Revelation 6:9-11: When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; they cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?" Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

 

First of all, I would be very hesitant to use Revelation to "prove" anything. The book is highly symbolic and non-literal, and many weird and bizarre interpretations of it are recorded down through the centuries. In my opinion, most of it is a vision and not to be taken literally. In 1:10 John says, "I was IN THE SPIRIT on the Lord's day..." He hears a voice and turns and sees seven golden lampstands. It is made clear to him that these seven lampstands "are the seven churches" (1:20). That is, the seven lampstands were SYMBOLS of the seven churches. This is a very Hebraic way of speaking. It is LITERAL language used in a figurative or symbolic sense. The lampstands did not exist in reality, they were visual representations of seven churches. John was having a VISION. Therefore, taking 6:9-11 literally is very wrong, in my opinion, because John is still "in the Spirit" (4:2) and is seeing visions.

 

Nevertheless, people use this passage to support the idea that there are such things as disembodied souls and that they go to heaven (or hell) upon the death of the body.

 

I notice that these souls "CRIED out with a loud voice..."How long...?" Is this the picture of heaven that is typical? Nope. In heaven there is no crying because there is neither sadness nor sorrow for God will wipe away every tear.

 

These souls were crying out for vengeance. I wasn't aware that ANYONE who was in heaven would be interested in vengeance. 

 

They were given white robes. I wasn't aware that disembodied souls could wear clothes - they have no body to put them on!

 

They were told to "rest a little longer." This is commensurate with the Hebraic paradigm that to die is to fall asleep.

 

The souls are UNDER the alter. Is this where disembodied souls in heaven reside? I thought they lived in mansions of glory on streets paved with gold.

 

As can be plainly seen, if intellectual integrity is to be maintained, anyone who wishes to use a literal understanding of this passage to prove the existence of disembodied souls in heaven needs to also hold to what is literally said about them. No one that I know of is willing to do that.

 

The Hebrews believed that "the life of the flesh (soul, 'nephesh') is in the blood". (Lev. 17:11). By personification, a slain person's blood is said to "cry" or "speak". (Gen. 4:10 cf. Heb. 12:24). Revelation contains over 500 references to the Old Testament; it is very much in the Hebraic mold. In this text the allusion is to the blood of the burnt offering which was poured at the base of the brazen altar. (Lev. 4:7). The passage, therefore, refers to the lives of martyrs given as a testimony to their faith. Paul makes a similar allusion: "For I am already on the point of being sacrificed [the Greek is, "poured out"]; the time of my departure has come." (2 Tim. 4: 6 RSV).