Revelation 6:15

And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?

It is the presence of the Lamb in this scene that separates it from all similar prophecy in the Old Testament. Furthermore, the total assembly of all citizens of earth does the same thing. Read Matthew 24:29,30 in connection with this; and it is starkly clear that the same Great Day is in both prophecies. That a visible coming of Christ is taught here is certain, because the unbelieving populations would never acknowledge the existence of the Lamb of God on the Throne on the basis of any other evidence than his appearance in glory.

Like many others, Caird rejects the idea of the actual end of the world being depicted here on the basis that, "The inhabitants of the earth would hardly still be hiding and calling to the mountains to fall on them."[55] Despite this objection, Christ himself represented the great judgment (Matthew 25) as a time when there would actually be dialogue between the King and both the saved and the lost, and all of this upon the very occasion of their being assigned their eternal destiny. A similar thing is in view here. Therefore, far from being an objection to interpreting this as the final Great Day, the cries of earth's inhabitants is a proof of that very thing, because it identifies the occasion with that of Matthew 25.

The thing that is actually in the way of many interpreters accepting this as the final judgment day was stated thus by Love, "One would have difficulty with later scenes in Revelation,"[56] in which the world still stands. Therefore, it is the understanding of Revelation as some kind of in-sequence story of the earth that prevents many from understanding this reference to the judgment. When all the "judgment references" are understood as successive references to the "same day," the difficulty disappears.

Kings ... captains ... princes ... rich ... strong ... Six classes of mankind are mentioned, but they stand for all people. "Under the symbolism of these six classes, John sees the entire godless world seized with sudden fear."[57] Fear of what? They do not fear death, because death is what they are praying for. It is the Lamb of God whose sudden appearance in glory has signaled the close of earth's probation. Instantaneously, there's not an infidel anywhere in the universe anymore. It is this colossal scene that requires our understanding of it as the Second Advent and judgment. Just how the accompanying language of stars falling, mountains moving, sun being darkened, etc., must be interpreted, we do not pretend to know; but one thing is sure:

God will bring his purpose to pass, and he will do so though it means that this world order, and indeed this whole mighty universe, pass away.[58]

The essential reality underlying all the symbolism of these verses is simply, "The terror which John foresaw when God would invade the earth when time was coming to an end."[59] "The swift agony of being crushed to death is preferable to being left face to face with the indignation of an outraged God."[60]

Of all the incredible postulations advanced by scholars regarding the meaning of this passage, that of Caird wins the prize. He wrote:

There is no need to find a place in John's theology for any concept of the wrath of the Lamb! It is not a phrase which he (John) uses, but one on the lips of the terrified inhabitants of earth![61]

Caird went on to insist that the wicked of earth are such that a lie has become their second nature. Therefore, this must be a lie which they speak on the occasion envisioned here. Our view is that the wrath of the Lamb is central to the theology of both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and of all apostles of Jesus Christ. As for the inhabitants of earth shouting another lie at the Second Advent, who could believe such a thought? It will be the supreme moment of truth for all mankind; and the terrors of the occasion for the wicked will in no sense be merely psychological, nor the result of some "paranoiac delusion to which they have surrendered themselves."[62]

The great day of their wrath ... Any theology which fails to take into account the ultimate wrath of God against wickedness and injustice is a false theology. The so-called theology of our own times has reduced God to the status of an overindulgent grandfather image who is too lazy, too indifferent, or too full of love to punish anything or anybody, no matter what crimes of lust and blood may rage under his very nose. Subscribers to this brand of theology are to be identified absolutely with those who, in this great passage, suddenly behold the truth and cry for the rocks and mountains to hide them.

This glimpse of the Second Advent and final judgment is brief and fragmentary, as must needs be with all such glimpses; but the picture will be filled out in subsequent chapters of Revelation where are to be found other visions of the Great Day. These successive presentations of that ultimate day of wrath and glory actually provide the most logical and convenient divisions of this complicated prophecy.

The events of Revelation 7, about to be prophesied, are actually prior in the time sequence to this judgment scene. "It is isolated in form and content from its context."[63] The whole of Revelation 7 may therefore be understood as a parenthetic interruption of the terrible judgment scene for the purpose of comforting the faithful. More about this apparent dislocation of Revelation 7 will be given in the notes on it; but we are including here Moffatt's words on the design of it:

It is a consoling rhapsody or rapture designed to relieve the tension by lifting the eyes of the faithful over the foam and the rocks of the rapids on which they were tossing to the calm, sunlit pool of bliss. The parenthesis consists of two visions, one on earth, one in heaven.[64]

[55] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 92.

