Bible Commentaries
Revelation 7

Verse 1

Rev 7:1. After the altar scene in chapter 6:9-11, the vision opens the sixth seal to give a view of the consternation that came upon the men in high places, because of their mistreatment of Christians and because they were faced with the reverses that the emperor had forced upon them. The present chapter extends the consideration that God had for the "martyrs," at the same time He was bringing the siege of consternation upon the persecutors of His people. The four angels are so numbered because of the four corners or four points of the earth's compass. Holding the four winds symbolizes the blowing of the wrath of God over the realm of the persecutors, and these angels were holding this wind ready to be released whenever they were so ordered. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Introduction. The intermission scene (between sixth and seventh seals) --Rev 7:1-17. Six seals have been opened, revealing the signs of impending events. The first four seals depict scenes of terror and tragedy never exceeded in the course of human history --the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, the details of which fulfill these visions of the horrorifying inflictions, of its duration, and of the subsequent tribulations in its wake. It should not be even momentarily overlooked that all of these calamities were included in the narration of Mat 24:1-51, accompanied by the explicitly plain announcement by Jesus that the calamities would come upon that generation and fulfilled in it (Mat 23:36; Mat 24:34). "All these things shall come upon this generation." After the disclosures of war, famine, pestilence and mortality in the pageantry of the four horses and riders, the fifth seal discloses the call of the martyrs for avenging judgment, followed by the answer of the sixth seal to their cry in the symbols of the descending wrath of the One on the throne and of the Lamb upon the persecutors and their accomplices. The immediate opening of the seventh seal would expectedly follow, but instead an interlude is projected into the vision as an enlargement of the martyr scene, expanded to include their "fellowservants and brethren," previously mentioned as "partakers in the tribulation" yet on the earth. This recess between the sixth and seventh seal signifies a lapse between the announcements of judgment and the execution of them, and corresponds to the period of escape promised the disciples by Jesus, in Mat 24:15-25 and Luk 21:18-19, in his descriptions of the siege of Jerusalem; and it was fulfilled in the withdrawal of the Roman armies, under the command of the Roman general, Titus, after the siege had commenced. It is described by Josephus, an eyewitness to the embattled scenes of the destruction of Jerusalem, with additional evidence from the Roman historian Pliny, to which further reference will be made in the following analysis of this interlude and its succeeding scenes. Verse 1. And I saw four angels--Rev 7:1. The four angels were the imperial agents, not the heavenly messengers, as shown by the contrast with "another" angel of verse 2, which countermanded the orders of the four angels to hold back the winds. These four angels were the agents of Rome intercepting the word of God-- holding the winds--hindering the messengers of the gospel --that they should not blow--that is, preventing the spread of the gospel, or Christianity. The old word "hold" meant "hinder," as in Rom 1:18, "who hold (hinder) the truth." The four corners of the earth is a common expression to denote the four points of the compass, meaning the whole earth. It signified the universal sway of the Roman government, hence, the significance of "the four angels," the Roman agents "standing on the four corners of the earth," exercising dominion over the whole world. The four winds were the messengers of Christ to execute his will, signified by the wind blowing, contrasting "blow" and "not blow," the affirmative and negative opposites. The phrase, on earth, sea nor tree, were the three things that sum up physical objects against which the wind blows, and signify that the acts of the four angels in holding back the wind proscribed the preaching of the word, and in so doing the result was universal, having effect on all peoples of the earth. The designation on the earth referred particularly to Palestine where the Jews resided and where the gospel originated. The designation on the sea extends the restraining order to other parts of the world separated by the sea from the land of the Jews. The statement nor any tree emphasizes that the word of God was being restrained everywhere men were found.

Verse 2

Rev 7:2. As the four angels were "standing at attention" ready to turn the winds loose upon the earth (referring to the domains of the Roman Empire), another angel was seen coming with a special message to the four. Front the east is figurative and means it was from the throne of God, because he is the source of all spiritual light, even as the sun which brings material light to the world, first appears in the east. Hurt the earth is referring back to the conditions of consternation and destruction described in the closing verses of chapter 6. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verse 2. And I saw another angel--Rev 7:2. Here is the symbol of the heavenly messenger who suspended the restraining order of the four angels--Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in the foreheads. This angel was seen ascending from the east, from the eastern horizon, from the direction of the rising sun, a symbol consistent with his mission of suspending, or preventing, the mandate of the four angels to put out the light of God's word over all the world. By the authority of God the angel of the east said to the four angels hurt not the earth. It had been "given" to the four angels to "hurt" the earth, by the war on Jerusalem, and to enforce the mandate that "the wind should not blow," that is, to restrain the word of God.

Verse 3

Rev 7:3. They were told to hold back the winds until the faithful ones had been accounted for. A seal is a stamp of ownership and is placed on the proper persons to indicate the approval of the authority behind it. (See the comments at 1Co 9:2.) This seal was to be placed in the forehead which indicates they would he visible to the public. Whatever was the exact fulfilling of this symbol, there was something that would tell the world of God's approval of them. Hence when the wicked men of power were undergoing their terrors, they could realize how much they had failed in their wicked designs. Right while they were trembling in the terrors of their crumbling dominions, they could see the victims of their cruelty with the marks of approval from their God. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verse 3. Hurt not the earth--Rev 7:3. "Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." This was the counter command of the angel of the rising sun to the four angels. The purpose of this sealing, as later seen, is to preserve the holy seed, the true Israel of God, from the judgments about to come upon the earth. It was not exemption from suffering, but from the judgments about to be announced in the opening of the seventh seal. It was a suspension period before the break of fury, signifying the divine protection of the faithful seed, the assurance that no force could bring them ultimate harm. The sealing in their foreheads was a symbol of an insignia or a mark to save them from slaughter, but not from tribulation, for chapter 2:10 said "thou shalt suffer tribulation ten days." But they would survive it; they would be preserved in the midst of it, by a mark to distinguish the true Israel, the holy seed, from old Israel, the fleshly Jew. The old Israel was soon to perish, the new Israel to be preserved; the old Jerusalem was soon destroyed by impending judgments, the new Israel to be sealed for preservation, to survive and flourish as Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, sealed on earth and enrolled in heaven. A similar imagery is employed by Jeremiah in foretelling the captivity of Israel in Babylon. (Eze 9:4) Its history repeats itself in these visions of tribulation in the final destruction of Jerusalem, and of Israel's nation. It is noteworthy that in this imagery there was the mark that sealed the servants of God in their foreheads, who worshipped not the beast, in contrast with what was later called the mark of the beast, also received upon their foreheads and in their hands, by those who submitted to the beast--to the decree of the emperor against the worship of the Lamb, and for the worship of the emperor, as set forth in the second series of symbols surrounding the church the Bride of the Lamb. In a similar figure Paul carried the mark of his Lord. (Gal 6:17)

Verse 4

Rev 7:4. The number of those who were sealed is given in exact and equal figures, which makes us know that it is all another expression of figurative speech and that the meaning is that great numbers of true Christians had won the stamp of approval from the Lord. Tribes of the Children of Israel. it is known that after the conversion of Cornelius in the first four years of the Gospel, the Gentiles furnished many converts to Christ. Hence there were many of those who were persecuted as well as of the Jews. The reference to the twelve tribes is therefore accommodative, similar to the instance in Jas 1:1. Rev 7:5-8. Having explained the significance of the tribal classification. and since the same thing is said of each tribe. I am combining these verses into one paragraph to conserve time and space. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verses 4-8. The number of the sealed was computed with the tabulation of twelve times twelve, on the basis of the twelve tribes instead of the twelve apostles, as in chapter 4; but here it is expanded to the basic number of thousand for each tribe, as a full and complete company rather than persons equal in number to the patriarchs and apostles, as in case of the twenty-four elders. In the first the symbol was added; in the second it was multiplied. It signified the whole faithful church, the total number of the redeemed, "the holy seed," preserved from the pronouncements of judgment. This multiplied number was mentioned again in chapter 14, discussion of which is reserved for that exposition. In the names that head the twelve tribes, Judah stands first, significant of relation sustained to "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" from which the Lord sprang. (Heb 7:14) The spiritual, figurative, use of the twelve tribes elsewhere in the New Testament designated the whole church, the spiritual Israel, as in the Old Testament they represented the whole of fleshly Israel. (Mat 18:28; Act 26:7; Jas 1:1) This 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel was an apocalypse of the holy seed of Isa 6:13; and the remnant of Jacob of Isa 10:21-23; and the remnant according to election of Rom 9:27-28; Rom 11:5; and the innumerable company (the church) of Heb 12:22. They stood for the new Israel. The proclamation of "the angel of the east" to the four angels standing on the four corners of the "earth" to "hurt not the earth till we have sealed the servants of our God," signified that God would not permit them to destroy Old Jerusalem until he had sealed a representative number for the New Jerusalem, the church, which was figuratively said to be "the twelve tribes" of the dispersion. (Jas 1:1) The "loud voice" of this angel commanded that the "wind blow," that the gospel should be preached to the four corners by the sealed servants. It was parallel to the Lord's declaration that after the destruction of Jerusalem his angels (emissaries) would carry the gospel to the four winds. (Mat 24:31) Following the visions of the sealed number there was the heavenly scene of the great multitude robed in white, coming out of tribulation, composed of the angels, the elders, and the beings, who were before the throne; who were washed in blood; who served in his temple; who hungered and thirsted no more; who should suffer no heat of the sun; whom the Lamb should feed and lead; and whose tears God would wipe away. The full or unlimited understanding of all the signs with a precise explanation of all the symbols of these visions is not required in order to know the general import, and application to the period of these persecutions. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the objects of these visions were immediate and present with them while they are separated and remote from us. It should further be observed that there were spiritually gifted teachers in each church to impart the meanings to the members, whereas we have the teaching of the text itself, with the current history of the context, to follow. The course of history did not run contrary to the context nor does the language of the text contradict the events of history. The misinterpretations of false teachers and the misapplications of others arise from the anachronisms of assigning these events to the wrong periods of time, by referring them to future centuries, rather than applying the signs to the impending events of the time. The correlation in the symbolic arrangement of the contents, without the historical gaps and the fragmentary dislocations of the future theories identify them with the current history then transpiring. The entire genius of the book justifies the conviction that it was designed for the comfort and encouragement of the early apostolic churches.

