Another angel is seen ascending. The first four angels mentioned could very well be the four ‘living creatures’ we met earlier,1 and were described by Ezekiel, recognizing them as cherubim.2 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 earth3 or in the postponement of these afflictions. The final judgment4 has been postponed for a ‘short’ while—that is, for over two thousand years already, since Christ’s first coming. The ‘other angel’ comes from the East, from the rising of the sun. Is this the ‘Angel of the Lord’, the ‘commander of the army of the Lord’,5 who, if one asks him his name, says: “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.”6
He has the seal of the living God. He has been sent to seal on behalf of Almighty God. Pharaoh gave Joseph his signet ring.7 King Xerxes gave Mordecai his signet ring8—power and authority to bind and to loose. Whoever has accepted His (Christ’s) testimony has ‘sealed’ the fact that God is truthful.9 The great ‘Sealer’ is the Son of man, for God the Father, has placed His seal of approval on Him.10 Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.11 “God has set His seal upon us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,” Paul says.12 Baptism comes to be called a sign and seal that cannot be doubted. There is more to this, however, for in this case these are already believers and they are therefore already in possession of that ‘seal’. But these new Groups are now sealed ‘on their forehead’ because they are to be the ‘servants of our God’13 in the midst of God’s final judgments.
Who are they? The expression ‘the living God’ can help us to find this out. This expression is found eight times in the Old Testament and fourteen times in the New Testament. It shows the Lord in His mighty deeds of salvation, signs and wonders,14 both for Israel and for the nations. The ‘seal’ of the living God is the ‘seal’ of the Lord, the God of Israel. The incurable hardened, unrepentant unbelievers had already been forced to recognise that the disasters under the sixth seal are caused by the wrath of God and of the Lamb. They now have to recognise that the God of Israel is not dead, but that He is alive, and that He is redeeming Israel by means of superhuman and visible signs and wonders, miracles of revelation.
It is the case, of course, that where the expression ‘the living God’ is used in the New Testament, it refers to God’s relationship with the church of Jesus Christ (except in Romans 9:26, the quotation from Hosea 1:10), and that this church of Jews and Gentiles is called a mystery, hidden for ages. It was revealed to Paul who writes in Ephesians 3:3-7 “…that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel…” And in Romans 16:25-26 Paul writes “…Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations…”
This Church of Jews and Gentiles is a mystery hidden for ages. A people for His Name from the Gentile world, as James says in Acts 15:14. After having collected this ‘people for His name from the Gentile word’, by preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to the nations, He then will return to David’s fallen tent, to Israel, James explains.
The expression ‘the living God’ in connection with Israel demonstrates His visible, outward dealings with them. The expression ‘the living God’ in connection with the church always refers to inner revelation, faith in Jesus Christ, sanctification, expectation, hope, cleansing and walk of life. This outward sealing therefore points to those who are sealed from the twelve tribes of Israel.
• The names of the twelve tribes of Israel were to be engraved on twelve precious stones as seals on the High Priest’s breastplate (Exodus 28:21, see also verses 11 and 36) and on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, Exodus 39:6–7. He wears Israel on His shoulders and on His heart.
Bible References:
1.Revelation 4:6 ff., 5:14 2.Ezekiel 1 and 10 3.Revelation 6:1,3,5,7 4.Compare Amos 4:6-13 trials 9:1–6 judgment 5.Joshua 5:14 6.Judges 13:18, comp. Isaiah 9:5 7.Genesis 41:42 8.Esther 8:2 and 8 9.John 3:33 10.John 6:27 11.Ephesians 1:13–14 12.2 Corinthians 1:22 13.Revelation 7:3 14.Deuteronomy 5:26; Joshua 3:10; 1 Samuel 17:26 and 36; 2 Kings 19:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Daniel 6:21; Hosea 1:10
