Victorious in Tribulation
Revelation 7:1-17
Message #17
We’re going to be talking about the House of Israel today (God’s Chosen People). So, here’s where we’re at in Revelation. Remember, the Tribulation period is outlined so perfectly by the Holy Spirit in three sets of seven. Seven Seals – Seven Trumpets – Seven Bowls. And in all three sets of seven – there is a pause.
Six Seals are opened – then a pause before the seventh.
Six Trumpet Judgments – then a pause before the seventh
Six Bowl Judgments – then a pause before the seventh
Between the sixth and the seventh of any of the seals, or the trumpets, or the bowls.
Today, we are at the first of the pauses – the pause between the sixth and the seventh seals.
The pauses are awesome. Before the last of the seven of whatever set it is, God does what the Psalmists do: he takes a pause. In the Psalms, it’s called “Selah.” It means “breathe.” It means “take a breath.” “This has been heavy, so let’s take a pause.”
The Holy Spirit does it three times through the Tribulation. And every time he does it, we get a “close-up view,” a “close-up description” of the character of God. And so, there is so much judgment that must fall upon sin to finish the victory over sin and evil in the world that even in the midst of the judgment of the Tribulation, we see the incredible character of God. That’s what I see most in the pauses. It’s the detailed picture of the character of God. That’s what we see today because Chapter 7 is the first of these pauses.
The pause – Revelation Chapter 7 – between the sixth and the seventh seal, there’s a lot happening. There is a lot happening in Revelation right now, both on Earth and in Heaven. And remember, Revelation is not always written in chronological order. It can’t be because there is too much stuff happening all at one time. So, John can’t keep it chronological because, like right now, there’s stuff happening that started, and there’s stuff happening that hasn’t started, but John can’t write about it all at once. So, sometimes it’s very chronological – we have one little section here, maybe that is – but this is all going on. It’s a lot.
Most scholars believe that this chapter is actually nearing the middle point (the halfway point) of the Great Tribulation period. We’re really not there yet because the Antichrist hasn’t done his thing – it’s called the Abomination of Desolation, where he sets himself up in the Temple. It’s coming. But this, what we’re looking at today, is who God is in the midst of the Tribulation, and that’s really, really important to see. The purpose of the pause is to slow us down and say God is still God. God is still on the throne.
Today, in Revelation Chapter 7, we see two groups of people who are victorious in Tribulation during the Tribulation.
One group who are victorious on Earth
One group who are victorious in Heaven
Which means that they’ve “done that little thing” that gets them from Earth to Heaven. In the Great Tribulation it’s death by guillotine, martyrdom, or could be the wrath of God. But they’ve made that graduation, and they’re victorious in the throne room of Heaven. And it seems (I’ll point it out to you when we get there) that the way the chapter is written, it seems the group who are victorious on Earth are how the other group becomes victorious in Heaven.
Revelation 7:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the Earth or the sea, or even on any tree.
This is the pause between God’s judgments. The wind is often used as the coming of God’s judgment, and here, four angels hold back (restrain) the coming judgment.
Revelation 7:2–3 (NLT)
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God.
That’s really, really important. There’s a lot of historical background to this; for other reasons, I have to shorten it to get the message out, but the seal historically marked ownership. So, the seal of the living God would be the mark of those who are owned, who belong to the living God. the seal of the living God.
And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea,
3 “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”
So, God says, hold on before things get any worse – we need to seal the servants of God.
So, moving towards the middle of God’s final judgment on Earth, the Tribulation, God makes sure he has servants that are sealed. He wants to make sure his servants are sealed in the midst of the Tribulation. God needs servants in the midst of the Tribulation, so he seals them.
Sealed for their protection
Sealed for his glory
Sealed for the salvation of those who will receive it
Listen, our God is omniscient. He is so omniscient that he will make sure that all who will be saved – will be saved. All who will commit their lives to Christ, all who will make that step, God will make sure that they have time to do that.
And so, even in the Tribulation – going back in case you haven’t been with us. Chapter 4, verse 1, we see the Rapture. We are pretribulation Rapturists. We believe that the Rapture will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation, and so we see ourselves in Heaven by chapter 4. There are also those that are mid-Tribulation Rapturists. They use this text heavily to form that idea. And then there are post-Tribulation Rapturists who are maybe off base because the post-Tribulation means we get Raptured, and come right back to Earth; we don’t even get to go anywhere. It’s like a ride at a carnival. Nobody really knows when the Rapture is going to happen. But we see the Rapture at the beginning.
And so, we’re in Heaven. Tribulation is going on upon the Earth, and God is making sure in his love and his mercy and his grace that there are servants on the Earth who are sealed so that not only will they bring him glory, but those who will be saved during the Tribulation have a conduit to be saved. Also importantly, these 144,000 are key to what God is doing with the Nation of Israel in the Tribulation.
Most balanced scholars really see that on the Earth during the Tribulation, God is primarily dealing with Israel. This is the time that God is going to reveal himself to Israel, especially at the end, in the last half that the Old Testament prophets call Jacob’s Trouble. This is when God is going to reveal himself. He’s going to draw Israel to himself because God is going to complete the plan, and the promises, and the covenants that he’s made with Israel. This group that we are about to meet are key to that.
Let’s see who they are.
