This chapter is a pause between the six seals of chapter 6 and the
trumpets beginning in chapter 8. The first eight verses of this chapter
involve Jewish believers. The remaining verses are a gathering of all
tribulation believers. As they stand around the THRONE and the LAMB,
all of the heavenly beings are moved to worship GOD. The chapter ends
with words of comfort to these tribulation saints.
1. After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of
the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind
should
blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.After this (the 6 seals opened) I saw four
angels
standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds
of
the earth,
What a contrast! The events of the 6th seal being broken are dynamic,
and shake the earth, literally. Now we find a great calm upon the
earth. It is not surprising to have the angels controlling the winds;
apparently,
God spoke His word on this, and the angels obeyed (Psalm
103:19-22 ).
However, while this is a physical event, this verse may also be
symbolic of withholding judgment. In Isaiah
27:7-11 , we find that "the east wind" means exile for Israel. This
is a softening process on the hearts of the people. In Matthew
7:24-27 , a wind blew (or
trouble came) against the house. The scorching
wind in Jeremiah
4:10-13 implies an
invading
army or marauding bands of thugs would torment Israel! Daniel in Daniel
7:1-8 uses the phrase of "the four
winds of heaven" stirring up four world empires (beasts). This cannot
be
good.
Also consider that the sixth seal being broken symbolicly shows a
time of GREAT persecution of believers during the tribulation. False
doctrines can blow around men who are not grounded in the Word of God.
Now a calm period
permits the earth inhabitants to ground themselves deeper for what lies
ahead.
so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on
any tree.
With the wind calm, this may mean that the 4 angels are again holding
back the evil that is going on during the first 21 weeks of the
tribulation until the 144,000 men from the tribes of Israel can be
sealed (verse 4 ).
If this is literally true, a different mechanism to cause it to rain
on the earth must be instituted. That is, as we know it, water
evaporates from the sea, the wind moves it over land, and it rains.
Since the wind is stopped, this cycle is stopped. To not harm the trees
(verse 3 ),
this period must be short. Otherwise the trees would die.
2. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun,
having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice
to the
four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,And I saw another ANGEL ascending from the rising sun, having
the seal of the living God;
This fifth angel (some commentaries indicate this may possibly even be
Christ himself) ascends from the east (possibly Jerusalem) or may refer
to
Jesus description of His second coming (Matthew
24:23-27 ).
The SEAL of THE LIVING GOD is a special identifying mark given to
BOND-SERVANTS (see next verse ).
and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom
it was granted to HARM the earth and sea.
The voice was loud enough to reach around the earth. Note that the
present church age "Sealer" is the Holy Spirit (2
Corinthians 1:20-22 , Ephesians
1:13-14 , Ephesians
4:30 ).
3. saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until
we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads."saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees,
It appears that there is an order or ranking of angels in heaven. The
four worker angels in verses 1 and 2, are the ones who are granted to
HARM
the earth. Here the fifth angel, a superior angel, commands them to NOT
do what they were granted. Some interpret the four angels as evil
angels,
but then it is unclear why the fifth would give this command. Others
say
that even the physical aspects of this earth are under angelic control,
and
this group of good angels are granted to carry out the WRATH of GOD.
until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their
foreheads."
During the quiet (Habakkuk
3:2 )
between
seals 6 and 7 , the sealing of the bond-servants takes place. A
bond-servant
was one, who after "working off" a debt, requests to remain a servant.
Then
that person's ear was pierced to indicate this status,
Deuteronomy 15:12-18 .
Consider that if a servant commits themselves to be a bond-servant
for an earthly debt, then how much more wonderful is the SEALING of a
bond-servant (we believers) for the spiritual debt that has been paid!
The sealing mark, here, is on the forehead. A similar marking was
done in Ezekiel's day. A divinely-inspired writer was given the task to
mark those
who deplored the idolatry being committed before the tabernacle,
Ezekiel 9:3-11 . God's patience ran out such
that
even the glory of the God of Israel was moved to leave the cherub where
it
had been. Here, the apathetic or passive person, not unlike the ones in
Revelation 3:15 , did not get the mark
and
died.
4. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred
and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000
sealed from every tribe of the SONS of ISRAEL:
There are three views of this verse:
The number is the "new Israel" or completed church of Gentiles
and Jews.
The number is really 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Ten of the tribes appear to be lost (dispersed). Yet God will raise up
these men and women to be witnesses during the Tribulation. This comes
after
the church age as one reads Romans
11:25-29 . The fullness of the Gentile will have come in so now all
Israel will be saved.
This is just a large number (all Christians are sealed).
