The Elect

Revelation 7

Immanuel – 3/13/22

In chapter 4, John’s vision began with unspeakable glory and joy. And that glory and joy absolutely exploded when the Lamb took the scroll from the hand of God. All creation erupted in holy, resounding worship.

There was such an eruption of worship because that scroll symbolizes the new covenant of new creation: the ending of the old age and the beginning of the new. For millennia it had been the great hope of God’s people; and now, finally, Christ was about to open what had been so long sealed.

And as He breaks the seals of the scroll, four judgements are proclaimed: terrible horsemen who bring with them the apocalyptic ending of what was. They are like the divine plow, tearing up every weed and obliterating every rock; to make way for a new and righteous harvest.

Then there are those slain for the Word of God. They cry out to the Ancient of Days for justice, that their innocent blood would be avenged, that judgement would come quickly to the wicked of the land. And God responds with cataclysmic judgements thundering towards Israel – for people have treated their covenant with God like people treat pornography. But God will not be used, and He will not allow His elect to be victimized.

Chapter 6 ended with the wrath of God gathering over Jerusalem like a hurricane of vengeance. Israel’s doom not yet raining down, but the very presence of such furious clouds spells out the coming events: terror, shame, destruction, the de-creation of apostate Israel.

And as the thunderheads of vengeance loom above the wicked of Israel, they cower and cry out, “The great day of [the wrath of the Lamb] has come, and who can stand?”

Then all of the sudden, in chapter 7, there is a strange lull – a calm before the storm. It might seem random that 144,000 sons of Israel and a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language are introduced at this point. But I assure you, there is nothing random about it. It is an answer to the question at the end of chapter 6. These are the people who can stand. These are the people who do not – and never will – fear the wrath of God.

Purpose

Who are the 144,000 and the great multitude?

How do the 144,000 relate to the great multitude?

What does this mean about the age we are living in?

Read Revelation 7

Chapter seven begins with a barrage of the number 4: 4 angels, 4 corners of the earth, 4 winds. If you are reading things literally, you have a major problem here. Rather, the Jews lived in a world of symbols; and in this world each number has symbolic meaning. 4 is the number for the created order.

What John sees are not things meant to be understood literally, but they are powerful symbols, and echoes of ancient prophecies.

“I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the Lord. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.” -Jeremiah 49:36-38

The wind, as spoken of by Jeremiah and John, is another way that the Bible symbolically speaks about judgement. We also hear Hosea and Moses and David speaking of the wind in the same way.

The four angels holding back these winds of judgement are to be identified as the four living creatures, the angelic cherubim from chapters 4 and 5. Remember from those passages that the cherubim symbolize the glorified created order. The four cherubim each look like a different creature: a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a man. Each creature is the ruler of its domain. The cherubim symbolize the highest order of creation; and it is these four angels that John sees exercising authority over the four winds.

The hurricane of judgement booms over Israel, but the cherubim hold back its winds, that the land might not be destroyed – at least not yet. Another angel appears and declares why the wind must be temporarily restrained.

Read vs 2-3

Clearly, this angel has more authority than the four cherubim, because it is giving them orders. I believe this angel is another symbolic representation of Jesus. Jesus has been represented as a Lion, as a Lamb, as a white rider, and here as an angel ascending from the sun.

Do you know that Jesus appeared in the Old Testament many times? Before the Son of God took on human form, and was given the name Jesus, He appeared to Israel as “the Angel of the Lord.” The Angel of the Lord was both God and different from God. Let me show you what I mean:

[Yahweh] went before [Israel] by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. -Exodus 13:21

Then the Angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.

-Exodus 14:19

The Angel of the Lord – or the Angel of God – is Yahweh and distinct from Yahweh. He is the Son of God.

Additionally, this angel ascends from the sun. In Revelation, Jesus is closely associated with the sun. In 1:16 Jesus’ face is like the sun shining in full strength. In 19:17 He is standing in the sun. In 22:5 He becomes the sun for the New Jerusalem. And here in chapter 7 we see the Son of God – the Angel of the Lord – ascending from the sun.

The angel also carries with Him the seal of the Living God. In the times of kings, he who has the seal of the king has the authority of the king. The angel ascending has the authority of the Living God; thus He is able to command the cherubim.

