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-93
Since this portion of the Word is hard for the human mind to grasp, it must be accepted and believed by faith. Some will be offended by what I have set forth because they fail to understand the sovereignty of God which sets forth that GOD IS GOD, and because He is God one cannot defeat His counsels or thwart His will and purpose; but He, being omnipotent, is ruling in ALL affairs and is doing whatever He will with all His creation because all were created for His good pleasure. Therefore, as Paul says, "If God shou...
I will restore
54-0620A §33
What did that lamb speak of? It spoke of some nineteen hundred years later, when the Lamb of God was led away to the rock of ages, and there with spit hanging off of His beard, and His crown over His brow, the blood trickling down His shoulders, His bloody locks dripping around, crying, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Remember, Abel died on the altar with his lamb. And every man that comes to Christ must die on the same altar Jesus Christ did, on the altar of self sacrifice, forgetting your own ways, forgettin...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 3:E-60
The Complaint Of God Revelation 2:4, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." To understand this you must realize that the Spirit is not speaking to the original saints of Ephesus alone. This message is to the entire age which lasted about 120 years. Its message, then, is to all the generations in that span. Now history keeps repeating itself. In the generations of Israel we see revival in one generation, only to see the fires fading in the next. In the third generation, e...
It shall be even as it was told me
50-0818 §7
I'll say this by the authority of God's Word. Every baby that's under the age of accountability, dies, goes to glory. Yes, sir. Christ died to take away the sin of the world. And when you come to the age of accountability... We were all born in sin. But when He died, He taken away the sin. And when you come to the age of accountability, then you're responsible from then on. See? It isn't... You're not responsible for something you did not do, Christ done died to save you to take away the sin that Adam caused. But w...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 2:E-29
The lamp was lit in a special way. First, the priest took fire from the sacred altar which was originally lighted by the fire of God. He lit, first of all, the lamp that was sitting on top of the bowl. He then lit the second lamp from the flame of the first lamp. The third lamp received its fire from the second lamp, as did the fourth receive its from the third, and so on, until all the seven lamps were burning. This holy fire from the altar, being passed from lamp to lamp, is a wonderful type of the Holy Spirit in...