Revelation 7 vs 1-8
The last chapter was a tough one. The Great Tribulation is in full swing! The final tantrum of the fallen angel to steal, to kill and to destroy as much as possible, well, in fact really destroy almost everything, before Jesus returns to take unto Himself what He secured by His blood. Which is the total redemption of the purchased possession! Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory!”
Those that the enemy has no authority over, (because they have given their lives to a new Master, coming under the care and protection (through faith/obedience) of God Himself), have been extracted. The rapture occurring in Revelation Chapter 4 verse 1, and now, those on earth have seen the antichrist revealed, and following him was war, death and desperation. Then the Tribulation Saints, those killed for their faith, for coming to faith during the final moments of Satan’s reign upon this earth. Then all the stars fall, every mountain and every island moved out of its place as the world is in complete upheaval and disarray.
Then Chapter 7. God deploys grace. But this is the Great Tribulation! This is the time of final judgement! Everything happening, as horrible as it is, is righteous and true judgement! Yes… AND…, your Creator, our God, is the entirety of love. That is who He is. Love was before. Before creation, before me, before you…before there was any of this, there was love and that was all that there was…then God created, and His creation was born out of…love. It’s made out of the stuff. John 1:3 says, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” The inner workings of humanity, my own heart, how do I navigate to the right decision, attitude, course…, the answer is love. Because that is the source code of it all…, here’s the problem though.
John 1:4, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” The problem I have is in the comprehension of the love, life and light. The seeing and trusting and removal of confusion, rejecting the convenient for the correct…I have my own human reason to contend with, my own emotions, my own soul, my own flesh, this world, and the constant barrage of distractions and lies of the enemy. And so, confusion…but here is the truth, the love of God, first received, then reciprocated and then deployed and distributed through me and through you…listen, that is the answer. To what question? Yes…
Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” All what things? Everything you worry about and honestly strive for…that is what Matthew 6 is all about…It’s so pervasive this thought…love was, always…it’s the source code upon which the cosmos is written, and in whatever circumstance, situation or relationship, if the source code is accessed, it doesn’t fail…
Revelation 7 is a scene in the Great Tribulation but even in it…we see the source code of who God is and even creation…as in the midst of judgement upon sin, God yet deploys grace….
Revelation Chapter 7 Verse 1
· Chapter 6 ended with quite a troubling scene on earth. The earth is shaking, the sun somehow has been blacked out, the moon has become like blood. The stars have fallen, the sky has receded like a scroll and every island and mountain have been moved out of its place. The earth is in uproar and the people are panicked and there at the end of Chapter 6, John asks, “Who is able to stand?”
· Interesting that the first sentence of the next chapter, the next direct scene, the next thing that happens that we are given, is that angels are standing… Angels are described in Hebrews 1:13-14 where it says, “To which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?” Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister…?” The angels of God are on the earth and sent forth to do one simple thing. The will of the Father. Take the heart of God and the goodness of God and deliver like a message, like a package, to the world. Deploy the source code! These are able to stand. The same will be for you!!
· And John saw these four standing angels at the four corners of the earth and some erroneously use this verse as a proof-text for a flat earth argument. Years ago, the United States Marines published an advertisement that read, “Our Marines are stationed on the four corners of the earth!” Are you saying that the US Marines believe that the earth is flat? No, what we have here is a bit of symbology….
· John is speaking in terms of the entire earth. From north to south to east to west and the Greek word here for “corners” is also properly translated, “quarters.” The Bible was in fact the first source to present a spherical earth and was criticized for a time before science caught up to it, (as usual). Proverbs 8 talks about the “circle of the face of the deep,” Isaiah 40 speaks of the “circle of the earth,” and even Job 26, which many agree Job is the oldest book in the Bible dating back to 1500BC speaks of a circular horizon upon the surface of the waters. So, we move on from this silly non-salvation centered discussion…
· In Bible typology, wind speaks of judgment. And so, seals have been opened, the scene on earth is shockingly awful, and suddenly the wind stops. There’s a pause in the outpouring of judgement while God deploys grace, He deploys His servants…that’s essentially what verses 2 – 9 are…let’s look…
Revelation Chapter 7 Verses 2 – 8
· The command from one seemingly special angel to the other four is, “Don’t do any harm…until the servants of God are deployed.” I find that interesting, and I have seen this in my own life and the life of others…that harm ceases when the servants of God are deployed. I mean it’s just as simple as that.
· Pray for Godly servants of righteousness, truth, hope, grace and love in your life…that God would provide them for your…because when the servants of God are deployed/present, judgment can be and often is halted as you are encouraged, discouragement is defeated through discussion, and the strength of our spirit surges…but…but…this one is for you…when they come, when they present themselves as possible mentors or folks for you to be accountable to and to receive counsel from, you have a part to play in that as well in allowing that for yourself.
· That’s the hard part. Because to be counselable (new word) you have to be vulnerable and you have to be correctable (wanting to change – I first wrote down “willing” but man if you ever want to really change and grow up, it’s got to be more than willing…, it’s got to be wanting). Pride wants none of that. Won’t have it…but your life, and my life, we all so desperately need Godly change and deployed servants of God. Not deployed servants of us, or our emotions, or our natural tendencies, or servants that agree with us on 98% of everything…we need real Godly folks, strong advocates who truly love us…that means they don’t allow or do things that can harm us…with an unwavering spirit for the things of God in our lives…
· Flip the track, one more quick thing on that, are you a servant of God? If so, then where you go, harm lessens and hopefully stops. Why? Because you are a conduit of truth, grace, mercy and love. (A forth telling of the heart and mind of Christ…) Christian, that is OUR ministry on this earth!
· We have a couple of other things here…first, angels taking orders from an angel which shows us that there is order in heaven. We see these 144,000 sealed for the serving of God on earth which is precisely the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. Ephesians 1:13-14 which is one of my favorites says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
· So, you too, Christian, have been sealed and locked inside of your heart of hearts is the presence of God Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. Sealed for what? Same as these in Revelation 7, to serve the Lord. Also, interesting and encouraging, these 144,000 all of them go through all of the Great Tribulation, and all of them make it out just fine. We will see that later in Revelation 14.
· And so, take heart, you will make it too… You’re sealed! Not make it through the Great Tribulation, but trusting in God and following Him, you’ll make it just fine through the troubles and difficulties you face as well. God does not fail…and He is sealed into my OS…I take heart in that.
· Now, you may have noticed that the 12 tribes listed here are different than the 12 tribes that we see in Genesis 49. Who is missing? The Tribe of Dan. Why? All kinds of ideas, I present you with one, maybe two…
· In Deuteronomy 29 God specifically states that any tribe involved in idolatry would be separated from the remaining tribes of Israel and that is precisely what happened to Dan.
· When they came into the Promised Land, the people of Dan were given coastal territory…but they grumbled. They weren’t happy with what God had provided. Total open door to idolatry…so watch out for that in your own life!
· They soon migrated away from their apportioned territory and headed north and finally settled north of the Sea of Galilee in close proximity to the pagans. They were the northern most tribe settlement…right next to their neighbors…and man bad company corrupts good habits, it’s a truth and shortly thereafter Dan fell into idolatry and just as Deuteronomy 29 prophesied, Dan was blotted out as a tribe.
· That’s one take. Another popular take is the thought that, perhaps just simply an addition to what we already discussed, is that the antichrist will be a Danite. When Jacob called his sons together in Genesis 49, he said to them in Genesis 49:1, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days…” So, you skip to verses 16-18 and get to Dan, this is what Jacob says, “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bits the horse’s heels so that its rider shall fall backward. I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!” So, some say that is perhaps why Dan is left out of the list here. Dan is certainly not, however, a “lost” tribe…
· When the Lord returns and establishes His kingdom upon the earth from Israel, we find in Ezekiel 48 verse 1 that the first tribe to receive a place to rest is….Dan. Not Rueben, the first born of Israel. Not Joseph, not even Judah from whom came Jesus…but Dan…the failed son.
· What incredible grace! The source code of creation on display. How great is the love of our God and the forgiveness of His heart towards you and me that just like Dan, while I ran head first into open denial of His power, majesty and authority…He divides out for me a mansion in His presence. He’ll do the same for you too, but you’ve got to get to comprehension…how? Want it…