SEVEN SEALS (6-2): THE MULTITUDES OF SAVED (REVELATION 7:1-17)

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Revelation  

a) John wrote Revelation while a prisoner on the Island of Patmos, approximately 85-95 A.D. Its purpose is to give encouragement and hope for all Christians to continue watching for the return and triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ. It also is to warn of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure on that Last Day.

b) John wrote that Revelation is special because,“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3).

c) A brief view of the Book of Revelation. It gives you some basic understanding of the book of Revelation. 

2. The Sixth Seal (The Multitudes Of Saved)

Revelations 7:1-17

An Interlude

7 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 would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 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, 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.”

The 144,000

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:

5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

A Multitude from the Tribulation

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; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 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, 12 saying,

“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 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. 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 will spread His tabernacle over them. 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

3. The Seal of God (Revelation 7:1-3)

a) After this 

i) The words "After this I saw..." (Revelation 7:1) means only that John is seeing a new vision following the awful vision of the day of wrath. It does not mean that the events in this new vision are later than, or follow, the events depicted in the previous vision. In fact, this new vision in chapter 7 begins with the holding back of the day of wrath.

b) Seal 

i) Before wrath and destruction is allowed, the "seal of the living God" must be placed on the foreheads of all God's bondservants (Revelation 1:2-3). What does this seal represent? Paul wrote to the Ephesians (one of the seven churches of Asia), "In [Christ] you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14). The seal in the vision represents the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and identifies us as God's people.

c) Sunrise 

i) The angel carrying the seal was "ascending from the rising of the sun" (Revelation 1:2). This indicates that the seal of God is being brought to the whole earth. The seal is offered to all who hear, believe, and obey the gospel, and the gospel is to be preached in all the world (Mark 16:15-16).

4. The 144,000 (Revelation 7:4-8)

a) Tribes 

i) John records the multitude of the saved as twelve tribes, each bearing the name of one of Jacob's sons, each tribe equally numbering 12,000, in all 144,000. By the way, these were all male virgins (Revelation 14:4). The names of the territories historically apportioned to the tribes do not match exactly with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob. That's because the sons of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) gained separate territories, whilst the Levites had no single territory as such, but were allotted various towns throughout the territories.

b) Israel 

i) John describes those who were sealed as "the sons of Israel" (Revelation 7:4). Israel was the new name given to Jacob (Genesis 32:27-28). Israel was also the name of the kingdom established by David and Solomon in the promised land. Jerusalem was its capital. The gospel represents the church or kingdom of Christ, the body of the saved, as "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:15-16, Romans 9:6) and "the heavenly Jerusalem" (Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 3:12). John’s vision of the sealed, as an idealized 144,000 sons of Israel, is a symbol of Christ’s kingdom (Colossians 1:12-14).

5. The Great Multitude

a) Great multitude 

i) The next vision lifts the portrayal of Christ's kingdom from 144,000 on earth to a vast uncountable multitude in heaven. This multitude in heaven is not a different one from the 144,000, just a less idealized and more realistic portrayal of the number of the saved (Revelation 7:9-17).

ii) Some say that the kingdom of Christ is divided into two groups, the 144,000 elite who will be in heaven, and the great multitude who will live on a transformed renovated earth. You will notice, however that, compared to the visions, these folk have the two groups in the wrong place. In the visions, the 144,000 were on earth and the innumerable multitude were in heaven around the throne of God.

b) White robes 

i) The white robes have already been mentioned in earlier visions (Revelation 3:4-5, 6:11). You will recall what we said in our last lesson: A salient fact about these robes is that the wearers have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:9, 13-14). Without Jesus, our robes (our righteousness) would be "like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). They would be stained scarlet and crimson with sin. However the blood of Jesus has wondrously washed them as white as wool or snow (Isaiah 1:18).

c) Palm branches 

i) These symbolize joy and celebration (Leviticus 23:40). In heaven "God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17). Sorrow will give way to happiness.

d) Salvation 

i) "Salvation to our God" (Revelation 7:10) means that our salvation is attributable to God alone. "Salvation belongs to God" (Psalms 3:8). Salvation is God's prerogative and his alone.

e) Waters 

i) "The water of life" (Revelation 7:17) is a symbol for eternal life (John 4:9-14, Revelation 21:6).

The End ...