Verse 9

Rev 7:9. This verse verifies the comments at verse 4, for here we have the same kind of persons referred to in other numerical terms. They also are said to be from all nations. etc.. which would prevent us from restricting the "twelve tribes" to the Jews. White robes signified a life of righteousness and palms are medals betokening their victory over "great tribulation" (verse 14). Rev 7:10. Salvation to our God means to ascribe salvation to Him, and unto the Lamb is combined in the praise because God perfects all plans through the Son. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verses 9-10. The innumerable multitude--Rev 7:9-10. In this coordination of the apocalypse, the angel's proclamation concerning the hundred and forty-four thousand was immediately followed by the heavenly scene in verses nine to seventeen. The vision here expands the hundred forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel, as the nucleus of the New Israel, the holy seed, the remnant according to grace--into the innumerable multitude. The revelation does not end with "the number of them that were sealed" in verse 4. Verse 9 continues the vision with the words "after this I beheld and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues." It is the same company as "the number of them that were sealed," the hundred forty-four thousand which were "of all the tribes of Israel." But the multitude in verse 9 were of all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues," which signified that the new Israel was not the fleshly seed of the twelve tribes of Israel; but the spiritual seed--the holy seed--of all nations "which no man could number." This was the symbol of innumerable multitude. It was identical with that "innumerable company" mentioned in Heb 12:22-23, designated "the general assembly and church of the firstborn." It identified the hundred forty-four thousand of Rev 7:4, and Rev 14:1, with this great multitude and innumerable company of Rev 7:9 and Heb 12:22-23. So parallel are these passages that strong evidence is adduced from it that the Hebrew passage is an allusion to this Revelation scene of chapter 7, virtually equivalent to a direct quotation. This is assuredly possible in the premises of the prior date of Revelation, in which chronology it antedates the Hebrew epistle. The same evidential relation of other epistles to the apocalypse is indicated in other references and examples, all of which are internal evidences that Revelation is by no means the last book of the New Testament canon, but quite to the contrary-it bears an earlier date than several others, including Hebrews, Galatians, Second Peter (if not first), and even of the other epistles of John. The multitude of Rev 7:9-10 were clothed in the white robes of victory, displaying palms of praise. There were the emblems of a triumphant march. (Joh 12:13) With a loud voice the vocal unison of the great company ascribed salvation to our God, from whom the salvation proceeded and unto the Lamb, by whom it was procured. This salvation was not in the gospel sense of salvation from sin or in pardon or remission of sins, but was the state of deliverance and blessing. The Greek texts give the article which the English translations dropped, and in them it reads: "the salvation of our God," a specific reference to coming out of the trials of persecution into the scenes of the throne.

