In Revelation 6 we reached the 6th seal and now in the 7th chapter we have a kind of interlude that is put in between the 13th and 14th verses of the 6th chapter, because it is after verse 13 that Christ comes.
This helps us to know where we are in the stream of time.
We will pick up the 7th seal in our study of Revelation chapter 8.
But now here in chapter 7 we will look at the 144,000; who are they, why are they a special group, what does the scripture have to tell us about them?
Revelation 7:1 "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."
After these things - The context for chapter seven is the sixth seal. The question was posed in verse 17 of Revelation 6; "who shall be able to stand?". And now we find this question is answered here in chapter 7. In the 6th chapter God made it clear to John what was going to happen to the wicked, and now John is told that these four Angels are holding back the winds of strife - this is the time that you and I are living in today.
Four angels standing on the four corners of the earth – We also find this expression in Isaiah 11...
It is clear that the four corners of the earth are the four points of the compass. If an object has only four corners, an expression like this would mean all encompassing, thus we are dealing with global events.
Holding the four winds of the earth - Here we are given the answer of what these angels are doing. They are holding the four winds of the earth. So when talking about the four winds we are once again speaking about global events.
God uses wind/whirlwind in Bible prophecy to represent war, violence, bloodshed, and strife coming upon the people of the earth. So the four winds represent global strife among the nations of the earth. In Jeremiah 51 it says...
And in Jeremiah 25...
It is interesting to note here that it says they shall not be lamented over, nor gathered, nor buried...why? Because there will be no one left on earth to do this - the righteous have gone to Heaven and all the wicked are dead, the earth is utterly void of habitation. Jeremiah 4 explains what the condition of this earth will be at that time.
It is interesting that that at the beginning of creation the earth was void and darkness covered the earth, and so it will be at the end of earth’s history as we know it, until God makes all things new, which we will see as we go through Revelation - there is a blessed hope.
It is also interesting that verses 30-31 tie in with Revelation 17 talking of the beast power that wears scarlet that is adorned with precious jewels and gold, whose people turn against her in the end time, she has persecuted mercilessly through the ages. We will see more about this as we go through Revelation.
So we have seen that these four angels are holding back calamities that are to come upon the entire earth. The only instance that we find in the Bible dealing with a similar event is Noah and the flood, which has already happened. In Daniel it says:
The time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation is commonly known as the time of Jacob's trouble...
This deals with events on a global scale around the time of close of probation and the seven last plagues. It is this that the four angels are holding back, the destruction that Satan will be permitted to bring upon the earth.
Should not blow on the earth...sea...tree - Once again we see that this is on a global scale.
So God has been holding back those winds of strife, but we believe that you and I are living in a time when these winds are slowly being released. Things are happening today that we have never before seen in our lifetime.
Revelation 7:2-3 "2 And 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 given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
Another angel ascending from the east - This is a different angel from the four that are holding back the four winds. The east denotes that this angel comes from, and is dispatched by, God.
Having the seal of the living God - This angel has the seal of the living God, which is to be placed upon God's faithful people living at the time of the end of the sixth seal, right before Jesus comes. Let's look at what this seal is.
In Isaiah 8 we see that the law of God is to be sealed amongst His people.
Now a law is not valid unless it has a seal, and so the law of God must also have a seal. For a seal to be authentic it must contain three elements:
1. Name
2. Title
3. Territory/Domain that is ruled over
These are the three elements that we must look for in order to locate the seal in the law of God. These three elements are found only in the fourth Commandment of the Ten Commandments, which we find in Exodus chapter 20:
So here we have...
1. Name - Lord thy God
2. Title - Creator (maker of heaven and earth)
3. Territory - Heaven and earth
So we can see that the fourth Commandment, the seventh-day Sabbath, contains the seal of the living God. But in what way is it a seal?
In Romans 4 we see that the words "sign" and "seal" are used synonymously, that is, they have the same meaning and are therefore interchangeable.
In Exodus 31, God states that the Sabbath is a sign/seal to remind us that God is the creator all things, thus the Sabbath is a sign/seal of creation.
