Revelation
The Lamb of God: On His Throne and Among His People
God's Seal Upon His People
Revelation 7:1-17

• Read or quote the verse of the week together:

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

• See the Memorizing Scripture section in the extra notes. Has Scripture memory been a part of your spiritual disciplines as a disciple of Jesus Christ?

• One of the benefits of studying Revelation is that we are reminded that there are only two groups of people – those who belong to Jesus and those who do not. How does the seal of God on his people (see also Revelation 14:1) encourage us when we doubt our relationship with Jesus? How should our knowledge of God’s judgment on unbelievers affect our witnessing efforts?

• Read Revelation 7:9-17 in sections (9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-17). Stop after each section and enjoy the blessings to which we look forward.

• It is nice to think about eternity, but Revelation reminds us that trials and tribulations– even persecution – are ever present for all believers. What does it mean that we are already positioned with Jesus (Ephesians 2:6) in heavenly places? After discussing this, read Colossians 3:1-4 and encourage one another with ways to seek those things that are above, not things that are on the earth.

• If you have time, discuss the application points from the sermon:

1. You will worship someone or something: worship Jesus
2. Your relationship with Jesus will determine your response to trials and tribulations: stay close to Jesus
3. The Lord will shelter you with his presence, then and now: follow your Shepherd

Extra Notes

Memorizing Scripture

Here is a tip for memorizing Scripture. Memorize the verse/ passage and quote it seven times on Sunday. Yes, you will have to look back and confirm that you got it right. Do this again on Monday but quote the verse (with a little help) six times. Five times on Tuesday, hopefully with little to no help. Four times on Wednesday, and all the way to one time on Saturday. Review it once a week after that, and if you discover that you have forgotten it, but it back in a daily rotation until you have it again.

Quotes and Thoughts

Steven Smith: Writing in 1968, the sociologist Peter Berger expressed a common view in predicting that “by the 21st century, religious believers are likely to be found only in small sects, huddled together to resist a world-wide secular culture.” By century’s end, though, it had become apparent that Berger and like-minded thinkers were badly off base, at least in their projections. Religion had not withered away; indeed, it showed no sign of receding. Berger admitted as much in 1999. “The assumption that we live in a secularized world is false. The world today is as furiously religious as it ever was.”

People are incurably religious. We were made to worship, and we will worship something or someone. A theme that I have not discussed yet in detail is the sin of idolatry of which the unbelievers of Revelation are guilty. The Apostle John drew heavily from the OT book of Isaiah when he wrote his gospel. Allusions to Isaiah are found in Revelation over 100 times. The sin of idolatry will be on full display when the inhabitants on earth are seen worshiping the beast.

Augustine of Hippos in Confessions: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

G.K. Beale: The trials that purify God’s servants result in hardening the ungodly in their response to God. (This is a key spiritual principle found in Revelation – and in life)

Tertullian, 2^nd century lawyer/theologian: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

Alistair Begg: You are now seated with Him in the heavens. Your greatest success today will not lift you higher than He has already lifted you; nor can your greatest struggle or failure pull you down from there.

Who are the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-8

Dispensational view

• Ezekiel 9:3-8 is an OT example; this would imply that the witnesses are protected physically. Revelation 14:1 would affirm this.
• These are Jewish men whom God chooses to share the gospel during the Tribulation.
• Because they have been sealed, they are protected both spiritually and physically. Revelation 14:1 seems to confirm this.
• These witnesses oppose the antichrist and share the gospel, primarily with their Jewish brothers and sisters, but with Gentiles as well. Romans 11 teaches that Jews will turn en masse to Jesus shortly before or when he returns.
• Even though the tribes of Israel are impossible to sort out today, God knows who is in what tribe.

About the tribes listed in Revelation 7

• This list does not correspond with any OT listing of the tribes
• Dan is missing – could this be because of the idolatry displayed late in the book of Judges?
• Levi is included here, but not in the OT censuses of fighting men.
• Ephraim is missing, but presumably Joseph (Ephraim’s father) is listed in his stead

Symbolic view

• In the NT, all who believe are considered Abraham’s children (see Romans 4:16-18; Galatians 3:7-9).
• The number 144,000 is very much like a military unit. Whenever a census was taken in the OT, it was a count for military purposes, which is why Levi is not mentioned in those counts.
• 12 (tribes – OT) X 12 (disciples) X 1,000 (military unit) = 144,000
• The people listed in 7:4-8 are the same ones who are described in 7:9-17 – it is the literary device of recapitulation (see below).
• Nowhere else in Revelation is a distinction made between Jews and Gentiles.
• Therefore, these believers represent all believers (in Jesus) until Jesus returns.
• We are always at war (thus the precise military numbers) with spiritual forces that are often manifested with persecution against the saints.

Recapitulation

An important term/concept as we study Revelation. Think “summary,” or “recap.” Recapitulation is the literary device of repeating an idea in a different way to emphasize a point. There are specific similarities between Matthew 24 and Revelation 6, where the seals are described. There are undeniable similarities between the judgments of the trumpets and the bowls of wrath, which remind you of the plagues in Egypt. Irenaeus, a second century theologian, stated that Jesus as the Second Adam, is recapitulation (or, in that case, re-headshiping). Genesis 1 tells the order of creation and Genesis 2 recapitulates the creation of man with more detail. 

From the ESV Study Bible Introduction (Dennis Johnson): “In Revelation, recapitulation means that the order in which John received visions does not necessarily indicate the order of the events they symbolize.”