Now, usually what we do before we get into a new chapter is we read it and then we learn a little bit more about it, but I think before we read through this chapter of Revelation 7 in its entirety, I want us to first consider a few things before we get into it. So, we're just going to get right into our lesson guide, and the first thing that we're going to consider is the purpose of Revelation chapter 7. The purpose of Revelation chapter 7. We've already seen that in Revelation everything is connected in one way or another. And certainly that is the case with just about every book that we find in the Bible. I think when we come to Jeremiah as the men are experiencing in our Bible study, it's a little bit more challenging to see some of those connections. But just about everything in Revelation flows and connects to each other. So just like the seals that we learned about, or the first six seals that we learned about in Chapter 6, of course they're connected to the throne room vision of John in Chapter 4 and 5, because basically John is seeing the seals as they are unopened, as they are taken off in the throne room of heaven by Jesus, by the Lamb. So there's the connection between the throne room and the seals. Even though a lot of the scenes of the seals take place on earth, yet those seals are actually opened in heaven by the Lamb. So there's that connection there. And so here in chapter 7, we learn that the witnesses that we find here, and that's just a description of some of the ones that we find here in this chapter that we'll read about here in a moment, they are connected to the seals of chapter 6. And we briefly mentioned this last time, because really the main point of connection between chapter 6 and chapter 7 is the question that is raised in the previous verse, before we get to chapter 7. So remember, these chapter divisions, these verse divisions weren't original. And so the very next thing that would come after this great question in verse 17 would be the first verse of chapter 7. So again, we have the main point of the connection is the question that is raised by all of the people that are mentioned in that sixth seal. And of course, what are they about to face? Verse 17, the great day of His wrath. And of course that's describing the full and final wrath of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the question that they ask is, who shall be able to stand? And of course they're referring to the wrath, the wrath of the Lamb, the wrath of the Lord Jesus. Of course, they're not going to be able to stand against it, and so they're wondering, who can? I mean, to them, at this point, God is nothing but judgment. God is nothing but a wrathful God. And so they're thinking, who in the world can stand and withstand His wrath? So part of the purpose of chapter 7 is to bring an answer to that question. To bring an answer to that question. Again, it's the same question that we saw in related passages in the Old Testament. We briefly touched on Joel 2, verse 11, where again we find the question, who can abide the day of his wrath? Nahum 1, verse 6 also has the same question, and so the question here in chapter 6 points back to those questions, those same questions in the same context in Joel and Nahum. Of course, as with these Old Testament passages, we know that there's a positive answer. All you have to do is when you're in Joel, when you hear that question in chapter 11, or chapter 2, verse 11, you find the answer in verse 12. And in Nahum 1.6, when you hear the question in verse 6 of who can abide, you find the answer in the very next verse. So there is a positive and hopeful answer to this hopeless question there in Revelation 6.17. Who shall be able to stand? And since there is a hopeful answer, chapter 17, or chapter 7, it means that there are some who can stand. There are some who will stand in the day of the wrath of the Lamb. And the reason for that is because, as we're gonna read in this chapter, they belong to God. They belong to the Lamb. They belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're God's servants. They are the ones who are His family. And so there is that answer to that question in the sixth seal. But that gives us another part of this purpose, because there are some who can stand the wrath of God and can abide the wrath of God, believers in Christ. That is to bring assurance to those who go through the trials and tribulation that we find all throughout this book. So everything that we see so far and everything that we will see in the book of Revelation, we know that even if some believers experience tribulation, and they will experience much tribulation, we even saw that in the first seven letters to the churches. Yet, they will ultimately abide the wrath of God. They don't have to fear the wrath of the Lamb. They will make it through the trials and tribulations all throughout this book. Of course, that is in line with the passage that we looked at even before we started Revelation. in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 9, that says, And so what we have to look forward to is the salvation of the Lord. Even though we will go through tribulation, some of that is just general tribulation of the life in which we live now, others will go through that great tribulation that is yet to come, yet they will abide the wrath of God and obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. So certainly God's people, whenever you look at it, God's people in the past, You know, we have some 6,000 years to draw on God's people in the past, God's people in the present. We know that there are believers right now that are experiencing great tribulation and great persecution and great trials, even at the hands of unbelievers. And of course, this refers to the future experience of God's people. They may experience the wrath of man. They may even experience the wrath of the devil. In fact, we will find that exact phrase in chapter 12, verse 12. But a believer will never, past, present, or future, will never experience the wrath of God, because they obtain salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's encouraging. So this