The Sabbath is also a sign/seal to remind us that God is the One who sanctifies us.
The word "sanctify" means to make holy. Man was created holy and in the image of God. When man sinned, his holy/sanctified state was lost. Also the image of God has been destroyed in man by sin.
Thus the seal of the Sabbath also assures us that God intends on restoring the image of God in us.
How the believer receives this seal is found in Ezekiel.
We are told to hallow the Sabbath of God, which means we are to treat the Sabbath as being sacred, keeping it holy. It is not enough to merely believe in the Sabbath, we need to keep it holy.
Cried with a loud voice - This angel now cries out to the four angels that are holding back the winds of strife - he tells them to not hurt the earth, sea, nor the trees, that is, not to let loose the four winds until a certain time. What time?
Till we have sealed the servants of our God - The four winds of strife are to be held in check until the servants of their God had been sealed.
Those that are sealed are those that are servants of the living God. A servant is one that serves his master and does all that his master bids. Thus they are giving loving service to God and not serving sin.
So they are leading a sanctified life and keeping the Sabbath day holy. In Revelation 14 it says...
It is stated that the Father's name is written in their foreheads. This is not a contradiction with the seal, as a careful study of the scriptures will show. Name refers to character in the Bible. The law of God is a transcript of the name/character of God.
Thus this shows that the 144,000 are leading a sanctified life and have the image/character of the Father reproduced in their lives.
In their foreheads - Behind the forehead is what is commonly known as the frontal lobes of the brain. It is scientifically proven that this part of the brain is where a person makes all their decisions. It is not a literal mark, for all to see, that is placed on the forehead. But it is a conscious freewill choice to follow all that the Lord has said in loving obedience, and not a forced compliance.
Revelation 7:4-8 "4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand."
So these 144,000 are made up from all the tribes of the children of Israel. Now 144,000 as you know is a multiple of 12 multiplied by 1,000. Now there is a lot of reason for this in the scripture, because you will find that the armies of Israel were divided by thousands, and this represented God’s people. Now does this mean that the 144,000 are just literal Jews, how are we to look at this? There are some people that believe that this is just literal Jews, but let’s see what the scripture has to say. Jesus said to the children of Israel...
When they refused to accept Him and rejected Him as the Saviour and Messiah, He told them your house is left unto you desolate. And remember as He hung on the cross...
This veil separated the Holy place from the Most Holy place, and when the veil was torn from top to bottom this opened a way into the Most Holy place, showing that the sacrifices, the offerings, the whole ceremonial system that the Jews had practised for centuries, had come to an end. The Saviour had died, the Lamb of God had been sacrificed, and that whole system was now at an end, and with the ending of that system something very dramatic happened, because up to that point the gospel, and what was done for mankind and salvation, was all contained within the Jewish nation. If you wanted to know about God you would have had to have become part of the Jewish nation, and as long as it was within the Jewish nation then it was able to be contained, but when Jesus came and died, and most of the Jewish nation rejected Him, then it was no longer contained within the Jewsish nation alone but every individual could now come and accept Him and become a child of God. There was no longer Jew and Gentile, no longer that division between the two, and all of a sudden the gospel was free to go to the whole world and this changed the whole system of things.
Now some say that 144,000 is a symbolic number, others say it is a literal number, but whether it is symbolic or literal, the 144,000 do have a symbolic meaning. One thing of great importance is the character that they possess.
Now many people believe that there are lost tribes of Israel, but this is not correct, there are no lost tribes, nowhere in the Bible does it talk about lost tribes of Israel. If you want to study more on this then read the book of Ezra. After they had been in captivity for many years you find in the book of Ezra that they offered a sacrifice for each one of the tribes, and they could not do that without one of the people from that tribe being present, because nowhere do they ever offer a sacrifice by proxy. So whilst they may have been carried into captivity, this does not mean that they did not exist.
So when you and I accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we become a child of God and part of spiritual Israel, we become a spiritual descendant of Abraham, by faith in the promises that God made to Abraham of old which now also belong to us as Abarham's spirutual descendants.
