Revelation 7

Pause before The End

All Is Calm: Angelic Windbreak

1Then I saw four angels. They spread out and took positions in all four directions: north, south, east, west. [1] There, they stopped the winds from blowing. Wind didn’t blow on the ground or in the sea or in the air. Not a tree rustled. 2Then I saw another angel. This one rose up out of the eastern horizon, where the sun comes from. He carried the seal of the living God. In a loud voice he called out to the four angels who held back the wind and who had authority to unleash a lot of hurt on land and sea. 3He said, “Don’t hurt the earth or the sea or the trees. Wait until we can put God’s seal on the foreheads [2] of his people.”

Body Count: 144,000

4Then I heard how many people would get God’s seal: 144,000. [3] These people would come from all 12 tribes of Israel. [4]
5Twelve thousand from each tribe:

Judah, Reuben, Gad,
6Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh,
7Simeon, Levi, Issachar,
8Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

Roaringly Happy Crowd

9Then I looked up and saw a massive crowd. No one could possibly count this many people. They came from every nation, tribe, culture, and language on the earth. There they stood in front of the throne and before the Lamb. [5] Everyone in the crowd wore white robes and carried palm branches in their hands. 10In a loud and united voice they cried out, “God, who’s sitting on his throne, saves us. God and the Lamb both save us!” 11All of heaven’s angels had been standing around the throne, with the 24 leaders and the four beings. But at this point, they bowed in worship to God as he sat on the throne. 12They said, “Yes! [6] Forever, God deserves praise and glory and wisdom and gratitude and honor and power, and strength! Yes!”

Who Are These White-Robed Souls?

13One of the 24 leaders asked me, “Who are these people wearing white robes? [7] Where did they come from?” 14I said, “Sir, you’re asking me? You’re the one who knows.” Then he said, “They are people from the Great Suffering. [8] They’ve washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. [9] 15Because of what they’ve been through, they get the honor of personally serving God day and night, here at his throne, in his temple. God who sits on his throne protects them. [10] 16Their days of suffering are over. No more hunger for them. No more thirst. The sun won’t beat them down. The heat won’t wear them out. [11] 17The Lamb at the throne will lead them. He’ll be their shepherd, and he’ll guide them to a spring of fresh water. [12] No more tears. God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Revelation

17:1

The angels more literally stand at the “four corners of the earth.” In ancient writing, that phrase meant the entire world. John is saying that the wind did not blow anywhere on the planet. Unleashed, the wind can decimate buildings on land and ships at sea. Perhaps the holding back of the wind refers to a pause in the destruction of the world, long enough to secure the safety of God’s people.

27:3

“Seal on the forehead” sounds a little like the brand or the tattoo that many in Roman times put on their slaves, marking them like livestock. Here, many scholars say it’s a metaphor that distinguishes God’s people as those under his protection. It’s a word picture intended to help people visualize an invisible spiritual reality. In this way it’s like the parables of Jesus, in which he used fictional stories to teach people what it means to live like citizens of God’s spiritual kingdom. This symbolic seal of God would be the opposite of the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16).

37:4

There’s no widespread agreement about who the 144,000 represent. Some educated guesses: Jews devoted to God, Christian martyrs who held onto their faith through the Great Tribulation (an anticipated time of intense persecution), Jewish Christians, Christians whether they are Jewish or non-Jewish, non-Jewish Christians because most of the Jewish people rejected Christianity. The number may not be literal, but a symbol of “complete,” as in God saving all the people who hold on to their faith. Twelve is a number, like seven, that represented completeness. Square it, 12 times 12, to get 144—that becomes an even more powerful symbol of completeness. Multiply that by 1,000, which is another number that symbolizes completeness, and we get 144,000, which is quite enough completeness to get the point across. That said, some take the number literally. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that 144,000 Christians will help Jesus rule in heaven. That might seem like a lot, but the United States federal government employs about two million full-time workers to help lead and maintain the nation.

47:4

The 12 tribes of Israel are extended families descended from the dozen sons of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. Taken literally, the “12 tribes” would have meant the Jews. But some take the 12 tribes as a metaphor meaning the church—all God’s people, as Paul taught: “If you’re one of the Messiah’s people, then you’re a descendant of Abraham. You’re part of the family. And you’re going to inherit what God promised” (Galatians 3:29). “You are the true Israel—the authentic people of God” (Galatians 6:16). Peter called followers of Jesus “God’s chosen” (1 Peter 2:9, Contemporary English Version).

57:9

Ironically, the Lion from the tribe of Judah—Jesus—becomes the Lamb. The implication is that the battle he won wasn’t through military warfare. It was through a sacrificial death and resurrection. Jews observed Passover by sacrificing a lamb. Jewish leaders orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus the same day the Passover holiday began.