is, chapter seven is a reassurance. I mean, if you think about all the negatives that we saw in chapter six, now we have a great positive here in chapter seven. So keep this purpose in mind as we're going to eventually read through chapter seven. It's here to bring an answer to the hopeless question asked in the previous verse. And it's to bring assurance and hope to those who may yet be called upon to endure trials and tribulations that may even lead up to their death. So, again, even believers who make that supreme sacrifice and actually are killed or martyred, they still have the promise of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we don't have to fear the wrath of God. Even when we're going through extreme trials, the worst someone could do to us is to kill us. And to be absent from the body, as we've said before, is to be present with the Lord. And so we have that hope. So that is the purpose of chapter seven, to answer the question and to give assurance. But then also before we read, we need to briefly consider what I would call the period of Revelation chapter seven, the period. So within the scope of the seven seals, now we know that the seven seals go from chapter six, verse one. And so we really focused on the first six seals in that chapter. But there are more to come, or there's one more to come, and we find that in chapter 8, verse 6. So the scope of the seals are from chapter 6, verse 1 through chapter 8, verse 6. Most interpreters of Revelation see some kind of break. in the action of the seven seals in chapter 7. And so even though here in verse 1 of chapter 7, John writes, after these things I saw, as we've seen elsewhere in Revelation, he's not just talking about a chronological order, as we would think of a timeline of things. This is just in John's experience. This is really just what we can describe as the sequence of John's vision. It's just like if you were to watch a movie, right? If you were to watch a movie, and sometimes everything flows along a chronological timeline. But not always. Sometimes you're going to watch a little bit that flows through a timeline, and then there might be another scene that will circle back and give you more information about what took place during that chronological time scene. And that's what we have here in these interludes, and especially in this interlude, is that it's not necessarily after I saw these things, then this happens. But in his vision, this is what he saw after the sixth seal was opened. And so it's not necessarily following the chronological order in the history or the future of this world, but if you remember, John is seeing these things in a vision. And there are a lot of things that are going to be informing John of what he has already seen. And that's what we find in these interludes. So to account for this break, chapter seven has been described as an interlude or a close-up of something that happened before. Sometimes it's even described as a highlight, and it gives a fuller picture of what was already given to John. Now, even then, the timing of what goes on in an interlude is not the primary focus, because even the things in chapter seven, we're gonna recognize even if we can fit them back in chapter six. Yet also, there's something that touches on the vast future. In fact, if you go to the last verses of of chapter 7, verse 16, for example. It talks about the group of God's people from every tribe, nation, whatever. They shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. Now, obviously, that is something that is stated at the very end of Revelation, in chapter 21 and 22, in the new heavens and the new earth. So, again, chapter 7 is something that gives us more information of the past of chapter six, but also springboards us into the very future. And so we see that there is a broad connection of chapter seven with both what goes previously and what will come subsequently. So again, the timing of what goes on in the interlude is not the primary focus. It's the people of the interlude that is the primary focus. Because again, we're answering the question of chapter six, and we're providing assurance for those who go through tribulation and trials, no matter when they come. Now, this is something that we see all throughout Old Testament prophecy. A lot of times, you know, we've described it as the mountain peaks of prophecy. And so, you know, if you're looking down the corridor of time, maybe a timeline, and these prophets in the Old Testament, you know, they would see, you know, something that would happen, you know, within just the next few years. That would be the first mountain peak. the next few years of their own experience. And then, the Lord might give them a vision of something that's gonna happen at the very end of time. And we're talking an expanse of thousands of years, and what happens is, it's as if those two mountains are right next to each other. You don't see necessarily all of the intervening valley of time that goes between them. And I think that's something that we see in chapter seven, because truly, John is a prophet. Truly, Revelation is a prophecy. and we are finding things that are yet to come again. In verses 16 and 17, we're talking about things that are heavenly, but also things that are at least a thousand years in the future. And yet it's brought in very close as if it's going to happen right away. So this is something that is a prophetic feature that we find. But really the impression of this whole picture, this whole scene is what the Lord wanted to convey to John and us. He wants us to really get the purpose. He wants us to understand that, yes, there's an answer to that hopeless question in verse 17 of chapter 6, and there's assurance for anyone who finds themselves in the difficulty and tribulation that is yet to come in Revelation. Now, this interlude is between the sixth and seventh seals. Something similar happens between the sixth and seventh trumpet, and we'll see this as we get closer. There is also another interlude, another close-up, if you will, And like here, it especially applies to the people of God. So in chapter 10, we find the