1And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” 2And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer. 3And when He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come.” 4And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men should slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. 5And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” 7And when He broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8And I looked, and behold an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Christ has received all authority from the Father and taken up His rule over the kingdoms of the earth (1:5; 2:26-27; 5:1-14). The first four seals show how this authority extends even over situations of suffering sent from the hand of God to purify the saints and punish unbelievers. Examples of such suffering have been alluded to in the letters of chs. 2–3. Some Christians may have wondered if Christ really was sovereign over disastrous circumstances, such as Nero’s mass persecution on so cruel a scale following the fire of Rome in AD 64. Rev. 6:1-8 is intended to show that Christ rules over such an apparently chaotic world and that suffering does not occur indiscriminately or by chance. This section reveals, in fact, that destructive events are brought about by Christ for both redemptive and judicial purposes. It is Christ sitting on His throne who controls all the trials and persecutions of the church.
The opening of the seals coincides with Christ’s taking up His position at the right hand of God, so that the events depicted in the seals will begin to take place immediately and continue until the Lord’s return. The opening of the seals begins the actual revelation and execution of the contents of the scroll of ch. 5. This makes sense of the exhortations in the seven letters to persevere in the face of suffering, for the suffering unleashed by the seals had already begun to take place even in the life of the seven churches to which John was writing. Christ opens each seal in the heavenly throne room and issues the command for the contents of each to be executed on the earth. The disasters that unfold are the same foreseen as the four judgments prophesied by Ezekiel (sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague, Ezek. 14:12-21, on which see below) and the judgments prophesied by Jesus (war, famine, and persecution, Matt. 24:6-28). In those cases, the calamities occur side by side, thus suggesting that the various disasters contained in the four seals also occur at the same time rather than in any particular order. In addition, the glorified saints in Rev. 6:9-11 appear to have suffered under all four trials portrayed in the seals, which points to their having taken place during the same general time period (see on vv. 9-11). Therefore, following on from ch. 5, Rev. 6:1-8 describes the operation of the destructive forces which were unleashed immediately upon the world as a result of Christ’s victorious suffering at the cross, His resurrection, and His ascent to a position of rule at His Father’s right hand.
This analysis is in line with the OT prophecies about the eschatological kingdom which are alluded to in chs. 1–3 as beginning to be fulfilled with Christ’s death and resurrection (see 1:5-6, 9, 13-14, 16b; 2:18, 27; 3:7, 9, 14, 21). For example, 1:5, 1:13-14, 2:26-28 and 3:21 clearly refer to Christ as having begun His messianic kingship, a process which ch. 5 most naturally is seen as expanding upon in visionary form. As a result of Christ’s exercise of kingship, He empowers each horseman through His angelic servants. The horsemen represent sufferings decreed to occur for all of Christ’s followers. Yet, as will be seen, these same trials are also intended to be punishments for those who persecute Christians or reject the kingship of Christ. These tribulations will cease only at the time of Christ’s final return, as the context of ch. 6 and the whole book demonstrates. The cry “How long?” of the fifth seal and the approach of the final judgment of the sixth seal demonstrate that the events of 6:1-8 precede the final judgment.
The most obvious background to this passage is Zech. 6:1-8. There, four groups of horses of different color (almost identical to the colors in Revelation) are commissioned by God to patrol the earth and to punish those nations on earth whom they find have oppressed His people (Zech. 6:5-8). These nations were raised up by God to be a rod of punishment to His people, but they inflicted more retribution on Israel than they should have. As a consequence, God intended to punish the pagan nations for their transgression as a vindication of His jealous love for Israel (Zech. 1:8-15). Therefore, the horses in Rev. 6:1-8 signify that natural and political disasters throughout the world are caused by Christ in order to judge unbelievers who persecute Christians, and in order to vindicate His people. Such vindication demonstrates His love for them and His justice and may already be an anticipatory answer to the cry for vengeance in 6:9-11.
Ezek. 14:12-23 is also formative for this section. Ezek. 14:21 is explicitly quoted in Rev. 6:8b, where it functions as a general summary of the preceding trials, being conquered, the sword, and famine, the first two of which include death. The quotation has the same function as in Ezekiel, where it clearly sums up the four preceding statements about trials as “four evil judgments.” These punishments come upon nations in general when they are unfaithful to God. The trials there are listed respectively as lack of bread and “famine” (14:13), “wild beasts” (14:15), “sword” (14:17), and “plague” or “death” (14:19). The point of Ezek. 14:21 is that all Israelites will suffer trials of persecution because of rampant idolatry (cf. 14:3-11). The purpose of the trials in Ezekiel is to punish the unbelieving majority in Israel while purifying the righteous remnant. The same dual purpose of the trials is likely in mind here in Revelation 6, except that now the church community is the focus rather than Israel. The faithful will be purified, but those who compromise through idolatry and become disloyal to Christ will be judged by the same tribulations. Yet the sphere of these calamities extends far beyond the borders of the church to the whole world, as the passages from Zechariah have shown, and they have the same universal reference in Ezek. 14:12-23. In addition, there is a universal frame of reference with respect to judgments in the following context (6:12-17) and subsequent chapters of Revelation. The Ezekiel passage itself is further developing the idea of four judgments from Lev. 26:18-28, which may be secondarily in John’s mind. There God warned the Israelites in the desert how He would punish them for idolatry: four times He gave judgments, each consisting of seven punishments, each series of punishments being worse than the previous. All four of Revelation’s punishments — war, famine, conquest, and death — are found there. Could the Leviticus passage be the model for the four series of seven punishments in Revelation? This is a viable consideration especially if the “seven thunders” in 10:3-4 are construed as one of these sets, even thought the content is unrevealed.
1 The vision opens with the Lamb’s breaking of the first seal, following which one of the four living creatures calls out as with a voice of thunder. The presence of thunder shows that the command comes from God’s throne (see 4:5).
2 In response to the command, a white horse comes forth with a rider: and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer. The rider is thought by some to represent Christ, mainly because he is associated with white, a color used in Revelation fourteen times to signify purity. Also, in 19:11-16 Christ, who has diadems on His head, rides on a white horse and defeats His opponents. And the first horseman is different from the others in this chapter in a positive sense because there is no clear woe linked with him.
On the other hand, the following considerations point to the satanic character of the rider:
Therefore, our conclusion is that the first rider represents a satanic force attempting to defeat and oppress believers spiritually either through deception (the color white alluding to the attempt to deceive by imitating Christ and to appear as righteous, as in 2 Cor. 11:14), or persecution, or both (so 11:7; 13:7). This first destructive rider, however, is sent out by Christ, for he is commanded forth by the angelic living creature, and the crown was given to him (a phrase which in Revelation always implies God as the subject: 6:11; 7:2; 8:2-3; 9:1; 11:2-3, etc.). Since the first set of four judgments of the trumpets and bowls are divinely commissioned, so must be all four of the horsemen’s woes. This is confirmed from Zech. 6:7, where an angel of the Lord commands the four groups of horses to “go” and to execute divine judgment. Thus believers can have confidence that, in spite of their present sufferings, God is in ultimate control, working out His purposes in all that is happening. Satan, of course, is intent on destroying the church (and the world), but God’s plan includes Satan pursuing his wicked purposes, because only through them can God work out His higher strategy of refining the saints and punishing the wicked.
3 The description of the first rider can be taken as a summary statement explained in more detail by the following three horsemen in that he introduces war in a general sense and the other three bring conditions characteristic of war — not only literal warfare but spiritual warfare. And so vv. 3-8 describe how Satan attempts to conquer the saints through suffering so that they will lose their faith. Yet, it must be remembered that these trials also are ironically used by God ultimately as punishments for unbelievers.
4 Whereas the first horseman introduces the attempt of Satan to gain dominion over the world, the second horseman seeks to take peace from the earth by stirring up strife and warfare among the world’s nations. This includes persecution of believers, as the allusion is to Jesus’ warning to His disciples that His coming would bring not peace but a sword to the world (Matt. 10:34). The point of the Matthew text is that Jesus’ followers should not be discouraged from confessing His name to the world when persecution comes, since such persecution is part of God’s sovereign will. Their faithfulness amidst oppression may result in loss of their physical lives, but it will also result in the salvation of their spiritual lives (so Matt. 10:28-39). The gospel itself produces peace, but the attack of Satan upon its progress leads to war. The phrase that men should slay one another points to the persecution of believers, for the word slay is used otherwise in Revelation only to refer to the deaths of Christ and His followers (5:6, 9, 12; 6:9; 13:8; 18:24). Even the “slain” head of the beast in 13:3 is a mockery or false imitation of Christ’s death. Those who are slaughtered in 6:4 are probably the believers pictured as slain in v. 9. The same connection between the woes of international strife and persecution is drawn in the Synoptic Gospels, where such strife is interpreted as a woe on unbelievers and testing for Jesus’ followers (Mark 13:7-19; Matt. 24:6-21; Luke 21:9-19).
5 With the breaking of the third seal, the third living creature charges another horseman to carry out the decree contained behind the seal. The third rider again brings suffering, this time in the form of famine. In the ancient world, a pair of scales stood for a time of famine, as in such times food was rationed out by scales.
