Who will be marked for protection? All of God’s people, every single one. All of them will be kept safe. This is the complete number of Old Testament saints who looked forward and put their faith in the Christ who was promised combined with those saints in the New Testament era who look back at the cross and resurrection and put their faith in Christ.

Canadian preacher Darrell Johnson calls this chapter the most comforting of all the visions contained in the Bible. But you have to understand what he means when he says “comforting.”

I am using the phrase, “most comforting,” both in the modern sense of the word, “creating a state of well-being,” and in the original sense of the word, “fortifying for courageous action.” The English word comfort comes from the Latin com-forte: com means “with”; forte means “strength.” To comfort is to give strength in order to be and do what one ordinarily could not be or do.

This chapter is designed for real people who are facing hard realities. It’s written for Christians who want to obey God, but are facing significant costs for doing so. When Christians face suffering and even death, they need comfort in both senses of the word. We need a state of wellbeing in the middle of discomfort and suffering. And we need fortitude to stay faithful even in the midst of incredible pressure to cave on what God has called us to do.

What to Expect

We are deep into our Revelation series. Last week we saw that God is executing his plans for the world through Jesus. Jesus is opening the seals, which means that Jesus is executing God’s plans for human history. He is worthy to do so because he conquered through his death and is now bringing his rule and reign into the world.

That sounds good! But last week, we saw what God’s plans for history involve. Here’s what happens as Jesus opens the seals: we experience war, civil unrest, economic hardship and inequity, disease, death, and persecution. That’s what we can expect in this part of history, not because things are out of control, but because God’s plans for judgment and salvation are unfolding in the world. Don’t be surprised when you open the newspaper and things look bad. Don’t be surprised when you hear of wars and injustice and economic disparity and death. Don’t be surprised that Christians will suffer for their faith and die. We’ve been warned. Life will be hard. In this passage, God is setting expectations for what life will be like.

But it gets worse! When we left off last week, Jesus had opened the sixth seal found in 6:12-17. The sixth seal is so terrifying that the earth shakes, the sun darkens, the moon turns red, and the stars fall. The sixth seal borrows from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Jesus to describe the final day of judgment (Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:29). It’s so terrifying that people pray not to God but to mountains and rocks, begging them to fall and crush them. They’d rather die than stand before the holy and just wrath of the Lamb.

Chapter 6 ends with the question, “The great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17). That’s a great question! Who can stand? Chapter 7 gives us the answer, and it’s a comforting one: God’s people can stand. Every single person who belongs to Jesus can stand in the middle of the suffering of this world and in the final judgment. God will preserve his own people, every single one.

Two Comforting Truths

Chapter 7 is an interlude. Chapter 7 comes after the sixth seal is opened and before the seventh seal is opened in the first five verses of chapter 8. In chapter 8, the Lamb opens the seal, and there’s silence in heaven for half an hour before God answers the prayers of God’s people for justice by hallowing his name and judging the world. Chapter 7 is the interlude between the sixth and the seventh seal being opened, and it’s designed to answer the question, “Who can stand?”

In response to this question, Revelation 7 gives us two comforting truths.

First, God will preserve his people (7:1-8).

Chapter 7 begins with the angels holding back the forces of judgment:

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… (7:1-2)

Judgment is coming! Angels stand at the four corners of the world ready to unleash winds of judgment against the world. But something has to happen first.

What has to happen? Verse 3 tells us: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Further judgment is delayed until the servants of God are marked for protection from coming judgments on earth.

And then you have a list of those who are being marked for protection in verses 4 to 8: “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel…” (7:4). And then you have all of these names in verses 5 to 8.

What do these names represent? Who is included among the 144,000? This is what you’re here to figure out! Remember that numbers in Revelation are symbolic. Some people believe that this is a certain number of Jewish people at the end of history. I believe it’s probably a number that includes the 12 tribes of Israel, representing Old Testament saints, and the 12 apostles, representing the people of God in the new covenant.

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