Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 9

“Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, ‘Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.’ And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 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. And begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were before the house. Then he said to them, ‘Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.’ So they went out and struck in the city. And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, ‘Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?’ Then he said to me, ‘The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.’ And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, ‘I have done as you commanded me’” (Ezekiel 9, ESV).

New Testament Reading: Revelation 7:1-8

“After this I saw 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. Then 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 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.’ And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed” (Revelation 7:1–8, ESV).

Introduction 

It is really important to recognize that we have come to yet another distinct portion of the book of Revelation. All of chapter 7 goes together but notice that it is divided into two parts. In this chapter John describes to us two new and distinct visions. Both visions are introduced with the words “after this”. Look at verse 1: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth…” (Revelation 7:1, ESV). Now look at 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…” (Revelation 7:9, ESV).  The phrase, “after this”, clearly refers to the order in which John saw the visions – first the one, and then the other.

Does it surprise you that I’ve said, “we have now come to yet another distinct portion of the book of Revelation”. It should. And here is why.

Remember, we have been slowly progressing through, what is called, the seal cycle. John, in chapter 5, saw in the right hand of God a scroll sealed with how many seals? Seven seals. Christ, the Lamb of God slain for sinners, took the scroll and began to break the seals one at a time. When he broke the first four seals horses and their rides came forward and they were permitted by God to take peace from the earth. When the fifth seal was broken John was shown the souls of martyrs under the heavenly alter. “They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been” (Revelation 6:10–11, ESV). And when the sixth seal was broken John was shown a vision of the last day when God’s wrath will be poured out upon the earth in full. John saw all men, great and small, hiding “themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (Revelation 6:15–17, ESV). After this comes chapter seven and this new and distinct portion of the book of Revelation.

Why should this surprise you? Well, we have not come to the end of the seal cycle, have we? If you turn over to chapter 8 you will see it there in verse 1where we read, “When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Revelation 8:1, ESV).  The seventh seal has yet to be opened and yet we are already being introduced to a new set of visions.

So how are we to understand this interruption? How are we to understand the two visions of chapter 7 and their relationship to what has come before and will come afterwards?

Many commentators refer to this chapter, and the two visions contained within, as an interlude. I think that is a good term, for the drama of the seal cycle has been rolling along steadily. We’ve been caught up in it. The first six seals have pictured for us how things will be from the time of Christ’s first coming on to the end of history. But here in chapter seven we have a break. It’s as if we are invited to stand up and stretch our legs for a moment before continuing on with the seventh seal.

The interlude gives the reader, or hearer, a sense of delay. The truth communicated by this literally feature is that the end is not yet, but that things will go on for some time before what is portrayed in the sixth and seventh seals comes to pass.

It is important to recognize that this same feature is found within the trumpet cycle which is described in Revelation 8:6-11:19.  The trumpet cycle is more intense than the seal cycle. But notice that there is an interluded inserted in between the sixth and seventh trumpets, just as there is between the sixth and seventh seals. It too provides the reader with a sense of delay. But not so with bowl cycle, for the bowls are called the “seven bowls of the wrath of God” (Revelation 16:1). The bowl cycle describes, not the church age, but only the time of the end. It provides yet another picture of the last day when the wrath of God is poured out fully upon the earth. When that day comes there will be no more delay. In chapter 16 the bowls are poured speedily poured out – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Only the words of Christ separate the sixth and seventh bowls, and here is what he says: “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” (Revelation 16:15, ESV). The Day of the Lord will indeed come suddenly. But here in the seal cycle, and later on in the trumpet cycle, an interlude is inserted which provides a sense of delay.

But what do the visions of chapter seven communicate? What do the visions themselves mean? Well, they cause us to step back from the first six seals to look at things from yet another vantage point. They provide answers to the questions raised by the breaking of the first six seals. The visions of chapter seven provide us with more information and bring greater clarity to the the question, how will things be for the people of God living in the age between Christ’s first and second comings?

