Revelation Chapter 7 the 144,000 and Great Multitude

VISION 2:- THE SEVEN SEALS.

REVELATION CH 7 - AN INTERLUDE.

The breaking of the sixth seal has brought us to the day of the Lord. The natural thing we would expect is for John to describe the end, but John's interest is pastoral, he wants to encourage his readers so he interpolates two visions describing the fate of believers at the end. John does the same thing after the sixth trumpet and also before the pouring out of the seven bowls. Each of these interpolations are telling the same story but from a different perspective.

The two visions of ch 7 are here to answer the question, "Who can Stand?" (6:17). The answer is, "Those whom God has sealed."

The two visions are:
(i) The Sealing of the 144,000, and
(ii) The appearance of the Great Multitude on Mt Zion.

The sealing of the 144,000 describes to us the Church as the New Israel, a witness to God and his kingdom on earth in the last days. The Great Multitude is the revelation of the whole of God's people appearing before God after the rapture.

Hence the two visions are intensely pastoral, the first showing us that even in the face of the troubles coming on the earth God has his protection on his people, the second tells us that ultimately we shall all be saved.

I) 7:1-7 The 144,000.

REV 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

REV 7:2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

REV 7:3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

REV 7:4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

REV 7:5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

REV 7:6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

REV 7:7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

REV 7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

7:1 "After this I saw" - indicating a new vision, this is not an integral part of the seven seals. Hence it does not necessarily fit into the chronology of events that are happening on earth as described in ch 6.

"four angels...four corners of the earth...four winds".
The four winds are not the natural winds but (as we have seen) are the spiritual rulers of the four Gentile empires, the apocalyptic horsemen. These four winds are evil, but here are being restrained by four angels, hence the angels must be good. The horsemen, or winds, are being restrained - which suggests they are demonic in nature. This ties in with 2 Thessalonians 2 where the spirit of Antichrist is being restrained by a friendly force ( for a full development of this theme see notes on REVELATION 17 ). There is an appointed time for the four winds to be released. It appears that the full revelation of the Antichrist cannot be made until they are released so in earth time this event of the sealing of the 144,000 would appear to be before the events of ch 6:1,2.

The change in location is not important - the horsemen have had different functions over time in history centralised on different places. John seems to be quite fluid with minor details such as location. We are, after all, looking at a reality in the spiritual realm. The physical place they are located at has no real relevance.

(Beasley Murray) "The winds are restrained to produce a calm before the storm." This could suggest that there is a period of world peace just prior to the events brought about by the horsemen, i.e. the seals.

"earth...sea". The "wind" here is obviously not intended to be literal, so it is doubtful that we should press a too literal meaning for earth and sea.

"sea" - is a symbol of the rebellious masses of the Gentile nations (Revelation 17:15).

"earth" - could refer to stable political countries.

"trees" - appears to be a symbol of political leaders and philosophies in Isaiah 2.

If we assume this symbolic interpretation is right then we come up with the idea here that there will be, just prior to the revelation of Antichrist, a period of peace on earth during which no disturbing "empire building" force can operate. However, after that period will come the incredible violence of the Seals.

It would appear that when these forces are released there is an amazing corruption of the earth, but this is not allowed to happen until the 144,000 are sealed. Assuming the proof below, that the 144,000 are the Church, then we possibly see here a suggestion that the Church is substantially completed before the final manifestation of Antichrist, however this should not be pushed too far as other scriptures seem to indicate a great harvest in the earth during the reign of Antichrist.

7:2 "the rising of the sun" - the east, seen by the Jews to be the source of blessing.

"the seal of the living God" - see below.

7:3 "do not harm" - a restraint is put on the judgement until the 144,000 are sealed.

"sealed on the forehead" - this comes from the custom of tattooing slaves or members of religious groups on the forehead with a recognisable tattoo or mark (e.g. the caste marks of India). The mystery cults practiced this. See also Revelation 13:16-18 – in the past period of time there will be two groups of people – those sealed with the Seal of God and those sealed with the mark of the Beast, 666.

Two Questions:
(I) Who are the 144,000?
(II) What is the Seal?

(I) The 144,000.

c/f Revelation 14:1-5 9:1-5.

What we know of them:

(1) They are "Israelites".
Israel is a name of covenant, Jacob being called Israel when he entered into covenant with God (Genesis 35:9ff). Israel is therefore the name denoting the covenant people of God. This covenant is entered into by faith, not by natural birth (Romans 4:9-24), i.e. many people who have physically descended from Jacob are not Israelites in the true sense. The Church is the true Israel, the covenant people of God, we inherit the spiritual history of Israel, they are our "fathers" (1 Corinthians 10:1f) and we are their spiritual descendants.

