NOTES for Rev 7:1-12

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¹And 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.

²And 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,

³Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

⁴And 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.

⁵Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

⁶Of 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.

⁷Of 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.

⁸Of 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.

⁹After 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;

¹⁰And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

¹¹And 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,

¹²Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

The picture of Judgment is revealed to the apostle from different points of view. Until now he has seen Judgment as the world will have to see and experience it; now God shows him His Church and how Judgment is revealed to her. The four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds (v. 1), apparently personify the power of God by which the world, despite its damage from sin, does not turn into chaos. In this way God fulfills the promise given long ago to Noah, and in him to all the righteous of all times and peoples, that the flood which destroyed the world and wiped out humanity would never again be repeated (Gen. 9:8-11). But now, at the end of time, everything changes: the world awaits transformation, and the old order of things comes to an end. Those who remain in the world see only the sky rolling up like a scroll and the earth slipping away from under their feet (Rev. 6:12-14); but those to whom spiritual reality is open, the reality of the Kingdom, see, like John, the Church prepared to meet the Savior returning in glory.

Her members receive a special sign, God's seal, which binds them to the One they await (vv. 2-3). The twelve tribes of which the people of God consist symbolically indicate here the fullness of the Church, as does the number 144,000, which implies 12,000 people from each of the twelve tribes (vv. 4-8). Here, of course, we are dealing with numerical symbolism: a thousand people was considered a full representation; if a tribe could field a thousand fighting men for war, it was regarded as independent and, in a certain sense, self-sufficient. By the time world history is completed, the Church, as the new people of God, represents exactly such fullness. There is nothing surprising in this: her history began on the day of Pentecost, and every century of Christianity added new members to the heavenly Church; and now, on the day of Judgment, the return of the Savior and the triumph of the Kingdom, she is ready to stand before her Head in all fullness.

But there are also others, those who came on the very day of Judgment, according to the word of one of the elders standing at the Throne, "out of the great tribulation" (v. 14). Before this, they may not have thought at all about God or the Kingdom; but when the decisive day came, the day of the final choice, their choice proved right, and now they sing the song of renewal together with the whole Church and await the One whom perhaps they had not known before, but now will surely know (vv. 9-12).

Other notes

For Rev 7:1-12