Step still to come (one reading among others)

Fifth seal — the martyrs under the altar

**Artist’s impression** Above, the martyrs under the altar receive white robes (Rev 6:9-11); below, the 6th seal. Artist’s impression by Albrecht Dürer (1498). — Albrecht Dürer (woodcut, 1498; impression from the National Gallery of Art, Washington), Wikimedia Commons · CC0

? Not yet happened, no date

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. John, in the book of Revelation, toward the end of the 1st century, sees, at the fifth seal, the souls of people killed for their faith asking God “how long?”. They are told to wait a little longer, until others are killed as they were.

What happened. This has not happened yet in its entirety. The text describes martyrs already dead, and announces that others must still join them.

What is still debated. this seal can be open and under way without being finished, which prevents reading the seven seals as stages that end one after another.

The text (World English Bible)

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had. They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” A long white robe was given to each of them. They were told that they should rest yet for a while, until their fellow servants and their brothers, who would also be killed even as they were, should complete their course.
Rev 6:9-11