We Are Sealed & Protected
This may be a good time to remind ourselves that Revelation is apocalyptic prophetic literature full of visions, images, symbols, numbers, and stories. These should not be read literally but for the messages they convey. The book is a witness to God’s mission to redeem and restore his whole creation. It is also a guidebook for the church’s mission telling us how we should act during these end times. It does not present the events in chronological order. It is a book of cycles or spirals, repeating the same events but from different perspectives. It moves back and forth in time. In the series of seven cycles, the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls, we encounter two interludes between the 6th and 7th seals and the 6th and 7th trumpets. These interludes provide additional background information about God’s people and their situation. They serve to encourage the persecuted Christians and stress even more the sovereign control of God over the whole process. In chapter 7 we have come to the first of these interludes. This interlude consists of two visions: the protective sealing of the 144,000 on earth (7:1–8) and the celebration of the great multitude in heaven (7:9–17).
Rev. 6:16-7:9 — “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
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. Then I saw another angel coming up 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 earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 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.
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 …
The sixth seal ended with the question (6:17), “Who can stand?” Chapter 7 answers “the great multitude … standing before the throne” (7:9). This interlude shows God’s people from two different perspectives. In 7:1-8 we have a flashback to the time before the seals. It shows us God’s people on earth being sealed before the outpouring of God’s judgments on the earth. All of God’s slaves will be able to endure and stand because they are protected and empowered by God’s seal. Then in 7:9-17, we fast forward to the time after the end and God’s final judgment. We see all the people of God before his throne worshipping God. His seal brought them through the tribulations into his eternal presence.
1. God’s Mercy Holding Back His Wrath
The four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold back the four winds until all of God’s people are sealed. The four corners represent the whole earth. No part of the world can escape God’s rule and judgment. He controls the weather and makes it do his bidding. He often uses the wind as an instrument of judgment. At the exodus, it was the wind that brought the locusts and bore them away (Ex 10:13,19). It turned the sea into dry land (Ex 14:21). The four winds portray universal disaster that comes from every direction (Jer 49:36). Destructive winds, whether storms like hurricanes and tornados or hot, dry winds, affect the land and the plants and so devastate people. They churn up the seas into storms (Dan 7:2-3) and destroy ships and seagoing commerce.
The four winds allude also to the four horsemen, which are based on the horsemen of Zech. 6:1-8. There they are identified as the four winds (spirits) of heaven (Zech 6:5). Thus, the four winds are destructive forces representing an earthly disaster that God is about to unleash. But they are held in check by the four angels under God’s sovereign command. God is in sovereign control of the whole process. These destructive forces can move only when God tells them to. It emphasizes his mercy and care for his faithful followers. God will not allow his wrath to come upon the earth until his people are sealed and so protected from these terrible forces. Everything happens according to his sovereign timing.
2. The Seal of the Living God
Another angel with great authority comes up from the rising sun, the east. This signifies the outpouring of God’s kingdom blessings which usually come from the east. He brings one of the greatest blessings, the seal of the living God. He is the living God who lives forever and ever and actively intervenes for his people. The seal means ownership, protection, and privilege.
The seal authenticates the genuineness of the faith of the believers. It shows that they truly belong to God. They are the slaves of God. The seal is the Name of Christ and God. “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (Rev 14:1). “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Rev 22:3-4). We are not our own. We were bought at a price, the blood of the Lamb. We are the property of our God. The personal, loving God puts his seal on us. He makes the faithful believers part of his family. When we believed in Jesus Christ and confessed his Name, we were sealed with his Name (Rev 2:17) and the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:21-22).
The seal also means that God protects us. Ezekiel 9 forms the background for this sealing of God’s people. There God commands an angel to mark the faithful remnant to protect them from his coming wrath aimed at the Babylonians (Ezekiel 9:4-6). The unfaithful Israelites who have not been marked suffer his judgment (Ezek. 9:5–10). In Exodus 12:7,13,22-28, the mark of the blood over the Hebrews’ doors at Passover protected them from God’s judgment. Thus, the seal protects the faithful believers from God’s wrath that is being poured out on the unbelieving world.
Here we must take note of Revelation’s consistent and clear distinction between God’s wrath (ὀργή) on the unbelievers and the tribulations (θλῖψις), the various sufferings and persecutions that believers experience at the hand of Satan, his demonic forces, and his earthly agents, the unbelieving world. Only those marked with the seal of the living God can withstand God’s wrath and will be able to stand before God’s throne at the final judgment. They will not be condemned.
