Revelation 7:4, commentary and pictures

The number heard is 144,000 sealed of all the tribes of Israel, sealed in their foreheads while four angels on the four corners of the earth hold the four winds from blowing on earth, sea, or tree until the servants of God are sealed by command of another angel ascending from the east with the seal of the living God. They are not literal Jews who will acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, but the sealed living saints at the coming of Jesus gathered from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. They are a chosen few who keep all God's commandments including the Sabbath and have the faith of Jesus, marked by the Holy Spirit as those who sigh and cry for abominations, grieve over sin, and stand without fault before God's throne. The sealing is not yet complete but will be finished before probation closes at the end of Jesus' mediatorial work, before the winds are let go, and those sealed go through the time of Jacob's trouble under a decree to slay them until delivered by God's voice. If faithful they are brought to the sea of glass and into the holy city in white mantles with crowns and palms of victory, to enjoy eternal life in the kingdom of glory with the privilege of visiting all the worlds God made.

Words and Vision Setting

The number heard is one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Four angels stand on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds that they should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. They were given to hurt the earth and the sea, but another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God commands them with a loud voice to hurt not earth, sea, nor trees until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.

The sealing is directed by Jesus Christ as the Angel of the covenant ascending from the east. He is the Dayspring from on high, the Light of the world in whom is life, the Child born and Son given whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. As Restorer and Redeemer with superiority over the hosts of angels, He commands the four angels commissioned upon the earth to hurt the earth and the sea to hold in check the four winds and do no hurt until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, uniting the divine and the human in that work. The sealed are a chosen few kept for comfort and encouragement before harm falls on the earth.

The chapter reveals terrible judgments in which the Lord goes forth to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth discloses her blood and no more covers her slain. Seven angels stand before God to receive their commission, and to them are given seven trumpets. When the plagues come upon the earth, hail about the weight of a talent will fall upon the wicked who would not care for and obey God but insulted Him and despised all His mercies.

God's judgments are accompanied by mercy, for the destructive forces and the elements of nature under the power of angels are held back while God's people are sealed. The Lord has a people whom He will preserve, those who love Him and keep His commandments and receive the seal of the living God before the end. That sealing must be completed before the holding back ends.

The verse belongs to Revelation from the first to the last, which the Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal to John His servant. He showed His glory before John so that he fell as one dead, then strengthened him to hear the message coming to the churches.

The one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes are not literal Jews who will acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. That idea is an error that must be changed or modified because it fails to properly set forth truth, and holding it disqualifies a man from being sent out to present truth to others even when he claims perfect harmony on all fundamental points. One claim made them the people raised at Christ's resurrection. Identifying them that way is an error that must be given up.

Exactly who composes the number is not given beyond what the Word says, and its meaning and membership will be learned in heaven. Speculation beyond the Word is to be laid aside, what God has given trusted as sufficient to tax the mind to its utmost capacity, and the Scriptures prayerfully studied until the Holy Spirit brings correct application to the heart.

The sealed are gathered from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and are not limited to one country. They will stand before God's throne and the Lamb, worshiping and giving them credit for salvation. People from Russia who accept the last message and join in spreading it are included among them.

Identity of Sealed Company

The 144,000 are the living saints at the coming of Jesus, sealed to remain faithful through the final events. They hear and understand God's voice announcing the day and hour of Jesus' coming, while the wicked hear that same voice as thunder and earthquake. When God speaks the time, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them and their faces light up and shine with the glory of God, as Moses' face shone when he came down from Mount Sinai.

They are all sealed and perfectly united, prepared in a deep spirit of consecration as God's people labor together and set aside differences in shared service. Their foreheads bear God and New Jerusalem and a glorious star containing Jesus' new name, which is the seal of the living God. That seal is God's pledge of perfect security to His chosen purchased possession, whom none shall pluck from His hands.

They share a happy, holy state in which humble fellowship such as washing one another's feet and greeting one another with a holy kiss shows that God loves them. At Christ's return they recognize resurrected loved ones, are changed, and are caught up with them to meet the Lord. Changed and caught up together, they stand together with the resurrected saints on the sea of glass.

Sealing Work and Character

The sealing of the one hundred forty-four thousand is given for comfort and encouragement before harm falls on the earth, and those sealed are a chosen few who keep all of God's commandments and have the faith of Jesus. They are the Lord's people whom He will preserve in mercy mixed with judgment, those who love God and receive the seal of the living God before the end while destructive forces are held back from earth, sea, and tree until the sealing is completed. Keeping the commandments and having the faith of Jesus, including obedience in keeping the Sabbath, is the condition for receiving this seal, and where Sabbath obedience is refused the seal cannot be placed.

