Text
: Revelation 7
Title
: The Sealing of God’s Servants
Date: 01/12/2013
Last time we considered the unveiling of the first 6 seals
in Chapter 6, and now we are waiting with anticipation to see what the 7th
seal might reveal. However, the 7th
chapter interrupts that thought just like a T.V. advertisement interrupts a story
just when it gets tense!
Do you remember what
the last six seals were all about ? We saw
that they were about God’s dealings
with the world, from the ascension of Christ until the second coming
of Christ. The first seal, the
revelation of the rider on the
white horse, refers
to Christ who rides ahead with the gospel.
The next three seals reveal
three riders that exercise
terrible judgments on the earth. We have seen these
things described in 6:3-8 happening
in the history of the world in
these last 2000 years. Thank God then that at the beginning and in the midst of God’s judgment upon earth’s sin and chaos there is the
gospel ! We are encouraged to flee to
Christ, the Lamb of God before the
wrath of the Lamb becomes our ultimate judge.
The 5th seal revealed the existence and impatience of those who were killed for the sake of the gospel , and who are
now under the altar in
heaven, whilst the 6th
seal contains the revelation of the
events that accompany the 2nd coming of Christ.
Before John takes us to the opening of the 7th seal,
there is this dramatic interruption in chapter 7.
Now remember that chapter 6 concluded
with the vision of the final
judgment (6:12-17). The people of this
world are in panic, “… hiding themselves in caves and among the rocks of
the mountains, calling to the mountains
and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne, and from
the wrath of the Lamb , for the
great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17). We
see naked terror as people
seek an escape route from the terrible
final judgment of Christ - but
there is no escape route! We have seen recent scenes of this as
terrorists strike a shopping center in Kenya and as
an unprecedented storm strikes the Philippines or as
a horrific Tsunami strikes Japan. People
scrambling in terror to get away , and
these are only mild indicators to what
it will be like on that day of the wrath of the Lamb, when there will
be no escape route in the entire
earth! This is all a
very terrifying description, and
now the question arises : “But what about
the Christians at that time? “
Ah ! This is where the 7th Chapter gives us the answers , namely to show
that God’s people (whose
righteousness is in Christ) are being
kept secure through all these times of
tribulation and especially at the very end! We have seen that this is also true of those who have been killed for the testimony of Christ. We see them kept secure under the altar of God in heaven until
the final judgment and the
resurrection ( 6:10-11) . I cannot see that that the saints are taken out of the world before the second coming of Christ as some are inclined to teach. Rather we note that the Lord Jesus keeps His people in their tribulations and trials. Believers are not spared from tribulations but in tribulations.
Chapter 7 : A
Revelation of the Eternal Security of
the Saints
1.
From the perspective of the church in the
history of the earth ( 7:1-8)
2.
From the perspective of the Church in eternity ( 7:9- 17)
The Church on earth
[7:1] After
this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on
earth or sea or against any tree.
The number four
indicates universality; the four
corners of the earth refer to the whole
earth. Four angels are said to control the four winds. The ministry of
angels is often associated with the elements ( Heb. 1:7à
Psalm 104:4 à fire and wind) ; Rev. 14:18 speaks the of the angel who has authority over the fire;
Rev.16:5 refers to the angel in charge of the waters. Here it is angels who
have control of the winds, restraining them from blowing destructively upon the
earth in terms of divine judgment.
[2] Then I
saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the
living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been
given power to harm earth and sea, [3] saying, “Do not harm the earth or
the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on
their foreheads.”
Another angel ( from
the east) now appears with the seal of the living God. This seal is different from those seals associated with the scroll. This is a seal of identification – a marking of the servants of God.
What is the purpose of a seal ?
(i) A seal protects
against tampering
(ii) It indicates ownership
(iii) It certifies genuine character
The seal (or the mark
) is not
a literal mark, but it certainly reminds us of the fact that the Lord
knows those who are His ( 2 Tim 2:19). We also read in Revelation 14:1 that this seal is the name of
Christ and of God ( see also 9:4 and
22:4). For other uses of the Spirit’s sealing see: 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13f; 4:30.
The seal of God and
Christ stand in direct contrast to the mark of the beast (cf. 13:16f ; 14:9; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4) . The
seal of God ensures the
deliverance of His people, while the mark of the beast will
indicate those that are
ultimately marked for destruction.