The angel of the Lord will use this seal to mark God’s elect. Though we cannot see it in this passage, we know what the seal is and we know what the mark on the forehead looks like; but I am going to show you that later. For now, it is enough to know that this mark is a mark of salvation. The furious winds of judgement are held back just long enough to put this mark upon the people of God.

Again we see, salvation before judgement. Salvation and judgement always travel together.

Then John hears the number of the sealed.

Read vs 4

Whenever we see numbers in Revelation, they are significant. 12 is an incredibly important number. When we first encountered the 24 elders I mentioned 12 is the number of the people of God. The number 1000 symbolizes a huge amount, a vast sum. Like when we read in the Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. 1000 symbolizes an enormous number.

144,000 is 12x12x1000. It is the full number of the people of God, a vast number, a perfect number. We should not think this number a literal number. That is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses do. This is a symbolic numbering of the fullness of the people of God.

But there are layers to the symbolism here. To be honest, there is so much layering that it would take a series of sermons to cover it all; but I do want to show you one more layer.

Israel is numbered like an army. When Israel was a true geopolitical kingdom, their military was organized by thousands – called a chiliad.

“You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. -Numbers 31:4-5

The people of God are sealed and number like a vast army, far larger than anything ancient Israel could have mustered.

But there is one massive problem with this listing of Israel. 10 of these tribes have vanished from the face of the earth. They’re gone.

After King Solomon’s reign, Israel split into two kingdoms: the kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south. In 740 BC the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel and begin a series of deportations. In a matter of 30 years, all the Israelites are removed from the Promised Land and settled in far-away, gentile nations.

It was Assyria’s goal to destroy Israel’s cultural identity. It worked. Israel became indistinguishable from the nations to which they were scattered. They became the nations. They became gentiles. The 10 tribes of the north were lost. And as Assyria was conquered by Babylon, and Babylon by the Medio-Persians, and the Medio-Persia by the Greeks, and the Greeks by the Romans; not a single trace of these 10 tribes remained. They were the nations.

Therefore, this listing of tribes in Revelation 7 is impossible. 10 of these tribes literally do not exist. And though God can create something out of nothing, genetics and religion do not work like that. God would have to make tens of thousands of Israelites suddenly appear on earth; with Hebrew blood, purity of lineage, and a culture established.

No. Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph/Ephraim, and Dan are gone forever. And this was the Lord’s doing.

This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God…and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations…They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger…Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. -2 Kings 17:7-8,10-11,18

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground, except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord. “For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.” -Amos 9:9

Only the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, and some of Levi, remained – in the southern kingdom of Judah. Those that have descended from Judah, today, we call Jews. The 10 other tribes are gone. They have become the gentile nations. A literalistic interpretation of Revelation 7 is not possible, and God planned it to be that way.

Let’s review what we have already seen. The 144,000 is a symbolic numbering of the fullness of the people of God. They are amassed like a great army. Jesus seals and saves them before the wrath of God is unleashed upon the wicked. They are Israel, but they are not literal Israel, because God has previously destroyed 10 of the tribes.

We are swimming in symbolism here. And the next verses give us another symbolic representation of the very same thing.

Read vs 9-10

I wonder if you caught what just happened? This is the third time we are seeing it in Revelation. The first time, John heard that he was to write, and then he turned to see one like a Son of Man. The second time he heard about the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and when he looked he saw a Lamb that had been slain. Both times what he heard and what he saw were different; yet when the two symbols were combine the greater truth was revealed.

John heard the number of the sealed – a massive and perfect numbering of the people of God. Yet, when he looks to see, he sees what at first appears to be a contradiction. Not a perfectly numbered army standing in formation, but a diverse mass of people so great that counting them is pointless. 144,000 suddenly seems small. They do not descend from Hebrew bloodlines; but are people from every culture, every language, every nationality, every shading of skin – all are represented here.

And they bear the adornments of overcomers. Like the 24 elders (4:4), like the martyrs beneath the altar (6:11), according to the promise of Jesus (3:5), these are clothed in robes of white: clothed in the righteousness and victory of their King.

In their hand are palm branches. These symbolize the long awaited time when God dwells with man, the hope of the Feast of Tabernacles. The people of God only briefly held them when Jesus entered Jerusalem, now they will never put them down – for when Christ gave the Holy Spirit, God took up residence in human hearts. And when God dwells with man, Eden is open and paradise is restored: a paradise symbolized by the palm.

