Chapter BY Chapter

Revelation 7

The 144,000 and the Multitude

​

“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. 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.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:

​

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

​

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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  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, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

 

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 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.

​

 “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.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

    the sun shall not strike them,

    nor any scorching heat.

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.”

​

*******  

​

In the previous chapter, we saw that the first 6 seals are opened and judgments are made upon the earth.  There is famine, and that necessitates harm to crops and trees.  There is a great earthquake, and the earth is severely harmed. 

 

In chapter 7, we immediately see that there are 4 angels holding back the wind.  Another angel comes, and it is obvious he is from God since he has the seal of the living God, and he says, “Wait Wait! Wait! Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

 

I wonder if this fifth angel read the previous chapter.  The earth has already been severely harmed. 

 

I guess that there would be an advantage to having heaven time, which is transcendent over all time.  You can do something prior to something happening on earth AFTER you already decreed it to happen.  This is kind of like the cut and paste option.  By the way, I really believe I was the first proponent of cut and paste.  This was even before home computers were popular.  I would write all my notes from studying on 3x5 cards.  I would write all my own thoughts on 3x5 cards.  Then I would cut out all the portions I wanted and scotch tapped them to regular 8 and ½ inch BY 11 inch lined paper.  When I was done cutting and pasting, I would have my rough draft.  Anyway, I don’t think John had cut and paste as an option when he wrote the book of Revelation.  But he could tell that God could put things wherever and whenever he wanted them.  This first part of chapter 7 is telling us that the judgments aren’t just about meting out punishments.  First, he is going to seal some servants so the message of the gospel will go forth. 

 

This sealing of the servants of God goes perfectly hand in hand with a pre-tribulation rapture.  After the rapture, there will be no one present to spread the gospel.  But God has already figured something out.  He will be sealing some servants to do his will.  This sealing of servants, therefore, takes place after the rapture, and before the earth is harmed in chapter 6.

 

Let’s see how many get sealed.

 

“And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.”

 

Now, when I was 17 years old, my friend Mike, from across the street came over one day and said, “There are some people over at my house saying some things about the Bible, and I don’t know what to say to them.”

 

So I came over, and there was this man that I believe was 70 years old at that time who was saying that only 144,000 people were going to go to heaven from all of history.  He said that he was one of them, and that I should join them.  Little did he know that I had read the Bible at least 16 times in the last 8 years.  I noticed that he was wearing a wedding ring.  So I asked him, “Are you a virgin?”  He replied, “How could I be a virgin since I am married and have children?”

 

I pointed out that it talks about the 144,000 in Revelation 14:3-5, where it says,

“No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first-fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.”

 

We only have one choice to think about this 144,000 because it says THE 144,000.  It is talking about a specific 144,000 that has already been spoken of. 

 

You see, these are all men that are going to be virgins when they are called, and they will remain virgins. 

 

Now, on a side note, since a particular sect now has over 144,000 adherents, they have had to modify their doctrine a little bit. 

 

Another thing we learn from Revelation 14 about the 144,000 is that they are firstfruits.  We will learn more about that later, but first let’s go back to chapter 7 and look at the numbers of these people. 

 

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

​

This is a really weird list of the 12 tribes of Israel.  The 12 Tribes in order of birth are:

    Reuben

    Simeon

    Levi

    Judah

    Issachar

    Zebulun

    Dan

    Naphtali

    Gad

    Asher

    Joseph

    Benjamin

​

The list in Revelation 7 is in the wrong order, Manassah is added and that is only a subtribe of Joseph, Ephraim is excluded, and the tribe of Dan is missing.  Some commentators say that Dan is left out because Dan introduced idolatry to the Israelites.  So did other tribes.  Solomon was of the tribe of Judah and at the end of his reign, he introduced a lot of idolatry.  Usually when Manassah and Ephraim are listed, Joseph is not listed.  So, there is a different reason for the list to be the way it is. 

​

Now, the meaning of the names of the tribes listed are as follows:

Judah:  Praise the Lord,

Reuben:  He has looked on my affliction

Gad:  good fortune comes

Asher:  happy and blessed am I

Napthali:  my wrestling

Manasseh:  has made me forget my sorrow

Simeon:  God hears me

Levi:  has joined me

Issachar:  rewarded me

Zebulun:  exalted me

Joseph:  adding to me

Benjamin: the Son of His right hand.

​

(By the way, Daniel means God is my Judge. Ephraim means fruitful.  Those names are not used here.)

​

Now, I don’t think that you should go looking into the Bible for additional hidden meanings, but here is one and it is hitting me in the face.  It looks really intentional and supports the message of the Book of Revelation.  If you put together the meanings of the names listed in the order they are listed, you get this message:

​

Praise the Lord.  He has looked on my affliction. Good fortune comes.  Happy and blessed am I.  My wrestling has made me forget my sorrow.  God hears me, has joined me, rewarded me, exalted me, adding to me the Son of His right hand.

​

If the tribe of Dan had been included or Ephraim added instead of Manasseh, or if the tribes had been listed in birth order, this message would not have been the same.

 

Now, does it necessitate that all these sealed people are going to be Jews?

 

Certainly not.  These are Israelites, and not necessarily Jews.  John the author certainly understood that many of the tribes of Israel were scattered from the times of captivity and no longer Jews. 

 

Now, I’m a Benjaminite, but I’m not a Jew.  Could I be one of the 144,000?

 

(Sorry, no, because I’m not a virgin.  I’ve been married twice.)

 

Could some of the 144,000 be Jews when they are sealed?

 

(Certainly)

 

What do you think it will be like for these 144,000 when they are sealed?

 

(Conjecture – that angel will go around with the seal of the living God and physically God Smack each one of them on the forehead.)

(Conjecture – maybe they are young teens that didn’t accept Christ and after the rapture they realize that they are in the tribulation.  Maybe they say, “Gee, mom and dad said this was going to happen.”)

 

Why does God seal them with a seal on their forehead?

 

(Conjecture- goes against the seal of the Beast later in the book.  It is now impossible for them to accept the mark of the Beast.)

 

What will be the result of the sealing of these 144,000?

 

(Verses 9-14)

 

Does this passage mean that only 144,00 Jews will be saved during the Great Tribulation.

 

(Probably not – they are just firstfruits.  There is more to come)

 

Do the 144,000 represent something else like the church?

 

(There is no reason to put that meaning there.  The text is plainly saying that God has a plan to spread the gospel even during the tribulation and he is going to use these descendants of Israel to kick off his plan.)

 

“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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  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, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

 

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”  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 event comes right after the 144,000 are sealed to show us that the result is that a great multitude that no one could number, from all tribes peoples and languages, will be saved during the tribulation.  Some people have tried to associate this multitude with the 144,000.  The 144,000 are a numbered group.  The great multitude is not able to be numbered.  They are the result of the work of the 144,000.

 

Now, there is something interesting here about the multitude.  “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  How can something be made white when it is washed in red blood?

 

Mendel is 16.  Mendel goes to work and his job is to make dye for the tassels on their Jewish clothing.  So, he gets some blue stains on his clothing.  Then he trips on the way home and skids on the grass, getting a green stain over the blue stain.  Mendel is worried that his dad is going to be mad that he stained his clothes.  But on the way home, he meets a Christian.  The Christian tells Mendel about Jesus, and Mendel washes his clothes in the blood of Jesus.  What did the blood of Jesus do to the stains?