Revelation 7:4 (NLT)
4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel: (144,000 were sealed from all the Tribes of Israel)
But the Holy Spirit is concerned that we missed that. So, to make it clear that these 144,000 are all from the 12 Tribes of Israel, Revelation 7, verses 5-8 lists them.
Revelation 7:5-8 (NLT)
5 from Judah 12,000 from Reuben 12,000 from Gad 12,000
6 from Asher 12,000 from Naphtali 12,000 from Manasseh 12,000
7 from Simeon 12,000 from Levi 12,000 from Issachar 12,000
8 from Zebulun 12,000 from Joseph 12,000 from Benjamin 12,000
All SEALED by God for a very specific and incredible purpose in the midst of the Tribulation, where it’s about to get out of control badly. The wrath of God is coming upon sin because it must or he can’t be God. And so, in the midst of that righteous wrath coming, God seals 144,000 Jews.
So, first of all, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. These 144,000 are real, actual, bonafide Jews! How do I know that? From the last four verses. These are 144,000 real Jews descended from the real Twelve Tribes of Israel. There are some minor variations in the order and in the naming of the Twelve Tribes, the way John lists them, compared to other lists in the Bible. But it is crystal clear that these 144,000 are all descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
And so, it should be pretty easy to just read those verses, believe it, and move on. However (as you may know), there are many cults who have claimed they (and only they) are really these 144,000. These cults read these verses and then say, well, what they really mean is us. Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults.
You may say that it’s ridiculous for someone to arbitrarily say, “God is not talking about Israel here – he is actually talking about our religion,” when it seems perfectly clear, God is talking about the descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
But there is an even MORE mind-blowing thing.
There are huge Bible-believing, mainline Christian denominations that also say these verses are not talking about Israel. And so, in love, I want to address this (because it is such a huge deal). There are a number of what we would consider mainline Christian denominations who say, “Just because that says Israel, doesn’t mean it’s Israel. When God says ISRAEL – both here and in other places – he does not mean Israel. He says Israel, but he actually means US, the Church,” which is the exact same logic that the cults use.
You have got to hear me. This impunes the character of God to say, “Well, that’s not Israel. God discarded Israel because they messed up, so he replaced them with us.” Really? What does that mean God is going to replace you with? A donkey? If God replaces Israel, he’s going to replace you, and God will not replace Israel.
These large Christian denominations (and honestly, there are great Bible teachers in this group of denominations) developed their doctrines from the two most prominent names in the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s. Their names are John Calvin and Martin Luther. And while hundreds of years after these men were dead (these Christian denominations now have many different names), they now hold to these doctrines of John Calvin and Martin Luther at various levels or to various extents. It’s pretty complicated because some of them pick and choose which doctrines to hold and which ones not to. But, in general, these doctrines that have been primarily taken from John Calvin and Martin Luther are called Calvinism or Reformed (meaning reformed doctrine, reformed church). Those are the two key words, John Calvin and reformed “something.”
Let me read to you part of an explanation of these exact verses from the Gospel Coalition. The Gospel Coalition is kind of the heart of the doctrine side of the Bible teaching side of these movements that follow John Calvin and Martin Luther.
One of their most prolific writers is a guy named Kevin DeYoung. I am not blasting the Gospel Coalition or Kevin DeYoung; there are really, really good Bible teachers in this movement. But I am going to show you a real, real problem when we feel the need to defend a doctrine that we’ve been given from the 1500’s. I’m going to show it to you, and it might be enlightening. I can’t do the whole thing, so I am just doing the points for you.
Kevin DeYoung from Gospel Coalition says
The 144,000 are not an ethnic Jewish remnant (but it actually says they are) . . . The 144,000 represent the entire community of the redeemed (but it says they’re Jews) . . . There is no reason to make the 144,000 any more restricted than that (but these verses DO restrict it to Jews). If you are a servant of the living God, you are one of the 144,000 mentioned here (what? Isn’t that the opposite of what these verses say?).
This is generic everybody kind of language (Isn’t it actually the opposite of generic language). The 144,000 is a symbolic number of redeemed drawn from all peoples, not simply the Jews (but it says they are ALL Jews). So 144,000 is a way of saying all of God’s people under the old and new covenant (isn’t that the opposite of what these verses are actually saying).
This is in print as a commentary on these verses in mainstream Christianity. “I know it says the Jews, but they’re not. They’re us.”
WHY in the world are the churches that follow the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther SO committed to convincing you that when God says Israel, God does not mean the Jewish people?
Is there a chance that they’re defending a doctrine that came from their originating doctrine writers, John Calvin and Martin Luther? Is there a chance that there is something in there that they just have to defend to be who they are? In love, these guys go to four years of “cemetery.” And after their four years of “cemetery,” they come out (am I mispronouncing that word? If you’ve been there, you know I am not mispronouncing that word) with a commitment to defend these doctrines from the 1500’s.
Let me read to you what may have influenced the doctrine of these major Christian denominations, saying that even though this says Israel, it’s not Israel, it’s us. It’s not the Jews, it’s us. This is a section from the Christian History Institute Magazine referring to Martin Luther’s book – written by the starter of the Reformation. The book is called On the Jews and Their Lies, written around 1550.
