Revelation 6:9-11 - How Long?
"How long will this pandemic last? How long until we're back to 'normal'?"
I haven't kept track of how many times I've heard that question, or asked it myself.
Maybe you're asking "How long" any number of circumstances will be amiss.
The question, "How long?" shows up in the Bible over sixty times.
In the first few books, it's often God asking, "How long will people disobey me?
The psalmist frequently asks, "How long will you let my enemies attack me?
In the Gospels, Jesus asks, "How long do I have to put up with people's lack of faith?
The last time the question shows up in is an obscure passage in Revelation:
Revelation 6:9–11 (NASB95) — "9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also."
These were the martyrs of the early church. For almost two thousand years, they've had a standing question, "How long do we have to wait for justice? They're still waiting!
That should put our questions of "How long" in a much larger perspective.
God, Thank you for not dismissing our questions. Your people have asked "How long?" many times before. Grant us the endurance of your people as well: endurance to wait for you to intervene and set things right again. In Your time. In Jesus' name, Amen.
I haven't kept track of how many times I've heard that question, or asked it myself.
Maybe you're asking "How long" any number of circumstances will be amiss.
The question, "How long?" shows up in the Bible over sixty times.
In the first few books, it's often God asking, "How long will people disobey me?
The psalmist frequently asks, "How long will you let my enemies attack me?
In the Gospels, Jesus asks, "How long do I have to put up with people's lack of faith?
The last time the question shows up in is an obscure passage in Revelation:
Revelation 6:9–11 (NASB95) — "9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also."
These were the martyrs of the early church. For almost two thousand years, they've had a standing question, "How long do we have to wait for justice? They're still waiting!
That should put our questions of "How long" in a much larger perspective.
God, Thank you for not dismissing our questions. Your people have asked "How long?" many times before. Grant us the endurance of your people as well: endurance to wait for you to intervene and set things right again. In Your time. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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