Chapters 7 - 8
Chapters 7 - 8
Chapter 7
We now pause between the opening of sixth and seventh seals. This is often referred to as our first parenthesis in Revelation. In Chapter seven we are introduced to two groups not previously mentioned in John’s vision of “things which take place after this”.
First, the nation of Israel is brought into the picture in verses 1-8. Secondly, we discover the much debated great multitude arrayed in white robes in verses 9-17.
In the midst of pouring out judgments, God remembers mercy for His own. God does not forget His promises.
“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.”
Psalms 148:8 illustrates stormy wind as fulfilling God’s word on earth. The four angels are seen restraining judgment until the sealing of His people is complete. This sealing is God claiming his people that have been faithful and placing His seal of protection upon them. Those who believe that the church will go through Tribulation but will be protected from harm during that terrible time refer to this chapter.
The four angels are not described in detail. Therefore, should not be considered to be prominent figures but workers simply doing their jobs.
All of earth is protected in order that no harm be brought until the sealing is complete.
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 hare 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.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
We are also warned in Ephesians 4:30 not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom we were sealed for the day of redemption.
This fifth angel has in his possession “the seal of the living God.” Although I can not be dogmatic about my belief, I see this fifth angel as the Holy Spirit. The angel speaks with authority and uses the phase “till we have sealed”. If might be the “we” is a reference to the Godhead.
The sealing of the living God most likely includes a special outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit to equip them for specific service to God during the Great Tribulation. The sealing is a sign of ownership; the importance of which will become even more apparent as we progress in our study.
4 “And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed;”
5” of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Ruben 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”.
I find if difficult to understand why there is so much debate over “who are the 144,000?” They certainly are not members of some Gentile cult. Let’s explore some of the differing views as to who they are.
Some believe they are the first fruits of the church. Others suggest they are the Jewish nation in general. And yes some believe them to be a gentile exclusive group set aside by God.
First, it is obvious that they are from all the tribes of Israel. They can not represent the church because the church is never referred to as Israel. Thirdly, they can not be the nation of Israel in general, for God would not place His seal on unbelievers, especially those who have blatantly rejected Jesus.
There are also those who question if the number, 144,000, is symbolic or actual. If the number is symbolic, why the detail in enumerating the tribes?
My thoughts are that they are just as they are presented, 12,000 believers from each tribe seal for God’s service. They are a special group commissioned for a specific mission.
The timing of the sealing is extremely important. It is before the opening of the seventh seal that we will study in Chapter 8. They are sealed before the second half (three and one half years) of the Tribulation Period. They need the extra protection of God for their work during the Great Tribulation Period.
The naming of the twelve tribes also raises questions. Levi is included while Dan is not. Joseph is substituted for Ephraim. There is no way to be dogmatic about the whys of this list. God knows and that is all that is required.
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 loud voice saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!”
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 worshipped God,”
12 saying,
“ Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever Amen.”
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.”
16 “They shall neither hunger any more 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.”
Verses 9 - 17 must be consider together for us to have a clear picture of who, what, where and why.
First, this is clearly a separate group from the group identified in verses 4 - 8. This second group is from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue. They are clearly believers (white robes) who are victorious (palm branches). It may be that they become believers because of the ministry of the 144,000 during the Great Tribulation.
Verses 13 and 14 make it clear they are believers who are saved during the Great Tribulation, the last three and one half years of the Tribulation Period.
I do not see this group as representing the church of the church age as some teach. They are separate from the 24 elders who have received both their robes and crowns. In verse 13 it was an elder who ask the question about where did this group come from, indicating to me he was not one of the group.
The first three words of verse 9 are important for us to understand, “After these things.” Recall that we are in a break between the sixth and seventh seals. We are being given additional information that will help us to understand the rest of the judgments.
It is as if John is being told, “You are now standing here in the throne room with the 24 elders, the four living creatures, a host of angels, and the Lamb who is worthy to open the scrolls, and you are seeing what will happen beyond this time. You are seeing those who are redeemed during the pouring out of the final judgments in the great tribulation.”
