“Knowing is half the battle.” Perhaps you’ve heard that statement before. As far as I know, it comes from public service announcements at the conclusion of episodes of the cartoon “G. I. Joe” that I watched as a child. These public service announcements would sometimes be crucial lessons like what to do if you were lost or if your house were on fire. Others would be more along the lines of making sure that mean little boys understood that girls can be good at skateboarding too – if only given the chance.
Besides the fact that some of these public service announcements were a bit cheesy and that little kids watching this army cartoon were left to assume that if knowing is half the battle then the other half must be firing red and blue lasers out of machine guns, there is something right and helpful about this statement. Knowledge really is crucial.
When we’re sick and longing for a diagnosis, don’t we often think, “If I just knew what was wrong with me”? Now, we know good and well that simply knowing that you have some disease doesn’t make it go away, but knowledge does help you understand what you’re fighting, devise a plan of attack, and stop wondering what it is that’s affecting your health. Not knowing what’s wrong can be almost as torturous as the malady itself.
Therefore, when we come to Revelation 7, it might sound simple to say that this chapter is given to us so that we might know and understand some things as we walk through this time between the Lord’s two comings. However, when we consider what it is that the Lord wants his people to know, I think we’ll see how encouraging knowing these truths is and hopefully be encouraged to press on in faithful obedience to our Lord. So, what is it, then, that the Lord wants us to know as we live in this time between his comings? I want to lay out two truths for us this morning. First:
There are a number of details we need to walk through in this text to arrive at this point, but I do think it’s the main truth we’re to understand from verses 1-8. In order to get there, though, let’s remind ourselves a bit of what we saw when we looked at Revelation 6 a couple weeks ago.
In Revelation 6, the Lord begins to open the scroll that he’d taken from the right hand of the one seated on the throne in Revelation 5. Specifically, he opens the scroll one seal at a time so that as each seal is broken, another element in the Lord’s work of judgment and salvation is revealed. Therefore, when the Lord opened the first four seals, four riders on four horses were summoned to come out, and each of these riders were signaling elements that would characterize the entire time between the two comings of Christ. Much like Jesus teaches in Mark 13 or Matthew 24-25, we saw that there will be nations rising up and conquering other nations, civil bloodshed, famine and pestilence, and death. Then, after the fifth seal was opened and the martyrs were told to rest for a while, waiting for the great day of judgment when God’s justice would be revealed, the sixth seal was open to show this coming day of judgment. We saw that the wrath of the lamb against his enemies (i.e. who have not placed their faith in him) will be so harsh that people would rather mountains and rocks fall on them than to face the wrath of Christ on that final day.
So, the question we might be asking, then, is, “What is going on with the Lord’s people during this time?” And that question is answered in chapter 7, just prior to the opening of the seventh seal beginning in chapter 8. That is the context that brings us to chapter 7.
So, we read that after what John is shown with the opening of the six seals, he next sees “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” (v.1). “Then,” John adds, “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 the earth and sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (vv. 2-4).
It appears that we’re not supposed to think of the events of chapter 7 chronologically following the events of chapter 6. That is, if chapter 6 describes the hardship of the entire age and then the Lord’s judgment against his enemies in the end, chapter 7 is not what then happens after final judgment. Rather, chapter 7 is taking us back and considering the realities of chapter 6 from the perspective of a concern for the people of God. And the reason I say this is because what we have going on in these first few verses are instructions given so that the redeemed people of God might be protected and spared from the judgments of the Lord that have just been unfolded at the end of chapter 6.
Let me show this to you as we consider the details in these first four verses. These four angels, we are told, “had been given power to harm earth and sea” (v. 2). They seem to be serving as agents who can bring forth the Lord’s judgments on the earth. However, at this point, they are “holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree” (v. 1). That is, these judgments (symbolized by the four winds) are yet to be unleashed. The angels are restraining (holding back) these winds.
Then, another angel comes into the picture from the east (i.e. “from the rising of the sun”) and calls to these four angels to continue to restrain these winds, to continue to hold up the judgments and not harm the earth until something else takes place. That’s the instruction we read in verse 3a – “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until …” So, I think we can follow this.
But what is it that the angel wants to be done before these judgments (symbolized by the winds) are unleashed on the earth? The answer is that he wants the angels to wait “until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (v. 3b).
