The Servants of God are Sealed – Revelation 7:1 – 8:5
(Revelation Chapter 7)
1 And 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.
2 And 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,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And 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.
5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephtalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of 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.
8 Of the tribe of Zebulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After 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 in white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And 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 worshiped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?
14 And 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.
15 Therefore 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.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For 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.
(Revelation Chapter 8)
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Persecution and protection are paternal twins in theology. The words of Jesus recorded in John 16:33 clearly indicate that persecution will be a part of living a life devoted to Christ as He said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: be be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Those words indicate both Christ’s power and offer assurance of His ability to protect His own. Even if persecution leads to physical death there is no dilemma for a believer because as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “…to be absent from the body…” is “…to be present with the Lord…” The protection given to a child of God comes in the form of His grace to meet all our needs in life. This goes without saying during a time when the witness of a believer’s life may lead others to attempt or even succeed in the destruction of the physical body of a child of God. Nonetheless, Paul is explicit when in Romans 8:28 “…that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” If His purpose for us is to lose this physical life in witness to His name so much the better, for we are most assuredly cared for in eternity.
To this point we have seen that six seals have been opened, each resulting in great havoc on the earth. The man of sin has done his best to destroy believers and to wreck the world. If current believers have been raptured by the occurrence of this scene then the man of sin has caused upheaval to come upon the world, and anyone trusting Jesus after the rapture has had to endure this devil’s wrath and the wrath of Satan. The man of sin will reveal himself in the midst of the week (Daniel 9:27), and then the sixth seal will be opened and the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:16, 17) will be poured out upon the earth. The sixth seal will bring people to the point of desiring death, but they will not be able to find it. The earth will have never known such an upheaval.
Chapter 7, which is actually a parenthetic passage, requires a reminder of some history of the Old Testament. In verses 5-8 the tribes of Israel are listed in a sealing of people within the tribes, so let’s remain mindful that the twelve sons of Jacob make up the twelve tribes of Israel. However, the lists to be found elsewhere may not match every time. For example, the tribe of Joseph generally is listed as Ephraim and Manasseh and at times Levi is not listed as a tribe because of its role as the priestly tribe and therefore receiving no physical inheritance. Also, Dan is not listed in Revelation 7. These peculiar traits will be noted somewhat later but deserve our attention now to alert us to the difficulties we may be encounter ahead. The sons of Jacob all have a blessing as found in Genesis chapter 49; the sealing here has to do with God’s keeping of the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The listing here demonstrates that promise and God’s intent to fulfill it.
Who are the ones sealed, and what type of sealing will take place? These are the questions we must ponder in this section. The persecution of the believer comes into view here, as well as the protection of God for His covenant people. The persecution of the people of Israel may be considered significant in this section, also.
Once again we will see the elders and the beasts as yet another scene around the throne is described, and the attention John pays to this detail should draw our attention to the importance God places upon events transpiring there. Insight to the promises we have and God’s intend plan for keeping them can also be gleaned from this section. The opening of the seventh seal will be the final consideration in this article, and at that point we should not overlook the half hour of silence. Truly the opening of the scroll’s seventh seal will lead to another round of devastation.
The Angel’s Message (Revelation 7:1-3)
1 And 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.
2 And 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,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The text begins by saying, “And after these things…” John does not use an idiom specifying a passage of time but rather one which transports the reader to another scene in overall end-time events. He had already witnessed the opening of the first six seals and his mind was flooded with detail. Now the scene changes and we find ourselves surrounded, as did he, by detail once more.
As this scene opens four angels, or messengers of God, are standing on the four corners of the earth. The use of this figure of speech is by no means indicative that the earth is square as was once believed, but merely speaks of the directions of the wind. The winds are stopped and a meteorological calm settles over the earth. Such absolute stillness and calm would without doubt capture the attention of any person on the planet. The purpose of this is not revealed, but it seems it would cause the world to pause and take notice of those events already transpired as well as those about to happen. Commerce on the sea would be affected, weather patterns disrupted, and even the ability of the world to breathe may be affected. Stagnant air in the summer occurs now in large metropolitan areas and air quality alerts are issued. Think of the disastrous effects were there to be no wind at all anywhere across the face of the globe. In this scene there are four angels on four corners of the earth, holding the four winds. This cluster of fours is an accommodation to the four directions and thereby includes all the earth.
