1And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
In the previous chapter, Jesus opened six of the seven seals of the scroll He received. In chapter 8 He will open the seventh seal. But in chapter 7, there is a break in the narrative concerning the seals. In chapter 7, John sees two different groups of people. John’s vision of these two groups of people at this point will provide additional information about the period described in chapter 6.
John saw four angels standing at the four compass points of the earth. The four angels were restraining the four winds from blowing on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Why “tree”? The earth, the sea, and trees do not seem to be congruent categories. Probably the incongruence is intended to draw our attention.
In Ezekiel 17, God compared Christ’s coming kingdom to a mighty cedar tree. Then He said, And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it (Ezekiel 17:22-24). God also compared the Assyrian king in his pride to a tree: Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs (Ezekiel 31:3). Similarly, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was compared to a tree (Daniel 4:10-28). The prophet Isaiah said, For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: and upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan… (Isaiah 2:12-13).
Every rival power on earth will be brought down at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. During the seven years prior to His return there will be great judgments upon those rival powers. The winds of judgment will blow on the earth, the sea, and the trees – the proud kingdoms of the world and their domains. But in verse 1 of chapter 7, the winds of judgment are being temporarily restrained. The reason will be explained in the following verses.
2And 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 given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision concerning judgment that would come upon Israel. In the judgment, God would make a difference between those who were part of the sin and those who were in sorrow because of the sin. Ezekiel saw a man with a writer's inkhorn by his side. In Ezekiel’s vision, God said to this man, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof (Ezekiel 9:2-4). Those who had God’s mark on their foreheads would be protected from the judgment.
In Revelation 7 a similar event takes place. Judgment is about to come on the earth, the sea, and the proud kings of the world. But first, God’s seal is to be placed on the forehead of each of His servants. They will be protected from the judgments to come. The angel who tells the four angels to continue restraining the four winds ascends from the east – literally, “from the rising of the sun.” The prophet Malachi, in speaking of the coming of Christ in His glory, said, But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings… (Malachi 4:2). The angel ascending from the rising of the sun will seal those who are anticipating Christ’s coming as King.
4And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
The angel ascending from the rising of the sun said that “the servants of our God” would be sealed. In verse 4 we learn that at that point there will be exactly 144,000 servants of God left on planet earth. All of them will be Jewish. Clearly, the church will not be in the world at that time. The church will be delivered from the world before Jesus takes the scroll from His Father.
How can it be that there will be exactly 144,000 servants of God on earth at that time – and all of them Jewish? And what happened to the other servants of God on earth who believed after the church was taken out? The second question will be answered in the second part of this chapter. The first question becomes even more specific as we learn in the following verses that there will be exactly 12,000 servants of God sealed from each of 12 tribes of Israel. We might remember God’s answer to Elijah when Elijah spoke about the idolatry of Israel in his day. God told Elijah, I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal (Romans 11:4; 1 Kings 19:18). God did not say that He counted and that coincidentally there were exactly 7,000 men in Israel who had stayed faithful to Him. God said, “I have reserved to myself seven thousand men.” Similarly, God will raise up to Himself 144,000 Jewish believers to be His servants during the Tribulation.
What will the 144,000 Jewish servants of God do? In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Surely these servants of God will bear witness concerning the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the people of planet earth, the One who will soon return to establish His kingdom here.
5Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
In these verses God specified the number “12,000” twelve times. Surely He means for us to take this number literally. He will raise up exactly 12,000 people from each of the tribes named to be His servants during that time of tribulation on the earth.
Joseph’s father Jacob pronounced a blessing on both of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. In other words, Jacob said that Joseph would have a double portion in Israel (Genesis 48:20-22). In the list above, Manasseh’s name is included, and Joseph’s own name is given in the place of Ephraim’s name. Judah, the ancestor of Jesus, is listed first.
The tribe of Dan is not included in the list at all. The absence of Dan would imply that there were no “servants of our God” from the tribe of Dan on the earth at that time. Why would God not include Dan? It may be because of the idolatry that existed in the tribe of Dan during Israel’s history (see Judges 18:30-31; I Kings 12:28-30). Also, before Jacob died, he spoke a word of prophecy concerning each of his sons. Concerning Dan, Jacob said, Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD (Genesis 49:17-18). Dan may have some evil role during the Tribulation period. It is possible that the false prophet discussed in Revelation 13:11-18 will come from the tribe of Dan. But, in the grace of God, there will still be some people saved from the tribe of Dan. The tribe is clearly included in the distribution of the land in Christ’s coming kingdom (Ezekiel 48:1-2).