6 Immediately after hearing the angel’s command, the seer hears another command issued to the horseman by someone else. The additional command does not likely come from one of the cherubim or another angelic being, but from Christ himself, since He is said to be “in the midst of the throne and of the four living beings” in 5:6 (cf. 7:17; 4:6) and since He is already present as the One opening the seals. This emphasizes further that the commands to the four horsemen come directly from the divine throne room.
This famine is to be serious but not utterly devastating, in that the quart of wheat, available for a denarius (or a day’s pay), would be enough for a family, whereas the three quarts of barley would last three days. These prices were roughly eight to sixteen times the normal going price. The oil and the wine, representing more luxurious goods, would not be affected, but would not be available except for the very wealthy, as everyone else would be spending their entire income on the basics. Where Christians are a persecuted minority, they will be more severely affected. This develops the earlier theme of believers who are persecuted economically (2:9), a theme also found later (13:16-17). Famines affect everyone. But especially in such times of limited food supplies, Christians will be the first to be affected. They will be persecuted by not being allowed to have the same access as others to the basic commodities of life. Such persecution comes because Christians do not compromise. Those who suffer economic deprivation now because of their loyalty to Christ will be rewarded by Him at the consummation of all things when he will take away their hunger and thirst forever (7:16). To this very day, in places like India or many Muslim countries, when natural disasters occur, relief is often denied to Christians, who refuse to compromise with the worldly economic and social systems.
7-8 The breaking of the fourth seal causes a living creature to shout out another command to yet another horseman. The last rider to be released has the name Death, with Hades following with him. Death and Hades are satanic forces under the ultimate governance of the throne room of God. The four riders all bring death in one way or another, and the more general term “death” here probably refers to disease or pestilence. In the Greek OT “death” (thanatos) translates the Hebrew word for “plague” thirty times, including twice in Ezek. 14:19-21 and once in Lev. 26:25, two contexts providing the model for Rev. 6:1-8, the former actually being directly alluded to here in v. 8. Hades is the abode of the dead. The satanic nature of death and Hades is evident from 20:13-14, where “death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them … and [they] were thrown into the lake of fire.” The only other figures who are described with the same precise phrase as having been “thrown into the lake of fire” are the beast and false prophet (19:20) and the dragon (20:10). This verse indicates here that both death and Hades are under Christ’s ultimate control, as was already made clear by 1:18 (“I have the keys of death and of Hades”).
The judgments brought by the four horsemen are not independent or separate from one another but parallel — as parts of one overall judgment. This can be seen from the various OT texts which prophesy them, which frequently pronounce a fourfold judgment based often on idolatry (see Lev. 26:18-28; Deut. 32:24-26; Jer. 15:1-4; 16:4-5; Ezek. 5:12; 6:11-12; especially Ezekiel 14). This fourfold judgment, repeated in v. 8, signifies in the OT the whole range of God’s judgments throughout history against people whenever they are disobedient to Him and is not to be literally interpreted as restricted to one particular famine, war, or plague. As in Ezekiel 14, these trials have the effect not only of punishing pagan nations but also of purifying the faithful within the covenant community, while punishing those even within the church who are not obedient to Christ. The fourth rider demonstrates that the previous afflictions have the potential to and sometimes do lead to death. This rider generally summarizes the previous three (of being conquered, the sword, and famine, all of which would include to some extent death), and adds one more (the plague of beasts). He uses the preceding three woes to bring death. But it is clear that they do not always result in death (see, for instance, the third horseman). Uppermost in mind are the antagonistic actions of Satan’s forces, which are aimed at both the community of faith and unbelievers (as 6:9-10 reveals). Therefore, the fourfold OT formulas concerning the judgment of literal famine, plague, and warfare have been expanded by John to include woes of spiritual famine, plague, and warfare.
These four plagues have a partial effect, since the last horseman summarizes the previous three, and the disaster wrought by him is explicitly limited to a fourth of the earth. This means that the four woes do not harm every person without exception. Nevertheless, their destructive force is felt by many people throughout the world, since the four horses of Zechariah 1 and 6 also have a worldwide effect. The cosmic extent of the tribulations is emphasized by the fact that there are four horsemen, a figurative number for universality (as with the four living creatures in 4:6-8; cf. on 7:1-3). Therefore, just as the four living creatures represent the praise of the redeemed throughout the entire creation, so the plagues of the four horseman are symbolic of the suffering of many throughout the earth, which will continue until the final return of Christ. That the horsemen’s plagues are representative of all kinds of woes is clear from observing that the fourfold covenant curse formula cited in the second half of v. 8 (to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth) is used in the same figurative manner in the OT. In addition to the fact that the figurative meaning of “four” stands for completeness, Israel was threatened with many more curses than four in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. This is why no precise historical background can exhaust the meaning of these judgments in Revelation 6.
In summary, through His death and resurrection, Christ has made the world forces of evil His agents to execute His purposes of sanctification and judgment for the furtherance of His kingdom. This is most clearly seen in the reference here to Jesus’ sovereignty over death and Hades, which is a further development of ch. 1. Through His death and resurrection, Christ has power over “death and Hades” (1:18), and now He uses them as His agents to carry out His will. God intended that the suffering of the cross should have both a redemptive and a judicial purpose (with respect to the latter, as a basis of judgment for those rejecting its saving significance). In like manner, the sufferings throughout the age following the cross have the same aim (indeed, one of the criminals crucified with Jesus was converted through his suffering, while the other was hardened by the same circumstance). And, as with Jesus, the apparent defeat of Christians is their spiritual victory, if they do not compromise their faith in the midst of suffering or persecution.
Notice that the very next verses (9-11) picture faithful believers who have been “killed” or “slain” (v. 11), the same verb used in vv. 4 and 8, and that “beasts” elsewhere in Revelation (34×) always refer to the agents of the enemy who persecute the church. It seems clear from vv. 1-8 that God and Christ are sovereign over these deadly horsemen. How can God be the author of such trials for the saints? The answer is that the trials come to judge the unbelievers, but to purify and refine the faith of believers, whose salvation is held secure in Christ (see 1 Pet. 1:3-9). Notice the relationship between chs. 4–5 and 6:1-8. In chs. 4 and 5, the prophetic vision of Daniel 7:9-14 concerning the Ancient of Days and the Son of man has been fulfilled in Christ’s death and resurrection. But Daniel 7 also contains (in vv. 2-8) the vision of the four evil beasts who represent evil kingdoms that wage war on the saints. John’s vision of the four horsemen fulfills the latter prophecy of Daniel, yet now we see that Christ’s exalted place of rule gives Him authority even over these evil forces, such that He uses their evil intentions to accomplish a greater good — the judgment of unbelievers and the purifying of the saints. That is, 6:1-8 describes an effect of Christ’s death and resurrection. He transformed the suffering of the cross into a triumph. Christ’s sovereignty over the four horsemen shows this, so that the four horsemen are equivalent to the four evil kingdoms of Daniel 7. Specifically, the horsemen represent the evil heavenly counterparts of these kingdoms. This identification may also be understood through recognizing that both Daniel’s four kingdoms and Zechariah’s four sets of horses are directly associated with “the four winds of heaven” (Dan. 7:2; Zech. 6:5; see below on Rev. 7:1). Therefore, Christ has begun to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy of the Son of man’s exaltation over the evil, beastly kingdoms, which are explicitly alluded to in 12:3 and 13:1-2.
On the sovereignty of God in relation to the activities of the devil. This passage presents a picture of God sending trials on the earth through the workings of the satanic enemy. This could leave us with a need for discernment as to what around us represents the work of God and what represents the work of Satan. How can we say that a holy God can “use” the enemy as an agent? Is it that the enemy is busy wreaking destruction, but, unaware to him, God is using this destruction ultimately for His own purposes? Can God be said to include in His plan the reality of Satan’s activity in a fallen world and turn it to His use? How can we say that God is behind the “slaying” of believers? What greater good would God bring out of that work of the enemy? How can God’s role in the death of Christ serve as a model to help us toward answering these questions? How do we respond to a natural or economic calamity? Has God planned to send it and turn something the enemy does to His glory? Can you think of redemptive results of a tragic event in your nation, region, or community, whether it be persecution or some other calamity? How could Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28-30; and Rev. 2:10-11 give us a better perspective on such events? Can you also see how such events have hardened the hearts of unbelievers as they place blame upon God for the fallenness of the world we live in as the consequence of our own rebellion?
On the nature of the “white horseman.” If Satan or his emissaries are pictured here as a white horseman, does this indeed reflect his ability to disguise himself as an angel of light? A new trend or ministry comes into our church and seems to be of God, but then has destructive consequences. Can you think of examples in your own life or experience?
On the defeat and victory of believers. How can it be said that the apparent defeat of believers (in their suffering or death) is in truth their victory? Do we find it hard to see into the ways of God because at least in the western world we see things too much from the perspective of this world only? How does that limit our ability to understand the purposes of God? Reflect again on the truth expressed in Hebrews 11 concerning those heroes of faith who suffered and died.
9And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.