Thus, Luther now proposed seven measures of “sharp mercy” that German princes could take against Jews: (1) burn their schools and synagogues; (2) transfer Jews to community settlements; (3) confiscate all Jewish literature, which was blasphemous; (4) prohibit rabbis to teach, on pain of death; (5) deny Jews safe-[passage], so as to prevent the spread of Judaism; (6) [take] their wealth and use it to support [Christian] converts . . . (7) assign Jews to manual labor as a form of penance.
That’s the father of the Reformation. Can you see between the lines there that he had a little bit of a problem with the Jews? Does it come across? I have a lot of Jewish friends, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Israel. And one of the reasons that they blame Christians for the Holocaust is because Hitler followed Martin Luther’s suggestions about the Jews; he just added the death camps. But every one of these things that Martin Luther wrote about in the 1500’s, Adolf Hitler did in the 1940’s.
So, those who started the doctrines of the Church replacing Israel might have had some anti-Semitism in it, and it fed Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. When you go to the Holocaust Museum, the people that have been with me there before begged me not to take them back because it’s so heavy, there’s a whole wing in the museum of the Church’s support of the Holocaust. And when I say the Church, I’m talking about the Reformed Church of people who follow Luther and Calvin. Again, I am not blanketly discrediting them. I’m just saying there’s some stuff that they’ve drug from the 1500’s that might be time to let go of – if you know what I’m saying.
Here’s what they say about John Calvin. “Well, John Calvin wasn’t as anti-Semitic as Martin Luther,” and they say it like it’s a good thing. He hated the Jews less than Martin Luther.
So, not to belabor the point, let me read just one quote from John Calvin regarding the Jewish people. (I am going to teach you something so important that I have to let it “sting” a little so that you can hear what’s important.)
John Calvin: (Speaking of the Jewish people) Their rotten and unbending stiff-neckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.”
https://centerforisrael.com/article/is-there-unknown-anti-semitism-in-your-theology/
Is it possible that these originators of this doctrine might have had some negative feelings toward the Jews that it might have influenced the doctrine of these mainstream Protestant Christians who now say, “When God says Israel, he means us”? Do you see it? And when Israel says that Christians are the cause or supported the Holocaust, they’re not wrong. And they have all the stuff in the museum over there to prove it, and it absolutely tears your heart out.
So, please, listen to me. Here’s the important lesson. (We don’t pull this stuff out of the blue. We teach verse-by-verse. But when something this heavy comes up in verse-by-verse, I feel obligated to address it for you.)
When someone is teaching the Bible and they tell you that what God means is opposite of what God says – you might be in a dangerous place.
If the Bible says 144,000 Jews and someone says, “Well, yeah. It says that, but it really means us,” say, “Why? Why does it mean us?” Quit defending a six-hundred-year-old doctrine.
If God’s Word can be understood AS it’s written in the context it’s written in and the context of the entire Bible – then please believe it and receive it JUST AS it’s written. Do not approach God’s Word with preconceived doctrinal dogma positions and slants, and filters that have come down from people who were maybe seriously anti-Semitic.
I’m trying to shepherd you. I’m telling you, if God wanted those verses to say this is the Protestant Reformation Church, he would have just written it. If he wanted it to say they’re Jews, he would have written it. And that’s what he wrote.
So, back to the Book of Revelation. Here’s what we really need to know. A large part (a HUGE part) of the Tribulation period is about God primarily dealing with the Nation of Israel. In fact, many say God’s primary purpose on Earth during the Tribulation is his dealing with the Nation of Israel. So, these 144,000 Jews are Spirit-filled, supernaturally protected, Christ-believing Jews who have been saved after the Rapture. They are sealed by God (just like YOU are Ephesians 1:14, you are sealed when you believe, with the seal of God). They are filled with the Holy Spirit and sealed by God and sent out as Evangelists around the world. God is going to use these 144,000 Jewish evangelists to fill Heaven up with martyrs, with those who will be saved.
Dr. David Jeremiah says, “Twelve Jews turned the first-century upside down. Imagine was 12,000 times twelve will do.”
God has a specific plan for his chosen people, Israel, and God’s plan does not and will not change. God is not going to discard Israel or his plan for them; he’s not going to give up on Israel, just like he’s not going to give up on you. And he’s not going to replace Israel, just like he’s not going to replace you.
God will bring his plan for Israel to pass
He will not discard them
He will not give up on them
He will not replace them with the Church
And here, God seals 144,000 Jews as super-evangelists to bring salvation to those on Earth who haven’t heard the gospel.
So, continuing, let’s look at what may be the fruit of these 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists.
Revelation 7:9 (NLT)
9 After this ("Meta Tauta" - that’s John’s famous “switching gears” every time you read “after this,” John moves to the next subject) I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.
. . . a vast crowd too great to count, . . . From every nation, tribe, people, tongue, all standing before the throne clothed in the righteousness of Christ in the white robes. And we see this as John writing this as a connection of these two events. Those who were victorious and sealed by God on Earth – the 144,000, and those who are victorious who came to Heaven quite possibly from the fruit of the 144,000 that were sealed on Earth during the Tribulation. We see this multitude as joining the raptured Church in Heaven.
(Not everybody agrees with us; it’s honestly not a major issue. The last issue I just dealt with is a major issue. This one is not. Whether we go up at the beginning or the middle – nobody knows. We just lean toward the beginning. Some people say, “Oh, this is everybody,” but if you go back and read chapter 4 and look at the big picture, we feel pretty comfortable with the pre-Tribulation Rapture.)
