Rich Realities from Revelation: God Knows Those Who are His (Rev. 7)

Rich Realities from Revelation
God Knows Those Who are His - Chapter 7
INTRODUCTION:
We are studying the book of Revelation in the light of increasing anti-Christian rhetoric in our society and increasingly strong anti-Christian policies from our government. It is hitting us from a direction that we probably would not have guessed a decade or two ago - not just from the LGBTQ community but from the transgender community, from the “non-binary” mindset. This is, of course, not just anti-biblical but it is also anti-scientific which is somewhat astounding. Yet, the apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:19-20 that what is “known about God is evident… for since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made.” So if people want to choose to deny the existence of God, it should not a surprise that they are also willing to deny there are only two genders.
The Christians in the first century lived in a society that was much further along in their anti-Christian policies than we are today. What is encouraging is that Christianity grew and thrived and eventually overwhelmed the anti-Christian Roman paganism around them, simply by living the Christian life as Christ intended and by being faithful to that testimony. That’s the message of Revelation for us today.
PRINCIPLES FOR INTERPRETING THE BOOK OF REVELATION:
1. 1:1 - The word “communicated” - better translated “signified” (NKJV) - shows that Revelation is communication through sign and symbols. That means that we have to understand these signs and symbols in a figurative way!
2. 1:1 - The events in Revelation are said to be taking place “soon” or “the time is near” (1:3). John is referring to events that would happen soon from the standpoint of the first century Christians.
3. 1:4 - Speaking of those first-century Christians, verse 4 tells us that Revelation was written primarily for the Christians worshipping in those seven churches of Christ in Asia Minor. Whatever the images of Revelation mean, they had to mean something first and foremost to the Christians in the first century!
4. 1:9 - Speaking of persecution, Revelation is full of references to persecution throughout its pages. Some (2:13), were being killed for their religious convictions. Others, like those in the church in Smyrna, were being thrown in prison (2:10).
RICH REALITIES WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR:
1. Jesus Christ walks among His lamp stands and holds His churches in His hands.
2. Christians will overcome if we do not compromise the testimony of Christ.
3. God and Christ deserve worship. We should never stop.
WHAT’S HAPPENED IN CHAPTER 6:
Because I am only giving a dozen lessons from Revelation, I have to skip some material. Let me briefly explain what happens in chapter 6…
In chapter 5, John sees the Lamb, Jesus Christ, holding a scroll with seven seals. Chapter 6 begins to reveal what those seals are.
Seal #1 - War! Whether this man on the white horse is Jesus Christ or not, the event is absolutely under the control of Christ. The bow, the crown (of “victory”), and the verb “conquering” and “to conquer” show that war is in view. God is going to bring war against the Roman Empire and it is going to come from the east (which is pictured frequently in Revelation). But, war impacts everyone in a society. Innocent people suffer in war.
Seal #2 - The red horse is the results of that war: bloodshed. Peace is taken from the earth. Men kill one another. Keep in mind that when Rome is attacked, they are going to blame Christians because Christians refused to worship the emperor and the other gods of the Roman Empire. In fact, Romans considered Christians “atheists” because of this. The Jews would also accuse Christians because Jews believed Christians were guilty of blasphemy for worshipping Jesus. So either of these two groups would attack Christians perhaps physically but especially verbally and in their relationships.
Seal #3 - The results of war, of course, is famine and inflation! A quart of wheat could cost a day’s salary. The cheaper barley would give you three quarts for a day’s salary.
Seal #4 - Both from the war and from the famine, there would be death. Those who died would enter into the unseen world or “hades.” Death would “kill” a limited number of people - symbolically given as 1/4 - through sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts.
Seal #5 - Pictures the results of this war on Christians. These are Christians who have been killed because of their commitment to the testimony of Christ. John sees their souls under an altar crying out to God: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (6:10) You might say that the whole rest of the book of Revelation is God’s answer to their question.
Seal #6 - This seal pictures the results of this war on non-Christians. Keep in mind the four principles for interpreting the book of Revelation. This paragraph is not about the end of the world; it is using apocalyptic language to portray the end of the Roman Empire. Don’t read it now, but I direct your attention to passages like 2 Samuel 22 and Jeremiah 4:23-25 and Isaiah 24, as well as Acts 2:14-21 to show that this language is typical prophetic language to figuratively picture God’s deliverance of His people and His destruction of the nation which was persecuting God’s people. The result of God’s war against the Roman Empire is that they cry out: “Who will save us from the wrath of the Lamb?”
Before John sees the seventh seal, which is in chapter 8, God gives John another vision in chapter 7 to show John, and his Christian audience, that despite what is happening in their world, God knows those who are His!
That brings us to chapter 7…
GOD’S PEOPLE ARE PROTECTED FROM GOD’S WRATH - 7:1-8:
7:1-3 - “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. 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, 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.”
These four winds are the wrath of God and God causes these angels to hold back the wind so it doesn’t blow God’s wrath, to give the angel time to seal the “bond-servants of our God” on their foreheads. This “seal” on the forehead is a metaphor (emoji) from the book of Ezekiel (9:4-6) where God told Ezekiel to do the same thing so that when Babylon invaded Judah, the faithful would know that God knew those who were His and He would protect them. God doesn’t necessarily protect us from the wrath of “Babylon” or “Rome” or the “United States of America” but He will protect us from His wrath as we will see later in this chapter. Notice even this angel is sealed by the living God; this angel belongs to God and he serves at God’s discretion.
