Let me set this up for you. The Rapture of the church has happened and the Tribulation period has begun. The Antichrist, who is motivated by Satan but not yet Satan incarnate, is rising to power as world leader. Global war has broken out; some believe this to be World War 3. Violence and murder has also increased in the Earth. There is also a great famine across the planet and inflation is as much as 8 to 10 times high; people are starving. There are some who have repented of their sins and turned to Jesus, but they are being massacred because of their faith. Then, without warning, a great earthquake has happened, the sun has turned black, the moon has become like blood, and a meteor shower has impacted Earth, causing mountains and islands to be displaced; this is God’s first supernatural act during the Tribulation. And now we come to Revelation 7.
Before we jump into our text I think there are 2 things that need to be understood.
First, understand that as we go through Revelation 7, the seventh seal has not been opened yet. Secondly, understand that Revelation 7 is a period that is called the interlude. Without going into specifics, there are three of these interludes found in Revelation: the first one is here in Revelation 7:1-17, another in Revelation chapter 10 thru Revelation chapter 11, and another in Revelation 20.
You may be wondering, what is an interlude? I believe the best answer to that question comes from our very own Dr. Herbert Carter who said an interlude is where “Jesus causes a cessation in the tribulation judgment.” In other words, an interlude is when Jesus temporarily stops the judgments from happening during periods of the Tribulation, and what we are going to do today is aim to understand what is happening during this cessation period between the opening of the sixth seal and the seventh seal.
So in verse 1 we see four angels bringing a temporary stop to the judgments.
John writes, “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.” So, we have four angels, standing at the four corners of the earth, and they are holding back the four winds from blowing upon the earth.
Now, the fact that there are four angels holding back the winds is important. Many scholars suggest that they indicate the judgments that are to come, much like the opening of the sixth seal, will be universal. In other words, even though these judgments are meant to oppose the Antichrist and all who do not believe in Jesus, the whole world will be impacted by the judgments that are soon to come.
Then, in verse 2, we see a fifth angel appear.
“Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the earth and sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees…” There is something I want you to see here that I almost missed during my studies this week.
I want you to notice from where the angel appears. He appears “from the rising of the sun”. That places the angel rising up from the east, because the sun rises from the east. Now at first I did not think much of this until I read something that Dr. Herbert Carter wrote. He said, “The east…relates to Christ and His comings and goings. He made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passion Week through the Eastern Gate. He departed that city for His last time, after the resurrection, through the same gate. He will come again from the east and re-enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate.”
Why is that observation important? It’s important because many believe this fifth angel is Jesus, being that he is rising from the east. And he is commanding these four angels to cease the judgments that are being poured out onto the Earth, like we have already explained. And with this, we come to several questions that need to be answered and can be answered from the text. The first one being:
Why is Jesus causing a cessation of the judgments during the tribulation?
The reason Jesus is temporarily stopping these judgments, according to verse 3, is to seal the servants of God. In verse 3 we see this fifth angel who we are to believe is Jesus saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
What does this seal look like which these servants of God will receive?
We don’t know what this seal will look like; the text does not say. Though I have read books that imply the mark will be in the form of a cross and that the mark will be visible only to other believers; we don’t know that to be true. But the indication is that this seal will be some kind of literal mark, because this seal will be located on their foreheads.
I can also tell you this seal will act as the exact opposite of the mark of the beast. Later on in the tribulation, in Revelation 13:16, those who continue to deny Jesus and wish to follow the Antichrist will be required to receive a mark in one of two places – the right hand or the forehead – this will allow them to buy and sell, which means if you do not have the mark of the beast, you will not be permitted to buy nor sell.
What does this seal do? What purpose does it serve?
When God places His seal on His servants, it will serve two purposes. First, the seal of God will identify them as His own. Secondly, the seal of God will act as a guarantee.
What does this seal guarantee? First, it will guarantee their protection from God’s wrath during the tribulation, which is why the seventh seal cannot be opened until these are sealed. Secondly, it will eternally guarantee and secure their place in the kingdom of God.
I also want you to understand that while this seal does offer protection from God’s wrath on the Antichrist and the unbelieving, it does not necessarily protect these sealed servants of God from persecution or martyrdom. We know this because in Revelation 6:9-11 (fifth seal) we see the souls of those who will be martyred for their faith in Christ during the Tribulation period. But because of the seal, no matter what happens to these servants of God, even if they are martyred, God will bring them safely to their reward in heaven, because their destiny is secure.
Now, to me, this seal operates the same way the Holy Spirit does for us today. According to Ephesians 1:13 and 14, when a person hears “the word of truth”, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and believes in Jesus, they are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” And when someone is sealed by the Holy Spirit they are identified as one who belongs to God, and the Scripture says the Spirit acts as “the guarantee of our inheritance” in the kingdom of God. You can think of the seal of the Holy Spirit today like a down payment or a deposit; the Spirit’s presence in us, which only comes to us by faith in Jesus, proves that we are children of God and secures eternal life for us.
So, right now, if you sincerely believe in Jesus and have genuinely surrendered your life to Jesus, the Spirit of God has sealed you to identify you as one who belongs to God and acts as your guarantee into heaven, eternally securing your place in God’s kingdom. Nobody can take it away from you, which is why as a Christian we should not fear man, sickness, or death. And not only does the Holy Spirit secure our place in heaven but so does the blood Jesus. Hebrews 9:12 tells us that shedding of his blood has “secured an eternal redemption” for everyone who believes in Christ by faith and follows him. And I hope that applies to all of you.
We know this seal will be for “the servants of our God”, but who are these servants of God?
