Revelation 7.
Storm Warning
The Book of
Revelation has been labeled a book difficult to understand. Some people say
that it is just a mumbo jumbo of a great many visions which are out of this
world and which no one can understand. It is my conviction that this book is
very logical and is divided in an amazingly simple manner which no one can
miss.
If we get bogged down in some passage and try to take symbols and juggle
them to fit into any system that we might choose, then we are going to be in
real trouble. Rather, we should just let John tell us where we are as we go
along.
Peter said that “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation” 2 Peter 1:20. In other words, you cannot lift out just one
verse here or there or even consider only the Book of Revelation and expect to
interpret accurately the whole of prophecy.
We are now in a section that the Lord Jesus labeled the Great
Tribulation. This period takes place after the church leaves the earth, after
the church concludes its mission and is taken to be with the Lord. This is not
only a reasonable conclusion, but it is noticeably clear, not only here, but
elsewhere in Scripture.
Our text tells of the gospel reaching all the earth in a short period of
time. What the church has failed to do for 2,000 years will be
accomplished quickly during the Great Tribulation.
Signs of the times are everywhere. Do not
allow your mind to become dull to that fact, just because you have heard
preaching like that for years. The Rapture could occur at any moment,
ushering out all who have been born again, and ushering in the Great
Tribulation.
The first half of the tribulation will
be bad enough once all the Christians are removed from the earth along with the
Holy Spirit in their hearts. Add to that they panic over millions missing,
the war, famine, disease, and natural disasters we spoke of last time, and the
chaos, looting, lawlessness, etc.
But there will then be a lull before
the big storm, which is the 2nd half of this 7-year
period. The antichrist will seemingly succeed at bringing peace to the
world, even to the Middle East. But it will not last long. The
perfect storm of the ages is already brewing on the horizon.
Revelation 7 can help us fill in
some of the blanks about what Matthew 24:14 is saying.
One. The Symbolism of
Revelation Seven. Verse 1.
1 After these things I saw four
angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four
winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea,
or on any tree” Revelation 7:1 (NKJV).
“Four Corners
= wings.”
This is a reference to the compass, the 4 quadrants of the earth; the
angel here is keeping the wind from blowing in any direction. The four winds
that come from the East and the West, the North and the South, every corner of
the world will feel this judgement. But is this a literal wind, or a symbolic
wind? It could be both. I interpret prophecy symbolically and literally.
Symbolism: find out what the
symbol means, then believe it literally!
This wind is a
symbolic wind. They have shown the importance of wind to our eco-system and
revealed the fact that life on this planet is dependant upon the wind, and that
we could not survive without it.
Many times, throughout the Old and New Testaments,
wind is used symbolically for judgment. The
winds of judgment are now to be held back. Nothing can move until God
accomplishes His purpose. What is His purpose going to be? To save souls!
“When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction comes
as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish comes
upon you” Proverbs 1:27.
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind” Hosea 8:7.
“Though he be fruitful among his
brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the
wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried
up: he shall spoil the treasure of all” Hosea 13:15.
In Revelation 7:1, these 4 angels are holding back the winds of
judgment, momentarily, because God wants to do something very
important. We are in the tribulation, but the trials of the tribulation
stop, if only for a moment.
Two. The Sealed of
Revelation Seven. Verses 2-4.
2 Then I
saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.
And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to
harm the earth and the sea,
3 saying, “Do not harm the earth,
the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number of those
who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousands of all the tribes
of the children of Israel were sealed”
Revelation 7:2-4 (NKJV).
Then verses 5-8 names all those witnesses sealed.
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve
thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were
sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve
thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were
sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve
thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were
sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve
thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were
sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed” Revelation
7:5-8 (NKJV).
“Another angel” means this is a fifth angel. He is of a higher rank
than the other four because he gives them orders. As we see in the Book of
Daniel and also in the Epistle to the Ephesians, there are gradations of orders
of angels, A 5th angel! More powerful
than the first 4, is giving them orders.
“He cried with a great voice.” In the Greek this is phone megale.
If you turn phone megale around, you
can see where we get our English word megaphone.
Megal means “great;” phone “noise or voice.”
This is an indication that frightful and fearful
judgment is getting ready to break upon the earth, and it is therefore
necessary to secure the servants of God. If He does not seal them, they are not
going to make it through. However, they are going to be preserved in this day
of wrath that is coming on the earth.
The Lord Jesus Himself mentioned this in Matthew 24:21–22: “For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be
saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” For the sake of these who have been sealed, this
terrible time will be shortened.
