Revelation 7

1. After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

The men of the earth were screaming in fear and asking, “Who can stand during the wrath of God?” God is going to show us who is able to stand during this time.

2. Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said to the four angels,

We receive God’s seal of protection as soon as we give our lives to Christ. The angels held back the troubles on the earth so that the people who were getting saved could receive God’s seal. Later, we see that the angels could know which ones belonged to God when they saw the seal.

3. “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees before we put the sign on the people who serve our God. We must put the sign on their foreheads.”

The people of the earth will watch and see that God’s people are protected and they are not.

4. Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel.

God had always planned for Israel to be a witness to the rest of the world. They failed to do that job, but now He gives them another chance.

5 – 8

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were marked with the sign, 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 12,000.

The list leaves out Dan because they worshiped idols. It adds the tribe of Levi, and it replaces the tribe of Ephraim with the tribe of Joseph. This should prove that God is not finished with Israel. Romans 11:2

9 – 12

Then I looked, and there was a great number of people. There were so many people that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands.

They were shouting in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

The elders and the four living things were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.

They were saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”

It makes sense to think that after the tribes of Israel were sealed, they began leading people to Christ. This will bring the greatest revival that has ever been on the face of the earth. Just think if the Jews had been doing this all through their history!

13 – 14

Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?” I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”

And the elder said, “These are the people who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes with the blood of the Lamb. Now they are clean and white.

This shows us that not everyone on earth was hiding in a cave. These are the people who saw God’s wrath, and gave their lives to Christ, and were killed by the antichrist.

15 – 17

And they are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in His temple. And the One who sits on the throne will protect them.

Those people will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

We see that these people lived through the famine and all the other changes on the earth, and they cry out to God with thanks because they know what they have been saved from.