, I show how the "great whore" in that verse is the unfaithful bride of Christ, i.e. professing Christians who are unfaithful to Christ.
12 Mark 11:22-24