A Great Multitude

This morning, let’s think about chapter seven of Revelation.  Where we learn about how God’s people are blessed. 

1.　Four Angels

Rev7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

There are four angels who are with God’ servants.  The angels are standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so that they will not blow.  So what are the four winds?  Wind in the Old Testament symbolises destructive forces.  They are blowing from the four corners of the earth; east, west, south, and north.  This means that no one can escape the destructive storms.  But the four angels are holding these winds back to prevent disaster. 

Don’t you feel that the end of the world is at hand?  There are some people who think that the global economy would collapse over a minor incident.  The poor migrate to the city seeking better jobs, and the population in the city is increasing.  The population of the world is also increasing.  The average temperature of the earth is increasing as well.  The rich get very rich, and the poor become poorer.  The bio ecosystem is collapsing.  People are experiencing shortage of pure water and food. Diseases have become smarter and more complex, and antibiotics are becoming ineffective.  Radical fundamentalist suicide bombers are increasing.

Even those who don’t believe in the Bible can tell that we are living in unusual times.  And we can expect more dreadful things in the near future.  But the four angels are now holding back these four winds of the earth to prevent disaster from occurring.

Why do think the angels are holding back and preventing disasters from the four corners of the earth?  It is because God does not want anyone to be destroyed, and wants everyone to repent.  “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Peter3:8-9).  So it’s by God’s grace that have the four angels standing  at the four corners.  It’s because of His patience.  It’s because of His love

2.　Sealing of Living God

Rev7:2 Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea,

7:3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

Here the text refers to the servants of God being sealed.  Who is going to seal them?  It is “another angel.”  He will ascend from the direction of the rising of the sun, the east.  The east often refers to God’s place.  Eden was in the east.  The glory of God came to the Temple from the east.  The magi saw the star in the east announcing the birth of Christ.  Jesus is called the sunrise and the morning star.  Matthew24:27 says the Son of Man will appears in the east.  So it is easy to see that the angel coming from the east is commissioned by God to seal His people. 

So what does sealing represent?  It is ownership of God.  It means that we belong to God’s family.  This seal will never be destroyed by any kind of disaster.  It guarantees our salvation. 

The apostle Paul said this about the seal:  “you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”  When we believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, we receive the seal that guarantees that God will give us the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom.  The seal is just like a down payment.  When you buy a house, you put a down payment on the house.  And once you pay it, you own the property even if you still have 25 years to pay all the principle back to the bank.  Likewise if we believe in Jesus and accept the Holy Spirit, we acquire the citizenship of heaven, right now, just like a down payment.  The angel coming from the east has this seal.  And he will affix this seal on all the servants of God.  He is working hard to finish this task before the storm arrives from the four corners of the earth. 

Now, what kind of the servants will be sealed?  Since John wanted to know this, and he asked the angels.  The following is the answer: 

Rev7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

I imagine that John questioned what he had heard.  Why would only the 12 tribes of Israel receive the seal of God?  Why not the Gentiles?  Why are there only 144,000 which were sealed?  Do you believe that verse 4 is literal?  When I was studying at the seminary, I met a student who accepted the literal interpretation of the verse 4.  He didn’t believe that all who would be saved would only be from literal Israel.  But he really believed that only 144,000 would be saved.  Therefore he was very critical of the Adventist church, Adventist pastors, and Adventist theologians.  What do you believe verse 4 meant?  There are four explanations to demonstrate that the number 144,000 from the tribes of Israel is symbolic. 

First, 10 out of the 12 tribes of Israel were destroyed by the Assyrians army.  It occurred in the 8^th century B.C.  Most of the people belonging to the 10 tribes were deported from Palestine and scattered among the nations in the Middle East and assimilated into the nations.  They lost their own identity.  So in John’s time, only 2 tribes, the tribes of Judah and Levi, were still in existence.  The other 10 tribes no longer existed.  Therefore, the tribes of Israel which John refers to should never be interpreted as blood lineage.  Rather they symbolise the people of God or His church.  The whole New Testament point out that those who believe in Christ are the true Israel. 

