The Great Multitude: The Seven Seals (2)

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Revelation 7:1-17                                                                                                        Lesson 7

Key verse. 7:3                                                                                                                Kevin E. Jesmer 6-13-10

“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.”

     Today, we will study about the period between the sixth and seventh seal, where God’s people are marked by God. We will learn of a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language are those who have been faithful to Jesus in the midst of suffering and have made it to heaven. They belong to Jesus because they have been washed in his blood–forgiven their sins and bound to him by the new covenant. This multitude stands before God’s throne, praising and thanking him for his great salvation. Through a study of this passage may you take hold of the wonderful promise that God is with us, even in the midst of suffering and know that those who accept Jesus will stand before God and sing his praises forever. How can we have such a wonderful and true hope? It is all because of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain for our sins. We will also learn the heart of worship and get back to it. Let’s see….

Part l: Salvation Belongs To Our God (1-12)

If we remember back to the last passage, the sixth seal had been opened, and the people of the earth tried to hide from God, saying, “Who can stand?” (6:12-17) Just when all hope seems lost God revealed his mercy. Look at verses 1-2, “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. ²Then 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:” The winds represent God’s judgments coming on the world. The four winds could cause a great deal of trouble and harm to the church of God. And so the four angels hold back the four winds of judgment until God’s people are sealed as his own. Only then will God open the seventh seal. Though the suffering that was coming upon the earth would be intense, God is the sovereign Lord. He is the all powerful creator God who is in control of nature. And this all powerful God cares about his people. God is able to stop the power of destruction to save the ones who follow him.

Apparently God put some sort of protective seal on his servants. Look at verse 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.” What is this seal that God puts on his people? A seal on a scroll or document indentified and protected its contents. A seal was a symbol of ownership, authentication, and protection. A signet ring made the distinctive impression on the seal. This seal is probably the name of the Lamb and His Father. God places his own seal on his followers, identifying them as his own and guaranteeing their protection from divine judgment while they carry out their service for God on the earth. Their seals may not protect them from harm that other people inflict on them but it does protect them from the divine judgments sent on unbelievers.  Nothing can harm our souls when we have been sealed by God. This shows how valuable we are to him.

We have already been sealed already by the Holy Spirit of God. Ephesians 1:13 reads, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” Paul states, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor 1:21-22). Thank God who is marking us out as his own through our Lord Jesus Christ. May people see the seal of God on your life given to you by his grace.

Why the forehead? The forehead was chosen because it was the most conspicuous. It would make your faith and your priorities very clear to everyone. Cain received a seal on his forehead, from God, to protect him from his enemies. Hindus have religious markings on their foreheads. Pious Muslims have prayer calluses on their foreheads. So many people are afraid of looking “too religious” or being called “religious fanatics”. They criticize politicians who wear their religion on their sleeve. But we learn from this passage that true believers will not just wear their religion on their sleeves but on their foreheads. So let’s get over being ashamed of Jesus and Jesus’ words and boldly proclaim our faith while we live in this world. If we are ashamed of Jesus and his words, then he will be ashamed of us when he comes in his Father’s glory. (Mark 8:38)

Who were sealed in this passage? Look at verse 4. “Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.” The 144,000 belong to Jesus (Rev 14:1-5). They are all those who suffer for their faith while on earth. God seals these believers either by withdrawing them from the earth (This is called the rapture) or by giving them special strength and courage to make it through this time of great persecution. This means that all of God’s followers will be brought safely to him. Not one will be overlooked or forgotten. In short…they are protected by God in the midst of their sufferings. They will remain true to him until the end.

