Revelation

Chapter Overview

Revelation chapter seven pauses the sequence of the seven seals from the previous chapter to introduce two distinct groups of people. First, John sees four angels holding back the four winds of the earth while a fifth angel seals 144,000 servants of God from the twelve tribes of Israel, marking them as witnesses for the days ahead. Then John's attention shifts to a second group—a vast, uncountable multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, dressed in white and standing before the throne and the Lamb, having come out of the Great Persecution.

Revelation 7:1

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 land, on the sea or on any tree.

Can you imagine this? We have all seen calm days when there doesn't seem to be the slightest breeze anywhere. This verse describes the calmest day where there is not a wind anywhere in the entire world. God used the wind in many cases throughout the Bible, such as Genesis 8, where he used the wind to cause the waters of the flood to subside. In Exodus chapter ten, God used an East wind to bring the plague of locusts on Egypt, and in Exodus chapter fourteen, God used an East wind to part the Red Sea. In Acts 2, the coming of the Holy Spirit is described as the sound of a mighty wind. We see, in this verse, that God has sent angels to restrain the winds until it is time for the start of judgment. We see the number four repeated in this passage and are reminded that the number four refers to the earth, and in this we see that the coming judgment is going to affect all of the earth.

Revelation 7:2 & 3

I saw another angel coming up from the east with a seal from the living God, and he shouted to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea, "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!"

John sees an angel coming from the east to mark some very special servants of God. In early times, kings would have a ring with special markings on it that identified himself, and anything that the mark (seal) was put on was identified as coming from the king. The same is true here, as the King of Kings is putting his seal on some of his people. This will identify them in the tough times that are described in chapter six and also the chapters to come. Everyone that is left on the earth will know that they are from God. We saw another example of God marking his people in Ezekiel chapter nine. There, the people were marked with the Hebrew letter taw, which is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The mark originally looked like an "x."

Revelation 7:4

I heard how many were sealed - 144,000 from every tribe of the people of Isra'el:

We must remember here that these 144,000 are sealed (marked) as special servants of God. They do not represent all of the saved Jews, but they are to be witnesses to the people during the days that follow. God has always had his witnesses on this earth, and this will continue until the final judgment and the renewal of all things.

Revelation 7:5-8

From the tribe of Y'hudah 12,000 were sealed from the tribe of Re'uven 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher 12,000 from the tribe of Naftali 12,000 from the tribe of M'nasheh 12,000 from the tribe of Shim'on 12,000 from the tribe of Levi 12,000 from the tribe of Yissakhar 12,000 from the tribe of Z'vulun 12,000 from the tribe of Yosef 12,000 from the tribe of Binyamin 12,000

In this passage, God gets specific about who those that are sealed actually are. We see that there is a list of twelve tribes of Israel and there are 12,000 witnesses from each tribe. First of all, we must understand that the number twelve represents supreme authority, which comes from God. These twelve tribes are chosen and granted supreme authority by the very God of the universe. There are also some important things to notice about this list, such as they are not listed in the traditional order of the oldest son being first. (Judah is listed first instead of Reuben, who was the firstborn son of Israel.) Reuben was removed from the place of honor (being listed first) because of the sexual sin described in Genesis 49:4 (he went up on his father's bed). Also, this is not the same list as in Genesis. (Dan is not listed but is replaced by Levi, which was the priestly tribe.) Dan lost the privilege of being a sealed witness here because they were the first tribe of Israel to go into idolatry and became a center of calf worship (Judges 18:30). Another difference between this list and that of Genesis is that Ephraim is replaced by Joseph, who was his father. Ephraim is replaced because of their idolatry and their leading the division of the kingdom (Hosea 4:17). We must remember, at this point, that this is not a list of those that are saved, but it is a specific list of those that are chosen to be witnesses at this specific point in time. (The tribes of Dan and Ephraim have not lost their salvation; they are simply not chosen for this special mission.)

Revelation 7:9

After this, I looked; and there before me was a huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands;

Now, we take a look at the second group described in Revelation chapter seven. Unlike the first group, this group is not given a specific number, but we are told that there are too many for one man to count. (That does not mean that it is an infinite number; it just means that it is too much for one man to count.) We also see that they are from all groups of people that were on the earth. They are standing before the throne and are robed in white, which lets us know that they are redeemed (saved). In this, we see what is commonly called the rapture of the church. We also see that they are "holding palm branches," which refers back to the Festival of Sukkot, which celebrated the last of the harvest and was a time of remembrance of Israel's wandering in the desert. This festival is commonly referred to as the "season of our rejoicing." The waving of palm branches was a sign of victory in Jewish tradition.

Revelation 7:10

and they shouted, "Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

This great group of people is rejoicing in their salvation and is so grateful that they simply praise God.

Revelation 7:11 & 12

All the angels stood around the throne, the elders and the four living beings; they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God, saying, "Amen! Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks, honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!"

Now, we are told of the angels around the throne. They fall down and worship God, praising him, but do not mention salvation, because they did not need or receive salvation.

Revelation 7:13 & 14

One of the elders asked me, "These people dressed in white robes - who are they, and where are they from?" "Sir," I answered, "you know." Then he told me, "These are the people who have come out of the Great Persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.

Now, we see what seems to be a very odd conversation between one of the elders of the church and John. The elder asks John who all the people are, and John is somewhat surprised, as we see by his answer. Have you ever had someone ask you about something where you do not have a clue as to the answer but you know that the person who asks knows the answer? That is exactly what is happening here. When John says "Sir, you know," he is basically saying "How should I know?" and he knows that the elder knows who they are. Then, the elder tells John that they are those who have been saved through the Great Persecution that was symbolized by the riders on the four horses in chapter six. They have had their sins forgiven through the sacrifice of Yeshua Messiah (the Lamb).

Revelation 7:15-17

That is why they are before God's throne. "Day and night they serve him in his Temple; and the One who sits on the throne will put his Sh'khinah upon them. "They will never again be hungry, they will never again be thirsty, the sun will not beat down on them, nor will any burning heat. "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will shepherd them, will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."

This group of tribulation saints finds rest in the presence of God, and here we see a list of blessings. They will not hunger or thirst anymore (remember that, in chapter six, we saw famines, plagues, etc., and these people went through all of that). Most of these people were probably martyrs (killed for their faith), but now they live! God's grace and mercy were in effect even during this most difficult time!