CHAPTER 5
The Fifth Seal – Souls Under the Altar: Love Unbound
Revelation 6:9-11 (NASB): “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brethren who were to be killed as they had been would be completed.”
The fifth seal rips open—September 27, 2013, truth bleeds, a jagged gash where souls writhe, throats slashed for God’s word, their witness a torch carving through centuries of lies. No stained-glass martyrs here—church branded them “abominations,” queers torched by Leviticus’ lie (Lev 20:13), soft spirits crushed by empire’s heel. Pulpits, not pagans, wield the blade—crosses drip blood, voices shriek “fag” and “hellbound.” “How long?” they cry—a howl from Rome’s pyres, Crusades (1095–1291) torching “heretics,” Inquisitions (1478–1834) burning “sodomites,” sodomy laws to Uganda’s jails (2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act). White robes slap back—purity’s theirs, not the sanctimonious—but rest is a bitter wait; more bleed ‘til hate’s axe falls. August 7, 2013, sparked it; September 27 torched it—the oracle roared: homosexuality’s no sin. I stood there—a boy torn by infatuation to another, a stranger’s touch awaken my soul, guilt and thrill clawing my gut. Church screamed “sin”; I fasted ‘til I broke. That seal’s thunder hit—love’s no crime, hate’s the killer. The altar groans, souls smash the cage—church twisted God’s breath, fed Leviathan’s maw. This ain’t a whisper—it screams: truth’s in their blood.
Reflection: Ever felt your soul bleed under judgment’s weight? That’s the altar—love’s cry, not sin’s shame.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 slashes: Souls slain for truth roar—homosexuality’s no sin, hate’s the blade.
Jesus’ Cut: Eunuchs Unchained
Matthew 19:10-12 slashes the norm. Disciples groan—marriage a trap too tight. Jesus hits back: “Not everyone can stomach this word—only those it’s given to”, introducing a fringe group that marriage wasn’t their food. “For there are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, eunuchs made by men, and eunuchs who made themselves so for the kingdom of heaven. He who can take it, take it.” Greek’s raw—eunouchos (εὐνοῦχος), a noun—eunuch; eunouchizō (εὐνουχίζω), emasculated. Aramaic roots sing beneath the scripts—Jesus knew his scrolls, he flipped those pages using sharp words, carving insight with his shrewd perspective, a message hidden in his choice of words.
Time to flip those scrolls: Emasculated—Deuteronomy 23:1 bars the “cut or crushed” from the assembly. Not penalized, just dodging the male macho roll-call. Eunuch—Isaiah 56:3-5: “Let no eunuch complain as a dry tree,” he hands them a name better than sons and daughters. He’s not preaching celibacy—he’s outing the outcast. Born eunuchs? Queer from the jump. Made by men? Trans echoes in ancient blades. Self-made? Rejecting the mold for God’s sake. I wrestled that—thought my love damned me. September 27, 2013, Jesus’ words shifted me: love bends, law snaps.
Reflection: Think Jesus boxed love? He carved room for the cut—your heart’s no sin.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 cuts: Eunuchs dodge the law—born, made, chosen—love’s free, not fenced.
David and Jonathan: Covenant of Souls
1 Samuel 18:1 rips it open: on the very first day, first sight, “Jonathan’s soul was knit to David’s, and he loved him as his own soul.” Hebrew na‘amanta li (נַעֲמַנְתָּ לִי)—sweet, precious—spills, no bromance dodge. That “knit,” qashar (קָשַׁר), binds both ways in Hebrew, a reciprocal tangle English flattens—souls locked, not just leaning one-sided. Jonathan strips—robe, sword, belt—dumps his royal coat on David, sealing a karath (כָּרַת) covenant, blood-cut, deeper than marriage. 1 Samuel 20:41—they kiss, weep, David’s flood drowns the rest. 2 Samuel 1:26—“Your love to me was more wonderful than women’s”—no shame, no rocks flung. Hebrew cuts sharper: “to me” (li, לִי), not “for me,” is David’s own voice, his gut declaring Jonathan’s love pierced him, outshining women’s with a blade of awe and comparison. Church scrubbed it straight; I bought the lie ‘til 2013 torched it. Yes, David’s fluid—wives, kids, yet Jonathan’s his pulse. Their love knows no sin—scripture sings it loud. The fifth seal echoes: souls under the altar, slain for this truth, scream it still.
Reflection: Ever loved past the lines? David did—church gagged it, not God.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 binds: David and Jonathan’s love cuts deeper than law—no sin, just soul.
Note: See Annex B for deeper dive into this section.
Sodom’s Torch: Pride, Not Pulse
Ezekiel 16:48-50 guts the myth—Sodom’s sin? Pride, greed, cold to the poor—“overfed and unconcerned”—not bedroom busts. Isaiah 1:9-10 mirrors it—shameless rot, not sex. Jude 7’s “strange flesh” ties Genesis 6:1-4—angels bedding humans, not queer love. Jesus (Luke 17:28-30)—daily grind, blind to judgment. I thought Sodom was gay doom ‘til 2013 flipped it. The fifth seal’s altar holds church corpses—pride’s the match, not pulse. On hindsight, that same stink chokes the church today—self-absorbed, gorged on self-fulfillment, bowing to the rich and famous, gutted by greed. Materialism reigns; helping the poor’s a sideshow, a marketing gimmick—a launchpad to scream “we’re relevant.” Double standards stack high—front-row seats for the elite, the needy left to scrap. The church has swallowed mammon whole, cloaked in slick sophistication, reduced to “overfed and unconcerned with those in need.” Spiritual decay, not orientation, torched Sodom. The Harlot (Revelation 17) stares back—same reek, scarlet lies.
Reflection: Think Sodom’s about sex? Look again—pride fried it, not love.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 burns: Sodom’s arrogance, not attraction—church mirrors it, not queers.
Leviticus’ Lock: Family Filth, Not Free Love
Leviticus 18:22, 20:13—“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman”—church swings it wide, a blunt cudgel to bash love. Hebrew’s tighter, sharper: tiškav miškevē ’iššâ (תִּשְׁכַּב מִשְׁכְּבֵי אִשָּׁה)—“lyings of a woman,” no “as with” (kě or ’eth ghosted). Why’s that matter? Miškevē isn’t your usual “bed”—it’s rare, scorched in new English Bibles like NASB; older ones (KJV: “lie with mankind”) blur it vaguer, gutting context. Zoom out—Leviticus 18’s a kin-purity cage: verses 6-17 ban mom, sister, aunt; 18:22 slots in, bloodline rape, not queer trysts. Genesis 49:4—miškevē marks incest, Reuben defiling his dad’s bed with raw filth—same vibe here. 20:13 doubles it—same miškevē, same death as incest, not free love. Contrast yātsūa (יָצוּעַ)—everyday beds, clean rest; miškevē is twisted, forced muck. English hacks it—tō‘ēbâ (תּוֹעֵבָה), “abomination,” smears broad, but Leviticus 18:26-30 ties it to Canaanite kin-rot—incest Jacob’s clan banned (Genesis 35:22, 49:4) while neighbors shrugged.
Yes, Israel’s laws carved a hard line—incest was a death mark, setting them apart from neighbors who weaved a different tribe. Leviticus 18:6-18 lists the no-goes—parents, siblings, aunts, in-laws; 20:11-21 slams violators with death; Deuteronomy 27:20-23 curses them cold. This was holiness code, not suggestion—“Don’t do what Egypt and Canaan do” (Leviticus 18:3-4). Egypt’s pharaohs wed sisters to keep blood divine—Ptolemies flaunted it. Canaanites? Ugaritic tablets hint kin-lines blurred. Mesopotamia’s Hammurabi banned some (mom-son), but gaps stayed wide. Hittites let uncles and nieces slide. Israel’s rules were tighter, a fist against the chaos—“Their abominations defiled the land” (Leviticus 18:24-30). I flinched at “abomination” ‘til 2013 cracked it: no stoning for love, just tribe’s turf. Today’s church wields it still—preaching purity while gorged on power, shaming outcasts to mask their own tō‘ēbâ—greed, hypocrisy, pews turned profit dens—twisting this tribal lock into a love ban, but the fifth seal’s souls bleed truth: God’s ink guards kin, not hearts.
Reflection: Ever flinched at “abomination”? It’s incest’s stain, not your heart—church wears it now.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 slashes: Leviticus guards kin, not love—church lies, souls pay.
Paul’s Coin: Arsenokoitai and the Cult Rot
1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:10—arsenokoitai (ἀρσενοκοῖται)—“homosexuals”? Bullshit. Paul welds arseno (male) and koitai (bed), skips paiderastes (παιδεραστής)—Greek’s boy-lover tag—and mints a term with teeth. This isn’t lovers tangled in sheets; it’s a jagged blade aimed at swindlers gutting the church from within. Zoom out—1 Corinthians 6:1-8, believers haul each other to pagan courts, shredding unity over petty squabbles; 6:9-10 drops a list—thieves, greedy, arsenokoitai—then 6:12 lands: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.” Paul’s not policing sex—he’s wrestling chaos, folk bowing to the world, not God. Step back—1 Timothy 1:9-10: law’s for the lawless, branded patricides (πατραλῴαις), matricides (μητραλῴαις)—“father-killers,” “mother-killers.” Not blood-drenched hands, but metaphoric gut-punches for cons torching God’s authority, the five-fold spine—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers (Ephesians 4:11). These fakes peddle anomia (ἀνομία)—lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7)—a slow poison rotting the true apostles’ work.
This was the early church’s brawl—Paul and Christ’s disciples, men who’d seen Jesus breathe, faced a swarm of fakers choking the gospel at birth. 1 John 4:1—“Test the spirits, many false prophets are out”—John’s on edge. Galatians 1:6-9—“A different gospel? Let ‘em be cursed”—Paul’s spitting fire at angel-spun lies. 2 Peter 2:1-3—“False teachers sneak in, exploiting with fabricated stories”—Peter smells greed a mile off. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15—“False apostles mask as light, like Satan”—Paul’s ripping their holy veils. 2 Timothy 4:3-4—“They’ll chase myths, ditch truth”—rot’s already sprouting. These aren’t random shots; they’re battle lines carved by men who knew the stakes—truth vs. a cult con job.
