A Martyr's View from Heaven

Last month was a very difficult month for me personally.  My husband's grandmother died the week before Thanksgiving and we had her funeral, then  I also had the anniversary of my mother's death the week before that, and then 3 days before Thanksgiving it was my mom's birthday.  Needless to say, I had death on my mind most of November.

So one of the things I did was check into this book I saw by Randy Alcorn.  I have a good friend who recommended his other book Heaven, which we had given to our grandmother before she died.  So when I saw that Randy Alcorn had written another book called 50 Days of Heaven: Reflections That Bring Eternity to Light, I knew I had to get it.  So I downloaded it at Audible (a great audio book club) and began listening to it, and all I can say is that this book is by far one of the best that I have ever heard/read!

One of the most inspirational chapters in the book has to do with how the martyrs see the current earth from heaven.  Revelation 6: 9-11 says the following that sheds some light on this.

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;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?"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.

Randy Alcorn points out in his book that it is possible for those in heaven to see what is happening here on earth.  This passage is just one example of this.  As I was thinking about this question though, I think it's rather stunning for a few reasons.  First,  these martyrs are obviously completely whole again.  I think most of us believe that ...God will restore us and make us whole.  Second, I find it absolutely fascinating that it is the martyrs asking the Lord this question!  Think about that...it could have been anyone else who died, but it wasn't...the text says it was His martyrs. 

And check out the Lord's answer...He basically said to them...to rest because others still had to die as martyrs.

Now imagine with me that you are one of those martyrs in heaven who is longing to have your death avenged by the Lord.  And the Lord tells you to rest because there are going to be more martyrs....what do you think you would feel?  What would you do?

Interesting to think about isn't it?  I realized reading this passage in Scripture and also Alcorn's book that martyrs play even a more interesting part in God's economy that I once thought.  I want to encourage you to check out Alcorn's book if you get a chance.  It's very encouraging, packed with Scripture and good theological reference.