The Prophecies of the Bible: Chapter 7

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:1 And after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

:2 And 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 given to hurt the earth and the sea,

:3 Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

:4 And I heard the number of those which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

:5 Of the tribe of Ju'da were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reu'ben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

:6 Of the tribe of Ash'er were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naph'ta-li were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Ma-nas'seh were sealed twelve thousand.

:7 Of the tribe of Sim'e-on were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Is'sa-char were sealed twelve thousand.

:8 Of the tribe of Zeb'u-lun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

:10 and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beast, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

:13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, What are these arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

:14 And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

:15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

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Revelation of Jesus Christ

Verse 1
"...standing on the four corners of the earth..."

Immediately following the notice of pending judgment (the sixth seal), we regress somewhat to see the setting up and eventual execution of the judgments which that seal announces.

John first sees four angels positioned around the earth in readiness to begin pouring out the wrath of Almighty God (the winds of judgment), as set forth in the scroll opened by the Lamb. One angel is set to the north; one to the east; one to the south, and one to the west (the four corners of the earth).

As will be seen later, these four shall work in concert with the first three angels who are given the trumpets in chapter 8. After the four arrive at their appointed stations, another angel comes from the east with the order that they are to withhold the execution of the judgments committed to them, until the servants of God receive the seal of the Almighty in their foreheads.

The "winds" of judgment which these four shall release upon the earth, will then be loosed by the sequential sounding of the first three trumpets of chapter 8. With the release of each of these judgments, the increase in intensity of their destruction will be readily apparent for all to see; yet the vast majority of the inhabitants of the earth, with their defiant attitude will not repent and turn to God.

The servants to be sealed from the harm unleashed by the four angels are twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. The names of these tribes, and the numbers sealed, are given in verses 5 - 8. In Rev. 21:12 it is stated that the names of the twelve tribes will be written upon the twelve gates of new Jerusalem, the holy city which is to come down from heaven.

A similiar sealing of the inhabitants of Jerusalem is found in Ezekiel 9: 2-11. There however, six angels are involved, rather than four, as shown in this chapter. One puts a mark on the foreheads of those. "...that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof."; and five go through out the city, slaying without pity, those without the mark.

Here in chapter 7, we see one descending from heaven with the seal of God, however; he states that no harm is to come to the earth until "we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads".

Verse 9
"... a great multitude...stood before the throne..."

In the beginning of this chapter, we see the 144,000 sealed in the earth. Now our attention is turned back to heaven, where we see a great multitude, which no man could number, standing before the throne of God.

It's not that there are an unlimited of people there, but that the crowd is so enormous that it cannot be accurately counted. We might liken it to someone standing at mid-field in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day, and attempting to count how many people are seated in the stands.

Given the fact, that John viewed this multitude immediately after seeing the sealing of the 144,000 is certainly suggestive that there is a link between the two groups. While we are seeing that the former are sealed from the harm of the judgments of the four angels; the great multitude, enter heaven only after going through "...great tribulation,..." (verse 14). It is most probable that the 144,000 as servants of God, bring the testimony of Jesus to the great multitude, which fully embraces it, and loves not their lives, even unto death.

The palm branches which they hold in their hands is an acknowledgement that the Lamb (Jesus) is the Messiah, the King of Israel, promised by God in Scripture. The same sentiment was expressed by many when Jesus entered Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion {John 12: 12-13}.
"... what are these...arrayed in white robes?..."

Upon being asked this question, John is at a loss for words to answer. He is then told that these are those "which came out of great tribulation". These, obviously, are martyred during the second half of the tribulation period. The use of the phrase "...great tribulation.", identifies the time frame as being different from the "beginning of sorrows", or the first half of the tribulation period.
Verses 15 - 17
"... they are before the throne of God..."

Forever safe and comforted, these saints now dwell in the presence of the Most High. These verses also speak to the time when the Lamb will lead them into the glorious kingdom, where they will forever find peace and unspeakable joy.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

After viewing the notice of pending judgment in the sixth seal, John now see four angels sent forth to the four corners of the earth. These are ready to begin executing the wrath of God upon the disobedient of the earth.

Before they begin to act however, another angel comes from the east and commands them to withhold the judgments until the servants of God receive a mark in their foreheads. This mark is to protect the servants from the wrath which is to be poured out. The sealing is of twelve thousand saints of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, or 144,000 total.

Following this, John is shown a great multitude in heaven standing before the throne. One of the twenty-four elders questions John as to their identity. Unable to answer the elder, he is told that these are those who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes. They now stand before the God of heaven to serve Him, and shall never be afflicted again with the things which press the inhabitants of the earth.

The chapter ends by stating that the Lamb will lead them, as a shepherd, to living fountains of water.

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