How Long?

In Revelation 6 when the fifth seal is broken, a question is asked:

“… How long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?”  (Revelation 6:10, CSB)

 And, here is the response:

So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been. (Revelation 6:11, CSB)

At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much comfort in this – “just rest until a bunch of other people have been killed just as you have been.”

But notice here what’s implied – there will come an end to it. While this may be symbolic and there isn’t a number ticking down in Heaven so when it’s reached, things are over – there will be an end. Life will not just continue on as it has for centuries now with tragedy after tragedy and heartache upon heartache.

The Apostle Peter captured this thought well in his second letter, where he wrote:

I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

… But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief …

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.  (2 Peter 3:3-13, NLT)

Life on this planet as we know it will come to an end – that’s a promise!

And, while we don’t know all that much about what comes after, we know it will be infinitely better and free from pain, sickness, suffering, and death (see Revelation 21:1-4) – that’s also a promise!

Don’t miss out.