John then saw another angel of the same kind coming from the east, having the seal of God with him or upon him to verify his authority to speak for God and to interrupt the four angels in their work. This angel will have a noteworthy purpose – to apply the seal of God to His servants – but he first will interrupt the four angels in the continuation of their task as with a loud voice he will cry out and the other angels will cease their activity. The angel of verse 2 says in verse 3 “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees…” Whatever else the stoppage of the wind would do, it would bring certain destruction to these three things at least.
You may remember from our last article that four is the number of creation in Biblical numerology. Here the text identifies three things directly involved with creation: angles, corners and winds. Angels are created beings who serve God at His direction, and some angels have specifically assigned duties in administering various aspects of creation or the earth. As already noted, the reference to corners regards the points of the compass. The four angels hold the winds at each of the four primary compass points of the earth and eventually become God’s instruments of His divine judgment upon the earth.
When the four angels were prohibited from stopping the winds, the single angel then stated this interruption will continue “till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads,” implying that the four may resume their activity at some future point. The act of sealing or marking God’s servants is quite significant for our consideration here. The term used for servants (Greek doulous) is commonly used in the New Testament and literally means bond slave. A bond slave was one who had been offered freedom and refused it, choosing instead to serve the master of his or her own will. A notch was cut into the ear so all would readily know of the conscious decision made by the slave and acceptance by the master. Doulous is a term used by the apostles in their writing to describe the loving relationship Christ has with those committed to Him. Thus the sealing to take place will be of these types of people, the willing servants of God, and they will be sealed in their foreheads.
We are not told the type of seal or the method of accomplishing this task; only that it will be done. The four angels, along with the one of the same kind, will perform the work of sealing the servants. Whoever these servants are, God has chosen them, and the angel is clear that the act of sealing is the work of our God.
Seal Six (Revelation 7:4-8)
4 And 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.
5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephtalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of 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.
8 Of the tribe of Zebulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
These verses have the very straightforward purpose of listing the tribes and the number from each who are to be sealed by the angels for God. Each tribe has 12,000 sealed, making a total of 144,000. All kinds of speculation can be put forth on the significance of these numbers. Some may contend they represent governmental perfection while others consider the numbers to be literal; others think they are figurative. The important point, though, seems to be the literal sealing of the servants of God. In this time of tribulation and trial for Israel, God assures that at least 144,000 are to be sealed or undeniably marked as His servants. At some point these have realized the man of sin’s granted power, understood who he is and recognized his agenda, and have committed themselves to God.
This listing of the tribes is not in birth order. Judah is listed first and is the one to whom Jacob gave the inheritance. Joseph received the blessing placed on his two sons and, may it be added, not in correct birth order. In the history of the patriarch’s birth order meant something, yet it always seemed to be out of order, reminding us that while man ordinarily concentrates on outward qualities God looks on the heart. The repetition of each tribe receiving 12,000 sealed servants makes the majority of the text in this section.
God fully intends to preserve some from out of this time of Jacob’s trouble in the Tribulation. Israel has the promise of God concerning the land, the people, and the Messiah and King. We must not lose sight of the fact that God will always keep all His promises.
A Multitude Appears (Revelation 7:9, 10)
9 After 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 in white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
The same Greek phrase meta tuata or “after these things” opens verse 9 that opened verse 1. The idea is again not of something new or different but simply the progression of the recorded events. God has now sealed 144,000 servants from Israel unto Himself. It seems likely that this is a physically visible seal of some sort because of the mark in the forehead, but it is surely also providential in implication. Next, John saw not only the servants of God from the tribes of Israel sealed in their foreheads, but something far different – a great uncountable multitude from every nation, ethnic group, tongue and language in the world. The testimony of this verse is to the fact that the gospel has been preached to the world. Every group of people will have the opportunity to know Christ, accept Him, and to be present in Heaven. No person will ever be able to stand before God and blame Him for not having heard the message of the Gospel.
Where did all these people come from to be present at this event? If the saints of God were raptured at the beginning of the week, why are they only now appearing? Could it be they have just been caught up to meet the Lord, and the multitude John saw were the saints raptured before the wrath of the Lamb and the opening of the sixth seal? Why do these appear at this juncture, and for what reason or purpose? The resurrection occurred, and the children of God as an innumerable multitude appeared to stand before the throne and the Lamb. God has a plan, and it seems that by this point it is reaching its culmination.
