What did John see at the fifth seal in Revelation 6:9?
At Revelation's fifth seal, John saw unto the altar the souls of those who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. The context identifies these souls as tribulation martyrs, people martyred during the future tribulation period.
Les teaches that Revelation 6 contains the seals, with the horsemen also being seals. Four seals have been opened, and the scroll originally had seven seals. At the fifth seal, John, in his visionary experience, saw unto the altar the souls of them who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Les feels this is a reference to the tribulation martyrs. He says that in a future program he will show that multitudes of non-Jews will have a salvation experience during all this turmoil, but they will not live very long to tell about it, because they will almost be martyred immediately. This fits the broader context of the future seven-year tribulation, which is described as the most awful seven-year period in human history and as the beginning of sorrows spoken of in Matthew 24.
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: