There is only one reason God has not yet fully judged mankind for its treacherous rebellion: He desires to redeem sinners for His eternal glory. However, the day of the Lord s vengeance is at hand. He will pour out His wrath on the ungodly in a historical judgment at the end of this age. Yet, even in the midst of such great tribulation, His grace and mercy will be on display. As we continue to consider the apostle John s vision of end time events, we now come to the seventh chapter of this book concerning The Revelation of Jesus Christ. The subject is still the Tribulation period, to which we were introduced in the previous chapter, but the focus is on God s elect who come to faith in Christ during this time. This seven-year span will produce unparalleled troubles on the earth. In it, God begins to unleash His fury against sin, as He reclaims the universe from Satan who deceived humanity and usurped man s delegated authority over the creation (Gen. 1-3). This restoration is depicted as Christ (the worthy Lamb of ch. 5) breaks the seven seals of the scroll containing God s kingdom agenda. With each seal more of His judgments come. The first four seals (6:1-8) revealed the deception of false peace and the war, famine and death which ensue i.e. the labor pains that bring forth the Great Tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:4-26). The fifth seal describes another heavenly scene in which God escalates the tribulation in response to the prayers of His martyred saints (6:9-11).! 1
The sixth seal began the Great Tribulation (6:12-17). At that time, God jolts the entire universe, and there will be a complete and catastrophic disruption of the natural order. This will greatly disturb the ungodly population that still remains on the earth. Some people will literally die from fear as they realize that the great day of the Lord s wrath has come (Lk. 21:26). However, the living will continue to defy God s sovereignty, even as they suffer the consequences and ultimately die in their sins. Such irrational rebellion highlights the exceeding sinfulness of man s depraved heart, and it explains God s horrific judgments revealed in the seventh seal (cf. 2 Thess. 2:11-12). This final section of the scroll, which discloses the severe and rapid judgments (trumpet and bowl) immediately prior to Christ s glorious appearing, commences in chapter eight. But chapter seven provides us with a parentheses in the apostle s vision. Before the full fury of God s vengeance is executed, we become better acquainted with the Tribulation saints to whom we were introduced in chapter six (vv. 9-11). These play an important role in the eschatological narrative. In part one of this study, we will consider the Jewish saints who receive God s seal of protection to serve as His witnesses. Part two will elaborate on the rest of the multitude of God s redeemed among the nations (7:9-17). But first, in Revelation 7:1-8, we see that God restrains His judgment in order to seal a number of His servants from the tribes of Israel.! 2
The Tribulation Saints (7:1-17) - Part I The Sealed of Israel (vv. 1-8) Judgement is Restrained (v. 1) The Bible repeatedly declares that God preserves His people from His judgment on the wicked (e.g. Gen. 7:1-24; Pss. 34:17-22; 91:1-16; Mal. 3:16-4:3; Rev. 3:10). That does not mean, of course, that we will not suffer in this world. All who live a godly life will be persecuted to some degree for the Lord s sake (2 Tim. 3:12). The persecution will be intense during the Tribulation, but God graciously preserves the witness of His servants as He sees fit. Some will die for their faith, and others will not, but all will stand as a testimony to the saving message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. At this point in John s overall vision, the focus changes temporarily from the impending doom of judgment on the ungodly to the grace of the Lord toward His saints. This shift is indicated by the phrase After these things, which is used in various other places in the book to denote a new observation or perspective (cf. 4:1; 7:9; 15:5; 18:1; 19:1). What John saw at this point was four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. That is, these holy and mighty beings were poised at the four quadrants of the compass (N, S, E, W) in order to restrain the four winds of the earth. In other words, they were holding back the wind which normally comes from all directions.! 3
They were responding to the Lord s command that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree (v. 1b). This means that they are holding back the judgment of God. The four winds are mentioned elsewhere in Scripture relative to divine judgment (e.g. Jer. 49:36; Dan. 7:2). Here no wind is allowed to blow an eerie calm before the storm. This foreboding interruption in the earth s atmosphere symbolizes God s great restraint, while He withholds His wrath yet a little longer in order to accomplish His redemptive purpose. Servants are Sealed (vv. 2-3) John then observes another angel ascending from the east. This fifth angelic being appears from the rising of the sun. From the apostle s location on the island of Patmos (1:9), this angel proceeds from the direction of Israel. There lies God s holy city, Jerusalem, and that is where all of His promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are fulfilled. It is there that the Christ will reign on the throne of His father David. This has great significance considering the purpose for which this angel has come forth.! 4
He comes with the seal of the living God in order to identify the Lord s servants among Israel s tribes. This seal (Gr. -sphragis) represents the mark of the only true and sovereign King the true and living God who is inherently holy, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent (cf. Jer. 10:10; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; 1 Tim. 6:14-16; Rev. 4:8, 11). These signets, sometimes set in a ring, were used by kings and their officials to verify the authenticity of royal documents and ownership of royal items. Thus it speaks of ownership and protection. This seal marks God s servants for protection (cf. 12:6, 13-17). This fifth angel cries out with a loud voice to his fellow angelic servants: Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads (v. 3). The mark is placed in a prominent location on their bodies, so that their identity is unmistakable. Revelation 14:1 explains that the mark identifies them with the Lamb and that these Jewish servants had His Father s name written on their foreheads (Note: Ancients tattooed the name of their god on their bodies; here the true God marks His people). Interestingly, the word for servants actually denotes a bond-servant a willful slave to the Lord. This signifies that they already belong to Him via faith and repentance. They had obviously proven very loyal and faithful (Rev. 14:4-5). Now He has a task for these Jewish believers, and they need His sovereign protection to accomplish it in the midst of the Tribulation.! 5
