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Who are the 144,000 sealed by God? Rev. 7:1-8

Overflowing with “vision and song, doom and deliverance, terror and triumph,” as Eugene Peterson points out in The Message, Revelation is a rush of color and sound, image, and energy, that leaves us reeling. But if we persist through the confusion and read on, we begin to pick up the rhythms, realize the connections, and find ourselves enlisted as participants in a multidimensional act of Christian worship.” Peterson goes on to say, “Our times are not propitious for worship. The times never are. The world is hostile to worship. The Devil hates worship. As The Revelation makes clear, worship must be carried out under conditions decidedly uncongenial to it. Some Christians even get killed because they worship,” but the reward is great, a deeper urgency and joy in worship. Does that mean they are lost? No. They may have suffered earthly wrath, but they are spared God’s wrath.

Before God pours out his wrath on a wicked world, he will give us, his people, spiritual protection. The interlude of Revelation 7 stands between the sixth and seventh seal judgments. The interlude of chapter 7 consists of two visions: the protective sealing of the 144,000 on earth (7:1-8) and the celebration of the great multitude in heaven (7:9-17). These two visions likely depict the same people of God but do so from two different perspectives. First, we see the people of God on earth arrayed in battle formation and protected from divine judgments to come. Second, we see the people of God in heaven, celebrating God’s faithfulness in sustaining their victorious endurance.

Revelation 6 concluded with an important question: Who can withstand the wrath of God and the Lamb (6:17)? Among the inhabitants of the earth, the answer is clearly “no one.” But Revelation 7:1-8 offers a different and more hopeful answer: God’s servants will be able to endure or “stand” because of God’s protective seal. Therefore, the great multitude is later portrayed as “standing” before the throne in 7:9.

This interlude pictures the people of God being sealed prior to the outpouring of God’s judgments and the same people later celebrating in heaven. God’s people are protected from his wrath, but not the wrath of the beast and his followers. This explains why they can be sealed and simultaneously suffer martyrdom. We will never experience the wrath or condemning judgment of God (Rom. 8:1), but we may experience opposition, persecution, and death at the hands of evil forces.

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.”

Four angels stand at the four corners of the earth, every part of the world. These four winds are destructive forces which are held in check by the four angels under God’s sovereign command.

7:2-3 “Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called . . . ‘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.'”

The four angels are commanded not to harm the land or sea or trees until the servants of God have been sealed. God’s coming judgments will affect the earth, but they are here restrained for a time. This angel brings the “seal of the living God” for his servants, a sign that they belong to God and will be protected from divine judgments. The seal on the forehead indicates ownership and protection and distinguishes the servants of God from inhabitants of the earth.

John’s vision draws on two Old Testament images. Passover and a man with an ink horn in Ezekiel. Marking blood on the doorposts of the Hebrew’s homes was a God-given sign protecting them from judgment that the Egyptians received. In Ezekiel 9 there is a man with an ink horn who is told to mark the people faithful to God with a Hebrew Tau (X or +), on the forehead so they might be spared when judgment came. In the New Testament Paul talks about Christians being sealed with the Holy Spirit. While the Holy Spirit isn’t said to protect us from anything, the image is one of security.

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

The number 144,000 appears only in Revelation 7:4 and in 14:1, 3, suggesting the number represents the same group both places. Both Revelation 7 and 14 serve as interludes, where we see the righteous, the 144,000, sealed or protected by God. The number itself results from multiplying the square of 12 by 1000, emphasizing the people of God in its totality and fullness. While some see the 144,000 as referring to literal Israel or a Jewish remnant, perhaps suggested by the phrase “from all the tribes of Israel,” it is more likely the group represents the true people of God or the whole company of the redeemed. This is the case because numbers in Revelation normally represent reality figuratively. The expression “servants of God” from verse 3 signifies believers throughout Revelation. The seal of God is also connected with believers throughout Revelation, just as unbelievers bear the mark of the beast. Taking other details about the group literally becomes very problematic. Does Rev. 14:4 really mean that only 144,000 male virgins from 12 tribes of Israel will be protected?

What’s more, the list of tribes in verses 5-8 hints at a symbolic interpretation. The Old Testament lists themselves do not agree with one another, and by John’s time most of the tribes were unidentifiable. Notice Judah heads the list because this is the tribe to which Jesus belonged. The tribe of Dan is missing, likely due to its association with idolatry and apostasy, as is Ephraim, perhaps due to its opposition to Judah. Levi is included, maybe because the people of God are portrayed in Revelation as priests. Finally, the term “tribe” is used throughout Revelation in a universal sense.

As in other parts of the New Testament, Revelation portrays the church as the authentic continuation of Israel–the true Israel of God (Matt. 19:28; Rom. 2:29; 9:6) John uses the image of the 144,000 to highlight the Jewish heritage of all Christians. Gentile Christians have been “grafted into Israel’s heritage alongside Jewish Christians” and can treasure a spiritual heritage in the patriarchs and prophets of ancient Israel that runs deeper than any other ethnic heritage.

What do we take away from these visions?

On earth, as God’s people, we are engaged in a spiritual battle. The number 144,000 represents God’s people arrayed in battle formation. Is that a surprise?

On Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the United States naval base in Hawaii was attacked without warning. The assault was devastating, consisting of two waves and lasting nearly two hours. There were 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, and 1,143 servicemen and 35 civilians were wounded. Eight battleships were sunk or damaged; many planes were lost. One day later, the United States was drawn into World War II. For the Japanese forces, that war had already begun. Though we had not declared war, they had. Whether we know it or not, Christians are in a spiritual war! The enemy is not flesh and blood but spiritual in nature. This enemy is on a mission to destroy our lives. We should not be caught by surprise. Believers are called to a life of spiritual warfare.

Whether we like it or not, we are in a spiritual war, engaged against unseen forces of wickedness (cf. Eph. 6:10-20). There may occasionally be cease-fires and periods of recuperation, but we’ll always be in a spiritual struggle this side of heaven. Just when we think life is ok, the enemy launches another attack. For this reason, we must first recognize our situation and learn to resist the devil’s attacks. We must also follow the lead of the Spirit against the forces of darkness. Above all, we must arm ourselves with the gospel of peace and the Word of God and make sure we fight like Christ. We see in Revelation 12:11 that we triumph over Satan through reliance on Christ’s atoning sacrifice, through our witness, and a willingness to suffer. This is part of what it means to fight like our Lord.

As God’s people we have been sealed and protected against his judgments. God will bring judgment on a wicked world, and that includes allowing evil forces to carry out their destructive activity. But we see in the Scriptures a clear distinction between the wrath and persecution originating from evil forces and the wrath and condemnation coming from God. While as believers we may experience persecution, we’ll never experience God’s wrath because God has sealed and protected us. Sadly, some of us become so fascinated with battling evil we take on an unhealthy fear of evil. We give Satan too much credit and ascribe to him too much power. God assures us he will protect us spiritually from demonic assault. In 1 John 4:2-4, where John describes the “antichrist,” he also encourages us with these words: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

God’s Holy Spirit, who lives within us will guard and protect us from spiritual harm. If we do not have the Spirit of God living within us, we do not belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9). But conversely, if we do have the Spirit of God, we do belong to Christ, even on those days when we are plagued by doubts and fears. God has put his Holy Spirit within us to “seal” or protect us from the coming wrath. The Spirit also serves as God’s guarantee he will redeem us and this world. During times of intense spiritual struggle, we can know we truly belong to God. He will protect us until the day of Christ Jesus. We are called to overcome, but our perseverance is rooted in the grace of God made real in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. To receive that Spirit of God, repent, surrender to God’s love and by faith accept Christ as your Savior, today.

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Rev. Charles Eldredge is pastor of Maitland Church of the Brethren, Lewistown, PA where he is currently serving in his 27th year. He graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in S. Hamilton, Mass.

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