So, there’s this great multitude we see coming as a result of the 144,000.
Revelation 7:10 says (NLT)
10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
A great multitude no one can number
from every people group on the entire Earth
Saved and gathered around the throne of God
Right in the middle of the Great Tribulation!!
Right in the middle of the final judgment of God being poured out on the Earth. This is the character of God that we see in this pause. Right in the midst of the wrath of God coming down, there is a multitude saved that can’t be numbered. There’s a 144,000 sealed for victory on Earth, and God is, through them, sending a multitude that is victorious in Heaven.
That is the immeasurable, astounding, awesome grace and mercy of a holy and loving God.
In the midst of the Tribulation, he is making sure that all who will be saved – will be saved.
Our God is a holy, and a just, and a righteous God, so he must judge sin. But he is a God whose love, and grace and mercy provide a way of salvation for those who would believe, even in the midst of the final judgment.
It’s so good to see it that way. That though the judgment is falling, God makes sure all who will be saved – will be saved.
And so, this great multitude saved by the preaching of the 144,000 kicks off another round of massive Heavenly worship.
They start in verse 10 by shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
Then,
Revelation 7:11 (NLT)
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders (we believe that’s us, from Revelation Chapter 4, the 24 elders representing the Raptured Church) and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.
All the angels were standing around the throne, with the elders (which, again, we see as the raptured Church), and the four living creatures, the worship leaders, and they all fell on their faces and worshiped God WITH this great multitude that no one can number who are worshipping the Lord with a great roar. The worship in Heaven just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
If we’re there in Chapter 4, and we’re worshiping there and casting our crowns there, now (just in Chapter 7), a vast multitude comes out of the Tribulation. And remember, in the fifth seal, we saw the martyrs of the Tribulation, and so there were already martyrs there in the earlier stage of the Tribulation.
And in verse 12, this entire immeasurable congregation in Heaven breaks into an incredible seven-fold proclamation of praise. And so, we’ve gone from looking at the work on Earth, 144,000 Jews that are sealed on Earth, super-evangelists (I’ve heard them described as 144,000 Billy Grahams), to looking at the victory in Heaven. And in Heaven, it’s just more worship, more worship, more worship, more worship. Here are the seven-fold proclamation of praise in verse 12.
Revelation 7:12 (NLT)
12 They (ALL of these groups) sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
This great multitude has overcome! They are victorious! They stood for Christ on Earth in the Tribulation, and they died for it. And now they stand in absolute victory in the throne room of Heaven. And so, their victory was in the Tribulation but it’s received in the throne room of Heaven.
And just in case we question who this great multitude is:
Revelation 7:13–15 (NLT)
13 Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. (This is why we see them different than the Raptured Saints.) They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. (ESV says – with His presence)
This multitude was victorious over the Tribulation by choosing to have faith in Jesus Christ to their death. And verse 15 says they are now before the throne of God, and they will serve him day and night. In the Old Testament, the only ones who could serve the Lord in the Temple were the Priests. But now, God has taken Saints from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, and he has made them a Kingdom of Priests, and they will serve God nonstop in his presence.
And (again) the last sentence of verse 15 from the ESV says, he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
THAT is a big deal! They have suffered unto death in the Tribulation, but now, God himself will shelter them in his presence.
Revelation 7:16 (NLT)
16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
These are some of the same things this multitude experienced IN the Tribulation.
They starved – because of the famine, and they would not take the Mark of the Beast
They were thirsty – because the water had been destroyed
They were burnt by the sun – because of the natural disasters
And the very things they suffered in the Tribulation God specifically removes when they are in his presence. And he replaces them with himself with protection in his presence.
Revelation 7:17 says (NLT)
17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
That is victorious in Tribulation. Being victorious in Tribulation doesn’t mean you survive the Tribulation. Victorious in Tribulation means you stand for Jesus in the Tribulation, so you find yourself standing in the throne room of God in victory!
What a display of God’s amazing, unending grace and mercy and his love for us right in the midst of his judgment falling on the Earth.
So, we’ve seen two groups here in Revelation Chapter 7 who are victorious in the Great Tribulation.
The first group – sealed by God for his glory and his purpose
The second group – chose to die for Christ rather than live for the world
And that is really no different than it is today.
There is Tribulation today, though not to the extent of the Great Tribulation. And so, the question is how can we be victorious in Tribulation? Not only in the Great Tribulation but in Tribulation today?
Who can stand victorious in Tribulation?
Those who are sealed by God through their faith
Those who choose Jesus Christ over this world
In the Great Tribulation, things are going to be radically worse, but the truths of God will remain the same whether in the Great Tribulation or in Tribulation today. Those who will stand victorious are those who have been sealed by God through faith in Jesus Christ and those who choose Jesus Christ against the powers of this world.
Ephesians 1 says that when you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Those who were saved in the Tribulation were sealed with the seal of God. And your victory in Heaven is your receiving of Jesus Christ. And so, receiving Christ and being sealed is the way we are victorious in Tribulation today, not just in the Great Tribulation.
I had a great conversation today between services about how there is no religion in the New Testament. There isn’t. Jesus didn’t start a religion. Man started a whole bunch of them – about four thousand. Jesus started a relationship, and through that relationship, you can have victory in Tribulation.
