Revelation 7

The angels more literally stand at the “four corners of the earth.” In ancient writing, that phrase meant the entire world. John is saying that the wind did not blow anywhere on the planet. Unleashed, the wind can decimate buildings on land and ships at sea. Perhaps the holding back of the wind refers to a pause in the destruction of the world, long enough to secure the safety of God’s people.

“Seal on the forehead” sounds a little like the brand or the tattoo that many in Roman times put on their slaves, marking them like livestock. Here, many scholars say it’s a metaphor that distinguishes God’s people as those under his protection. It’s a word picture intended to help people visualize an invisible spiritual reality. In this way it’s like the parables of Jesus, in which he used fictional stories to teach people what it means to live like citizens of God’s spiritual kingdom. This symbolic seal of God would be the opposite of the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16).

There’s no widespread agreement about who the 144,000 represent. Some educated guesses: Jews devoted to God, Christian martyrs who held onto their faith through the Great Tribulation (an anticipated time of intense persecution), Jewish Christians, Christians whether they are Jewish or non-Jewish, non-Jewish Christians because most of the Jewish people rejected Christianity. The number may not be literal, but a symbol of “complete,” as in God saving all the people who hold on to their faith. Twelve is a number, like seven, that represented completeness. Square it, 12 times 12, to get 144—that becomes an even more powerful symbol of completeness. Multiply that by 1,000, which is another number that symbolizes completeness, and we get 144,000, which is quite enough completeness to get the point across. That said, some take the number literally. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that 144,000 Christians will help Jesus rule in heaven. That might seem like a lot, but the United States federal government employs about two million full-time workers to help lead and maintain the nation.

The 12 tribes of Israel are extended families descended from the dozen sons of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. Taken literally, the “12 tribes” would have meant the Jews. But some take the 12 tribes as a metaphor meaning the church—all God’s people, as Paul taught: “If you’re one of the Messiah’s people, then you’re a descendant of Abraham. You’re part of the family. And you’re going to inherit what God promised” (Galatians 3:29). “You are the true Israel—the authentic people of God” (Galatians 6:16). Peter called followers of Jesus “God’s chosen” (1 Peter 2:9, Contemporary English Version).

Ironically, the Lion from the tribe of Judah—Jesus—becomes the Lamb. The implication is that the battle he won wasn’t through military warfare. It was through a sacrificial death and resurrection. Jews observed Passover by sacrificing a lamb. Jewish leaders orchestrated the crucifixion of Jesus the same day the Passover holiday began.

Literally, “Amen!” It’s a Hebrew word that means “that’s the truth” or “so be it” or “you better believe it” or “you can bet the farm on it.” That’s the idea.

Apparently a reference to those described in Revelation 7:9.

Often called the Tribulation. Jesus said, “What’s coming is a time of Great Suffering. . . . worse than anything that has ever happened before” (Matthew 24:21). Centuries earlier, the prophet Daniel predicted the same thing (Daniel 12:1). Many Christians today say this time of intense persecution of people devoted to God will happen shortly before the end of the world. But other Christians say it was already happening when John wrote Revelation. Christians were brutally persecuted during the reign of Roman emperor Domitian, in the AD 90s—when many scholars speculate John wrote Revelation. There was an even worse persecution, called the Great Persecution, which started in AD 303. Rome stripped Christians of their legal rights and ordered them to observe Roman religious practices. Emperor Constantine put an end to this persecution in AD 313. Afterward, Christianity gradually grew to become the empire’s favorite religion.

A metaphor, many scholars say, referring to the sacrificial death of Jesus, which provides forgiveness and salvation for people who ask for it. “We’re free, no longer held hostage by our sins. We are forgiven. God paid our ransom out of the wealth of his kindness and through the blood of his Son” (Ephesians 1:7).

These white-robed souls seem to have roles comparable to that of ancient Israel’s most revered class of people: priests who served in the Temple. If these white-robed people are Christians martyred because they refused to worship at Roman temples, there’s justice here, since they end up with a job in God’s own temple. If we’re not supposed to take this scene literally, it at least seems to say that God will honor those who refuse to dishonor him.

Welcome words for people who lived in the hot, dry world of the ancient Middle East.

Some scholars say this seems to refer to a prophecy about a Messiah from the family of King David who will become a shepherd to God’s people. See Ezekiel 34:23.