The scene continues to be on earth.
7:1 The phrase "after this"(Gr. meta touto) indicates that what follows is a new vision (cf. 4:1). The general chronological progression of the visions suggests that the events John saw now will happen at the end of the first half of the Tribulation. What John saw in this vision supports that conclusion.275
The angels described here were God's agents (cf. Heb. 1:14). They appear to be different from the four living beasts and the 24 elder-angels. Four of them received the task of keeping the wind from blowing. God stationed them at the four "corners"(i.e., compass points) of the earth for this purpose (cf. 20:8; Isa. 11:12; Jer. 49:36; Matt. 24:31). The winds represent God's judgments coming on the world (v. 3; cf. Jer. 49:36-38; Dan. 7:2; Hos. 13:15), specifically those about to follow during the remainder of the Tribulation (cf. Ezek. 9:4-8). The threefold repetition of "four"probably stresses the universal control of these angels.276We should probably understand the "sea"and any "tree"literally in view of what follows (cf. v. 3).
7:2-3 Another (Gr. allon, another of the same kind) angelic messenger appeared in the East. In Scripture divine salvation often comes from the East (cf. Gen. 2:8; Ezek. 43:2; Matt. 2:1). He possessed a seal from "the living God,"the title adding solemnity and vitality to the seal.277A seal was a symbol of ownership (2 Cor. 1:22), authentication (John 6:27), and protection leading to final salvation (Eph. 1:14; 4:30). A signet ring typically made the distinctive impression on the seal in John's day.278This seal is probably the name of the Lamb and His Father (cf. 14:1; Isa. 44:5). The angel instructed the four angels to withhold their judgment on the earth until he had finished sealing God's servants on their foreheads (cf. Ezek. 9:4). The servants in view are believers in Jesus Christ (cf. Phil. 1:1, et al.) who are Jews (vv. 4-8).
". . . they, like Saul, will be set apart to be God's messengers to the Gentiles."279
The seal could be visible (Ezek. 9:4) or invisible (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:14; 4:30), but the mention of their foreheads suggests a visible seal (cf. 14:1).
"It was not uncommon for a soldier or a guild member to receive such a mark as a religious devotee. The mark was a sign of consecration to deity . . . The forehead was chosen because it was the most conspicuous, the most noble, and the part by which a person is usually identified . . ."280
Their sealing marks these believers off as God's redeemed people and guarantees their protection from divine judgment while they carry out their service for God on the earth during the Great Tribulation (14:1, 3-4; cf. 13:16-18; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Their seals may not protect them from harm that other people inflict on them (cf. 13:7, 15; 20:4) but from the divine judgments sent on unbelievers in the last half of the Tribulation (cf. 16:2). Evidently God will give these 144,000 believers special protection in the last half of the Tribulation because its calamities will be much more severe than those in the first half. Antichrist will also mark his followers in a similar way (13:16-18; 14:9, 11; 16:2; 19:20).
7:4 The specific references to Israel and the names of the 12 Israelite tribes strongly suggest that the nation of Israel is in view rather than the church.281Most posttribulationists and amillennialists believe the 144,000 are members of "spiritual Israel,"a title of theirs for the church.282Gundry called them "orthodox' [though unconverted] Jews who will resist the seduction of the Antichrist."283He believed God will supernaturally keep them from dying during the Tribulation. He also believed they will accept Jesus Christ when He returns at the Second Coming, and they will populate the millennial kingdom. The problem with this view is that these witnesses appear to be believers in Jesus Christ. Many interpreters take the number 144,000 as symbolic of all God's servants in the Tribulation.284
"Though admittedly ingenious, the case for symbolism is exegetically weak. The principal reason for the view is a predisposition to make the 144,000 into a group representative of the church with which no possible numerical connection exists. No justification can be found for understanding the simple statement of fact in v. 4 as a figure of speech. It is a definite number in contrast with the indefinite number of 7:9. If it is taken symbolically, no number in the book can be taken literally."285
7:5-8 God will deal with Israel as a nation in the future (cf. Rom. 11). Though an Israelite may not know from which tribe he or she comes, or even that he or she is an Israelite, God does. God, or His angelic agent, will select each person for sealing.
There are at least 19 lists of Jacob's sons in the Old Testament (Gen. 35:22-26; 46:8-25; 49:3-27; Exod. 1:2-5; Num. 1:5-15; 2:3-31; 13:4-15; 26:4-51; 34:19-28; Deut. 27:12-13; 33:6-25; Josh. 13:7-22; Judg. 5:12-18; 1 Chron. 2:1-8:40; 12:24-37; 27:16-22; Ezek. 48:1-7, 23-28, 31-34). Not one of them is the same as the list here.
The tribe of Judah was usually first in such lists, as it is here, due to the prophecies that it would lead the other tribes and that Messiah would come from Judah (Gen. 49:10; 1 Chron. 2:3-4:43). "The lion that is from the tribe of Judah"is the Lamb (5:5; cf. 6:16-17; Heb. 7:13-14).
The tribe of Dan is absent in this list perhaps because that tribe was the first to establish idolatry in Israel (Judg. 18:30; cf. 1 Kings 12:29-30). However the Danites will receive a portion of land in the Millennium (Ezek. 48:1-2).
"Joseph"represents Ephraim (v. 8; cf. v. 6). Ephraim was also "notorious for . . . fickleness and proclivity to idol worship."286Ephraim was the head of the Northern Kingdom of Israel that apostatized under King Jeroboam I's leadership. Ephraim will also be in the millennial kingdom (Ezek. 48:5). Perhaps Ephraim's name does not appear in this list, though he is included in the reference to Joseph, to avoid the unpleasant connotations of his name.287
The listing of Manasseh's name (v. 6) is unusual since his father Joseph's name also appears. Perhaps this honors Manasseh's faithfulness in contrast to Ephraim's unfaithfulness.
References such as the one in this passage argue strongly for the continuance of Israel as a nation in the future and for God's dealing with ethnic Jews again as His chosen people (cf. Rom. 11). This is a major assertion of dispensational theology. Jehovah's Witnesses or any other Gentiles who claim to be part of this group today fail to recognize that these witnesses will be the physical descendants of Jacob. When God seals them they will know their tribal roots. The sealing will take place after the Rapture.
The sealing of the 144,000 Jewish servants of God in the Tribulation raises the question of the Holy Spirit's relationship to these believers. Will the Spirit baptize them? Evidently He will not since the baptizing work of the Spirit joins believers to the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13). The body of Christ (i.e., the church) will be in heaven during the Tribulation, not on earth.288Will the Spirit indwell Tribulation saints? Probably He will not. In the church age Spirit indwelling takes place at the same instant as Spirit baptism, namely, at the moment of salvation. The Spirit's indwelling is probably unique to the church age as is His baptizing ministry. Probably the Holy Spirit will come upon and influence Tribulation saints as He did in Old Testament times.289The sealing of these witnesses therefore probably indicates God's special selection and protection of them during this time of unprecedented global catastrophes.
