Chapter Seven

Chapter six of the book of Revelation ends with a question: In light of the tremendous judgment being described, who is able to stand?

Chapter seven is designed to answer that very question. It does this by telling exactly who will be able to stand and why. Remember that we said in our discussion of the outline of this book that there would be periodical pauses in the narrative to set aside the faithful? This chapter is such a pause.

You will remember, also, that there is a difference between suffering and punishment. Death may mean suffering for a Christian but it means Judgment for someone who is disobedient to God. Chapter seven is a good example of this. Many Christians would suffer and die in upcoming events. But this simply marked a temporary condition on the road to eternal Joy.

Ezekiel chapter nine presents a similar picture. Judgment is about to be visited upon a city, but time is taken to first mark God's people. Many of the faithful would die along with the unfaithful, but there would be a world of difference in the ultimate effect.

Revelation chapter seven opens with four angels located at the four corners of the earth. The choice of the number four does not surprise us since we are already familiar with the symbolic use of numbers in prophetic writing. Do you recall that the number "four" represents completeness from an earthly standpoint?

God often uses wind to carry out His judgment.

"But the wind will carry all of them up," Isaiah 57: 13 says of those who seek refuge in idols instead of in the Lord.

"Like an east wind I will scatter them before the enemy," God says in Jeremiah 18:17, "I will show them My back and not My face in the day of their calamity."

Some of the other verses that use this symbol are Isaiah 11:15 and 27:8, and Jeremiah 49:36

Those who are to be set aside receive a seal on their foreheads. In ancient times, a seal was used to denote ownership. It was also often used by rulers to signify their approval of something. Both uses apply here. I Peter 2:9 describes Christians as "a people for God's own possession." And God certainly adds His approval to the faithful actions of His followers.

John then hears the number of those who are sealed. How many of the bond-servants of God are sealed? Verse three seems to imply that all of them are to be sealed before anything else takes place. Verse four says that there are 144,000 from every tribe of Israel. Is the number literal or figurative? Is the statement about the tribes of Israel literal or figurative? Here is where honesty in interpretation enters in. If one is literal, then both are literal. If one is figurative, then both are figurative.

A close look reveals that every tribe of literal Israel is not represented in the list. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became the heads of tribes. So a list of all the tribes of literal Israel actually includes 13 names, with Joseph being omitted. But Joseph is in this list, along with his son, Manasseh. Ephraim is missing from the list, as is the tribe of Dan. This was never intended to be a literal listing.

As we mentioned before, the number 12 represents completeness. Numbers are often squared to amplify their meaning. And they are sometimes multiplied by 10 or multiples of 10 to accomplish the same purpose. What, then, does 144,000 mean? It is 12 times 12 times 10 cubed. It represents, quite simply, all of God's servants.

Verse nine turns our attention to another scene in heaven. Here John says that the multitude is too large to number. It makes no difference that the group in the first part of the chapter appears to be on the earth while those in the rest of the chapter are said to be before the throne. The two groups are the same, although they are seen in two different settings. The 144,000 are mentioned again in Revelation 14:1-5, where it appears that they are both on the earth and before the throne. All of God's servants means all of His servants, no matter where they are standing. We make a distinction between the living and the dead. God is not forced to make the same distinction, since He is present with all.

If the two groups are the same, verse nine makes it clear that the discussion is figurative. In fact, even if they are not the same, verse nine makes the same point. The group there is pictured as a great multitude too great to count, taken from every nation. There is no literal number limit in heaven and the discussion does not concern literal Israelites.

By the way, the passage in Chapter 14 creates some real problems for those who would like to give a literal interpretation to the number 144,000. It says that they are all celibate men. Is this literal or figurative? What these people like to do is jump around. They say that the term "Israel" is figurative, the number is literal and the description of them being celibate men is figurative. It seems much more honest to be consistent in our interpretation.

At best, the passage in chapter seven creates real problems for those who like to stress the 144,000. They say that the 144,000 will be in heaven and the great multitude will be on a cleansed earth. If we really want to make this division of two groups, where does chapter seven place them?

What are all these people doing? They are standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches. And they are giving praise to God for the salvation He has provided, as well as to the Lamb who has played a critical role in that salvation.

The angels, the 24 elders and the four living creatures add their "Amen!" They also express a seven-fold praise of God. Notice how this parallels what we saw in chapter five. The main difference is that the praise in the earlier chapter was centered on the Lamb, while it focuses here on the Father. Again, what does this tell us about the divine nature of Jesus?

One of the 24 elders asks John to identify the great multitude.

"Who are they," he asks in verse 13, "and from where have they come?"

"I don' t know," John seems to reply. "But you do."

"These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation," the elder explains, "and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Now we know. These ARE the 144,000, only seen after the events foretold at the beginning of the chapter. Remember that the winds could not be released until the faithful were sealed. Only the 144,000 would come through the tribulation victorious. So who else could this great multitude include?

What encouragement this would provide for the Christians who would soon be facing great trials! Their bodies might suffer greatly, but their souls would survive unharmed to stand before the throne and join in praise of God and the Lamb. They could also look forward to the comfort of verses 15-17.

"For this reason," the passage promises, "they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them.

"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes."

Remember this passage when we get to the end of the book and discover the same scene described in more detail. Revelation does a masterful job of telling the same story more than once. It simply shifts the focus to make a different point.

One more thing: by no stretch of the imagination can this passage be twisted to speak of a so-called rapture or tribulation nearly 2,000 years after the writing of the book. Four times the book of Revelation stresses that the things described were to happen soon. And the first purpose of the book was to provide strength for those who would shortly face those trials.

Nearly every generation since the first century has tried to abuse this book by making it apply to events of that era. And they have all been wrong. The meaning of the book is not found in trying to single out dates and world governments. It is found in uncovering the eternal truth that God is in control, and that His followers will overcome. This is the truth that will set us free, even in the face of adversity.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."