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Salvation
Belongs to God
INTRODUCTION
The book of Revelation is
certainly one of the most intriguing of all sixty-six books of the Bible. For some it’s content is too frightening to explore and so
they stay far away from it; while others are so totally fascinated by
it’s imagery, that they completely miss the message.
Still the difficulty of understanding the basics of Revelation is
probably overdone. Certainly there are difficulties in interpreting parts of the Book, and it is a fact, which shows itself in the vast variety of interpretation, speculation, strange ramblings, and suppositions that abound. We however are encouraged to persist in reading and studying the Book John says that those who
read and understand this prophecy shall be blessed. This lesson shows the
unimaginable degree of love that God has for his people. The Lamb that had been
slain had taken the scroll,
unrolled it, and four terrible horsemen had appeared, riding throughout
the entire world, bringing terrible wars and its attendant killing and
suffering, bloodbaths, terrible famines, rampant inflation, with death
reigning supreme. This is what would happen on earth when Jesus opened the
six seals. Devastation and terror,
despair and calamity on a world-wide scale would be the order of the day.
We are told that even these catastrophes would not bring the proper
response from the majority of the earth’s inhabitants. In the middle of all this
however God begins to show the magnificent of his grace, and the
remarkable future that he had in store for his people. The major portion of the
Revelation deals with God’s wrath being poured out on the earth, almost
with out measure but right in the midst of these terrible judgments, some
will experience unprecedented blessing and salvation. The idea of salvation
ultimately is that of protection or deliverance, both temporal and
spiritual salvation. Temporal salvation is God’s ability to keep us from
physical harm and danger – and whether we know it or not, this salvation
is common in the life of the believer. For, were it not for the protection
of God, Satan would most certainly destroy us.
Spiritual salvation is that great and eternal protection of the
soul, by our deliverance from sin; whereby God has before the creation of
the world, made certain the salvation of His elect. We can therefore look
with joy at what God has in store for his people, who have been adopted,
and to whom great riches have been promised.
The honour and happiness of those who have faithfully served Jesus
Christ and suffered for him are laid out for us. The scripture tells that
salvation is of the Jews; this simply means that God, from among the
nations of the world, and through no merit of themselves, chose Israel to
bring the message of salvation to the Gentiles. Israel however sinned
terribly and at times acted worse than the heathen nations.
Some use this poor behaviour on the part of Israel, as a reason to
believe that God has cast-off the Jews and elected the Gentiles. Many,
despite the clear teaching of Scripture preach this erroneous doctrine of
‘succession’. For
this reason, some believe that God temporarily cast-off the Jews and
elected the Gentiles. Rom
11:11 The
scripture says that the Jews are the natural olive branch and that we
Gentiles have been grafted into them; being adopted by God, we along with
they, have become heirs of salvation.
Contrary to what man may think – salvation belongs to God, he is
sovereign and will give salvation to whom he wants.
Israel will be saved. Isa
35:4; Isa_45:17;
Zec_9:16; Rom_11:26;
God’s plan to save the Gentiles is prophesied in Isa_45:22;
Isa_49:6; Isa_52:10; God’s
plan of salvation is revealed in the gospel Eph_1:13;
2Ti_1:10; and
came to the Gentiles through the fall of the Jews. This does not make
Gentiles replace the covenant blessings to Israel. The story of mankind and
his fall into sin that began in Genesis, is given the most magnificent
ending, as Revelation brings together all the prophetic storylines –
showing the judgment of the wicked, the restoration of the righteous, the
salvation of the elect, and the beginning of the eternal state. Today we will see that even in the midst of the ‘Great Tribulation’, God’s salvation comes to his people. One hundred and forty four thousand Jews are kept from the devastation of the judgments that are being poured out, and an innumerable host of redeemed Jews and Gentiles, along with the heavenly host worship God, for the wonderful work of salvation, and for bringing them out of the tribulation. THE TEXTVerse 1.
Chapter seven begins with an interlude in the judgments that
have ensued at the opening of each of the seals.
This is the calm before the storm continues; it is for a very
specific purpose, and will demonstrate the indisputable sovereignty of God
to give salvation to whom He chooses. “After these things…”
naturally refers to the seal judgments of chapter six.
