The Sealed of God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Amen! All believers are sealed - owned by God.
Amen! All believers are sealed - owned by God.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22.
20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us,
22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Revelation 7:1.
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
Does “after this” indicate here the sequence of visions and time, or just sequence?
The context gives the idea of sequence of visions and timing. The timing, however, is a bit more complicated, for chapter seven is an interlude. It is reflecting back on the seals of justice, and looking forward to the trumpets of judgement, as seen in verses 2-3.
Why does John say “the four corners,” when the earth is round?
Isaiah 11:12.
12 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.
This is a colloquial expression to speak of the whole earth. The whole earth is still before the sealing of Israel.
Does the wind mean any more than just wind?
Jeremiah 49:36.
36 And 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.
It is used as a metaphor for judgment.
It could refer to the four horsemen, since Zechariah 6:5 speaks of them going out to the four winds of heaven.
It could also mean a break from the wrath of Yaweh and the Lamb, since the coming trumpets of judgement are blown and are against the earth.
God’s taking a break for sealing. Do you want to be sealed?
Revelation 7:2-3.
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,
3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Ezekiel 9:3-6.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.
4 And the Lord said to him, “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.”
5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.
6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.
The seal of the living God is available to all who confess Jesus as Lord.
Revelation (4) The Sealing of the 144,000 (7:1–8)
Seals primarily assigned ownership but were also used to tell a story, to mark for destruction or for protection.
Do you want the seal of God?
Is the seal of the 144,000 a different seal than the seal of the Holy Spirit?
It is the seal of the Holy Spirit, which is equipping them to represent God, and protecting them from the outpouring of God’s wrath.
Why are they sealed on their foreheads?
The forehead is a prominent place to display ownership.
It is in agreement with Ezekiel 9.
The high priest wore a seal on his forehead Exodus 28:36-38.
36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the Lord.’
37 And you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue. It shall be on the front of the turban.
38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.
It could also tie to the wearing of phylacteries, which are worn as a literal application of Deuteronomy 6:4-9, to remind the wearer of Yahweh’s faithfulness and to keep God’s word.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Revelation 14:1.
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
The seal is in the form of God’s name.
God will seal 144,000 Jews with his name.
God has written his name upon us who confess Jesus as Lord.
Revelation 7:4-8.
4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
“Why list the Tribes? He could have just said seal 12,000 from every tribe and left it at that. John chooses to list their sealing in a military census format to indicate that these Jews will be representing him (Yaweh) in the tribulation.
“To sum up here, I think the best way to look at the 144,000 is that these are ethnic Jews. I think John’s description is deliberate. I think he’s using the census, the tribes, Ezekiel 9, as a parallel to them. The first eight verses very clearly use Old Testament (i.e., Israelite, Jewish) elements there to portray this group.” - Dr. Michael S. Heiser
Yahweh chooses to seal 144,000 Jews to preach the Gospel during the Day of Yaweh. He has not forgotten the Jewish people, for the gifts and callings of Yahweh are irrevocable.
Revelation 7:9-10.
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Who is this great multitude?
The text clearly wants you to see that it is a diverse group from everywhere.
May we join in one voice saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, bearing Yahweh’s name.
Revelation 7:11-12.
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
Amen! For Yahweh and the Lamb have sealed us - a people for his own possession.
Revelation 7:13-14.
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
This makes it clear that many Christians will come out of the Great Tribulation. I will be covering this Wednesday as I go over Daniel’s 70 weeks.
How you choose to interpret these Christians will be effected by which lens you wear. Can you identify your lens?
John’s point is that they have demonstrated faithful loyalty to the Lamb, resulting in the privilege of serving Yahweh and being protected by him.
Revelation 7:15.
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 shelter them with his presence.
Isaiah 4:2-5.
2 In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.
3 And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,
4 when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
5 Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy.
This passage shows the promise of serving Yahweh and abiding in his protection.
Revelation 7:16-17
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Isaiah 49:10.
10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.
Isaiah 25:8-9.
8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Yahweh has saved us and given us his seal of ownership. Let us rejoice in his salvation.