Before we begin looking at chapter 7 of Revelation, let’s do a quick review of the events that just took place when Jesus opened the sixth seal at the end of chapter 6.
The sixth seal brought:
· A great, worldwide earthquake.
· The sky appeared to split and roll back.
· The sun was darkened and the moon turned blood red, perhaps by all the volcanic dust and debris.
· The people hid in the mountains, which were falling down, because they realized the great day of God’s wrath, and the wrath of the Lamb had come.
An Interlude
In this article, we start with an interlude, or a pause, in what’s been happening:
· John sees two visions in chapter 7, which separates the sixth and seventh seal.
· Though the world is falling apart, God's restraining and protecting hand is outstretched to protect His chosen ones.
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 should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree”:
· These four angels move to center-stage as the new vision begins:
o We know this is a new vision because of the phrase "after this," which introduces a new scene.
· When does this vision take place?
o Just after the sixth seal.
o We know this by the change in the subject of the sixth seal and by the delay, (until Revelation 8:1), in the opening of the seventh seal.
· The “four winds” are controlled by four angels:
o These angels may be lower rank than the four living beings at the throne in heaven. But they have power over the forces of nature.
o All we really know about them, from the text, is that they have a particular responsibility assigned to them and that is to hold back the winds.
· Are these “winds” literal windiness, or symbolic of something else?
o I believe, as we’ll see a little later, that, these “winds” are winds of judgment, the trumpets, which will begin at the opening of the seventh seal.
· The phrase “at the four corners of the earth,” is a term used to describe the four points of a compass, meaning the whole earth is involved:
o We know that the earth is not a flat square with four corners.
o So, the language, here, is figurative and shows the worldwide nature of these angels’ responsibility.
· At each compass point, one of the four winds is held back by an angel who is serving the Lord:
o The mission of the four angels is to prevent these winds of judgment from starting too soon.
· The phrase, “holding back,” in the Greek, implies that the winds are struggling to get loose, but they are being restrained.
· In Jeremiah 49:36-38, Daniel 7:2, and Hosea 13:15, the four winds picture God's destructive action against the earth:
o So, it's best to see these winds as a figurative way of referring to the judgments that are about to happen on the earth and the angels are holding them back.
· Because of the flowing language found here, there’s no mention of the winds being released:
o However, we will see the seven angels sounding their trumpets and the judgments fall upon the earth later.
o The angelic restraint, here, is a delaying of the start of the trumpet judgments.
o However, the 144,000 must be sealed before the unleashing of these destructive winds.
v.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”:
· John sees a fifth angel. It has been suggested that this angel could be Christ, the Holy Spirit, an archangel, a special messenger from Christ, or the prophet Elijah.
· There are two reasons why this would be incorrect:
o First, "another" is the Greek word, “allon,” which means another of the same kind:
Ø This angel is of the same character as the first four.
o Second, by using the word “we”, notice he says, “until we have sealed,” in v.3, this angel identifies himself with the other four in the same mission.
· John sees him "ascending from the rising of the sun" from the east:
o It’s important for us to ask why this angel came from the east?
o The east is the direction of the land of Israel and it’s appropriate, here, because in this section, the 12 tribes of Israel are the ones about to be sealed, but this is only part of the significance.
o Also, God has chosen to reveal His salvation from this area of the world: Jesus came from Israel!
· Notice what the fifth angel has with him, "the seal of the living God":
o "the seal" was usually a signet ring that the king would stamp something to validate official documents or to mark his property.
o It was also used to authenticate and to protect.
o The text does not explicitly say what the seal is, but Revelation 14:1 (which we’ll see later) suggests that it’s the name of the Lamb and that of His Father.
An interesting Side Note
· “mark,” in the Greek, is the word charagma. It’s the word used to describe the label placed on the followers of the beast in Revelation 13:6-7:
o It carries the connotation of branding, or tattooing, as was practiced by pagan religions.
o “seal,” in the Greek, is the word sphragis, used here. It has a rich meaning in Christian usage, including that of ownership (2 Corinthians 1:22), authentication (John 6:27), and protection leading to final salvation (Eph. 1:14; 4:30).
· It’s the seal “of the living God.” This is a familiar expression of both the Old and New Testament:
o This kind of reference to God emphasizes the contrast between the one eternal God, and the many temporary gods of the pagans.
o The title, “living God” also adds seriousness and strength to the seal.
· “He cried out with a loud voice”:
o This loud cry shows the urgency of his mission. His first concern is the protection of the 144,000.
o Before the four angels release the winds, the judgments, which will wreak havoc on the earth, these saints must receive their seal of protection.
v.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 phrase, "do not harm," tells the four angels to continue their restraint of the four winds a little longer.