recommission of John to be God's prophet. That's part of the interlude. And then chapter 11, we hear about the two witnesses that are going to be preaching the word of God. And so again, that's an interlude between all of the calamities of the six trumpets into the seventh trumpet. And so there's this gap, there's this break. There's information that is given to us about what happens before and even information that will happen yet to come. So there does seem to be a pattern that should cause us to pause and see this interlude of chapter seven again as looking both backwards and forwards from the scenes of the seals. So chapter seven really seems to expand our understanding, and I would say, of what goes on between the fifth and sixth seal. Now, what happened at the fifth seal? So we're gonna just do a quick review. Go back to chapter six. The fifth seal in verses nine through 11 It describes, verse 9, the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God. Now, these are what you'd describe as true martyrs. You know, they were witnesses for Christ and they were killed for their witness of Christ. And then, if you go down to verse 11, those true martyrs of the Lord are told, what? That they should rest, yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. So here we have the martyrs and they're waiting for other martyrs. And chapter seven comes along and actually we find out who those fellow servants and those fellow brethren are. So here's another connection between chapter six and chapter seven. Now, even though some of them too will be killed, they still have the assurance that they can stand and abide the wrath of God. So that's the fifth seal. We have martyrs that are told to wait for a little while until more martyrs will join their number. But then we come to the sixth seal. And we saw this the last couple of weeks in verses 12 through 17. This describes the same scene that Jesus said would occur in his Olivet Discourse. And we explained in Matthew chapter 24 verses 29 through 30 that the exact same language, the exact same verbiage of much of what happens here in chapter six will occur, or we find in Matthew 24. So the sixth seal occurs, according to Matthew 24, 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days. So we recognize that this is taking place after the Great Tribulation, the sixth seal. Jesus also says in Matthew 24 verse 30 that all those signs in the heavens and all the mourning of the people of the earth will actually come just before they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And again, you see the parallels of Matthew 24, 29 through 30 and the sixth seal. So we have the fifth seal. And I would argue that that is taking place throughout church history. We have martyrs that are being killed for the sake of Christ right now. And then we have the sixth seal, which takes us right up to the cusp of the coming of Christ, right up to the cusp of the return of Christ. So I would say the fifth seal is past and present, and it will continue on until the Great Tribulation. So this is where we're at right now. And then the sixth seal is yet in the future. And once that sixth seal occurs, then we find more information going on in Revelation that Jesus will return. So, when we come to Revelation 7, where does it fit in? What is the period of Revelation 7? Well, we find that the second group of Revelation 7, if you go to chapter 7, verse 14, the second group of every tribe, tongue, nation, people, I'm sure I got the order wrong, But the second group of Revelation 7 are described to John by one of the elders as they which came out of great tribulation. So in the fifth seal, they're looking for more martyrs. Sixth seal, the Lord is about to come. And here we have chapter 7. These are the ones that they were looking for. These are the ones that came out of great tribulation. So at some point between the fifth and sixth seals is probably the best place to see chapter seven happening, most of it, and the great tribulation from which so many will be rescued, even if it's through their death. So here's a kind of a a graphic of where we can kind of place chapter seven. So we have all of the six seals that are represented here on this slide. And of course, with those six, we have the fifth seal, which are those martyrs that are looking for more martyrs to come. And then we have the sixth seal, which is the coming of Christ with all of those signs and wonders. And right in between those two, This is the interlude that John is given. This is the sequence of events, if you will. He's sharing more information about the ones that will yet be martyred, the ones that will yet be killed. And so this would be the time period of what we would describe as the Great Tribulation. And so what we find going on in much of the trumpets, and even in the seals, would be in this intervening time period as well. So before we move on in our lesson, let's now read through Revelation 7 and keep the purpose and the period in mind that we've just considered. So Revelation chapter 7, beginning verse 1. So after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed. And they were sealed, and 140, and 4,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel, of the tribe of Judah were sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Reuben were sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Gad were sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Asher were sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Nephilim were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed 12,000. After this, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. 