Introduction and Recap:
- Jesus/The Lamb was enthroned at the time of His ascension almost 2,000 years ago (5:6-10).
- At this time, He received the scroll as His inheritance, His right to rule the kingdoms of this world.
- He began to open the seals and exercise His authority. The first four seals (Revelation 6:1-8) unleash four horsemen that correspond to conditions or events that mark this present age or dispensation- war, famine, plague and the Gospel. Through these Jesus has been reigning and preparing the world for His coming.
- The fifth seal is broken to indicate that the full number of God’s servants have been killed and it is time for God to judge the inhabitants of the world and avenge their blood (6:9-11). This indicates that all these seals are broken before the rapture, because Christians are still on the earth.
- The sixth seal introduces the Great Day of the wrath of God and the Lamb (6:12-17). God’s end time judgments on the world have now commenced as signaled by cosmic disturbances and unprecedented natural disasters.
- This marks a transition from a historicist perspective to a futurist perspective. From this point forward, Revelation primarily deals with a sequence of future events around the Parousia, that is, the return of Christ.
I. A Remnant from the Tribes of Israel
7:1-3: The Four Winds are Held Back
Four angels stand ready to strike the earth with more calamity but are held back for the sake of those sealed by God, that is, sealed as His possession and kept safe through the coming judgments (although they still may be harmed by human hands, cf. 13:7, 20:4). If the Lamb were to continue and break the seventh seal and the trumpets that follow, then His remnant would be unprepared and swept away with the rest of the world (Gen. 18:25; Ex. 8:22, 9:26). These sealed and marked by God stand in stark contrast to those who would receive the Mark of the Beast and are marked for destruction by God (13:16-18).
7:4-8: 144,000 Sealed by God
Whether or not the number is literal or symbolic, this passage undoubtedly deals with the Nation of Israel (in contrast the multitude from all peoples in the verses that follow). Though most Jews have historically disbelieved Christ since His first coming, God has not forgotten His promises concerning them or the calling He has for His people. God will cause a massive revival among the Jewish people worldwide and they will be His witnesses to the world, as He had always intended (Ex. 19:5-6; Rom. 11:11-16, 25-32).
II. A Multitude No One Can Number
7:9-14: They Who Have Come Out of the Great Tribulation
We now go from numbered to innumerable, from the tribes of Israel to all tribes on earth. The picture is of a global harvest of souls at the throne of God worshipping their Savior. The Lord’s desire for the nations has been fulfilled (Gen. 12:3; Isa. 49:6). The throne room of God is now complete. This multitude worships along with the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, all living creatures, and myriads of angels.
Some maintain that this multitude of redeemed souls is the result of the carrying out of the Great Commission and the Gospel being preached in all the world (Mat. 24:14). Verse 14, however, says that this multitude came out of the great tribulation. This presents an interpretive challenge no matter what your beliefs are about the end times. Here are a few options:
- The great tribulation speaks broadly of the Church Age and the persecutions Christians have suffered throughout.
- The great tribulation, here as in other places (Mat. 24:21; Dan. 12:1), speaks of the seven-year period of judgment and calamity, and the Church will have to endure it before they are raptured.
- The multitude are those who are saved through the witness of the 144,000 during the rapture, and overcome the attacks of the Beast and Dragon by keeping the faith (12:11).
I believe in a combination of options 1 and 3. The multitude pictured here is already before the throne at the outset. They have been faithful throughout the Church Age and have gone on to their reward in heaven. But we know that there will be believers on earth after this- the 144,000 and those who are saved through their witness- because they are the ones being targeted by the inhabitants of the earth (13:7, 10; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24).
7:15-18: The Reward of God’s Faithful
The prophet Isaiah is quoted (Isa. 49:10; 25:8) to signify the ultimate fulfillment of God’s good promises to His people. The cruelty and suffering we both observe and face can make us doubt in the goodness of God and make His promises seem like “pie in the sky.” God’s promises of complete healing and perfect peace, however, are too big to be relegated to this earthly life. We can experience them in some measure now, but the fullness can only be experienced in God’s presence at His throne. This beatific state of being results from unobstructed union with God and continues on into eternity as we dwell with Him in resurrected bodies in the New Jerusalem (22:1-5).
III. The Seventh Seal
8:1-5: The Prayers of the Saints are Answered
The interlude before the seventh seal continues with a “half hour” of silence in heaven. There has been a reprieve from judgments on earth (7:1-3) and now an intermission of the songs in heaven. Then, with the breaking of the seventh seal comes seven angels with seven trumpets. Some commentators believe THIS is truly the start of the tribulation. With specificity and vivid detail, we will begin to see God visit supernatural judgments upon the earth akin to the plagues of Egypt. This will be the answer to the prayer of the saints throughout the ages who cried out for justice and deliverance (6:9-11). The prayers are represented as a golden censer full of burning incense, reminiscent of the incense the Levitical priests were to burn day and night before the Lord. God has received every prayer we ever prayed and is pleased with them. The time has come for the Lamb to rise up and judge the wicked nations and claim the entire earth as His own (Psalm 82:8; 94:2).