Think with me for a moment about what has been communicated so far with the breaking of the first six seals. The first four revealed that God would permit calamity to come upon the earth. In the time between Christ’s first and second comings there will indeed be wars, and rumors of wars, famines and plagues. Seal five encouraged us with the vision of the souls of the martyrs in heaven. They are clothed by God and comforted by him as they wait for the consummation. To die for Christ is really to live! And seal six provides us with a glimpse of how things will be on that last day, when the Lord returns to pour out his wrath upon the ungodly.

What question has yet to be addressed?

Are you not left wondering how things will go for God’s people on earth as they live in the mist of the calamity brought about by the four horsemen of the apocalypse? How will God’s people persevere in the midst of the trouble? It is true that seal five comforts us with the thought that to die for Christ is to be alive with him in heaven! But what about life on earth? How will God’s people hold up in the midst of the trials and tribulations described by the breaking of the first four seals?

And the question raised by the wicked who were seen coming under God’s wrath on the last day also needs to be answered. Remember that when the sixth seal was broken the wicked, both small and great, fled “from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and [they asked] who can stand” (Revelation 6:16–17, ESV)? That is an important question. Who can stand in the face of God’s judgment?

The two visions of chapter seven proved the answers to these questions.

Who can stand? Look at the second vision beginning at  7:9. “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” (Revelation 7:9, ESV). Who can stand? It is those who have faith in Christ, who’ve been clothed in his righteousness and cleansed by his blood. They are able to stand before God.

And how will the people of God possibly persevere in the midsts of the trials and tribulations experienced on earth which are common to this present evil age? Well, that is the question answered by the first vision of chapter 7, which is the text we are considering to today.

God Will Preserve His People Spiritually In The Midst Of The Trials And Tribulations Of This Present Evil Age

The simple truth that you must take away from Revelation 7:1-8 is that God will preserve his people spiritually in the midst of the trials and tribulations of this present evil age. This is the promise of God that should bring comfort to our souls. God knows his people. You and I might look out upon a mass of humanity and find it impossible to distinguish between those who belong to Christ and those who do not – it is not as if those who have faith bear any king of physical mark – but God knows. He has given them his name. He has sealed them with his Spirit. His promise is to preserve them. Though we will indeed pass through trials and tribulations of many kinds, we know that the heavenly Father will keep us faithful and true.

Let is consider the text together.

The Four Angels Hold Back The Four Winds

In 7:1 John says,  “After this I saw 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” (Revelation 7:1, ESV).

Who are these four angels and what do the four winds of the earth that they are holding back represent?

Nothing more can be known about the angels except that they are ministering spirits – servants of the living God. And the significance of the four winds of the earth is made clear from the immediate context.

Remember that when the first four seals were broken by Christ four horses with riders on them appeared before the throne of God. Each one of them was given authority and was permitted by God to go out into all the earth to take peace from it by way of war, and famine, and plague.

And remember that the significance of the four horsemen of Revelation 6 is best understood against the backdrop of what was revealed to Zechariah the prophet hundreds of years earlier. He too was curious about how things would go for the people of God on earth. And he too was shown a vision involving four sets of horses. These were sent out to patrol the earth and would eventually be permitted to take peace from it. God would use them to bring judgment upon the nations and to vindicate his people.

Listen to the words of Zechariah the prophet: “Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ And the angel answered and said to me, ‘These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth’” (Zechariah 6:4–5, ESV). In Zechariah 6 the four sets of horses are associated with the “four winds of heaven” . These are the agents though which God would bring about his judgments in all the earth.

So, when we read in 7:1,  “After this I saw 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”, we are to understand that these angels – these ministering spirits of God – have the responsibility to restrain these destructive forces – these ministers of judgment – mentioned both in Zechariah 6 and Revelation.

It is true, friends, that God executes his judgements upon the ungodly by way of permitting calamity. But it is also true that God is actively restraining evil continuously. God in his mercy restrains evil. God in his mercy maintains stability in the natural world. In his mercy he prohibits anarchy through civil governments. Our God is continuously active in the restraint of evil. We he to remove his restraint would we not be overrun by wickedness? If he were to give the ungodly over to the desires of their hearts, would they not devour one another? God in his mercy restrains evil.