The exact chronology or timing of these events is not always
entirely revealed in these symbolic representations, however we can
ascertain the general order. In
this case the events in question occur after those referred to in chapter
six. John now describes his
vision, seeing angels as it were standing at the four corners of the earth
– this is an expression that describes these angelic beings as taking
key positions in or around the earth.
Note, that “the four corners of the earth…” is an Hebrew
expression – it was often used when describing the earth as a vast
plain, thus the main points, North, South, East and West, symbolize key or
strategic positions. It is an equivalent expression to the modern phrase
“the four points of the compass”. It does NOT mean that the Jews or
the Scriptures believed and taught that the earth was square. This is done for the
purpose as John says, to restrain the winds.
It is not stated or implied that the angels caused the tempest –
but rather they had been given power over the winds to control them, thus
they have the power to restrain them or to loose them to cause desolation
or hurt the earth. “That the wind not
blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree” undoubtedly
depicts a calm over the entire earth.
This calm happens after the six seal was opened but before the
seventh seal is to be opened. Because much of the
language of Revelation is symbolic, one will often find varied
interpretations of these symbols, many of which are quite fanciful and
really stretch any reasonable interpretation of the language. The winds have
been used to symbolize various things – although most would agree that
they represent all kinds of calamities, wars and destruction of kingdoms.
This interpretation seems to match more precisely the way the phrase or
language is used in Jewish writings.
(See Jeremiah 49:36) There are however,
interpretations that come from both ends of the spectrum, and include
those who believe that the angels holding the winds are actually evil
spirits, and that the winds represent ministers of the Word.
Thus these evil spirits (demons) actually hinder the word of God
from spreading throughout the world. On the other end of the
spectrum, there are those who purport that the angels are actually God’s
holy emissaries employed in the work of God, but that the four winds
actually represent the four great empires – Babylon, Persia, Greece, and
Rome. Still others say they
represent four emperors starting after Dioclesian and Maximanus had
reigned (Maximinus, Galerius, Maxentius and Liciaius); and then there are
those who say that these are holy angels, either restraining evil angels
or holding back the winds of false doctrine and heresy. Others even believe that
the word “land “is a symbol for Israel, (because of its order
and stability since God is its head), and that the word “sea”
is a symbol for the Gentile nations, the description so used because the
Gentile nations have no internal stability and do not recognize the
authority of God. In this approach word “trees “speak of
people, especially those with authority and influence who stand out from
the crowd. However, as initially mentioned, these seem to be God’s holy angels, restraining or delaying the judgement or the wrath that God has given them the power to unleash on the earth. Verse
2. John now sees another
angel, different from the first four having also a different purpose.
This angel is said to rise from the east.
It is not certain if there is any significance in the fact that the
angel came from the east as opposed to North, South or West.
Some
suggest, without any scripture support, that this angel is indeed the
angel of Jehovah (Jesus) and
that his rising from the east, might indicate the point from where he
begins to seal the saints, or that it is symbolic of the light of a new
day or the majestic glory and power as the rising Son banishes darkness.
This is of course sheer speculation, and in any case violates certain
teachings of Scripture.
There are system of prophetic interpretation (see introduction to last weeks lesson) where some dare to interpret the angel as Constantine coming from the eastern parts of the empire, bringing the true knowledge of God, and the authority to propagate it. Gill notes: “And
I saw another angel,.... Not Constantine, who came from the eastern parts
to the empire, with the true knowledge of God, and the authority of God to
propagate it; and who repressed the four angels, or evil spirits,
contention, ambition, heresy, and war, from doing the mischief they
otherwise would; and sealed the saints, by giving them a platform of
doctrine at the council of Nice, as Brightman and others think.” This could not be so, but
he is more likely to be that uncreated angel, the angel of the everlasting
covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ – who is the head of all principalities
and power; and thus has the authority to command these angels to wait
until the servants of God are sealed. The fact that he possess
the seal of God, suggests that this angel is Christ.
