Revelation 7:1–8

Notice that the two visions of Revelation 7 form no part of the sequence of the seals. The sixth seal is now open, and the seventh does not come until Revelation 8. These visions are introduced as something separate: "After this I saw." They are a parenthesis between the sixth and seventh seals. Indeed they could not form part of the seals, for they are different in nature. The seals are judgments. These visions are visions of remarkable grace — to Israel first, and also to the Gentiles. There is a moral beauty in this interruption. The seal judgments are rolling on, and the sixth has come. But the Lord stops the procession to display this magnificent show of grace — in wrath He remembers mercy.

Angels, as always, are the servants of God's providential rule. Here they act as the ones who carry out His judgments... In fact they hold back the powers of evil here. They are also the ones who, in God's own time, bring His vengeance through those same powers. They stand on the four corners of the earth. The whole earth is under the control God has given them, because the number four is the symbol of completeness on earth.

The "four winds of the earth" are those disturbing elements existing in all quarters, which God can at His will let loose in judgment.

The winds of the earth are the various influences that affect it from outside. They are certainly not divine influences, or God would not need to hold them back. They are the power of the enemy at work. Satan, as we learn elsewhere, is "the prince of the power of the air," and the course of this age is under his control. God is above it all, as we now see. Nothing exists unless God permits it. That is the security of His people, whatever hostile circumstances they pass through.

"That no wind might blow on earth" — the scene of settled government (Rev. 10:2; Ps. 46:2); "or sea" — nations and peoples in anarchy and confusion (Dan. 7:2-3; Isa. 57:20); "or against any tree" — the might and pride of earth (Dan. 4:10, 22; Ezek. 31:3-9, 14-18). The verse gives the reason for the pause in judgment in exact terms: "until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads" (v. 3).

John here views the earth as a vast open plain, bounded by the four main points of the compass, north, south, east, and west. At each of these corners an angel stands so as to have full control over the destructive forces of evil. Repeating the number "four" three times marks how complete and how wide-reaching the action is... The earth here must be understood in its largest sense.

This pictures God in His providence holding judgment back, so that the servants of God can be sealed in their foreheads. If Antichrist will seal his servants in their foreheads (see Revelation 13:16), God will seal His servants and preserve them.

The order of these things is important. It shows that God has complete control of the situation, even of the worst powers that may act on the earth. The earth may be in total turmoil but God takes care of the saints. He knows each one and this is so important for our comfort and consolation. Nothing is too difficult for Him, nor any situation too dangerous.

The four angels were given their power to harm the earth and the sea. So the judgment is in God's hand, even though the instruments may be working their own will. The angels have "power to harm" simply because they have the power to restrain the harmful influences, or not. So there is a time of quiet and relative safety until God has finished His own work in those who serve Him.

In every upheaval, in every preparation for God's judgments, the angel who shows God's power in mercy is stronger than the angels who carry out His judgments. Good is more powerful than evil. That angel who holds the seal can cry with a loud voice, Do not harm. We see the same thing with Lot, who is a picture of the remnant that escapes at the coming of the Son of Man. The angels could do nothing to Sodom until he had left it. So there is an order among the attributes of God: His mercy always goes before His justice.

He rises from the east, the sunrise, "with the seal of the living God." This sealing angel comes up from the sunrise for the preservation and blessing of Israel. He seems to be a herald of the Messiah. As the Sun of Righteousness, Messiah will rise with healing in His wings (Mal. 4:2) and shine on the land and the people with a brightness nothing can dim. The angel brings the first fruits of the nation's blessing; the full harvest waits for Christ to appear from heaven.

Some have supposed that the sealing angel is Christ. One reason is the assumption that the work being done is the giving of the Holy Spirit of promise, the seal of redemption. To me all this is more than doubtful. Our Lord never takes an angelic form and title until we reach the trumpet series.

No angel could give the Holy Spirit. This angel's own words show he is a creature. The "we" shows that more than one carries out this ministry, and those who do it speak of God as "our God."

"The seal of the living God" implies safety from death. The seal on the forehead means a public, open acknowledgment that those who are sealed belong to God. We are not told what the seal is.

The instructed reader will see at once how this sealing differs from the sealing of believers now with the Holy Spirit. God seals believers of this present time as soon as their sins are forgiven, and He seals them for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). The 144,000 of this chapter are sealed with the seal of the living God. It keeps them safe through the judgments that will fall on the world. For Israel those judgments will be the day of Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:4-9; see also Matt. 24:21-22). They are sealed for blessing on the earth in the kingdom of their glorious Messiah.

These servants are drawn from the twelve tribes of Israel, and their number, "one hundred and forty-four thousand," is symbolic. This surely shows that during this time of tribulation God will raise up His servants from among His ancient people Israel. They will be a public witness to Himself in every part of the world to which they may have been scattered.