The seal gives us spiritual protection. It does not exempt us from physical persecution, suffering, or death. We will experience the physical consequences of God’s wrath on the unbelieving world (earthquakes, floods, wars, violence, famine, death). We will experience tribulations as we are persecuted and killed by the world. But God’s seal empowers us to remain loyal to Christ and endure in faithful witness to Him. It protects us from spiritual defeat. These trials purify, refine, and strengthen our faith. God’s seal protects us from losing our faith and so protects our salvation. We respond to these tribulations with faith, hope, and enduring witness. The unbelievers without the seal harden their hearts, refuse to repent, and therefore, will experience God’s final judgment and condemnation. When we face tribulations, we can trust that our living God is at work. And even when we give the ultimate witness, death, we know that God saves and preserves our souls. The seal authenticates our genuine membership in God’s family and only with it can we enter the eternal kingdom of God.
3. We Are God’s People, We Are God’s Army
And this brings us to the 144,000. This is 12 x12 x 1,000. Twelve is the number of God’s people and 1,000 signifies a very large, complete number. The square of 12 is most likely the twelve tribes multiplied by the twelve apostles (Rev 21:12-14). Thus, the 144,000 tells us that the whole of God’s people, all his redeemed slaves, are sealed. God is in control. He has our number. None of us will be lost (Jn 17:11-12).
The listing of the twelve tribes here is unique and differs from all the other listings in the Bible. Dan and Ephraim are omitted possibly because they were closely associated with idol worship (Judges 18:16-19; 1 Kings 12:28-30; Hos. 4:17-19; 5:3-4,9-12) and Revelation takes the sin of idolatry very seriously. Judah is listed first because the Lion of Judah, the king of God’s people, comes from the tribe of Judah. Levi, who is left out in some listings, is included here, perhaps because God’s people are now a kingdom of priests. Joseph and Manasseh are included in the place of Dan and Ephraim.
The 144,000 and the list of the 12 tribes portray the church, the faithful believers as the authentic continuation of Israel, the new, true Israel, the people of God. We should read this in the context of the larger vision and the whole book. The same thing that happened in chapter 5 happens here. There, John heard, the Lion of Judah, but when he turned He saw the Lamb who is the Lion. Here, John hears the number of the sealed from the tribes of Israel, but when he looked, he saw the great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne. The great multitude is the sealed from the tribes of Israel. They are the whole of, all of God’s true people. The 144,000 appear again in chapter 14:11-5 in the second interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet. There they represent all of God’s people who had been redeemed from the earth.
The slaves of God are sealed. Revelation uses the slaves of God consistently for God’s people. They are the followers of Jesus, the true Israel of God. They are sealed with God’s Name and the name of God’s city, the new Jerusalem — “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name” (Rev 3:12). This city represent the whole of people of God. The names of the 12 tribes are on the gates and the names of the 12 apostles are on the foundations. This signifies the unity of the OT and NT people of God in the new Jerusalem. Throughout Revelation, the emphasis is on one group, the faithful overcomers, all the believers from all nations. John uses the 12 tribes to remind all Christians of our Jewish heritage. Non-Jewish believers are grafted into Israel to form the new Israel consisting of both Gentile and Jewish believers. We are all children of Abraham. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29).
Then, the numbering and listing of the tribes have the form of a census. In the OT a census was done to determine the size of the army in preparation for battle (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 31:4–6). This listing portrays God’s army arrayed in battle formation. Whether we like it or not, know it or not, we are in a spiritual war. The enemy is not flesh and blood. Even our physical enemies, the unbelieving world, are but agents of the unseen forces of evil and wickedness (Eph. 6:10–20). We are the army of Christ who fights and conquers in the same way as the Lamb by faithful witnessing and suffering. Our weapons are the gospel of peace and the Word of God. We proclaim the gospel and live the kingdom life. We achieve victory, not by brute force, coercion, and violence like the world, but by self-giving, self-sacrificing love, suffering, and martyrdom, willing to die for our Lord.
So, as we live in these end times, know that we are sealed and protected. Do not fear. Don’t be anxious. Put your trust in God. We must not put our hope, trust, safety, and security in the things and people of this world. They cannot save us or protect us, only the seal of the living God. We have nothing to fear, not even Satan. Be encouraged because we are sealed with the Name of God and Christ and by the Holy Spirit. God is in control. He exerts his incomparably great power for us who believe at all times (Eph 1:19-21). We are in God’s hands shielded by His power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet 1:5). Our future is guaranteed by God (Eph 1:13-14; 1 Pet 1:4). We know that in all things God works for our good. He is for us. Who can be against us? “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro 8:28-39)
Because we are sealed and protected with the seal of the living God. Do not fear. Do not give up. Persevere in faithful witness. Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon.