Bob Allen

Revelation 7

Questions to ask in Revelation Seven:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” 

The 144,000

4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:  5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Tribulation

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”  13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

 

 

  1. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – He is separate from God but worthy to worship.  He is also the one whose blood “washed the robes of the martyrs” and made them white.  He is in the “center of the throne” and he “will be their shepherd” to those who gather here.
  2. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church? That the church, although crucial during the church age, is not the source for a witness for God during the tribulation or the greatest revival of all time.  That role is taken up by the 144,000 from the 12 tribes.
  3. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? Look at how God stops the judgment of the world to demonstrate that He doesn’t take another step until His own are sealed and protected. This is a managed judgment.  God never loses control of Himself or humanity.
  4. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One? God maintains the power to restrict any harm to come to His servants.  He seals up the 144,000 to protect them from His wrath or the evil of the Satan.  So even in the midst of all this global judgment, His sealed will not be harmed.
  5. Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage? God doesn’t allow the world to be without a witness and His message will be made known even in the hardest of times.  Also, we see God answering the honest cries of the lost world.  Chapter 7 is the answer to the cry:  Who can stand before the throne of the Lamb?
  6. Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience? This is more a chapter about Christ welcoming the slain from the tribulation.  This chapter is an interlude, a pause of the seven seals.

 

Thoughts:

Note that this chapter answers the question at the end of Chapter six – Who can stand?  This chapter ends up with many standing before the throne of God, but all redeemed.

  1. The Four Corners of the Earth Controversy – while there is a lot of effort to prove that the four corners of the earth referred to in Rev 7 actually is scientifically accurate, it seems to me that if God tells us that the wind comes from the four corners, we can believe Him. If there is a theory that explains this the best, it is the point that the wind is created by the movement of the sun, and the sun rotates and effects based on the Equator (which it crosses twice annually) and the two solstices (summer and winter).  It could also be the description of the four points from which wind come (N,S,E, and W).
  2. The Angels of Revelation 7
    1. The four Angels –
      1. What they do
        1. Hold back the wind. What does the wind do?  No cloud movement, no rain without wind.   Note also there is still the sea and the trees.  Mankind has not destroyed the earth.  In Rev 8, a 1/3 of the trees will be burned, and all grass will burn up.  Springs and water will be poisoned by God’s judgment, so those are still around.  The planet belongs to God and He will sustain it. God has never asked us to save His planet, but to have authority over it.
      2. What the wind does – pollenates, cleans the air, refreshes, remember the stench of death abounds, but there is no relief.
    2. The commanding Angel. – puts a stop to the process of executing the seals so that something else might be completed. Shows that God is still under control even in times of judgment.
  3. The Sealing of the 144,000
    1. These are Jews – not the church.
    2. There are 144,000 (Right now in the world, it is estimated that there are 50,000 missionaries.)
    3. They will be preserved until the end of the Great Tribulation (Rev 14:4) – so He does preserve them.
  4. Why they are sealed and what will they do?
    1. They are sealed as God’s Possession
    2. They are sealed with God’s Protection against the judgments of God.
    3. They are sealed with God’s Power –
    4. They are sealed as God’s Pledge. (v4)
  5. Who are the 144,000?
    1. They are pure – they have not been defiled – Rev 14: 4
    2. They are loyal – they follow the Lamb – Rev 14: 4
    3. They are honest – – Rev 14: 4
    4. They are blameless – meaning they are redeemed. Just as you and I are blameless.
    5. They aren’t JW – there are 8.13 million JWs in the world according to the church’s 2016 demographics. 144,000 places in heaven.  The rest will be living on earth. They are so very wrong.
    6. They are the first fruits to God and to the Lamb
  6. The Great Multitude
    1. They came from the Tribulation
    2. They are standing before the Lord
    3. They came from every nation (ethnos), tribe (clan or family), people (race), and language (language groups)
    4. They are many! – And this is most likely in direct response to the events in chapter six.
    5. They will hunger no more
    6. They will drink from the water of Life
    7. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes
  7. The Doxology of Chapter 7 – blessing, glory, wisdom, gratitude, time, power,