As we have already seen in the NT and in REVELATION there is a consistent tendency to take the names, titles, and privileges of the natural Israel and give them to the Church, we are the true remnant. In keeping with the treatment of the rest of the book of REVELATION we need to do the same here. We cannot have one principle of interpretation in one part of REVELATION and another elsewhere. This has already been developed elsewhere in these studies.

(2) 144,000 = 12x12x10x10x10.

12 was the number of Israel in the OT, but in the NT is the Church. The 12 patriarchs have been replaced by the 12 apostles.

C/f Revelation 21,22 - the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, the Church is symbolised in multiples of 12 and 10. It is a cube, having 12 edges, the length of each edge is said to be 12,000 stadia:

12 X 12,000 = 144,000.

In other words 144,000 is a symbolic way of describing the external dimensions of the Completed Church of God, i.e. its numerical size, hence the 144,000 is the completed Church.

Farrar suggests the following idea:
John is using the pattern of the census taken in 1 Chronicles 4-7, in which the 24,000 from each of the 12 tribes are the HEADS of the families, with no account of their wives and families. A census may only be properly taken "by genealogy" whereas complete enumeration, as David discovered to his cost (2 Samuel 24) was an encroachment on the omniscience of God. So here is REVELATION we have countless families symbolised by their heads.

Farra may be right, we do not know for sure. The point is that the number is not to be taken as a literal numerical number but is in some way symbolic. It corresponds to the innumerable host is the second part of the chapter.

(3) "12,000 from each tribe".

(a) The list of tribes given here does not correspond to any of the OT lists, thus indicating that we are not dealing with the literal Israel here, but with some other entity. Dan is omitted, and Joseph has a double listing, under Joseph and Manessah. This is significant as in the OT Joseph is almost always listed under Ephraim.

There are around 18 different lists in the OT.

(b) The Church is elsewhere depicted as 12 tribes (James 1:1) and this picture is taken further in Revelation 21:12, 13. The Gates of the New Jerusalem are named after the 12 tribes. This is a way of saying: “to get in to the city you have to be in one of the tribes.” Clearly this could not be so of any Gentile if a literal meaning is meant, so we are clearly looking at a spiritual, or symbolic, significance of the names of the 12 tribes in REVELATION. Again we are compelled to apply the interpretative principle the book of REVELATION itself gives us. If the names of the 12 tribes are clearly intended to be symbolic in REVELATION 21 then it is only logical to be consistent and interpret them in a symbolic way in Ch 7.

(c) The 12 tribes are symbolic. In Hebrew the idea of a NAME means a CHARACTER, and hence these 12 names speak of 12 characteristics of the Church:

Judah = Confession, or Praise of God.
Manasseh = Forgetfulness (of Sin).
Gad = Company (of the Church).
Simeon = Hearing (i.e. of the Spirit and hence Obedience).
Issachar = Reward (i.e. from God).
Benjamin = Son of my Right Hand, or son of my old Age - speaking of our sharing in the rulership of Christ at the right hand of the Father.
Reuben = Seeing a son (i.e. Christ).We see Jesus.
Asher = Blessed by God.
Naphthali = Wrestler (with God, i.e. in prayer).
Levi = Joined (i.e. to God by faith).
Zebulun = Home, Dwelling place - speaking of the indwelling of the Spirit which is the down payment of our eternal home.
Joseph = adding to, i.e. evangelism.

(d) Why is Dan missing?

(i) Dan = a judge, and no one can come to God with a judging spirit. God is the only judge allowed.

(ii) Genesis 49:16, 17 - Dan is "a serpent on the way" - there are enemies of the Church in it's ranks, infidels who seek to destroy from within like a serpent hidden on the way.

(iii) Dan was idolatrous. The Rabbinical writings "The Testimony of the 12 Patriarchs", in "the Testimony of Dan" says (5:6) "your prince is Satan" - referring to Dan. The Bible is clear that no idolater will go to heaven (Colossians 3:5, Galatians 5:19-21).

(iv) Some interpreters feel that the Antichrist will be from Dan, therefore is omitted here. This is doubtful as the Christ is expected to be from Judah and anyone not of that tribe would not be able to pass off the deception.

(e) Why is Ephraim not included?

Ephraim is the name God gave to Northern Israel when it rebelled against him and separated from Judah. It is used frequently in this sense in the OT. Ephraim was the backslider. Ephraim led the other tribes into apostasy.

See these references for example: Psalms 78:9,67. Hosea 5:3, 7:8, 8:9f.

The Bible is also plain that the apostate will not be saved (Heb 6:4).

(4) C/f Revelation 14:4 "Who alone had been redeemed" (Gk literally, as in The NEB).

I.e. only the 144,000 have been redeemed from the earth, yet I am redeemed, and so is every Christian. Therefore there must be an identity between the 144,000 and the Church.

