The Revelation 7:

Reading #434 The sealing

The time is coming when the religious decree will go forth prohibiting men and women to “buy or sell” unless he or she has the mark of the image beast.  See  Note 1, Revelation 13:17.  But between then and now we are shown that God has it all under control.  If we learn the lesson now we’ll believe it then.

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Revelation 7:

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 [the planet], nor on the sea [the people], nor on any tree [the Christians].

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John saw the “winds” of earthly strife being restrained by four angels who represent ALL the angels at work in this world, therefore no insurmountable crisis can arise in the world in the near future.  There will be many problems, such as famines, pestilences and earth movements, increasing as time goes by, but none causing the total destruction of the earth.  The reason for this is that although the rejecters of God’s mercy are capable of destroying themselves, we are not ready.  There is a work yet to be done by Christians, and THEN the angels will be bidden to let go, that the four winds may “blow” upon the earth.  (Note 2, Matthew 24:14.)  That will be a decisive time for God's children, the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. 

But right now is our opportunity to work, for the LORD has long been waiting for human instrumentalities through whom He can finish the controversy.  He has been saying, “All things are ready, come to the marriage [judgment]” for quite a while.  Matthew 22:4.  How much longer will He be obliged to wait for men and women to respond to the call: “Go work today in My vineyard”?  Matthew 21:28.

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Revelation 7:

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” [the sealing means that they will not give up].

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Here John saw a messenger of God approaching the earth from space, calling on the four guardian angels to hang on until a certain event.  That “sealing” is God’s equivalent of Satan’s “mark”, and simply means that at that time BOTH groups of the living will have completely made up their minds and will not change no matter what happens.  “As it was in the days of Noah”, Christ said.  How was it then?  “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”.  Genesis 6:5.  They were “sealed” into their rejection as Noah was “sealed” into his acceptance.  And that’s the way it will be in the future.  The angels will no longer be able help or hinder, for we must “tread the winepress alone” as the Son of man did.  Isaiah 63:3.

Lateral thought:

Noah did not build the ark by himself.  His immediate family and his extended family worked with him, and many of the believers of the day would have helped.  However, because the time was long, and because of their way of life, ALL the followers of the LORD either gave up and apostatised or died along the way, until on the day only Noah and seven others boarded the craft.  Noah’s father “gave up the Ghost” and died about five years before the Flood came (Genesis 5:28-31), while his grandfather did the equivalent only a few months before it!  (Genesis 5:26-27). 

It will be the same in our day – only a remnant will “go aboard the ark”. What is that ark?  Outwardly, the Sabbath – and its rest!   Inwardly, the LORD of the Sabbath.  (“And He said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: therefore the Son of man is LORD also of the Sabbath’”, Mark 2:27-28.)  As we “rest” FULLY in Him so we will be protected from the wrath of the image beast.  (Note 3, Matthew 11:28-30)  But, as we read in the opening of the fifth seal, there are a number of martyrs to come, and they will give their offering during that time. (Revelation 6:9-12.)

Although the majority of the professed followers of Christ are in a deplorable condition right now, they are not yet in so desperate a strait as were the foolish virgins whose lamps were gone out, when there was no time in which to replenish their vessels with oil.  When the Bridegroom comes, those that are ready will go in with Him to the wedding; but when the foolish virgins come, they will find the door shut, and will be too late to obtain an entrance.  They are not martyrs, but neglecters, and will be candidates for the second resurrection!

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Hebrews 2:

1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip [from our memory and behaviour]. 2 For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and EVERY transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward [its wages]; 3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed to us by them that heard Him; 4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will?

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Thankfully, the counsel of the true Witness does not present those who are lukewarm Laodiceans as in a hopeless case.  (Their lamps, their understanding of the Bible, are only “going” out.)  There is still a chance to remedy their state, and the message to the lukewarm Laodiceans is full of encouragement, for the backslidden church members may yet buy the gold of faith and love, may yet have the white robe of the righteousness of Christ that the shame of their nakedness need not appear.  Purity of heart, purity of motive, may yet characterize those who are at present half-hearted and who are striving to serve God and mammon.  They may yet wash their robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.  All they need is to respond to a true gospel and help to “build the ark” by living and preaching in the “rest” of the LORD of the Sabbath.  See note 3.

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Revelation 7:

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

5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.  

 

6 Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.  

 

7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.  

 

8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. 

  Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

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If we remember our understanding that the literal things of the Old Testament are to be seen as spiritual things in the New Testament, we will have no problem with this list.  To this end it is written, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew [a follower of God], which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise [and recognition] is not of men, but of God”.  Romans 2:28-29. 

Thus this small group of twelve mirrors the entire multitude of the redeemed.  They are the LIVING representatives of the spiritual Israel and will meet the Son of man at His return without having passed through death.

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Revelation 7:

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 sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb”.

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After having seen the special group of 144,000 living survivors, John’s attention was drawn to the vast multitude of those who had been resurrected from the grave and who stood a little further out from the throne and the Lamb, thus showing one of the results of their choice to separate from Him by death here on earth.  If we look at the situation around the earthly sanctuary, we will see that the priests of God were located in the front of the building (Numbers 3:38), while on the other three sides were the three families of the Levitical workers.  (Numbers 3:23, 29, 35.)  Around them, a little distance from them, were the tents of the other tribes, in groups of three.

In the reality, after the second advent, when ALL the redeemed are priests and therefore Levites, the “priests” to the “priests” are similarly separated.  It is written of all the true followers of God, “You also, as lively [living] stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ . . .  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light”. 1 Peter 2:5, 9.  One group will be priests [helpers] to the people of the universe, the other will be priests [ministers] to God and the universe.  All will be satisfied with their ranking, for it will be self-chosen, according to their desire.  (See Psalm 84:10.)

In a prophetic picture of the situation as it will be in heaven and the new world, God said,

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Ezekiel 44: 

15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the [rest of the] children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister to Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood, said the LORD GOD: 16 they shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.

Ezekiel 48:  

10 And for them, even for the priests [of Zadok], shall be this holy oblation [a special area]; toward the north twenty-five thousand [cubits] in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south twenty-five thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.  11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept My charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.

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For more on this thought see, http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/two_classes_of_priests.html

When the great congregation of the universe realised what this separation meant, they all bowed in worship, as they will do again after the second advent.

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Revelation 7:

11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts [the redeemed], and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,  12 saying, “Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be to our God for ever and ever.  Amen”.

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To make sure that there was no misunderstanding in John, he was asked to identify the people who wore the white robes.

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Revelation 7:

13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes?  And whence came they?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know” [You tell me]. 

And he said to me, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sits on the throne shall dwell among them.

16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”. 

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In a reference to the tribulations that all the redeemed have passed through, the elder said that they would not be hungry or thirsty again, nor feel the effects of drought and fire.  The demonstration is over, and the universe is secure!

From my library:

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In this life we must meet fiery trials and make costly sacrifices, but the peace of Christ is the reward.  So long as we choose the easy path of self-indulgence, and are frightened at self-denial, our faith will never become firm, and we cannot know the peace of Jesus, nor the joy that comes through conscious victory.  The most exalted of the redeemed host that stand before the throne of God and the Lamb, clad in white, know the conflict of overcoming, for they have come up through great tribulation.  Those who have yielded to circumstances rather than engage in this conflict, will not know how to stand in that day when anguish will be upon every soul, when, though Noah, Job, and Daniel were in the land, they could save neither son nor daughter, for everyone must deliver his soul by his own righteousness. [See Ezekiel 14:20.] 

Oh, for living, active, faith!  We need it; we must have it, or we shall faint and fail in the day of trial [Jacob’s trouble].  The darkness that will then rest upon our path must not discourage us, or drive us to despair.  It is the veil with which God covers His glory when He comes to impart rich blessings.  WE SHOULD KNOW THIS BY OUR PAST EXPERIENCE.  In that day when God has a controversy with His people, this experience will be a source of comfort and hope.

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All the redeemed have “washed” their robes (i.e. have a character purified by His on-going sacrifice) in the lives they have exchanged with the Son of God.  As the scroll is unrolled we see them seated with Him in the heavenly tabernacle assisting Him in His day-by-day work in the universe.  In eternity there is no day or night as we know it, nor any tiredness, so this simply means that in the new world where there will be a cool part of the day (as there was in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:8), they will be with Him as long as they want.  The cool part comes about as the sun sets and the moon takes over, for the sun will be seven times brighter than now, while the moon is only the equal of one sun of today. Our solar system will then be a binary one, with two “great lights” as are many star systems in the universe.

It is written, “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the breach of His people, and heals the stroke of their wound . . . Your sun shall no more go down [in intensity]; neither shall your moon withdraw itself [as it did at the Flood]: for the LORD shall be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. Your people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified”.  Isaiah 30:26, 60:20-21.                For more on this subject, see http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/what_happened_at_flood.html

We are told in another place that both God the Father and God the Son will live in our world made new, and it will become the spiritual centre of the universe, operating out of the tabernacle which the LORD has built in the new Jerusalem. 

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Revelation 21:

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea [no great oceans, only lakes].

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”.

5 And He that sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new”.  And He said to me, “Write: for these words are true and faithful”. [Amen!!]

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Bye for now, Ron

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.   No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly.  All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

Some of these readings are available at http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html

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Note 1.

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Revelation 13:

15 And he [the second beast] had power to give life to the IMAGE of the [first] beast, that the IMAGE of the [first] beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the IMAGE of the [first] beast should be killed.

16 And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand [because it suits them], or in their foreheads [because they believe it]: 17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark [of the image beast], or the name of the [image] beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. [“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given him”.  James 1:5.]  Back

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Note 2.

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Matthew 24:

14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.  Back

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Note 3.

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Matthew  11:

28 Come to Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light [compared to that of sin].  Back

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