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Sermon preached on Revelation 7 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 02/09/2025 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
Last week we saw Jesus as the Lamb open the first six seals which apocalyptically portrayed the time between Christ’s first and second comings. We saw calamity, persecution, and judgment ahead. The first four seals described the calamities of conquest, violence, famine, and death that God has ordained to judge and chasten this sinful world. The fifth seal described how the saints in heaven are simultaneously crying out for God’s judgment to vindicate them in the face of the world’s persecution of them when they were alive on earth. The sixth seal described the beginning of the final day of judgment, when Christ will return to pour out God’s wrath upon this fallen world. In the face of such severe judgment, that sparked the question of, “Who can stand?” Today’s chapter answers that question. It is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals to give the good news that Christians will stand in the face of such judgment. This chapter actually contains two separate visions, the first of how the church militant on earth can stand, and the second on how the church triumphant in heaven can stand.
As we begin, let me remind us to avoid the temptation to think too chronologically. The sixth seal saw the beginning of the final day of judgment, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that this interlude is set chronologically after that point of time. Rather, this entire interlude seems to parallel the timing of the all the seals from the last chapter. Instead of this interlude continuing forward in chronology, it rewinds in time to give us another perspective about what we saw last time with the six seals. While the six seals revealed something of God’s judgments on this fallen world, this interlude will reveal something of God’s simultaneous protections for his saved people. So, this interlude recapitulates the six seals from an alternate vantage point. Let us then consider how God is protecting his chosen people even as he judges the earth. After hearing last week of the tribulations that we Christians may experience on earth, be encouraged that God keep us standing through it all.
Let’s begin in our first point to consider this vision of the 144,000 sealed of Israel in verses 1-8. This is the first scene of the interlude, and it is again set on earth. I believe we are to see this as a complementary perspective to the first four seals from last chapter, those seals that revealed the four colored horses that each brought a different calamity to earth. Here, John sees a vision of four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth. Verse 3 tells us that these four winds are going to bring harm upon earth. Right away, we see multiple groups of four and it is natural to wonder if there is a connection with the four horses we just saw that are going to bring harm on earth. Indeed, the background of the horses in Zechariah makes a connection. Recall that last week we observed the apocalyptic imagery of these colored horses was developing similar visions Zechariah received. Well, in Zechariah 6:5, the four horses are there connected with four winds. Surely then, that connection is being reasserted here. The four winds in this interlude relate to the four colored horses with their calamities. This shows us that we have rewound in time, because in verse 1 the angels are holding back the winds from bringing their destruction. Before the winds are unleashed, first God’s chosen people on earth have to be sealed by God for protection.
The sealing is first mentioned there in verse 3 and is carried on through this first section. This is the same word for seal as used with the seven seals that sealed the scroll. When you hear of such a seal, think of a king’s seal when he stamps a law that he is decreeing. Such a seal conveys authenticity and authority. God seals his elect to identify that we belong to him and are under his protection. This seal imagery has an Old Testament background in Ezekiel 9. Ezekiel was given an apocalyptic vision of how a man clothed in linen was to go through Jerusalem and mark on the forehead all the faithful among Israel before then executioners are sent to destroy whoever is not marked. So too, here, God’s people on earth receive God’s seal on their forehead as his mark of protection on them. Later we’ll see the 144,000 again, and it will tell us that the seal is the names of Christ and God the Father written on their foreheads. In contrast, we’ll later see unbelievers receive the mark of the beast, to their condemnation.
Let me clarify at this point, that it doesn’t say here that these sealed won’t experience any of the calamities coming on this world. Indeed, we know from history, that Christians have sometimes tasted of the effects of conquest, violence, famine, and death. But as the ending of Romans 8 teaches us, God’s protection is to keep us in the faith through it all. The elect are more than conquerors in Christ and nothing can separate us from the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus. Not tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor danger, nor sword. Not even death. This is the “P” of TULIP. The perseverance of the saints is also the preservation of the saints. The sealed of God will endure in faith through whatever befalls us in this life, because we are marked out for his preservation unto glory.
