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.
Souls that are in prison now
63-1110M §78
But under the Sixth Seal, where these trumpets opened, remember under there, we find out that the Lamb came forth, appeared on the scene. He had left the mercy seat. His work of Redemption was finished. He came forth and took the Book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, and time was no more. And immediately an angel appeared in the 10th chapter and 7th verse, saying, this angel came down and swore that time was no longer. But you see, in this Book was what was redeemed; it was the Book of Redempt...
Hebrews, Chapter 6, part 3
57-0915M §56
Now, when we go from here, there's a tabernacle, a theophany (just a image of a man) that don't eat, don't drink, don't sleep, awake forever. There's where we go to. But they're waiting under the altar, crying, "Lord, how long? How long?" to come back down because they want to shake hands with one another; they want to sit down and eat and talk to one another. They're human. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When God made man in His own image at the beginning, He made him thus. He fellowshipped with one another beca...
Souls that are in prison now
63-1110M §101
That's the kind of a man that God raised up for that day, Elijah, a backwoodsman. John, the same thing. See? The spirit of Elijah was upon John. And he says when it comes a woman's day again, that spirit will rise again; before the coming of the Lord when the earth will be burnt and the righteous will walk out upon the ashes of the wicked, like ashes under their feet. He promised it again in these days. Notice, the Holy Spirit promised that. It's fitting to the time that we're living in.
Hebrews, Chapter 2, part 2
57-0825E §19
Oh, we who think that we got a change of clothes and a few groceries in the house, what are we? God could take it in a second. Your very breath holds in His hand. And here in our midst to heal the sick, to proclaim and profess, and to foretell; and every time perfect. And even concerned enough to bring a little dead fish back to its life again, in the midst of us. Jehovah around us. Jehovah in us. The great and mighty I AM. When He died, they thought they had Him. He ascended into hell. When He left the earth that...
Souls that are in prison now
63-1110M §165
I've seen devils do the same thing. I've seen witches speak in tongues and interpret it and write in unknown tongues and interpret it; who'd drink blood out of a human skull, and called on the devil. Danced in the spirit. The Mohammedans dance in the spirit like that until they can take splinters and run it under their fingers, and take a lance and run it up through their face like that and pull it out and not even a drop of blood will come out of it. The Indians will walk on fire, barefooted, three foot deep, and...