For it was granted to these four angels holding back the wind to harm the earth and the sea (v. 2b) with the coming judgments. So they are commanded by God, via this fifth angel, to restrain the judgments until these saints are sealed. Almighty God must mark His servants before He unleashes His wrath. Why? Because He is still performing His work of redemption. Not only is He fulfilling His promise of protection to His saints, but He is calling out even more saints with the Gospel during this time of tribulation. Tribes are Recognized (vv. 4-8) The number of those who were sealed is very precise. John heard the Lord declare the number, or he heard the angels repeating it. Either way, One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed (v. 4). Revelation 14:4 identifies them as being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. They are a foretaste of the Lord s redemption of the nation itself when the Tribulation comes to a close and the earthly kingdom is established (cf. Zech. 12:10-13:1; Rom. 11:26). The 144,000, no doubt, play a key role in evangelizing the Jews prior to that time. Their specific number also emphasizes God s sovereign, elective purpose in salvation. All records of the tribes were lost in the destruction of the Jerusalem in AD 70, but God s memory does not fail. He knows those whom He has chosen for salvation and service both of the Jews and the Gentiles.! 6
That this number is taken from the tribes of the Jews is very clear. Therefore, this is not identifying the Church. Some unfortunately confuse the two in their poor interpretations of this and other New Testament passages. Israel is God s chosen nation called to be His witness the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And while not all Israel is saved (Rom. 9:6), they are all still Israelites. They lost the delegated role as God s ambassadors temporarily due to repeated disobedience, and the Church (believers among both the Jews and Gentiles) is fulfilling that role until Christ returns (Rom. 9-11; 2 Cor. 5:19-20). However, the Lord will reinstate redeemed Israel as His witness nation in the Millennial Kingdom (Ezek. 39:21-48:35). It is all part of His agenda for the kingdom of heaven. Verses five through eight provide a list of each tribe from which twelve thousand token representatives are taken and sealed. Throughout Scripture, the tribes are listed in a variety of ways (e.g. order of birth for Jacob s sons; order of Jacob s blessings on his sons; order in which the tribes were encamped in the wilderness wanderings, etc.), and the specific tribal names differ in the way they are presented (e.g. Joseph is used in place of his son, Ephraim s name). There is really no standard listing, although this list seems to be associated with the degree of loyalty with which the tribes historically served the Lord. By all tribes it is evidently meant that all tribes selected by God for this task will be in that number.! 7
Judah is here listed first, perhaps because he rose as a leader over all his brethren, and the Christ came through his line (Gen. 49:8-12). Reuben, however, was the actual firstborn, but he lost his birthright because he committed sexual immorality with his father s concubine (1 Chron. 5:1-2). Nonetheless, Reuben was sympathetic to Joseph who was treated spitefully by their brothers (Gen. 37:21, 29). But the tribe never produced any leaders of mention for the nation, and Moses even prayed that they would not die out as a tribe (Deut. 33:6). While Joseph (v. 8) was given Reuben s birthright, Judah prevailed as the head of the tribes. Joseph is mentioned in place of his son, Ephraim, which is normally listed probably because of that son s part in the secession of the northern tribes from the leadership of Judah s royal line (Is. 7:17) and for its idolatry (Hos. 4:17). Joseph s other son, Manasseh is included because of his faithfulness to his father s house. Likewise, the priestly tribe of Levi, serves here as an apparent substitute for the tribe of Dan, which is likely omitted due to gross idolatry (Deut. 29:18-21; Judges 18; Amos 8:14). Still, in His grace, the Lord includes both Dan and Ephraim to receive blessings in the Millennial kingdom and beyond (Ezek. 48:1-6ff). The others: Gad Asher Naphtali Simeon Issachar Zebulun Benjamin all appear here and in other listings. Benjamin, of course, being the youngest of Jacob s sons.! 8
God will judge the ungodly in the great day of His wrath. He has delayed only for the purpose of bringing His elect into the kingdom. Even in the time of Great Tribulation, the Lord will redeem and seal His saints to serve as His witnesses before the end comes. This is yet another notable affirmation of the doctrine of God s sovereign election. That anyone is saved and able to serve in God s eternal kingdom is indeed a gracious privilege provided by the Almighty. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are a remarkable example of this. From a disobedient nation, God will yet redeem a remnant and use them for His glory. The 144,000 faithful Jewish witnesses are but a remnant of the remnant the firstfruits of a redeemed nation to serve as His witness to the earth! They reflect the testimony of Scripture that God is able and willing to redeem unworthy sinners for His eternal purpose. Are you among the redeemed of the Lord? Whether or not you are of Jewish descent, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has come to you that you might repent of sin and believe in the Savior. It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Rom. 1:16). Have you truly come to Christ in saving faith? If so, your desire will be to faithfully serve Him in His kingdom now and forever (Eph. 2:8-10; 4:1-32).! 9