Chapter 7
Verses.1-3 “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living
God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the seas, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
Verses 4-8 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed one hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe on Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”
The winds of heaven speak of God’s judgment, and the judgments here are specifically on the earth, sea, and green vegetation. The four angels are holding back the resumption of judgment for a specific reason.
There is a pause between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals; judgment halts for a brief time while God seals 144,000 Jews who will carry His message to the ends of the earth. We are not specifically told that these Jews will be God’s ambassadors, but we assume that this is the reason why He seals them. We have seen that the day of God’s wrath is about to come (6:15–17); so, God brings a lull in the storm and extends His mercy to Jew and Gentile alike. We see here two groups of redeemed people:
1st group is the 144,000 Jews. I am aware of the claim of the Jehovah’s Witness that these 144,000 are the cream of the crop of their cult. It is evident that God knows the difference between Jews and Gentiles. God calls them Jews, so they are Jews! No amount of spiritualizing will change that. You can call yourself anything but it doesn’t make it so. I can claim to be seven- foot tall but it doesn’t make me anything but a liar.
David Reagan said this: “What would God have to do to convince us that He is speaking about 144,000 Jews? He says they are Jews. Specifically, He calls them, “the sons of Israel” (Revelation 7:4). He even enumerates them by their tribes, stating that 12,000 will come from each tribe. Does He need to put a flashing neon sign in the sky that says, “I’m talking about Jews?”
There are other well-meaning but mislead Christians that teach and believe that these 144,000 are symbolic of the church, (the new Israel), but this is wrong because the church is no longer on earth at this point in time.
These sealed servants are all Jews: there are 12,000 each from twelve tribes of Israel. The 144,000 are true Jews who will be alive on earth at that time. They will probably be won to Christ through the ministries of the two witnesses who will preach during the first three and one-half years of the Tribulation (see 11:1–12).
These Jews will probably be God’s chosen missionaries—144,000 “Apostle Paul’s” who carry the Gospel to all nations! This event will fulfill Christ’s prophecy of Matthew 24:14; the result will be the salvation of a multitude of Gentiles (7:9). When you think of the multitudes that Paul won during his ministry, you can begin to imagine what 144,000 such missionaries would do!
The question invariably comes up, Why, are the tribes of Dan and Ephraim omitted here? If you notice the tribes of Joseph and Levi are added: There is a simple explanation for this. Deuteronomy 29:18-21 we read that the man, or woman, or family, or tribe, that should introduce idolatry into Israel, should have their or its name blotted out from under heaven, and be separated out of the Tribes of Israel, This is just what these two tribes of Dan and Ephraim were guilty of when they permitted King Jeroboam to set up Golden Calves to be worshipped, one at Dan in the Tribe of Dan and the other at Bethel in the Tribe of Ephraim. However, we know that God is a covenant keeping God, so this is only a chastisement for their sin. We find in Ezekiel 48:1-7 that they are included in the Holy Land during the millennium period. However, they will have no part in the world-wide evangelism that will be a blessing to the world and the other eleven tribes.
The second group of people shown in this chapter are the multitudes of martyrs that have been saved out of the tribulation.
Verses 9-17 “After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God. Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Verses 13-14 And one of the elders answered saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Verses 15-17 "Therefore, are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them, They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes."
This second group of people form the second vision given here. It was a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred, people, and tongues. They were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. The fact that they were clothed in white robes and had palm leaves in their hands show that they were no just soulish life only. They had recognizable bodies, and were shown to be different races. They are like both Lazarus and the rich man. They can speak, hear, and have all the bodily senses of a live person as we know them today. I believe that our departed Christian friends, family etc. have the same type of body.
But who are these people? John couldn’t answer, so he had one of the elders give him the answer. The Greek term thlipsis (tribulation) in Revelation is always used of believers’ suffering persecution at the hands of unbelievers (1:9; 2:9, 10, 22; 7:14) The cry of these who come up out of the Great Tribulation is not the same as the cry of redemption (5:9). It is the cry of salvation from judgment. While it is the blood of Christ which has purchased them this release, yet they are not members of the Body of Christ, the Church which is to be completed by the Holy Spirit before the Tribulation begins. They are a separate company.
Verses 10 – 11 “And cried with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces and worshipped God, Saying, Amen;: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.”
This may well be the greatest worship service ever. When this multitude of Tribulation Saints stand before the throne praising and glorifying the Father and the Son, all the angels of heaven will join in; followed by the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures. Everyone in heaven will participate in this service. The “Amen” indicates that the angels will agree with the Tribulation saints. Salvation belongs to God and his Son, and they deserve the credit for getting this great multitude to heaven. While angels do not participate in salvation, they do glorify God and the Son, Jesus for bringing it to mankind.
It goes on to say that these believers came out of “the great tribulation.” In the Greek, there is a definite article before the word tribulation. It also indicates that these were those “coming out of the great tribulation, showing the martyrdom was not yet
To have “come out of the great tribulation” (7:14) does not mean that they exited the earth before the hour of tribulation. To the contrary, they did indeed experience the tribulations of this evil age; but now in heaven they enjoy the presence of God (7:15), where they will hunger no more nor thirst any more (7:16). No longer subject to death (21:4), they will drink of the water of life (7:17), will no more experience the oppressive heat of the sun (7:16), and will have every tear wiped from their eyes (7:17).
Verses 15-17 “Therefore, are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, not any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes.”
It seems evident that these “who have come out of the Great Tribulation” have been martyred and were then safe in heaven. They were given the special privilege of being before God’s throne and serving Him day and night in His temple. They were protected by God Himself and never again would they experience hunger … thirst, or scorching heat, with the implication that this was their experience of suffering on earth.
The hunger, thirst, dying, are those things that are brought on by not having the mark of the beast. The scorching heat and darkness, are torments brought on by the judgments of God.
While unsaved people on earth look to the Anti-Christ for their food, water, shelter and even the preservation of their lives, those that were killed at his command have the very Lamb of God providing their needs. And God Himself will wipe away all tears from their eyes. “Sorrows all past, home at last.