Six Seals are opened – then a pause before the seventh.
Six Trumpet Judgments – then a pause before the seventh
Six Bowl Judgments – then a pause before the seventh
Between the sixth and the seventh of any of the seals, or the trumpets, or the bowls.
Today, we are at the first of the pauses – the pause between the sixth and the seventh seals.
The pauses are awesome. Before the last of the seven of whatever set it is, God does what the Psalmists do: he takes a pause. In the Psalms, it’s called “Selah.” It means “breathe.” It means “take a breath.” “This has been heavy, so let’s take a pause.”
The Holy Spirit does it three times through the Tribulation. And every time he does it, we get a “close-up view,” a “close-up description” of the character of God. And so, there is so much judgment that must fall upon sin to finish the victory over sin and evil in the world that even in the midst of the judgment of the Tribulation, we see the incredible character of God. That’s what I see most in the pauses. It’s the detailed picture of the character of God. That’s what we see today because Chapter 7 is the first of these pauses.
The pause – Revelation Chapter 7 – between the sixth and the seventh seal, there’s a lot happening. There is a lot happening in Revelation right now, both on Earth and in Heaven. And remember, Revelation is not always written in chronological order. It can’t be because there is too much stuff happening all at one time. So, John can’t keep it chronological because, like right now, there’s stuff happening that started, and there’s stuff happening that hasn’t started, but John can’t write about it all at once. So, sometimes it’s very chronological – we have one little section here, maybe that is – but this is all going on. It’s a lot.
Most scholars believe that this chapter is actually nearing the middle point (the halfway point) of the Great Tribulation period. We’re really not there yet because the Antichrist hasn’t done his thing – it’s called the Abomination of Desolation, where he sets himself up in the Temple. It’s coming. But this, what we’re looking at today, is who God is in the midst of the Tribulation, and that’s really, really important to see. The purpose of the pause is to slow us down and say God is still God. God is still on the throne.
Today, in Revelation Chapter 7, we see two groups of people who are victorious in Tribulation during the Tribulation.
One group who are victorious on Earth
One group who are victorious in Heaven
Which means that they’ve “done that little thing” that gets them from Earth to Heaven. In the Great Tribulation it’s death by guillotine, martyrdom, or could be the wrath of God. But they’ve made that graduation, and they’re victorious in the throne room of Heaven. And it seems (I’ll point it out to you when we get there) that the way the chapter is written, it seems the group who are victorious on Earth are how the other group becomes victorious in Heaven.
Revelation 7:1 (NLT)
1 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the Earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the Earth or the sea, or even on any tree.
This is the pause between God’s judgments. The wind is often used as the coming of God’s judgment, and here, four angels hold back (restrain) the coming judgment.
Revelation 7:2–3 (NLT)
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God.
That’s really, really important. There’s a lot of historical background to this; for other reasons, I have to shorten it to get the message out, but the seal historically marked ownership. So, the seal of the living God would be the mark of those who are owned, who belong to the living God. the seal of the living God.
And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea,
3 “Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”
So, God says, hold on before things get any worse – we need to seal the servants of God.
So, moving towards the middle of God’s final judgment on Earth, the Tribulation, God makes sure he has servants that are sealed. He wants to make sure his servants are sealed in the midst of the Tribulation. God needs servants in the midst of the Tribulation, so he seals them.
Sealed for their protection
Sealed for his glory
Sealed for the salvation of those who will receive it
Listen, our God is omniscient. He is so omniscient that he will make sure that all who will be saved – will be saved. All who will commit their lives to Christ, all who will make that step, God will make sure that they have time to do that.
And so, even in the Tribulation – going back in case you haven’t been with us. Chapter 4, verse 1, we see the Rapture. We are pretribulation Rapturists. We believe that the Rapture will occur at the beginning of the Tribulation, and so we see ourselves in Heaven by chapter 4. There are also those that are mid-Tribulation Rapturists. They use this text heavily to form that idea. And then there are post-Tribulation Rapturists who are maybe off base because the post-Tribulation means we get Raptured, and come right back to Earth; we don’t even get to go anywhere. It’s like a ride at a carnival. Nobody really knows when the Rapture is going to happen. But we see the Rapture at the beginning.
And so, we’re in Heaven. Tribulation is going on upon the Earth, and God is making sure in his love and his mercy and his grace that there are servants on the Earth who are sealed so that not only will they bring him glory, but those who will be saved during the Tribulation have a conduit to be saved. Also importantly, these 144,000 are key to what God is doing with the Nation of Israel in the Tribulation.
Most balanced scholars really see that on the Earth during the Tribulation, God is primarily dealing with Israel. This is the time that God is going to reveal himself to Israel, especially at the end, in the last half that the Old Testament prophets call Jacob’s Trouble. This is when God is going to reveal himself. He’s going to draw Israel to himself because God is going to complete the plan, and the promises, and the covenants that he’s made with Israel. This group that we are about to meet are key to that.
Let’s see who they are.
Revelation 7:4 (NLT)
4 And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel: (144,000 were sealed from all the Tribes of Israel)
But the Holy Spirit is concerned that we missed that. So, to make it clear that these 144,000 are all from the 12 Tribes of Israel, Revelation 7, verses 5-8 lists them.