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 actually, in the original we have the article, it'd be the great tribulation. And have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." So again, what's the purpose of chapter seven, it answers the question of chapter six, verse 17, who shall be able to stand? These are the ones who can stand and abide the wrath of God. These are the ones who don't fear the wrath of God because they won't experience the wrath of God. And of course, don't you also see the assurance that is given to anyone that might be one of these numbers, whether it's the first group there in the first part of the chapter or the second group there in the second part of the chapter, what assurance they have that they do not have to fear because they belong to God. And of course, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. What a remarkable interlude. You know, John was, again, seeing all of these negative things in chapter six, and finally, we have an experience of great positivity, of encouragement and assurance for the people of God here in chapter seven. Now, before we look at the details of this chapter, and we're going to do it, you know, as we've done before, verse by verse, the next thing we're going to consider, after we've looked at the purpose and the period, we're going to look at the plan of Revelation 7. The plan of Revelation 7. There's a couple of ways that these verses that we just read have been seen. And it all has to do with the differences between the two groups that we just read about in this chapter. And of course, these are two groups that we're familiar with. Of course, the first group is the well-known 144,000, but sadly, I think it's a little understood number. I mean, there's been actually religious groups that have claimed that they are the 144,000. So, you know, it may be a well-known number, it may be a well-known group, but I do think that in many circles it's little understood. So we have, again, 144,000. This is who we come across in verses four through eight after we learn about the angels. We learn about five specific angels in the first part of this chapter. But if you remember in verse three, these, or this first group, they're described as the servants of our God, And then they are also described as the tribes of the children of Israel. Now, we will get to that and learn a little bit more about some of the ways of looking at this first group. But one of the main questions about this chapter that really kind of gives us the question of, well, what's the plan? How are we to see this chapter unfolding? One of the main questions is the connection between the first group, the 144,000, and the second group, which we came across in verses nine and 10. And that second group is called the great multitude, which no man can number. And who makes up this great multitude? It's made up of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. And that word all can also be applied to each one of those descriptions. So it could be all nations, and all kindreds, and all people, and all tongues. We clearly have two groups in Revelation 7, and we're trying to figure out the connection and the link between those two groups. But here, this group, the great multitude, is the group that is described in verse 14 as they which came out of the great tribulation. So again, we understand that these two groups, and we have some descriptions of each of them, how are these two groups connected? What is the link between these two groups? Well, there are some who see a plan in this as what we would maybe describe as a progressive connection between the two groups. Now, I'm not talking about anything liberal here. I'm just talking about a progressive connection. So when we think about the first group, it will progress into the second group. So we would have the core group initially, and then it would grow into the second group that we just read about. Those who hold to a progressive connection between these groups will see that at the onset of the Great Tribulation, which is described also here in verse 7, there's a small group of believers, and they would say the number is 144,000, and they would say, well, this either describes a Jewish heritage or it may not describe a Jewish heritage. We'll look at that a little bit more as we get closer to it. But this is basically the progressive connection. There's a small group of believers, 144,000, They are sealed by God, by the angel of God, because they are the ones who are marked to be able to stand against the wrath of God, simply because they belong to God. Now, one of the interesting things about the marking is that there might be a connection with even Christ in that marking. Of course, in Revelation, we also see that's the name of God that is in the foreheads of those who are sealed. So there is this seal. of those who are part of this group, and they are the ones that begin the Great Tribulation. And certainly, you know, Jesus even describes the time when, you know, when he returns, will he find faith on the earth? So there is, you know, perhaps this perspective of there's gonna be very few believers. But then, again, progressing, as the Tribulation progresses, these witnesses will have great success in evangelizing the world, so much so, that the second numberless group will eventually appear before God. And here is perhaps a schematic of what that might consider, or what it might look like, the progressive connection. So we've got the 144,000 at the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and then they become this great multitude at the end of the Revelation, and so that's the progressive connection. All right, that's how some would see the plan of this particular chapter. So even though both groups do make up the servants of God, so I mean they are both really considered to be the servants of God, they are both obviously believers, the first group will be used by God to lead the second group to the Lord. And so that's one perspective, that's one understanding of the connection between these two groups. And yet, what happens at the very end is that they will all experience the eternal blessings described in the new heavens and the new earth in chapters 21 and 22. Because one of the things that we find in verse nine, of course, we have the multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues. And I believe the kindreds there would be the same word for tribes that we see earlier. So what would happen is these 144,000, it doesn't mean that there's no blessing for them, because obviously there's rich blessing for them. They would just actually be included in this final number, this