Now, what in the world does this mean? Well, we have an idea from biblical texts that we’ve already looked at if we’ve followed the scriptures to this point. Specifically, this imagery seems to come from Ezekiel 9. In Ezekiel 9, the Lord is about to execute judgment on Jerusalem. However, before doing so, he has those who sigh and groan about the sins committed all over the cities (i.e. the Lord’s true people) to be marked so that they might be spared. So, we read in Ezekiel 9:3-6a, “Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the Lord said to him, ‘Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.’ And to the others he said in my hearing, ‘Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark.’”
That is the same idea, then, that we see in Revelation 7:1-3. The Lord is marking with a seal (a way of simply saying, “These are my people. I lay claim to them.”) his people so that they might be protected and preserved during this time when the Lord’s judgments are falling.
But let’s look at one more element before we pull this all together. John specifically mentions that he heard (v. 4) the number of people sealed, and it was 144,000. He writes in verse 4, “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel,” and then they are specifically listed as 12,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel.
Now, what do we make of this number or group? Is this some specific group of the Lord’s redeemed people who are special? Perhaps a group (maybe literally 144,000) Jews who have trusted in Jesus? Some have suggested that, but I think that’s incorrect. In order to come to that conclusion you really have to ignore the way apocalyptic literature works, the symbolism of numbers, and what we’ve seen to this point in Revelation.
I think, rather, that the 144,000 spoken of here is simply a way of saying the complete number of the redeemed. That is, the Lord is speaking of all of his redeemed people, which includes, for example, all of us this morning who are trusting in Christ. And though we might look at more reasons, I’ll give you four reasons why I think this is the case.
First, the number 144,000 is symbolically how one would suggest the complete number of the redeemed in apocalyptic literature. You may remember the first sermon in this series, we looked at how numbers function, and we noted that in apocalyptic literature numbers are almost always symbolic. And specifically in the book of Revelation the number 12 and multiples of 12 are used to represent the people of God. Therefore, 12 x 12 (i.e. 144) is a way of saying all the people of God, but then multiplied by 1000 (a number of completeness) drives it home. That is, this is all the complete people of God.
Second, though I won’t go into this chapter in detail this morning, the 144,000 are mentioned again in chapter 14, and there we see that this group is representative of the whole people of God. The chapter divides between those who follow the Lamb and those who follow the beast. Again, we won’t go into detail there, but the two groups of 144,000 are almost certainly the same group, and in chapter 14, they are the whole of God’s redeemed people. Therefore, it stands to reason that they are the whole of the redeemed people in chapter 7.
Third, I think the connection between verses 4-8 and verse 9 suggest this as well. Before I show that, though, turn back to Revelation 5. Remember when John was weeping because no one was worthy to open the scroll. Then an angel told him to stop weeping and declared to him, “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (5:5). At this point, John had heard, “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” However, when he turns to look, he says, “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (5:6). That is, John hears that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is present, and when he looks, he sees a Lamb. And the idea is that the Lion is the Lamb who was slain.
Similarly, in Revelation 7:4, John hears the number of the sealed – 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Judah. Then, in verse 9, he turns and sees something a little different. We read in verse 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.” Do you see? This reads just like the Lion and the Lamb picture in Revelation 5. And if there we’re supposed to understand that the Lion is the Lamb who was slain, so here I think we’re supposed to see that the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel are the redeemed from every nation, language, tribe, and people from all over the earth (i.e. the complete number of the Lord’s redeemed people).
Finally, I think the previous chapters have prepared us for this picture in another way. Do you remember two different times the Lord made reference in his letters to the churches about a group “who say they are Jews and are not”? We see this reference in 2:9 and in 3:9. What Jesus was referring to there were a group who were physically Jews, and they were claiming on their physical descent alone to be God’s people. But the Lord is saying that they’re not really Jews because (to quote Paul from Romans 2:28-29), “No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” That is, those whose faith is in Christ (whether they are Jews or Gentiles by birth) are true Jews. Therefore, the Lord has prepared his people to understand that they are the true Israel, the true people of God. And that is why his redeemed people are presented here as being Jews and being the redeemed from every nation on the earth. As the Lion is the Lamb who was slain, so the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel are the total of the redeemed from every nation on the earth.
Therefore, bringing it all together, as in the book of Ezekiel, we’re to see here that the Lord has marked out his people in the earth, putting his seal on our foreheads, so that as his judgments fall on the earth, we will be protected and preserved. Now, yes, some of his judgments are already revealing themselves. When we see a society, for example, declare the acceptability of homosexuality and even change the definition of marriage to accommodate this, then Romans 1 tells us that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. Similarly, when our sinful nature produces all kinds of violence in the world, or we suffer because the earth is cursed under the judgment of God, this is of course God’s judgment. So, the idea isn’t that we will escape all suffering from the Lord’s judgment against sin in this life. We must definitely won’t. But we’ll be upheld and preserved by our Lord through it. He won’t allow the suffering that we face in this cursed world to make shipwreck of our faith. He’s marked us out as his own, and all believers during this entire age and all that it brings – whether wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, bloodshed, and death – are kept in the hand of Christ, and he will not let them go.
