144,000 from Israel and the great crowd from every nation
1 After this, there were four angels stand ing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds to prevent their blowing against the earth, the sea and the trees.
2 I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea,
3 “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”
4 Then I heard the number of those marked with the seal: a hundred and forty-four thou sand from all the tribes of the people of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed;
from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thou sand;
from the tribe of Gad, twelve thou sand;
6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand;
7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand;
8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand;
from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand.
9 After this I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves but our God who sits on the throne and the Lamb?”
11 All the angels were around the throne, the elders and the four liv ing creatures; they then bowed before the throne with their faces to the ground to wor ship God. 12 They said,
12 Amen. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!
13 At that moment, one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.”
The elder replied, “They are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed and made their clothes white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 This is why they stand before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his sanctuary.
He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16 Never again will they suffer hunger or thirst
or be burned by the sun or any scorching wind.
17 For the Lamb near the throne will be their Shepherd,
and he will bring them to springs of life-giving water,
and God will wipe away their tears.”
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Comments Revelation, Chapter 7
• 7.1 Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God (v. 3). John takes stock of these centuries of God’s blessings and favors for his chosen people.
Seeing how the Jews as a whole did not accept Jesus, we might have the impression of a complete failure. John, how ever, presents an optimistic vision. The angels point out the elect. There are twelve thousand from each one of the tribes. We know that twelve is the number for fullness when it refers to the Jewish peo ple. There were twelve tribes and this is why Jesus chose twelve apostles and we have to understand that the number of elect was the maximum, and that God was not disappointed.
Who are these elect? On one hand, they are the Jews who followed Jesus. They are also those who did not believe in him, through no fault of their own, but who were saved through his death and his resurrection.
Thus we have an inventory of the saved among God’s people, Israel. Then a huge crowd that no one could count immediately appears.
After this I saw a great crowd. There are the new people gathered by the Messiah, the followers of Christ coming from all the nations of the world, who join the believers of the Old Testament.
A great crowd, impossible to count (v. 9). The salvation of humanity will be an incredible success, despite appearances that discourage us so often: the people of God are being formed everywhere.
They are those who come out of the great persecution (v. 14). This multitude of the saved are obviously not all martyrs, and yet John sees them depicted as martyrs. It is because every believer has a model in the martyrs who gave even their lives for their faith. Besides, John is speaking for Christians on the eve of the first great persecution.
Praise, glory and wisdom to our God (v. 12). This is another hymn to God our Savior. Those who sing God’s praises may have already seen, during their lives, that all wisdom, power and strength could only come from above.