Revelation 7:3

saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

Hurt not the earth ... sea ... trees ... The four angels who had such power are not depicted as having done any hurt at all, nor as ever having had either any intention or any desire to hurt anything. There was an extensive angelology among the Jews; but the mention in this prophecy of angels of the winds (as here), the angel of fire (Revelation 14:18), and the angel of the waters (Revelation 16:5), is not sufficient grounds for receiving the speculative Hebrew angelology as dependable. The New Testament purposely left us in the dark concerning any definitive teaching regarding the work of angels. Some of their functions may be inferred from various Old Testament and New Testament texts; and, for a glance at these, see in my Commentary on Hebrews, p. 31, and under Revelation 10:7.

Till we shall have sealed the servants of our God ... The future perfect tense, as well as the "till," suggests that the restraining of the destructive forces shall be continued throughout the Christian dispensation until the Second Advent, until all of God's servants are sealed.

We ... our ... These are not merely editorial expressions, but have the meaning that the work of all the angels in view here is one work; all are concerned with both the restraining and the sealing. Therefore, this would seem to be a reference to the work of angels who do service for them that are the heirs of salvation, as in Hebrews 1:14.

God's servants ... To the generation which first read Revelation, this expression could have had only one meaning, Christians. That is what it meant then, and what it still means. God has no bondservants who are not Christians. Furthermore, it is not merely some fraction of these, or some limited group, or class, such as martyrs, who are to be sealed. All are sealed; and not even any destructive natural force shall be allowed to impede or interfere with this sealing until it is totally accomplished.

In their foreheads ... Such a designated place for the sealing suggests that the countenances of the sealed will bear eloquent witness of their having been sealed, a truth exemplified by the radiant countenances of Christians all over the world. When the rich young ruler went away from Jesus, it is recorded that "his countenance fell" (Mark 10:22); and God's sealing of his servants gives the opposite of a fallen countenance. As Lenski put it, "The countenance identifies the person ... what the heart is, the face and eyes reveal."[29]