"from the whole earth" - This phrase indicates that they were Gentiles, not just Jews, yet in ch 7 they were exclusively "from the 12 tribes of Israel". Here again we seen the comparison of several statements about the same group will lead to contradictions if we assume a literal understanding. If we give "Israel" a symbolic meaning then there is no difficulty as the Church is made up of people “from the whole earth”.

(5) "first fruits" (14:4) - c/f James 1:18 = the Church.

(6) "virgins" (14:4).

This is not intended to be taken literally, rather it is meant in the spiritual sense - these have not committed spiritual adultery with the harlot of ch17, the whore Babylon, which is the origin and expression of all false religion. This is a common metaphor drawn from the OT to denote those who are spiritually pure, e.g. c/f Hosea ch 1-3.

(7) "with the Lamb on Mt Zion". (14:1).

“With the Lamb" suggests that their relationship to Christ is one in which they are redeemed by his blood, his sacrificial death. Hence they are believers in Jesus as the Lamb of God, they are Christians.

"Mt Zion" - In the OT was a literal place, the site of the Temple, Jerusalem. However in the NT it is seen to be a spiritual reality, a place of separation and relationship with God.

Hebrews 12:22-24.

Galatians 4:24.

Mt Zion is the Church.

Again we see a title of Israel taken and given to the Church.

(a) Who are they?

The conclusion we are forced to is that this group, the 144,000, are the Church.

(b) What are they doing on Mt Zion?

Again another Jewish writing provides the answer.
This is from the Apocrypha - remember that a large part of the Church still accepts this writing as being canonical.

2 Esdras 2:42-48 (NEB).

"I, Ezra, saw on Mt Zion a crowd too large to count, all singing hymns of praise to the Lord. In the middle stood a very tall young man, taller than all the rest, who was setting a crown (stephanos) on the head of each of them, he stood out above them all. I was enthralled at the sight, and asked the angel, "Sir, who are these?" He replied, "They are those who have laid aside their mortal garments and put on the immortal, those who acknowledged the name of God. Now they are being given crowns and palms." And I asked again, "Who is the young man setting crowns on their heads and giving them palms?" And the Angel replied, "He is the son of God, whom they acknowledged in this mortal life..."

This is the second usage of a passage from 2 Esdras in Revelation 6&7. This is significant. (The date of the writing of 2 Esdras is thought to be late in the 1^st Century – but prior to REVELATION. There is nothing historically to indicate that John had ever seen 2 Esdras when he received the visions that make up the Book of REVELATION).

The parallel is obvious. This suggests that Revelation 14:1-5 is a picture of the judgement seat of Christ where Christians receive their rewards.

Alternative Viewpoints:

(1) Popular (Dispensational) Interpretation.

According to this interpretation the Church is raptured at the beginning of Revelation ch4. Therefore the 144,000 in ch 7 cannot be the Church. Hence a literal view is taken, They are said to be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. In this interpretation the promises of the salvation of Israel are seen to be fulfilled in a literal sense. The 144,000 are said to be a special group of evangelists or prophets who lead a great revival in Israel during the Tribulation. The Great Multitude is said to be the fruit of their witness. They preach a different gospel from the gospel preached today. It is called the gospel of the Kingdom, and they have signs following. This Gospel is said to have a special emphasis in which Jesus is strongly presented as the Messiah of Israel, a national ruler.

Objections to this theory:

(1) The sealing with the "names" is a promise belonging to the Church (Revelation 3:12).

(2) Nothing is said of them which marks them out as a special group of evangelists or prophets. The fact that nowhere in Scripture does it say they are evangelists or prophets and nowhere does it tell us anything about what they actually do once they are sealed should warn interpreters and readers alike away from assuming that they are in fact evangelists or prophets.

(3) There is no "different gospel" (c/f Galatians 1:6-9). The gospel of the kingdom is actually the same gospel as the one we preach. The difference is only in terminology, not in substance. One has only to compare the words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel with those in Luke’s Gospel to see that the gospel of the kingdom is the same as our gospel. Dispensational teachers advertently acknowledge this when they preach from the gospels about the kingdom because they invariably apply the words of Jesus to Christians (I’ve sat in enough sermons to know this is so!).

(4) REVELATION is a NT book so needs to be interpreted by NT principles. Hence all of the above points identifying the 144,000 with the Church are an objection to this theory.

(5) The Pretribulation rapture, the basis of this theory, does not have the scriptural support needed to warrant such a theory.

(6) The promise of the salvation of Israel in the last days still stands. However Paul makes it clear that that promise is to be fulfilled on the basis of faith in Christ. The whole point of Christ's death was to unite the divided world so that Jew and Gentile could be one people. If it is true that the Jew can come to God through some other Gospel then Christ died in vain. In actual fact, the revelation of Christ to the Jew in the last days is to come through Zion (Romans 11:26), which is the manifest, or visible, people of God on earth, that is the Church. Even so Zechariah indicates that only one third will be saved (Zechariah 13:8).

