I. An Interlude (7:1-17)
I. AN INTERLUDE (7:1-17)
i. The sealing of the servants of God (7:1-8)
The sixth seal has been opened, but before the seventh there is an interlude (a device which John sometimes adopts elsewhere). Here we find that the servants of God are under his special care (he has ‘sealed’ them). There are some difficulties here. Specifically, commentators differ as to whether the 144,000 and the great multitude later in the chapter are the same or different groups, whether the former refers to literal or spiritual Israel, and whether either or both refer to the martyrs. There is little evidence to decide these points and we must be guided by our understanding of the book as a whole.
1. John saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. We should understand this not so much as a statement of John’s view of the shape of the earth (we still talk about the four corners of the earth!) as a way of saying that the angels overshadow the whole world. None of it is beyond their control. Their function is to hold back the four winds of the earth. John takes no notice of intervening winds, but we should not interpret this with pedantic literalness. The meaning is plain enough. The angels are preventing harmful winds from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Trees seem a curious inclusion in this list. Perhaps they symbolize what is living, and in any case they would suffer most from a great wind.
The four winds may be another way of referring to the four horsemen of the first four seals. Zechariah’s four horses are explicitly interpreted as ‘the four winds of heaven’ (Zc. 6:5, mg.; cf. Ps. 68:33; Is. 19:1; 66:15; etc.). Zechariah speaks of ’winds of heaven‘, stressing their subjection to God in heaven, but John refers to winds of the earth, for their destructive activity is connected with the earth. Winds are a natural symbol of destruction (cf. Je. 4:11-12; 49:36; 51:1-2). The vision, then, takes us back in time. It answers the question, ’What is the fate of believers during the terrible happenings just described?’
2. John sees another angel coming up from the east. This may be meant as the source of blessing (the place where light originates). Eden was in the east (Gn. 2:8) and it was from this direction that the glory came to the temple (Ezk. 43:2) and that the wise men came with the news that the Christ was born (Mt. 2:1-2; there was a Jewish idea that the Messiah would come from the east, Syb. Or. 3:652). Victorinus curiously speaks of this angel as Elijah, but there seems little to be said for this ancient interpretation. The angel had the seal of the living God. The seal was basically a mark of ownership (important in an age when many could not read). Here it marks those sealed as God’s and thus preserves them from the destruction that will fall on others (cf. Ezk. 9:1ff., and for a slightly different thought, Ex. 12:23). God’s own bear his mark elsewhere in this book (9:4; 14:1; 22:4), and the wicked are also marked (13:16-17; 14:9; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). This angel shouts to the other four who are characterized by their ability to hurt earth and sea.
3. He commands them not to hurt earth, sea or trees until God’s servants are sealed on their foreheads. Servants (doulous) means ‘slaves’; the word stresses utter devotion. There is no indication of a limit and apparently all God’s own are sealed. The restraint of the forces of destruction is important, and Torrance sees it as ‘the great master-thought that informs this Book’. It means ‘that every moment on the earth is made to serve the redeeming purpose of God for mankind. The four winds from the four corners of the earth cannot blow and vent their rage as they like, but only as they are made to serve the Church of Jesus Christ’.
4. John hears the number of the sealed (the perfect esphragismenõn may mean ‘sealed permanently’; God does not go back on his choice). The number 144,000 is the multiple of the square of twelve (the number of Israel) and the cube of ten (the number of completion). It thus indicates the perfect total of Israel. Some (e.g. Orr) take this to mean the literal, physical Israel (or the converted from Israel), so that a complete number of Israelites will be found among the redeemed. A strong objection is that in this case Israel is sealed for protection but a mighty multitude from all nations (v.9) is saved without this sealing. Surely both would be sealed if they are different groups. Others think of the church as Israel. The church is referred to as ‘the twelve tribes’ (Jas. 1:1; cf. Mt. 19:28; Lk. 22:30), and this is probably the thought when a letter is sent to ’the Dispersion’ (1 Pet. 1:1; RSV, JB). The Christian appears to be the true Jew (Rom. 2:29) and the church ‘the Israel of God’ (Gal. 6:16). Descriptions of old Israel are piled up and applied to the church (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. Eph. 1:11,14). It is the church which is God’s ’very own’ people (Tit. 2:14), and ‘the circumcision’ (Phil. 3:3). Abraham is the father of all who believe (Rom. 4:11); again these are Abraham’s children (Gal. 3:7). Many hold that ’ Israel after the flesh’ (1 Cor. 10:18; see RSV mg.) implies an ‘Israel after the Spirit’.
