Full Martyrdom

When the Lamb breaks the fifth seal, martyrs cry out for vindication. That launches a thread of the plot of Revelation that continues to the end of the seven bowls. At this point, these seem to be the salient moments:

1) Martyrs cry out for vindication and are told to wait a little longer until other martyrs join them (ch. 6).

2) 144,000 are sealed for martyrdom (ch 7), the last of the Old Covenant martyrs, drawn from Israel’s tribes.

3) Though the 144,000 are not yet martyrs, they are sealed to martyrdom, and that is enough for the martyrs from the fifth seal to receive their white robes and ascend to join the heavenly liturgy (ch. 7). They stand before the throne as priests.

4) Now that the 144,000 are sealed, the winds at the corners of the land can be unleashed to destroy everything except those sealed (7:1-3; 9:4).

5) The next time we see the 144,000, they have begun their ascent; they are standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb (14:1). By the end of chapter 14, they have been harvested.

6) Those who come off as victors in the battle with the beasts are elevated above the glass sea (15:2), to join the white-robed martyrs from chapter 7.

7) The blood of the 144,000 is then poured out on the land and city (ch. 16), and the city falls (chs. 17-18). The combined multitude of martyrs from ch. 6 and the 144,000 rejoice at the harlot’s destruction (ch. 19).

8) The martyrs (the martyrs from ch. 6 plus the 144,000) take the thrones that have been given up by the angelic Ancient Ones (ch. 20). With the fall of the city, they have advanced from priests to kings.