Revelation 7

7 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. 2Then I saw another angel ascend 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, 3saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads."

Just before the Seventh Seal is broken, John interjects with a description of the positive--namely, the loving care that God takes for those who have been faithful to His Word. This is the remnant referred to in our comments on Chapter 6 verse 8. First, we see God's absolute control over the world. Next, we see His restraint. He holds back the coming judgement so that His people can be sealed. What is this seal? It is an allusion to Ezekiel 9:4: "And Yahweh said to him, 'Go all through the city, all through Jerusalem, and mark a cross on the foreheads of all who grieve and lament over all the loathsome practices in it'" (NJB). The seal is the sign of the Cross! And this seal was prophesied by Ezekiel centuries beforehand! At our baptisms and our confirmations, the priest traced in oil the sign of the cross on our foreheads, sealing us into God's covenant! This is true of the early Christians as well. Chapters 8-9 of Revelation are again describing the devastation of Jerusalem (and typologically prophesying the end Judgement), and here, in Chapter 7, God is preparing His people to come through (compare again, Ezekiel chapter 9).

4And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel,

5twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Gad,
6twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Naphtali,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Manasseh,
7twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Levi,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Issachar,
8twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun,
twelve thousand of the tribe of Joseph,
twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin.

The number 144,000 is the sacred number of 12 squared and then multiplied by 1000. It refers to the totality of the saved. The list of Jewish tribes excludes Dan, perhaps because of the legend that the Antichrist would arise out of the Tribe of Dan. However, it does tell us that God has not forgotten His original covenant people.

9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11And all the angels stood round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying,

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.

After John sees the totality of the Jewish saved, he sees an even greater, innumerable multitude, from every people on earth. God's salvation is for all people of all times!

13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?" 14I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17For 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."

Again John speaks with one of the 24 Elders, who tells him about this innumerable multitude. These are the ones who have survived the Great Tribulation--referring immediately to the Jewish War, and ultimately to that time of great trial at the end. Through their baptism, they have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." At the Easter Vigil, those who are baptised are presented with a white garment, and instructed to "bring it unstained to the judgement seat of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that you may have everlasting life."

The description of their reward is an allusion to Isaiah 49:10: "They will never hunger nor thirst, scorching wind and sun will never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them, will guide them to springs of water" (NJB). God's blessing will always be on those who faithfully serve Him.

Interestingly enough, in terms of the Fall of Jerusalem, this was exactly the case. While Jerusalem was destroyed, not one Christian died in the Jewish War. Scott Hahn writes:

Yet through all the strife of the Jewish War, not a single Christian perished, because the community of believers had fled to the mountains across the Jordan to a place called Pella. We read in Revelation 7:1-4, that these Christians--144,000 from the Twelve Tribes of Israel--were preserved because they were "sealed...upon their foreheads." This recalls the signing of God's remnant in Ezekiel (see Ez 9:2-4), where the Hebrew word for "sign" is tau, transliterated as the Greek letter "T." In A.D. 70, God similarly saved the remnant of Israel who were marked with tau, the Sign of the Cross.

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