Where and When Do the Souls Under the Altar -jews Who Died in Pogroms of the Ages Resurrect? Will They Be in the Millenium?
1) Direct answer
They will not rise in the first resurrection to reign in the Millennium. The souls under the altar (the Jewish martyrs of the ages) remain at rest until the great tribulation is finished, and they come up after the thousand years, at the general resurrection, to receive their portion among the saved. They are not the Bride and do not reign in the Millennium.
2) Scriptural explanation
- Identity and timing: Revelation 6:9-11 shows them “under the altar,” crying for justice, and they are told to “rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren… should be killed as they were.” That “little season” reaches its fulfillment when God finishes dealing with Israel in the tribulation, when their “brethren” (the sealed of Israel and those martyred under that final persecution—see Revelation 7:1-8; 11) complete the number.
- Who reigns in the Millennium: Revelation 20:4-6 shows the first resurrection—those who “lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” That reigning company is the Bride (Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 20:4). Notice the description in Revelation 20:4 centers on those with the witness of Jesus and who refused the beast. The souls under the altar in Revelation 6 are not identified as having the witness of Jesus; they were blinded in part (Romans 11:25), yet given white robes by grace and told to wait.
- When they rise: Scripture states, “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished” (Revelation 20:5). Those not in the first resurrection rise after the Millennium to stand at the Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-13). From there, the “nations of the saved” walk in the light of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24). That is where the white-robed, non-Bride redeemed have their portion—saved, but not the ruling Bride in the City.
3) Simple clarifying logic
- They are told to wait until their brethren are also killed—so their case is not finished until after the tribulation.
- The Bible clearly limits the Millennial reign to those in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6). Since Revelation 6 does not place those souls in that reigning company, they do not rise to reign then.
- Therefore, they remain at rest through the tribulation and the Millennium, and they rise after the thousand years to their place among the saved, while the Bride (Revelation 7:9-17; 20:4) reigns with Christ during the Millennium.
4) Reinforcing statement
So, the souls under the altar will not be in the Millennium as rulers. They are preserved by grace, awaiting vindication, and they come forth after the thousand years to their eternal portion among the redeemed nations, while the Bride alone reigns with Christ during the Millennial Kingdom.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-89
It is the second resurrection that the "souls under the altar" as set forth in the fifth seal (Revelation 6:9-11) are given white robes, and of course eternal life, or there would be no point of white robes. "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: 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? And whi...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-95
To understand this subject even more clearly it will now be wise to approach it from the standpoint of the church through the ages. Up until now we have been thinking in terms of the removal of the names of individuals. Now we want to consider, not the individuals, but the groups represented in the church. To do so we will liken the church through the ages to the wheat plant. A grain of wheat is planted to the end that a single grain of wheat will reproduce and multiply itself through a certain process during a cer...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 9:E-28
...this section on the messenger of the Laodicean Age, we must seriously consider these two thoughts. First, this age will have ONE Prophet-Messenger. Revelation 10:7, says, "When he (singular) shall begin to sound." There has never been an age where God gave His people two major prophets at one time. He gave Enoch (alone); He gave Noah (alone); He gave Moses (he alone had the Word though others prophesied); John the Baptist came ALONE. Now in this last day there is to be a PROPHET (not a prophetess--though in this a...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 7:E-85
...gment since the Epistles seem to conclusively point out that one must possess the Spirit of Christ or perish. Though it seems thus, we must not discredit the words of Jesus Who most pointedly sets forth that there are some found in the Book of Life who will either receive eternal life before the general resurrection or after it. Paul does not evade this truth for he most clearly says in Philippians 3:11, "If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead." Now this statement is most peculiar. We all kn...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-55
That poor Smyrnaean Age was dying. When it died, it never came back. No age ever comes back. No revival ever comes back. It can't have the life of God in it by natural generation. It takes a regeneration from above. This last age started with the fires of a Pentecostal revival and they organized it right back. Instead of taking the Word they took their own ideas and did just what every age has done--substituted the manual for the Word. Just you step outside that manual and see what happens. You are out, brother. An...