Some speculate that every person who repents and believes in Jesus during the Tribulation period will receive this seal of God; that may be true, but the text does not say that here. The text tells us these servants of God that are sealed are 144,000 Jews. John writes in verse 4, “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”
Now one thing I believe it is important for you to understand is that these are Jews who were not believers in Christ before the Rapture, or else they would not be present at this point. Which means these are Jews that, at some point, repented of their sins and put their faith in Christ Jesus after the Rapture.
Now you may wonder where the number 144,000 comes from?
Present-day Israel is made up of 12 tribes which date back to Genesis 49. They are the tribe of: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. The number 144,000 comes from the 12,000 Jews of those 12 tribes that will repent and turn to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins sometime during the Tribulation period, before the opening of the seventh seal.
We can read about them in verses 5-8: “12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.”
What purpose will these 144,000 sealed Jews serve?
They will preach the gospel. Jesus will separate and seal these 144,000 for no other purpose than to preach the gospel. And through their preaching, God will save many.
Why will preaching the gospel still be important during the Tribulation?
Because faith comes by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ preached. God’s method of saving people during the Tribulation will be no different than how He saves people today. God does not save people through programs or methods, it has always been and always will be through the preaching of the Word of God. That’s why Paul says in Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
How do we know God will save many during the Tribulation?
First, we know because the last scene that John gives us during this interlude is a multitude of people from every nation standing before the throne of Almighty God and before Jesus, the Son of God. In verse 9 John says, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.”
Notice they are wearing “white robes”. Revelation 7:14 tells us that is because “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Ladies & Gentlemen: There is nothing that can cleanse you from the filthiness of your sins and make you as white as snow, like the blood of Jesus can.
Secondly, we also know many will be saved during the Tribulation, because the text tells in verses 13 and 14 who this multitude of people are. “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great Tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Thus, these are people who have been saved during the Tribulation period, specifically, during “the great Tribulation.”
What is “the great Tribulation”?
You all know by now that when we mention the Tribulation Period we are referring to a seven year period when God will pour out His wrath on the unbelieving. But there is a period of those seven years called “the great Tribulation”; that is the last 3-1/2 years of the seven year Tribulation period.
This means, the multitude of people John is seeing in verse 9, who “are the ones coming out of the great Tribulation”, are the number of people who will be saved upon hearing the preaching of the 144,000. To say it another way: Verse 9 shows the final outcome of the preaching of the 144,000. Let me say one other way: the multitude we see in verse 9 is not how many have been saved up to this point, it’s how many are going to be saved.
Why is the last 3-½ years of the Tribulation period called “the great Tribulation”?
It is called “the great Tribulation” because during that period the Antichrist will be revealed as one who is Satan incarnate and God’s wrath on the Earth will be increased. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said in Matthew 24:21, “when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand).” The “abomination of desolation” is the Antichrist who has become Satan incarnate and during “the great Tribulation” he will stand in the holy place of the temple that is in Jerusalem today and proclaim to be God. Therefore, God’s wrath will become all the worse, because God is a jealous God and will not share His glory with another.
As we close this blog there are four closing points that must be made or re-iterated:
Point 1: The fact that we see a great multitude of people being saved during the Tribulation period tells us that the worst time our world has ever known will also be a time of great revival and spiritual awakening.
Many will be saved during the Tribulation period at the preaching of the 144,000. In fact, I believe the next revival our world will see will be during the Tribulation period. Everyone wants revival now, but I do not personally believe we will see a great spiritual revival before Jesus comes to rapture the church. I am not saying you will not see small pockets of a revival, but as far as the great global or national revival everyone wishes to see, I don’t believe that is going to happen until after the Rapture.
The reason I believe that is because there is no verse that indicates there will be a spiritual revival pre-rapture. If anything, Jesus teaches us in Matthew 24:10 and 11, that the closer we come to him rapturing his church the more of a falling away there will be. And the reason there will be such a great falling away is because many false prophets and false teachers will arise in our churches and deceive many. We call this the Apostate age, and I believe we are in that age now.
Point 2: Notice in verse 10 what this great multitude of people are doing – they’re worshiping.
Verse 10 says they are “crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Not only is this multitude worshiping, but so are the angles, the 24 elders and the four living creatures. Verses 11 and 12 say, “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.”
What an awesome scene! Can you imagine a multitude of people, a number so great that no one could count them, from every tribe and every people group and every language, along with the angels, the 24 elders, and the four living creatures, standing around the throne of Almighty God and worshiping Him? That’s a scene I want to be a part of!
Point 3: Also notice in verse 9 there is no division by race among the multitude as they are worshiping in verse 10.
That’s because in heaven racism does not exist. In fact, did you know the Bible never uses the word ‘race’ to describe or classify human beings? That’s because in the eyes of God we are all one race and one people who vary in skin tone. That’s because, according to Acts 17:26, God made every man and woman from two people – Adam and Eve. Down here on Earth our churches are divided by skin color and language and nationality; but not in heaven. In heaven, worship will happen as it should be, people will be joined together from every tribe and group and language worshiping Almighty God and Jesus, the risen Lamb, and the color of a person’s skin will be of no concern.
Point 4: Lastly, I want you to take notice of verses 15-17.
“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 shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs for living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
That is the future for all who repent of their sins and trust Jesus to save them. All who have called on the name of Jesus to save them and believe in him, a day comes when you shall dwell in the shelter of Jesus. A day comes when there will be no more hunger or thirst or pain. A day comes when there will be no more sorrow or sickness or death.
Keep this in mind as you journey through this life, because in this world you will have much trouble. You will have pain. You will have sorrow. You will have sickness. And you will die.
But you can take comfort in knowing a day is coming, if you know Jesus, that you will be with Jesus in heaven. And on that day you will join the multitudes as they sing and worship the Lamb saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”