To seal in the foreheads 144,000 witnesses, 12,000 from each tribe of
Israel. (By the way, the tribe of Dan is missing, Jacob’s blessing upon Dan was
negative, the tribe of Levi was plugged into his place).
Anyway, God has never been without a witnesses,
in any age. There has always been a faithful remnant. Even in Elijah’s
day, when the prophet thought he was the only one left, God reminded him that
he had 7,000 others that had not bowed the knee to Ba’al.
This will be true in the Great Tribulation: God will have His spokesmen
here on earth. It will not be me, or you, if you have been saved. For
at the Rapture, a great spiritual vacuum will be created, and that spiritual
vacuum is quickly filled by 144,000 Jewish evangelists, soul winners. 12,000
from each of the 12 tribes.
Of course, there have been and are
fanatical groups today that claim to be the 144,000, an absurd thought, quite
ridiculous! JW’s revised their theology when their number finally exceeded
144,000. And they are not Jewish.
Many Bible scholars speculate about how these people get saved after the
rapture, during the tribulation. I have an answer for you, are you ready?
I do not know! Nobody knows! We cannot have an answer for every
question, only God knows all the answers. My question is to every reader: “Now
is the day of salvation” not tomorrow!
At Armageddon the blood will flow for 200 miles like a river as deep as
horse bridles, I do not understand how a war could be so horrendous, but I
believe!
The greatest witness to the world
would be the empty churches in every village, town, and city. Where are the
Bible preaching Christians gone? Where are the Second Coming teaching
Christians gone? Sadly, many then will attend churches to find answers to the
why! Why!
I tend to think they will put 2 and 2 together when the Christians
depart, and will study the Bible for the first time, believe, and will be
converted!
Really, we do not know how it will
happen, but one thing we do know, they will be saved, and it will be like
144,000 Billy Grahams turned lose all at once, and their effect will be
overwhelming, they will be able to evangelize the world in a short period of
time. Truly, the church should be able to today, but we are far too
comfortable.
Verse 3 “Saying, “Do not harm the earth,
the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads.”
“Sealed in foreheads.” Whether this seal is visible or
not, we do not know. But we do know that it guarantees them God’s
protection until His purpose in their life is fulfilled. (Later we will be
looking at the “mark of the beast” on men.
Satan will hate them, the antichrist will loathe them, and they would crush them
in short order if they could, but once they are sealed, stamped “private
property of God Almighty,” they are guaranteed protection by God, until He has
done with them!
I am happy to report that if you have
been “born again,” you enjoy that same protection. You have been
sealed, Ephesians 1:13, with the Holy Spirit, until the day of
redemption, Ephesians 4:30, that seal stamps you as private property of
God!
I can look back over the years and see
times when Satan made a bid for my life! And if it were not for God’s
protective hand, I would not be here today. How about you? We all have
that near-death experiences, but my guardian angel should receive hazard pay!
I am not saying we are invincible, not
at all, I may die during this message, but if I do, one thing is
certain: God’s purposes were totally and completely fulfilled in my
life. I am protected by God from start to finish, whenever that may be!
The seal guarantees the 144,000 protection,
even during the tribulation.
Three. The Saved of
Revelation Seven. Verses 9-10.
9 After these things
I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all
nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud
voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and
to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10 (NKJV).
This group is not just Jews, this is a massive group from all peoples, kindreds,
and tongues. Though we are not told precisely who these are, most scholars
agree that these are the fruits of the witnessing and soul winning done by the
144,000, and they are in heaven in this scene, during the Great Tribulation
because they were killed for their faith in Christ, refused to worship the beast
and bow to the antichrist, they would NOT take the mark of the beast, and it
cost them their heads!
“Out of every nation and out of tribes, and peoples,
and tongues.”
These are Gentiles, people from every tribe and nation under the sun.
This means that in the Great Tribulation the gospel of the Kingdom will be
preached through the world. I want to repeat this: the 144,000 witnesses in the
Great Tribulation period are going to do in seven years what the church up to
the present has not done in over nineteen hundred years.
The “white robes” set before us the righteousness of Christ in
which they are clothed. We cannot stand before God in our own righteousness
because our own righteousness is as filthy rags, and I do not think you are
going to wear filthy rags in the presence of God.
“Palm branches” is literally in
the Greek “palm trees.” They are the sign of victory, victory in Christ. This
multitude is part of the great triumphal entry that will occur when Christ
returns to the earth.
The triumphal entry has really never taken place yet. That was actually
more like a triumphal exit when He rode into Jerusalem on that little donkey,
for He was getting ready to leave the earth, and He was on the way to the cross
at that time.