I’m sure you are able to see that here we have yet another example of the fact that the book of Revelation is not ordered chronologically. It’s not that the events of 7:1-8 will happen after the event described in chapter 6. Instead 7:1 takes us back to the breaking of the first four seals and the four horsemen to give us another perspective on them. Indeed, they were permitted to take peace from as third of the earth, but the sovereign king of the universe restrains them.

The Servants Of God Are Sealed

And why does he restrain them?

Verses 2 and 3 tell us: “Then 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 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’” (Revelation 7:2–3, ESV).

The ministers of judgment are restrained until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads.

What does this mean?

The Ezekiel 9 passage that I read the beginning of the sermon is helpful. In that passage the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision that he saw concerning the judgment that would come, not upon the world, but upon Israel. The nation had grown exceeding sinful and God would bring judgment. And what Ezekiel see? He saw executioners who were given the task of passing through the city, beginning at the temple, to slay the unrighteous. But notice that in this vision these executioners were not permitted to begin until, “the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist… [Passed] 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” (Ezekiel 9:3–4, ESV).

In other words, judgment would come upon Israel, but the judgment would not be indiscriminate. God knew those who belonged to him. He would preserve them in the midst of judgment. The wicked would fall, but the righteous would stand.

A similar thing is symbolized here in Revelation 7. This time is not the judgment of Israel that is portrayed, but God’s judgments upon the earth. And this time it is not the the remnant of Israel that is marked on the forehead, but all of the servants of God in all the earth. They are not said to be marked, sealed.

What does it mean to be sealed?

The word has already been used in the immediate context. Remember that the scroll was sealed with seven seals. The seals communicate ownership. And the seals guard and protect. The scroll was God’s scroll and the seals protected the scroll – it could be opened by anyone unworthy. So too the seal placed upon the servants of God communicate ownership and protection. These servants belong to God. They bear his name. He will indeed protect them.

The 144,000 mentioned in this text will appear again in chapter 14 of the book of Revelation. There in 14:1 we are told that the “144,000… had [Chrits’s] name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (Revelation 14:1, ESV). Clearly the seal given to the servants of God has something to do with ownership. They belong to God.

What exactly is the seal? Is it a physical mark?

Well, tell me, were the faithful in the days of Ezekiel marked with a literal physical mark on the forehead to protect them from judgment? I think not. The mark is not physical, but spiritual. It is those who belong to God from the heart who have it. The same is true of the mark of the beast that will be mentioned later. It is not a physical mark, but a spiritual. To take the mark of the beast is to belong to the evil one, to take his name, and to live as his servant. To be sealed by God is to belong to him, to have his name, and to live as his servant.

It is best to understand this sealing as the sealing of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21–22, ESV).

Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14, ESV).

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30, ESV).

In Revelation 7 we have a depiction of this very truth. The servants of God are sealed by the Holy Spirit so as to guard them until they acquire the full possession of their inheritance on the day of redemption. The meaning is clear. God is able to preserve those who are true to him even while he pours out his calamitous judgments upon the unrighteous.

144,000 Sealed

In 7:4 these servants of God are described.  John “heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel…” (Revelation 7:4, ESV).

The Jehovahs Witnesses and some dispensationalists make the same error. They assume that the number is to be taken literally. The Jehovahs Witnesses believe that in the end only 144,000 will reign in heaven. Some dispensationalists believe that in the time before the end there will be 144,000 Jews who come to faith and will be sealed to protect them during tribulation. The views are very different but they make the some error – they take the number to be literal. This is a strange thing to do in a book so filled with symbolism.

Instead it is far better to understand the number 144,000 to be a refrain to all of the elect, Jew and Gentile, living in the time between Christ’s first and second comings.

Notice two things. First, the number. And second, the listing of the tribes of Israel.

The number twelve is significant thought the book of Revelation. So too is the number twenty-four. The number twelve can stand for the tribes of Israel or the Apostles of Christ. The number twenty-four stands for the two groups together. We have here a way of referring to the people of God under the Old and New Covenants. Here we have the number 144,000 which is twelve times twelve times 1,000. The number one thousand is used in the Bible to symbolize a long but complete period of time. That is how the number 1,000 will be used in Revelation 20. What we have here, then, is a number which symbolized the servants of God, Jew and Gentile, who live throughout the church age.

