- those who belong to Christ (call them anointed, saints, brothers, whatever) go 'under the altar'... not hades/sheol
Jacob and sons, Job, David and Jesus went to Sheol/Hades (the latter for only 3 days, without seeing corruption). This Revelation 6 scene is a vision, the alter being figurative and not literal. About Revelation 6:9, Clarke says:
I saw under the altar - A symbolical vision was exhibited, in which he saw an altar; and under it the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God - martyred for their attachment to Christianity, are represented as being newly slain as victims to idolatry and superstition.
JFB says:
under the altar — As the blood of sacrificial victims slain on the altar was poured at the bottom of the altar, so the souls of those sacrificed for Christ’s testimony are symbolically represented as under the altar
- none under the altar or in sheol/hades are conscious until their resurrection... "the dead are conscious of nothing"
Agreed, but if we take the scene as literal, the souls under the alter are indeed conscious and calling for vengeance. Figurativly speaking, unjustly spilled blood cries out for just punishment, unlike servants of Christ who literally cry out for forgiveness/grace/mercy for their oppressors.
