The Lord's Army
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
We are picking back up in Revelation tonight chapter 7. And we are in-between the first six seals and the seventh seals. Just a reminder that the seals are a form of preliminary judgements and not the primary judgement. Some believe say these six seals are just the result of sin of mankind. But I think Jesus opening the scroll is a future event that will unleash God’s judgement for sin and usher in the new age. So the opening of the seals begins the Great Tribulation.
Chapter 7 is a parenthetical chapter. It is as if John was watching the Lamb remove the seals and now he looks the other direction at another vision. Chapter 8 will pick back up with the seventh seal.
The Judgement of God withheld temporarily
Revelation 7:1–3 “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.””
Symbolism
(v 1) “Four corners” is a way to say the whole earth.
This does not mean that we live on a flat earth.
(v 1) “four winds” this is symbol of God’s judgement. Notice that the angels are holding back the four winds.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
(v 3) “Sealed the bondservants”
δοῦλος (slave)
One who is solely committed to another
His primary allegiance is to that one
QUESTION: What does it look like to be a bond-servant of God and is that a requirement for salvation?
Notice this is not a distinct group, but it refers to all the faithful believers when this event takes place.
Primary point of passage:
God has granted permission for heavenly angels to harm the earth. This clearly is a form of judgement from directly from God.
QUESTION: What does God do before He begins to unleash His judgement?
ANSWER: He sends the angels to seal the bond-servants of God.
QUESTION: What do you think the seal represents or is?
QUESTION: Why does He seal them?
ANSWER: To insure the protection for the believers for the coming judgements.
The seal denotes ownership
2 Timothy 2:19 “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.””
God prepares His Soldiers
Revelation 7:4–8 “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.”
Who are the 144,000?
The two main options are the church or Israel
Israel
12,000 from every tribe
Most literal reading of the text
BUT Doubtful because:
the book of Revelation never makes these racial distinctions
It only refers to those who worship the Lamb
The Bible also mentions the unity of thew OT and NT by:
24 elders who worship God and the Lamb (Israel and apostles)
The 7 letters to the church include both Jew and gentile Christians
Jesus said, Matthew 19:28 “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Galatians 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”
The church
Symbolically represents the final generation of believers
The number is 12 x 12 = 144 x 1,000
The number 12 represents fullness
Jacob had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel (complete
Jesus had 12 apostles
The New Jerusalem has 12 gates and 12 foundations
The tree of life will bear 12 fruit crops 12 times a years
These are the faithful believers who are entering into the Tribulation period.
Commentators say this is not just the faithful church, but the Messianic army who will take the gospel to the nations
If you read the entire book of Revelation, it culminates in a war between the people of God and the wicked.
Revelation 19:19 “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
So here we see God preparing the final generation of faithful believers for war (both Jewish and Gentile)
Application:
The Bible speaks of the spiritual warfare of the believer today.
QUESTION: What kind of spiritual warfare have you experienced since you have started following Christ?
The Heavenly Army is Victorious
Revelation 7:9–12 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
“After these things I looked”
This is the scene changes from earth to heaven.
And the reason is to show that God’s army has been victorious and rejoicing in God’s salvation
“A great multitude no one could count”
In the previous section we saw the number 144,000 thousand which we said was symbolic (not literal) to represent the church prepared for battle.
Here the number is more than can be counted.
THE POINT: A greater number than went emphasizing the successful mission of the church
They went in the tribulation period, and came out with such a great number more that they could not be numbered
Application:
Matthew 16:18 ““I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The Lord does not send His church on a mission to fail
The church cannot fail as long as it is obedient to the Lord
And that applies to us today. We are the Lord army sent out to this community to engage in a spiritual battle.
It is difficult and it requires the faithfulness of a bondservant, but victory is guaranteed
If the Lord be for us, who can be against us?
Revelation 7:13–17 “Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.””
(v 14) “Washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb”
What does it mean that they washed them white?
White = purity
The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin
This is a number of people who have departed from the sin and wickedness of this world and been made pure by the blood of Jesus
(v 15-17) is a picture of the saints in heaven
They will hunger no more
They will thirst no more
The Lamb will be their shepherd
And He will wipe every tear away from their eyes
It is a reminder of the reward of our GREAT COMMITMENT
There is a promise that one day it will be all worth it
Every heartache, every struggle, everything we give up for Jesus, will be worth it
Notice the Palm Branches:
Have we ever seen palm branches in Scripture?
They are used in times of celebration/victory
It is a reminder that all the present difficulties we face to remain faithful will end in a great celebration.
THE KEY: keep our frame of mind on these truths!
It is easy to get overwhelmed by the difficulties in this life.
If we let the difficulties eclipse God’s promises of eternal salvation we are destined to stumble
Do not take your heart off of heaven
Stay faithful