[4] And I heard the number of the sealed,
144,000, sealed from every
tribe of the sons of Israel: [5] 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, [6] 12,000
from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the
tribe of Manasseh, [7] 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the
tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, [8] 12,000 from the
tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe
of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
What about the
144 000 sealed? Jehovah’s witnesses think that
these are 144 000 of the JW super saints who will populate heaven, while the rest will
populate the earth.
Others think that this number is a reference to the Old Testament saints
since 12 OT tribes are mentioned. The problem however with this list is
that it does not agree with
the list or the order of Jacob’s
12 sons as found in Genesis . Ephraim and Dan are omitted here and Manasseh
and Joseph are included. In terms of
order, Reuben was the first born , and instead we have Judah ( the fourth born son of Leah)
mentioned first . But the main concern
is that if we take this number
literally the actual number of ‘ saved ‘
Jews is very small. Also , why should
the 1444 000 be sealed and the
great multitude of vv. 9-17 not ?
The best interpretation is
that since they are called
servants of God, the number 144,000 is
more likely symbolic of the entire church, which includes believing Jews
and Gentiles. It is a symbolic number
and it is a fixed number , indicating that
God knows the total number of His elect sheep on earth.
In Revelation 14:5 the 144,000 are mentioned again and there they
are said to be those redeemed from the earth as “first fruits for God and the Lamb.” This makes
their identity clear. The Lamb has shed
His blood for people from every nation , “ from
all tribes and peoples and languages…” .
Also the fact that the list of the 12 tribes begins with the tribe of Judah
,the tribe from which the Lord Jesus was descended , indicates
that, since Jesus has died for
the world, this
includes all God’s people at all
times , from the from the covenant community of the OT to the
covenant community of the NT - the church. In fact , if we take the Abrahamic covenant seriously, then we would
know that he would be the father of many
nations ( Genesis 17:5) and not only of the Jews .
The church in
Heaven
[9] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that
no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white
robes, with palm branches in their hands, [10] and crying out with a loud
voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Here the covenant
promise which God made to Abraham, “through
you, all peoples of the earth will be
blessed,” is gloriously fulfilled -
people from every nation as multitudinous
as the sand on the seashore .
This tells us that God has his elect among every race and includes people who
speak every language. It also tells us that the number of the elect is not
small. In fact, it is so large that no
man could number them! Here is
the picture of the church triumphant, as
she now enjoys her heavenly rest from her earthly labor and hardships. And this glorious scene of God’s
redeemed people becomes yet another cause for worship.
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.” - Note – a
seven fold acknowledgement of God
and His attributes for which the church worships Him.
The interlude of
Chapter 7 now reaches its conclusion in
v. 13, when a question is put to John.
[13] Then
one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes,
and from where have they come?” [14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And
he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They
have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The identity of the
great multitude is revealed: “These are the ones coming out of the great
tribulation” , by which is not
meant, as many are inclined
to think, those
who have experienced a final
great persecution on the earth at the end of times , BUT this
refers to the entire church age , which if you consider
, has been a period of great tribulation for the church – such as Jesus had spoken of in John 15:18-21 .
[15] “Therefore
they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. [16] They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
[17] For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and
he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes.” Heaven is a world of worship. Heaven is a
world filled with happy people. They are finally home from their restless
wanderings . They are no longer hungry
or thirsty. In Christ they will now be entirely satisfied and kept. There is no more sorrow . These
are words which require no explanation. All we can do after hearing them is to recite the
seven-fold blessing of the heavenly choir given to God and to the Lamb:
Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and
might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”And so, with this
picture of the church in heaven before us, the interlude is over.
Chapter 8:1
The first cycle of judgment ends quite unexpectedly in the
opening of the seventh seal in
Chapter 8:1, when John reports, “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour.”
Note then that the
breaking of the 7th seal
there follows absolute silence for half an hour. All
this leaves mankind speechless But this too was foretold in the prophets. Zephaniah spoke of silence in connection
with the day of the Lord: “Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day
of the LORD is near.” Habakkuk did the same: “But the LORD
is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”
The first cycle of “seal judgments” is now complete.
God has brought final judgment upon all
those who have reject Christ – His Son-
the Mediator and Saviour for all who
would believe in Him. History as we know
it ,is over! The great judgment has taken place – and now the
choirs of heaven cease their singing. All creation stands in awe of him who is
seated upon the throne. There is nothing left to say. God has brought all
things to their appointed end.
Amen!
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