THE SEALED MULTITUDE

The previous chapter ended upon a solemn note. The kings of the earth and the rich and the powerful and everyone else are filled with terror as they witness the unveiled wrath of the Lamb. In the midst of their hopelessness, they cry out, Who can stand before the wrath of the Lamb?" As we come to this chapter, we are given the answer.

This is a chapter of comfort. It is here that we learn that the wrath of the Lamb is not directed against all men. Some are spared that wrath.

John has just witnessed the reaction of the kings and the generals and the rich and the powerful and the slaves and the free men at the unveiling of the wrath of the Lamb. Now he waits in anticipation of the judgment that is to follow.

Four angels have gathered at the four corners of the earth. There will be none who will escape this judgment. All is in readiness. But suddenly, there is an interruption.

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God (7:2). This angel comes up from the east. He is an angel with authority. He has the seal of the living God. This speaks of the authority that has been given to him. His mission is to bring life. "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads" (7:3).

John had been watching the four angels in anticipation, waiting to see that wrath unleashed. But instead, he sees something else. Instead of seeing wrath, he sees a loving concern. Instead of seeing destruction, he sees a protection.

We learned about seals in chapter 5. A seal was a large metal stamp. It had a written signature engraved at on end. When you wished to put your seal on something, you would pour some clay or hot wax onto it and then you would press the seal into it. The result would be an engraved mark.

This mark signified a number of things, but they all spelled AUTHORITY.

• It signified authenticity. A message would be known to be true if it bore the seal of the writer.

• It signified ownership. Just as cattle are often branded to show that they belong to a particular rancher, so also items of value were marked with the seal to certify their legal ownership.

• The seal also signified protection. As such, it was used by Pontius Pilate to secure the tomb of Jesus. The seal of Rome was placed on the tomb and it could only be broken by someone who was higher in authority than the Roman governor.

Do you remember the mark of Cain? After Cain murdered his brother Abel, God set a mark upon Cain so that others would not seek to wreck vengeance upon him for his evil deed. This was a mark of protection. It signified that this man s life was under the protection of the Lord. If God was gracious enough to grant His protection to this rebellious murderer, do you not also think that He will grant protection to His people?

John’s vision of the sealing of people prior to a coming judgment finds its roots in the Old Testament. The prophet Ezekiel had a vision of the destruction of Jerusalem. Before that destruction was allowed to fall, the Lord sent a man through the city to place a mark on the heads of His people.

These executioners are being called from the north. It was from the north that the invading armies of Nebuchadnezzar came down against Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Notice that it is God who is calling them against the city. But before they are permitted to attack, God sends the man with the writing case to place a mark on those who are remorseful over the wickedness of the city.

Notice that the mark is placed on the forehead of each man. It is the exact same location in which the 144,000 are sealed. It is also for the same purpose. It is so that the people of God will not fall under the judgment that is reserved for the rest of the world. There is a great truth here. It is that we have been sealed. God has set His stamp upon us.

We have been sealed by God. The seal of God is His own Spirit. That Spirit is a mark of authenticity. It is also a mark which shows God s ownership of us. And it is also a seal of protection upon us.

There are some bad things that happen in this world. However, I am protected. That doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to me. But it does mean that they will always work together to produce good on my behalf.

And I heard the number of those who were sealed, on hundred and forty four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

John hears the roll call of those who are sealed. There are 12 tribes mentioned. But these are not the same 12 tribes that were always listed in the chronicles of the Jewish people. There are some differences.

The tribe of Judah is mentioned first. Judah was not the firstborn. Reuben was the firstborn. Reuben is always mentioned first in any list of the tribes of Israel. But this is different. Here it is Judah that is mentioned first. Judah was the royal tribe. It was the tribe of David and Solomon. It was the tribe of Jesus.

Another difference between this list and others in the Bible is the omission of the tribe of Dan. It is excluded from this list.

Who are these 144,000? What do they represent? What is the significance of this number? The number is 12 x 12 x 1,000. We have already seen two groups of twelve in the 24 elders which are around the throne. They correspond to the 24 courses of the Old Testament priesthood and they also correspond to the combined peoples of the Old and New Covenants. But this time the two 12 s are multiplied and then multiplied again by 1,000.