This great multitude was not in physical bodies. Once again please note they appeared before the throne and before the Lamb. It was determined in our considerations of chapters 4 and 5 that this all occurs in a heavenly place. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 that flesh and blood cannot inhabit the kingdom of Heaven, which is an important point to consider here. These saints then were in a spiritual state, and thus must be those of the resurrection, clothed in white robes and carrying palms in their hands. The purpose of the palms is not specifically stated here but is possibly an allusion to the day of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem demonstrating the acknowledgment and welcoming of a king. If King Jesus had returned for His servants then, the presence of palms would have been more easily understood.
Upon the arrival of the multitude before the presence of the throne and the Lamb the multitude cried out with a loud voice. Once in Heaven the saints of God freely offered praise to the Father. In chapters 4 and 5 praise was offered by the elders and the four beasts, and will be offered again later in this section. However, at the moment described here, salvation and deliverance is proclaimed by the multitude toward God and to the Lamb. The occupant of the throne is the Father, and the Lamb is there with Him. The focus of the multitude is neither upon the material world nor upon itself but is instead upon the providential work of the Father and the redemptive blood of the Lamb in delivering them from the world.
This multitude was also clothed in white robes. If these white robes represent the righteousness of the saints as in chapter 19, then by this time the judgment has already occurred and people have received their reward. If at this point it symbolizes the washing of the blood of Jesus, then we understand the power of the completed work of Jesus in the resurrected saints. Whatever these things stand for, one thing is certain – the multitude was present and standing before the throne in chapter 7, and it seems that they may have just arrived. If they were raptured at the beginning of the week some rather interesting interpretations will be required in the latter part of this chapter.
Amen (Revelation 7:11, 12)
11 And 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 worshiped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
In their white robes and with palms in their right hands the multitude is gathered ‘round the throne with the angels, the elders and the four beasts constituting the third throne scene in Revelation. Everyone was prostrate (bowed in appropriate worshipful posture) at the foot of the throne before the Father and the Lamb as they fell on their faces and worshiped God. Please take note of posture and action in this section. The saints demonstrated humility even though a resurrection has by now occurred. It seems as if those comprising the multitude clearly understood this had nothing to do with their ability and everything to do with the power of God who, according to both Peter and Paul, had the power to raise Christ as well as the saints. The position of worship described here demonstrates the mind-set of saints before God as servants, not as ones who make demands of a holy God.
The first word is, “Amen.” You may recall from previous articles that this word means so be it and is essentially the same in every language – a universally understood word. Amen is therefore a confirmation of agreement with the statements made before. As these groups worship, the first aspect manifested is their agreement with God. May it be so with our worship today! Let us agree with God and fall on our faces before Him adoring His name, the name that is above every name.
Verse 12 has a format you may recognize from our consideration of Revelation 5:12, in which the definite article appears in the Greek before each of the qualities ascribed to God and the Lamb. The essence and totality of each of these fits the character and nature of God perfectly. All wisdom, blessing, honor, power and glory belong to Him alone, and none of these qualities remain for any human for any reason as the worship of God takes place before the throne.
The phrase “for ever and ever” reminds us of the endless worthiness for praise of the only true God, God who has no equal, and it also reminds us of our responsibility to honor Him in all ways in all things and without ceasing. The God of the throne and the Lamb are above all others. Salvation is found in none other. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob remains our God, and we are to worship no other. This scene of the multitude of resurrected saints ascribing to God this power and majesty should stimulate us all to do the same toward Him. The passage ends with another hearty “Amen.” The desire for all of this is the way it should be. The saints raptured have gathered to praise the Almighty God of Heaven and to be grateful they are removed from what is yet to come in the wrath of the Lamb yet to be poured out at the opening of the seventh seal.
White-robed Saints (Revelation 7:13-17)
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?
14 And 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.
15 Therefore 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.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For 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.
One of the elders now addressed John and said to him, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?” These are penetrating questions that still confront the serious student of the Bible. John will receive an answer even as he replies that the elder already knows what he is asking. The elder does indeed know, and so might we if we read and seek to understand.
These are the ones who have come out of the Great Tribulation. Some technical things should be noticed at this point in our study and some examination of this is in order. First, “out of” means from out of the midst. Imagine a circle with a line that begins in the middle and goes outside the circle with an arrow pointed on the end; this is the idea of “out of,” and as was mentioned in a previous article it is the Greek word ek. Second, the terms “great tribulation” both have the definite article the (Greek tEs) in front of them in the original text. The concept is that the tribulation specified here is inconceivably (the) “great” and that (the) “tribulation” is not just any tribulation that comes along in life. It is a particular and very specific one.
