The longsuffering of God has been considered in previous articles. To review, our God is slow to anger. He is plenteous in mercy. He is patient with His children. God “is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9).

Does the fact that we serve a longsuffering God mean that He will allow wickedness to go unpunished forever? This was the question that the martyrs of Revelation 6, pleading underneath the altar of Heaven, asked the Lord after the opening of the fifth seal.

“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:9–10).

This cry—“How long, O Lord?”—has been the cry of martyrs throughout the ages. Asaph pondered the same question when he saw the “ungodly, who prosper in the world” (Psalm 73:12). The psalmist also noticed that “their eyes stand out with fatness” and that the wicked “have more than heart could wish” (Psalm 73:7).

Asaph’s observation remained true beyond his time. The Christians of the first century church hid in dark catacombs while the proud Roman emperors sat in purple robes upon their thrones. If discovered and captured, the believers often met their deaths in the arena that held ravenous lions.

The Culdees, believers of God in ancient Scotland and Ireland, worshipped God among the countryside of rocks and hills while the pagans enjoyed prosperity in comfortable surroundings. The believing Christians of England and Germany were oppressed by the pagan Vikings. The Waldensian Christians of the Piedmont (northwestern Italy) were persecuted mercilessly by the apostate Church of Rome.

Like Asaph, many of God’s suffering servants have pondered the same question through the ages of human history. From the prophets of the Old Testament, such as Elijah and Elisha, to the apostles of the New Testament, such as Paul and Silas, it often seems that the children of God are suffering while the children of the world are prospering.

Why? Does God’s attribute of longsuffering toward wickedness mean that He no longer cares regarding the plight of His persecuted saints? No! God has not forgotten His oppressed children. His longsuffering is perfectly balanced with all His other attributes: His justice, His truth, His omnipotence, and His holiness, and more.

In God’s own time and in His own way, He will avenge His suffering servants. Asaph rightly testified, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image” (Psalm 73:17–20).

In a similar manner, the Lord reveals His coming vengeance to the pleading martyrs of Revelation 6. “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:11).

The interesting aspect about God’s answer to the martyrs’ question is that He encourages them also to be longsuffering. “Rest yet for a little season”—God tells them that His persecuted children are to be patient as He is, and to wait and to suffer long.

One day the last martyr will be slain. The blood of the final martyr will be shed. The last prayer of a suffering saint will be prayed. The last sermon of salvation will be preached. The last soul will be redeemed.

Then—and only then—on a glorious day that only God Himself knows, His vengeance will be fully revealed. He will come again in power and great glory! God will dash His enemies in pieces like a potter’s vessel. He will break them with a rod of iron.

Until that day of final triumph, may the Lord of the martyrs help us to be patient as He is patient, to be longsuffering as He is longsuffering, knowing that He will one day avenge His children and glorify His name. Whenever we are tempted to ask, “O Lord, how long?” remind us of Your word: “Rest yet for a little season.”