The 144,000
7
📚And after these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds 📖 of the earth, so that wind would not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 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, who had been given power to harm the earth and the sea, 3 📚saying, “Do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees, until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God”.7:2-3 God’s seal here signifies God’s ownership. Compare 2 Cor 1:21-22; Eph 1:13. Seal on the “foreheads” here means to mark them out for protection in the midst of the coming judgments and disasters. Compare Ezek 9:3-6.⚜
4 📚And I heard the number of those who were sealed, and a hundred and forty-four thousand from all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.
5 📚Of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed.
6 📚Of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed.
7 📚Of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed.
8 Of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Joseph 📖 twelve thousand were sealed.
Of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
7:4-8 The “servants of our God” (v 3) to be sealed at the end of this age with God’s seal are of the nation Israel. There are about thirty lists of the tribes of Israel in the Bible, all of them meaning literal Israel up to this list. It would be very strange if only in this one place the names of the tribes would not signify literal Israelites.
It is not clear, however, whether they are called servants here because they will do special service or simply to mark them out in general as believers (compare Rev 1:1; 2:20; 6:11; 10:7; 19:2; 22:3-6. See Rom 6:16-18). It seems quite clear from the Word of God that Israel as a nation will turn back to God at the end of this age. Now, as a nation, they are in unbelief rejecting Christ as their Messiah. But that will change. See Rom 11:11, 25-32; Jer 23:5-8; 31:31-37; 32:37-40; Ezek 20:40-44; 37:21-28; Dan 12:1; Hos 3:4-5; Zech 10:10-12; 12:9-14; 13:1, 9.
The number 144,000 (v 4) may be a symbolic number indicating completeness. 144,000 is 12 X 12 X 1000. In the Bible twelve is a number that may signify completeness – twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, twelve gates and twelve foundations and twelve crops of fruit (Rev 21:12, 14; 22:2). One thousand may be 10 X 10 X 10 – a perfect cube also indicating fullness or completion. Or 144,000 may be used here to indicate a fairly large but limited number of people. Or possibly, as some think, it may be a literal number. In a book containing many symbols we must be very careful not to be dogmatic about doubtful things. If symbols are explained, as they sometimes are, then we can know what they mean. Otherwise, we should be cautious about our statements. Then “may”, “perhaps”, “possibly” or “might be” seems the language that best suits the case.⚜
A great multitude of saved people
9 📚After this I looked and saw a great crowd, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and people, and languages 📖, standing before the throne 📖 and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes 📖 with palm branches 📖 in their hands.
7:9 This great multitude is put in contrast with the 144,000 of v 4. Those are from the tribes of Israel; these are from every tribe and nation. Those are comparatively few in number; these are innumerable.⚜
What they say
10 📚And they cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“Salvation 📖 belongs to our God
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb 📖”.
What the angel says about them
11 📚And all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living beings 📖, and they prostrated 📖 themselves before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 📚saying,
“Amen. Praise, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving 📖, and honour,
7:12 Compare Rev 5:12.⚜
and power and might be to our God
forever and ever. Amen”.
What an elder said about them
13 📚And one of the elders responded and said to me, “Who are these who are dressed in white robes? From where did they come?”
14 📚And I said to him, “Sir, you know”. And he said to me, “These are those who have come out of the great tribulation 📖, and who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb 📖. 15 📚Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him 📖 day and night 📖 in his temple 📖. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them 📖. 16 📚They will hunger no more and thirst no more 📖; nor will the sun beat down on them, or any excessive heat 📖. 17 📚For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne 📖 will shepherd 📖 them, and will lead them 📖 to springs of living waters 📖, and God will wipe away all tears 📖 from their eyes”.
7:1-17 Before the Lamb opens the seventh seal there is a break in the narrative. Here Christ gives John visions which help to explain what has been happening under the opening of the six seals. Such explanatory visions appear in other parts of this book – Rev 7:1-17; 10:1—11:14; Rev 12:1—14:20; 17:1—19:11. It seems clear that the seals, trumpets and bowls carry the main narrative straight to the end in perfect order and sequence. These explanatory visions give added information. They are like explanations given in parentheses or brackets.
This is the view of the author of these notes. Not every scholar agrees with it. In the present portion we see two distinct groups of people, one on earth, the other in heaven. The first group has a limited number, the second has a number so large that a person cannot count it. The first group has to do with events after the six seals have been opened, the second has to do with events which took place under the first five seals. The first are to be protected against judgments to come under the seventh seal. The second group has already come through the “great tribulation” which occurs before the sixth seal is opened.⚜