However it is also possible that this may simply be another high
ranking angel – for it was not uncommon for the king to entrust and
authorize the use of his seal to one of his high officials, to use on his
behalf. The seal carries the
same significance, whether the king himself or his agent applies it. Note that different
angels have different tasks. Some
work to restrain Satan and his demons, others protect the saints, while
other specialists angels seem to reveal themselves to men, and carry
messages from God to men. The seal is a sign of
ownership and authentication. It
is unique and readily identifiable to those who know God.
There is some question as to whether this mark or seal will be
recognized by men. Note: Satan also has a
seal – the mark of the beast; all those who receive this mark will not
share in the blessings of salvation. (Rev 14:9-11) As to the nature or exact
form of the seal of God, we are not given much details; but it is supposed
that it is or contains the name of God (Rev 14:1, 22:4, 3:12, 2 Tim 2:19) There is much speculation
concerning the seal, but what we can understand from scripture is clear.
The central idea of the seal was to place a mark on the friend of
God, that they would unmistakably be known to belong to God, and that
these marked ones, would be safe from the impending calamities. This may be an allusion to Eze. 9:4-6 – when the prophet is directed to go through the city of Jerusalem and mark the forehead of all those that mourn because of the abomination committed. All others, those not having the mark, young and old, men, women and children would be slain. Only those who possess the mark would be spared. And Jehovah said to
him, Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and
set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning
because of all the abominations that are done in her midst.
And He said to those in my hearing, Go over in the city after him,
and strike. Let not your eye spare, nor have pity.
Fully destroy old men, young men
and virgins, and little children and women. But do not come near any man
on whom is the mark. And begin at My
sanctuary. And they began at the old men who were
before the house. Eze. 9:4-6 This passage seems to teach a number of things; Barnes suggests the following: (1)
that there would be some mark, sign, or token, by which they who
were the people of God would be known; that is, there would be something
which would answer, in this respect, the same purpose as if a seal had
been impressed upon their foreheads. Whether this was an outward badge, or
a religious rite, or the doctrines which they would hold and by which they
would be known, or something in their spirit and manner which would
characterize his true disciples, may be a fair subject of inquiry. It is
not specifically designated by the use of the word. (2)
it would be something that would be conspicuous or
prominent, as if it were impressed on the forehead. It would not be merely
some internal sealing, or some designation by which they would be known to
themselves and to God, but it would be something apparent, as if engraved
on the forehead. What this would be, whether a profession, or a form of
religion, or the holding of some doctrine, or the manifestation of a
particular spirit, is not here designated. (3)
this would be something appointed by God himself. It would
not be of human origin, but would be as if an angel sent from heaven
should impress it on the forehead. If it refers to the doctrines which
they would hold, they could not be doctrines of human origin; if to the
spirit which they would manifest, it would be a spirit of heavenly origin;
if to some outward protection, it would be manifest that it was from God. (4)
this would be a
pledge of safety. The design of sealing the person referred to seems to
have been to secure their safety in the impending calamities. Thus, the
winds were held back until those who were to be sealed could be
designated, and then they were to be allowed to sweep over the earth.
These things, therefore, we are to look for in the fulfillment of the
symbol. Whatever the seal is, we
do not know for sure. But one thing is certain, those who do not obey the
commandments of God, show the fruit of the Spirit, live a life of
holiness, oppose all forms of iniquity, refusing to delight in the current
forms of sin, do not have the seal of God. It is not possible to say you
have the seal of God and yet do not mourn over evil, instead making
excuses for it. “And he cried with a loud voice…” this displays the authority with which this angel command the four destroying angels to suspend their work. It also seems to show the urgency of the situation – the judgement was imminent. Thus, if it was not for this command, there would not have been sufficient time to seal the servants of God before the destruction continued. Verse 3.
Again the command not to
hurt the earth,
the sea, or the trees , points to the all encompassing judgement about to
ensue, all would be affected and none would escape. This does not imply the annihilation of mankind, but rather
that these calamities would be global in scope.
“Till we seal the
servants of God…”, the use of the plural suggests that His sealing
of the servants of God, would be accomplished with the aid of others. It
is not said who the others are, but it would be reasonable to speculate,
and based on what we know the following ideas have been suggested.