· The judgments cannot begin until the sealing work is done:
o Until they seal the “bond servants,” literally, “the slaves of our God upon their foreheads.”
o The seal is a pledge of security.
· Are we sealed? Yes, with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed [same Greek word as Rev. 7:2] in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
What about these bondservants? Who are they?
· They are a remnant of nation of Israel: 144,000 of them.
v.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”:
o John heard the number of the ones identified by the seal from an unnamed source, maybe the fifth angel.
· There are two approaches to interpreting this 144,000:
o The question is: “Is this a literal, or symbolic number?”
· The symbolic approach believes that it’s impossible to take the number literally:
o They see it as simply a vast number, unable to be determined.
o The primary reason for this view is their tendency to make the 144,000 into a group that represents the Church, because there can be no exact number of believers.
o But there’s no justification for seeing this number as a figurative.
· These are not the Jehovah’s Witnesses who say that this text speaks of 144,000 “Witnesses” who have been chosen by God to be special leaders.
· This number, 144.000, is to be taken literally:
o It’s a definite number, in contrast with the infinite number of Rev. 7:9 (which we’ll see next time).
o The problem is, if this number is taken symbolically, then which numbers in Revelation are literal and which are figurative?
o Just as God reserved 7000 in the days of Ahab, He will reserve 144,000 for Himself during the future Great Tribulation.
· The text is clear. It says, "from every tribe of the sons of Israel”:
o This phrase, along with the naming of each individual tribe and the repeated number 12,000, gives us the strongest possible evidence that these will come from every division of God's chosen people, “Israel.”
o There are some, however, who disagree.
· But the answer lies in determining the proper meaning of the word "Israel":
o A tremendous amount of debate has tried to build a case that the term “Israel,” used here, refers to “spiritual” Israel, which they would say, is the Church.
o We don’t have enough time to examine all the passages, which they use to argue for this idea.
o But when examined correctly and in context, those passages do not prove that the Church is the new Israel anymore than this passage.
o No clear-cut example of the Church being called, or being equated to, "Israel" exists in the entire New Testament.
o The term "Israel" refers to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
o This is the natural understanding and the word’s normal usage in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament.
o Paul is very clear about the distinction between the two groups of God's people, Israel and the Church, especially Romans chapters 9-11.
o Israel has not, and will not, lose her distinctive national identity before God, regardless of human proposals to the contrary.
o Another argument against this being the literal 12 tribes is that the identity of the tribe members is lost to mankind:
Ø However, they are still known to God, who will be in charge of the sealing when it takes place.
o This is not the entire total of the faithful remnant of Israel, but a special group, charged with a special responsibility of witnessing for Christ during the world's darkest hour, as will be shown later in chapters 12 and 14.
o The 144,000 are a special remnant that will be a testimony to God’s grace and mercy during this time of judgment.
o They will carry God's message to the world during these difficult days.
o These will not face God’s wrath, but they will have to face the wrath of those who hate God.
· One thing about this list, notice that the tribe of “Dan” is excluded:
o The best explanation for why the tribe of Dan is omitted is that they left their inheritance and moved north to Laish and practiced idolatry.
o This tribe was given an inheritance, like all the rest of the tribes, but they chose to move away and settle in the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, thereby rejecting the word of the Lord.
o Being the only tribe that failed to conquer its territory, it turned to idolatry as an alternative to obeying God.
o Deuteronomy 29:18-21 requires the blotting out the name of anyone who introduces idolatry in Israel.
o The other tribes were guilty of the same sin, but Dan was the leader in idolatrous practices.
· Ephraim is also missing from the list of tribes:
o Ephraim was also addicted to idolatry.
o Ephraim was also foremost in the defection from the house of David and was an ally of the enemies of Judah.
o Because Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh, some see the inclusion of Joseph in the present list as the inclusion of Ephraim, without the unpleasant reminder that the name carried.
· Another peculiar characteristic of this list is the inclusion of Manasseh and Joseph in the same list. Remember, Joseph was the father of Ephraim and Manasseh:
o This is not some sort of the mistake.
o It must be significant because John included this list in his prophecy.
o One explanation is that Manasseh was the faithful son of Joseph. And because Joseph was given a double-portion by Jacob, in recognition of his favoritism toward Joseph, this would be a fitting tribute to Manasseh’s faithfulness.
v.5, “from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand”:
· The name “Judah” means, “praise”:
o He was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah.
o It was out of this tribe that Jesus, the Messiah, came.