Whereas the first four seals depict the world’s sufferings from the perspective of the heavenly decree of God, the fifth seal describes the response of slain and glorified saints to these sufferings. Although the ordeals of 6:1-8 affect people generally throughout the earth, here the reaction is specifically to those trials of the four horsemen which afflict Christians in the form of persecution. This connection is pointed to from the observation that the primary verbs used in describing two of the woes of the horsemen reappear in describing the persecution of the saints in 6:9-11 (“slay” in vv. 4 and 9 and “kill” in vv. 8 and 11). The hymns of Revelation typically function to summarize the themes of preceding sections. Since 6:9-11 should be included in the category of these hymns, it is to be seen as a continuation of the thought of vv. 1-8, which focused on persecution. This further confirms that not only are the last three horsemen images of persecution, but so also is the first horseman. Such sufferings are not meaningless, but are part of God’s providential plan that Christians should pattern their lives after the sacrificial model of Jesus. Seen from the heavenly perspective, such sufferings ironically advance the kingdom of God, as was the case for Christ himself (see on 5:5-6). If our understanding of the chronological relation of ch. 5 to ch. 6 is correct, then 6:9-11 reveals that persecution of Christians was already in full swing among some sectors of the church in John’s time.
9 The loosing of the fifth seal does not reveal an angelic decree of suffering from the throne room but a human response to such suffering. John sees Christians who have been oppressed, having died and having received a heavenly reward (so v. 11a). These saints, then, are described as those who had been slain, as from the attacks of the second horseman (v. 4), and “killed” (v. 11), as from the attacks of the fourth horseman (v. 8). It is possible that only literal martyrs are in mind, but more likely those who are “slain” are metaphorical and represent the broader category of all saints who suffer for the sake of their faith (so 13:15-18 and perhaps 18:24; 20:4). These saints are all those believers who have suffered for their faith (“slain” likely figuratively including all forms of suffering and persecution), and are now before God in heaven (underneath the altar meaning in God’s presence). As we have seen earlier (see on 2:26-29), those who “overcome” in chs. 2 and 3 are all those who remain faithful to Christ in the face of various kinds of suffering and temptations to sin and compromise, not only those who die for their faith. All genuine believers will experience suffering of one sort or another as a result of their faithfulness to Christ. As Jesus put it, “Whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:35). Whether or not they are literally put to death for their faith, they have so committed themselves to the word of God and to the testimony of Christ that they have come to be identified generally with the suffering destiny of the slain Lamb, a metaphor that becomes the identity of all Christians. This is also consistent with the figurative use of “sacrificial martyr” language with reference to all believers in the NT generally (e.g., Matt. 10:38-39; 16:24-26; Rom. 8:35-39; 12:1-2; Phil. 2:17). All Christians, therefore, must take up their cross and follow Christ and must find their lives by giving them up.
These people are described as souls of those who had been slain who are standing underneath the altar. They have been persecuted for bearing witness both in word and deed to Christ’s redemptive work. The heavenly altar in Revelation is equated with the presence or throne of God (8:3-5; 9:13), which is why the saints are here described as being underneath it. The thought is not of the brazen altar of sacrifice (though there is the similarity that the sacrificial blood was poured out at the base of that altar: cf. Lev. 4:18, 30, 34) but of the altar of incense, also referred to in 8:3-5 and 9:13 (and 11:1; 14:18; and 16:7 being developments of these references), before which prayers were offered. On the literal altar, located in front of the Holy of Holies, incense was burned and the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement was poured out. The heavenly altar is that upon which the sacrifice of Christ was made, and this is where the glorified saints are appropriately found. The fact that they are underneath the altar emphasizes the divine protection which has held sway over their “souls” despite even their loss of physical life because of persecution. Indeed, these are persecutions God sends upon them in order to test their faith and to bring them forth purified. Those who persevere through persecution and temptations to compromise sacrifice themselves on God’s heavenly altar, the counterpart to the cross of Jesus. This altar is, of course, in the midst of the invisible but real temple of God, where God’s presence dwells. Therefore, this image in v. 9 connotes both the ideas of sacrifice and prayers as incense, which invoke God to vindicate those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The comparison with Jesus’ suffering is enhanced by the same description of the saints as having been “slain” (cf. “slay” in 5:6, 9, 12; 6:9). The purpose of the comparison is to emphasize that, as it was with Christ, those following Him will have their sacrificial suffering and apparent defeat turned into ultimate victory.
10 Now the response to the suffering of 6:1-8 is verbalized. The prayer of the saints in v. 10 is not a cry for revenge but a cry for the manifestation of God’s justice (Paul expresses the same thought in Rom. 3:25-26 in relation to the work of Christ), for God will be considered unjust if He does not punish sinners and those who wrongfully persecute His people. The appeal is prefaced by the description of God as holy and true in order to emphasize that God is being requested to demonstrate His holiness and standard of truth by bringing wrongdoers to justice. This prayer is answered at later stages of the book, particularly in 19:2, where God’s judgment on the harlot is announced along with His vindication of the saints (cf. also 16:7). The cry “How long?” echoes the psalmist (Pss. 6:3; 74:10; 79:5, etc.), but note also Zech. 1:12, where the same cry goes up, and is answered by the four horses of judgment going forth (Zech. 6:1-8), a clear prophetic foreshadowing of the four horsemen of Revelation 6. John’s emphasis on God defending His own reputation by judging sinners who have persecuted the righteous is also evoked by How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood, which is an allusion to Ps. 79:10, “Let there be known among the nations … vengeance for the blood of Thy servants.” John intends that the judgments of the horsemen in vv. 2-8 should function as an anticipated answer to the cry of v. 10 (with respect to the horsemen representing partial punishments on unbelievers), and vv. 12-17 is then narrated as the conclusive answer.
11 A preliminary answer to the saints’ prayer in v. 10, however, is given now as they are each given a white robe and told to rest until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren is completed. The metaphor of white robes connotes the idea of a purity which has resulted from persevering faith tested by the refining fire of tribulation (see on 3:4-5). Robes are given not only as a reward for purity of faith but as a heavenly declaration of the saints’ purity or righteousness and an annulling of the guilty verdict rendered on them by the world. In this picture is an assurance to the saints still on earth that their vindication before God without doubt awaits them. But for the “earth-dwellers” (literally “those who dwell on the earth”) of v. 10 (the standard expression in Revelation for unbelievers: 8:13; 11:10; 13:12, 14; 17:2), there remains the terrifying prospect of judgment. This assurance is verbalized in the last clause of the verse as a further response to the plea of v. 10 (“How long, O Lord”). The saints are told to rest for a little while longer until the sufferings of their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also. The expression “be killed,” as with “slay” in v. 9, is to be taken figuratively rather than literally, although actual martyrdom is included (cf. the combined figurative uses of “put to death” and “slay” in Rom. 8:36).
The phrase a little while longer presents a theological problem, since it appears to allude to an imminent end of history. But from God’s viewpoint what may be but a few moments could be a long period from the human perspective, as is evident from comparing the parallels of Rev. 12:12 (“short time”) with 20:3 (“thousand years”; cf. also 2 Pet. 3:8-13 and see below on 12:12). Time in heaven, which is referred to in 6:11, may be reckoned differently than time on earth. This difference of reckoning is part of the tension inherent in the already-and-not-yet aspect of eschatology in Revelation and the NT in general (e.g., 1 Pet. 3:1-14). As we have repeatedly observed, the “latter days” span the entire period from Christ’s resurrection to His final return. The exhortation to rest means that the saints in heaven are to be patient in their desire for God to answer their request. The assurance that God will unquestionably punish the evil world becomes a motivation for Christians to persevere in their witness through suffering on earth, knowing that they are key players in helping establish the kingdom in the same ironic fashion as their Lord (e.g., see on 1:6, 9; 5:5-10). That is, through faithful endurance in trial they begin already to reign with Christ (see, e.g., 1:9).
The portrayal of a group of apparently numerous martyrs presently petitioning God in vv. 9-11 is also problematic because chs. 1–3 do not picture a church which is yet undergoing full-scale martyrdom. However, this is not so difficult if our view so far is correct that the picture of martyrs here is figurative generally for those who are persecuted (see on v. 9 above). Therefore, although martyrdom was not yet widespread, persecution was affecting many of the churches, as was observed in chs. 1–3, and martyrdom certainly could have seemed to be on the horizon.
On suffering as a mark of the Christian life. If genuine believers are bound to face suffering for their faithfulness to Christ, how do we measure the fruitfulness of our Christian life? Do we look only for positive results (people favorably affected by our testimony)? Is a negative reaction to our suffering a godly reaction? Have we really understood that God calls us to suffering? Most of us presently in the western world are unlikely to be martyred, but in what other ways may we genuinely suffer? In what ways, even in our outward Christian witness, do we often suffer for our own disobedience or foolishness (1 Pet. 4:15)?
On justice versus revenge. What lessons can we learn from these deceased saints? In our anger against others, are our thoughts and even prayers motivated by a desire for their punishment or by a desire that God be glorified through the execution of His justice? In our anger, can we take the place of God in executing judgment (even in our thoughts) on those who have wronged us? What happens to us when we give our anger over to God and allow Him to be the judge? Do we come before God in the awful awareness that He might judge our own attitudes and actions? When we are holding bitterness against others, how can we pray for God’s justice or His glory, when we are not reflecting His merciful character ourselves? Is our greatest desire that God’s reputation and name be honored and not our reputation and name?
On waiting. The heavenly saints are pictured as patiently repeating the Psalmist’s frequent cry, “How long?” Scripture says that God’s ways are not our ways, and certainly His timing is often not our timing. How do we cope with the pressures of living in a society accustomed to instant gratification? What steps can we take to refashion our thinking along the lines of God’s eternal gratification? How long are we prepared to wait for a return on our spiritual investment? Do our churches buy into programs designed to produce instant results? Do we give up witnessing after a few attempts? How many missionaries (such as those in China, Korea, or many other nations) spent a lifetime with little fruit only to see an enormous harvest after their death? What would have happened if they had given up? Do we express patience by resting in God’s understanding, which surpasses ours?