The
seal or mark was to be in their forehead, and as mentioned before, this
mark would be prominent so that it would be seen, and that it would be of
such a nature as to positively identify them to be true servants of God. This mark cannot be faked. Note, that the seal does
not primarily denote the seal of election, this was done in eternity past
“before the foundation of the world…” (Eph 1:4) nor can it be
said to be the seal of the Holy Spirit, for all believers in all ages are
sealed by the Holy Spirit. This seal is for a
specific and limited number of people (Rev 7:4-8) and is designed to hide
or conceal them from the coming calamities.
The mark upon them is as the blood on the doorposts of the
Israelites, when the angel of death passed through Egypt, killing the
firstborn in the land. The mark has a parallel
effect as to the mark received by those in Ezekiel 9:4-6, and may also
have similarities to the mark received by Cain, that none should seek his
life (Gen 4:15). Thus the salvation provided by the seal as it were, is
against physical harm. Some may speculate that
it is not absolutely necessary that the seal or mark be physically visible
to humans; but visible in some sense only to the angelic hosts or the four
angels, to who have the power to hurt the earth, sea and trees.
They must of course know whom to Passover.
But this is only speculation. The ‘tribulation’
John wrote of was great, the likes of which had never been seen before.
The first believers to receive and read John’s revelation, were
at the time enduring tremendous trials, but it was not the great
tribulation, thus this revelation was designed not only to inform but to
encourage the people of God, assuring them of their ultimate salvation
which comes from God, stamped with his seal of approval. Although the fulfillment of this prophecy was yet future, the thought of such salvation and eternal security brought immense spiritual blessings, that strengthened and enabled them to endure the reproach of the cross for Christ’s sake. Verse 4-8.
There are two specific groups of people discussed in this
chapter, the later is said to be an innumerable group from every nation,
kindred, people and tongue. However
the group that is specifically and deliberately sealed, numbered one
hundred and forty four thousand. They
are all men that come from the twelve tribes of Israel; twelve thousand
men from each tribe named. John
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, takes the time to list them all,
which strongly suggests that this has literal significance and should be
interpreted literally. Of course, there has been
many distortion of this passage of scripture, particularly by those who
refuse a literal interpretation and substitute a highly spiritualized
interpretation, the result of which, is that the one hundred and forty
four thousand is merely symbolic, a large but unspecified number of
people, that the do not come from specific tribes of Israel, and that this
group also includes women. Even if one rejects a
literal interpretation, one must realize that symbols have meanings and
are parallel to the subject. Such
spiritualizing of the text abandons the plain interpretation of those
symbols, and the plain interpretation of scripture, it ignores the
context, contradicts other passages of scripture and completely abandons
common sense. Among the various groups
that attempt to spiritualize this passage, few if any are in agreement.
Rather you will find that most of these groups in one fashion or another,
try desperately to identify themselves as the fulfillment of the symbolic
meaning in these verses. Our Jehovah Witness friends do exactly this. Though they accept the one hundred and forty four thousand to be literal, they reject the notion that the twelve tribes means twelve tribes of Israel. Rather to them, the one hundred and forty four thousand are an anointed ‘Jehovah Witness’. About this one writer comments: I hope we learn extreme caution when listening to Scripture and the interpretations of men. “
In their earlier days, the group known as Jehovah’s Witnesses claimed
they constituted this select band. They
misappropriated this Scripture and applied it to themselves, though they
are not Jews and never were. They
ran into difficulty, however, when the group grew beyond one hundred and
forty-four thousand. They did
not know what to do with the leftovers, so they started and other category
of one hundred and forty-four thousand. They taught there was an earthly
band of one hundred and forty-four thousand and a heavenly band, and if
you believed their doctrine in the early decades of this century you could
belong to the heavenly band. But now, again, they have a problem because
they number more than two hundred and eighty-eight thousand today, so they
have created still a third band called “the servant band”.
If you join the Jehovah’s witnesses today you must come in at the
servant level. That is just one example of the many ways people can twist
Scripture to make it fit a program of their own devising.
