Did you miss Chapter 5:6 ?
And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Please take note that this "lamb having been slain" JUST ARRIVED: He was not there an instant before.
You missed something: "Write the things which thou hast seen..." This is past tense. Anyway, after it was done, but before John began to write, everything in the vision was a "hast seen."
I know many people think everything from 4:1 on must be future. I challenge you to find "ONLY" in this verse:
Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
There is no "only" things which must be hereafter...
If God had shown John two or three things that were "hereafter" and finished His book with recipes of mana, this verse would still be true.
I agree, around 95 AD. So things about Jesus BIRTH would be history to John. See Rev. 12:1-5 These verses are about Jesus BIRTH. Remember, there is no "ONLY".
No, you just MISSED the hint!
"...it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season..."
There is no such wording about time in the first 4 seals. We find this only at the 5th seal. And it IS a hint of a long wait. We can see it as a long wait, but they could not....they had no idea the church age would go for 2000 years. By the way, 2000 years IS "a little season" to God.
They wanted to know when their murders would be judged. Looking back over the church age, we understand it as "the age of grace," where judgment has to wait. We begin to see judgment beginning at the 6th seal.
On the other hand, if these were 70th week martyrs as many think, they would KNOW they had only 7 years to wait, and would not have even asked. Consider Stephen who was one of the first martyrs: he would have no idea how long the church age would be. I can easily imagine those early martyrs wondering how long. I cannot imagine the first martyr of the 70th week wondering. They would already know. And remember, it was "the last days" when Jesus was teaching.
Hebrews 1:2
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Keep in mind that John was VERY chronological in this book. He will not get to the "Day of the Lord" until the 6th seal and not get to the 70th week until the 7th seal. And finally, will not get to the days of great tribulation (where millions will die as martyrs) until chapter 15. These seen under the altar at the 5th seal are church age martyrs simply because that is where John is at this time in his narrative.
I hesitate to answer, because this is very personal and many will just make fun of it. The truth is, you are missing far more than you realize.
DId you notice, the Beast was not introduced to John until chapter 13, and the dragon not until chapter 12? Anyone can make any verse say almost anything by pulling it out of context. We MUST remember, the first seal has a CONTEXT: it is the vision of the throne room.
I bugged God about this vision A LOT. I wanted to know why we needed to know that John wept, and why he wept much. Is that essential information? I did not see it as such! it seemed nonsensical almost. Why did God include it? I wanted to know, so I kept bugging God about it. I learned long ago, if someone is persistent and hour after hour, day after day bugs God about something, He will ALWAYS answer. And He answered me. First He said,
"it shows timing." I searched and meditated and read this passage maybe a hundred times: I could see timing NOWHERE - so I kept bugging Him. Then HE said
"it also shows the movement of time." Again I could not see the movement of time either, so I kept right on bugging Him.
Finally He showed mercy to my slow mind, and said:
I am going to ask you three questions about this vision of the throne room: until you can answer them correctly you will NEVER understand this vision. (I heard His voice and His words) So He proceeded to ask me three questions.
1.
Why was I not seen at the right hand of the Father in the first part of this vision? There are many verses that say I went to be at the right hand of the Father. (Stephen saw him there about 60 years previous.)
2.
Why was the Holy Spirit seen IN the throne room, when I said that I would send Him down as soon as I ascended?
3.
Why was "no man found" in the search for one worthy to open the seals? if you read ahead, you see that I was found worthy, but here "no man was found." John wrote that the search ended in failure, and that is why he wept much.
I could not answer His three questions after weeks of meditating, and one day He spoke again and said,
"go study chapter 12." As soon as I got my bible turned to chapter 12, He summarized that chapter to me:
"This was me introducing John to the dragon..." Among other things He said about that chapter, He said,
"count how many times the dragon is mentioned, including pronouns." If I remember right, I counted 32 times. During His explanation, He mentioned that the first five verses of chapter 12 were a
"history lesson" to John, speaking of the time of His birth. Finally, after I understand the first five verses was about His birth, He said,
"now you can go back to chapters 4 & 5."
Suddenly all was different! I had "history lesson" in the back of my mind, and suddenly I had the answer to all three questions! John was looking into the throne room of the past, looking back to a time just before Jesus rose from the dead. Why was HE not immediately seen at the right hand of the Father? Very simple, He was still on earth or under the earth. Why was the Holy Spirit still there? Very simple; Jesus had not yet ascended. Why was "no man found?" Very simple: Jesus had not yet risen from the dead to be found as the Redeemer.
Remember the "movement of time?" Suddenly John is told that someone had been found. We can understand by this, as soon as one search finished, another was started, but John did not watch this second search, for he was weeping much. But as soon as John was told this,
SUDDENLY someone new entered the throne room - someone who had not been there in chapter 4: It was the "lamb having been slain." You see,
John got to see the very moment Jesus first ascended into the throne room, after telling Mary not to hold onto Him for He had not yet ascended. If you will notice, the moment Jesus arrived in the throne room, the Holy Spirit was sent down.
ALL this is the context of the first seal - and was written to show us the TIMING of the first seal. It was when Jesus ascended into heaven, about 32 AD.
This is a very personal story. Many will simply not believe it, because God has never spoken to them. However, it is written, "my sheep here my voice." It is NOT unusual to hear His voice, it is unusual NOT to hear His voice. God TAUGHT this vision to me, line upon line, and I got it. I am as sure of this as Paul was about His gospel. Both came through revelation.
