Day 41: Revelation 7: 1-12
Passage for the Day
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. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 ”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.” 4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
Points of interest:
· The last two passages in our guide are from the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Revelation is a letter written from the apostle John to seven churches, once again in modern-day Turkey. These churches are facing a wave of fierce, officially-sponsored persecution, and John is encouraging them to endure these troubles by sharing with them a vision he saw of God’s ultimate purposes in the world. He writes in a genre called apocalypse; it’s unfamiliar to us, but was quite popular in John’s day. Apocalypse prominently features angelic appearances, fantastical creatures, the symbolic use of numbers, ornate visual images, and repetition of images and numbers.
· ‘standing at the four corners of the earth’—these four angels seem to have the ability to bring peace or bring destruction to the entire earth.
· ‘holding back the four winds of the earth’—it’s like the world is taking a deep breath before what comes next.
· ‘until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God’—something terrible is indeed about to happen, but whoever has this seal will apparently be protected from harm.
· ‘144,000 from all the tribes of Israel’—all of the numbers in Revelation probably worked according to a code that was well known to its original readers. We’ve lost the code, but there are still a few things we can figure out about the meaning of this number: it’s multiples of twelve to reflect the twelve tribes, it’s a large number but countable, and it’s evenly distributed. So, we have an orderly, large but countable group of Israelites who are being rescued from the upcoming trouble.
· ‘from the tribe of Manasseh’—this is a slightly non-standard listing of the twelve tribes. Manasseh, who is actually a grandson of Israel, is listed; and to make room for him Dan, one of Israel’s sons, is omitted. I think the idea is that the composition of ‘Israel’ might change slightly, but in the end the complete number is gathered. The enumeration of the twelve tribes, by the way, is only symbolic; by the time of John, almost no Jew knew their exact tribal descent (IVP Bible Background Commentary).
· ‘a great multitude that no one could count’—the scene shifts from this large, but ordered and counted, group of Israelites to an uncountable mass from every nation, people group, and language. I personally believe that these are not two separate crowds, but instead two different representations of the same crowd. This group of people being saved by God is a carefully counted group of God’s chosen ones (the 144,000 Israelites) and at the same time a countless group from ever nation (the great multitude). Regardless of whether it’s one group or two, it’s clear that both Jews and Gentiles are being rescued here, and responding in praise. This is a fulfillment of David’s prophecy from Psalm 86 (March 11th):
All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
· ‘wearing white robes and were holding palm branches’—I think this uniform signifies that they are worshippers or pilgrims.
· ‘the elders and the four living creatures’—from an earlier part of John’s vision, these elders and living creatures seem to be ancient and powerful angelic beings whom we might call the worship leaders in God’s heavenly throne room.
Taking it home:
· For you: Pray today for your family. God doesn’t overlook the families (tribes) to which people belong. Pray for God’s blessing and protection on each member of your immediate family and pray that God would remember your ENTIRE extended family as well. Ask God to be at work in your family—improving your relationships, healing past wounds and misunderstandings and creating an atmosphere of safety and encouragement.
· For your six: John is given this elaborate vision, that gives him hope and a promising picture of what is to come. Do any of your six need a vision of where their life is headed? Pray for your six who feel stuck in their job, tired of life or just unmotivated. Ask that God would give vision to your six and give them a picture of hope of what is to come.
· For America: This passage exemplifies the reality that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. There is something awe-inspiring and captivating about this united, massive, and diverse group of people all joining together to worship Jesus. It seems that Jesus is actively seeking people—lots of people and from lots of different places. Pray that God would give us a heart for the people from every nation, tribe, people and language where there are very few followers of Jesus. Pray that God would raise up people to go to these groups and partner with God in his work of rescuing them from trouble.