Now in case you haven’t figured it out yet, these 144,000 sealed of Israel represent us, the church of Jesus Christ on earth, specifically those who are truly God’s elect on earth. Let us unpack the apocalyptic symbolism to understand this. Starting with the number, we recognize two sets of twelve, twelve times twelve results in the 144. We’ve already seen Revelation use two sets of twelve with the twenty four elders, and I pointed to Revelation 21, where the New Jerusalem has two sets of twelve, one for the twelve tribes of Israel, and the other for the twelve apostles. So, these two sets of twelve in Revelation seem to represent the church in some fashion. The fact that that all this is multiplied by a 1,000, or specifically 10 cubed, symbolically describes, a somewhat large number. Of course, from a population standpoint, 144,000 is a large, but not huge, number. I believe this symbolically describes a sizeable remnant of Christians that will be here on earth before the Lord’s return. God will be with them and keep them, his church militant, here on earth.
The last part of the imagery to deal with about these 144,000 is that they are described as Israel and then divided up by tribe. Some interpret this to mean that this only refers to ethnically Jewish Christians. But after careful consideration, I think this is instead describing the true Israel, not physical Israel according to genetics, but spiritual Israel according to faith in Jesus. The New Testament repeatedly teaches that Christ has made one church made up of both Jews and Gentiles, which is the true Israel of God, Galatians 6:6, Ephesians 3, Romans 11, and more. The Bible doesn’t allow the new covenant church to divide Jewish and Gentile Christians as if they belong to separate churches. Indeed, why would we think only genetically Israelite Christians would get God’s mark of protection? Indeed, Jesus already wrote to the church in Philadelphia of the seal he will give all who conquer in Christ, 3:12. So then, we recognize that the church of Christ has several historic names, and one of them is Israel.
The very description here of the twelve tribes further suggests that this is a register of spiritual Israel, not physical Israel. There is no other tribal register for Israel like this in the Bible. The traditional ordering has some deviations. While the list would otherwise have begun with firstborn Reuben, he is only mentioned second. Instead, Judah, fourth-born, is given the first position, and that is because the house of Israel has become led by Jesus of the tribe of Judah. Likewise, Simeon and Levi’s position have been pushed down below a number of the tribes that came from the maidservants for Rachel and Leah, which shows either an exaltation of the more servant-status children or possibly a remembrance of Simeon and Levi’s sin that lowered their leadership in Israel. Very interestingly, the tribe of Dan is not listed at all, but in where we might expect his name is Manasseh which was the second ranked son of Joseph, and we remember how Joseph’s double inheritance made Manasseh to be counted as a tribe alongside Ephraim. Yet that reminds us that Ephraim is also not listed here, though Joseph, his father, was. Why neither Dan nor Ephraim are mentioned by name might be related to how those tribes were the locations of the idolatrous golden calves in the northern kingdom. All of these oddities about this list point get us to consider beyond mere physical lineage and to think of the spiritual body that the church which is Israel has become under the new covenant.
In summary then, these 144,000 sealed of Israel represent the faithful church of Jesus Christ on earth during this period of time between his first and second comings. Obviously, there have been different generations of Christians living throughout that time period. But we can expect during this time period a continued presence of the church militant on earth. Jesus said the gates of hades would not prevail against the church. Even the way this register of saints has been presented has been suggested to be along the lines of a census of armed forces, ready for the spiritual battle on earth that is before them. So then, to the question of “Who can stand,” the first answer is the church militant on earth.
Let us now turn to our second point for today and consider the great multitude from every nation that is seen in verses 9-12. There is a scene shift here from earth back to heaven. This parallels and complement the fifth seal from last chapter which also shifted our vantage point from earth back to heaven. That fifth seal told us there were martyred saints in heaven who were crying out for vindication. By extension, we can think of all the saints who have already died and gone to be with the Lord in heaven. Verses 9-12 gives us a glimpse of them.
First, we appreciate their description. Unlike the 144,000 of Christ’s church seen on earth, these can’t be counted. We remember the promise given under the Abrahamic Covenant, that God’s people will grow to be not just a big number, but a humongous number, beyond count. Indeed, by the time you were to add up all the saved saints from every generation of time, the number is beyond count. We also appreciate that it is beyond ethnic borders. As also promised under the Abrahamic Covenant, the kingdom of God’s people would ultimately bring in people from all the family lines of the earth. These saints in heaven are seen clothed in white robes, which is what the martyrs in the fifth seal were given last chapter, and reminds us of their purity and victory they have in Jesus, even as he has washed them clean of their sins. Likewise, the palm branches are a symbol of victory and peace as we remember such expressed at Palm Sunday in the Lord’s historical triumphal entry.