Consider also the listing of the twelve tribes of Israel. There is something curious going on here. “12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed” (Revelation 7:5–8, ESV).

When we compare this listing of Israel with the way that the tribes of Israel are listed in the Old Testament we find that the list in Revelation 7 is unusual.

Look at the way that the tribes of Israel are listed in Genesis 35:23-26. Jacobs sons are listed in this way: First, the sons of Jacob’s wife, Leah – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Net the sons of Jacob’s wife, Rachael – Joseph and Benjamin. After that the outsider sons of the concubines are listed. The sons of Bilhah – Dan and Naphtali. And the sons of Zilpah – Gad, and Asher.

But compare that to the listing of Revelation 7. Notice three things. One, Judah is given first position. Why would that be? Well, Jesus has recently been introduced to us as the lion of the tribe of Judah. Christ is the head of this people! Two, notice that idolators have no place amongst this people. The tribe of Dan was notorious for idolatry under the Old Covenant. Dan is replaced by Manassah in the New Covenant listing of Revelation 7. This people is a pure people. All who who are a part of this people truly belong to Christ. They are all under his headship and they worship God in Spirit and truth – this could not be said of the Old Covenant people of God. Some belonged to Christ, but not all. Some were worshipers of God, but not all. The Ezekiel 9 passage read earlier illustrates this principle. Three, notice that outsiders are elevated in Revelation 7 list. The sons of the concubines are elevated from last to first. This symbolizes the inclusion of the Gentiles into the people of God.

To the one who would complain that the text calls this group “the tribes of Israel”, therefore this must be a reference to those who are ethnic Jews, I would say, pay closer attention to the way that the New Testament uses the word Israel. It is used consistently in the New Testament to refer to the true people of God, Jew and gentile. The is no longer Jew and Gentile, friends, when it comes to the people of God. The middle wall of hostility has been broken down. We have been made one in Christ. The gentiles have been grafted in to Israel, and are therefore Israel along with all who have faith in Jesus as the Christ. Pay attention to the way that the New Testament interprets Jeremiah 31:31, for example. In the days of the Old Covenant the Lord promised that a New Covenant would be made. And who would be made with? “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:31–32, ESV). Tell me friends, has this New Covenant been made? Indeed it has. Christ is the mediator of it! And who is the covenant made with? The Jew only? Ethnic Israel only? No, but with all who have faith in Christ, Jew and Gentile together as one in him. If the New Testament is clear about anything, it is clear about that (see Hebrews 10, for example).

The 144,000 represent all of the elect, Jew and Gentile, who will live throughout the time between Christ’s first and second comings. They are sealed by the Holy Spirit – preserved by God because they bear his name. Christians will indeed face trials and tribulations in this world but they will be kept by God through it – preserved by the power of the Holy Spirit, by which they have been sealed.

Application

Brother and sisters, how might this apply to us?

First of all, do not be surprised by trials and tribulations. Never has God promised to keep us from trials and tribulations, but he has promised to preserve us through them. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12, ESV).

Secondly, rejoice in the trial by developing and maintaining a godly, heavenly, and eternal perspective on the world. Here is one things that distinguishes the people of God from the unrighteous. The people of God are able to see beyond this world to the world to come. They know God and understand that he is the one who works all things “together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13, ESV).

Thirdly, walk by the Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that you have been sealed. He has been given as a guarantee – a down payment, if you will. And he is the one who empowers you to live in this world as you ought. Walk by him. Submit to him. Rely upon him for strength day by day. If you are struggling with sin – if you are struggling with doubt – if you struggling to maintain your life in Christ, I ask you, are you walking by the Spirit relying upon him in every aspect of your life? Or are you walking according to the flesh, relying only upon yourself? Are you praying, friend? Are you thinking upon the scriptures and laboring in Christ to obey them? Are you partaking of the Supper in faith? Are you in fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ? These are the things that the Spirit used to preserve us in the faith. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:16–17, ESV).

Fourthly, take comfort in the fact that is it God who preserves us and not we who preserve ourselves. There is a promise to claim here in Revelation 7. Lord, you have promised to keep us in the midst of trial and tribulation. Keep us, Lord I pray!