12And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
12-15 These verses express the explicit and final answer to the saints’ plea in vv. 9-11. The time must be the last judgment, because we have just been told that the judgment pictured here will not be executed until the full number of the suffering saints has been completed (v. 11). The calamitous scene of vv. 12-17 assumes that the persecution of all Christians has finally run its course, and now all that remains is to execute final punishment on the persecutors, which strikes the very last note of world history. Consequently, this passage cannot deal with judgments of unbelievers before the return of Christ during an extended tribulation period, since they have not yet finished persecuting the saints at that point.
Not only that, but the great earthquake reappears in 16:18, which is undoubtedly about the final judgment (so also 11:13, on which see), and the reference to mountains and islands being removed recurs in 16:20. In 6:12-17, every mountain and island is removed in the presence of the One who sits on the throne, and in the description of the final judgment in 20:11 earth and heaven flee from the throne and Him who sits upon it. Many OT texts allude to judgment and the catastrophic events of the last days, all of which prophesy elements found in this text: the shaking of the earth (including mountains); the darkening and/or shaking of the moon, stars, sun, and heaven; and blood (e.g., Isa. 24:1-6; Ezek. 32:6-8; Joel 3:15-16; Hab. 3:6-11). Note in particular Isa. 34:4: “And all the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; all their hosts will also wither away as a leaf withers from the vine, or as one withers from the fig tree.” Note also Joel 2:31: “The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” In Isa. 34:3-4, “blood” is directly linked with the host of heaven wearing away or rotting, and 34:5-6 refers to God’s sword being drunk or filled with blood “in heaven,” which may be related to the moon becoming like blood in Rev. 6:12. Also included in Isaiah’s depiction (34:12) is the statement that judgment will fall on “the rulers … the kings, and the great ones” (Greek OT; “nobles, kings and princes” in the Hebrew) which is nearly identical to the first three groups of people undergoing judgment in Rev. 6:15: the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders. And likening the darkening of the sky to sackcloth was suggested by Isa. 50:3: “I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.”
The cosmic phenomena of vv. 12-14 connote judgment as in the OT contexts, and various phrases from these verses are found later in the book as descriptions of the final judgment. In this respect, to highlight what was just mentioned above, note the earthquake in v. 12, and the same in 11:13 and 16:18. The mountains and islands are being removed in v. 14, and again in 16:20. In 20:11, the heaven and earth flee from the One sitting on the throne, even as the kings of the earth and their followers flee from the same in 6:16. Here the whole of the sun, moon, and stars are destroyed, whereas only a third of the same are in the affliction of 8:12, which clearly does not refer to the last judgment.
The judgment which comes upon the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders means that they are forced to hide in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. As in Isaiah 33:1–35:4, they are judged because of the persecution of God’s people. They are also judged for idolatry, the reference being to Isa. 2:20, 18-21, where people must flee to the caves and rocks on account of their idolatry, which John applies typologically to the idolaters in this passage. The same groups are mentioned in Rev. 19:18-19 as giving allegiance to the beast. Yet even the poor are to be judged, for “the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves” alike bear “the mark of the beast” (13:16), which means that they have committed their lives to the worship of the beast (i.e., they “worship” the beast, 13:15). All unbelievers living on earth at the time of the final judgment are in mind.
There is debate about whether or not the description, especially in vv. 12-14, is literal or figurative. If it is literal, then the scene depicts the final dissolution of the cosmos, though some taking a literal view see the breakup of the earth as part of a long, drawn-out tribulation period. But if the scene is figurative, it could denote some temporal judgment or the last judgment. Our conclusion, in light of the explanation so far, is that regardless of whether the description is figurative or literal, it still depicts the last judgment and not prior trials in a final period of tribulation preceding the final judgment.
16 The idolaters now appeal to the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, the reference here being to the similar cry of the idolaters in Hos. 10:8. The original portrayal is that of Adam and Eve in the Garden hiding from God. John understands Genesis as a typological prophecy on the basis of his presupposition that God has determined that sinful history must end in the same way that it began — though with the provision of redemption for the saved.
17 Now the “wrath” mentioned in v. 16 is emphasized as the cause (“for”) of the idolaters fleeing from God and the Lamb. Unbelievers or earth-dwellers will hide on account of the anger of God against sin, for the great day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb has come — surely a clear reference to the last judgment. This is indicated also by the portrait of the last punishment in 11:18, where occurs the parallel phrase “and Thy wrath came.” The same phrase “great day” occurs in 16:14 in the description of the final war, and the same event is called the “great supper of God” in 19:17-18, where virtually the same classes of people listed in 6:15 are mentioned as being destroyed by Christ’s final judgment. Behind this text lies Joel 2:11, which speaks of the great day of the Lord that no one can resist, and Nah. 1:5-6, which speaks of the mountains quaking at God’s anger. These prophetic figurative descriptions of judgments on Israel or Nineveh, which were fulfilled in the past OT era, are taken here as foreshadowings of the last judgment.
The basic sin of men is still idolatry. Their idolatry is focused on the very things which are to be removed — the dimensions of the physical world in which they live. Those being judged in 6:15-17 are “those who dwell on the earth” in 6:10, who are the ungodly deserving judgment. Christians are only pilgrims on earth, whereas the earth-dwellers are at home in this world, with its material wealth, injustice, false religion, and moral pollution, some or all of which they have made their god. In contrast to pilgrim Christians, the ungodly earth-dwellers are at home in the present world order and trust in earthly security. The significance of these OT allusions is to emphasize not only the fact of judgment but also that the apparently secure home of the earth-dwellers will be destroyed. In the remainder of the book the phrase “earth-dwellers” or “ones who dwell upon the earth” continues to refer to those who rebel against God and are thus defined as idol worshipers because they fail to bow the knee before the one true God (8:13 [cf. 9:20]; 13:8, 12, 14; 14:6-11; 17:2, 8). Humanity has become perverted and worshiped the creation (cf. Rom. 1:21-25; Rev. 9:20) instead of the Creator.
The unbelievers’ idolatrous refuge on earth must be removed because it has been made impermanent by the pollution of their sin. Therefore, creation itself — sun, moon, stars, trees, animals, etc. — has become an idol which must be removed. The heavenly bodies are repeatedly mentioned in the Bible as representing false deities whom Israel and the nations worshiped (e.g., Deut. 4:19; 17:1-4; 2 Kgs. 23:4-5; Jer. 8:2; Ezek. 8:16; Amos 5:25-27; Acts 7:41-43). However, the eternal home of believers with their God will remain (cf. Heb. 12:26-28). Six parts of the cosmos are described as destroyed in vv. 12-14: earth, sun, moon, stars, heaven, and “every mountain and island.” Furthermore, six classes of humanity are likewise portrayed in vv. 15-17 as about to be judged: kings, great ones, rulers of thousands, the rich, the powerful, and “every slave and free man.” These two lists point further to an intended identification of the idolaters — six being the number of fallen humanity — with the earth as their ultimate idol. If the most permanent and stable parts of the creation will be shaken to their roots (e.g., mountains and islands), so will the people living on the earth. Their earthly securities will be ripped away so that they will appear spiritually naked before God’s judgment seat on the last day. The “earth-dwellers” have not trusted in the Lamb who was slain for the sins of the world (cf. 1:5; 5:9). Therefore, they will have to suffer His destructive wrath and will not be able to withstand it. The gentle Lamb who was slain on the cross is now in an exalted position over the whole cosmos (1:5; 3:21; 5:5-6) to pour out His wrath (for the judgment comes not only from God but also from the Lamb), because He is not only loving to His people but also a just judge of His enemies.
The OT allusions used throughout vv. 12-17 heighten the Lamb’s position, since they all picture judgment as coming from God. Now the judgment is seen as coming not only from God on the throne but also from the Lamb, who must likewise be viewed as functioning in a judicial divine capacity. This is especially expressed in the Isa. 2:10 allusion (likewise Isa. 2:19, 21) in Rev. 6:16: compare Isaiah’s “from the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty” with Rev. 6:16, where the One “who sits on the throne” corresponds to the “Lord” of Isaiah and the “Lamb” is substituted for “the splendor of His majesty.” Likewise, the allusion to Joel 2:11 is another particular example underscoring the Lamb’s deity: “The day of the Lord is indeed great” becomes in Rev. 6:17 “For the great day of their [God and the Lamb’s] wrath has come.”
Two results of Christ’s resurrection in 1:5-6 are that He became “ruler of the kings of the earth,” many of whom He judges (6:15; 16:12; 17:12-18; 19:18-21), and also a loving Redeemer of his people. The “kings of the earth” who undergo the last judgment in 6:15 are to be identified with the same group being finally judged in 19:18-21 and not with those who are redeemed in 21:24 (a comparison of 21:8, 27 with 21:24 [see the comments there] also shows that the latter verse does not imply an ultimate universal salvation).