Since then, there has been a great company who have come to Him, and in
the Great Tribulation there will be another great company. When He returns to
the earth, the great company, martyred for Him in the Great Tribulation, will
be included in the first resurrection, and they are going to be there. This is
a wonderful, glorious picture that is given to us.
Let us be clear about something right now. No one reading this
today will be saved during the tribulation.
The Bible teaches that when you reject the truth, you receive a
lie. Truth is not something you can put into your pocket and save for a
bad day, you either use it now or lose it!
9 The coming of the lawless one
is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous
deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the
truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will
send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be
condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” 2
Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NKJV).
“For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect”
Matthew 24:24.
It is like they say, “God, I do not want to go your way, I want to go my
way” and God says, ok, go!
Some would say: I am going to see if it all comes to pass, and if it
is true, then I will get saved. If you are not accepting today, what makes
you think that you will decide tomorrow?
We are living now in the “Age of Grace,” everything is working for you.
When you are living in the Great Tribulation, so much is working against
you This is not a 2nd chance for those who already rejected the
gospel, but a last and only chance for those who have never heard.
Four. The Scene in
Heaven. Verses 11-12.
11 All the angels stood around the
throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying: “Amen! Blessing, glory,
and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honour and power and might, Be to our God
forever and ever. Amen.”
Revelation 7:11-12 (NKJV).
This is a fabulous, fantastic scene of universal worship of God by His
creatures. The church is here, the Old Testament saints are here, and the
Tribulation saints are here. And now the angels join in on it.
While a storm is brewing below, on the earth. There is praise and
worship in the heavenlies. Because God saves this multitude out of the Tribulation.
And there is nothing wrong with getting excited about the Lord. You may say,
“I think church should be dignified”
I do too, if you are talking about things being done decently and in order,
especially in how we conduct our business, but this is not about business, it
is about praise! Some people do not know the difference between dignity
and rigor mortis!
Verses 13-15.
13 Then one of the
elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where
did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you
know.” So, he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation
and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 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 dwell among them”
Revelation 7:13-15 (NKJV).
This is a very enlightening passage of Scripture. One of the elders went
over to John and said, “John, who are these believers here arrayed in the
white robes?” And John said, “My lord, you know.” This is a natural
expression, and we have one like it in our day. When someone asks us a question
and we do not know the answer, we just lift up our hands and say, “Search me!”
which means, “I do not know!”
This is exactly what John is saying here: “You know that I do not
know. You tell me because I do not know.” “And he said to me, these are they which came out of
great tribulation.” If these people
gathered here were the church, John would have known it. John wrote to the
believers in his day. He knew about the church, he knew about the body of
believers, and he wrote to them about love, that great unifying cement that
holds them together.
But John does not know who this company is. The elder, who is a
representative of the church now in heaven, knows that this company is not the
church. It is an altogether different company. It is those who came out of the Great Tribulation. This is a special
company, out of all tribes, tongues, and nations, who have come out of the
Great Tribulation.
“Therefore, are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and
night in His temple.” We now know for
sure that this is not the church, for the church is never identified with the
temple. At the end of this book, when the church is in the New Jerusalem, there
is no temple there. The church will never have a temple. There is going to be
one here on the earth, but there is not one in heaven where the church is.
Therefore, this could not be the church.
“And He that sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle (tent) over
them.” This is for their protection, you see. This company has had it; they have been through the
Great Tribulation. Most of them, I believe, were martyrs and laid down their
lives for Christ. Although we are not specifically told that, they are
presented to us as being before the throne of God in heaven.
Verses 16-17.
16 They shall neither
hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat.
17 for the Lamb who
is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living
fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation
7:16-17 (NKJV).
These are the martyrs who have been
killed for their faith during the Great Tribulation. But those tears will
not last long! They are not going to hunger or
thirst, they did. They have been out in the burning heat of the sun. They have
also been thirsty for spiritual things which they did not have. And they wept,
but now God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. They made it through the
Great Tribulation because of the blood of the Lamb. This is a wonderful company
of folk that is presented to us here.
Some of the tenderest memories of childhood are having my tears dried by
mom or dad. We have the same experience with our own children because it
breaks our hearts to see them cry! Do not you look forward to the day you can
sit on the knee of the heavenly Father, as He wipes away the tears of every
injustice you have ever suffered.
Every tear wiped away. God does not delegate this job to the
angels, oh no, God Himself shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, personally! “God will wipe
away every tear from their eyes.”
I look forward to that day,
you? Will you be there? Will you be here? There is a storm
warning, it is brewing on the horizon. See the signs of the times and get
saved or get right as needed. Then let us get busy working and watching
for the return of our Lord!
End of Chapter 7.