This whole scene is a victorious picture of the elect, having overcome, with paradise restored. And filled with abounding joy, they worship! They worship the God who takes what is fallen and redeems it for glory. They worship the Lamb who entered their fallenness, paid their debt, and clothed them with His own garments of righteousness and victory.

See, in verse 10, how the multitude does not proclaim a salvation they have achieved, but a salvation won by the Lamb and planned by the Father. All their glory is His glory! And they worship.

And the worship spreads, like a holy contagion.

Read vs 11-12

Try to imagine the sight. Already we know from chapter 5 that the angels number myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. They and the elders and the cherubim hear the worship of the Church, and all at once this vast sea of glorious beings fall on their faces. Their hearts so flooded with overwhelming joy and wonder that their bodies cannot help but respond.

Like Paul wrote, he was bringing to light for everyone what was the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. -Ephesians 3:9-10

All these heavenly beings worship God for His awe-inspiring, manifold wisdom; as He reveals it through the church.

And though it might be easy for us to identify this great multitude, it was not so simple to the one beholding such visions.

Read vs 13-14

For the second time in Revelation, one of the 24 elders – Himself a symbolic representation of the church – delivers to John good news. The good news is that the great tribulation has neither defeated nor annihilated the church.

From all that we have seen in this book, the great tribulation are the days of vengeance. They fell upon Israel and came to a dreadful end in 70 AD, when the Roman destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. It was the great tribulation that Jesus said would preceed the felling of the temple.

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its destruction has come near…for these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written…For there will be great distress upon the [land] and wrath against this people.”

-Luke 21:20,22-23

Great distress is a synonym for great tribulation. Though the great tribulation came at the hands of the Romans, they were the prophesied days of vengeance.

Yet it was not just a time of terrible tribulation for the Jews, but also for the followers of Christ. As Jews faced covenantal judgement from God, Christians faced persecution and death everywhere they traveled. Just as Christ had prophesied, they were hated for His namesake (John 15:21).

Last week we were introduced to those who had been slain during the same great tribulation. Those same souls are counted among chapter 7’s multitude. But it isn’t just the martyrs, it is all who have found forgiveness and righteousness in Jesus – who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.

And what a glorious picture! The testimony for which the martyrs died was not silenced or stopped, it sounded forth with immeasurable power: for here stands a multitude from every nation that has received the gospel.

It’s just as Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. -1 Thessalonians 1:6-8

For this period in time, God had appointed the persecution of the church lead to the increase of the church. Indeed, the church increased to a number beyond counting.

You have heard…the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing. -Colossians 1:5-6

The testimony of the New Testament, and here in Revelation 7, is that the gospel has traveled into the whole known world and bore fruit everywhere it went. The saved who came out of the last days – out of the great tribulation – because of the gospel, was an innumerable multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue! Despite heavy persecutions, the gospel could not be stopped!

Though John sees a multitude that comes from the first century tribulations, that does not preclude other Christians, in other ages, from joining the multitude. In fact, you and I have a place among these overcomers. Righteousness and victory is also ours through Christ. This is a picture of the church after all.

Now it is time to unite the two parts of chapter 7, joining what John heard with what he saw – the 144,000 with the multitude.

The way we unite the two parts is with the seal that the angel carries and the mark He gives. This is not the first time in the Bible that an angel marked foreheads.

The Lord said to [the angel], “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the [other angels] He said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity…but touch no one on whom is the mark.” -Ezekiel 9:4-5,6

Those that were grieved by the evil in Jerusalem were marked, and spared the coming destruction. They were elected to receive the mark. The Hebrew word for mark is not a word, it is a letter: the letter “tav.” Nearly every letter in the Hebrew alphabet is a descendant of a pictogram – a drawing of a real life object. In the days of Ezekiel, the mark, the “tav,” looked like a real life mark.

This is more than x marks the spot. The mark, the “tav,” was a cross. The angel in Ezekiel went out and put a cross upon the foreheads of the elect. The 144,000 were marked in the same way. And not only are the elect marked with a cross, they are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The seal that Christ carries is the Holy Spirit, and with the Spirit He elects and He saves.