We are all one in Christ, and Abraham's heirs according to the promise. So when it talks about the 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel, this is not talking about literal Israel, but spiritual Israel, God's people.
So when we look at the 144,000 we have to look at this in the sense of God's people. The number twelve is used many times in the Bible. The number twelve is God’s kingdom number:
• Twelve tribes
• Twelve disciples
• Twenty-four elders
• Twelve gates
• Twelve foundations
• Twelve thousand furlongs
Twelve thousand from each tribe representing each type of character.
In Genesis 49 Jacob lists these characteristics:
• Judah – independent
• Issachar – complacent
• Zebulon – itchy feet
• Reuben – amorous
• Simeon – sadistic
• Gad – playboy
• Ephraim – brilliant
• Manasseh – reticent
• Benjamin – uncompromising
• Dan – critical
• Asher – fastidious
• Naphtali – impractical
These were their characteristics, the way they were. Now in Revelation 7:5-8 you will notice that in this list of the sons of Jacob that make up the 12 tribes of Israel there are two that are missing, these are Dan and Ephraim. The text itself offers no explanation, but we can speculate based on some analysis.
In Judges 17-21 we are given two stories of apostasy in Israel. Both stories center on the tribes of Dan and Ephraim and on the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of David, God's choice for king over Israel. The writer of Judges emphasizes in these chapters that these were the days before Israel had a king.
In those chapters of Judges, Dan sinned by viewing the land God allotted to them as unacceptable, so they abandoned it. While passing through Ephraim, they stole idols from a home and recruited a Levite to serve in a false temple in the new territory. As a result, Dan became the first tribe in Israel to embrace idol worship in Israel.
Meanwhile, the tribe of Ephraim, the source of the idols, assumed control over the land originally intended for Dan. They aided and abetted the Danites in bringing idolatry into the land of Israel. These sins give just cause for God to exclude them from the privilege of preparing Israel and the world for the Messiah's return.
The list of names that we have here in Revelation 7 are the same names that will be over the gates of the New Jerusalem.
And according to our personality/character we will go through one of these gates into the city. So here you have the 144,000 each with a different type of character/personality.
| Literal Israel | Revelation 7 |
|---|---|
| Judah | Judah |
| Reuben | Reuben |
| Gad | Gad |
| Asher | Asher |
| Naphtali | Naphtali |
| Manassah | Manassah |
| Simeon | Simeon |
| Issachar | Levi |
| Zebulun | Issachar |
| Benjamin | Zebulun |
| Ephraim | Joseph |
| Dan | Benjamin |
The difference between the two lists is that the names of Ephraim and Dan have been left out and the names of Joseph and Levi added in.
There will be no idolators or backbiters/gossipers in heaven.
So this cannot be literal Israel as the two lists do not line up. But we find it to be the twelve tribes of spiritual Israel that James was addressing his letter to the twelve tribes.
See also Romans 11:17-24, and 2:28-29.
Before we move on we will take a closer look at the identifying marks of the 144,000.
1. In the context of chapter 6, they are those that will stand at the second coming.
2. They pass through great tribulation (such as the 7 last plagues).
3. They are part of spiritual Israel, not literal Israel.
4. They are righteous.
5. They have hungered, thirsted, felt the effects of heat, and have wept.
6. They sing the song of Moses, which is the experience of deliverance and victory over their enemies. (song = experience, see Revelation 5:9) Also the song of the Lamb, which is the experience of living a life of self sacrifice (Revelation 14:3,15:3).
7. They gain the victory over the beast, image, his mark, and the number of his name.
8. They do not taste death, for they are redeemed from among men, that is, the living (Revelation 14:4); not from among the dead/grave (Hosea 13:14).
So we can see that the 144,000 are a group of righteous (as they have the character of the Father reproduced in their lives), living in the end time, that pass through great tribulation and the seven last plagues. They keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath and live through this time of trouble, not tasting death, and see Christ coming the second time. For they have gained the victory over their enemies.
Revelation 7:9 "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
After this - After John saw the 144,000, he sees a great multitude which no man could number. They are from all nations, kindreds, people, and languages, showing us that this is the redeemed of all ages (which clearly shows that these are two separate groups, as the 144,000 are numbered).
