I guess ALL includes me...
Departed saints ask, "How long until you judge...inhabitants of the earth?" (Rev. 6:10)
That is, how long before you judge the inhabitants of the earth who killed us...
There is no indication those souls under the altar knew that there were more left on earth that would have to give up their lives...These were killed and said ok God, now it's time to do something...
And there is no indication that there was any communication between those souls and the souls or live bodies on earth...There is no indication that those souls could see anything on earth from where they are at...
CynicalBear asks how do we know these departed saints "were also concerned with those on earth?"
Ummm...maybe the word "Earth" provided a hefty clue???
Actually, no...Had those souls been aware or concerned about live Christians still on earth, they likely wouldn't have pleaded with God to wipe out the inhabitants of the earth...
CynicalBear contends this couldn't possibly be so...why, there just can't be any true church left on earth to be "killed just as they had been"...
Why? 'Cause my fave "tribulation teacher" told me so! ["The church is not on this earth during the Tribulation." -- CB]
Naaa...There won't be any of the church left on earth during the Tribulation but there will be a whole bunch of Jews getting saved during that time...
There are going to be a lot of shocked and saddened people right after the rapture I think. What a shock when they realize they were part of the scoffers crowd rather than the rapture crowd.
Well, we can't say that heaven has "chronological time" like earth...Yet even John in the book of Revelation gives a time period there where there was "silence in heaven for half an hour" (Rev. 8:1)...
What I mean is, when we review Rev. 6, your comment that there was "no indication those souls under the altar knew that there were more left on earth that would have to give up their lives" is possible...and probably "likely" to be the case...for departed saints are not omniscient.
Yet, I find it a bizarre thread when posters ignore obvious words written in the Scriptures ... words we can take at face value.
And for however heaven "measures time," your "indication" comment is correct up thru their raised petition & up until they receive a "response" from God.
You see, the "dead giveaway" that your "indication" didn't remain that ways arrives in a wee little phrase in Rev. 6:11...And let's "unveil" the curtain to see what that phrase is...
[Trumpets please]: "...they were TOLD...
So, there ya go. Pre petition? (Yeah, I buy your claim)
Post response from God? (Hey, when an omniscient God responds to your petition and TELLS you something..."indication" isn't the right verbiage to nab for your keyboard)
(I never claimed there was such communication...Rev. 6:11 clearly shows these departed saints DID receive communication on this matter from an omniscient God...whom I can assure you "could see" EVERYTHING "on earth" no matter where He is at!)
Allow me also to reiterate what I said in my initial post on this thread...post #777: b) I believe prayer is reserved as the Bible depicts it -- as to be directed to God alone; (c) The apostle Paul's counsel to Timothy about Jesus being the ONLY MEDIATOR is downright ignored by Catholic doctrinaires & Catholics who advocate praying to entities beyond God;
The reason I posted Rev. 6:9-11 to begin with was NOT to try to make any case that departed saints receive prayers from saints on earth...Rather, 'twas CynicalBear's clamoring in post #663: "So show me from scripture where those who passed from this life after Christ’s resurrection have an active role in what goes on here on earth.
(So I showed her)