(2) The 144,000 is a select group, who are called to be martyrs.

Variations on this approach abound.

Proofs offered for this theory are:

(i) The idea that "Israel" is a symbol for the Church, and the "12 tribes" are its parts. Out of each part of the Church a defined number (viz 12,000) has been ordained by God to be special witnesses through martyrdom.

(ii) This group then corresponds to the two lampstands of REVELATION 11 which are said to be the martyrs, whereas the whole Church is shown to be made up of seven lampstands (REVELATION 1-3).

The list in REVELATION 7, then, is a "Book of the Martyrs".

There could be some merit in this interpretation. However I feel that the fluid way John uses symbolism means we do not have to see the "7 lampstands" as being the final figure. “7” clearly is a symbolic number indicating the total number so to press it too literally may be to take it too far. If “7” later on becomes "2" because the point John is trying to make is different then that is alright. After all the other five Churches in ch 2&3 were condemned and called to repentance. The reality is that as far as history shows they did not repent and it is unlikely that they will in the last days. Presumably they will make up the apostate Church that joins with the Beast. In general I feel it is best not to go looking for elitist groups in REVELATION, as this really misses the point of what John is trying to get through - We are either an overcomer and so go to heaven, or we don't make it at all! Nowhere is he trying to make to point that there are two classes of Christians – “those who are overcomers” and “the rest of the Christians”. To be a Christian is to be an overcomer.

There are also good reasons for identifying the 144,000 with the great multitude (see below).

(II) What is the Seal?

This can only be the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13,14, 4:30.

It is the inheritance of the children of Abraham - Galatians 3:14-18,29.

c/f Revelation 7:3 14:1 = "his name and his Father's name".

Name = character, power, authority. The Church through the Holy Spirit is God's presence on earth.

c/f Revelation 3:12 - to have "his name & etc " is a promise to the Church. We need to identify these two references as being the same people. Revelation 3:12 is giving us the interpretative principle we need to apply to Revelation 7:3. If we do not apply it here then we are using two different interpretative principles in the one book – and the result can only be deception and confusion. We do not allow such fluidity of interpretation practice elsewhere so why here?

The Seal is a protection from judgement.

Ezekiel 9:4-6, Revelation 9:4.

The point of this interlude is simply to tell us this" Wrath is coming on the world, but the servants of God are protected from it by God's Seal.

II) 7:9-17 The Great Multitude.

REV 7:9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

REV 7:10 And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

REV 7:11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

REV 7:12 saying: "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

REV 7:13 Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes- who are they, and where did they come from?"

REV 7:14 I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

REV 7:15 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 spread his tent over them.

REV 7:16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

REV 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

From the above reading in 2 Esdras we can see that this is just the 144,000 seen from another vantage point. In vss 1-8, the 144,000 are the completed Church as defined and known by God, their dimensions defined showing his care and protection. Now in vss 9-17 we see them from the human point of view; they are "a great multitude which no man can number".

Here they are already wearing their "crowns and palms", indicating that this is after the judgement seal of Christ. This is depicting the celebration at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

7:9 "every nation..." God has his faithful in every place, though they may not all be Christians by our definition.

"standing before the throne" - not under the alter any more.

"white robes" - festal garments of celebration and victory. They are our resurrection bodies.

C/f Matthew 22:11-13 - they are garments for a Wedding.

"palms" - speaking of Joy. They were prominent in the OT feast of Tabernacles which was the prophetic picture of the coming celebration of God.

7:10-12 - The Affirmation of God's final salvation through Christ.

Seven qualities of God are listed, all have a definite article.

Note in v 11 the elders are listed with the other angelic groups thus indicating they are angels.

7:14 "The great tribulation".

Greek literally = "a tribulation, a great one", i.e. it is a prolonged ordeal.

"great" Greek = long, or strong. It refers here to the whole Church age not just to the final 3 1/2 years.

"Who have come out" Greek literally "who are coming out" - a continuous process is in view. In John's day it was already at work.

"washed their robes" - c/f 3:5 6:11 = justification and sanctification.

"in his temple" c/f 21:22 - there is no temple in heaven, the new Jerusalem. Therefore this is symbolic, meaning the place of God's presence.

7:16 quotes Isaiah 49:10 - again a special promise to Israel now given to the Church.

There are five promises here: Eternal security, satisfaction, pastoral guidance, inexhaustible strength, everlasting joy. Five is the number of the fullness of grace and redemption.

Much of the promise here is very similar in thought to the promises to the overcomers in ch 2&3.