Revelations Ch 7
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How many of you have been greatly encouraged by going through the Book of Revelations.
I have
SO FAR
It is all about Security in Jesus - Worship - Its about the worthy one who we worship.
It is powerful and yes judgement is coming but we see those that are His are at the center real close to Jesus.
As I was studying this week - I heard the President made a remark, that got my attention.
It was not a new remark, I doubt he understands eschatology.
I cannot get better sermon illustrations than what is being said in the media these days.
Im getting ahead of myself but ;
Wednesday. I want to quote a media outlet,
Biden warned that now is a time "when things are shifting."
"We’re going to — there’s going to be a new world order out there, and we’ve got to lead it," "And we’ve got to unite the rest of the free world in doing it."
This remark did not go unnoticed - TULSI GABBARD saind, BIDEN IS 'NOT GOD,' 'NOT IN CONTROL' DESPITE 'NEW WORLD ORDER' REMARK: She went on to say, "recognizing you're not God, you are not in control" is "central" to humility. ) Could I say it is central to humanity)
"And if you try to pretend that you are, what will result — even with good intentions — what will result, unfortunately, is more suffering, more hardship for the people in the world [whom] supposedly he's trying to save, but also for the American people."
Like I said earlier, these are not new comments - George Bush Senior said the same thing as well as Bill Clinton, Obama and British Prime Ministers, Canadian Prime Ministers, as well as many others.
We have been making these remarks for 50 years.
A new world order - they are right about one thing - It will be different
“Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
It is also in Revelations 13 - which we will get to in the coming weeks -so patience congregation.
We are in Revelations 7 - It has a lot to say. But we will be going through this section fairly quickly today.
Last week we went through 6 seals
Nothing more than is allowed to happen will happen - AMEN
Now we have an Interlude. It feels like intermission - In American baseball, an intermission takes place in the middle of the seventh inning, and is referred to as the "seventh inning stretch". It is that little break before you put everything on the line.
It is a break before the 7th seal is opened - these interludes are very important - It is like a re-clarification
It answer the question - what is this all about? or Why is this important? What do you see?
Do you see - Redemption and Peace - Do you see Gods Mercy- Do you see the bigger picture.
The temptation we have is to focus on every” disastrous piece”- Oh OH horse number
1 then 2 then 3 OH OH . It can get you off track from the bigger picture.
This was placed at the perfect time in the perfect place - for your benefit. AMEN
Are you Ready - Open your Bibles to Revelation 7
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,
saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs 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.”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
They cried out in worship it reminds me of the scripture in Deuteronomy
For I proclaim the name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
This is the largest most powerful anointed Worship service the Universe has ever had - and it is just the beginning.
This is true worship - This is what it is all about - AMEN
OK lets unpackage this chapter just a little
Four Scenes Angels - Israel - Rest of Mankind , Worship ( We have another trilogy of the number 4)
Parts - Four corners- Represents the earth as a whole
Four Winds -(judgments) restrained by 4 angels - - interesting these three groups of 4 add up to 12 and so it is a complete picture of this event
Seal of the living God - the authority of God in his hand - This angel from the east ( which can represent the glory or anointing coming from the east side of the temple. ) the word east is very interesting to study) This angel instructs the other angels to hold off and he has with him a seal.
In the NT we see the seal represented by the Holy Spirit.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Some would say this makes sense- the rapture has happened and all the saints leave with the Holy Spirit.
What about the OT.
Where in the Old Testament do we see and Angel - come and not harm the people of god - and how were they protected.
Passover in Exodus Chapter 12
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
“This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.
Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.
And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats,
and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.
“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts.
And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.
In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
How were Gods people not harmed - there was an identifier on the doorpost of their house
Blood on the door post - WOW
The saints are marked on the foreheads ( interesting to note Satan marks His with the mark of the beast)
Sealed - You are identified with Christ - It also marks ownership
We are sealed today by the Holy Spirit - It shows the world that He resides in us. In other words we are His.
The priests wore a
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.
It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”
Now lets look at the prophet Ezekiel - what does he see?
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.
And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.
Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.
The beast wants to mark your forearm and your forehead - so you are identified with Him. The mark 666.
2nd Scene
144,000 sealed (who are they?)
They are a number of 12 x 12 - The complete number for every tribe of Israel
First of all they are all Jews - I belief God is not finished with the work of Israel yet. The Covenants still stand, especially where there is repentance. - AMEN
These 12k are from all the tribes- they would be Jewish people dispersed around all the world - These are not all going to come from the current Nation of Israel.
These 144,000 have a work to do to spread the Gospel to the Jewish people and the world. This is a saved remnant of Israel. We know this because there are more than 144000 Jews. God sets apart 12k from each tribe
There are those who are in great error who say there is only 144,000 who will reign with Christ in heaven. They says this becasue they want to have no part with Israel. They believe they are the true church and also they ignore proper exegesis. There is no distinction between the heavenly life and earthly life -
During the Millennium we have three different groups ruling, The church in 1 Cor 6:2, OT saints Daniel 7:27 and Tribulation saints Rev 20:4 - This is also different than the eternal state
Interesting the tribe of Dan is not mentioned - many believe because the northern kingdom lead others to go astray to worship apart from the Temple and eliminated themselves.- ( that is up for debate)
Scene Three
The people affected by this group are multitudes from every tribe , nation and tongues that survives the tribulation and are now in the millenium.
This also reminds me of an OT scripture.
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
All Nations means a complete dominion
Scene Four
After this we head back to Worship again
Remember what I said earlier - The most amazing worship service is revealed in Heaven.
Gods great Character is on Display
He is our Salvation - means there is no other - then 7 attributes ( I love the number 7)
He is Blessed - He is the Blessor
Glory - He is glorious
Wisdom - He has all Wisdom
Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving belongs only to him
Honor - There is no one higher to honor
Power - He is omnipotent
Might - He has the capability to use all this power.
To worship God is to understand these things.
The end of this passage gives some amazing insight to our future
They are washed - purified once and for all - no longer polluted by this sin stained world
They all serve - Not just the priests - we are all a kingdom of priests - we are all on the same plain -
Shelter - under the wings of the most high - His presence around them 24 seven- Tangible, powerful, protective
They will Hunger no more
They will thirst no more -
Not struck by sun or heat - No left on there own in the elements to die
Guided by the Shepherd -
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Conclusion
The emphasis is on ownership and worship.
God says He will wipe away every tear!