Revelation 7:5-8 (NLT)
5 from Judah 12,000 from Reuben 12,000 from Gad 12,000
6 from Asher 12,000 from Naphtali 12,000 from Manasseh 12,000
7 from Simeon 12,000 from Levi 12,000 from Issachar 12,000
8 from Zebulun 12,000 from Joseph 12,000 from Benjamin 12,000
All SEALED by God for a very specific and incredible purpose in the midst of the Tribulation, where it’s about to get out of control badly. The wrath of God is coming upon sin because it must or he can’t be God. And so, in the midst of that righteous wrath coming, God seals 144,000 Jews.
So, first of all, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. These 144,000 are real, actual, bonafide Jews! How do I know that? From the last four verses. These are 144,000 real Jews descended from the real Twelve Tribes of Israel. There are some minor variations in the order and in the naming of the Twelve Tribes, the way John lists them, compared to other lists in the Bible. But it is crystal clear that these 144,000 are all descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
And so, it should be pretty easy to just read those verses, believe it, and move on. However (as you may know), there are many cults who have claimed they (and only they) are really these 144,000. These cults read these verses and then say, well, what they really mean is us. Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults.
You may say that it’s ridiculous for someone to arbitrarily say, “God is not talking about Israel here – he is actually talking about our religion,” when it seems perfectly clear, God is talking about the descendants of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
But there is an even MORE mind-blowing thing.
There are huge Bible-believing, mainline Christian denominations that also say these verses are not talking about Israel. And so, in love, I want to address this (because it is such a huge deal). There are a number of what we would consider mainline Christian denominations who say, “Just because that says Israel, doesn’t mean it’s Israel. When God says ISRAEL – both here and in other places – he does not mean Israel. He says Israel, but he actually means US, the Church,” which is the exact same logic that the cults use.
You have got to hear me. This impunes the character of God to say, “Well, that’s not Israel. God discarded Israel because they messed up, so he replaced them with us.” Really? What does that mean God is going to replace you with? A donkey? If God replaces Israel, he’s going to replace you, and God will not replace Israel.
These large Christian denominations (and honestly, there are great Bible teachers in this group of denominations) developed their doctrines from the two most prominent names in the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s. Their names are John Calvin and Martin Luther. And while hundreds of years after these men were dead (these Christian denominations now have many different names), they now hold to these doctrines of John Calvin and Martin Luther at various levels or to various extents. It’s pretty complicated because some of them pick and choose which doctrines to hold and which ones not to. But, in general, these doctrines that have been primarily taken from John Calvin and Martin Luther are called Calvinism or Reformed (meaning reformed doctrine, reformed church). Those are the two key words, John Calvin and reformed “something.”
Let me read to you part of an explanation of these exact verses from the Gospel Coalition. The Gospel Coalition is kind of the heart of the doctrine side of the Bible teaching side of these movements that follow John Calvin and Martin Luther.
One of their most prolific writers is a guy named Kevin DeYoung. I am not blasting the Gospel Coalition or Kevin DeYoung; there are really, really good Bible teachers in this movement. But I am going to show you a real, real problem when we feel the need to defend a doctrine that we’ve been given from the 1500’s. I’m going to show it to you, and it might be enlightening. I can’t do the whole thing, so I am just doing the points for you.
Kevin DeYoung from Gospel Coalition says
The 144,000 are not an ethnic Jewish remnant (but it actually says they are) . . . The 144,000 represent the entire community of the redeemed (but it says they’re Jews) . . . There is no reason to make the 144,000 any more restricted than that (but these verses DO restrict it to Jews). If you are a servant of the living God, you are one of the 144,000 mentioned here (what? Isn’t that the opposite of what these verses say?).
This is generic everybody kind of language (Isn’t it actually the opposite of generic language). The 144,000 is a symbolic number of redeemed drawn from all peoples, not simply the Jews (but it says they are ALL Jews). So 144,000 is a way of saying all of God’s people under the old and new covenant (isn’t that the opposite of what these verses are actually saying).
This is in print as a commentary on these verses in mainstream Christianity. “I know it says the Jews, but they’re not. They’re us.”
WHY in the world are the churches that follow the teachings of John Calvin and Martin Luther SO committed to convincing you that when God says Israel, God does not mean the Jewish people?
Is there a chance that they’re defending a doctrine that came from their originating doctrine writers, John Calvin and Martin Luther? Is there a chance that there is something in there that they just have to defend to be who they are? In love, these guys go to four years of “cemetery.” And after their four years of “cemetery,” they come out (am I mispronouncing that word? If you’ve been there, you know I am not mispronouncing that word) with a commitment to defend these doctrines from the 1500’s.
Let me read to you what may have influenced the doctrine of these major Christian denominations, saying that even though this says Israel, it’s not Israel, it’s us. It’s not the Jews, it’s us. This is a section from the Christian History Institute Magazine referring to Martin Luther’s book – written by the starter of the Reformation. The book is called On the Jews and Their Lies, written around 1550.
Thus, Luther now proposed seven measures of “sharp mercy” that German princes could take against Jews: (1) burn their schools and synagogues; (2) transfer Jews to community settlements; (3) confiscate all Jewish literature, which was blasphemous; (4) prohibit rabbis to teach, on pain of death; (5) deny Jews safe-[passage], so as to prevent the spread of Judaism; (6) [take] their wealth and use it to support [Christian] converts . . . (7) assign Jews to manual labor as a form of penance.