It hasn’t happen yet, but it will as we go forward. I see it as God’s way of reassuring us that He will keep His promises. Bad times are coming, terrible times, but souls will still be won for the Lord. And not just a few but a number so large they can’t be counted.
John is seeing God’s mercy and grace being poured out. Recall John 3:16, “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
What a lesson for us today! We make excuses for why our churches aren’t being the soul winners we used to be. We have ever advantage and little tribulation, but like the church of the Laodiceans we have become lukewarm in our efforts.
Verse 16 and 17 give us the blessing of knowing that God will take care of us and our future is bright. Our victory in Jesus brings a life of no sorrow, no tears and no fears.
Summary of Chapter 7:
We take a break between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. John is given some additional insight into the time of the Great Tribulation before if occurs. The angels hold back the judgment process until the Holy Spirit can place His seal on the 144,000 believers of the nation of Israel who are given a special mission during the Great Tribulation.
John is blessed with the knowledge that during the terrible times that will follow souls will be saved from every nation, tribe and tongue. The number of them is so large it can not be counted.
Chapter 8
The Seventh Seal and Four Trumpet Judgments
We now return to the opening of the seals. The events of Chapters 4-11 are continuous except for the parentheses or break of Chapter 7 and another that occurs in 10:1 through 11:14.
Some see the events of seal judgments and the trumpets judgment as simultaneous or concurrent. However, this is not possible since the seventh seal contains the seven trumpet judgments. And as we will see later, the seventh trumpet includes the seven bowel or vial judgments. Therefore, there is an orderly progression throughout the judgment process.
Beginning with Chapter 12 we return to the nation of Israel and its last days. We will explore this idea in detail as we look at Chapter 12. The bowel or vial judgments come in succession in Chapters 15 -16.
The severity of the judgments is like nothing ever seen on earth. Therefore I disagree with those that say that we have and are now experiencing these judgments. Jesus told us that we will experience times of wars, pestilences and earthquakes but these are not the end. He referred to them as “only the beginning or sorrows. The natural disasters we are experiencing today pale to the ones we will see unveiled in the judgments that follow.
Trumpets are used through Scripture to announce special events. Here to they are used to announce a series of events that move us from judgment to the reign of Christ. The rapture of the church will occur with the blowing of trumpets (1 Thes. 4:16). The walls of Jericho fell at the sounding of the trumpets (Josh. 6:13-20). Judges 7:16-22 teaches us that the Midianites were defeated by Gideon when the trumpets were blown. And when the Law was given at Mt. Sinai the people were called together with the sounding of trumpets
“When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half and hour.”
The “He” is Jesus Christ. Remember the Lamb was the only one found to be worthy to open the scroll containing the sealed judgments.
A hush falls over the throne room. The elders, the four living creatures, the angels all fall silent. All of creation knows that this is the calm before the storm. A storm like never before seen, the storm to end all storms is about to be unleashed on earth.
The silence is brief.
“2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.”
Each of the seven angels will in turn sound his trumpet to announce the opening of one of the trumpet judgments by Jesus. We are not given detail information as to who these angels are; therefore, to try to identify them is useless.
Others do try to connect them to the angels Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remeiel of the book of Enoch in the apocryphal.
“3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”
“4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.”
“5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.”
We should not overlook the use of incense. Incense is one of the offerings detailed in Exodus 25. It is a mixture of aromatic spices. The incense used in worship in the Old Testament was prepared according to exacting specifications and was offered only by the high priest.
It is clear that the angel is not one of the seven. Notice the following;
1. the angel offered prayers of the saints in addition to the incense
2. from the angel’s hand the smoke of the incense and the prayers passed to God.
3. the angel threw fire to the earth causing an earthquake.
It is widely held that the angel is Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the High Priest whom is qualified to do all these things.