[56] Julian Price Love, Layman's Bible Commentary, Revelation (Richmond, Virginia: John Knox Press, 1961), p. 69.

[57] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 131.

[58] Leon Morris, Tyndale Commentaries, Vol. 20, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969), p. 112.

[59] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 15.

[60] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 394.

[61] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 92.

[62] Ibid.

[63] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 394.

[64] Ibid.

Revelation 7:1

REV:7

The visions of this chapter actually relate to conditions with God's church during the entire period of the seals and leading up to the final judgment depicted at the end of Revelation 6. They are introduced here retrospectively for the encouragement of the saints. The first vision (Revelation 7:1-8) shows their protection and safety during the calamities and misfortunes of their earthly pilgrimage, and during the divine visitations of God's wrathful judgments upon the wicked. The second (Revelation 7:9-17) shows their state of bliss in the presence of God himself. Of course, no Christian has yet entered such a state of bliss; but the vision of how it will be at last is a great comfort indeed to Christians suffering the outrages of a vicious persecution. In the sense of this bliss depicted here as a state of the saints in eternity, this part of the chapter is proleptic (anticipating the future); but with reference to the occurrence of this vision in John's sequence it is retrospective, actually pertaining to the hope available to the Christians suffering under the six seals.

The biggest problems for the commentators wrestling with the meaning of this chapter are: (1) the identity of the two groups, the 144,000, and the innumerable multitude; (2) the meaning of their being "sealed"; and (3) what is meant by the great tribulation. Fortunately for those who really know their New Testament, none of these problems presents any great difficulty. We shall determine the answer to these questions before beginning the exegesis of the chapter.

(1) The 144,000 are identified as "servants of God" (Revelation 7:3), and the innumerable multitude are called "followers of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14); therefore, these could not be two different classes of persons but the same group. God does not have any servants who are not also followers of the Lamb. The notion that the 144,000 are literally fleshly Jews can exist only in those who are unaware that the church of Jesus Christ is the true and only Israel of God, beside which there is no other. The New Testament witness to this truth is extensive and overwhelming. All of Romans chapters Romans 9-11; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9,10; Romans 2:28,29; Galatians 3:29; 6:16; Philippians 3:3; James 1:1, etc., leave no doubt at all on this question. There is also the mountain fact that Christ himself referred to his church as "the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:18), a truth also evident in the inspired declaration that "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek" (Romans 10:12). Once it is clearly fixed in the mind that God does not recognize any distinction (or difference) between a racial, literal Jew and any other person on earth, the importing of a racial status into this chapter becomes impossible. The church itself is often perplexed quite needlessly by racial considerations, but these were destroyed in Christ. All talk of what God is going to do with the Jews is futile, misleading, and contrary to everything in the New Testament. God does not any more have a special plan for racial Jews than he does for the Italians, the Dutch, the English, or the Japanese. "The servants of God" in this dispensation are those "in Christ"; all are invited; none are excluded; and neither races, nations, states, nor languages has any bearing whatever regarding either the favor or disfavor of Almighty God.

John's mention of the twelve tribes, even naming each one, has led some to see in the 144,000 the saved of the Mosaic dispensation, and in the innumerable multitude the saved of the Christian dispensation; but this would leave out the saved of the patriarchal period. To make any such distinction also raises problems relative to the higher status of the innumerable multitude (in heaven), and also leads to the inference that the 144,000 are exempted from the great tribulation. Neither of these views fits into the picture at all. Therefore, we confidently conclude that the 144,000 and the innumerable company are one and the same, the redeemed of the earth.

But why are the two groups presented under such radically different figures? The mention of the twelve tribes recalls the marching formation of the ancient Israel in the wilderness, therefore suggesting the embattled, struggling church during their earthly trials. This led Pieters to the deduction that we have in these two figures "The Church Militant and The Church Triumphant."[1] Scholarly support for this understanding is extensive, as indicated by this summary from Ray Summers:[2]

The 144,000 are the church universal, the saints of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. "There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile."[3]

These were the true Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).[4]

The Israel of the first vision is coextensive with the whole church. The two visions depict the same body under widely different conditions.[5]

That they (both visions) are the whole body of the church, Jew and Gentile, in spite of some difficulty, is most conformable to the conceptions of the New Testament in general.[6]

The 144,000 are not believers descended from literal Israel, but from the spiritual Israel, that are referred to.[7]

These men (quoted here) represent the very best in the study of Revelation for the last hundred years.[8]

However, it is not the concurrence of scholarly opinion that is determinative; it is the overwhelming teaching of the rest of the New Testament.