That’s the father of the Reformation. Can you see between the lines there that he had a little bit of a problem with the Jews? Does it come across? I have a lot of Jewish friends, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Israel. And one of the reasons that they blame Christians for the Holocaust is because Hitler followed Martin Luther’s suggestions about the Jews; he just added the death camps. But every one of these things that Martin Luther wrote about in the 1500’s, Adolf Hitler did in the 1940’s.
So, those who started the doctrines of the Church replacing Israel might have had some anti-Semitism in it, and it fed Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. When you go to the Holocaust Museum, the people that have been with me there before begged me not to take them back because it’s so heavy, there’s a whole wing in the museum of the Church’s support of the Holocaust. And when I say the Church, I’m talking about the Reformed Church of people who follow Luther and Calvin. Again, I am not blanketly discrediting them. I’m just saying there’s some stuff that they’ve drug from the 1500’s that might be time to let go of – if you know what I’m saying.
Here’s what they say about John Calvin. “Well, John Calvin wasn’t as anti-Semitic as Martin Luther,” and they say it like it’s a good thing. He hated the Jews less than Martin Luther.
So, not to belabor the point, let me read just one quote from John Calvin regarding the Jewish people. (I am going to teach you something so important that I have to let it “sting” a little so that you can hear what’s important.)
John Calvin: (Speaking of the Jewish people) Their rotten and unbending stiff-neckedness deserves that they be oppressed unendingly and without measure or end and that they die in their misery without the pity of anyone.”
https://centerforisrael.com/article/is-there-unknown-anti-semitism-in-your-theology/
Is it possible that these originators of this doctrine might have had some negative feelings toward the Jews that it might have influenced the doctrine of these mainstream Protestant Christians who now say, “When God says Israel, he means us”? Do you see it? And when Israel says that Christians are the cause or supported the Holocaust, they’re not wrong. And they have all the stuff in the museum over there to prove it, and it absolutely tears your heart out.
So, please, listen to me. Here’s the important lesson. (We don’t pull this stuff out of the blue. We teach verse-by-verse. But when something this heavy comes up in verse-by-verse, I feel obligated to address it for you.)
When someone is teaching the Bible and they tell you that what God means is opposite of what God says – you might be in a dangerous place.
If the Bible says 144,000 Jews and someone says, “Well, yeah. It says that, but it really means us,” say, “Why? Why does it mean us?” Quit defending a six-hundred-year-old doctrine.
If God’s Word can be understood AS it’s written in the context it’s written in and the context of the entire Bible – then please believe it and receive it JUST AS it’s written. Do not approach God’s Word with preconceived doctrinal dogma positions and slants, and filters that have come down from people who were maybe seriously anti-Semitic.
I’m trying to shepherd you. I’m telling you, if God wanted those verses to say this is the Protestant Reformation Church, he would have just written it. If he wanted it to say they’re Jews, he would have written it. And that’s what he wrote.
So, back to the Book of Revelation. Here’s what we really need to know. A large part (a HUGE part) of the Tribulation period is about God primarily dealing with the Nation of Israel. In fact, many say God’s primary purpose on Earth during the Tribulation is his dealing with the Nation of Israel. So, these 144,000 Jews are Spirit-filled, supernaturally protected, Christ-believing Jews who have been saved after the Rapture. They are sealed by God (just like YOU are Ephesians 1:14, you are sealed when you believe, with the seal of God). They are filled with the Holy Spirit and sealed by God and sent out as Evangelists around the world. God is going to use these 144,000 Jewish evangelists to fill Heaven up with martyrs, with those who will be saved.
Dr. David Jeremiah says, “Twelve Jews turned the first-century upside down. Imagine was 12,000 times twelve will do.”
God has a specific plan for his chosen people, Israel, and God’s plan does not and will not change. God is not going to discard Israel or his plan for them; he’s not going to give up on Israel, just like he’s not going to give up on you. And he’s not going to replace Israel, just like he’s not going to replace you.
God will bring his plan for Israel to pass
He will not discard them
He will not give up on them
He will not replace them with the Church
And here, God seals 144,000 Jews as super-evangelists to bring salvation to those on Earth who haven’t heard the gospel.
So, continuing, let’s look at what may be the fruit of these 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists.
Revelation 7:9 (NLT)
9 After this ("Meta Tauta" - that’s John’s famous “switching gears” every time you read “after this,” John moves to the next subject) I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.
. . . a vast crowd too great to count, . . . From every nation, tribe, people, tongue, all standing before the throne clothed in the righteousness of Christ in the white robes. And we see this as John writing this as a connection of these two events. Those who were victorious and sealed by God on Earth – the 144,000, and those who are victorious who came to Heaven quite possibly from the fruit of the 144,000 that were sealed on Earth during the Tribulation. We see this multitude as joining the raptured Church in Heaven.
(Not everybody agrees with us; it’s honestly not a major issue. The last issue I just dealt with is a major issue. This one is not. Whether we go up at the beginning or the middle – nobody knows. We just lean toward the beginning. Some people say, “Oh, this is everybody,” but if you go back and read chapter 4 and look at the big picture, we feel pretty comfortable with the pre-Tribulation Rapture.)