Clothed in white robes - These stand before the throne of the Father and before the Lamb, Jesus Christ, in white robes. White, as we have already seen, is the symbol of purity, righteousness, and victory. They stand before the Father and Jesus in purity and righteousness.
Palms in their hands - Palm branches are a symbol of victory and rejoicing.
Revelation 7:10 "And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."
This statement is made by the great multitude. Salvation to our God - This statement shows the equality of the Father and Jesus, for salvation belongs to them both, and no one else.
Revelation 7:11 "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,"
Elders - Although various scenes have intervened since the scene in Revelation 4:4. the general setting is much the same.
Worshiped God - When the statement is made "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb", the reaction was one of worship. And it is right for us, too, to give Him this praise.
Revelation 7:12 "Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."
Blessing - This is a sevenfold doxology (song of praise). Here again, as in Revelation 5:8-14, is a vision of the vindication of God and Christ. Upon the testimony of the saved, the hosts of heaven are again reminded that God is wise and righteous. They worship Him with blessing, glory, thanksgiving and honor.
Revelation 7:13-14 "13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
What are these...arrayed in white robes...whence came they - This question posed to John is to bring his attention to a special group. It cannot be a reference to the great multitude as John knew exactly where they had come from and who they were. Thus this must be referring to the 144,000, as the list following will clearly show. John had seen the 144,000, in their mortal state, receiving the seal of God and passing through great tribulation; but as they now stand among the redeemed throng, the transition is so great, and the condition in which they now appear so different, that he does not recognize them.
All Christians must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God.
But with the 144,000 it is in a greater sense. They pass through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.
A time of great mental anguish the time of Jacobs trouble.
They stand through the outpouring of unmingled wrath from God (in the form of the seven last plagues) upon the wicked, without a mediator. No other group has passed through a time such as this will be.
We see they have gone through hunger and thirst the sun has scorched them (see the 7 last plagues in Revelation 16). So this special group have been upon the earth whilst the wrath of God and the 7 last plagues have been poured out.
White robes - We know that this is given to those that are overcomers.
Each of them have overcome sin by the grace of God, they have obtained the victory. They would not violate one of the commandments of God, which is expressed by having the Father's name/character in their foreheads.
Each of them have had their life washed in the blood of Christ. "The life of all flesh is in the blood".
And thus they have washed their lives in the life of Christ and it is Christ's life that is being revealed in them, a life filled with righteousness.
These have not been defiled with women. What is this telling us?
This is the woman of Revelation 17:2 who has committed fornication and adultery, she is referred to as the great harlot, but the 144,000 have not been defiled by her. Now a woman in Bible prophecy represents a church.
So they are not defiled with women. Now if your belief and your relationship with Jesus is based on the church, then you have it in the wrong place. Our relationship with Christ has to be built on the Bible and the Bible alone, and therefore it will never change, God’s word never changes but if you set out to find the truth going from church to church of which there are over 300 major denominations which all say something different, you will never find it. We have to pray for the Spirit to guide and enlighten us, we have to go to God’s word and study for ourselves and build our faith on the word of God not on a church. I am not saying don’t go to church, but you must look at the beliefs and teachings of the church to see if they align with God’s word and the Bible we must follow God and not man, we need to search the word of God ourselves. God will have His people in the end times and they will not all be under one church building, but people who have studied and prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and followed the Lamb where so ever He goeth, no matter the cost.
Now you may ask, how do we commit spiritual adultery? Well, we do it by adulterating the word of God, by teaching false beliefs contrary to what the word says, teaching things that have no Biblical foundations.
No guile/deceit was found in their mouth, this special group of people the 144,000 that by the grace of God He has been able to change into His likeness, His image, with no fault. But these people will not know who they are, you will not find these people come to you and say I am one of the 144,000, if they do you had better run from them, because it is impossible for you and I as human beings to see yourself as in His image, because the closer you come to Christ the more sinful you appear in your own eyes. But they will come to a place in their Christian experience that they will be as the scripture says without fault. Because by the Grace of God He has changed them and made them different. Only God can do this, we cannot change ourselves, as the scripture says:
But what we can do is daily submit to the Lord and ask Him to take our lives and make our characters like His, we can spend time in prayer, time in His word, asking for His Holy Spirit to change us into His likeness. And this process has taken place in the lives of the 144,000.