· The name “Reuben” means “behold the son”:
o He was the first son of Jacob and Leah.
o Leah had named her son Reuben because the Lord had looked upon her sorrow at being unloved by her husband.
o By giving a son to Jacob, she hoped he would respond to her in love.
· The name “Gad” means “good fortune”:
o He was the seventh son of Jacob by Leah’s maid, Zilpah.
o Gad was the firstborn of Zilpah.
v.6, “from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand”:
· The name “Asher” means “happy”:
o The eighth son of Jacob by Leah’s maidservant, Zilpah.
· The name “Napthali” means “my wrestling”:
o Napthali was the sixth son of Jacob by Leah’s servant Bilhah (Gen. 35:25).
o Because Jacob’s wife, Rachel, was barren and her sister Leah had borne four sons to Jacob, Rachel was distraught. She gave her maidservant, Bilhah, to Jacob. Any offspring of this union were regarded as Rachel’s.
o When Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali, Rachel was joyous.
o She said, “with great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and indeed I have prevailed” (Gen. 30:8).
o So, she called his name “Naphtali,” which means “my wrestling.”
· The name “Manasseh” means “causing to forget”:
o Joseph’s firstborn son who was born in Egypt to Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, or Hieropolis (Gen. 41:50–51).
o Like his younger brother Ephraim, Manasseh was half Hebrew and half Egyptian.
o Manasseh’s birth caused Joseph to forget the bitterness of his past experiences.
o Manasseh and Ephraim were both adopted by Jacob and given status as sons just like Jacob’s own sons, Reuben and Simeon.
v.7, “from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand:”
· The name “Simeon,” means “to hear”:
o The second son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:33), he and his brother Levi tricked the Hivites of Shechem and massacred all the males because one of them had raped Dinah, their sister (Gen. 34:2, 25, 30).
o Simeon was the brother whom Joseph kept as security when he allowed his brothers to leave Egypt and return to their father, Jacob, in the land of Canaan (Gen. 42:24).
· The name “Levi” means “to join”:
o He was he third son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:34).
o He was famous for the Levitical priesthood.
· The name “Issachar” means “to hire”:
o The ninth son of Jacob and the fifth by his wife Leah.
o Before his death, Jacob described Issachar as “a strong donkey lying down between two burdens” (Gen. 49:15).
o In other words, Jacob saw that Issachar could be a strong fighter but that his love of comfort could also cause him to settle for the easy way out.
v.8, “from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed”:
· The name “Zebulun” means honor or exalt.
o He was he tenth son of Jacob and the sixth and last son of Leah.
o Jesus’ hometown, Nazareth, was located in the heart of Zebulun.
· The name “Joseph” means “may he (God) add”:
o He was the eleventh son of Jacob and the first child of Rachel.
o Joseph was sold into slavery and later rose to an important position in the Egyptian government.
o Joseph was the first child of Rachel and his father’s favorite son. This is most clearly shown by the special coat that Jacob gave to Joseph.
o Joseph’s ten older brothers hated him because he was Jacob’s favorite and because Joseph had dreams that he interpreted to his brothers in a conceited way.
o It is no surprise that Joseph’s brothers hated him enough to kill him.
· The name “Benjamin” means “son of the right hand” or “lucky”:
o Jacob’s youngest son, born to his favorite wife, Rachel.
o After giving birth to Benjamin, the dying Rachel named him “Ben-oni,” which means “son of my sorrow.” But Jacob renamed him Benjamin.
o When Jacob lost his beloved son Joseph, he became very attached to Benjamin because Benjamin was the only surviving son of Rachel.
o When his sons went to Egypt in search of food to find relief from the famine, Jacob was reluctant to let Benjamin go with them.
Lessons from Their Names
· As Judah’s name means, “praise,” that’s what we should do, praise God, especially when we understand that the bride of Christ, the Church, will not be here for these judgments.
· Just as Rachel’s wrestling with her sister was from a wrong motive, when we wrestle with God, it’s from a wrong motive.
· As Manasseh caused Joseph to forget his bitterness, we should let go of our bitterness when we realize how much God loves us.
· Jacob saw that Issachar could be a strong fighter, but that his love of comfort could also cause him to settle for the easy way out. We need to guard against choosing the easy way as opposed to the right way, the God-honoring way, to live our lives.
· Sometimes, in our comfort, we settle for the easy way out; we shortcut our quality and we don’t give God our best. We shouldn’t be like Issachar.
Let me close this article with a reading from Psalm 122:
· Psalm 122:6-9, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you. 7 May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.’ 8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, ‘May peace be within you.’ 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.”
May the Lord bless you as you continue to grow in God’s grace and truth.
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D., D.Min.
