Revelation 7:1-17 | The Protected and Persecuted of the Tribulation




Revelation 7:1-17
The Protected and Persecuted of the Tribulation

I. Introduction

1. Two groups of people are mentioned in this chapter.
   1. The question was asked at the end of chapter 6: “Who could stand?”
   2. We are being introduced to two groups that stand during this terrible time.
      1. Those who stand with a seal of protection through the tribulation.
      2. Those who are martyred for their righteousness stand in the face of persecution.
2. Chapter 7 is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals and the coming judgments.

II. vv. 1-8 144,000 sealed Jews for Jesus.

¹ After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ² Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried 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, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”^[1]

1. vv. 1-3a Angels instructed to hold their judgment until these Jews are sealed for protection by God.
   1. As we continue through the book of Revelation, God uses angels to bring judgment upon the earth.
      1. The Old Testament records angels also playing a part in bringing judgment.
   2. The withholding of the wind would seem to be a reference to restraining any further judgment, as opposed to the wind engines of the earth coming to a halt.
   3. If the wind were to stop blowing, it would bring a judgment of sorts. Rain and temperatures across the planet would be affected as well.
   4. Knowing that God wants no judgments to come until the 144,000 are sealed leads me to think that the best way to understand “wind” is as a metaphor for judgment.
   5. Wind is often used to describe coming judgment, so these angels are being instructed not to carry out any further judgments until the designated ones are protected from the judgment they will bring.
      1. Scripture references using wind as a figure of judgment (Jer 49:36; Dan 7:2; Hos 13:15).
      2. “The first two trumpet judgments affect the same parts of creation as the winds, i.e., the earth, the trees, and the sea (cf. 8:6–9), so the angelic restraint here is in essence a delaying of the initiation of the trumpet series.”^[2]
2. vv. 3b-8 Israel’s protected remnant.
   
   ³ saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: ⁵ of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed; ⁶ of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; ⁷ of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed; ⁸ of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
   
   1. v. 4 The sealed are not the Church.
      1. A common interpretation identifies the Church as spiritual Israel.
   2. The Bible is explicit that these 144,000 are Israelites.
      1. Notice that they are from the 12 tribes of Israel.
   3. A simple, straightforward reading of Scripture demands that we not change the meaning of words to accommodate our theology.
      1. If God changes the meaning of words without telling us this, how can we ever expect to understand Scripture?
      2. If God says “Israel,” makes promises to Israel, and later decides that Israel actually means the Church without clearly telling us, then words lose their meaning and interpretation becomes subjective.
   4. Certainly, words can be used figuratively or have different meanings depending on context. But the context must tell us when the meaning changes.
      1. We cannot simply change the meaning because it better fits our theology.
   5. After the Church was established, Paul continued to distinguish between the Church and Israel, thus maintaining the usual understanding of the noun “Israel.”
      1. In Romans 10:1, Paul speaks of his desire for his ethnic countrymen to be saved.
         
         Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
         
         
      2. In Romans 11, the distinction between Jew and Gentile becomes even clearer.
         1. Israel is called natural branches, while Gentiles are called wild branches that have been grafted in (Rom 11:17-24).
         2. Gentiles share in the blessings, but Paul never says that they have become Israel.
      3. In Romans 11:25-26, Paul states that this present blindness of Israel is only for a time and that all of Israel will be saved.
         
         Romans 11:25–26 ²⁵ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;”
         
         1. Without question, Paul distinguishes between believing Gentiles and future believing Israel.
      4. In Jeremiah 31, God goes so far as to make clear His commitment to Israel that He states the likelihood of Israel not being a nation is the same as the likelihood of the sun, moon, and stars ceasing to exist.
         
         Jeremiah 31:35–37 ³⁵ Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The Lord of hosts is His name): ³⁶ “If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” ³⁷ Thus says the Lord: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the Lord.”
         