Therefore, we need not be gripped by fear, no matter what life brings. If the world feels like it’s falling apart or governments are in upheaval, we’re okay. Even if we lose our lives, we’re marked out as belonging to the Lamb. So, seek to faithfully serve him, trust him, and do not fear, no matter what comes your way. Our God will protect and preserve us (his people) through the tribulation of this age.
But there is another truth we need to understand as well:
The scene in verses 9-17 is then a scene of those marked out (sealed) by the Lord, now having conquered (faithfully endured) and receiving their reward (eternal life). In verse 9, we see this scene of victory and delight. The redeemed from all the earth are before the land, clothed in white with palm branches. These are images of victory, which might often accompany a conquering king. The picture is of people who have conquered and been victorious throughout this age, now standing before the Lamb.
And they’re under no delusion that they’ve conquered by faithfully enduring by their own strength or ability. Rather, we read that they stood before the Lamb “crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (v. 10). And all the heavenly host are worshipping with them according to verses 11-12 – “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 saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’”
It’s a glorious scene. But one of the elders wants John to see exactly who these people are. So, we are told in verse 13, “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’” Again, I think this questioned is asked to make sure John isn’t missing the message, and what’s crucial is that he understands that these aren’t just some group of heavenly creatures. And John wisely answers, “Sir, you know” (v. 14). And the elder declares, “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” (v. 14).
Now, some have thought that this reference to “tribulation” refers to some specific period of great distress on the earth. Some have suggested it’s a literal seven year period just prior to Jesus returning to establish his kingdom. But you don’t get that from these verses. In fact, I’d dare say you can only see that here if you’re bringing that to the text. Rather, this word for tribulation is general, I think, referring to all of the upheaval on the earth during the entire age between the two comings of Christ. In Mark 13, when Jesus describes all the things that will characterize life during this age – wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, the love of many growing cold, etc. – he refers to this entire time as “tribulation” (Mark 13:24).
Furthermore, when the elder identifies these people as those who have made their robes white by washing them in the blood of the Lamb, it’s his way of saying that these are those people who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay for sinners, and was raised from the dead on the third day. This is his way of saying, “These are believers – Christians – children of God.” And they have held fast to their faith during all the tribulation that they faced in their lives. Some of us on that day will have been martyred, others have endured great persecution, and all of us will have faced great suffering that threatened to turn us from trusting in Christ. But if we are with Christ in glory, we will have endured in faith, and we will have endured because Christ marked us out as his own and preserved us, saying, “I will not let that one go.” That’s why we’ll joyfully declare before the Lamb on that day, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (v. 10).
“Therefore,” the angel says, that is, because they’ve placed their faith in Christ in this life and held fast to their confession, they get to dwell with God and be blessed by him forever. That’s a summary, I think, of verses 15-17 where we read: “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. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 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” (vv. 15-17).
That is the great day of salvation for which we are longing. And it is sure. We’ve been marked out to be preserved by our God until that day.
But I want to remind you that we persevere (or “conquer” as the language is given to us in chapters 2-3) not by going out and trying to take down the enemies of Christ. We conquer by faithfully enduring in obedient faith to our Lord. We conquer by holding to our testimony and declaring clearly that Jesus Christ is Lord. We conquer by holding fast to our faith in Christ and faithfully enduring all that comes our way that tempts us to walk away from him.
Yes, it’s hard. As I said a few weeks back, it means that we obey Christ despite all the difficulties it brings and despite the world telling us that we don’t have to take up our cross and follow the one who bought us by his blood. It costs us being pure in a world that says pursue our lusts – fornication, homosexuality, adultery, greed, covetousness, etc. But our reward will be dwelling in the very presence and blessings of our God forever.
Therefore, the Lord wants his children to know of his protection of them and the reward that is ours. And this knowledge is crucial. It strengthens us to persevere in obedience. Knowing these realities, our Lord knew, would be necessary for us as we go through the tribulation of this age. Knowing Christ will preserve us so that we need not fear whatever this age brings, and knowing that our reward is dwelling in the presence and blessings of our God forever, let us look to the gospel again as we come to the table and press on in faith and faithful obedience before our Lord, who is worthy of our lives. Amen.