On idolatry as the fundamental expression of human rebellion against God. Idolatry commenced in the garden with Adam’s choice to find his security without God and his independence from God in the fruit of the forbidden tree. The commentary maintains that idolatry is still the fundamental sin of men and women, and that it is always expressed in attachment to created things rather than the Creator. Some forms of idolatry are obvious — worship of other gods, various forms of addiction, and so on. But others are not. Is it possible to practice idolatry without knowing it? Satan’s most powerful deceptions are often his subtlest. Is it possible for something to be idolatrous to one person and not to another, depending on the attitude with which it is approached? For instance, a focus on staying healthy could be a good thing for one person yet idolatrous for another. Traveling on holiday could be an innocent way of recharging our batteries — or could be idolatrous. Even devotion to our family, greatly commended in the Bible, can become idolatrous. If anything comes between us and God, or becomes a greater object of affection than God, it will become idolatrous for us. See further G. K. Beale, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008).
On a biblical understanding of ecology. How do we balance the fact that God created a world we are to be stewards of with the realization that ultimately it will be destroyed in the fire of His judgment? Is the tension resolved with the realization that God’s intention is the creation of a new heavens and earth? Should our focus on ecology be motivated not by reverence for the environment in itself, but the consequences of environmental degradation for other people? Should we now act as good stewards of this creation in order to point toward and be a witness of our greater stewardship of a greater new creation that is coming? What is the dividing line which, if crossed, leads to environmentalism becoming idolatrous? Is environmentalism an example of how a seemingly good cause can itself become a source of idolatry? Is this because people define themselves as virtuous for their apparent care for the environment regardless of their attitude toward the One who is its Creator?
1After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
What is the meaning of the seal, and who are the 144,000 from every tribe of Israel who were sealed? Are they a group of literal ethnic Israelites living at some future time, or do they represent figuratively some other group of people? The mention of the “great multitude … standing before the throne” in v. 9 may be an explicit answer to the question of 6:17 as to who can stand in the day of wrath. Both passages also refer to people standing before the throne and the Lamb. The picture of the Lamb “standing” before the throne in 5:6 is likely associated to a significant degree with His resurrection existence, so that the “standing” before the throne in 7:9 of people later described as sheep (v. 17) plausibly also reflects the resurrection existence of the saints. The “standing” of the saints on the sea of glass also in direct conjunction with mention of the Lamb later in the book also reflects the Lamb’s resurrection existence from 5:6 (see on 15:2).
1 Chapter 7 commences with a new vision, as indicated by the introductory phrase after this I saw. Although John experienced this vision subsequent to that of ch. 6, what it depicts comes before what ch. 6 depicts chronologically. The section stands as a kind of parenthesis explaining how God will keep believers safe during the tribulations of the church age. As a result, the believers will not be harmed spiritually when they go through the trials unleashed by the four seals of 6:1-8.
John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth. That they are standing at the four corners of the earth refers to their sovereignty over the whole world (so Isa. 11:12; Ezek. 7:2; Rev. 20:8). That four winds refers figuratively to the entire known world is clear from the use of the same phrase in this manner in Jer. 49:36; Dan. 8:8; 11:4; Matt. 24:31; and Mark 13:27. The four winds of the earth are best identified as the four horsemen of 6:1-8, which were clearly modeled on the horsemen of Zech. 6:1-8 because the latter are also identified in Zech. 6:5 as “the four winds [or spirits] of heaven” (the Hebrew can be translated “winds” or “spirits”; LXX “winds”). Godly angels are holding back the evil forces of destruction from the earth, a destruction which in 6:1-8 is described as having already come to pass. That the winds have to be held back to prevent their harmful activity is evidence of their rebellious and wicked nature. Whether or not the earth, sea, and trees to be affected by the winds are literal is not crucial, since together with the winds they form a picture representing the woes of 6:1-8 and are to be understood likewise in terms of general judgments. Probably these three objects represent (by metonymy, or more specifically synecdoche, the literary device by which the part represents the whole) the earth and its inhabitants, who are affected by the woes of the four horsemen. The delaying action which prevents the destructive effect of the winds is only temporary, as is evident from vv. 2-3.
2-3 The reason the four angels are preventing the horsemen from being unleashed is now given. This delay is only temporary, until the godly angels have sealed the bond-servants of our God at the command of an angel coming from God’s presence (having the seal of the living God). In these verses, the earth and its inhabitants are not yet harmed, and, before they are, God’s servants are to be given a seal of protection. Thus, this section does not present a new series of events in a yet further future part of a final tribulation period following the trials of ch. 6, but it concerns matters related to trials throughout the church age that precede the final judgment and reward. As such, it is an interlude in its placement after ch. 6.
What it means for God to “seal” His servants is debated. The main alternatives are: protection from physical harm, protection from demons, and protection against losing one’s faith and hence salvation. The picture of the seal here is the same as what was seen by Ezekiel when the Lord commands the angel to put a mark on the foreheads of those who hate sin before He strikes the city in judgment (Ezek. 9:4-6). This mark protects them spiritually and likely also physically from the coming judgment. This is comparable to the mark of blood on the doors of the Israelites so that they would be protected from God’s judgment on Egypt (Exod. 12:7, 13, 22-28). This becomes significant when we note that this mark protects believers during the period of the trumpet and bowl plagues, which, as we shall see, are closely modeled on the plagues of Egypt.
The demonic powers are forbidden to harm those with the seal of God on their forehead. Uppermost in John’s mind is not physical security, but protection of the believers’ faith and salvation from the various sufferings and persecutions that are inflicted upon them, whether by Satan or his demonic and earthly agents. The sealing enables God’s people to respond in faith to the trials through which they pass so that these trials become the very instruments by which they are strengthened in their faith (see on 6:1-8). The protective function of the seal is obvious from 9:4, where the satanic powers are commanded not to “hurt the grass of the earth … nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (note the almost identical verbal parallel with 7:3; 16:2 implies the seal’s protective aspect). That this protection is spiritual is apparent because believers and unbelievers suffer similar physical afflictions (see again on 6:1-8). But the trials that purify God’s servants result in hardening the ungodly in their response to God (so 9:19-21).
Those who have the seal, the 144,000 noted in 7:4, are mentioned again in 14:1 as those who have the name of God and of the Lamb written on their foreheads. Believers who are under the seal with the name of God and the Lamb possess an inviolable salvation relationship with both, which protects them (14:3-4: they are redemptively “purchased”). The seal and the name of God, therefore, must be identical, both indicating that these people belong to God (see 2 Tim. 2:19 for the same thought). The opposite is true of the earth-dwellers, who have on their foreheads the mark of the beast, which is also his name (13:17; 14:9-11; see further below).
Seal can also have the sense of “authenticate” or “designate ownership of,” both of which are included with the idea of protection here. As the saints are empowered to persevere through adversity, the genuineness of their profession is authenticated, and they are shown truly to belong to God. That those who are sealed are called bond-servants or slaves of our God highlights the idea of ownership, since it was a common practice in the ancient world to mark slaves on the forehead to indicate ownership and to whom they owed service. That the seal includes the idea of authentication and ownership is evident from recognizing that John equates it in 14:1 and 22:4 with the name of Christ and God, which has also been written on their foreheads (a phrase occurring in all three passages; in 2 Tim. 2:19 God’s “seal” and “name” together identify those who belong to him).
The equation of the seal with the divine name is confirmed by the identification of the “mark” of the beast on the forehead of unbelievers (13:17) as “the name of the beast,” and in 14:9-11 “a mark on his (the beast-worshiper’s) … forehead” is also called “the mark of his (the beast’s) name.” Hence, the seal empowers the 144,000 to perform the role of witness intended for true Israel (e.g., Isa. 42:6-7; 49:6; 51:4-8). Therefore, the “new name” and the “seal” are marks of genuine membership in the community of the redeemed, without which entry into the eternal “city of God” is impossible. And, as we have seen in 2:17, identification with Christ’s new name (see 3:12) actually begins when Christ reveals Himself to people and they confess His name. When this happens, they gain a new spiritual status and are given power not to deny His name (3:8) and to persevere through the final tribulation (cf. 2:13a; 3:8-10; John 17:6-26, where Christ’s revelation of God’s name to believers means that they now share in God’s protective presence; cf. Luke 10:17-22).
The equation of the “name” of Christ and God written on the saints’ foreheads” (14:1) and the “seal” as designations of membership in God’s covenant community is also confirmed by the similar equation in Exodus (especially in the LXX). In Exod. 28:17-21, the twelve stones to be placed on the priest’s breastpiece were to be engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, and these stones were to be like “the engravings of a seal” (28:21). The names of each of the twelve tribes is written on each stone to show who is a member of the Israelite covenant community. Significantly, there was also to be a gold plate placed “on Aaron’s forehead” like “the engravings of a seal” (28:36, 38), and “Holy to the Lord” was inscribed on it (28:36). This seal indicated that he was consecrated to and belonged to the Lord and, since he was Israel’s representative in the temple, the same notion of the nation’s consecration to God carried over to them. Note also that most of the stones of Exodus 28 reappear in Rev. 21:19-20 in connection with the new Jerusalem.
Likewise in these verses God’s seal identifies His people and sets them apart from sinful compromise with the world because of the efficacious effects of the Lamb’s blood, which has been sprinkled by Him as the high priest in the heavenly temple (Heb. 8:1–10:22), and which has been applied to them (see on 7:14). Consequently, they will not suffer the divine wrath which the world of unbelief must endure. It will become evident in the following verses that believers must also be sealed in order to enter the heavenly tabernacle and minister before God as priests (see on 7:13-15). The background of Exodus provides the link between Rev. 21:12-20 and 7:3-8: the precious stones and the seal of Exodus signify a people made holy through the sacrifice of the Lamb to enter the new Jerusalem built on these precious stones as its foundation.
The community of the “redeemed” in 7:3-8 is the same as in 14:1-4 because of the verbal parallels and ideas observed above. In 14:3-4, the 144,000 are those “who had been purchased from the earth” and who “have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God.” And there is a parallel between 14:4 and 5:9b which is so close that the groups mentioned as “purchased” in both are probably identical (5:9b: the lamb purchased “for God … men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”). This would mean that the 144,000 in 14:1-3 are not some small remnant of ethnic Israelites but another way of speaking of the larger remnant of humanity living during the church age whom Christ has redeemed from throughout the world. If this identification is correct, then the 144,000 in 7:3-8 must also represent the same redeemed remnant from all over the earth. In this case, 7:9 would interpret the group of 7:3-8 as those who are “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (see further on 7:9). This is virtually the same phrase as that in 5:9b, both being based on the formulas of Daniel 3–7. This group is numbered as 144,000 to emphasize figuratively that this is a picture of the church in its entirety, not in part, which has been redeemed, as the vision of the multitude in 7:9-17 bears out (on the identity of the 144,000 see further on vv. 4-8 below).
That this is the case is apparent from the following reasons, among other considerations:
The divine seal and name empower the saints to remain loyal to Christ and not to compromise in the midst of pressures to do so by identifying with the idolatrous world system. They resist the harlot of ch. 17 and refuse the mark of the beast (20:4). Although the saints may suffer and even lose their physical lives, the seal protects them from losing their spiritual lives with God. This is why the seal is said to be of the living God, who imparts to them the eternal life which He alone possesses (for the saints’ obtaining this kind of “life” as a future inheritance cf. 2:7, 10-11; 3:5; 11:11; 20:4, 6; 21:6, 27; 22:12, 14, 17, and note the attribute of God’s or Christ’s eternal life in 1:18; 4:9-10; 10:6; 15:7). Therefore, the seal also includes protection from the final day of judgment, which has just been mentioned in 6:17. The seal guarantees protection from this wrath for those believing that the Lamb has been dealt the death blow on their behalf (1:5; 5:6-9, 12). Those without the seal and with the “mark of the beast” have no such safeguard, but suffer the eternal wrath of God (so 14:9-11). They are deceived into worshiping the forces of evil (13:8; 19:20). This is because they have been destined to be excluded from everlasting life with the Lamb (so 13:8; 17:8; 20:15).
The seal, in light of 2 Cor. 1:22 and Eph. 1:13; 4:30, is to be identified with the Holy Spirit, though this is not explicitly stated in Revelation. Therefore, uppermost in John’s mind is certainly not physical security but protection of the believers’ faith and salvation from the various sufferings and persecutions that are inflicted upon them, whether by Satan or by his demonic and earthly agents. Spiritual protection is the focus.
Consequently, the group being sealed cannot be a special group of martyrs who are protected against physical harm until they have opportunity to give their witness (for discussion of how John applies the language of martyrdom to Christians in general see on 6:4, 8, 9). Nor are they a last generation of believers living at the end of the age who are protected from the severe destruction coming on the earth at that time. Unlikely also is the speculation that they are an unconverted Jewish remnant who are physically protected through the tribulation, after which they are converted as they see Christ descending at His second coming (this view is often fueled by a similar interpretation of Rom. 11:25-29). One reason for rejecting this idea is that it would be hard to understand why they are physically protected from the tribulation, but the Gentile believers described in 7:9-17 are not so sheltered. Nowhere else in Revelation or the NT is there any thought of a preference or advantage granted Jews over Gentiles during the inter-advent age. This is consistent with the above observation that the word “servant” (Greek doulos) never refers exclusively to Jewish Christians anywhere else in the book, but only to believers in general or to all saints.
That the angels must seal the bond-servants of our God implies that those receiving the seal are already servants of God, and therefore already believers. If so, as seems likely, it refers to a divine decree to seal all those who will believe throughout the church age. The decree would be fulfilled as each person believes in Christ. This notion is also suggested by the fact that the Lamb’s death and purchase of a select group of people out from the nations is presented as an indicative or actual, not potential, transaction, which was consummated on the Lamb’s part at the cross (5:9; cf. 14:3-4). Furthermore, this elect group was determined from the foundation of the world to benefit from the protecting influence of Christ’s death, whereas it was likewise determined that others would not so benefit (13:8; 17:8).
4-8 Now the identity of those sealed is explained further. Who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand? They are unlikely to be literal Israelites living at the very end of history during a severe tribulation, nor are they literal Israelites living during the desecration of Israel’s second temple in the first century, for in either case God’s protection would apply only to ethnic Jews — and a limited number of them — rather than to His people redeemed from every nation, including Jewish believers in Jesus. Such a suggestion would be alien to the teaching of the NT (read Galatians, for instance).
A better understanding comes from the context. In 5:9, the Lamb is said to have purchased with His blood “men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” In 14:3-4, the 144,000 are said to have been purchased “from the earth” and purchased “from among men.” The almost identical language suggests that the two are the same group — the church of all ages. This would explain why, immediately after the vision of the sealing, John sees a great multitude of people from every nation and tribe and people and tongue (7:9). As we will see, this is a picture interpreting the number which has been heard in 7:4-8, thus representing those who have been sealed. As noted above, all Satan’s followers bear his mark or name, and all the Lamb’s followers must bear the Lamb’s mark or name — hence, all believers in Christ throughout the ages are sealed and must be included in the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
But why speak of a specific number? In 21:13-14, the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles together form the foundational structure of the new Jerusalem. Multiplying twelve by twelve equals one hundred and forty-four, representing the entire people of God through the ages. Multiplying that figure by one thousand reinforces the notion of completeness.
In the list of tribes recorded in these verses, it is striking that Judah is mentioned first. This emphasizes Christ’s descent from Judah (see 5:5), as prophesied in Gen. 49:8-10 and elsewhere in the OT where a descendent of David (and thus of Judah) is prophesied to arise as Messiah in the latter days (Ezek. 34:23; 37:24-26; Ps. 16:8-11; together with Acts 2:25-28). Therefore, this is a continuation of 5:5, where Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of the promised leader from Judah. Furthermore, the priority of Judah is appropriate because Gen. 49:10 predicts that the coming leader of Judah will bring about “the obedience of the peoples.” In this respect, the LXX of Gen. 49:10 reads, “he is the expectation of nations,” and Paul alludes to Gen. 49:10 in Rom. 1:5 by referring to “the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles,” which has been accomplished by Christ, the “descendant of David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3; cf. 16:26). Therefore, the tribe of Judah is mentioned first because the Messiah from Judah is the king who represents Israel, and through its new king Judah has become the door of blessing to the nations (so 5:5, 9). Accordingly, a kingly descendant from David would be a natural choice to provide entry for the nations into the blessings of Israel.
It is clear that one of the names written on Gentile Christians, in addition to those of God and Christ, is “the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem” (3:12). Since the name of the “new Jerusalem” is equated with Christ’s “new name” in Rev. 3:12, it is likely that Christians can be identified with the “new Jerusalem,” since they are identified with Christ; they are thus the true Israel. In the same way, Isa. 49:3, in relation to Isa. 53:10 and Gal. 3:16, affirms the Messiah as the true Israel. Jesus as the messianic “seed” of Israel (Gal. 3:16) represents all believers, so that they are also part of the Israelite “seed” (Gal. 3:29). However, this name is not written on those “who say that they are Jews, and are not” true Jews (Rev. 3:9), since they reject Christ. The name of “the new Jerusalem” applied to the church of Philadelphia is closely linked conceptually to the 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel.
Christians are thus here portrayed as the true Israel, as also in 1:6 and 5:10 (applying Exod. 19:6); 5:9 (applying Dan. 7:18, 22); 2:17 and 3:12 (applying Isa. 62:2 and 65:15); 3:9 (applying Isa. 49:23 and 60:14); and in the picture of the new Jerusalem in chs. 21–22 (applying Ezekiel 40–48). In fact, a series of prophecies about Israel’s restoration is cited as fulfilled in those who believe “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” in 7:9, 15-17 (on which see below). This is consistent with the identification elsewhere in the NT of the church (composed of Jews and Gentiles) as fulfilling predictions of Israel’s restoration (so Rom. 9:24-26; 10:12-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; 6:2, 16-18) and being called true “Jews” (Rom. 2:28-29), “Israel” (Rom. 9:6; Gal. 6:15-16), true “circumcision” (Phil. 3:3), “the twelve tribes” (cf. Jas. 1:1), or dispersed Israelites (1 Pet. 1:1; 2:9). In fact, including Gentiles as part of true end-time Israel was prophesied in the OT (so Psalm 87; Isa. 19:18-25, especially v. 18; 56:1-8; Ezek. 47:21-23; Zech. 2:11; 9:7).
The implausibility of viewing the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel literally in vv. 3-8 is increased by realizing that it would mean that allusions to OT enemies of God’s people elsewhere in Revelation (Sodom and Egypt in 11:8, Babylon in chs. 14–18, and Gog and Magog in 20:8) must entail the bizarre belief on John’s part that all these enemies will also be literally revived.