Jews today may not know which tribe they belong to, but God knows. Despite Israel’s turbulent history of captivity and being scattered, James wrote in his epistle, James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting (James 1:1). All twelve tribes of Israel were and will be preserved by God.
9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
In this chapter John had visions of two different groups of people. The first group was all Jewish and their number was specified. Now John sees the second group. This group is a mixture of people from every nation, kindred, and language. John says there were too many of them to count, “a great multitude.” This ethnically and linguistically mixed multitude is united in one cry: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” It is like the word of Psalm 3:8: Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. This multitude is in heaven, standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb. Their innumerable voices recognize as one that they are eternally alive and safe and delivered from suffering solely because God who sits on the throne and the Lamb have saved them.
The white robes they wear will be explained in verse 14. There are palm branches in their hands. The only other mention of palm branches in the New Testament is found in John 12:12-13 : …much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. The Hebrew word “Hosanna” means “Please save!” At Jesus’ first coming, the crowd met Him, the Savior-King, with palm branches as He entered Jerusalem. In Revelation 7, an innumerable multitude cries out in recognition that salvation comes only from the One sitting on the throne and the Lamb.
11And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
All the angels recognize in worship that blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might rightfully belong to God. But the word of the angels is different from the word of the human multitude. The joy and cry of the human multitude is in recognition of the reality that by the work of God and of the Lamb they personally are saved!
In 5:12 the same angels said, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” The Lamb, the Son of God, is one with God the Father.
13And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
One of the 24 elders asks John the identity of the multitude. The elder specifically asks John, “Where did they come from?” Thus, this multitude has arrived from somewhere. When the elder answers his own question, he says, “These are they which came out of great tribulation.” They have white robes like those of the martyrs in chapter 6. In chapter 6, after the opening of the fifth seal, John saw “under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” These martyrs cried out to God, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” John recorded, “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Revelation 6:9-11). Those martyrs were told that their blood would be avenged after the other martyrs were also killed. In these verses in the second part of chapter 7, we see those other martyrs. There are so many of them that John said that no one could count them. These believers were killed because of their faith at some time after the earlier group but apparently before the sealing of “the servants of our God” in verse 3.
The words “great tribulation” in verse 14 have the definite article “the” in Greek. The translation should be “the great tribulation.” It is the tribulation that Jesus spoke of which begins immediately after the “abomination of desolation” : For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be (see Matthew 24:15-22).
The elder said that this multitude “came out of” the great tribulation. Jesus told the church at Philadelphia, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10). The Greek preposition “from” in 3:10 is the same as the Greek preposition “out of” in 7:14. The church will be kept out of the hour of testing; the multitude will come out of the great tribulation. The great multitude from every nation, kindred, people, and language that John saw was not the church. There has been no further mention of the church in the book of Revelation since chapter 3. The church will be taken to heaven before the seven-year tribulation begins.
Verse 14 says that the multitude John saw had “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. But each person in the multitude had to wash their robe in Christ’s blood. That happens when a person puts his or her trust in Christ, the One who shed His blood as the sufficient payment for our sins.
15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
The first word of verse 15 is “therefore.” This multitude is able to be before the throne of God because they are cleansed from the corruption of the world they came out of. They made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb (verse 14). They serve God day and night in His temple. There is a temple of God in heaven. It will be referred to again a number of times later in the book. The phrase “shall dwell among them” would better be translated, “will spread His tent over them.”
16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
In verse 17, the word “feed” is the verb which is normally translated “to shepherd.” The Lamb is their Shepherd. The blessings in these verses clearly echo the words in Isaiah 49:9-10: They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. Because these Tribulation saints have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, they, too, will have part in the New Covenant blessings that Isaiah described. Isaiah also said, He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it (Isaiah 25:8).
These believers had suffered hunger and thirst during the Tribulation period, but those sufferings are over. They are safe from the final Tribulation judgments such as severe heat from the sun (see Revelation 16:8-9).
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.