This is symbolic and uses Revelation 7:9 , the
'after
this sealing of the 144,000', to be the "great multitude". They are the
same who are undefiled (Revelation 14:4 )
and
blameless (Revelation 14:5 ).
It is most likely that the second view should be held. The
Revelation of Jesus Christ is a very precise book as far as numbers are
concerned. The
seven churches, the seven seals, the seven spirits, and so on indicates
that
this exact sealing is precisely 144,000 from the SONS of ISRAEL.
Likewise, the Revelation is not a Gentile vs. Jews book but rather a
Loyalty to God vs. Loyalty to the beast book.
5. from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the
tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,
Judah means "Praise of God"
Reuben was the oldest son of Israel, but the leadership was
given to Judah because Reuben defiled his father's bed.
1 Chronicles 5:1-3 ; Hebrews
7:13-14 .
In Jacob's blessing, Genesis
49:1,8-12 , Judah is the leader (usually into battle).
In Moses' blessing, Deuteronomy
33:7 , he implored God to help Judah 'against his adversaries.'
from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,
Reuben means "Viewing the Son"
Jacob's blessing is remarkable, Genesis
49:3-4 , inasmuch as Reuben had gone 'up to my couch.'
6. from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of
Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
Asher means "Blessed"
His mother is Zilpah
He was the eighth son of Jacob.
In Jacob's blessing, Genesis
49:20
, Asher would have rich food to eat and make 'royal dainties.'
According to dad's (Jacob) blessing, Naphtali must have been a
poet or very descriptive writer, Genesis
49:21 .
In Moses' blessing, Deuteronomy
33:23 , Naphtali already was 'full of the blessing of the Lord.'
His mother was Bilhah.
He was the sixth son of Jacob.
from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
Manasseh means "Forgetfulness".
His mother is not known but his grandmother was Rachel.
Grandpa (Jacob) didn't leave a specific blessing to Manasseh.
Moses indirectly passed on his blessing,
Deuteronomy 33:13-17 , through
Joseph
to 'the thousands of Manasseh.'
There is no apparent reason for these tribes to be mentioned in this
order. Perhaps, it is the order in which they will be sealed. What is
important is that the number is specific to 'twelve thousand' because
God told John to write it this way.
7. from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of
Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,
Simeon means "hearing and obeying".
Simeon is the second son of Jacob.
Simeon's mother was Leah.
Simeon along with Levi avenged for the rape of Dinah their
sister. (Genesis
34:18-31)
Dad's "blessing" was rather negative because Simeon apparently
was self-willed and hot tempered. (Genesis
49:5-7)
from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
Levi means "cleaving to".
Levi was the third son of Jacob.
Levi's mother was Leah.
Levi is a non-landed tribe. They were the priests (Numbers
1:47-54), and had designated
cities
among the all the landed tribes.
Levi along with Simeon avenged for the rape of Dinah their
sister. (Genesis
34:18-31)
Levi's blessing from dad was the same as Simeon's (Genesis
49:5-7)
8. from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of
Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand
were
sealed.
from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,
Zebulun mean "A Home".
From dad's blessing, it probably should be "a Beach Home"
Genesis 49:13
From Moses' blessing, Zebulun would "draw out the abundance of
the sea." Deuteronomy
33:18-19
from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,
Joseph means "an addition".
Joseph received the forfeited portion of Reuben's inheritance.
From dad's blessing, Joseph was "distinguished among his
brothers." Genesis
49:22-26. In other words, dad's favorite son.
From the length of Moses' blessing,
Deuteronomy 33:13-17 , Joseph still
is
the favored one.
from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand
Benjamin means "son of the right hand" (the hand of authority).
Benjamin is the youngest son of Jacob.
Dad's blessing, Genesis
49:27 ,
is
not very complimentary.
Moses blessing, Deuteronomy
33:12
, is much softer and indicates Benjamin has "a place between His
(God's) shoulders".
were sealed.
There are twelve tribes listed in verses 5 though 8. There is a
problem, though, in that both Dan and Ephraim are not in this list.
Perhaps, it is the idolatry Judges
18:14-20 or violation
of the first commandment (Exodus
20:3),
which prohibits Dan from being in this list. Other scholars feel these
tribes
are symbolic and describe various churches or denominations rather than
ethnic
Israel. See comments in verse 4 .
Likewise, Ephraim was "joined to idols",
Hosea 4:15-19 . The city, Bethel,
in Ephraim's territory, had altars,
1
Kings 12:25-33 . Idols cannot and will not stand the tests that God
will put this earth through, and thus both Dan and Ephraim are not in
this
list. The question in verse 17 of the
previous chapter, "WHO IS
ABLE
TO STAND?" actually then is answered by this list.
9. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude,
which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples
and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in
white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
After these things I looked,
These things probably are the six seals and the 144,000 Jews being
sealed.
and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count,
The focus has changed from earth back to heaven because the THRONE and
LAMB are here. The great multitude are Christians saved during the
Great
Tribulation (verse 14).
Revelation 14:6 ; angelic message
to
all -- the Judge has come.
Revelation 17:15 ; made equivalent
to "the waters" where the harlot sits.
John is given a glimpse of the fulfillment of Jesus words,
Matthew 24:14 . All the world hears it
before
the end comes; the Great Commission is completed (Acts
1:7-8).
STANDING before
the THRONE (fullness of God) and before
the LAMB (the redemption price)
CLOTHED in white robes (special reward) and palm
branches were in their hands;
"Standing before" vs. "fallen down before" ... denotes a victory which
is confirmed by the palm branches in their hands. These are ones who
truly overcame the beast, antichrist, and martyrdom, and followed
Christ even to death. They can hold their heads high in VICTORY!
This is a celebration like the Feast of Tabernacles,
Leviticus 23:39-41 . It is a joyful
time
(in heaven) especially after the 6 seals were opened (on earth). What
the
'great multitude' must have endured (on earth) to get here (in heaven)!
Truly, "O DEATH, where is your victory?" (1
Corinthians 15:54-57)
11. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around
the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God,
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around
the elders and the four living creatures;
John repaints the picture he saw in chapter 4
. Here he adds angels to the picture and shows that they are STANDING
around the edges of the picture along with the GREAT MULTITUDE in verse 9 .
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped
God,
The angels are so overcome by the shout of SALVATION by the multitude
that they fall down and worship GOD. Doing this, they acknowledge the
GREAT ACT (Luke
15:8-10) Christ did for mankind , and
which they will
never
experience because angels have no need for redemption.
There is a difference between this verse and chapter 4. Here the
angels fall down; in chapter 4 the twenty four elders and the four
living creatures fall down.
12. saying,
"Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
saying,
This is audible speaking it, not mentally thinking it. This indicates
that worship prayers should be spoken and not just thought.
"Amen,
the blessing (7) and
the glory (6) and
the wisdom (3) and
the thanksgiving ((2) riches) and
the honor (5) and
the power (1) and
the might (4) be to our God forever and
ever
Amen."
The AMENS bracket the sevenfold doxology. The angels agree entirely
with the multitude.
In the original version, each attribute is preceded by "the" as
shown here. This gives the sense of all or complete. For example, "the
power" means
all powerful.
The () denotes the order of these attributes as found in Revelation 5:12 . There may be some
significance
to the order; however, this is not clear. This listing goes from praise
words (blessing and glory) to strength words (power and might). The
recipient
here is GOD (be to our GOD) while in
Revelation
5:12 , the recipient is Jesus (Worthy is the LAMB).
13. And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are
clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they
come?"
And one of the ELDERS answered, saying to me,
This is the second time an ELDER has spoken to John; the first is found
in Revelation 5:5 . In the beginning of
Revelation,
it was angels passing on information to John. But here close in to the
throne,
it is an elder communicating with him. Also recall that in verse 11 , the angels are totally involved in
worshiping
the LAMB and Him who sits on the THRONE.
"These who are clothed in the WHITE ROBES,
who are they, and
from where have they come?
The ELDER must have seen a puzzled look on John's face because he
ANSWERED John. John doesn't recognize this multitude because he will
have come to heaven before they did. If they came out of the
tribulation as the next verse says, then they are
not Old Testament saints
or Church/Grace Age/preRapture saints.
It is important to God to have these martyrs truly identified. Their
WHITE
ROBES (Revelation 7:9 ; Revelation
6:11 ; Revelation 3:5) give them
away. To John, it is a special sight.
14. And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me,
"These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they
have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
And I said to him, "My lord (Sir), you know."
John acknowledges that the elder since his death has had access to the
knowledge of heaven. John doesn't have this privilege yet.
And he said to me, "These are the ones
who come out of the GREAT TRIBULATION, and
This is the tribulation, Christ refers to in
Matthew 24:21 , where 'the then'
refers
back to Matthew
24:15 when we see
the
"abomination of desolation standing in the holy place"
Caution: the Rapture appears to be an absolute dividing line.
That is, if you rejected Christ before the rapture, you will be
deceived forever. (2
Thessalonians
2:10-12). Others
believe you have a chance during the tribulation (2
Peter 3:9-10), however, since
this
verse comes after verse 9 .
There will be plenty of Bibles, Christian literature, 144,000
sealed Israelites, and this Internet study remaining during the great
tribulation.
they have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
The white robes are the "righteous acts of the saints.", Revelation 19:8 . That this multitude are
redeemed
believers cannot be questioned because of the washing of their robes.