great group that no man can number of all nations and kindreds or tribes and people and tongues. So that's how some would see the progressive connection there. However, another way of looking at these two groups is seeing what we can describe as a symbolic connection between them. A symbolic connection, so that the first group and the second group are really the same group. They're identical, but described in two different ways that are symbolic. Now, we've already seen that there's a lot of symbolism in the book of Revelation. So, you know, there is something that John saw or heard that stands for something. Now, he actually saw, for example, the seven candlesticks, right? And he literally saw that in his vision, but those candlesticks stood for something. Remember what those candlesticks stood for? The churches, the seven churches. So obviously, you know, there's meaning behind the candlestick, all right? I mean, even Jesus says, let your light so shine before men. So we understand that picture. We understand that symbolism. But even when we come to some of the numbers, you know, there were seven churches. that are referred to in this book. Now, does that mean that those were the only churches in Asia? No. More than likely, there were many more, dozens more in that region. But he picked seven to represent something. Yes, there were seven literal letters given to those seven literal churches, but that seven represents the complete nature of the church. And so we saw that even in chapter six, that there are certain numbers that, yes, they're literally given to us in Revelation, but they have some symbolic value. And so that's what they would say here, is that even though the first group and the second group are described differently, Yet they describe the same group because how they're described, especially the number of 144,000, is more symbolic than anything else. Now, one of the reasons why this may be the plan of this chapter is because of how both groups are introduced. In fact, if you go back to verse 4 of chapter 7, this is how the first group is introduced by John. Again, this is part of that vision. So after the mighty angel, or the angel ascending from the east, cries with a loud voice, says to the other angels, hurt not the earth until we have sealed the servants of our God on our foreheads, verse three, and then more information is given to us about those who are sealed. John says, and I heard the number of them which were sealed. So that's how the first group is introduced. I heard them. I heard the number of them which were sealed." And, of course, that's the number 144,000. Now, when you come to the second group, in verse 9, how is that introduced by John? After this, I beheld. Now, really, the word behold is I saw. So, for the first group, he heard the number, and now in the second group, he saw them. So there's, you know, that we see that, how they're introduced there. We've actually seen something like this before. In fact, in chapter five, which is the throne room vision, we've mentioned this before. In fact, why don't you go over there with me? Chapter five, just a page over. If you remember, this is in the throne room vision of God. John is weeping because no one was found to open the scroll. And look at verse five. And one of the elders says to me, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah. So this elder is telling John to look, the lion of the tribe of Judah, but he hasn't seen him yet, right? He just hears about the lion. But then if you go to right next to verse six, what does he do? And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and in the four beasts, in the midst of the elders stood what? So he heard about a lion, and then he turns to see, and he sees a lamb. So there's a difference, a distinction between what he hears and what he sees, and that may be what is going on here in chapter 7 again. John hears a number about a group of people that are servants of God, and then he sees a vast multitude that are made up of all of those kindreds, people, tongues, and nations. That might be going on here in chapter seven as well. So the plan of Revelation seven would be to reveal to John one group portrayed from different perspectives. Now if you think about this particular plan of Revelation, what perspective would the first group be given to us in? Well, it would be the people of God who are sealed from God's perspective. because God is able to number people, right? God knows who are his, he knows every single one. So this number, they would look at this as a symbolic number to express the certainty that the Lord knows them that are his. But the second group, the perspective of the second group would be the people of God who are sealed from John's perspective, and even from our perspective, because what God could number, he couldn't. What God could number, we can't, because it's of every nation, kindred, people, and tongue. So these are the two basic ways that people have seen the connection between the two groups that we find here in Revelation 7. Now, we are going to look at them more closely as we go through, but I thought it would be helpful for us to kind of get this background. in place before we move on into Chapter 7. So again, we saw the purpose of Chapter 7. Remember, it is to answer that question. It is to assure those, reassure those that are going through it. Also, we got the period of it. Certainly, there's a lot of looking back as well as looking forward. And then, of course, we also have hear the plan. And there's, again, those two different perspectives. And as we go through, I'll kind of share with you how I've, you know, my understanding of that plan. And again, there are good men that would disagree. I mentioned that there are different plans that people see in this, and that's okay. But as we look through them, as we look at the details of them, I think it will help us decide between these two plans. And I don't think there are any other plans that I've really come across. There might be some other connections or links that might be kind of out there, but these are the two main plans that we see for Chapter 7.