2024/03/04

133. The Two Types of 'Souls' in Revelation

'Souls' appear in two places in Revelation. One is the 'souls' in "Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God" (Revelation 20:4), and they were the living ones, as discussed in the previous issue. 

The other is the 'souls' in "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (6:9), and they had 'souls' because they "had been slain" and yet alive. 

As discussed in blog № 15, the 'fifth seal' refers to the Acts of the Apostles. In it, the apostles are described in detail as they bear their testimony. Thus, the souls that the author of the Book of Revelation "saw under the altar" are of these apostles. 

Underlying their missionary work in the Acts of the Apostles is the "the witness they had borne" towards Jesus, as stated in the Gospel: "Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.' And so said all the disciples" (Matthew 26:35). The apostles accomplished the witnesses they had not been able to fulfil at that time through the descent of the Holy Spirit. 

So, the Revelation says: "Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been" (6:11). 

They are looking "under the altar" at "their fellow servants and their brethren" who, like themselves, celebrate the Mass liturgy today "for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" and are waiting for their numbers to be complete. At that moment, they gather with the faithful attending the Mass liturgy. 

These two kinds of 'souls,' "the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God" (20:4) and "the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne" (6:9), are the fulfilment of Jesus' words, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).  

That is, at the same time, the fulfilment of Jesus' words, "[T]he powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). And the "word of God" common to both 'souls' is the words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16), the "true words of God" (Revelation 19:9) (cf. blog № 95). 

In the coming article, we will approach the following passage in Revelation: "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection" (Revelation 20:5).

Maria K. M.