Let’s take a closer look at the listings of the various tribes. Let’s read verses 5-8, “From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,  ⁶from the tribe of Asher 12,000,  from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, ⁷from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,  from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, ⁸from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.” This is a symbolic list of God’s true followers. We can learn something about what is important to God. (1) Judah is mentioned because first because Judah is both the tribe of David and of Jesus the Messiah  (Gen 49:8-12; Matt 1:1). The Messiah would come from Judah.  (2) Levi has no tribal allotment because of the Levites’ work for God in the temple (Deut 18:1), but here the tribe is given a place as a reward for faithfulness. (3) Dan is not mentioned because it was the first tribe to establish idolatry in Israel (Judg. 18:30; cf. 1 Ki 12:29-30). It was known for rebellion and idolatry, traits unacceptable for God’s followers. (Gen 49:17). (4) The two tribes representing Joseph (usually called Ephraim and Manasseh, after Joseph’s sons) are called Joseph and Manasseh here because of Ephraim’s rebellion. Like Dan, Ephraim was also notorious for idol worship. This tribe was the head of the Northern Kingdom of Israel that apostatized under King Jeroboam I’s leadership. The listing of Manasseh honors Manasseh’s faithfulness; contrasting it to the house of Ephraim’s unfaithfulness. We tend to overlook these long lists, but we can learn something about God from this list. Things like, God hates idolatry in the hearts of his people and he honors faithfulness greatly. Also each tribe has 12,000 each, in reality some of these tribes were very large and some were small. But in God they are all equal in his eyes.

Next, what about the great multitude? Let’s read verse 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.”  The great multitude is different from the 144,000. They are the ones who made into heaven. They are from every nation, tribe, people and language and are people who have been faithful to Jesus in the midst of suffering. Believers must go through their time of sufferings as they remain faithful to God. God refines their faith to make it pure as gold.

Let’s think a little bit about what it means to be faithful to God. We know what it means to be faith to a boyfriend or a girl friend. What about being faithful to a spouse or a job? Well, these things give us a clue as to what it means to be faithful to God. No matter who we are, or what church we go to, we must meet Jesus personally and commit ourselves to learning and teaching the gospel no matter what. For the faithful in this passage it cost them their very lives. The faithful are those who are rooted in Christ. The gospel is their life. Such people often miss out on worldly affairs for the sake of Jesus. There is no short cut, or easy way to living a faithful life. God is serious about us being faithful and he will be at our side to help us when we step out in faith.  It all starts with a prayer, “Lord, help me to be a little more faithful to you than yesterday and more faithful to you tomorrow than I am today.”

Part ll: The Heart Of Worship (13-15a)

We can learn the heart of worship from this great multitude. Look at verse 9 again. “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.”  A great multitude is a number so great that no one can count. Over the millennia millions upon millions of people have come to saving faith in Jesus and have been added to this multitude. They are comprised from all different types of people. When we go to church we should see people of every nation and language. It would look something like the crowds at the World Cup in South Africa. They also came out of the Great Tribulation. This was a time of extreme suffering. But in the midst of their suffering they did not give up their faith. We all have our own sufferings, where we are all tempted to give up our faith. One friend of mine has suffered a lot in life. I over heard him say, “I don’t even know if I believe anymore.” I pray that he becomes a member of this Great Multitude who did not give up their faith even in the midst of life’s hardships and struggles. No true believer ever needs to worry about whether they will be part of this great multitude or not. God includes and protects each of us, and we are guaranteed a place in his presence.

We can learn so many things about worship. “All together.” This is significant. They were standing all together in front of the throne of God, right in front of Jesus. There is a movement going on, and it has been going on for the past thirty years to by-pass the church. People tend to over emphasize their own personal relationship with Jesus at the expense of corporate worship. But worship is heaven is worshipping together with other believers, probably shoulder to shoulder. Standing in front Jesus the Lamb, means that they are there with open, honest, humble, transparent hearts, laying out our hearts before God. All the people were waving palm branches. We saw this when the people were welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem as he was riding on a donkey. It is what people did when they were inaugurating a king. The Jews also used palm branches in the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was a time of great joy. The Roman world used the laying of palm branches to symbolize victory. They obviously knew who they were worshipping, Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. They were celebrating an eternal victory. They were praising God loudly. They were not concerned about what other people think about. They were only focusing on Jesus and worshipping before him.

This crowd was wearing white robes symbolic of their righteousness and purity. How did they get these white robes? Look at verse 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.” They belong to Jesus because they have been washed in his blood. It is difficult to imagine how Jesus’ blood could whiten any cloth, but the blood of Jesus is the world’s greatest purifier because it removes the stain of our sins. Sin really stains our lives and makes us dirty. White robes means sinless perfection or holiness, which can be given to people only through faith in the sacrifice and shed blood of the sinless Lamb of God. We need these robes. And God really wants to give each of us these white robes to wear. He tells us in Isaiah 1:18, “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool’”   This is our only hope of righteousness. Amen.

They knew where their salvation came from. In our pluralistic society is not easy to find out where salvation comes from. Very few people seem to know or have the guts to tell others clearly. Well, we see clearly where salvation comes from in verse 10, “And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”  Peter states it clearly in Acts 4:11 when he says, “He(Jesus) is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.^{’ 12}Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.’” Those who will worship in heaven know that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. (Jn 14:6) They followed that way; they lived by that truth; and sought eternal life in Jesus and they came to stand before the throne of their Father in Heaven.

We can see the intensity of their worship. Let’s read verse 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,” These were the angels and the 24 elders and the four living creature surrounding the throne of God. The 24 elders represented the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel. They had every reason to glory in their own personal achievements and accomplishments. The angels could have reveled in their own power, beauty and glory. But they did not. They laid it all before God, falling face first on the ground. I’m sure the Great Multitude would have fallen to, but they were standing too close to each other. The point is, they gave everything to God. They offered all their glory and honor and sent it right back to God, saying in verse 12, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” So often we want to revel in our own human glory, beauty, power and strength and give none of the glory back to God. How foolish! How long can you enjoy your human glory anyway? Where did we get the glory, honor, strength and wisdom from in the first place? From God. And why did he give it to you? To glorify him alone. True worship is laying down all our crowns and laurels and giving all glory to God with willingness and thanksgiving. This is getting back to the heart of worship.

Verse 15a, reveals another aspect of their worship. “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple.” Worshipping and serving Jesus is not just once and while. It is not a hobby. It is calling…a 24/7 calling. Their worship of God was a relationship, a walking with the Lord. Those who make into the great multitude realized this before they even made it into heaven.

Part lll: God Will Wipe Away All Tears (15b-17)

Even though the faithful must go through the great tribulation, God will provide for his children’s needs in their eternal home. Look at verses 15b-17, “…and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them ¹⁶Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷For 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.”” There will be no hunger, thirst, and he will wipe away all of our tears. He will shelter us. There is an end in sight to suffering and it is glorious. We will be fully sheltered and comforted by God. These rewards are also promised for today’s believers in order to encourage them to be faithful (21:1- 5). All the things that cause us suffering will be over. We must take comfort in this truth as we carry our own crosses while on earth.

In this passage we learned that God has placed his seal on us when we repented and believed. He sealed us with the Holy Spirit. This seals us to eternal life. We learn that God honors faithfulness and hates idolatry in the hearts of his people. There is a great reward for those who are faithful. Let us purge our hearts of all American idols and be a little more faithful to God than yesterday. Let us get back to the heart of worship, with the same spirit that we will worship Jesus into eternity.

Part l: Salvation Belongs To Our God (1-12)

1. Read vs. 1-3. John sees the four angels holding back the four winds of the earth. (1,2)  How does it show that God is in control of the events? What does the number “four” show about the divine judgment?  How does another angel put a seal of the living God on his people? (3) What does the seal symbolize? (3,Eph1:13)

2. Read vs.4-8. What does the number, 144,000 represent? (4)  How is the list of the tribes of Israel here different from the normal list?  Which tribes are unusually omitted or included?  What does it imply by “all the tribes of Israel”? (4)

3. Read vs. 9-10.  What does God show John in the heavenly scene? (9)  What do their clothes and palm branches show about them?  How do they praise God? (10)  Who do they represent? (14)

4. Read vs. 11-12.  Where are all the angels standing? (11)  How do they worship and praise God for the salvation of the believers? (12)

Part ll: God Will Wipe Away All Tears (13-17)

5. Read vs. 13-17.  How does a great multitude come out of the great tribulation? (14)  How does God provide shelter from the judgment? (16,16:8)  How does God bless and comfort them? (17, 21:3,4)  How will this heavenly scene encourage the believers who go through the tribulation?