THE SAVED MULTITUDE OF THE LAST DAYS - Revelation 7v1-17
"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And 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 given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying "Hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7v1-3
The chapter is in two sections:
- Verses 1-8 - The sealing of the one hundred and forty four thousand for the proclamation of the gospel.
- Verses 9-17 - The vast multitude in heaven as a result of their service.
Who said the book of Revelation is all doom and gloom? At the end of chapter 6 the question arises from the inhabitants of the earth "who shall be able to stand" in the face of divine wrath? Praise God chapter 7 supplies the answer. Many will stand on the ground where the judgment of God fell upon another, that is the Lamb of Calvary. There is a beautiful scene in chapter 14v1. The one hundred and forty four servants sealed by the living God, from the twelve tribes of Israel are seen to be standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb; "and I looked and lo a lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads." We shall explore the meaning of this later, but for now in answer to the question who will stand....they stood on Mount Zion. Also it is recorded in chapter 21 that the new city the holy Jerusalem had twelve gates, and on the gates the names written which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. All of this is too extensive to explore for now and it is a truth so beautiful, we dare not gloss over it. The wonder of it all is that in the darkest period of world history, God will secure His people and fulfil His promises in salvation grace.
The chapter goes on to develop this theme and in chapter 7v9 it is written "a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb!" Who shall be able to stand? Vast numbers will stand before the throne of God even in the mode of wrath, when it is poured on an unrepentant world.
The Spirit of God now takes us back to the time before any of the judgments fell. Four angels, possessed of the power to hurt the earth were told to hold back any activity until the servants of God were sealed. These one hundred and forty four thousand people who are to be sealed will be spared any divine judgment, and will be protected from any human attack in the course of their business for God. Who are these people, and how have they been saved, and indeed brought to the position of service at a time when all believers have been removed from the earth? The answer is that they are all Jews who have been awakened by the Spirit and possibly inspired by the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11 (later). Just as the Holy Spirit saved people prior to the church age, so He will save many after the church age and the evidence of this chapter is that this will be in vast numbers. Jesus chose twelve apostles to evangelize the world and we are now in possession of the delightful history of that. Here we have not twelve, but one hundred and forty four thousand saved and dedicated Jews who will become the evangelists of the last period of time on earth. If we can imagine one hundred and forty four thousand of the apostle Paul, or Peter, or John or the like, we can understand what we have here. Because of the traumas of these future days these evangelists will also be untouchable, because they have the seal of the living God on their foreheads and no demon or man will be able to touch them. The picture is truly awesome, the results are equally awesome as we shall see when we come to the second half of the chapter.
The Lord Jesus in the parables of Matthew 13 predicted that in the last days "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net (dragnet) that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind." Matthew 13v47 During this time of greatest sorrow in the world God will save more people than in any period of human history. No longer the fishing line searching for fish in the hands of a few individuals but a dragnet trawling the vast sea of peoples and nations and bringing them to salvation. It is quite possible that as we have seen "the early rain" in the beginning of the church period, so we are witnessing here "the latter rain" in the dying years of this world's existence.
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