The view is thus widespread. Nor is it alien to John. He expresses it by implication when he speaks of those ‘who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan’ (2:9; cf.3:9). He regards the new Jerusalem as the spiritual home of Christians (21:2, etc.), and it has on its gates the names of the twelve tribes (21:12). There is thus good reason for seeing a reference here to the church as the true Israel. Here it is the church, sealed in view of the coming trials; later in the chapter it is the church triumphant and at peace. Some, it is true, see a reference to the martyrs who are preserved from famine, pestilence, etc., for a greater destiny is reserved for them. But the view does not seem adequately based and no convincing reason is put forward to support it.
5-8. It is not really necessary to list the tribes, but doing this puts some emphasis on the inclusion of all God’s people. There are 12,000 from each tribe except Dan, which is omitted. The twelve are then made up by including Manasseh as well as Joseph, which is rather curious for Manasseh is included in Joseph. If there are two Joseph tribes we expect Ephraim and Manasseh. Some scholars see a copyist’s error, ‘Dan’ being read as ’Man’ and subsequently taken as an abbreviation for ‘Manasseh’. This seems unlikely and it is more probable that Dan was omitted because of its association with idolatry,86 or because the antichrist would arise from this tribe.87
The order of the tribes has aroused comment, for it differs from every other order known to us. It must be significant that Judah comes first, for this is the royal tribe, the tribe from which came the Messiah, ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (5:5). But apart from this we should probably not concern ourselves with the order. As G. B. Gray long ago pointed out, in about twenty lists in the Old Testament there are eighteen different orders.88
ii. The great multitude (7:9-17)
John proceeds to paint an unforgettable picture of a vast crowd of people from every nation on earth but now in the bliss of heaven. They are free from pain and anxiety and suffering and sorrow.
9. John’s there before me adds a touch of vividness. He saw it all so clearly. But the great multitude was too large to be counted. He did not know how many there were. The definite number in verse 4 pointed to completion: none was missing. The great throng here shows the impossibility of counting up the number of the redeemed. They came from every nation, tribe, people and language (see note on 5:9); expression piled on expression indicates the crowd’s universality. Incidentally this is a further indication that spiritual rather than physical Israel is referred to in the earlier part of the chapter, for otherwise the crowd would be the Gentiles only, not all the nations. The vast throng stands before the throne and in front of the Lamb. Once again Christ is accorded a place with the Father.
The redeemed are dressed in white robes. The Greek noun stolas signifies long robes, and is much more appropriate to glorious garments than to workaday clothing. That they are white probably points us to justification. The saved stand before God perfect in the righteousness which Christ supplies. White is also the colour of victory, while palm branches, too, were often emblems of triumph. The emphasis on triumph leads some to hold that the white-clad throng are the martyrs. Against this, there is no indication in the narrative such as we get elsewhere, e.g. the reference to those ’slain because of the word of God’ (6:9), or those ‘beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus’ (20:4). Moreover it was not their death but Christ’s that won the triumph. Victory came through his saving work so that it is he who provides the white robe. For people confronted with tyrants who put their trust in sword and bow, it is good to be reminded that final triumph comes through quiet trust in Christ.
10.
In a loud voice the multitude ascribes (cried out is really a vivid present) salvation to God and the Lamb (see note on 5:13). Both are in mind, not one. And as God is he who sits on the throne it is God as sovereign of whom John is thinking. Salvation then comes from the sovereign act of God in Christ.
