Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Revelation 7:1-3

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1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” ~ Revelation 7:1-3

In the final verse in Revelation 6 the question is asked, "Who is able to stand during the lamb's wrath?" That question is answered in Revelation 7 which introduces us to two groups who are able to stand during the seventieth seven of Daniel 9:27, the seven year period of time many referred to as the Tribulation.

The very small nation of Israel receives an has always received enormous attention in the world's media, far beyond what its size would warrant. The only explanation for this extraordinary fact is that Israel has a special purpose in the program of God. Israel was on center stage in the Old Testament. Everything centered around this little nation which came from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Even when we come to the Gospels in the New Testament, Israel is still the focus of attention. The perseverance of this seemingly insignificant country adds great argument to God's existence.

As we have noted before, the next prophetic event that the world will experience is the rapture of the church which is described in detail in 1 Thessalonians 4. It is a stunning event wherein God suddenly removes from the earth a great host of people. You can imagine what an effect that will have on all of  those left. That is how the long-predicted "last days" will start. After that, God begins a program of judgment in which Israel is at the center yet again.

Having seen six of the seven seals opened in Revelation 6, before the seventh seal is opened, God declares an intermission wherein He takes us back to the beginning of the judgments to see another aspect of His working during that time. In today's text God highlights a special group of Jews who will be able to stand during the wrath of the Lamb.

In v.1 we read, "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree."

Most of the book of the Revelation is symbolic. The "four corners of the earth," for instance, stands for the four directions of the earth: north, south, east and west. And, there are four angels holding back the four winds of the earthWinds are a symbol of devastation and destructive power in the Bible. This is a picture of God's judgment that is about to fall on the earth.

The land or the earth, is used frequently as a symbol for Israel throughout the Old Testament. Israel is viewed as a nation with stability because it had God as its head. It has structure, order, and foundation, and so it is depicted as "land." But the sea is used many places in Scripture to describe the Gentile nations which had no inner stability because there was no recognition of the authority of God there. They worshipped idols and held to pagan concepts which rendered them unstable and uncertain in their conduct of human affairs. 

Trees are used in the Bible to describe people. In Psalm 1:3 we read, "That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Trees are symbols of influential people of authority, who stand out from the crowd like tall trees in a forest.

These four angels are identifiable as the first four of the seven angels that will blow their trumpets in succeeding chapters. If we carefully compare what happens under the judgments of the seven angels we will see that the first four affect the land, the sea and the trees. At this point they are told to hold back until a very important group of individuals are sealed by God.

In v.2-3 of today's text we read, "2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

We do not have to guess at what the seal of God is, because believers today are also sealed by God. In Ephesians 4:30 we read, "You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." The presence of the Spirit of God in every individual Christian is the unmistakable mark of God's ownership. 

This indicates that this group will be sealed by the Holy Spirit due to their conversion to Christ. The seal is placed upon their forehead which indicates the Spirit is especially related to their minds. Notice that these people are specifically called the "servants of our God." They serve with the willingness to give up themselves for the sake and benefit of others. We are told exactly who these are in v.4-8 and that will be our topic of conversation tomorrow.

Before we conclude, a remnant is a surviving trace or vestige and often refers to a small surviving group of people. In the Bible God has always had a remnant of believers who remain true to Him no matter what. Someone once said, "A remnant is what is left of a community after it undergoes a catastrophe." This definition certainly applies to this group of Jews mentioned in Revelation 7. 

Think of it, Israel is a nation which has been persecuted for 2000 years, most recently in the horrible Holocaust where up to 6 million Jews were savagely murdered. Remnant is a two-sided word. In the first instance it speaks of disaster and loss. Israel as a people will not emerge unscathed from the scrutiny and outpouring of divine judgment. But there is promise in it too. It will not be a total catastrophe, for there will be a divinely preserved remnant. 

In the Old Testament some passages refer to the total destruction of a nation, when God brings judgment on the people, however, He does not destroy the faithful with the wicked, but leaves a remnant. The existence of a remnant is evidence of God existence. The remnant are the real people of God. The remnant concept is found in all periods of redemptive history where catastrophe threatens the continuity of God’s purposes. 

The concept of the remnant has its roots in the Book of Deuteronomy where Moses warned the people of Israel that they would be scattered among the nations. But God also promised that He would bring the people back from captivity and establish them again in the land of their fathers. This concept was picked up by the prophets, who spoke of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. And, Revelation 7 speaks of yet another remnant whose hearts have been captured by the God who created them and who will recreate them.