Sealed - 144,000

After this I saw

Four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,

and holding back the four winds of the earth

so that no wind should blow over the earth

or the sea or upon any tree.

and I saw

Another angel ascending from the east

and carrying a seal belonging

to the ever-living God.

He called in a loud voice

to the four angels

whose work it was to injure the earth and the sea:

‘Injure neither land nor sea nor trees,

until we have sealed

the bondservants

of our God

upon their foreheads.’

When the sealing was finished,

I heard how many were sealed

out of the tribes of the descendants of Israel:

they were one hundred and forty-four thousand:

Of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Symeon, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand;

Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand;

The “Who”

(The answer of “Who can stand?” in Revelation 6:17)

(Answer: “The Sealed”)

Two Interlude Visions:

(1) 144,000 Sealed (winds restrained)

(2) Great Multitude (glimpse of final bliss)

7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds
of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

Interludes are about God’s people
This comfortable chapter secures the graces and comforts of the people of God in times of common calamity (MH)
It’s as if the story is put on pause so the angel can answer the tension of John’s heart wondering what is happening

to the church during the tribulation

Who can survive? (LB)
Four corners of the earth: east, west, north, and south (W)
Four corners – on the extreme parts of the land of Judea, called “the land”, or earth, by way of eminence. (AC)
Holding the four winds – probably, restraining human passions and wrath (W)
Holding the four winds – preventing evil from every quarter (AC)
Four winds represent destructive forces from every direction (NCBC)
An account of the restraint laid upon the winds. By these winds we suppose are meant those errors which would

occasion a great deal of trouble and mischief to the church of God. The spirits of error are compared to the four winds,
contrary one to another, but doing much hurt to the garden and vineyard of God. Errors are as wind, by which those who
are unstable are shaken. (MH)

They are restrained by the ministry of angels -- the spirit of error cannot go forth until God permits it. Angels minister

to the good of the church by restraining its enemies. Their restraint was only for a season, and that was until the servants
of God were sealed. (MH)

The judgments to descend on these are in answer to the martyrs’ prayer under the fifth seal (JFB)

References: Jeremiah 49:36 (Against Elam I will bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and scatter them toward all those winds;
there shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go.); Daniel 7:2 (Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the
four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea); Zechariah 6:5 (And the angel answered and said to me, “These are four spirits of heaven,
who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth.); Matthew 24:31 (And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other); Revelation 7:3; 8:7; 9:4; 9:14; 20:8; Isaiah 11:12
(And He will lift up a standard for the nations, and will assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four
corners of the earth.); Ezekiel 7:2 (And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel, ‘An end! The end is coming on the four
corners of the land.)

7:2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried
with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea.

Before the judgments are released, God seals His servants (NCBC)
From the east – from the rising of the sun (W) (JFB)
The east is the quarter from which God’s glory oftenest manifests itself (JFB)
Some understand this to mean Christ who is called ‘the east’ in Luke 1:78 (AC)
Having a seal–with which to mark the servants of God to distinguish them from others (W)
A seal on a scroll or document identified and protected its contents (LB)
The seal which God’s servants are to be sealed is elsewhere called His name (14:1; 22:4) (JFB)
A seal’s most general idea seems to be that of security and safeguarding. (TB)
This work committed to an angel. Another angel – not one restraining the winds (MH)
Four angels – particular agents employed by divine providence in the management of the affairs of the earth (AC)

References: Revelation 16:12; 9:4; 7:3; 9:14; Isaiah 41:2 (Who raised up one from the east? Who in righteousness called him to His feet? Who
gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? Who gave them as the dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow?)
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (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.); Ephesians 1:13-14 (You … 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, who is a deposit guaranteeing
our inheritance until the redemption of those whoa re God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.)

7:3 saying “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on
their foreheads.”

Do not harm – let no disturbance come upon the earth until God’s people sealed (W)
God’s love is such, that He cannot do anything in the way of judgment, until His people are secured from hurt

(Genesis 19:22) (JFB)

How they are distinguished: the seal of God was set upon their foreheads (MH)
By sealing we are to understand consecrating the persons in a more especial manner to God, and showing by this

mark of God upon them that they were under His more immediate protection (AC)

This Seal of God placed on the foreheads of His servants is the exact opposite of the mark of the beast explained

in 13:16. These two marks place the people in two distinct categories—those owned by God and those owned by satan.
This portrays a theme running throughout Revelation: satan’s attempt to imitate the great works of God. (LB)

This sealing is based on Ezekiel 9:4, where those inhabitants of Jerusalem who deplore her abominations have a

mark (the X mark of the Hebrew letter ‘taw’) put on their foreheads to safeguard them in the impending judgment on the
city (Z)

Forehead = thoughts
Foreheads – the most conspicuous and noblest part of man’s body; on which the helmet, “the hope of salvation” is

worn (JFB)

By this mark they were set apart for mercy and safety in the worst of times (MH)
Acts 17:26 – God is the author of history – He moves boundaries of nations to create turmoil so sinful disavow their

value systems and come to Jesus. He will not violate will of man to produce a valid lover.