Those who hold to a first-of-the-week rapture believe no saint will have to endure any of the Tribulation. Again remind yourself of the terror and trauma of the Tribulation and the wrath of the man of sin and Satan during this period. If the saints are already gone then where do these mentioned come from? Remember, they are from the Great Tribulation. If these are saints redeemed during that time then verses 9 and10 may seem to be out of chronological order. If the rapture is in the midst of the week, then these could be from the first forty-two months. Whenever they are from, it remains undeniable they are from a period of great trial and trouble. They are ones who “…have washed their robes…” in the blood of the Lamb. The servants out of the Great Tribulation are redeemed in the same manner as all the earth throughout history – faith in Jesus as Messiah and Christ.
These saints before the throne willingly, thankfully and joyfully serve Him day and night, the concept seeming to be of ones who will be in the presence of the Father forever. In dwelling in and around the throne, one gets the idea that these are all the saints of all the ages who have been resurrected. Keep in mind that the temporal aspects of life are over and the joys of eternal life in Heaven with a new body and a new life seem to be a dominate theme. The judgment seems to have already taken place, and all the joys of Heaven are in evidence here.
This section of Scripture is then open to a number of interpretations, and each student must prayerfully determine his or her understanding of the rapture and where these saints come from. The sealing of the 144,000 seems to be physical, with marks in the foreheads of each from the tribes. The multitudes of saints around the throne seem to be the resurrected saints from the Great Tribulation. Their robes are white and they, along with the elders and beasts, offer the ultimate in worship to God before His throne. So, now comes the anticipated opening of the seventh seal.
The Seventh Seal (Revelation 8:1-5)
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
If seven is the number of completion – and it is – then we are about to behold the completion of the opening of the seals. The One who was found worthy to open the seals is about to break the last bond restraining great and humanly inconceivable traumas upon the earth. Now the scene shifts from an interlude of the sealing of the 144,000 and the praise of the multitudes to the opening of that seventh seal.
The opening of the seventh seal in chapter 8 verse 1 describes no riders or horses, altars or destruction of people. It is greeted instead with a profound and deafening silence for one-half hour. The silence of the heavens, particularly in the wake of all the foregoing unrestrained praise, will surely be an awesome silence indeed. We do not know what was seen during this time; we only know that nothing was heard during this span of time. It may be that while God and the Lamb withhold their words all others in Heaven are so aghast at the portent of coming doom as to be utterly speechless.
We have met the four angels who held the four winds, and the other angel. We now meet the “seven angels” of God. These stood before God and were given seven trumpets. Lest we forget, a trumpet is used to call people to war, to warn of danger, to provide an order and to give directions. As was previously noted, Paul warns in his Corinthian writings to beware the uncertain sound, as it causes confusion. The trumpet was used by the people of Israel to provide direction and order as they moved the camp but it also announces both defeat and victory, and can call the attention of the people for a need to listen.
Another angel now appeared with a golden censer, or an object on a chain with a flat pan attached upon which incense can be burned. John notes the incense is burning as a part of the worship and it is the prayers of the saints. You may remember that Revelation 5:8 also refers to the odors of the prayers of the saints. This angel then draws fire from the altar to alight the incense and then casts it into the earth. This resulted in earthquakes and thundering and lightnings, likely such as the earth has never seen so that it seems the details of traumas inflicted upon the earth are not nearly over. The angels then begin to sound their trumpets.
Summary (Revelation 7:1 – 8:5)
Even as this article nears its end, much is still to be considered in those to follow. To this point we have seen who the Lamb is and the message He has given to the churches. We have noticed the need of the churches to repent and to trust in Christ, and the reward of the overcomer. In every age churches exist like those in chapters 2 and 3. These churches can find their hope and power in Christ and find the joy of service to Him in the midst of trouble through repentance.
The scenes around the throne and in the beginning of the trials of God’s people provide an abundance of interesting material for discussion. When will the rapture happen and how does all of this affect churches today? What is the Tribulation and how should we understand it? As we conclude this article and even as we anticipate the next, these questions may not yet be fully answered in our minds. Please be patient – we will contemplate many more events and consider many more of the people involved in this wonderful story as our study continues. One thing must never be forgotten: everything in the book of Revelation is about Jesus; let us be careful to never lose sight of that vital fact. The joy of this study comes in the desire it should instill within us to tell every person the good news of Jesus, and in that regard The Revelation is the most evangelistic book in all the Bible. It reminds us of the importance of the message and drives the urgency of our responsibility to share it. The more we understand it the better equipped we will be to share the Gospel.
May God’s blessings and peace be upon you always –
Tom