Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #11 of Revelation, chapter 6, and we are going to be reading from Revelation 6:9-11:
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 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 fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
We have been looking at these verses in the last couple of studies and we saw in Revelation 18 (in a chapter where the Lord is describing His wrath being poured out upon Babylon) and He says in Revelation 18:24:
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
This is the reason for Babylon’s judgment and, yet, it is not referring only to those killed by the churches or those killed by a combination of Israel and/or the churches, the corporate representations of God’s kingdom in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, respectively. It is not referring to them exclusively; they are part of Babylon. We find during the Great Tribulation that the churches were “given up” and handed over to Satan and they became a part of the kingdom of Babylon, ruled over by the King of Babylon who is a type and figure of Satan.
God says that all the blood from all the prophets and saints is going to be required of Babylon’s hand. Why would the churches be guilty of the blood of individuals that died before there were churches? Or, why would Israel be guilty of the blood of individuals that died before there was a nation of Israel? As we read in Matthew, chapter 23, and we read this in our last study, but let us look at it again in Matthew 23:33:
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Now that is really a key statement where Christ is saying, “Ye generation of vipers,” and He is referring to the “generation of evil.” Now we read a few chapters earlier in Matthew 12:34:
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Then it says in Matthew 12:38-39:
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Notice in verse 39, it says, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,” and while it is true that the scribes and Pharisees of that day were seeking after a sign, the Lord is basically saying they are “fitting in” with the “generation of evil” that has been in the world since man fell into sin. It is the “generation of evil doers.” God likens all of the wicked that were alive in the days of Christ or that were alive in the days of Noah or that are alive today as the “generation of evil.” It says in Luke 16:8:
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Now in this parable, Christ is saying that the children of this “age” (and it applies to all of the unsaved people throughout time) are wiser in their “generation.” It is a single tense “generation,” not plural, because God is referring to the entire duration of mankind in his rebellion against the LORD as a “generation of evil.”
Now going back to Matthew 23, it says in Matthew 23:34-36:
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
That is what the “you” is referring to in verse 35: “That upon you may come all the righteous blood…” It is upon “this generation.” Now we have looked at this language before and we know that Israel, as well as the New Testament churches, are guilty of spiritually (as well as physically) killing the people of God; they have been actively doing so throughout the history of Israel and throughout the history of the churches, in driving the people out of the congregations; God likens that to “killing.” That is true. So we just quickly assumed that this is only referring to the churches, but, actually, the churches and Israel are a part of that “generation of evil.” They have, perhaps, been the greatest offenders against God’s people because God had His people in Israel and God had His people in the churches during the church age and those are two large segments of time and much of the Bible deals with Israel and with the churches. Yet, there was a time before Israel when God’s people were also being slain and there is a time after the church age when God’s people could be slain spiritually or even physically. So the emphasis here is upon “…all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias.”
Abel had nothing to do with Israel. He was there at the beginning and the world was created in 11,013 B.C. and he and his brother Cain grew up to a certain age (we do not know how old they were) of maybe 20 or 22, but it was not at the very beginning of the creation, but let us say it was about 10,900 B.C. that Cain rose up and killed his brother. (Actually, it could have been even longer than that because Seth was the son given instead of Abel and we know that Seth was born when Adam was 130, so we could give that space up to 130 years.) But, still, that is thousands of years before the flood. The flood would occur 6,023 years from creation and then from the flood it would be 2,000+ years until Abraham was born and becomes the beginning of the nation of Israel. So that is an awfully long time and God had His people – not many – but He had His people, like Abel, that were slain. And Abel’s righteous blood was charged to Babylon because Satan had his kingdom from the very beginning (once mankind fell into sin and disobeyed God and, in doing so, they obeyed Satan). They believed Satan and trusted Satan over God and, therefore, Satan was victorious over mankind and he began to reign over the sinners – all the unsaved that would come forth from Adam and Eve. Therefore, his kingdom from the very beginning was in effect. Actually, God speaks of Satan’s kingdom in Revelation 17 as if it were ruled over by “seven” kings. We read in Revelation 17:7:
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
And then it says in Revelation 17:9-10:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
This is describing Satan’s rule throughout the history of the world. At the time this Scripture was given, five kings had fallen because this is bringing us up to the first century A.D., so over 11,000 years of history has passed and God likens that period as though Satan had five durations of reigning – as though he reigned five out of the seven times – and then “one is” and that will be throughout the New Testament era as he rules over the sinful hearts of men. Then, finally, there comes his last reign for “a short space” and that is describing the “little season” of the Great Tribulation, his greatest period of reign.
So this indicates that Satan has been reigning since the fall of man all through the history of the world. And if he reigns as king, he has a kingdom and that kingdom is typified by Babylon. The kingdom of Babylon gets its name from Babel in the Book of Genesis when the languages were confounded. Babylon is an ancient kingdom, historically, and it points to Satan’s kingdom from the very beginning. So God, in Revelation 18, is finally (after the entire history of the world has reached 13,000 years) beginning to judge the churches using Satan and the churches become a part of Satan’s kingdom and he reigns over them, like he reigns over the unsaved of the world, and he is showing himself that “he is God.”
So the judgment on the churches is not the fall of Babylon. It is the glory of Babylon. It is the time when Babylon was lifted up and exalted, just as it historically was when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and took the Jews captive; that was not the “fall of Babylon.” It was the time when Babylon was victorious and had conquered an enemy and Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up. He was glorified in his kingdom because he had conquered the kingdom of Judah and taken the Jews captive. It was at the end of the seventy year period – the end of the seventy year captivity – that the king of Babylon and the Babylonians are conquered by the Medes and the Persians.
That seventy year period points to the Great Tribulation and it is at the end of the judgment upon the churches and congregations that, finally, Satan and his kingdom of Babylon are defeated and Satan is deposed as king. He no longer is officially ruling over the churches and he is no longer officially ruling over the world. He still exists and will continue to exist until the end of the world, but, officially, the authority that God had given him at the beginning of the Great Tribulation is gone. This is a severe blow to Satan’s pride.
The “generation of evil” identifies with the kingdom of Babylon and God, in using this language in Matthew 23 is requiring “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias” upon not only the churches, but upon the whole, entire kingdom of the Evil One, “the generation of evil.” The blood of all God’s people throughout all time is being exacted on them; it is the vengeance of God’s temple, the body of God’s people.
We know that Abel was in the beginning and God is using him as a figure of the elect from the very beginning, but what about “Zacharias son of Barachias?” Actually Zacharias is called Zechariah in the Old Testament in 2nd Chronicles, chapter 24, and he is a descendent of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada was a faithful priest that lived to be a very old man and the Bible gives us some very interesting details about that day. It says in 2nd Chronicles 24:1:
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Joash did that which was right in the sight of JEHOVAH all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
Jehoiada the priest was a faithful man of God. It is one of the more exciting true historical accounts in the Bible when we read about how this young boy Joash became king at the age of seven. Jehoiada was his faithful mentor, showing him what was right and showing him the proper and faithful way of serving God as king. Joash took note and “And Joash did that which was right in the sight of JEHOVAH all the days of Jehoiada the priest.” Now it would have been far better if God had said “all the days of his life,” but at least he did what was right all the days of Jehoiada. There came a time though when Jehoiada died and it says in 2nd Chronicles 24:15:
But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
Then it says in 2nd Chronicles 24:17-22:
Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of JEHOVAH God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto JEHOVAH; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of JEHOVAH, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken JEHOVAH, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of JEHOVAH. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, JEHOVAH look upon it, and require it.
Now in the Bible, a man can be said to be the “son” of another man and, yet, it is not an immediate father/son relationship; it could be the grandson or even a great grandson. And since Jehoiada was 130 years old, it is probable that Zechariah was his grandson and Zechariah’s father was Barachias, but that is not the issue here. Here, the issue is that Zechariah was slain by the once good King Joash. Now why does God pick this particular event and this particular martyrdom of one of His people? There were many instances that God could have chosen, but why did the LORD pick Zechariah’s death in that day and time? Why did He start with Abel and end with Zechariah?
Now in our English language it sounds pretty good: from Abel, which starts with the letter A to Zacharias which starts with the letter Z (and our alphabet is A to Z), but that is not what is meant at all; it is not as though God was using the English alphabet. Why then Abel to Zacharias? The way God has phrased it, we would think it was an all inclusive, or all encompassing, statement to represent all of God’s elect from the beginning (as Abel was the first believer killed) to Zacharias, the last believer killed. But we know God could not go to the end of the world when He wrote the Bible, but could He not have gone to the end of the Old Testament? There are still hundreds of years to go from the time of Zacharias and much more Scripture will be written after the death of Zacharias. Why did God pick this point?
Well, the answer is found with Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada is a type of Christ or, possibly, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, and all the days that Christ was in the midst of the churches and congregations (as we read early on in the Book of Revelation that Christ was “in the midst of the candlesticks” and His presence meant that the churches could be considered faithful, as Isaiah, chapter 1, tells us. Once God brought judgment on the churches at the end of the church age on May 21, 1988, then immediately, the Holy Spirit departed out and left the congregations. The congregations went “dark” and they ceased to be faithful. They were no longer considered a “faithful city.” And, also, the churches began to lose their way, just as Joash did right all the days of Jehoiada and as soon as Jehoiada died, he began to lose his way; he began to become influenced by the princes of Judah and he hearkened unto them. So, too, the rulers and the church authorities – the pastors, the elders, the deacons – now were no longer listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit. They were no longer confined or restrained by the Holy Spirit. Now they were under another influence, as Satan entered in and his emissaries become chief and now they were listening to Satan.
As a result, what happened in 1988? It was the beginning of the persecution of God’s people, the beginning of the “driving out” of the true believers in a very big way. Of course, it has always been done, here and there, throughout the church age, but now in a major way in the churches and congregations the Lord’s people were driven out – even driven out by false gospels and false doctrines, if not intentionally driven out. The true believers cannot “survive” in that kind of environment where lies are being taught, so since the pastor was not feeding the flock, the one that is a true sheep ends up leaving and, in a sense, is driven out by the apostasy. So this happened in 1988, which was the 13,000th year of earth’s history; from creation in 11,013 B.C. to 1988 A. D. is exactly 13,000 years. That is when the Holy Spirit left, just as Jehoiada the priest who was with Joash from the time he became king at seven years old until Jehoiada died at the age of 130. And 130 is 10 x 13. The number 10 points to “completeness” and the number 13 points to the “the end of the world” and the end arrives in the 13,000th year of earth’s history, as 13,000 is really multiples of “10” and the number “13.” They are the same numbers that are involved with Jehoiada’s death age and it is no coincidence: it is God letting us know that we are correct; we have understood the end of the church age correctly; we have understood the time of the end of the world as beginning at that point (when judgment began at the house of God) correctly.
So it is an all encompassing statement: “from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias” that will be required of this generation (evil generation). It is pointing to all the blood from the beginning to the end, as the end was ushered in at the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation and that began the period of the “end of the world.”