But God clearly identifies these people for us here.” The rebuttal of this
heresy would take us away from the main object of this lesson, so we’ll
not deal with it here; but as a sideline to this lesson, it is worth
noting that Jehovah Witness’ actually switch from a literal
interpretation to a symbolic interpretation within the same verse (verse
4), this is horrendous exegesis and shows no inkling of ability to rightly
divide the word of truth. Some individuals and
groups including Jehovah Witness’, claim that the twelve tribes could
not be literal, because Joseph is not mentioned as a tribe in the Old
Testament and because Ephraim and Dan which are listed in the Old
Testament are omitted in Revelations.
In addition to this, Levy was set aside for temple service and was
therefore not included as one of the twelve tribes. These objections really serve only as a smokescreen, that they may create some reason to divert the unwary from their manipulation of scripture. Concerning the above claims let us note the following.
Thus the objections to
interpreting the tribes of (Revelation 7 and 14) as literal tribes of
Israel, are unwarranted, and represent a gross and heinous distortion of
scripture. It is best to regard the It is best to regard the one hundred
and forty-four thousand as specifically chosen believers in Jesus. A substantial amount of
scholars see the as the
church. The above facts also make it difficult to say that the one hundred
and forty-four thousand is a symbolic picture of the church. Note that Israel is a term never specifically applied to the church in the New Testament (and never by any Christian until 160 AD). specifically chosen believers in Jesus. Verse 9. “After these things…”,
this
refers to the sealing of the one hundred and forty four thousand
Jews; it is not stated whether
those things which are now revealed to John, would take place immediately
after the sealing of the one hundred and forty four thousand
or if other things occur between.
What we do see though, is a shift in the vision, moving from a
group on earth to focus on a group in heaven.
John describes this group
as a great multitude, so vast that no man is able to count them.
This group would probably consists of an overwhelming majority of
Gentiles, but also includes Jewish believers – as indicated by the
phrase “…every nation and kindred and people and tongue.” The countless number is
in contrast to the very exactly numbered one hundred and forty-four
thousand. We are told that
God knows exactly how many people he has in any specific group also that
there are incredibly large numbers that have been obedient
to Christ even though it cost their lives. We also know that the
gospel was indeed preached to all nations and that many people responded.
Some of us might feel that our efforts are wasted, but this is not
so and here we are given final proof. Note also that this vast
multitude seem to have been mostly for all martyrs (in the original the
article is emphatic). They do not represent all of the multitudes that
have been saved, but certainly an important part of the saved. In comparison to the vast
multitudes of the world that are lost, this might be only a small portion,
but in terms of numbers it is a large group. The size is not so small, and
nothing to be sneered at. This is a most
magnificence scene that takes place in heaven, before the throne of God
and the Lamb (Rev 4:7, 5:6).
The host of redeemed people now enjoy the immediate presence of
God. This scene surely brings
comfort to those who look forward to the fruition of their salvation. Their white robes
represent, righteousness or innocence and purity, having had all their
sins washed away by the blood of the Lamb. The palm branches that they carry represent the ecstatic joy of salvation and victory over sin, death, and hell. Palm branches have always been a symbol of victory and joy. Thus they were used at the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. One writer comments: “…and
palms in their hands; or branches of palm trees, as in Joh_12:13
as an emblem of their uprightness and faithfulness, which they had shown
in the cause of Christ, even unto death, the palm tree being a very
upright tree, Jer_10:5;
or of their bearing up under a variety of pressures and afflictions, by
which they were not cast down and destroyed, but bravely stood up under
them, and were now come out of them; the palm tree being of such a nature,
as is reported, that the more weight is hung upon it, the higher it rises,
and the straighter it grows; see Psa_92:12;
and chiefly as an emblem of victory and triumph over their enemies, as
sin, Satan, the world and death, which they had been struggling with, in a
state of imperfection, but were now more than conquerors over them; the
palm tree is well known to be a token of victory.” It was not easy for these multitudes to turn to Jesus and to serve him. They paid a high price. It must be noted that the forces against Christ will then be powerful and will kill anyone who does not take the ‘mark of the beast’. These people have died for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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