A refinement of the above view of the church as true Israel has been made by Richard Bauckham in The Climax of Prophecy: Studies in the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: Clark, 1993), 217-29. Bauckham has argued convincingly that the numbering in vv. 4-8 suggests that those numbered are an army. The evidence for this view is manifold, but, above all, the language of from the tribe of recalls the repeated phrases “of the tribe of” in OT census lists (e.g., Num. 1:21, 23, etc.). The purpose of the census in Numbers was to organize a military force to conquer the Promised Land.
The church is thus depicted in military terms as a remnant called out of the world to do battle for God. This force is ready to fight, and v. 14 interprets the manner of their fighting. They conquer their enemy ironically in the same way in which the kingly Lamb from Judah ironically conquered at the cross: by maintaining their faith and witness through suffering, they overcome their foe, the devil and his hosts (see on v. 14 below; for identification of the group in vv. 4-8 with the group in vv. 9-17 see further the introductory comments to vv. 9-17). Consequently, they are those “who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (14:4).
The language of from the tribe of in vv. 4-8 may have no connotation of the church as a remnant called out from a larger unbelieving community to fight a battle, but may simply be part of the census terminology carried over from the OT to portray the church as the new Israel. Nevertheless, the repeated formula may refer to the selecting out of a remnant from a larger unbelieving group (the people of every tribe and nation) because of:
Therefore, the selective service language of the OT census lists may have served the additional purpose of fitting into the theology of the remnant found throughout Revelation, and so was accordingly enriched.
On sealing and the assurance of salvation. If the “sealing” means protection from losing one’s saving relationship with God, how can Christians be assured that they really have been “sealed with the Spirit” and have such life? This question deals with the sometimes difficult issue of how a Christian can have assurance of salvation. The following questions, based on the context of Revelation itself, should help to focus further reflection on this issue of how a sense of assurance can be gained and increased:
The responses to these four questions have a cumulative effective on one’s perception of assurance.
On being slaves or servants of God. Rev. 7:3 says that those who have been “sealed” are “bond-servants/slaves of God.” Faithful slaves in the ancient world were to please their masters with their whole being, since their whole body was owned by the master, and Christians likewise should want to please their divine Master (so Gal. 1:10; Eph. 6:6; cf. Rev. 22:3). Is there a part of our lives which we do not allow to be in subjugation to Christ (financial considerations, sexual issues, etc.)? Paul says that we are to present our entire beings and bodies to Christ as “slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6:16-19), since Christ has “bought” us with a “price” (1 Cor. 6:20). The true slave of Christ becomes “obedient from the heart” (Rom. 6:17). Does God have our entire hearts? God’s “slaves” are those “who walk before him with all their heart” (1 Kgs. 8:23; cf. vv. 48, 61). Is our obedience to God only a duty, or do we also desire from our hearts to please Him by being subject to Him? Negative answers to these questions reveal degrees of idolatry, which Revelation speaks much about (e.g., 2:12-23; 9:20-21).
On the church as the true Israel. What difference does it make for Christians when they realize that they are part of the continuation of true Israel from the OT? One very practical difference is that the OT becomes much more a book for Christians, since it contains so many prophecies about Israel, the fulfillment of which occur in the church throughout the ages. In particular, as seen in the commentary, the prophecies about Israel’s restoration to its land began to be fulfilled in unbelieving Jews and Gentiles being restored to God through Christ and thus coming to represent the true Israel and new Jerusalem. It is enlightening, for example, to read the prophecies of Isaiah 40–66 with this in mind. What are other implications of the church being the true Israel? For example, how does this relate to what is going on in Israel in the Middle East today?
On the nature of Christian warfare. As we have seen, the listing of those sealed from various Israelite tribes in vv. 4-8 could well represent a mustering of soldiers to fight in a holy war. But if those called out and sealed represent the church as true Israel, then what kind of war is being fought? As we saw above, 7:14 interprets the manner of their fighting: they conquer in no other way than that of the Lamb: by persevering in the midst of suffering. What are the various ways that Christians today participate in this battle? The hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” is uniquely suited to this passage in Revelation. Note, for instance, the stanza, “Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane/But the church of Jesus constant will remain/Gates of hell can never ’gainst that church prevail/We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.”
9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; 10and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11And 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, 12saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” 14And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb at the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Whereas vv. 1-8 have portrayed the church in its symbolic significance as the true Israel, in vv. 9-17 John receives a glimpse into its actual dimensions. The first passage pictures the church as a restored remnant of true Israel whose salvific security has been guaranteed. They are said to be a certain number of people because God has determined exactly who will receive His redemptive seal, and only He knows the precise number of His true servants (so 7:3; 2 Tim. 2:19). Because of this, the exalted saints who have suffered so far are told in 6:11 that they must wait for vindication a “little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants … who were to be killed … should be completed also.” This second picture in vv. 9-17 understands the same host now from the viewpoint of their actual vast number. Although they are a saved remnant, they are also those who have been gathered from all over the face of the earth and have lived throughout the period of the church age. Therefore, they are a multitudinous throng. The identification of the people in vv. 3-8 and vv. 9-17 as both being true Israel (the church) is deducible from observing that the group in the latter segment is described as fulfilling Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s restoration prophecies concerning Israel (see on vv. 16, 17) and as persevering through the time of tribulation foretold by Daniel (12:1) to come upon faithful Israelites (see on v. 14).
This view of the relationship of the two segments in ch. 7 is strengthened by the observation of the pattern elsewhere, in which what John sees is repeatedly interpreted by what he then immediately hears, or what he hears is interpreted by what he then sees. For the former pattern, compare 5:6 with 5:7-14; 14:1 with 14:2-5; 15:2 with 15:3-4; 17:1-6 with 17:7-18. For the latter pattern, compare 5:5 with 5:6; 9:13-16 with 9:17-21. Note also that the relation between the two segments is precisely parallel to the relationship between the Lion and the Lamb in 5:5-6. In ch. 5, John first hears about a Lion (5:5), then understands its meaning through seeing the Lamb who appears to him (5:6). Likewise, in ch. 7 John hears of the number of those sealed from the twelve tribes, then understands its meaning through seeing the innumerable multitude who appear to him. To the Lion of the tribe of Judah (5:5) corresponds the list of the sealed of the twelve tribes, headed by that of Judah (7:4-8). To the slain Lamb (5:6) corresponds the ransomed from every tribe and nation (5:9) and the multitude from every tribe and nation (7:9), who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (7:14).
Therefore, the sealing of the saints explains further how Christ will keep them from “the hour of testing” which is “to test those who dwell upon the earth” (3:10), that is, those who have persecuted them (see on 3:10 for the negative identification of the “earth-dwellers”; cf. 6:10; see further on 3:10 and 7:14 for the Dan. 12:1 background concerning the tribulation). All these connections concern matters which precede the final judgment and reward, so ch. 7 must function as an interlude or parenthesis in its placement after ch. 6. Yet the chapter also has a future aspect, especially toward the end (vv. 15-17). From this perspective, the chapter is, among other things, an answer to the concluding question of 6:17, “Who is able to stand” before God and not suffer the wrath of the last judgment? This is the definitive answer to 6:17 and the main point toward which the visionary narrative of vv. 9-17 drives.
In this respect the mention of the “great multitude … standing before the throne” (7:9) may be an explicit answer to the question of 6:17. This is suggested by: the close contextual placement of 6:17 and 7:9 and the common use of “stand”; the reference in both to people standing before the throne and the Lamb; the picture of the Lamb “standing” before the throne in 5:6, likely associated to a significant degree with His resurrection existence, so that the “standing” before the throne in 7:9 of people later described as sheep (7:17) plausibly also reflects their resurrection existence; and the “standing” of the saints “on the sea of glass” in 15:2, also in direct conjunction with mention of the Lamb, likewise reflecting the Lamb’s resurrection existence from 5:6 (see on 15:2), in which saints share. The word “stand” appears also to have this meaning elsewhere with regard respectively to Christ (10:5, 8, assuming the angel to be Christ; 14:1), saints (11:11, though there likely a figurative or spiritual resurrection), and all humanity (20:12), though this does not signify that all resurrected humanity will be saved.
Therefore, ch. 7 does not present a new series of future events during a final tribulation period which follow those of ch. 6. Rather, the chapter is a parenthesis explaining the vision of ch. 6 in more depth and providing a larger background against which to understand it better. The events of 7:1-8 immediately precede those of 6:1-8, and 7:9-17 focuses on the time after the final judgment, which has been portrayed in its initial phase in 6:12-17 (though the pre-final judgment age could be secondarily in mind in 7:9-17, especially in vv. 13-14, which portray the overall process of those who persevere and enter into and begin to participate in the enjoyment of God’s presence and eternal blessings).
In this light, the following flow of thought is discernible in ch. 7: God and the Lamb are glorified (vv. 9-12) because of the heavenly reward of redemptive rest they have bestowed upon the entire people of God (vv. 15-17). This reward is a result of the people of God’s perseverance through “the great tribulation” (v. 14) of the “four winds” (vv. 1-3; cf. 6:1-8) by means of the protective seal given them by God (vv. 3-8).
