In concluding the horrific judgment brought about by the opening of the sixth seal, John interposes an eschatological interlude that responds to the two questions evoked by the experience of human suffering. Whether they concern the suffering of Christian martyrs, lamented at the opening of the scroll’s fifth seal, or of their persecutors, initiated by the sixth, the cries for vindication and of lamentation envision a common recognition that the social order and its ruling elite are opposed to the well-being of God’s creation. Even the structures of a fallen world must be reversed and transformed before the good intentions of their creator are realized. Of course, it should be said at this point that human sinfulness is more than rebellion against the creator; human sin is also the irratio…