Second, the order of the 12 tribes described in Revelation 7 does not follow the original order recorded in Genesis 49. 

＊     Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob, does not come first.  Instead Judah comes first. It may be because the Messiah came from the tribes of Judah.

＊     Dan is omitted from Israel.  It may be because Dan became one of the centres of idolatrous worship, which competed with the temple of Jerusalem.  Instead Manasseh, the eldest son of Joseph, took Dan’s status.

＊     So it is much better to understand that the 12 tribes of Israel recorded in the 7^th chapter refers symbolically to the church, the spiritual Israel which worships our Saviour.

Third, if we take 144,000 literally, the total number of God’s servants is just too small. The total number of Seventh-day Adventists all over the world reached over 14,000,000 in 2006.  It is nearly 100 times 144,000.  And on average, about 3,000 people join the Seventh-day Adventist Church everyday.  It’s very difficult to accept that God will save only 144,000.  It sounds rather strange that the number of those who will be saved has already been predetermined.  The number 144,000 must then be understood symbolically.

Fourth, the number 144,000 symbolises the whole Church that fights for God. 144,000 is 12×12×1,000.  12 is the number of the tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, and the number of apostles in the New Testament.  New Jerusalem has 12 gates where the names of the 12 tribes of Israel are written.  The wall of the city has 12 foundation stones, and the names of the 12 names of the apostles are written on them.  The number 144, which is 12×12, represents all the people of God in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.  Next, the number 1,000 was also the number of soldier in Israel’s military unit in the Old Testament.  It symbolizes the people who fight for God.  So keeping all these things in mind, the number of 144,000 who receive the seal of God represents the faithful church fighting for God.  Now let’s look at verse 9. 

Rev7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

John sees God’s servants in his vision.  What he heard was quite different from what he saw. The number of God’s servants was not 144,000.  He saw a vast crowd, much too great to count.  He didn’t just see Israel, but also people from every nation, tribe and people of all languages.  They were all clothed in white robes which symbolise salvation.  They also held palm branches in their hands, which symbolise victory.  He saw them praising God before the throne and the Lamb.  He must have been very surprised to see that what he saw was quite different from what he heard from the angel.

You know that our history will soon come to an end.  Destructive forces and disasters are coming.  But the four angels are currently holding them back.  That is because God wants His servants to have His seal.  He wants more people to repent and enter the kingdom of heaven.   He wants not only Israel but every nation, tribe and people of every language to repent and to enter the kingdom.  The number of 144,000 is not literal.  The real number is too great to count.  You are already members of God’s vast family by faith in Jesus.  I want you to hold that faith firmly until the end.  I want you to take everyday seriously, repent of your sins daily before God, and accept Jesus Christ daily.  

Yesterday I attended the funeral of my friend in Barrie.  He was the husband of Katherine who taught English in our Church until last March.  When he was working on his van, one of the jacks which supported the van collapsed and the van came down onto him.  He had no chance.  I am very sorry for that tragic accident.   

It is always very painful for anyone to say good-bye to his or her beloved one.  But what has comforted Katherine is that she had a family worship with her husband two weeks ago, and they both had the peace of mind in the full conviction of their own salvation.

Satan is now working hard to destroy our souls in many ways.  He is trying hard to ruin the relationship between a husband and wife, relationship between parents and their children, relationships with school, relationship with a company, relationship with our friends, and any other relationships. 

In terrible times such as this, we need reconciliation with God, in Jesus.  We need to humbly pray to Jesus, and open our minds to repent of our sins which we commit daily against God.  We need to accept Jesus as our personal Saviour, to receive forgiveness from Him, and to receive the seal of God.  Jesus has gained victory over this world.  He is the most important person in the world who allows us to live in the end.

Jesus said the following.

John16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Let us trust in the Lord Jesus who has overcome the world.  Let us join in the great multitude, too numerous to count, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in our hands, singing and praising the name of the Lord.