(2) Regarding the meaning of being "sealed." We may dispense with the notion that something literal, bodily, or external is meant. God does not brand people in the manner of cattlemen branding their herds. Nothing but fancy could envision such a thing as that pretended by a false Christ in Syria who declared, "that he had God's name sculptured between his eyebrows; the wrinkles resembled the Arabic hieroglyph for Allah."[9]

Paul settled this question with the word that, "Ye are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13). It is nothing short of amazing that most scholars miss this, vainly seeking to find the answer in Ezekiel 9:4, some other Old Testament passage, or in the myths and folklore of paganism. It is simply inconceivable that the sealing here mentioned by John is anything different from the sealing mentioned by Paul. Since the "seal" is given only to baptized believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, this also makes positive our identification of the 144,000 as Christians (See Acts 2:38ff). McGuiggan thought that, "Since the people sealed here were already Christians, something else must be meant by the sealing";[10] but it is obvious that "sealing" here is a figure for their conversion to Christianity. It is an error to suppose that this "sealing" implies any special protection against some isolated event, like "the great tribulation," or that this was some special preparation or protection for some special class, such as the martyrs. See under (3), below for discussion of "the great tribulation." Caird and many others mistakenly applied this sealing "to the martyrs."[11]

Gettys properly observed that:

We need not suppose that this sealing was one act at one particular moment in time, but that it is one fact for all ages, as all believers are redeemed in Christ once for all.[12] (And we might add, "one at a time.")

Other commentators who discerned this exceedingly important truth that the sealing here is that of the Holy Spirit are:

The Spirit has sealed him (the Christian, Ephesians 1:13), for he certifies that we are sons of God (Romans 8:16).[13]

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit by the means of grace, Word, and sacrament.[14]

All Christians were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.[15]

This identity of the seal also makes it clear that no special group within the church, such as the martyrs, is meant, and that the sealing does not anticipate any isolated or unique event, but that it is for all tribulations, hardships, and struggles of the Christian life.

(3) The meaning of "the great tribulation." This is merely another name for the whole Christian life, any Christian life, in any and all ages of the church. The notion that Great Tribulation should be capitalized and understood as a reference to one particular period of suffering and persecutions for Christians is false, unscriptural and illogical. Jesus indeed mentioned "a great tribulation" (Matthew 24:21) as being greater than any that preceded it or that would come after it, having reference to the overthrow of Jerusalem; but he did not call even that "The Great Tribulation." Mark's gospel refers to that event as "that tribulation" (Revelation 13:24). What then is the great tribulation? It is that which includes and contains all tribulations of God's people upon the earth. "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). "Because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. They will persecute you" (John 16:19,20).

In this context, we also note the superstition to the effect that martyrs are in some special sense greater than ordinary Christians, or that martyrdom has any special effect upon destiny. There is not a word in the whole New Testament that supports any such notion. In fact, there have been periods in church history during which faith in Christ was even more difficult than in the days of the martyrdoms. Fidelity to Christ is difficult under all conditions; and there is no more glory in heaven for martyred saints than for those who patiently endured unto death, despite the scorn and hatred of an unbelieving world. A martyr's crown may be won by a single resolute and heroic act (and glorious indeed it is); but it is equally noble, and just as difficult, to win the crown through patient endurance of all the hatred vented against a true Christian throughout a long life that ends at last from natural causes. We reject much of the writings on the prophecy because they exalt the martyrs above other Christians and make of them a special quality of Christian. It is not likely that John himself was a martyr; and we certainly may not suppose that Paul and Peter who were martyrs outrank him in any way, or received any special favors in their Christian life.

Before proceeding with the study of the text, the position of this chapter in the whole sequence of visions should be noted. Most commentators refer to it as "a parenthesis,"[16] "an interlude,"[17] or as "an interruption of John's portrayal of the flow of events."[18] Despite the truth in such opinions, the chapter is very important.

Instead of being secondary, this vision is essential. The things in view are not a matter of chronology, but of importance. Revelation 7 is so important that unless it is understood, the rest of the visions will not be properly apprehended.[19]

The events of this chapter are not those which chronologically follow the events of Revelation 6, but they are a view of how it is with God's servants during those events of both the succeeding and preceding chapters.