Verse 11

Rev 7:11. The angels stood round about the throne and in the presence of the elders and the four living creatures as a mark of respect. But when they performed their homage of worship it was before the throne unto God. Rev 7:12. Saying, Amen. Thayer says that at the beginning of a discourse the word means, "Surely, of a truth, truly." Thus the angels were announcing that they were about to utter something that would surely be the truth, namely, that all the good qualities mentioned in the verse should truly be ascribed to God. The declaration was made emphatic still more by closing it with Amen. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verses 11-12. The angelic proclamation--Rev 7:11-12. In the acknowledgment of this salvation all of the angels were standing about the throne and about the twenty-four elders and the four creature-beings. Together encircling the throne they prostrated their angelic forms before it, and said Amen, to the voice of the multitude which had ascribed salvation unto God and unto the Lamb. Reference to "all the angels" does not mean all angels in heaven, but all the angels in this vision, beginning in the fourth chapter. After saying Amen to the acknowledgments of salvation by the multitude, they repeated the doxology of Rev 5:12, with the exception of the omission of "riches," inserting thanksgiving and substituting might for "strength." For comments on the seven-fold attributes thus ascribed to God and to the Lamb refer to Rev 5:11-13.

Verse 13

Rev 7:13. The elder put his statement in the form of a question to gain the attention of John. The ones arrayed in white robes were those in chapter 6:11 and those of the twelve tribes in this chapter. Rev 7:14. John understood that such was the purpose of the question, for he replied thou knowest. The elder then gave the answer which confirms the idea that they were the persecuted servants of God already referred to. Came out of!treat tribulation denotes their triumph over their persecutors. Not that they escaped death, for John had seen their souls outside of their bodies. But if a servant of God is faithful even in the midst of persecution then death cannot rob him of victory. Washed their robes is a figurative reference to their being cleaned by the blood of Christ. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verses 13-14. The white-robed throng--Rev 7:13-14. "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The interrogative of verse 13 brought the answer of verse 14 and identified the multitude as the survivors of tribulation. It was an advance scene and corresponded to "the hour of trial," Rev 3:10; the "tribulation" of Rev 2:10; and to the Lord's language in Mat 24:21, after which he would gather his elect "from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other"--verse 31. The preservation of the true seed of Israel, the success of the cause of Christ, the victory of the church, and the universal sway, of Christianity in the expansion of the gospel, were the parallels in all of the visions; and they covered in each instance the same events, and alike defined the period of these afflictions. The apocalypse belonged to that time. The company which emerged from tribulation were described as having washed their robes in blood. This was not the washing away of sins in baptism, of Act 22:16; nor the washing of water by the word of Eph 5:26; nor having our bodies washed with pure water of Heb 10:22. It was the washing of their robes--it was the blood bath of tribulation, symbolically in the blood of the Lamb who Himself shed his blood for the cause for which they also suffered.

Verse 15

Rev 7:15. All of the statements in this verse are figurative, for the purified saints had lost their lives for testifying on behalf of the word of God. But they were being held in honored remembrance and were destined to be always "welcome callers" in the intimacies of the Father. Rev 7:16. Shall not hunger nor thirst because those are wants that pertain to this life, and they have become citizens of a region where physical wants are unknown. The light and heat of the sun are things of the past for the same reasons. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verses 15-16. The reward of the redeemed--Rev 7:15-16. These who were before the throne of God and in his temple, renewed the dual kingdom-priesthood character of the church, it is said of both in Rev 1:6 Rev 5:10. The demolition of the old temple only gave place to the new (Act 7:47-49); and his priests then would serve in his temple day and night, and would be always before his throne, continually with none to make them afraid; and their God would dwell there. (2Co 6:16) In this new temple-state, having emerged from tribulation, they should hunger and thirst no more; neither sun nor heat would light on them (afflict them)--figures of speech to denote the calamities during the period of persecution as symbolized in the seals. The famine, pestilence and plagues, which prevailed during the period of persecution would all cease. The absence of all of these signified a state of victory over persecution.

Verse 17

Rev 7:17. Lamb shall feed them with delicacies that are unknown to men living in the flesh. Living fountains of 'waters are among the blissful objects to be enjoyed by those who overcome by faith in the Lamb. Wipe away all tears by preventing anything that could cause tears. Comments by Foy E. Wallace Verse 17. The living fountains of water--Rev 7:17. These figures of speech signified that their tribulations were over. They were avenged by the overthrow of their persecutors. Henceforth the Lamb would feed them; the opposite to the symbols of want in tribulation. He would lead them unto living fountains of waters--no longer amid the dangers of the persecuting powers, but where provender, peace, refreshment and satisfaction were unrestrained. It is the apocalyptic version of the twenty-third psalm. Finally, the ultimate in the symbols of victory: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes--the persecutions had ended, the tribulations were over. Here the visions and scenes all merge into one company, the victorious church of Christ.