In answer to the question that comes at the end of chapter 6, the sixth seal, “who is able to stand?” we have hope in chapter 7.  Nahum 1:6 says “Who can stand before His indignation?  Who can endure the burning of His anger?” and that is true for everyone who does not receive the sacrifice of the Lamb.  However, in God’s great heart of love there are two groups who will stand in the tribulation period:

 

1 – the 144,000

They are Jews and will be the evangelists for Israel and the rest of the world

They are sealed on the earth

 

2 – Gentiles from all the nations

Not numbered, nor could they be

Standing in heaven before God

 

 Vs 1  After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

 “after this” brings us to a new vision John was seeing.  Chapter 7 in Revelation is like a parenthesis between the sixth seal and the seventh seal.  It is a parenthesis of God’s mercy and incredible love not wanting that any should perish even in the midst of His righteous judgment.  The first 6 seals have brought unparalleled destruction but there is much more to come in the seventh seal which contains the trumpet and bowl judgments.  In other words the world ‘ain’t seen nothing yet’.

 Four angels are commissioned to hold back the winds of the earth.  There is always constant movement of air on our planet.  From gentle breezes to full-blown storms, we feel the wind.  These angels are told to hold back the four winds.  These are directional:  north, south, east and west.  This is a stillness that will be unsettling.  The fact that they have to ‘hold back’ indicates the winds are bucking to be released and we can only imagine what it will be like when the winds are released.  But these four angels are sent to do this job and that shows the enormous power that angels have in being able to hold back the wind.  This is a momentary lull before the storm.

 Vs 2  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God.  He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea.

 There is another angel coming from the east.  This would be John’s east and while he was on Patmos the east would have been toward Israel.  This angel carried the seal of the living God.  This was not a judgment seal but a seal that a king would wear on his signet ring.  This was God’s seal that annotated His authority, His possession.

Vs 3  Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

 The four angels holding the wind back were about to be God’s servants of judgment but before they unleashed the pent up winds there was a job to do.  The foreheads of God’s servants would be marked with His seal.  The seal of the living God in indelible inscription placed on His own.  The Old Testament priests wore a gold plate on their turbans that said “Holy to the Lord” and I wonder if these seals say the same or indicate that in some manner?  So before further judgment comes to the earth God is sealing (protecting) those who are His.  The antichrist who is always a deceiver and imitator will mark his people too with the mark of the beast later in the tribulation period.

Vs 4  Then I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

 These 144,000 are from Israel.  The number itself represents completion x completion.  The records of genealogy were destroyed in AD 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed and no one except Jesus can prove their bloodline.  Nevertheless the Lord knows those who are His and He will gather these Jews together and seal them.  They apparently have come to faith after the rapture and He will use them to be missionaries to the rest of Israel as well as Gentiles.  They will be the greatest missionaries the world has ever known.  From Israel will come light during the darkest period the world has ever known.

Vs 5 

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

From the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

From the tribe of Gad 12,000

Judah is listed first although Reuben was the firstborn but Reuben gave up his birthright to Judah.

 

Vs 6

From the tribe of Asher 12,000

From the tribe of Naphtali 12,000

From the tribe of Manasseh 12,000

 The tribe of Dan is not listed.  We do not know why.  There are speculations but some things God has not revealed why.  It is known that the tribe of Dan were big on idol worship as well as Ephraim who is also not listed.

 

Vs 7

From the tribe of Simeon 12,000

From the tribe of Levi 12,000

From the tribe of Issachar 12,000

Levi is listed when they were the priestly line and did not have land parceled out to them.

 

Vs 8 

From the tribe of Zebulon 12,000

From the tribe of Joseph 12,000

From the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

 Benjamin rounds up the 12 tribes and reminds us that God is faithful to His word.  After thousands of years He is just as true as when the tribes were first formed.  He is the God who does not change.

 Paul’s words in Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion.  He will remove ungodliness from Jacob”.

Vs 9  After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

 Notice another “after this” which reminds us that there is a scene shift.  John now sees a multitude of people that he could not count.  First there was the counted (144,000) and now the uncounted (the multitude).  This group of people come from every nationality and culture.  They are believers because they stand before the throne and they are wearing white robes.  The word used for white in this portion means dazzling white.  A white that is brilliant.  Robes as with the martyrs were garments that reached to the ground and denoted reward.  They were holding palm branches and the palm branches in scripture where waived in celebrations and with great joy which gives us a glimpse of what these people were experiencing.  Palm branches were also prominent during the Feast of Tabernacles, the OT celebration of God’s provision for Israel during their wilderness wanderings.

Vs 10  And they cried out in a loud voice:  “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

 These people are vocal.  They cry in a loud voice not a wimpy whisper.  They know that there salvation comes from God and the Lamb who bought their freedom.

Vs 11  All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.  They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God ,

All of the angels, living creatures and elders fall on their faces before God in worship.  They join the multitude in profuse worship.  Worship is contagious in heaven!  No one will have to prod you to worship.  It is spontaneous and yet compelling because of Who’s presence we are in.

Vs 12  saying:  “Amen!  Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God and forever and ever.  Amen!”

 Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, strength – just in case you wonder where to begin with your worship.  We should begin here on earth practicing these things.

 Vs 13  Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?”

 This is a rhetorical question.  The elder is not asking for his own knowledge but addressing John.

Vs 14  I answered, “Sir, you know.”  And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 John is blown away by the whole seen.  The elder tells John that this great multitude is those who have come out of the great tribulation.  These are the believers who lived at least for some part during the tribulation.  They were martyred, died of natural causes, killed during the most intense part.  The second half is the great tribulation and occurs and the 3 ½ year mark.  The Lord’s great mercy is seen here “they have come out of the tribulation”.  Hallelujah that He has made a way for those who believe to ‘come out’.  You cannot tell me that He is not a just and loving God.

 Habakkuk 3:2 “O Lord, I have heard your speech and was afraid; O Lord revive your work in the midst of the years!  In the midst of the years make it known, in wrath remember mercy.” 

 And He does – He remembers mercy.

 Vs 15  Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them.

 These people surround the throne and worship Him day and night which means all the time because there is no day or night in heaven.  God will spread His tent over them.  Some versions have tabernacle instead of tent.  It is His sheltering protection.  I love those words; they show such tenderness and love.  Like He wraps His holy arms around them and comforts them forever.

Vs 16  “Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

 The fact that is says ‘never again’ means that they did experience these things on earth.  They were hungry, they were thirsty, they did burn in the sun and heat.  They had suffered through the natural disasters the seals brought and they had suffered at the hands of the antichrist who persecuted them.  But in God’s home they would never again experience that pain and torture.  He would forever tend to them as they in turn worshipped Him always.

Vs 17  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 The Lord Jesus Christ is their Shepherd.  He will lead them to springs of living water that will forever refresh them and quench every thirst they ever had.  And in this tender loving care, God Himself will cup their faces in His holy hands and wipe every tear from their eyes.  Oh the Love of God.

 As we go further into Revelation let us be reminded that the theme of this book is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  We see Him revealed as Judge, Righteous and Holy.  We see Him as the Lamb, our sacrifice.  He see Him as the holder of the title deed to earth.  We see Him as loving, longsuffering, tender and merciful even in the midst of His terrible judgment.  No, there is no excuse for those who turn away from His free gift of salvation.  And for those who receive His salvation, there is so much more.  More than we could take in this mortal body.  Even so come Lord Jesus.