To Sardis, Revelation 3:4 , the
soiled
garments, that is, the unrighteous acts, keep most from walking with
Christ. The walking is fellowship, and we can only do that if there is
no sin. Sin is cleansed by His blood, 1
John 1:7 .
Isaiah
1:18 refers to this
process. Sins are equated to scarlet, yet they will be made white as
snow.
There is no doubt about it, though, a multitude of believers come out
of the GREAT TRIBULATION period!
15. "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they
serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne
shall spread His tabernacle over them.
"For this reason, they are before the THRONE of GOD;
What is the reason? In the previous verse, these are the ones who came
out of the GREAT TRIBULATION (includes saved Gentile martyrs and the
144,000 sealed Jews, for certain) and washed their robes in the blood
of the Lamb.
and they serve HIM day and night in HIS temple; and
They show a singleness of purpose: TO
SERVE GOD!
`Day and night' means continually like the four living creatures do
in Revelation 4:8 . That there is day and
night
at this time of John's vision indicates that the first heaven (Genesis
1:6-8) and the first earth have
not
passed away yet, Revelation 21:1 .
Symbolicly, this matches with Christ's prayer that we are in Him and He
in us, John
17:20-26 , and His
teaching that as
a vine we abide in unity,
John 15:1-8
. Then we, as believers, being His temple right now,
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 , also should
have
this same singleness of purpose:
TO
SERVE
GOD!
These are all things they did not have during the GREAT TRIBULATION!
Luke 9:23-27 is fulfilled.
He who sits on THE THRONE shall spread his tabernacle over them.
This is so typical GOD - He did the same with His shekinah
presence on
the Old Testament:
Exodus
40:34-38 - The
people journied with God's protective cloud.
1
Kings 8:5-13 - The ark is
brought into the new temple Solomon build. The cloud of God, the glory
of
God, is overpowering.
Ezekiel
10:1-4-5, 18-19 -
Vision of heavenly THRONE with cherubim (4 living creatures) and the
glory of God cloud again.
Later on Jesus himself defined the TRUE LIGHT in
John 1:9-14 . And we get to partake of
it! AMEN.
NEVER AGAIN will these people go without the protection of God! HALLELUJAH!
16. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither
shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;
"They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
These tribulation martyrs must have gone hungry often
and had their
water supply cut off. Either they were living in very isolated or
barren places, or they may not have been able to buy any food, Revelation 13:17 . What a slow torturous
way
to die!
neither shall the sun beat down on them nor any heat;
If Revelation is not necessarily a chronological book, then Revelation 16:8 -9
, the 4th bowl, may have affected them too. This scorching was not
selective. The believers who were there experienced it too. To some of
these, not to
be thirsty or have the sun scorching down on them was real relief.
Incidently, if one reads Matthew
25:31-40 as the 1000 year reign, there will be righteous people who
helped "one of these brothers of Mine' who are rewarded even to the
least one of them.
Lastly, real satisfaction comes after being really hungry or thirsty
after righteousness, Matthew
5:6 . How
hungry or
thirsty are you after righteousness? Perhaps, your "satisfaction" isn't
complete. Recall where this part of the vision is taking place. It is
before
the Lamb who gives you and me that perfect thirst quenching drink, John
4:7-15 .
17. for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their
shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God
shall wipe every
tear from their eyes."
for the LAMB in the center of the THRONE shall be their
SHEPHERD,
Here are all these horribly persecuted, physically hungry and thirsty
saints seeing Christ the LAMB Himself being their SHEPHERD; this isn't
assigned to some group of angels; it wasn't part of the 4 living
creatures jobs; it is the LAMB Himself to be their SHEPHERD. So what
does a shepherd do?
and shall guide them to springs of the WATER OF LIFE;
When these saints were hiding from AntiChrist authorities, they were on
their own - intuition was their guide along with a complete faith in
Christ. Now their faith yielded results. The SHEPHERD takes
responsibility to GUIDE them.
The water of life is a whole topic unto itself. We find it
These saints must have gone through horrible events: torture, seeing
loved ones killed, compassion of others to give them food and water,
and on and on. But GOD Himself (not the LAMB) will remove all the
tears.
Mercifully, the remembrances of bad times will be removed from their
minds. There will be no tears in the new heaven, Revelation 21:4 . The Lord God will throw a
lavish banquet for all peoples (the
marriage supper), Isaiah
25:6-12 .
Isaiah
also reminds us what it will be like in the new heavens,
Isaiah 65:17-19-25 , where there will
be
no voice of weeping and no sound of crying. JOY replaces the sorrow and
weeping, Psalm
16:5-11 .