Rev 7- Sealed and Secure Saints
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsIn response to Reveltion 6:17, John sees a multitude of believers who stand before God protected from hi wrath as they have been washed by the blood of Jesus.
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Fedex illustration
Fedex illustration
It may be in box or in the vague shape of box when it gets to you but there is no guarantee what it looks like on the inside
Its awful
At times in life we feel the same way
We may have the appearance or vague shape of having it together but there isnt in guarantee of what we look like on the inside
Life is difficult.
John 16:33- Jesus promises tribulation- but for every believer we have an overcomer- Jesus- who has conquered and we have victory through him
But thats not the scene we saw come to an end in Rev 6
The seals were broken open: 1-6
Each one described tribulations that have befallen the world between the first and second comings of Christ
The 4 seals build on each other, the 5th seal shows the martyrs who have been and will be killed fro persevering in the faith
Then the 6th seal- sets us up for the 7th seal
A time of intense judgement that the world has never experienced.
We see the unbelieving crying out for it stop but no end is in sight
They cry out in
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
At that moment John is shown another vision that answers this statement
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 ascending 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.”
These 4 angels holding back the 4 winds is symbolic of the 4 horsemen spoken of in chapter 6
We said these are evil angels who come and have been permitted to bring judgement on the world for their rejection of sin and the refining of Gods people
in Chapter 6 they have been permitted but are still restrained to do only what God permits to bring about his perfect plan
Vs 2- We see an angel coming up as a harbinger of grace, carrying the seal of God and commanding the horsemen to obey
Vs 3- tells us why they must wait- until God has sealed all his people
-That seal is not on from physical harm but one of spiritual sealing and persevering in faith
-That no matter what comes the believers way, they are secure in Christ
This would probably refer to the time before the Rev 6:1-8
Because the text cannot be any clearer in progression as the 5th seal speaks to martyrs being killed and more that will be killed
Ezek 9 and 14 gives us another idea of what John is getting at here with the seal setting apart faithful Jews for life and unfaithful Jews for death
The seal on foreheads was like the blood on the doorpost in Exodus
The blood was a sign of protection from the wrath of God on the Egyptians
If a Jew would not have listened and obeyed, they would have lost their firstborn as well
Here, the seal, protects us from the eternal wrath of God to come
What is the seal,
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Is this some external marking? Im not absolutely certain
But I think this more so symbolic of the language the Bible has used concerning being a Christian inwardly not externally
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.
The mark of the faithful has always been inward not outward alone
So we see God is faithful to his persevering people
Nothing can separate them from Christ as Pauls states
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Tribulation had come, is coming and will come but Gods people have no spiritual fear- our God has sealed us with his Spirit
John then hears
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.
As we move forward in this, I want to restate that many people may have differing opinions here and that is ok
My purpose is not to discredit views but to give the most biblically true and conservative understanding of the Bible and here is no different
Many say these are the 12 tribes of Israel and that they represent 144,000 specific ethnic Jew that will be saved during the tribulation while making the claim that the Gentile church has already been raptured out
Thats a possible thought. you have to do some gymnastics and bending to make that happen especially when the this book never speaks of that
I believe there is another possible option that may fit closer to the text
the 144,000 are symbolic of all of Gods redeemed people
These represent those that can stand before the Lord on the day of Lord
How can that be?
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
they have trusted in Christ, come by the way of the cross, and died to their sin and therefore can stand as victors because of Christ victory over all
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
So John hears 144,000- 12,000 from the 12 tribes= number of perfection
Dennis Johnson gives 4 things we must think about concerning this 12 tribe list
1. These are not the 12 sons of Jacob that make up the 12 tribes of Israel
Mannaseh, Jacobs grandson is added, as well as Joseph but not Ephraim
Dan has been removed and Levi has been added
This is not the 12 tribes from Gen 35:23-25 or in the Exodus time period when the tribes were to camp or with land allotments
2. The sealing of the 144K is the same as the sealing of the overcomers from every race in Philadelphia in Rev 3:12
3. Later in Johns vision, the 144K are indentified as the “Purchased” from the earth as the first fruits to God and the Lamb: and by his blood the Lamb purchased Gods family from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
-Maybe they are called the first fruits because they symbolize a smaller harvest of a bigger harvest to come when the angels are sent forth to harvest the earth in Rev 14:14-20
-ITs possible the 144k doesnt represent belated believers from one ethnic group but faithful martyrs from all people who are in the presence of God before God gets all of his people
4. the 144K are later portrayed as a holy army composed of men only “who have not been defiled with women”
-Symbolic of the church spiritual purity, in no way implying that only single, celibate male servants of God receive the seal of protection
These are very important to think about concerning who these 144k are
Many have ideas about this group but struggle with Scriptural backing to support it
Im just asking for us to look honestly at it
because what John hears in Rev is often clarified by what John sees
Rev 5:5- He hears the Lion of Tribe of Judah can open the scroll but what he sees in Rev 5:6- is Lamb standing as if he had been slain
He really is the Lion of the Judah but he also is the Lamb of God
Here, John hears 144k but John sees a multitude beyond count
Well, which is it? 144k Jews or a multitude beyond you can count from all nations?
What John sees clarifies what John hears
There is no benefit Jew or Greek- True Israel are those who come by faith in Christ not because they have Semite blood
Sons pic from Dennis Johnson book- Triumph of the Lamb
Lets look at the list some and talk through a couple issues
Reuben should be first but he had incest and lost his birthright (Gen 49:3-4, 1 Chron 5:1-2)
Judah is promoted from 4th to first because the Messiah come from that tribe, Jesus.
Sons of Concubines- Dan (Mannaseh replaced), Naphtali, Gad and Asher are moved up from the bottom the middle and the other sons of Rachel and Leah moved down.
Shows Gods inclusion of all people in his family
Dan was removed for his apostasy- Judge 18, 1 Kings 19:29-30: Dan is actually referred to in Jewish intertestamental literature as the antichrist
Therefore Rev 7 represents the reign of Jesus through the tribe of Judah to the outcaste of the covenant but excludes idolaters and rejecters of Gods goodness
Therefore no protection from the wrath if God is given
they will endure the full wrath of a holy God
This seems to make the most sense of the passage in its context and its further unfolding in the book.
Who can stand before Lord on the day of wrath? the answer is first given by the tribes of Israel and clarified by an immense number from all nations
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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 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 honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The redeemed can stand before God because of what Jesus has done for them and us
clothed in the holy robes of Christ, washed in his blood
The vision is of palm branches singing praise to God much like the triumphal entry
As believers have continued to go home to be with God between his comings, they join the crowd being rescued from the tribulation
As this occurs, angels praise him and worship the only one who can bring about the eternity
I will submit that there is as the 6th seal clearly shows an impending judgement of unknown proportions which leads the out pouring of Gods wrath on the Day of the Lord
No matter what comes upon the believer, Gods eternal seal never fails and He will get all his people
This would encourage the 7 churches then and churches now
No one rights a letter to someone and says after page 4 stop reading because it doesn’t pertain to you but pick back up on page 19
No, this was written to real churches with real meaning and it also transcends time to us and churches after us we eagerly await Christ coming
vs 13-14 We see the ones in white are believers who have died in Christ in the tribulation
“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 shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What we see is that for the believer the, our finally resting place is with Christ
We rest in Christ now- We will forever rest with Christ in eternity
This isnt for some other people from one ethnic group TBD
This is for the 7 churches, this is for us
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
We persevere in this tribulation because Jesus conquered and adopted us into the family of God