The number 1,000 is used to describe a great number.

• Moses speaks of blessing the nation of Israel a thousand-fold (Deuteronomy 1:11).

• God is said to keep His covenant and His loving-kindness to a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9).

• Joshua speaks about how a single Israelite can put a thousand enemy soldiers to flight (Joshua 23:10).

• The Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10).

• A thousand years are as a single day in the sight of the Lord (Psalm 90:4).

• God’s covenant with Abraham was for a thousand generations (Psalm 105:8).

It is obvious that these numbers are not to be taken literally. When the Psalmist says that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he does not mean that number 1,001 does not belong to Him. Likewise, when we see the number 1,000 here in Revelation, I do not think that it is limiting the number of God’s sealed people to that amount.

Who are these 144,000? Are they some select group of Jewish people? I think that they are much more than that. Just as the 24 elders around the throne represented the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles of God s Old and New Covenants, so also I think that these 144,000 also represent the people of God s Old and New Covenants.

Now, if this is the case, that we are meant to understand these 144,000 as being representative of all of God’s people, whether Jew or Gentile - then why are the specific tribes of Israel mentioned? I think that it is because the Lord did not want us to loose sight of our Jewish heritage.

When you came to Christ in faith and believed in Him as your Savior and Lord, you entered into something that has a long tradition. You entered into the family of Abraham.

The church today is made up mostly of Gentiles. Does this mean that God’s promise to Abraham has failed? Not at all. It simply means that it is being fulfilled in a different way. It is being fulfilled through the entire church made up of both Jews and Gentiles. It is being fulfilled because we have all become the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

If you came to Christ, you were grafted into a great tree. The root of the tree goes back to Jesse and to Judah and to Abraham. The branch of the tree is Jesus Christ. You have been grafted into that branch.

This is important. God doesn’t have two separate peoples. He doesn’t have two churches. He has one church and one people.

This means that for a Christian to be involved in anti-Semitism is to be like a dog that bites his own tail. We have roots and they are Jewish roots. We have traditions, and they go back thousands of years to a time when men met with God in a temple and a tabernacle, and even before that to when God spoke with Abraham face to face.

There is a teaching going around today called "Dispensationalism." It is a relatively new teaching. It has been around for less than 200 years. It was popularized in the last century by the Scofield Reference Bible. It teaches that God has two groups of people with whom He works in two separate purposes.

• A dispensationalist keeps Israel and the Church distinct. (Charles Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, The Moody Bible Institute, 1965, Page 44).

• The dispensationalist believes that throughout the ages God is pursuing two distinct purposes: one related to the earth with earthly people and earthly objectives involved which is Judaism; while the other is related to heaven with heavenly people and heavenly objectives involved, which is Christianity. (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Dispensationalism; Dallas: Seminary Press, 1936, Page 107).

I would be forced to ask Mr. Chafer which purpose is God pursuing in the book of Revelation. Is it the earthly purpose or the heavenly purpose? Is it the work of Israel or the work of the church?

The answer is that it is BOTH. This book pictures God’s people as ONE. There is a beautiful blending of the people of the Old Covenant with the people of the New Covenant so that there is one church and one family of God.

John had just heard the numbering of the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. As he looks up, what does he expect to see? He expects to see 144,000 people. But instead, he sees something else.

This reminds me of what had happened in Revelation 5 when John was told of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He looked up, expecting to see a lion, and instead he saw a lamb. The truth is that the lion is also a lamb.

Likewise, I do not think that John is seeing two different groups here, but only one. The 144,000 represent a great multitude, which no one can count. Instead of being from the physical descendants of the sons of Jacob, they are from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.

The passage tells us that this was a great multitude, which no one could count (7:9). This is a literal fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant; the promise which God gave to Abraham. On a dark, cloudless night the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, speaking to him and then leading him outside his tent to stand under the ancient sky.

It is true that many peoples descended from the physical seed of Abraham. But I think that this promise goes much deeper than that. It looks at all of God’s people as the seed of Abraham.