So we read about the 144,000, and then we read there was a great multitude that no one could number of all the nations of the earth, clothed in white, people through all ages that have been redeemed. But the 144,000 are a special group, coming out of great tribulation, and are alive to see Jesus when He comes.
The 144,000 are redeemed from the earth, they are people just like you and I, every type of character, so we cannot say there is no chance for us. This special group sing a song that only they are able to learn because it has to do with their unique experience.
Some say that only the 144,000 go to heaven - this is not the case, as scripture shows. Paul has this to say...
It is necessary to our characters that we go through tribulation, we will all go through tribulation of one kind or another as a child of God because that's what it takes to develop character, and we need to understand that the development of our character takes place here and now on earth, not later in Heaven. We need to strive to be among the 144.000, we need to be on our knees daily asking that God will change us into His character, His likeness, that we may be washed in the blood of the Lamb.
Christ is about to come but He says...
This is not like the Mark of the Beast that can be placed in the forehead or in the hand - God's mark/seal can be placed only in the forehead, because it involves a concious choice.
What does the seal do? What is the purpose of the seal. Firstly it shows ownership, and secondly it provides protection. Sealing is being settled into the truth so that you will not, cannot be moved from the word of God - you know it's the truth and you will follow it no matter what, even if you are the only one. And when a person does that, God is sealing that individual so that when the tribulation comes they are able to stand firm for the word of God no matter what happens.
Settled in the truth and sealed in the word of God.
You see the law of God is a transcript of His character, and you and I need our characters to be made into His likeness, bringing our life into harmony with the word of God.
Revelation 7:15 "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them."
Because of the victory gained through Christ against sin, and the experience of going through the great tribulation, the 144,000 are very near to God. It is their keenest desire to serve Him day and night in His temple. They are living proof of what the grace of God can do, so that down through the ceaseless ages of eternity God can point to these people and say these are the ones who so surrendered their lives to Me that I could work in their life and change them to make them like Me. Out of every personality and every type that ever lived, here they are living proof of what the grace of God can do.
And we have the privilidge of so surrentdering our lives to Jesus that He can do His work in us, we are so close to the end, Jesus is coming, we only have a little time left. Surrender your heart and soul to Him and let the Lord Jesus Christ work in your life and shine forth from your life in all of His glory, righteousness and love, that you and I may reflect His glory to those about us.
Revelation 7:16 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat."
Hunger, thirst - Obviously they have suffered hunger and thirsting. This is a reference to their trials in the last days. Even though their bread and water will be sure.
They will have enough for sustenance, when all the pastures and fruitful places are dried up.
The rivers and fountains are turned to blood.
There will be a time when the righteous will be brought into extreme decrees of hunger and thirst. Once in heaven they shall never hunger or thirst again.
The righteous will be shielded from its burning rays. But they will not have their sensibilities so deadened as to not feel any unpleasantness from the terrific heat. But in the heavenly Canaan they will be able to appreciate the promise of God that the sun will not light on them.
Revelation 7:17 "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."
The Lamb in the midst of the throne - Jesus is portrayed as being closest of all to the throne of God.
He shall feed them - Greek "poimainō", "to shepherd".
Although it is usually the lamb that is shepherded, here the Lamb is revealed as the true shepherd.
The thought of the present passage is probably drawn from Isaiah.
He shall lead them.
We find that they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Both statements show to us the close companionship that they have with Christ.
Unto living fountains of waters - They have experienced hunger but they shall be feed, thirst but this shall be quenched.
What a wonderful promise. They shall be abundantly satisfied in all things.
Death has been swallowed up and all tears will cease. Because God has promised to wipe away all tears.
We will have gained the victory through the Lamb, and will be forever with our Lord. Even so come Lord Jesus. Amen.