11-12. This concerns all the angels. They were standing round the throne and therefore round the elders and the living ones. But at the cry of the redeemed they prostrated themselves and worshipped. They first said Amen, which is their assent to the cry of the multitude. It also shows that this act of worship is called into existence by the angels’ joy at God’s saving act. They proceed to ascribe seven qualities to God, each being preceded by the article in Greek (a construction difficult to bring out in English). It is ‘the’ blessing, etc. and not ’a’ blessing, etc. which they have in mind, i.e. the blessing above all others. The list is the same as that in 5:12 (where see note) except that thanks replaces ‘wealth’. For ever and ever is a sonorous conclusion which puts all this into the realm of eternal verities. The angels end, as they had begun, with Amen, affirming the reliability of it all.
13-14.
One of the elders draws attention to the white-robed throng and asks where they came from. John throws the ball back to the elder with his Sir, you know (the emphatic su, you, implies ‘It is you who know’). The elder explains that the multitudes are those who are coming (present tense) out of the great tribulation. The article in the Greek seems to indicate the great trouble at the end of things (cf. 3:10). But it is likely that it also refers to tribulation in general (cf. Jn. 16:33; Acts 14:22), for not all will undergo the great tribulation. Cf. Niles, ‘The great tribulation! That certainly meant the persecution in which we were caught. But it also meant that constant tribulation of life which was the result of evil’s warring against God. Out of that tribulation, and because of it, came the host of the redeemed’ (Ladd has a similar comment).
The elder further informs John that these triumphant ones have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (both verbs are aorists, in each case indicating once-for-all action). ‘Whitened in the blood’ is a striking paradox and we should not let our familiarity with the hymns which have borrowed it dull its splendour (for the thought, cf. Ex. 19:10,14; Is. 1:16,18; 1 Cor. 6:11; Heb. 9:14). The complete efficacy of Christ’s atoning death is being strongly asserted. It is on the grounds of his death that people are able to stand before the throne properly clothed. This is a further indication that the throng comprises all the saved and not simply the martyrs or some other group. For all are saved in this way and no other.
15. It is for this reason (Therefore) that they are before God’s throne. Beasley-Murray points out that the position implies direct access to God himself and thus to dwelling with him. They serve him by day and by night (cf. 1 Ch. 9:33). John does not envisage heaven as the scene of holy inactivity. The temple (naos properly means ‘sanctuary’) raises problems, particularly in view of the later statement that in the final state of things there will be no temple (21:22). Probably the whole of heaven is regarded as a sanctuary in which all God’s people are priests (1:6; 5:10) and enjoy the immediate presence of God. He who sits on the throne (i.e. God in his aspect as King) will spread his tent over them. The verb sk
n
sei evokes memories of the Tabernacle (skn) in the wilderness. We might translate ‘He will make his Shekinah to dwell with them’, where ‘Shekinah’ is taken (as it often was among the Jews of the time) to mean the immediate presence of God. We might have expected a present tense, but John uses the future as he points to the glorious prospect ahead.
nsei evokes memories of the Tabernacle (skn) in the wilderness. We might translate ‘He will make his Shekinah to dwell with them’, where ‘Shekinah’ is taken (as it often was among the Jews of the time) to mean the immediate presence of God. We might have expected a present tense, but John uses the future as he points to the glorious prospect ahead.16. The bliss of the saved is conveyed in a series of negatives (mostly from Is. 49:10). They will know no unsatisfied desire. They will not hunger. They will not thirst. They will suffer neither sunstroke nor burning heat (kauma; cf. Ps. 121:6). Typical physical ills are taken as symbols. Whatever the torment they will be free from it.
17. The reason? The Lamb. He is at the centre of the throne (i.e. closely related to God in royal state), and he will be their shepherd, a striking word to use of a lamb. It marks a complete reversal of roles. In this way John makes his point that Christ by his sacrifice of himself makes provision for the needs of his people. The Lamb will also lead them to springs of living water, which shows that the absence of thirst in verse 16 means the absence of unsatisfied desire. It does not mean satiety. The saved will always thirst for God and that thirst will be satisfied. Finally God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (cf. Is. 25:8). God’s people are delivered from every ill. They enjoy warm fellowship with him. His tender concern makes complete provision for their every need.