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Revelation 7. First Parenthetical passage. A chapter that
explains more detail of what is going on between the sixth seal and the first
trumpet judgment.
Rev 7:1 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.
Rev 7:2 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,
Rev 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have
sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The wrath of God and judgment of God is never to be poured out upon those that
are faithful to Him. We may suffer persecution, tribulation and sorrows for the
gospel's sake but His wrath is poured out in judgment upon those that do not
keep His word and that harm His believers. It is never poured out on believers.
Before anything is allowed to happen here God is going to place a seal upon
those that are His chosen. These are those that were saved during the first part
of the tribulation and are kept here probably to preach the gospel to the rest
of the world. These are Israel and the different tribes of Israel. We may think
that the tribes are lost but God knows where they are. They are not lost to Him.
This group that is sealed are not Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, those that keep
the Sabbath, or some religious group from the United States or any other part of
the world. This is to be taken literally. These sealed are from the 12 tribes of
Israel. The number is exact. You may notice that the tribe of Dan is not
mentioned. It could be that no one from that tribe just happens to be saved
yet.. This mark is not given to any but the tribes of Israel. It could be that
the Gentile believers have already been killed as we shall see toward the end of
the chapter. There are a few people that think others are sealed here but God
just doesn't mention it.
Many of the church has mistakenly tried to replace Israel with the church for
centuries. Even some prophecies in the Old Testament were explained to mean the
church instead of Israel. We must not make that mistake again here. God's plan
has always been for the natural branches of Abraham to be saved in the long run.
He promised this to Abraham and that promise still stands. By the time of this
great tribulation, the time of the Gentiles is ending and God's attention
returns to Israel.
Rev 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed
a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of
Israel.
Rev 7:5 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.
Rev 7:6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed
twelve thousand.
Rev 7:7 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.
Rev 7:8 Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve
thousand.
God knows the difference between Israel, the different tribes and the church. I
hope none of us make the mistake of trying to supplant them. These remain on the
earth for the purpose of spreading the gospel since the true church has left.
Just like the first preachers were Jews, the last preachers of the gospel will
be the Jews again. These are the first fruits of Israel, made pure and righteous
by the blood of the lamb and are not defiled by the sexual immorality that is in
the rest of the world.
Rev 7:9 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;
Rev 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
I found two interpretations for these people:
These are what we call the tribulation saints that were killed after the first
set of martyrs from chapter 6. This is probably who God was referring to when
the first martyrs were told to rest a while until their fellow servants should
be killed.
Here is a repeat of that verse.
Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto
them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants
also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be
fulfilled.
The 144 thousand are still on the earth at this time or they would not need to
be sealed before the judgments begin.
The other explanation is that these are the great company who previously went in
the rapture of the church and that there is a mixture of those killed and those
that died natural deaths, and those that were taken before the tribulation
begin. Because of the number of people being so great a number. My Dad held this
view on one occasion when we discussed it.
However, there are a few things questions I have with that view. First of all
where then are the ones that were to be killed that were spoken of in chapter
six when souls were crying out for vengeance? If these are not they, were are
they and when do they get to go to heaven? Another thought is that these came
out of great tribulation making it appear that they were killed during the
tribulation. Yet we know many since the beginning of the church were also killed
including the apostles and did no through tribulation also.
If this company are the raptured church, then not all would be martyrs because
some faithful believers died without particularly dying a martyrs death. We
still are not quite in the middle of the tribulation yet so even if these were
the church they didn’t go through all the tribulation.
Rev 7:11 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 worshiped
God,
Rev 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.
If we are uncomfortable around people that continually praise the Lord, heaven
will be the wrong place to be in for continual worship abounds because we are so
thankful to God for allowing us to be among those that make it to heaven and
stand before His throne.
Jesus said:
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of man.
How do we become worthy? First believe on the name of Jesus Christ. The next
part is contained in the following verses:
Rev 3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no
man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and
hast not denied my name.
Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them
that dwell upon the earth.
They preserved the word until the end. They stood fast, unmovable in the truth.
They did not deny His name in the face of opposition. What He said, they
believed and kept hidden in their hearts not allowing any teaching or doctrine
to persuade them other wise.
We must keep the word. So many are teaching less and less of God's word and
substituting other things.