Remember that seals on documents denoted: security, ownership, and protection. God owns those who are in Christ. God protects those who are in Christ. God delivers spiritually those who are in Christ.
We pointed out from chapter 4 that the “24 elders” are a symbol of the faithful from the OT - the gates of heaven are numbered after the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 21:12) - and the faithful under the NT - the foundation stones are numbered after the 12 apostles (Rev. 21:14). It is surely probable that these 144,000 are another symbol of the exact same idea - God’s faithful people, both from the OT and from the NT.
It is ridiculous to take the 144,000 literally, as some try to do, because that ignores completely the whole nature of the book of Revelation. Additionally, the only other place where this imagery is used is in 14:1-4 where John says these 144,000 are virgin men! These are, rather, individuals whether Jews under the Law of Moses or Christians under the law of Christ who have been faithful to God under their respective covenants and have not defiled themselves with Satan’s temptations.
7:4-8 - “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: 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 Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 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 Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.”
This list of Israelite tribes here is a figurative image. There is no consistent method of listing the twelve tribes in the OT. Here, Judah is listed first who was not the first born son. He is listed first because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Dan is missing. The tribe of Ephraim is missing. The tribe of Levi is included when he normally was left out. And one more point… the word “tribe” is used in Revelation with a universal sense, not just referring to Jews.
Christianity grew out of the religion of Israel as a plant grows out of the seed. It is connected, but different. The church of Christ is the true Israel of God, Paul says in Galatians 6:16; Philippians 3:3 (the “true circumcision”). The point of this paragraph, however, is to show that God protects those who are His, who are sealed. The evil in the world might take our lives, but God will protect our spirits, our souls.
WE ARE SEALED BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST - 7:8-17:
7:9-12 - “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; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 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, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
This group is the same group that was pictured in the first paragraph, just under different imagery. Notice that those who are “sealed” are from “every nation, and all tribes and peoples and tongues.” The kingdom of Christ is a universal kingdom; so it doesn’t matter which nation persecutes Christians, Christ’s people are sealed and can stand before the throne of God and the Lamb.
Christians stand before the Lamb, clothed in white robes - symbolizing their purity and holiness in the eyes of God. That’s why Christians can stand before God. The palm branches in their hands are an imagery from the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrated God’s deliverance and protection of Israel during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Of course, the Jews took palm branches and laid them on the ground as Jesus entered into Jerusalem. He entered as the King, but a King who was humble, riding on the foal of a donkey. Humble faithfulness to God is what God requires, regardless of what our society does.
Just as the multitude in heaven sang praises to God in chapter 4 and they sang praises to Christ in chapter 5, so here, the faithful of Christ sing praises to God: “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” There are over 20 songs or parts of songs in the book of Revelation!
Christians and the OT saints are joined in their praise by “all the angels” who were standing around the throne along with the elders and four living creatures. Everything that serves its purpose for which it was created honors Jehovah God and Christ, His Son - angels, animals, and the faithful under the Law of Moses as well as Christians. They all sing: “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” When every last Christian gets to heaven, then God’s entire plan of creation will be fulfilled. Men and women will be in heaven who have loved God supremely through all the ups and downs of life.
The blessings of being a Christian are revealed in the next paragraph. What does it mean to carry the “seal” of Christ on one’s forehead?
7:13-17 - “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?” 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. “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. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 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.”
“Tribulation” does not refer to some great tribulation at the end of the world as many people teach. Christians can go through a “great” tribulation anytime their lives are threatened and they are tempted to turn their backs on Christ and His gospel. It refers to intense suffering at any time, for the faith, including persecution, imprisonment, poverty, and death. For the first-century Christians, it was tribulation at the hands of the Roman Empire.
These individuals are those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. In other words, Christians. We pointed out last week from our study of the “First Passover” that the blood of Christ washes our sins away when we are baptized into Christ: Acts 22:16; Ephesians 5:26-27; Hebrews 10:22.
What are they doing in heaven? What will we do in heaven? I don’t know but verse 15 pictures Christians “serving” God in heaven - day and night in His temple. This service is the service of priests because Christians are priests in the spiritual temple of God: 1 Peter 2:9.
There is also the imagery here of God spreading His “tabernacle” or “tent” over Christians. This denotes protection. While it is true that we will have spiritual bodies in heaven and therefore will not need to eat or drink, the idea in verse 16 is more the fact that all our needs are provided. We will not need to eat or drink; we will not be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun will not “beat down” on us nor will heat because we are protected by God’s tent overshadowing us.
The Lamb is in the center of the throne; He is our shepherd. He will guide us to “springs of the water of life.” Again, all our needs will be provided. And, there will be no pain or sorrow in heaven. God will wipe every tear from our eyes.
CONCLUSION:
We have had a relatively long and pro-Christian / peaceful period in the history of America. But that is an anomaly relative to the broader history of mankind. Jesus promised that His children should expect persecution. That’s why Jesus warns us to not be ashamed of Him or His words. We still must teach and defend Christ’s gospel; that’s “rich reality” #2.
But chapter 7 helps us see that the suffering we endure in this life does not compare to the glory God will give to us if we can stay faithful to the end.
Take home message: God knows those who are His. Find strength in this fact.