What’s the rot feeding this mess? Soon you’ll see—blown wide in Chapter 6. 2013 split the deal—fifth seal’s souls roared up from the altar: love’s no target, it’s these cons shredding the flock. Today’s church swings it crooked—pulpit swindlers twist Paul’s ink for tithes, slap “homosexual” on it—shaming the pure while gorged on power and pride. Souls under the altar scream louder: love’s clean, exploitation’s the sin—a cry rising to a thunder only love can answer.
Reflection: Think Paul damned your bed? He hunted swindlers torching God’s reign—church cons swing it still.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 rips: Arsenokoitai’s cult cons, not queers—truth cuts free.
Note: See Annex C for deeper NT context.
Love’s Law: The Core Unbent
Galatians 5:14—“Love your neighbor fulfills it all.” Romans 13:8—“He who loves has fulfilled the law.” Matthew 22:40—“All hangs on love.” 1 John 4:8—“God is love.” 1 Corinthians 13—without love, you’re ash, clanging junk, a hollow shell. I hated myself—thought my love snapped God’s spine. Church fed me that lie—piled Leviticus’ kin-lock, Paul’s cult-jabs, into a whip to flay my soul. Queer? Damned. Different? Doomed. I choked on it, loathed my pulse—‘til September 27, 2013, when the fifth seal cracked me open. Souls under the altar didn’t whisper—they roared: love’s the judge, not bigotry’s blade. Homophobia’s the sin—scripture’s core bleeds grace, not chains. John 3:16—“God so loved the world”—no fine print, no “except you.” Romans 8:38-39—nothing cuts love’s grip, not flesh, not fear. I was blind—thought rules ruled. Nah—love’s the law, hate’s the crook stealing God’s breath.
This ain’t theory—it’s blood. Church swings “abomination,” “sodomite,” like God’s a jailer—bullshit. Matthew 19:12—eunuchs, born or made, sit at God’s table. David loved Jonathan—soul-to-soul, no shame (2 Samuel 1:26). Paul’s arsenokoitai? Directed at cons, not couples. Scripture’s heartbeat thumps love—every verse they twist, love bends back. 2013 wasn’t a lightbulb—it was a sledgehammer. Fifth seal’s souls—queer, cast-out, crushed—scream it: love’s unbent, hate’s the thief jacking God’s reign. You wanna judge? Look at your hate—scripture’s mirror burns bright.
Reflection: What’s your law—love or loathing? God’s pulse picks one.
Takeaway: SEAL 5 reigns: Love runs it—queer or not, hate’s the crook.
Conclusion: Souls Freed, Lies Burned
The fifth seal doesn’t murmur—it thunders, cracks the sky. Souls under the altar—queer, cut, cast out—don’t beg for vengeance; they howl for truth. Church stacked lies—Matthew’s eunuchs warped to freaks, David’s love reduced to bro-love, Sodom’s pride spun to sex, Leviticus’ kin twisted to hate, Paul’s cons bent to damn the pure. I lived that cage—shamed my leash, hated my whip—‘til September 27, 2013, torched it, smashed it to dust. Homosexuality’s no sin—never was. Love’s the law, hate’s the Harlot—Revelation 17, drunk on dogma’s blood, riding lies. These souls, slashed by church blades—queer kids, broken hearts, outcasts—wear white now, truth’s their robe, not shame’s rags. I was one—bled under that altar ‘til love hauled me up.
Souls claw from beneath—altar’s no throne, it’s a crypt for the cast-out. Revelation 6:9 pins them: “slain for the word”—logos, truth, not law’s chains. Homosexuals, lovers of their own, branded foul by scribes who bent arsenokoitai (1 Cor 6:9)—Paul’s jab at lust, not love, warped by Rome. Leviticus 18:22—“man lies with man”—greed’s taboo, not heart’s fire.
Matthew 7:1—“Judge not”—church ignored it, built a gallows instead. Galatians 3:28—“No male, female, Jew, Greek”—all one, yet they carved “other.” Romans 2:1—“You who judge are guilty”—their mirror’s cracked. Every text they warped, love rewrites—eunuchs welcomed, David honored, Sodom judged, Leviticus freed, Paul’s truth unleashed. Hate’s a ghost—love roars, shakes the pews, burns the rulebooks. Souls rise, chains snap—fifth seal’s fire lights the sixth. Church’s dirt piles high—mammon, power, pride—but love’s clean, unbent, eternal. I preached their doom—September 27 torched it: truth’s sharp—pick your side, ‘cause the altar’s bleeding still.
Reflection: Who’s bleeding under your altar—lovers or liars? Truth cuts deep—choose.
Final Takeaway: SEAL 5 unbound: Love’s clean, church’s dirty—souls rise, lies crash.
Chapter 5: Additional Reading—