The contents of our chapter form no part of events under the Seals. There is no historical sequence… So between the sixth seal and the seventh, belonging to neither, God brings in a deeply interesting episode of blessing to Israel and to the Gentiles. Judgment pauses, and the veil lifts so that we may see the heart of our God. It is not all judgment in those dark and evil days.

"That no wind might blow upon the earth," the scene of settled government (Rev. 10:2; Ps. 46:2): "nor upon the sea," nations and peoples in anarchy and confusion (Dan. 7:2-3; Isa. 57:20); "nor upon any tree," the might and pride of earth (Dan. 4:10, 22; Ezek. 31:3-9, 14-18). The angel states the reason judgment stops in precise terms: "until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

Here we read that the four angels were given the power to hurt the earth and the sea. So the judgment is in the hand of God, although the instruments may be working their own will. The angels have "power to hurt" only because they can hold back the harmful influences, or let them loose. So there is a time of quiet and relative safety until God has finished His own work in those who serve Him.

We learn, next, that God governs the world with His people in view… In the same way, judgment was about to fall upon Jerusalem. The Lord had a mark put on the foreheads of the men who sighed and cried over all the abominations done in it (Ezek. 9). He kept this faithful remnant safe while the scourge swept over everything.

"The seal of the living God" means safety from death. The seal on the forehead is a public, open acknowledgment that those who carry it belong to God. What the seal is we are not told.

God's seal on their foreheads stands in contrast to the mark of the beast that unbelievers receive in Revelation 13:16-18.

Any instructed reader will at once see the difference between this sealing and the sealing of believers now with the Holy Spirit. Believers today are sealed as soon as their sins are forgiven, and they are sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). The 144,000 of this chapter are sealed with the seal of the living God. This preserves them through the judgments that will fall upon the world… They are also sealed for blessing on the earth in the kingdom of their glorious Messiah.

I have little doubt this points to Christ (though in a new character, and in connection with the earthly people) and the saints. He holds the seal of the living God. Of course He alone could; but the saints are associated with Him. He says, "until we have sealed the servants of our God."

The words "until we have sealed" would be beneath the surpassing dignity of Christ. So would the closing words of the angel's cry, "the servants of our God." The language and spirit of John 20:17 runs right through the New Testament: "I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." We never meet the terms "our God" and "our Father" as covering Christ and believers together.

They had kept up the testimony of God through trial and difficulty. Their path was marked by conflict and service. So the title "servants" fits them well.

Revelation 7 is a parenthesis — in the middle of judgment, mercy is remembered. First, 144,000: that is, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel are sealed, so that no judgment meant for the earth may reach them (verses 1-8). Second (verses 9-17), a countless multitude from all the nations of the earth stand before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white with palms in their hands. How precious these rays of mercy are!

Those twelve tribes, described as they are there, with their names given, can mean nothing but the literal twelve tribes of Israel... The prophet sees another multitude which no one could number, drawn from all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages. That is, it is as expressly a Gentile body as the hundred and forty-four thousand were out of the tribes of Israel.

Their sealing guarantees that they will come safely through the Great Tribulation. They are kept not simply as individuals, but as Israelites, and so with earthly blessing as a nation in view. The tribes are mentioned by name (vv. 5-8), which would have no place if their destination was heaven.

When David tried to number the people, it was a presumptuous sin. But here it is the grace of God taking a full number out of the tribes of Israel for Himself. The number 144,000 is a regular and complete number, though I take it to be a symbolic one, with a view to God's use of Israel, His favoured nation, here on earth. The number twelve always points to what is perfect for God's work when man administers it. You can see this in the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve patriarchs, the twelve apostles, and even the twelve gates and twelve foundations of the New Jerusalem.

The numbers given here might of course be literal. More probably we should take them as symbols, since twelve and the square of twelve carry a symbolic sense elsewhere in the book. The godly remnant of Israel will have an important place in the government of the coming age, and twelve is the number of completeness in government.

"The seal of the living God" implies safety from death. The seal on the forehead is a public, open acknowledgment that those who are sealed belong to God. What the seal is, we are not told.

This sealing is the work of angels. It is very different, therefore, from the present sealing with the Holy Spirit, and from any power or gift of the Spirit. No angel could give that... The effect is that God's people are shown to be His, and so kept safe from the judgments about to be sent.

In Revelation 7, where the tribes are sealed for blessing, Dan is left out, as a type of the Antichrist. Ephraim is also left out, the number being made up by inserting Levi and by naming Joseph as well as Manasseh. In the future division of the land Dan will have a portion, but will be the farthest from the temple (Ezekiel 48:1-35).

Faith is sure that God knows where they are, and that He will make it clear in His own time and way... Israel is in the dark of night, beyond all question; but God's eye is on them. Not one of the tribes is forgotten before Him. He knows where to lay hands on them when He needs them for restoration and blessing.

Revelation 7 is a parenthesis — while judgment is going on, mercy is remembered. First come the 144,000: 12,000 sealed out of each tribe of Israel, so that no judgment coming on the earth may reach them (vv. 1-8)… Here in purest mercy 144,000 of Israel, who had crucified their Messiah, are guarded from grief.

