Year 2, Week 51, Day 5 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 51, Day 5

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Revelation 6-8.

Today’s reading consists of three more chapters of Revelation. The Book of Revelation, which was written by the Apostle John to seven churches, serves as an unveiling from Jesus Christ about Jesus Christ as it pertains to matters concerning the end of time. The Book of Revelation reveals the plans and purposes of the Lord Jesus Christ with a view of encouraging suffering and struggling believers to persevere. Revelation 6-16 is a segment that depicts, primarily through a series of seals, trumpets, and bowls, the unleashing of God’s judgment, while also displaying the Lord’s preservation of His people. Revelation 6 begins a segment that will run through the first part of chapter 8, and focuses on the unleashing of seven seals of judgment: “Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” (Revelation 6:1). Revelation 7 is something of an interlude that highlights the protection afforded to God’s people: “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 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” (Revelation 7:13-14). Revelation 8 concludes the segment on the seals and begins a segment that runs through chapter 15, and focuses on the unleashing of seven trumpets of judgment: “Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up” (Revelation 8:6-7). Both the judgment upon the earth and the preservation of God’s people is directed by the Lord.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the emphasis upon the protection afforded to God’s people while the judgment of the seals and trumpets is being unleashed: “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. 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, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (Revelation 7:1-4). Four angels are deployed to hold back the winds of destruction until the Lord’s people are protected. The “servants of our God,” received a mark on their foreheads, which signals that they will be differentiated and therefore protected. The imagery is reminiscent of Ezekiel’s Words: “And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark” (Ezekiel 9:4-6a).

The 144,000 spoken of as being sealed and protected are further described as groups composed out of the tribes of Israel: “12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed” (Revelation 7:5-8). The list of tribes provided is interesting in the following ways: Judah heads the list rather than Reuben, who was the oldest; Joseph is used instead of his son, Ephraim; Dan is omitted; and Levi is included, which is unusual because the Levites did not receive a land inheritance. The numbers in Revelation have symbolic connotations, and therefore the number 144,000 is most likely symbolic. The primary meaning of the 144,000 indicates the salvation of the complete group of God’s redeemed people, for John next describes, not a literal number but an incalculable amount: “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, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10). The 144,000 appear in again, at the end of the trumpet judgments to assure the believers that God will faithfully save all his sealed servants: “Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads…It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless” (Revelation 14:1-5). As the Lord unleashed His judgment, He will not forget His people: “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” (Revelation 7:17).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe