Rev. 6:9 Are the martyred souls for Christ with Him now? ~ Peggy Dobbins, Corinth, MS
Frankly, I do not know if the martyred souls for Christ are with Him now. James Burton Coffman comments, “…to be sure, there is no actual altar in heaven; the thing being symbolized is that of the saints being, in some sense, in the presence of God, despite their having been slain on earth. Here is a powerful intimation of life after death.” Of this much we can be certain, based on what the Scriptures reveal.
B.W. Johnson made the following observation respecting the symbolic meaning of Revelation 6:9, but not necessarily answering the question as to where are martyred souls now: “The brazen altar stood at the door of the tabernacle, and at the bottom of it all the blood of the offerings was poured (Lev 4:7). Their position probably points out that their own blood was poured out for Christ.”
I suspect from Luke 16:19-31, that all departed spirits are in the Hadean (Luke 16:23) realm, generally speaking, and that within the Hadean realm, the righteous souls and the unrighteous souls are separated from each other. Each are receiving a foretaste of eternal heaven or eternal hell, and at the Final Judgment, each will be assigned to his eternal disposition in heaven or hell (Matthew 25:46). Not every Bible student, though, believes that departed souls remain in Hades awaiting Final Judgment, even if that were the case for a time, say preceding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The answer to this question is relatively inconsequential respecting the Christian living, Christian service and Christian worship today. Therefore, if we are unable to ascertain from Scripture to everyone’s satisfaction where departed souls are presently, or where martyred souls are presently, if we are still interested in the answer to that question upon arriving in heaven, though it will not matter then, we can certainly ask Someone who knows for sure.
Works Cited
Coffman, James Burton.
Johnson, B.W. People’s New Testament. Austin: WordSearch, 2004.