   6. Participation in Israel’s spiritual blessings does not mean the Church becomes Israel or that God’s promises to Israel are canceled.
      1. God’s promise to Israel is irrevocable (Rom 11:29).
   7. God can reveal additional truth, but He does not secretly redefine His words.
      1. The word “Israel” appears more than 2,500 times in the NKJV, making it one of the most frequently used theologically significant names in Scripture.
      2. By comparison, “church” appears only a little over 100 times.
      3. God had thousands of opportunities to define what He meant by Israel, and He did.
3. God has an eternal plan for Israel.
   1. The reason some conclude that the sealed 144,000 are the Church is that they don’t recognize God’s everlasting covenant with Israel.
   2. God made an everlasting covenant with Israel (Gen 17:7-8), has promised that they would return to the land and to Him in the latter days (Ezek 36-38), and has also promised them 490 years of prophetic time until God has completed His promises to them (Dan 9:24).
   3. Daniel’s prophecies for Israel still have one more seven-year period to be fulfilled.
4. These 144,000 will be sealed from Israel against any of the harmful judgments that are coming upon the earth.
   1. This also means that they will be kept from the martyrdom that all other believers will be subject to.

III. vv. 9-12 Worship before the throne of God.

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

1. This great multitude consists of those who have come to faith in Jesus during the tribulation.
2. Most believe these are the fruit of the 144,000’s evangelistic effort.
3. What is the cry of these redeemed tribulation saints?
   1. Salvation belongs to God and the Lamb.
4. Elders and angels fall before the Lord in agreement, worshipping Him, saying:
   1. Blessing – praising and speaking favorably of our God.
   2. Glory – a statement of greatness and unsurpassed worth.
   3. Wisdom – God’s ways are to be praised.
   4. Thanksgiving – a declaration of appreciation for His kindness.
   5. Honor – to be lifted up above all.
   6. Power and might – a recognition of the ability of God like no other.
   7. To the God forever – this praise of heaven is for all times.
5. We can and should join in the praise of the throne room now.

IV. vv. 13-17 Tribulation saints are safe in the presence of God.

¹³ Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 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 dwell among them. ¹⁶ They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; ¹⁷ for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

1. John is asked if he knows the identity of this multitude.
2. These are tribulation saints, not the Church.
   1. If these martyred believers are the Church and not tribulation believers, then are we to understand that the Bride of Christ is not sealed, but the 144,000 are?
      1. This becomes a problematic interpretation.
      2. These 144,000 are being spared from the wrath of God.
   2. Jesus promised the Church of Philadelphia that they would be kept from the hour of trial.
      
      Revelation 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
      
      
   3. Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that they would not be appointed to wrath and again that they would be kept from this Day.
      
      2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 ¹ Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
      
      1. The only way not to be shaken or troubled about the Day of the Lord is not to be a part of that day.
   4. In His first letter, He made it clear that they would not be overtaken by the Day of the Lord; they were not part of that day.
      
      1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 ⁴ But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. ⁸ But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
      
      1. In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, the Church is not appointed to wrath.
         
         ⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
         
         
      2. That would mean that the Church is raptured from the earth before the beginning of Revelation 6, in what is known as a pre-tribulation rapture.
3. v. 14 These saints come out of the Great Tribulation.
   1. Revelation 7:16 indicates that they suffered hunger (see Rev 13:17), thirst (see Rev 16:4), and lack of shelter. (The heat of the sun; see Rev 16:8-9.)
4. The blessings now enjoyed by those who suffered in the tribulation.
   1. v. 14 Washed in the blood of the Lamb.
      1. Whether it was Old Testament saints looking forward in faith through the Levitical sacrifices or, since the cross, looking back on the sacrifice of Jesus.
   2. v. 15a Serve Him day and night in His temple.
   3. v. 15b In the presence of God.
   4. v. 16 Preserved from any further hardships.
   5. v. 17a Shepherd Jesus brings them to the fountain of waters.
      1. We know from the Gospels that this imagery of living water speaks of the fulfillment Jesus brings to people who put their faith in Him for salvation.
   6. v. 17b Comforted by God.
      1. Now, in the presence of God, their trials are over, and no more tears will be shed.

V. Conclusion

1. Six seals have been opened, bringing war, famine, disease, and catastrophes orchestrated by God to judge the world.
2. The Lord will not stop His work of salvation through this terrible time but will use Israel to be a light to the nations.

---

^[1] All Scripture quotations are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

^[2] Robert Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1992), 466.