Revelation 7 is a sort of interlude connected to opening the sixth seal and the Judgment Day, and it shows God claiming his people. Four angels stand at the four corners of the earth - the four points of a compass – holding back the destructive power of this wind they are holding back. They are temporarily delaying the destruction of the earth until other angels have sealed the servants of God.
Sealing the saint’s foreheads is not like sealing a door, or shutting something up so that it cannot be opened. (Although, we Christians are sometimes accused of having closed minds.) God’s angels are putting a mark of ownership – like a cowboy’s brand, only less painful – on God’s people. (Remember this later when we read about the mark of the beast.)
The number of the sealed, John says is 144,000. Much has been made of this number, and some have taught that this will be the full amount of people who go to heaven. Since there are 159 million Americans who identify themselves as Christians, it does not seem likely that only 144,000 of all the people who have believed across all the centuries will be in part of God’s kingdom. So, what does this mean?
Twelve is the number for God’s people, and the number 1000 means a very large number – like us saying there were, “millions!” So this number indicates the entire people of God. 12 x 12 = 144. 144 x 1000 = 144,000. Therefore John is reporting that all the people of God will be there – and the number will be huge. In fact, that’s what v. 9 drives us to, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, . . . standing before the throne and before the Lamb, . . . .”
These saints, dressed in white robes and carrying palm branches, are worshiping God – and notice they’re worshiping him for salvation! This vast, uncountable, number of people are joined by the angels, the elders (who also represent the entirety of God’s people) and the four living creatures in bowing before God in worship and praise. They are identified as, “the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The great tribulation is this world, this life. The image of washing robes in blood and making them white is stunning since blood usually stains and ruin things that are white. But these garments were not dirty with soil or grease, they were dirty with sin, and they – and therefore those who wear them – have now been cleaned in Jesus’ blood. They stand spotless before God.
Where are you in this picture? Do you see yourself as an onlooker, like John, soaking in the fantastic view? I’d like to challenge us to think of ourselves as one of these who have come out of the great tribulation bowing before the throne of God. Right now, the Lamb is shepherding us home. He is leading us to springs of living water, and he will wipe every tear from our eyes. This tribulation will not last forever, and we will stand before God’s throne because our sins have been washed away by Jesus’ blood. So today, we too can sing,
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Sealing the saint’s foreheads is not like sealing a door, or shutting something up so that it cannot be opened. (Although, we Christians are sometimes accused of having closed minds.) God’s angels are putting a mark of ownership – like a cowboy’s brand, only less painful – on God’s people. (Remember this later when we read about the mark of the beast.)
The number of the sealed, John says is 144,000. Much has been made of this number, and some have taught that this will be the full amount of people who go to heaven. Since there are 159 million Americans who identify themselves as Christians, it does not seem likely that only 144,000 of all the people who have believed across all the centuries will be in part of God’s kingdom. So, what does this mean?
Twelve is the number for God’s people, and the number 1000 means a very large number – like us saying there were, “millions!” So this number indicates the entire people of God. 12 x 12 = 144. 144 x 1000 = 144,000. Therefore John is reporting that all the people of God will be there – and the number will be huge. In fact, that’s what v. 9 drives us to, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, . . . standing before the throne and before the Lamb, . . . .”
These saints, dressed in white robes and carrying palm branches, are worshiping God – and notice they’re worshiping him for salvation! This vast, uncountable, number of people are joined by the angels, the elders (who also represent the entirety of God’s people) and the four living creatures in bowing before God in worship and praise. They are identified as, “the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” The great tribulation is this world, this life. The image of washing robes in blood and making them white is stunning since blood usually stains and ruin things that are white. But these garments were not dirty with soil or grease, they were dirty with sin, and they – and therefore those who wear them – have now been cleaned in Jesus’ blood. They stand spotless before God.
Where are you in this picture? Do you see yourself as an onlooker, like John, soaking in the fantastic view? I’d like to challenge us to think of ourselves as one of these who have come out of the great tribulation bowing before the throne of God. Right now, the Lamb is shepherding us home. He is leading us to springs of living water, and he will wipe every tear from our eyes. This tribulation will not last forever, and we will stand before God’s throne because our sins have been washed away by Jesus’ blood. So today, we too can sing,
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
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