Protecting The Faithful

Revelation 7:1–17 NKJV

1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of 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. 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and 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 shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The Six seals have been opened

the first four seals revealed visions of the four horsemen of the apocalypse

the fifth seal John saw the souls of those who were slain for the Word of God and for their testimony

they were cried with a loud voice “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

The sixth seal he saw an earthquake, worldwide disaster, cataclysm beyond imagination.

Stars of heaven fell to the earth

the heaven departed as a scroll

every isle and mountain were moved out of their place - This is not likely to be literal - rather countries and empires

The kings of the earth and great men hid themselves in dens, and caves, and said to the mountains and rocks “fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the lamb”

This is a view of the tribulation and the time leading into it.

the four horsemen encompass much of the tribulation

the view of heaven is a parallel view of what is going on in heaven -

note, that there are souls of those who were martyred, not raptured.

Then, at the sixth trumpet he sees a vision of the climactic conclusion -

Natural disasters, governments fall, great men don’t have the answers and are terrified

a great many people who are arrogant with power today will be crying out for those rocks to fall on them not to long from now.

Now, Chapter seven has a bit of a pause, so he can take a look at yet another vantage point to view these events

The sixth seal has been opened, and he has seen the broad, long term vision

The seventh seal has not been opened yet, and he is allowed to look back to another heavenly scene right before the seals begin to be opened

“After These things i saw”

this does not mean that these things happened after the events already described, because those events encompassed the whole tribulation

rather, he saw this vision after he saw the former vision of these things.

Holding The Four Winds

He saw four angels holding the four winds - that they should not blow on the earth, or the sea, or any tree

these four winds are another analogy for the four horsemen of the apocalypse from chapter 6

They are being held back, so as not to unleash their destructive power yet

The four horsemen as we discussed in another message are angelic forces bringing destruction - into the tribulation

Wind is used to represent spirits or spiritual forces in Bible prophecy

These four horsemen correspond to the four chariots that Zechariah saw.

when he asked the Lord what these were he was told they were spirits

Zechariah 6:4–5 NKJV

4 Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are four spirits of heaven, who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.

So, these angels holding back the four winds, can be viewed as archangels or angels with authority over these, and they stand ready to dispatch or release them, but they have not given the order yet.

instead they are saying “wait!”

the destruction that had been planned cannot begin “until we have sealed the servants of God in though foreheads”

Revelation 7:3 NKJV

3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

This seal represents a mark, something to show validation, ownership, a guarantee

It is not a literal mark like a tattoo, but a spiritual one, from spiritual beings.

When it is time for the tribulation to begin, these angels are released to bring wrath upon the earth and upon the Godless institutions

however, before they can begin, there is a seal established for “God’s Servants”

Those with this seal are not harmed by the plagues and terrors to come

they have supernatural proetection

there is no such thing as a rapture that will evacuate them, but there is a seal that will protect them

God’s protection during times of trouble is seen throughout the Bible

Psalm 91 says 1,000 may fall at your side and 10,000 at your right hand, but it shall not come near you

this speaks of people that are being protected in the midst of the trials -

But it is not automatic to all beleivers

In Psalm 91, it refers to he that dwells in the secret place of the Most High

The one who makes the Lord his habituation.

This is not referring to the selfian pseudo Christians of many of today’s churches.

this is not referring to casual Christians who have a form of Godliness but deny the power thereof

this is not referring to the churchgoers who say they are Christians but don’t act or think any differently than the rest of the world.

Not for the people who are so comfortable in today’s sinful world that they don’t even notice sin.

This seal is for those who do know their God which are mentioned in Daniel 11:32

those who do hunger and thirst after righteousness

those who live int he presence of the Lord

those who can’t stand the abominations that go on in the world each day, especially in the Church.

The Number of Them That Were Sealed

He said that he heard the number of them that were sealed - it was a certain amount - not all of them - but a remnant

12,000 out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel

As we have taught on this before, this is not a literal number - it is symbolic

the twelve tribes of Israel is also symbolic of the Church - not literal Israel

we can see that becasue the tribe of Dan is omitted, and Manasseh is included

The order is also different here, with Judah listed first.

This symbolic of the Church -

The tribes represent the different denominations and divisions of Chistians

there will be some from all of these groups who are sealed.

it also speaks to the fact that there may be some whose group was not even meant to be included -

12,000 of each - is a symbolic number, representing a portion, those that are chosen

We can see this illustrated also in Ezekiel Chapter 9

But before we look at that, lets consider who these 144,100 are not.

They are not the only people to be saved

Not the only Christians in the world

Not of the literal 12 tribes

Not the only people with spiritual gifts

Not of one single race, or nation.

Ezekiel also had a vision of this event in his prophecies and we can learn a little more of God’s intent here by looking there.

Ezekiel 9:1–2 NKJV

1 Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Ezekiel 9:4–6 NKJV

4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” 5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

This vision is symbolic, and represents the same vision John saw with the sealing of the faithful.

Here we can see confirmation ofour interpretation of the passagein Revelaion

We also can see what that there were some conditions for the sealing of the faithful

it was not a birthright

it was not automatic

It was for reasons that were pleasing to God - some of those reasons are listed

The marking of these was based on those who were “crying and sighing” over the abominations and evil that was going on there

Ezekiel 8:5–18 NKJV

5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. 6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.” 7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. 9 And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” 10 So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” 16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

What were the “abominations” that these men who were sealed were sighing and crying over?

We see those in chapter 8

Ezekiel was taken in the Spirit to the north, and to the altar gate (vs. 5)

first he saw people committing abominations causing God to go far from His sanctuary (vs. 6)

Then he was taken to the door of the court, and he went in to see even greater wickedness (vs.10)

he saw idols portrayed on the walls - abominable beasts

He saw seventy of the elders of Israel, each with a censer in his hand - to these idols

God asked “do you see what these do in the dark?” They say The Lord does not see us”

Then he was taken to the inner court, at the door of the temple of The Lord

He saw about 25 men there

with heir backs to the temple o f The Lord

Faces to the east, worshipping the sun

God asked Ezekiel the question “Is it a trivial thing to the house of Israel to commit these abominations here?

therefore I will act in fury -My eye will not spare of have pity -

Just then, as God is about to show Ezekiel the destruction that He will bring for these things, there is a pause, and the angel with the inkhorn comes to seal those who do sigh and cry over these things

These are symbolic of many things that are happening in the world, and especially in the church right now

Are you crying, and sighing over the apostasy in our churches?

Or have you become comfortable with them instead?

There are many abominations that are happening in the church in America

Many people don’t even go to church to worship God, but for the social aspects

they are there for Iwannas, or Royal Rangers, or coffee clubs, or friends, and networking

They may even tell themselves they are here for God, but really, all these other factors are how they select a Church - and God is somewhere down the list

the Church is about what we can get, -

many churches have become money making enterprises -

you can buy a tape, a book, some magic oil, a cloth I touched

my God, this is an abomination - and people like it that way

Many preachers have become the star of their churches with some sensational doctrine or style

people are hearing what they want to hear - but God has gone far away

Are you mourning over that? Or do you even notice it at all?

We must shine for Jesus in these Last Days, and be Zealous for HIm