In complement to the fifth seal from last chapter, we remember that after they cried out for vindication, they were told to rest a little longer. This passage shows us what that rest looks like. We see this glorious worship that they are participating in. In verse 10, we see them in the heavenly throne room praising God and the Christ for their salvation. We then see the response of the angels, and four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders who respond with an amen and their own praise. All this worship, both the words and the responsiveness of it, harkens back to what we saw going on in chapter 5. This is what it looks like if you have died in Christ, even if you are martyred for your faith. A believer who has been sealed by Christ, when they die, they go to be with the Lord in heaven. There they begin to enjoy peace and blessing in the presence of God and in the sweet communion of worship.
So then, we are given a glimpse here of the estate for the saints in heaven who now belong to the church triumphant. Think of the protection they now enjoy there. In heaven, surely, they will not be affected in any way by the four winds of God’s judgment on earth. So, this too is an answer to the question of “Who can stand.”
The church triumphant stands, literally standing before the throne and the Lamb!
We turn now to our third and final point to consider the scene with the victory song in verses 13-17. While this scene is still continuing the previous scene of the saints in heaven, there is a bit of a shift in verse 13 when one of the elders speaks with John and invites him to ask for an explanation of this great multitude from all the nations. This final section parallels the sixth seal from last chapter and gives a complementary perspective. While that sixth seal spoke of the great judgment that the wicked will ultimately receive at the end, this final part of the interlude reveals the great victory that the deceased saints have already begun to enjoy, and will enjoy all the more when the end comes. In answer to the question of “Who can stand,” we see what victory looks like for we who stand in Jesus. Another way we can refer to such saints who have died and gone to be with the Lord in glory is glorified saints. This song speaks of such glorious victory.
Before the victory song begins, the elder in verse 14 describes these victorious, glorified saints. He says they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of Jesus. This is a reminder of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our faith is in the testimony that we are guilty sinners apart from the sacrifice of Jesus. On our own record, we would deserve all the judgments being poured out the wicked. The way to be saved from that is to have your sin washed away. We Christians have found that by turning to Jesus in faith. That is the foundation of the gospel, and I again urge everyone here, if you haven’t yet had your sins washed away by Jesus, what are you waiting for? Wash your sins away before it is too late!
The victory song is there in verses 15-17. There are two parts to it. The first part of the song begins by describing their worship. That is the language of them being before the throne and serving God night and day in his temple. Already, we’ve seen that is what happens when we die. We Christians will go to be with the Lord in heaven. We will get to be in his heavenly throne room and be able to worship him in sweet communion with our creator. The reference to the temple also tells us that this is only the beginning of our victory. We will see at the end of Revelation that the final state will be the New Jerusalem where there won’t be a temple more, because God and the Lamb will live among us on the new earth, not separate from us up in heaven. So, the song’s description of the glorified saints worship is only the beginning of our victory. It will get even better.
The second thing to observe in this song is that it describes the Lord’s protection of the glorified saints. The description in verse 16 is a quote from Isaiah 49:10 which is a prophecy of the salvation the Messiah would bring. Part of it originally stems from Psalm 121 which shows how the promises for God’s people in the Psalms finds their ultimate realization in glory. No hunger, no thirst, no scorching heat. In other words, God will protect us from such troubles. Verse 17 goes on to further describe this, bringing in the Lamb as our shepherd, calling to mind Psalm 23. Jesus will shepherd us to springs of living water. So not only will we not be scorched, but we’ll have refreshing water. So, in glory, we’ll know both God’s protection and provision.
The song ends with a promise of wiping away our tears, which was also prophesied in Isaiah (25:8). This wiping away our tears will be stated again at the end of Revelation (21:4) in describing the New Jerusalem. This again demonstrates the Christian already begins to enjoy a taste of glory when they die even before we end up in the new creation at the end. All of this contrasts with the sixth seal when the wicked on the day of judgment lament how bad it is that there judgment has come. In reality, that judgment is only the beginning of God’s wrath for them. Their final state of judgment will be when they are cast into that place of eternal torment in the lake of fire, which Revelation will also tell us about at the end.
So then, in summary, as we take this third point together, we can answer the question very confidently about, “Who can stand?” Now and unto eternity, the full united church of Jesus Christ, can stand. For now, it is made up of both the church militant on earth and the church triumphant in glory. Ultimately, we’ll be united together as one full and complete number in the glory of the age to come.
Let us then, as the church militant, have the joyful confidence that leads to patient endurance in our day. We are indeed more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, sealed by God and able to stand because of the purifying blood of Jesus Christ that washes away our sin.
Amen.
Copyright © 2025 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
