Revelation 7:1-17 KJV Being Discussed in BIBLE♥STUDY 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. 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, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 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. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 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. 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. 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; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 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, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 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. 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. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 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. When John the Seer reaches that point in his visions, he stops. The suffering and destruction of the first six seals are overwhelming, and so he introduces a break, a timeout that he uses to lift the vision of Gods people from the difficulties of the present to the glories of the future. In 7:1-8, the angels of God seal the 144,000. The sealing, with a likely reference to baptism, sustains the church on earth. The designation of twelve tribes times twelve thousand people per tribe envisions the church in this world as part of Gods army in battle with the powers of evil. The opening vision of chapter 7, then, is of the church militant. The fulcrum on which the passage balances is the difference between verse 4 and verse 9. In verse 4 John heard the number. In verse 9 he looked. What he sees is a vast international, multi-racial, multi-lingual throng of people so great that no one could count it. Although scholars differ in their understanding of how the people in 7:1-8 relate to the people in 7:9-17, I think that in the latter verses we have the church in heaven, or what we sometimes call the church triumphant. John gives us a preview of the way things are to be. The people he sees wear white robes and carry palm branches. The robe is an important piece of clothing in the Bible. It signals not only outward clothing, but reveals who the person is, what her or his status is. And so the prodigal son is given a new robe, not just so that he would have something clean to wear but as an indication of his restored place in the family (Luke 15:22). Believers, then, wear the white robe of purity, and they carry palm branches as signs of victory and joy following war. The crying out of the multitude in 7:10 connects us with 6:10, where impatient martyrs resting under the throne of God also cry out--in that case for justice. 7:10 gives an answer, as the unnumbered throng praises God. The word salvation, for which they praise God and the Lamb, is indeed in Greek the word salvation, but that term can also be used for victory, which would be appropriate in this view of the final future. In verses 11-12 heavenly beings join in the singing. As we might expect in Revelation, they use seven terms to praise God. The center one is often the most significant, and it is the word thanksgiving. We will see why. In verses 13-14 we have a temporary reversal of the way apocalyptic literature usually functions. One of the heavenly beings asks John the meaning of the vision. John appropriately turns the question back to the elder, who as the heavenly being is the one to interpret. The NRSV, unfortunately, mistranslates his response. These are they who have come out of the great ordeal, should be translated as these are they who are coming .... The participle that means coming is present tense and refers to an ongoing action: those who are killed are still coming. Note that the church has not been raptured out (a non-biblical doctrine often foisted onto Revelation); the church suffers. The martyrs, in one of Johns reversal of images, washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Any college freshman knows that washing something in blood (or red in general) does not turn something white. But here the blood of the Lamb purifies the martyrs and takes away their sin (see 1:5, 5:9, 12:11; Isaiah 1:18), and so their robes are white. The preacher can easily skip over verses 15-17, but they contain great words of comfort. Believers stand before Gods throne and worship God. God, in turn, will shelter them. The word translated as shelter is the word that also is translated as dwell (21:3, e.g.). Gods presence, Gods shekinah in Old Testament terms, will remain with them. Old Testament associations lie behind almost every statement in the interpretation of the elder, especially Isaiah 49:10 and 25:8. In a world in which subsistence was the normal pattern of life, the vision of no more hunger or thirst communicated at a visceral level. Relief from the sun and from heat reflects life in the Middle East. Sunbathing among peasants was not a vacation activity! People in fact had to protect themselves from the sun.. In the final verse, John once more plays with language and images. It is the Lamb who will be the shepherd (also in 12:5, 19:15) who leads Gods people to the springs of the water of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (see also 21:1-4). With that vision in their minds and hearts, those who listen to the reading of Revelation are ready to experience the breaking of the seventh and final seal--which is followed immediately by the next cycle of seven end-time woes, that of the trumpets (8:1-2). They continue their journey through Johns visions by having given thanks to the one who has saved them and who provides everything needed for life. So who is able to stand? Those whom the Lamb has washed. With that word of encouragement, this persecuted minority--the first-century church--is able to move ahead, because they know where God is taking them. And todays believers know the same.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 19:50:25 +0000
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