Revelation 6:9: 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.

The fifth seal covers the period of time from Christ's birth until about 1000 AD.¹ The most transcendent events in the fifth seal were the atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ.² However, these events were not the subject of John's vision of the fifth seal ³ because his vision in 96 AD focused on things which must be hereafter.⁴ Therefore, John saw contemporary images of martyred saints from his own time, whose disembodied spirits were then in celestial paradise of the postmortal spirit world.⁵ The fifth seal was the age of martyrdom,⁶ which Christ predicted before he died his own martyr's death.⁷

The first Christians were martyred at the hands of Jewish leaders.⁸ Stephen is considered by most to be the first Christian martyr,⁹ because he was the first person known to have died as a witness of Jesus Christ.¹⁰ Saul consented to the death of Stephen¹¹ and persecuted other Christians¹² before his own conversion on the road to Damascus.¹³ When Saul became the apostle Paul he prophesied of his own suffering and martyrdom,¹⁴ and that of others.¹⁵ Peter and John also wrote of martyrdom.¹⁶ John was the last living apostle from Christ's ancient church during the fifth seal.¹⁷ He survived only because the Savior promised him that he would be translated and tarry until the Second Coming.¹⁸ Attempts were made to kill John,¹⁹ but he survived these assaults and witnessed the deaths of all his fellow apostles and many others²⁰ as lambs among wolves.²¹

The first notable Roman persecution of early Christians began with Emperor Nero in 64 AD.²² After the time of Nero, Roman persecution continued intermittently for at least three centuries²³ throughout the Roman Empire.²⁴ Ultimately, the persecution and killing of Christians stopped²⁵ during the reign of Constantine the Great.²⁶ Under Constantine, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire.²⁷ Ironically, the persecuted religion of the Christians then became the persecuting religion and paganism was outlawed in the Roman Empire.²⁸

Long before the time of Constantine, true Christianity ceased to exist.²⁹ Therefore, the martyrdom of Christians ceased even though people continued to die for their faith in Christ.³⁰ However, where the true church does not exist, there is no reason to find the persecution of it.³¹

The imagery of the fifth seal differs markedly from John's vision of the first four historical seals.³² Instead of the four beasts³³ calling out to colored horses and their riders,³⁴ John saw the image of an altar in heaven.³⁵ The word altar means the place of slaughter or sacrifice.³⁶ This imagery corresponds closely to the message of martyrdom in the fifth seal.³⁷ Christ was a martyr of the fifth seal³⁸ and his sacrifice had been foreshadowed on altars since the time of Adam.³⁹ Altars were also associated with elevated or high places⁴⁰ that provided refuge and sanctuary for repentant sinners.⁴¹ Thus, in John's vision, the altar in heaven symbolized a high place of refuge for martyred saints of the fifth seal.⁴² Their disembodied spirits were and are in heaven, the paradise of God⁴³ while they await their resurrection at the Second Coming.⁴⁴ This is the same celestial paradise that John saw and described in Revelation chapters 4 and 5.

The heavenly altar in John's vision from the fifth seal had its earthly counterpart in the brazen altar of burnt offerings at the temple in Jerusalem.⁴⁵ The blood of sacrificial victims was poured at the bottom of that altar⁴⁶ for all sin offerings,⁴⁷ including the blood of the paschal lamb at each Passover.⁴⁸ During the first Passover,⁴⁹ the blood of the paschal lamb was painted on the doorposts of Israelite dwellings to preserve Israel against the destroying angel that passed over their blood-stained dwellings.⁵⁰ In that likeness, the blood of sin offerings poured at the base of the altar was a continuing symbol of protection provided by the blood of Christ.⁵¹ His blood was poured out for many⁵² that believe on his name, for the remission of their sins.⁵³ For this symbolic reason, John saw the disembodied spirits of martyred Christians⁵⁴ from the fifth seal under the altar,⁵⁵ where the blood of Christ preserves them until they are exalted to the celestial kingdom after their resurrection.⁵⁶ Sadly, when the temple and the altar were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD,­⁵⁷ the entire temple also became­­­–in a certain sense–a martyr of the fifth seal.⁵⁸

Luke 13:1-3 foreshadowed the sacrifice of martyrs in fifth seal. These verses describe an incident when Pilate killed certain Galilean Jews at the great altar and mingled their blood with the blood of the sacrificial animals at the base of the altar.⁵⁹ In a similar symbolic sense, martyrs of the fifth seal sacrificed their lives on the altar.⁶⁰ They were slain for the word of God,⁶¹ and not as an atonement for themselves or for others.⁶² Their sacrifice came because they possessed a testimony of Jesus Christ (the word of God),⁶³ which they steadfastly held (bore)⁶⁴ despite intense and large-scale persecutions.⁶⁵ When they died, their blood (the token of life)⁶⁶ was symbolically poured out beneath the altar.⁶⁷

Muslims call the open space beneath the altar the well of spirits.⁶⁸

Revelation 6:10: 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?

The disembodied spirits of slain saints in paradise from the fifth seal ⁶⁹ were conscious of their martyrdom.⁷⁰ They cried with a loud voice⁷¹ to the Lord,⁷² Jesus Christ, who is holy and true.⁷³ The martyrs cried⁷⁴ for divine justice,⁷⁵ asking how long they must wait before the Lord would judge their enemies⁷⁶ and avenge [their] blood.⁷⁷ The blood of righteous Abel and others similarly cry from the earth.⁷⁸ Vengeance belongs to God,⁷⁹ but the martyrs of all ages cry against them that dwell on the earth, who are their wicked persecutors.⁸⁰ These words confirm that the spirits of the deceased martyrs cry from their blessed position in celestial paradise⁸¹ as they anxiously await⁸² the avenging judgment of Christ and their resurrection at the Second Coming.⁸³