[Christ] has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. -2 Corinthians 1:22

In [Christ] you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.

-Ephesians 1:13-14

This is the link between the what John hears and what he sees. Both are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Both are forever marked by Jesus. Just as Christ promised the overcomers,

“The one who conquers…I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven, and my own new name.” -Revelation 3:12

The name of Christ is upon the forehead and the Holy Spirit seals the heart of all the elect, of all who conquer, of every member of the church!

Now we can see that the 144,000 and the great multitude are two symbolic images of the same thing: the church. Remember, God destroyed 10 of Israel’s tribes, and He made them become the nations. And yet, everywhere the Old Testament promises that God will unite Israel and Judah once again.

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the people – of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious. In that day the Lord will extend His hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of His people…He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. -Isaiah 11:10-12

Exiled Israel became the nations and vanished; and yet God has somehow preserved them and will again unite Israel and Judah.

Brothers and sisters, we stand before one of the most beautiful and profound mysteries in the entire Bible. The gospel is first given to the Jews – to Judah – and those that receive it are sealed with the Holy Spirit. But then the gospel reaches the gentiles, going out to the nations, and it spreads like wildfire, as we have already seen.

The 10 tribes became the nations, became gentiles: and now through the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gentile nations are streaming into the kingdom of God. Can you see it? Gentiles that come to Jesus are the 10 tribes returning. This is not about Hebrew blood; this is about those who come to Christ by faith.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

-Galatians 3:7

If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

-Galatians 3:29

God restores the 10 lost tribes not by miraculously restoring purity of Hebrew bloodlines, He does it through the miraculous washing of the lost in Christ’s own blood.

What does this mean about the age we are living in?

It means that now, in Christ, we are Israel. We are the 144,000 marked and seal. We are the vast multitude arrayed in righteousness and victory, worshipping the Lamb. The church, filled with Jews and Gentiles united to Christ, is the ultimate fulfillment of every Old Testament promise.

One of the very earliest promises was given to Abraham:

“I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

-Genesis 22:17-18

The multitude that John cannot count are like the stars of heaven, constellations from every nation, all of them – by faith – Abraham’s offspring.

And when the angels see the church, and realize that this promise to Abraham is fulfilled – along with all the other promises – they fall on their faces and worship the All-Wise God: who weaves history with absolute sovereignty and beauty and glory. How marvelous that we are threads in this awesome tapestry!

One more thing must be seen from the two symbols of Revelation 7. The 144,000 are mustered like an army. They are sealed on earth. The vast multitude is victorious. They have fought the good fight and they have overcome. They are saved in heaven.

The 144,000 and the multitude are the same thing, the church. One is a symbolic picture of the Church on earth, sealed with the Holy Spirit, ready to march forth to advance the kingdom of God. The other is a symbolic picture of the Church in heaven, the work having been completed, and every creature worshipping the God who has accomplished it all.

And what is stunning, is that the glories at the end of chapter 7 are true now on earth and more true in heaven.

Verse 15 – We are before the throne of God.

Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. -Hebrews 4:16

Verse 15 – We serve day and night in the temple.

You yourselves like living stones and being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

-1 Peter 2:5

Verse 15 – We are sheltered by the presence of God – and not just the presence of God, but the fullness of God.

May [we] have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of God that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. -Ephesians 3:18-19

Verse 16 – We hunger and thirst no more.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” -Matthew 5:6

Verse 16 – The sun does not strike and the heat does not scorch. For we are not the rocky soil of Jesus’ parable, where the sun scorched away faith. We are the good soil that grows tall, even in the heat of persecution and trial. And we shall bear much fruit. (Matthew 13:1-23).

Verse 17 – The Lamb is our shepherd.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

-John 10:11

Verse 17 – The Lamb guides us to living water.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

-John 7:37-38

Verse 17 – He wipes away our every tear.

I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

-2 Corinthians 7:4

All these are for the church. They are true now and they will be more true then. You are the sealed, secured with the Holy Spirit, arrayed for battle, armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and your robes await. Go and conquer! God is for you, who can be against you!

And when the wrath of God is poured out upon men, who can stand? We can! For Christ drank that cup of wrath that we sinners deserved, and we are spared of judgement. We shall forever stand in His glorious presence and worship!