Many hold that this is another example of God dealing with Israel and unbelievers. Jesus is not functioning as the Advocate of overcomers of church age here because the church is already in heaven. The golden altar, the incense and a golden censer all are part of Old Testament worship.
We have moved from the beginning of Tribulation in Chapter 6 to the beginning of the Great Tribulation period.
The prayers are those of the Tribulation saints and they are beseeching God to punish their enemies. In answer to their prayers, Jesus throws flaming coals to the earth. H. B. Swete says, “The prayers of the saints are returning to the earth in wrath.”
In the literal view, on earth the seven trumpet judgments are introduced by violent disturbances of nature.
“6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.”
“7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up and all green grass was burned up.”
The seven trumpet judgments are more difficult to define than the seal judgments we have seen so far. Many see them as literal while many others see them as solely symbolic. Like the seal judgments they are divided into two groups of four and three. The first four represent the four points of the compass. Four is often a number associated with earth. The last three suggest the Trinity. These last three are also referred to as the woe judgments because of their extreme severity.
The first four trumpets affect man’s natural environment and the last three man himself.
As symbols, hail speaks of sudden judgment from God (Isa. 28:2); fire of God’s wrath (Deut. 32:22) and blood of death (Eze. 14:19).
So if we consider only the symbolic viewpoint, death suddenly and surprisingly is poured out on earth because of God’s wrath in judgment.
If we consider only the literal viewpoint, man’s environment is suddenly impacted to the point that 1/3 of the earth’s vegetation is destroyed.
The results are the same. Notice also the events whether symbolic or literal where thrown to the earth ---- they did not just fall. This is yet another sign of purpose and authority in God’s judgment.
“8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood,”
“9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”
Whether we take a literal or symbolic viewpoint the results are that man’s food supply, commerce, and ability to travel are greatly reduced.
There are numerous ideas as to what the “great mountain burning with fire” could be. If taken literally, a comet or asteroid comes to my mind.
Symbolically, a mountain can be considered to be some great kingdom or power that would come crashing down. The sea is seen by some to be the Mediterranean because of its physical proximity to the Promised Land.
We can be sure that when it does occur, those who are living on earth will know something terrible has happened.
“10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.”
“11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”
Wormwood is a bitter and poisonous herb. It can produce convulsions, paralysis and even death.
Some interpreters see this as symbolic of a church leader or some other dignitary whose corruption poisons the spiritual life of the masses. The poisoning of the springs could indicate false doctrine that is taught to oncoming generations who blindly follow the corrupt leader. (See notes for Chapter 9:1-2)
If it is indeed a celestial phenomenon, it is wide spread. The water table is infected and it spreads to underground streams and springs.
In either case, men die because of the poisonous event. Things continue to grow worse and worse.
“12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night,”
There are and have been numerous viewpoints to this section of Scripture. Some go as far as to name persons, places, rulers, religious groups, and a variety of doctrines. I can find no Biblical support for such details; therefore, such viewpoints must be seen as only conjecture.
I am well convinced that as the events begin to unfold those who are present on earth will be fully aware of the judgment being poured out on them.
Why do we see the repeated use of one-third? I believe God in His wisdom understands that the judgments must be server enough to not be considered as ordinary or somehow natural events. His desire is always for repentance. His is giving mankind yet another opportunity to repent and turn to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Many scholars point out the similarity to the darkness of the plague in Egypt. The literal view would see a damaged sun, moon and stars. This would completely and dramatically change to order of the universe. Temperatures, tides, gravity and numerous other physical properties would be altered.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:29, “Immediately, after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
We must remember that we can not discount the literal because of scientific improbability. God is the Creator of science and the universe, He is still in control. Since He made the laws of science and nature to begin with, He certainly has the power to alter them.
“13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.”
Consider all that has already occurred. And understand the angel is saying the judgments to come are much worse. The last three judgments are also known as the Woe Judgments.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:21 about this time, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Adam and Eve were warned not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:13). The Scriptures warns us over and over to repent and turn from our sin. We can never say we have not been warned of God’s ultimate judgment!