Reviews and Views

Book of Revelation – Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is God’s parenthesis or pause until the opening of the last seal. He is informing us of what lies ahead for His people (Israelites and Gentiles) in the terrible period of trial that follows the Rapture of the Church. This chapter may be divided into two portions dealing with two groups and portrays God as compassionate, merciful, and loving. These saved and sealed multitudes are probably the fruit of the ministry of the two mysterious witnesses (to be discussed later).

In verses 1 through 8, four angels hold back the four winds. This pause gives time for a great revival on earth after the Church is gone. These servant multitudes are sealed by God in their foreheads. Also, during this stillness, 144,000 Jews are sealed. There are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. As God lays claim to His own, that does not mean they necessarily escape the everyday disasters of earth. It does mean that God watches over them and takes careful note of their affairs. Notice there are two very different groups of people in chapter 7. “One company is Jewish (144,000); the other is Gentile. One passes unscathed through the fiery furnace of the Tribulation; the other is martyred to the very last man.” (John Phillips commentary, page 110). The sealed 144,000 defy the totality of Satan’s secular dominion. The sealed multitude of Gentiles saved during the Tribulation will close their testimony with their blood.

During the Tribulation hour, the presence of the Holy Spirit exists. In the passage of 1 Thessalonians 2:6-7, the Holy Spirit is the Hinderer. Since the Holy Spirit lives within all believers in Christ and He is everywhere, only His restraining influence over sin is removed during the Tribulation hour when the Church is Raptured home to heaven. His continued presence on earth produces one of the greatest revivals in the history of humanity. While we (believers) remain on earth, we are the salt of the earth and the world’s light, as stated in Matthew 5:13-16.

In verses 9 through 17, John sees a multitude of new believers standing before the throne of GOD. He doesn’t know who they are since they came after the Church went to heaven. This multitude comes out of the Great Tribulation. These glorious martyrs have not died yet; they may not even have been born, but God wants the saints of all ages to know about them. Hence, the reason for revealing them now. 

Each group of believers saved during different dispensations of time has various duties to perform.

(1) The Church is the bride of Christ and enjoys the 1,000-year honeymoon upon the earth (chapter 20, verse 4), reigning with Christ as rulers, kings, and priests (1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6).

(2) The 144,000 serve as bodyguards of the Lamb (the Lord Jesus Christ) and His bride (the Church) – see chapter 14, verse 4.

(3) The Gentiles saved during the Tribulation will be Temple servants, waiting on Christ and His bride. They serve in the glorious Temple described in Ezekiel chapters 40 through 48.

Man’s wickedness, rebellion, and sin produce these judgments. “They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same” (Job 4:8). God, in love, creates a lull before the storm to call men to salvation and revival.

Now, Chapter 8 and the subsequent and final seal judgment.

January 25, 2024 - Posted by Bill Wyler | Bible, Last Days, Life, Religion | Bible, Ezekiel, Future, GOD, Israel, Truth, vision, war