Before I begin sharing what the Lord has placed on my heart from Revelation 7, may I ask you to pray for me?
Revelation is the only book in the Bible that promises blessings to those who read, hear, and heed what it says. It is not a stretch to imagine that Satan might try to short-circuit the reading, hearing, and heeding in order to prevent believers from obtaining the promised blessings. In addition, Satan’s demise is clearly told in this incredible book and let me assure you, HE AIN’T HAPPY ABOUT IT. It stands to reason that he might try to dissuade, distract, and discourage me from sharing the TRUTH of Revelation with you. And he is, and will. So, would you pray that I would keep my eyes focused on the task at hand and stay faithful to the job of sharing The Revelation with you? Thank you so much.
I need to ask you to give me some feed back on something the Lord has me pondering. God has piqued my interest in podcasts. Often people enjoy listening to sermons or other teaching podcasts when they drive or exercise or clean house. I had never done a podcast until recently and a friend encouraged me to give it a try. I did and found I really enjoyed it. You can listen to it HERE. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page and you will find the link to the podcast.
I am pondering and praying about the possibility of turning these blog posts into a Revelation podcast series. Tell me your thoughts, please. Would you enjoy being able to listen to this teaching, in addition to reading the posts? If you would leave a comment below or send me an email to [email protected] letting me know if a podcast series would be of interest to you I would be so grateful.
Today we come to the seventh chapter of The Revelation. We have been witness to the throne room in heaven and the revealing of the Lamb who is worthy to open the scroll as we traversed chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 6 gave us a window into the events that take place when the seals on the scroll begin to be opened by Jesus. If you missed any of those posts, or any post in this entire series, I have created a specific page on my website where I link to every post in this Revelation series. They are linked in the order that we studied the material. Please feel free to peruse that page by clicking HERE.
Revelation 7 is a distinct interlude between the opening of Seal 6 (chapter 6) and Seal 7 (chapter 8). Seals one through six brought God’s judgment on the earth in many ways. Seal 7 will launch the sounding of the trumpets and even further destruction and death. In Revelation 7 we are reminded of some beautiful concepts:
- God’s love of and commitment to His people, Israel
- God’s mercy on His children
- The plan of God for the preservation of those who name the name of Christ
- The glory that awaits all believers
Today, our assignment is to take a moment and read Revelation 7 (ESV). We will begin our study of this book, in earnest, next week.
1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,
3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”
14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Today was a housekeeping post, of sorts, dear reader. Next week we will jump into Revelation 7 with both feet. See you then.