They are pictured as being clothed in white robes (7:9). We saw in Revelation 6:11 the white robes of those who were martyred for their faith. We compared that passage with the vision of Zechariah 3. We saw the filthy garments of Joshua, the high priest of Jerusalem, being replaced with clean festal robes. We saw that Joshua was a symbol of all of God’s people.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We all wear the same filthy garments. But Jesus died to take our sins away. When we came to Him, He took away our filthy garments and, in there place, He gave us fresh new robes of righteousness.

Palm branches were in their hands (7:9). Just as the people of Jerusalem greeted Jesus with palm branches at His triumphal entry, so also we will one day greet Him. Palm branches were carried by the people during the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated the entrance into Canaan after the wilderness wanderings. It looked at that time of rest after the hardships of the Sinai desert. This was the most festive time of the entire year. The harvest was over and all of the crops had been gathered. Now a harvest feast of thankfulness to the Lord was held. Jews from all over the land would travel to Jerusalem to attend this feast.

The feast lasted a week. On each day of the week, all of the people would gather to the temple. Each person would carry with him a palm branch to wave before the house of the Lord in a spirit of joyful worship. As the Temple music began, the worshipers would direct their palm branches toward the altar, praying that God would now send the salvation of the promised Son of David.

Now we see the fulfillment of the feast. The final harvest has taken place. God’s people have been gathered to Himself. They have entered into the final rest of God and He has spread His tabernacle over them (7:15). And now they are gathered in joyful thanksgiving to worship the Lord.

John has heard the joyous pronouncements. Now he is questioned by one of the elders. This elder asks John the identity of the 144,000. It is not that the elder needed to know. The elder will answer his own question is just a moment. The reason he asks the question is so that John will ask the question.

Sometimes our problem is not that we do not know the right answers, but rather that we don’t know the right questions.

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation (7:14). What is this "great tribulation?" A lot of people think that it refers to a seven year period in the future which will be followed by the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Does the Bible teach this? I’m not so sure. Jesus taught His disciples that they would experience tribulation.

If Jesus had wanted His disciples to think that the tribulation would not come for many hundreds of years, then He would not have said this. Paul told the church at Thessalonica that they were already suffering tribulation.

This word which is translated "affliction" is the very same Greek word which is translated "tribulation" here in Revelation. Paul is not speaking of a tribulation that would come in the far future. He is describing something that these believers were going through right now.

Many people would object at this point, saying, "Wait a minute, John. I admit that there is tribulation today. But there is also a Great Tribulation which is to come. It is distinguished in the Bible as the Great Tribulation."

Let’s look at some passages which speak of "great tribulation." One place it is used is in Stephen’s sermon before the Sanhedrin. Stephen had been speaking of the famine that took place in Egypt in the days of Joseph.

Once again the Greek term found in this verse is exactly the same as is used here in Revelation. Another example is seen in Paul’s description of the gift which he received from the churches of Macedonia.

The same Greek word for "tribulation" is used here where it is translated "affliction." The truth is that the Bible teaches that there have been many times of "great tribulation."

This does not mean that there is not another such time coming in the future. Indeed, there are many parts of the world that are seeing "great tribulation" right now. The hoofbeats of the red horse and the black horse and the pale horse echo through our newspaper each day.

But we have a promise. It is a promise of protection. It is a promise that, no matter how bad things get, God is with us and will treat us as His own prized possession. And finally, we shall stand before Him in white robes of righteousness.

They are before the throne of God (7:15). There is coming a day when we will see God face to face -- when we shall stand before His throne and praise Him and serve Him.

It is interesting to compare the description of the heavenly promises of this chapter with those given in Revelation 21-22.

For the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd (7:17). Usually it is the shepherd who shepherds the lambs. But in that day, the Lamb of God will be our shepherd. In that day, we will be able to sing the Psalm of David:

In that day, there will be no need to walk any further through the valley of the shadow of death. There will be no evil to fear.

That is the message of the book of Revelation. It is that Jesus wins! And those who follow Him will win with Him.