Those who receive God's sealing approval are marked by the Holy Spirit as overcomers registered in heaven. They are those who sigh and cry for the abominations done among professed believers, grieving over sin from love of purity and God's honor, and they are not those engrossed in games for selfish amusement. Their love gives them a clear view of sin's seriousness, so they faithfully oppose wrong rather than excuse it or defend those who commit it, and they stand without fault before God's throne.

The sealing of the one hundred forty-four thousand belongs to the closing work for the church and is the fearful, awful mission of the third angel. In that work the third angel selects the wheat from the tares and binds or seals the wheat for the heavenly garner, and co-workers with the third angel must separate the vile from the precious. After the mark is set upon that class, the ministers of destruction are commanded to go through and smite and slay utterly old and young, maids and little children and women, without sparing or pity, beginning at the sanctuary, but to come not near any upon whom is the mark.

Timing in Final Events

The 144,000 are the servants of God, the remnant to be sealed in their foreheads before the four angels let the four winds go, and that sealing is not yet complete. While they remain unsealed, Jesus in priestly garments looks in pity upon them and pleads His blood to the Father so that the winds are held until all are sealed. The holding is done by one angel commissioned by Jesus crying to the four angels of equal power to hold, not by crying to God or to the nations to hold, for the nations have no power to hold themselves. It is a living hope to be numbered among the 144,000.

The living righteous receive the seal of God before probation closes, and their numbering and sealing are complete when their work is done. The sealing will be finished at the close of Jesus' mediatorial work between God and humanity, just before He declares every case fixed for life or death and closes His sanctuary ministry. The saints are not yet sealed and probation is not yet closed, so the sealing remains future and cannot be fixed to October 1884 or to a remnant sealed in fifteen days. The sealing will be finished before the work closes, and the outpouring of God's Spirit will come before that work is complete, with the present time as preparation for heaven requiring full obedience and God's commandments written in heart and mind.

The 144,000 go through the time of Jacob's trouble under a decree to slay the saints, crying day and night for deliverance with anguish of spirit. Their deliverance comes after Jesus finishes His work in the sanctuary, while the four angels hold back the winds until that work is done. Then they are delivered by the voice of God and triumph with their faces lighted up and shining with the glory of God. One sealed to be with the 144,000 who dies beforehand will rest through the time of trouble and then come up at the voice of God to stand upon the earth with the 144,000. Therefore there is no need to mourn such a death except for the loss of company, for it results in good.

Future Reward and Glory

The 144,000 are a distinct sealed company whose names are engraved in gold on tables of stone in the temple on Mount Zion in heaven, which only they enter. That temple is God's own dwelling place where their memorial stands in gold lettering as the sealed ones. They enter it only after coming through great tribulation and suffering for Christ. Their reward there includes the promised fruit of the tree of life and the water of life.

They are saved and brought to the sea of glass and into the holy city. There they stand together in a perfect square, clothed in white mantles. From Jesus Himself they receive crowns and palms of victory, with crowns differing in brightness and in number of stars, yet all fully satisfied. He welcomes them because they washed their robes in His blood and stood firmly for His truth.

If faithful, they will have the privilege of visiting all the worlds God has made and viewing His handiwork. The living righteous receive God's seal before probation closes and will enjoy special honors in God's kingdom. The numbering and sealing means life, eternal life in the kingdom of glory, verily to be fulfilled for every soul warring the good warfare for eternal life and for the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Study and Present Preparation

Revelation 7 holds wonderful things about to transpire and is full of intense interest and meaning to every soul who shall live upon the earth. It is to be carefully read and studied from the Bible itself, not treated as a sealed book. It belongs to the Revelation from first to last, which the Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal to John His servant, showing His glory before him so that he fell as one dead, then strengthening him to hear the message coming to the churches.

Being among the numbered company to be sealed in preparation for Christ's coming is the important work for the present time. That preparation means not burying talents in worldly business and commercialism and not becoming so engrossed in the things of this world and in games for selfish amusement as to have no time or thought for preparation. Preparation is having the robe washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

The verse calls for everyone to be converted, for not one soul to remain under the discipline of Satan. All are to come to Jesus Christ in simplicity and humbleness of mind and to surrender to Him. They are to testify in baptism, where they are buried in the likeness of His death and raised in the likeness of His resurrection to live in newness of life, kept by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the words of testimony.

The present time is preparation for heaven, requiring full obedience to God's commandments, with God's commandments written in hearts and minds in readiness for the coming time of trouble. The sealing will be finished before the work closes, at the close of Jesus' work between God and humanity, and the outpouring of God's Spirit will come before that work is complete. The message of this sealing is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people on earth.

Destruction is held back until God's servants are sealed in their foreheads by an angelic messenger of God, and after the mark is set upon that class the ministers of destruction are commanded to go through and smite and slay utterly without sparing or pity, but to come not near any upon whom is the mark, beginning at the sanctuary. This is a solemn prediction to be speedily fulfilled now that the end of all things is at hand. It calls for diligent work for eternity by men armed and equipped to battle for God.