So, there’s this great multitude we see coming as a result of the 144,000.
Revelation 7:10 says (NLT)
10 And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
A great multitude no one can number
from every people group on the entire Earth
Saved and gathered around the throne of God
Right in the middle of the Great Tribulation!!
Right in the middle of the final judgment of God being poured out on the Earth. This is the character of God that we see in this pause. Right in the midst of the wrath of God coming down, there is a multitude saved that can’t be numbered. There’s a 144,000 sealed for victory on Earth, and God is, through them, sending a multitude that is victorious in Heaven.
That is the immeasurable, astounding, awesome grace and mercy of a holy and loving God.
In the midst of the Tribulation, he is making sure that all who will be saved – will be saved.
Our God is a holy, and a just, and a righteous God, so he must judge sin. But he is a God whose love, and grace and mercy provide a way of salvation for those who would believe, even in the midst of the final judgment.
It’s so good to see it that way. That though the judgment is falling, God makes sure all who will be saved – will be saved.
And so, this great multitude saved by the preaching of the 144,000 kicks off another round of massive Heavenly worship.
They start in verse 10 by shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”
Then,
Revelation 7:11 (NLT)
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders (we believe that’s us, from Revelation Chapter 4, the 24 elders representing the Raptured Church) and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.
All the angels were standing around the throne, with the elders (which, again, we see as the raptured Church), and the four living creatures, the worship leaders, and they all fell on their faces and worshiped God WITH this great multitude that no one can number who are worshipping the Lord with a great roar. The worship in Heaven just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
If we’re there in Chapter 4, and we’re worshiping there and casting our crowns there, now (just in Chapter 7), a vast multitude comes out of the Tribulation. And remember, in the fifth seal, we saw the martyrs of the Tribulation, and so there were already martyrs there in the earlier stage of the Tribulation.
And in verse 12, this entire immeasurable congregation in Heaven breaks into an incredible seven-fold proclamation of praise. And so, we’ve gone from looking at the work on Earth, 144,000 Jews that are sealed on Earth, super-evangelists (I’ve heard them described as 144,000 Billy Grahams), to looking at the victory in Heaven. And in Heaven, it’s just more worship, more worship, more worship, more worship. Here are the seven-fold proclamation of praise in verse 12.
Revelation 7:12 (NLT)
12 They (ALL of these groups) sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
This great multitude has overcome! They are victorious! They stood for Christ on Earth in the Tribulation, and they died for it. And now they stand in absolute victory in the throne room of Heaven. And so, their victory was in the Tribulation but it’s received in the throne room of Heaven.
And just in case we question who this great multitude is:
Revelation 7:13–15 (NLT)
13 Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. (This is why we see them different than the Raptured Saints.) They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.
15 “That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. (ESV says – with His presence)
This multitude was victorious over the Tribulation by choosing to have faith in Jesus Christ to their death. And verse 15 says they are now before the throne of God, and they will serve him day and night. In the Old Testament, the only ones who could serve the Lord in the Temple were the Priests. But now, God has taken Saints from every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, and he has made them a Kingdom of Priests, and they will serve God nonstop in his presence.
And (again) the last sentence of verse 15 from the ESV says, he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
THAT is a big deal! They have suffered unto death in the Tribulation, but now, God himself will shelter them in his presence.
Revelation 7:16 (NLT)
16 They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
These are some of the same things this multitude experienced IN the Tribulation.
They starved – because of the famine, and they would not take the Mark of the Beast
They were thirsty – because the water had been destroyed
They were burnt by the sun – because of the natural disasters
And the very things they suffered in the Tribulation God specifically removes when they are in his presence. And he replaces them with himself with protection in his presence.
Revelation 7:17 says (NLT)
17 For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
That is victorious in Tribulation. Being victorious in Tribulation doesn’t mean you survive the Tribulation. Victorious in Tribulation means you stand for Jesus in the Tribulation, so you find yourself standing in the throne room of God in victory!
What a display of God’s amazing, unending grace and mercy and his love for us right in the midst of his judgment falling on the Earth.
So, we’ve seen two groups here in Revelation Chapter 7 who are victorious in the Great Tribulation.
The first group – sealed by God for his glory and his purpose
The second group – chose to die for Christ rather than live for the world
And that is really no different than it is today.
There is Tribulation today, though not to the extent of the Great Tribulation. And so, the question is how can we be victorious in Tribulation? Not only in the Great Tribulation but in Tribulation today?
Who can stand victorious in Tribulation?
Those who are sealed by God through their faith
Those who choose Jesus Christ over this world
In the Great Tribulation, things are going to be radically worse, but the truths of God will remain the same whether in the Great Tribulation or in Tribulation today. Those who will stand victorious are those who have been sealed by God through faith in Jesus Christ and those who choose Jesus Christ against the powers of this world.
Ephesians 1 says that when you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Those who were saved in the Tribulation were sealed with the seal of God. And your victory in Heaven is your receiving of Jesus Christ. And so, receiving Christ and being sealed is the way we are victorious in Tribulation today, not just in the Great Tribulation.
I had a great conversation today between services about how there is no religion in the New Testament. There isn’t. Jesus didn’t start a religion. Man started a whole bunch of them – about four thousand. Jesus started a relationship, and through that relationship, you can have victory in Tribulation.