Revelation 7

Day 111: After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

The sixth seal of the scroll has been broken; there is now only the seventh seal left. Then the content of the book will appear in full – the ’Day of the Lord’ and the return of Christ. John writes about the breaking of the seventh seal only at the beginning of chapter 8, however. The 7th seal will be seen to contain both the seven trumpets and the threefold ‘woes’, as well as the seven bowls full of God’s wrath.

Day 112: And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God.

Another angel is seen ascending. The first four angels mentioned could very well be the four ‘living creatures’ we met earlier, and were described by Ezekiel, recognizing them as cherubim. They represent Creation to God and they (or four other angels on their behalf) are possibly the ones who are involved in the trials and tribulations of the earth or in the postponement of these afflictions.

Day 113: He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “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.”

First comes the sealing of the ‘servants of our God’, then God’s judgements on Creation and the nations. God holds the forces of nature in His hand. The Lord Jesus commands the storm and the waves. The forces of nature can also be used by the ‘powers of darkness. Compare to ‘good’ people who just like people, can become thieves and rapists and murderers.

Day 114: And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel

Postponement does not mean cancellation. The four winds are held back until the sealing has taken place, and then the trumpet judgments will burst forth upon the earth. What the storm of God’s judgment is to entail will then be revealed in detail. The servants are sealed first, however.

Day 115: From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

All the tribes of Israel and Judah will return and become one nation, and although we are unable to identify the ‘lost’ tribes of Israel, the Lord can and He knows precisely who they are and where all the tribes of Israel are, whether in the new Jewish State of Israel or whether still partially in the ‘diaspora’, the worldwide dispersion.

Day 116: 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 before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.1

The hundred and forty-four thousand from Israel have been sealed. The presence of Israel in the continuing presentation of the events in this world in the Book of Revelation has been pointed out.

Day 117: And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”1

Revelation chapter 6 ended with the question: “…the great day of their wrath [of Him Who sits on the throne and of the Lamb] has come, and who can stand?” Here is the answer: first the faithful Jew, and then the faithful Greek.

Day 118: 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 honour and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

The great harvest has been brought in—the great multitude standing before the throne in white robes and with palm branches. “They celebrated/worshipped,” says Nehemiah 8:18 at the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the return from the Babylonian exile.

Day 119: Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I answered, and I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

One of the elders asked about those clothed in the white robes: who are they and where do they come from? The answer given is that they are people who have become clean, brilliantly white, through or by (that is a better translation of the Greek word than in) the blood of the Lamb.

Day 120: “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His Temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His Tabernacle over them…”

Where is the multitude that have come out of the ‘great tribulation’? I have accepted them as obviously being in Heaven, but it does not have to be so. Does John see this ‘multitude’ in the distant future, with the New Heavens and the New Earth, about which he will speak later?

Day 121: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat…”1

We, in the rich West, hardly know what hunger is. We sometimes get hungry if we miss a meal, and that only serves to increase the pleasure of the following meal. But what if you do not know where your next meal will come from?

Day 122: “…for the Lamb in the centre of the throne will be their Shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

The multitude has come out of the ‘great tribulation’. They have experienced the hail and heat from fire descending from Heaven, water that was undrinkable and the sun scorching the earth. Their tears have flowed during the persecutions.