References: Revelation 6:6; 7:3-8; 14:1; 13:16; 14:9; 20:4; Ezekiel 9:4 (and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the
midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sign and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.), 6 (Utterly
slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My
sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple); Revelation 22:4; John 3:33 (He who has received His testimony has
certified that God is true.); Genesis 19:22 (Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”)

7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the
tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

3 is the divine number, multiplied by 4, the number for worldwide extension. 12 by 12 implies fixity and completeness,

which is taken a thousand fold in 144,000. A thousand implies the world perfectly pervaded by the divine; for it is ten, the
world number, raised to the power of three, the number of God (JFB)

God reveals that 144,000 Jewish believers will be able to stand in victory. The angel explained to John, that these

saints would receive a protective seal before God struck the earth, sea and trees, the very areas affected by the first four
Trumpets. In other words, God will put a protective seal on people before the Trumpet judgments are released. In Exodus,
Israel received a protective mark on their doors as a seal to saving them from the plague of the death of the first-born.
Many saints will be protected in the end time judgment.

This is by some supposed to be a definite for an indefinite, but very large number of believers, both Jews and

gentiles, who constitute the true Israel of God (W)

They are first fruits of victory and a model – it is not just for us to rejoice in – they are literally 144,000 Jewish

believers.

It may surprise you, but they are both male and female. And I believe that most of them are young people. They are

the

first fruits of victory – of a victorious harvest – of which there is going to be a tremendous amount of victory and

harvest that

follows after them. That is the definition of a first fruit. The initial down payment – break through – it is

not by any means

the full break through – that is the definition of a first fruits in the Bible.

And we are to look at this and to say, “If this is what You are doing Lord, do it here too.” And again in like kind of a

lesser measure – of a different way – I don’t expect there to be 144,000 in every city in the earth that have a personal
visitation of the Lord together in the way this describes. But I do believe like kind in lesser measure we will see the same
thing in the cities and churches all throughout the earth. I want to believe that this reality will happen here in a lesser
intensity but some of the same dimension of activity of the Holy Spirit.

These are real Jewish people. It just says that – Revelation 7:1-8 – only two sections talk about this group. You can

compare them and look at them. In Revelation 7 it makes it very clear that they are ethnic Jews – they are from the twelve
tribes. Someone will say, “We don’t know who the twelve tribes are today.” You don’t have to – just God has to. We don’t
have to sign them up or put ads in the newspaper – God’s doing it. It’s not a problem – He’s really smart. He has it figured
out easy. That is one of the big arguments: “How will we know?” We don’t have to know – what really matters is that God
knows – and they know. “Well how will they know?” I have a feeling when God seals them they know something is up.
“What did you do today, honey?” “Oh, my goodness, you’re not going to believe what happened. I met the Lord today.”
They will know it.

What is very clear is that these Jewish people were not lost – God knows where the scattered Jews are. God wants a
representative group from each of these tribes at the end of history. They are preserved on earth from all that is

happening.

(DP)

So here is what we picture: the Lord has 144,000 on Mount Zion. How does He get them there? I don’t know. But He

is so smart He knows how to get them there. He can appear to them all in dreams. That is the easy part. They are there.
He stands in front of them like He did with Saul of Tarsus; He stands in front of them like He stood before the twelve apostles
– but this time it’s not twelve – its 12 times 12 with zeros.

144,000 – complete church – perfect number – 12x12x1,000 perfect cube – 10 to the 3rd power; complete number

of God’s elect (TB) (LB) (HBH)

Sealed = security and safeguarding (TB)
The seal does not necessarily guarantee protection from physical harm—many will die—but God protects them from

spiritual harm. These believers will not fall away from God even in intense persecution. (LB)

A ‘mark’ placed on them to safeguard them against spiritual attack and make them invulnerable to spiritual destruction.

It is a seal which will remain on them until the day of redemption. God’s spirit-filled people will be able to stand amid even the
fiercest opposition. (AC)

This is not saying that 144,000 individuals must be sealed before the persecution comes, but that when it begins, we

can know the faithful have already been sealed (marked by God) and will remain true to Him until the end. (LB)

References: Revelation 9:16; 14:1, 3

7:5           of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Reuben twelve;
             of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;

First, we are to observe that the tribe of Levi is here mentioned, though that tribe had no inheritance in Israel; but

they now belonged to the spiritual priesthood. Secondly, that the tribe of Dan, which had an inheritance, is here omitted,
as also the tribe of Ephraim. Thirdly, that the tribe of Joseph is here added in the place of Ephraim. Ephraim and Dan,
being the principal promoters of idolatry, are left out in this enumeration. (AC)

Judah (meaning praise) stands first, as Jesus’ tribe. Benjamin, the youngest, is last; and with him is associated

second last, Joseph. Reuben, as originally first-born, comes next after Judah, to whom it gave place having by sin lost its
primogeniture-right. Besides the reason given above, another akin for the omission of Dan, is, its having been the first to
lapse into idolatry; for which same reason the name Ephraim, also is omitted, and Joseph substituted. Dan’s small numbers
are joined here to Naphtali’s brother he was by the same mother. (JFB)

This is a different list from the usual listing of the twelve tribes in the Old Testament, because it is a symbolic list of

God’s true followers. (LB)

Judah is mentioned first because Judah is both the tribe of David and of Jesus the Messiah (LB)
Joseph being substituted for Dan whether because the antichrist is to come from Dan or because Dan is to be the

antichrist’s especial tool. (Just as there was a Judas among the twelve.) (JFB)

7:6           of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;

7:7           of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;

Levi had no tribal allotment because of the Levites’ work for God in the Temple, but here the tribe is given a place

as a reward for faithfulness. (LB)

7:8           of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand;
             of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand.

The two tribes representing Joseph (usually called Ephraim and Manasseh, after Joseph’s sons) are here called

Joseph and Manasseh because of Ephraim’s rebellion. (LB)