Here are many ways we can do this:
1. First of all praise and worship is wonderful. We see much of this in heaven
in this book of Revelation. Genuine praise and worship should be the norm rather
than a rarity. Yet, it is so easy to get into entertainment instead of heart
felt worship. When we spend an hour in a planned praise and worship service and
only 10 minutes listening to a short sermonette, something is missing. I realize
Sunday School was something added to the church later and we didn't see that in
the book of Acts but that is where we get the teaching of the word that is badly
missing from today's church services. Many have dropped Sunday School. That word
is what sustains us when the music stops. That word is what gets hidden in our
hearts so that we do not desire to sin against God. That word is a lamp unto our
feet and a light unto our path. Without the word, we are easily deceived by
every new fad and doctrine that comes along and there are many. We run out and
buy every new book that comes out by a popular author when the greatest book
ever written lays on our shelves collecting dust. We need to devour the word,
study it and live by its teachings. I know we look up verses to support some pet
theory we are trying to teach at times but that is not a true bible study. We
can teach almost anything we attempt by hunting and picking favorite pet
scriptures by proof texting. We need more verse by verse teaching and
discussion.
2. Feeding the hungry is a wonderful work but it is so easy to get so busy in
good works that the gospel that saves the soul is neglected. Notice the world
loves the churches that have feed the hungry programs but they prefer that the
name of Jesus is left out or way back on the back burner. Yet we see from this
prophecy that those that did not deny His name are the ones that stand before
the throne of God and escape the wrath of God. Yes Jesus warns against
neglecting the poor and we should give them clothes to wear, food to eat and
water to drink but the word is food for the soul. That should be the priority.
3. Churches having fund raisers, quilting bees and scrap booking workshops may
have their place but if the word is not the priority, they are a waste of time
and effort.
4. What ever happened to the cottage prayer meetings? We need to pray. We can't
do anything on our own. We need the word and the Spirit of God to quicken that
word and apply it to our hearts. The only draw back to a cottage prayer meeting
is the temptation to talk away our prayer time. Fellowship is good but when its
time to pray, we must pray.
5. One of our latter day temptations is to get mixed up in politics. I realize
that we get tired of being small and the underdogs of society. The temptation to
band together for a common cause is tremendous. I too hate abortion, homosexual
perversion, pornography, filth, and kicking God out of schools. There is not a
bigger sidetrack though for a church to become involved in than getting into
politics and badly neglect the gospel that Jesus told us to preach. It is much
better to preach the gospel, preach against abortion and see someone's heart
change so that they do not desire abortions than to lobby Congress to pass laws
against it. The gospel is still the most powerful weapon against sin if we are
faithful to it. Also politics stirs up hate if we are not careful. We can't love
and hate at the same time.
6. Another side track is to become so envious of another churches' success that
we continually tear them down and point out their errors instead of majoring on
the gospel ourselves.
7. The opposite of striving for the wrong kind of unity by joining others in a
political movements is to become so inward that we come to church every week
praying for the same requests and focusing on our own sicknesses, job losses and
troubles that we forget about the lost souls around us. I realize that caring
for one another does have a place for the bible teaches us to weep with those
that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice but we can get so bogged down with
our own troubles that we fail to spread the gospel.
Rev 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which
are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Rev 7:14 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.
They were faithful even if they had to die for being faithful. First of all
these were those that accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the gospel?
They believed that Jesus was the one God sent to die for their sins. They
repented of sin and received Jesus Christ. They began to follow Him and believe
His word. When opposition came along they stood fast and did not falter. When
their enemies threatened them with death or deny His name, they stood firm and
allowed themselves to die rather than have their lives spared a little longer in
to please man.
If we can't boldly stand up for Jesus Christ now when it is easy (at least for
those in free countries), how would we stand against persecution and the threat
of death? If we are afraid to name the name of Jesus in public because we might
offend someone, how would we be able to refuse to deny His name in the face of
death?
Rev 7:15 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.
This shows us that there will be things to do in heaven but it will not be
anything that would cause stress and or that would be burdensome. This verse
also would give some credence to the second explanation for these people and
that they were the previously raptured church instead of tribulation martyrs
because they appear to have been serving him night and day in his temple
dwelling with Christ. It would appear from this verse that they had not just
arrived on the seen.
Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the
sun light on them, nor any heat.
This would indicate that when they were upon the earth, they did hunger, thirst
and suffer intense heat.
Rev 7:17 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.
All sorrow, hurt, pain, and suffering will be taken away from them replaced by
everlasting joy, comfort and peace. They were willing to suffer for His sake so
no one can now harm them any longer.
Here are some verses to go along with these:
Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the
body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he
hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Luk 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is
forgotten before God?
Luk 12:7 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not
therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Luk 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall
the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
Luk 12:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of
God.
About the washing of their robes in the blood of the lamb. Their sins were
cleansed. They were not born perfect but came by way of faith to be saved by
trusting in Jesus.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Revelation 8
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