In our English version three tribes are named in each verse. But the real arrangement of the tribes, like that of the apostles (Matt. 10:2-4), is in pairs. First, Judah and Reuben… Fourth, Simeon and Levi, the second and third sons of Leah, joined together in the prophetic list (Gen. 49:5-7), and also in the Lord's revealing of Himself to saved Israel (Zech. 12:13). Fifth, Issachar and Zebulun, the fifth and sixth sons of Leah.

In this prophetic and symbolic picture every distinction is wiped out. Only Judah keeps the first place. In Revelation it is a matter of God's government and of Christ's millennial reign. Here we no longer find the half-tribes of Manasseh. Levi is sealed like the other tribes. Joseph replaces Ephraim.

I would add this. Some parts of Scripture leave Levi out because they look at the land as lived in by the nation. That reason plainly does not hold good here. The question here is not about the land, but about witness before the nations.

When the kingdom divided, Simeon belonged in name to the ten tribes, but was completely cut off from the other nine. So they had two options only. They could merge with the two tribes — and of this we read nothing — or, as Jacob had prophesied, be "scattered in Israel." They were, in a way, lost in the land. Ezekiel prophesies about a future day. Then the twelve tribes will be restored and the land divided again. In that day the tribe of Simeon has its portion. Ezek. 48:24-35. They are also mentioned in Rev. 7:7, when a remnant of them will be sealed for blessing.

He will have an election from that people. But it will be a personal and individual election — not merely a national one as of old. When David tried to count the people, it was a presumptuous sin. Here it is the grace of God taking a full number of the tribes of Israel for Himself. The number 144,000 is a regular and complete number, though a mystical one, as I take it… The number twelve always points to what is perfect for God's work, carried out under man's administration.

The natural order of birth is not kept here. So Judah, and not Reuben, heads the list, for blessing on the ground of mercy can only come through Him who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root and Offspring of David. There have been many guesses as to why Dan is left out. Some have thought it is because the tribe of Dan was so mixed up with idolatry. Others suppose that "the man of sin" will be a Danite. But the hundred and forty-four thousand are an election out of Israel, so these reasons cannot be entertained for a moment… We may notice also that the tribes are sealed with the seal of the living God, which shows their security and preservation in a time of judgment and death. Their standing before God is that of "servants," not "sons," or members of the body of Christ, as we are.

The Gentile company (v. 9) is not numbered. The company from Israel, by contrast, is counted with care. The result is not a round number but an exact one: a hundred and forty-four thousand. Twelve thousand out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The numbers, whether on their own (12) or multiplied (144), mean a complete and definite number. Twelve is the number that marks Israel... The number of the sealed is symbolic, of course. It simply means that God has claimed for Himself a certain, complete, yet limited number out of Israel.

Twelve is the number of perfect government in the hands of man. So it appears in the foundations, gates, and measurements of the new Jerusalem. (Rev. 21.) It will mean, then, a perfect number kept for the kingdom — the people through whom Messiah will rule the nations on the earth.

Their sealing guarantees that God will keep them safe through the Great Tribulation. He keeps them not simply as people, but as Israel, and so with blessing on earth as a nation in view. The tribes are named (vv. 5-8), which would have no place if their destination was heaven. Verse 8 speaks of Joseph, but this clearly means Ephraim, Joseph's son, since Manasseh, Joseph's other son, is also included.

The order in which they are listed is found nowhere else. It is unusual in the way the sons of different mothers — wives and concubines — are mixed together... "In the fourth group Zebulun is joined with Joseph and Benjamin — the later children of Leah with the later children of Rachel."

In this prophetic and symbolic picture every distinction is wiped out, except that Judah holds first place. That is because in Revelation the subject is God's government and Christ's thousand-year reign. Here we no longer find the half-tribes of Manasseh. Levi is sealed like the other tribes. Joseph replaces Ephraim. Dan is left out completely. He is judged, in line with Jacob's prophecy; the Antichrist and his people, pictured by Dan, cannot be sealed.

The tribes of Dan and Ephraim are omitted from this list, although we find Joseph, the father of Ephraim, mentioned in his place. Their history in the Old Testament ties them closely to idolatry. But we also see grace coming in, because God is not finished with these two tribes. In Ezekiel 48 the land is shared out among the tribes, and both Dan and Ephraim are named — Dan first of all. God has not forgotten them; grace has come in and they have been restored.

The meaning, then, is this: before the various judgments fall on creation, God will have claimed a certain people for Himself. They are sealed with the seal of the living God. That is, a stamp is put on them marking them out as set apart to God... Protection may also be involved here. In any case, they are sealed on their foreheads. Of course that means no physical mark. It means God setting them apart for Himself — and, I think, doing it openly.

Notice that they are not simply sealed for God, but as "the servants of our God." It is in this character that they carry the gospel of the kingdom to the nations.