[1] Albertus Pieters, Studies in the Revelation of St. John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1954), p. 125.

[2] Ray Summers, Worthy is the Lamb (Nashville: The Broadman Press, 1961), pp. 147-149.

[3] Donald W. Richardson, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (New York: Pillar Books, 1964), p. 88.

[4] David Smith, The Disciples Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. V (New York: Rav Long and Richard R. Smith, Inc., 1932), p. 632.

[5] H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1951), p. 99.

[6] Isbon T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1919), pp. 535,539.

[7] R. H. Charles, Revelation of St. John, Vol. II, International Critical Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920), pp. 206,209.

[8] Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 147.

[9] James Moffatt, Expositor's Greek New Testament, Vol. V (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 397.

[10] Jim McGuiggan, The Book of Revelation (West Monroe, Louisiana: William C. Johnson, 1976), p. 112.

[11] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 97.

[12] Joseph M. Gettys, How to Study the Revelation (Philadelphia: The John Knox Press, 1955), p. 55.

[13] William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956), p. 133.

[14] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Revelation (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), p. 250.

[15] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 112.

[16] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: R.B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 69.

[17] John T. Hinds, A Commentary on Revelation (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1962), p. 110.

[18] Charles M. Laymon, The Book of Revelation (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1960), p. 94.

[19] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 245.

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. (Revelation 7:1)

After this I saw ... "It is dangerous to assume that the order in which John writes is the order in which the things he describes will happen."[20] The exact chronology of Revelation is the great unresolved problem with the whole prophecy. In Revelation 6:8, the ravaging horsemen had authority to destroy the fourth part of the earth; but in this chapter (Revelation 7:1,3), the destructive forces are restrained from hurting the earth. "After this," therefore means merely that John saw this vision at a later time than when he saw the ones already described.

Four angels standing at the four corners of the earth ... These are God's angels, not demons, or the devil's angels. "The unmodified term angels is never used to indicate devils."[21]

The four corners of the earth ... There is no need to dwell upon the alleged ignorance of the sacred writers concerning the shape of the earth. Nothing that John either knew or did not know had anything to do with what he saw. We who know all about the globe still speak of the four corners of the earth and the ends of the earth; and "North, south, east and west make exactly four and will continue to do so."[22] We have no patience with those writers who can find nothing in this except, "the cosmology of the Babylonians, the influence of the Syriac Apocalypse of Peter, or of Pseudo-John, or of the Questions of Bartholomew."[23] The blessed apostle himself gave us his source; namely, God himself through Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1).

Holding the four winds of the earth ... The function of these angels was that of restraining the destructive forces represented by the winds. The thought is parallel with that of the limitations imposed upon the horsemen of the seals, who could hurt only one fourth of the earth.

No wind shall blow ... The prohibition here is not total, but the restraint of destructive forces. The thought is parallel with the Saviour's promise that a sparrow may not fall without God's knowledge and concern (Matthew 10:29). The total restraint of all atmospheric motion would not be a blessing, but a disaster. The restriction of destructive forces in these verses primarily teaches that the present order of creation shall be providentially preserved until the complete fulfillment of God's redemptive purpose on earth. The thought is parallel with the following from the Old Testament:

While the earth remaineth, cold and heat, and seedtime and harvest, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease (Genesis 8:22).

Plummer understood this whole chapter as the logical answer to the closing words of Revelation 6, "Who shall be able to stand?" thus connecting Revelation 7 with the final judgment scene there related.[24] This is correct and has the effect of applying Revelation 7, not to some specific event of history, but to the whole earthly probation of the saints. "The sealing extends throughout the whole New Testament era."[25] Here is the prophetic equivalent of Jesus' promise to be with his church "even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20), and of Paul's, "all things work together for good to them that are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:25). The immense comfort of persecuted saints in such glorious promises is exactly the comfort graphically pictured in these two magnificent visions of Revelation 7.

Roberts identified the four angels here with the four horsemen of Revelation 6,[26] but we refrain from doing this for two reasons: (1) they were already holding, or restraining the winds, before the great angel appeared and (2) the "we" used by the other angel seems also to include the four.

[20] Michael Wilcock, I Saw Heaven Opened (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1975), p. 78.

[21] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 245.

[22] Ibid., p. 246.

[23] Martin Rist, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII (New York and Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 417.

[24] A. Plummer, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 22, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), pp. 205,206.

[25] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 249.

[26] J. W. Roberts, op. cit., p. 70.