9 After these things, as in v. 1 (in the conceptually equivalent form “after this”) and other places in Revelation, means that this is the next vision John saw, not that the events depicted therein will necessarily occur immediately after those of the previous vision in vv. 1-8. In fact, the vision records events following the depiction of the final judgment in 6:12-17. The group here pictured is the same as in 5:9, the end-time people of God from every tongue and nation prophesied in Dan. 7:14, 22, and 27. These saints are those of God’s people already glorified, for this scene takes place in heaven, before the throne of God. Having earned their reward through faithful perseverance in tribulation, they are now enjoying the presence of the Lord in eternity. The great multitude, which no one could count is the promised seed of Abraham, the “multitude of nations” (Gen. 17:5), which were “too many to count” (Gen. 32:12 and 16:10). The descendants or “seed” who would become so numerous according to these Abrahamic promises refer not to the nations in general but specifically to the future multiplication of Israel in Egypt, and thereafter in the Promised Land. The great multitude in v. 9 is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise and thus yet another way in which Revelation refers to Christians throughout the world as the true Israel. The palm branches the throng is waving allude to the Feast of Tabernacles, in which palm branches were used to build the booths in which the Jews live during the feast (Lev. 23:40-43). The Feast celebrates God’s protection of the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert, and in the same way God seals His faithful ones during the present age. The imagery originally applied to Israel is now applied by John to people from all nations, who rejoice in their latter-day exodus redemption, in their victory over their persecutors and in the fact that God has protected them subsequently during their wilderness pilgrimage (12:6, 14!) through the “great tribulation” (see on 7:13-14).
10-12 As true Israelites, they celebrate an eschatological Feast of Tabernacles in heaven in order to commemorate joyfully their end-time salvation, which is attributed to God … who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. Their salvation lies in their victorious resistance to the forces of evil which have attempted to thwart their faith (so 12:10-11; 19:1-2). The overcomers acknowledge that their victory is really God’s victory, since it has been obtained by His power (so 12:10-11). The preservation of the saints’ faith is attributed to God’s sovereignty, since the white robes (v. 9) symbolize a purity resulting from perseverance through testing (see below on vv. 13-17). God protects their faith in the midst of trials by means of the seal which He imparts to them (vv. 1-3). This saving victory is consummated by God’s judgment of the sinful world (portrayed, e.g., in 6:12-17), which has attempted to seduce the faith of His people and has persecuted them. These glorified saints are now joined by the angels, the elders, and the four living creatures in their praise and worship of God and the Lamb. The heavenly host recognizes that this redemptive work demonstrates that only God possesses these sovereign attributes and is alone worthy of receiving for eternity blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might. Amen introduces and concludes the praise formula in order to confirm emphatically the certainty and factual truth of the redemption wrought by God.
13-14 One of the elders informs John of the identity of these people. This great multitude represents those who have come out of the great tribulation. The only other place in the NT outside Revelation where the phrase “the great tribulation” occurs is in Matt. 24:21, and both that verse and this are clear references to Dan. 12:1 (LXX): “there will be a time of tribulation, such tribulation as has not come about from when a nation was upon the earth until that time.” Use of the definite article the great tribulation indicates that this is the latter-day tribulation prophesied by Daniel and also by Christ rather than just another general occasion of tribulation. In Daniel’s tribulation, the latter-day opponent of God’s people persecutes them because of their faithfulness to Him (Dan. 11:30-39, 44; 12:10). Some will fall away (Dan. 11:32, 34), even as some are doing so in five of the churches of Asia (all but Smyrna and Philadelphia). The tribulation consists in pressures from the religious system to compromise one’s faith and pressures from the world, which may include economic deprivation (see “your tribulation and your poverty” in 2:9).
This tribulation is not confined to the days immediately preceding Christ’s return, but commences with the birth of the church and continues throughout the church age. We can give at least five reasons for this:
The great tribulation, therefore, began with the sufferings of Jesus and is now shared in by all believers, who are, with John, fellow-partakers “in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus” (1:9).
The fact that they are those who have come out of the great tribulation accounts for the whiteness of their robes, which have been washed … in the blood of the Lamb, an OT metaphor which speaks of the forgiveness of sins (Isa. 1:18; Zech. 3:3-5). Jesus Himself is described in Rev. 19:13 as clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and so their robes express the fact that these saints have followed Jesus faithfully in the way of the cross. In 6:9-11, those who were slain were given a white robe because they had maintained their testimony to Christ. Despite resistance, they continued believing in and testifying to the Lamb’s death on their behalf, which has taken their sin away and granted them salvation. Conversely, those in the church who compromise and do not witness to Christ because of trials have “soiled their garments” (3:4).
Tribulation has only served to refine and purify the faith and character of the saints (see Rom. 5:3-5; 1 Pet. 1:7). It is significant that the only places in the OT where the saints are spoken of as having white clothing are in Dan. 11:35 and 12:10, speaking of the saints of the end times, which, as we have seen, began with the resurrection of Christ. Dan. 11:35 affirms that oppression and suffering comes “in order to refine, purge and make them white [Hebrew laben; NASB “pure”] until the end time.” The saved multitude of every nation pictured here are the prophesied latter-day Israelites of Daniel’s vision. Thus, the picture of latter-day cleansed believers of every nation fulfills the prophecy of Daniel 11–12 concerning Israel, once again identifying the church as the continuation of true Israel.
The image of saints with cleansed, white robes in vv. 9 and 14 and elsewhere in Revelation connotes a purity which has been demonstrated by the people’s persevering faith in Christ’s redemptive death (= “blood”), having been tested by a purifying fire. 3:18 emphasizes the aspect of purification by nearly equating the exhortations “buy … gold refined by fire that you may become rich” with “[buy] white garments, that you may clothe yourself.” The picture appears again in 22:14, where it is clearly used to describe all believers who enter the new Jerusalem, as contrasted with unbelievers, who do not. Those receiving white robes in 3:4-5 have their names written in the “book of life,” an allusion to Dan. 12:1. This is not a select group, but the entire company of the redeemed, for only those whose robes are thus washed will enter into the new Jerusalem (Rev. 22:14). The metaphor of washing white robes in blood primarily connotes the objective reality that the saints have been cleansed from their sin by their persevering faith in Christ’s death for them, which has been refined by trials. Since the blood of the Lamb refers to Christ’s own blood and not that of the saints, the focus is on the cleansing effects of His death on their behalf. When John wants to refer to the saints’ suffering, he uses phrases like “the blood of the saints” (17:6; likewise 6:10; 18:24; 19:2). Therefore, the picture does not primarily connote the idea of a select group of martyrs but encompasses the entire company of the redeemed.
15 The introductory phrase for this reason explains that the saints’ perseverance in Christ and resulting purity (vv. 13-14) are the basis for their entrance into the presence of God and the Lamb (vv. 15-17). Sinful people must flee “from the presence of Him who sits on the throne” because He is holy and must pour out His wrath on sin (6:16-17). But those believing that the Lamb has appeased God’s wrath on their behalf and consequently have been declared “clean” and “righteous” (cf. 19:8b) are allowed entrance before God who sits on the throne. They are able to enter God’s tabernacling presence and serve Him, because the Lamb has reversed the effects of Adam’s fall by suffering the painful curse of death in their place (so 21:3-4, 6; 22:1-4; cf. 1:18; 5:6, 9, 12). Their steadfast faith is a qualification for entrance and their entrance itself is a reward for maintaining their faith despite tribulation (so 22:14). The final reward of rest in the presence of God and the Lamb forms the basis for the saints’ glorifying God and the Lamb in vv. 9-12.
These believers become a new priesthood, serving God in His eternal temple. They wear white robes, having been purified with blood, and serve Him day and night in His temple (see Lev. 8:30, where also the priests’ garments are sprinkled with blood to signify consecration for serving God in the tabernacle). The connection with Rev. 1:5-6 and 5:9-10 shows that here all Christians are in mind and not merely martyrs or some other special class of saints. This verse thus develops the idea of a new priesthood introduced in 1:6 and 5:10, all three passages alluding to God’s promise to Israel in Exod. 19:6 that they would all become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. All believers in Christ fulfill this promise to ancient Israel. Also fulfilled is the prophecy to Israel in Ezek. 37:26-27 that God would place His sanctuary in the midst of them and that His tabernacle (dwelling place) would be over them. The reference to the multitudes in His temple where God spreads His tabernacle over them is a clear echo from this prophecy of Israel’s restoration in Ezek. 37:26-28. There God says, “I … will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place [= tabernacle] also will be over them … when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”
According to Ezekiel, the result of God tabernacling with His people is that the nations will recognize that He is the Lord who sanctifies Israel (Ezek. 37:28), whereas clearly this promise is now applied to Christian believers. The application of the Ezek. 37:27 prophecy to the church is striking, because Ezekiel emphasizes that when this prophecy takes place, the immediate result will be that “the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever” (37:28). Therefore, Ezekiel 37 was a prophecy uniquely applicable to ethnic Israel in contrast to the nations, yet now John understands it as fulfilled in the church (for the same kind of reversed applications of OT prophecies see on 3:9, where also the title of “Jews” is seen to be inappropriate for unbelieving ethnic Jews). The application of this Israelite prophecy to the church is highlighted by observing that Ezek. 37:27 refers to Israel as “My people,” which is a title included in the fuller quotation of Ezek. 37:27 found in Rev. 21:3, where it is again applied to the church, the continuation of true Israel.
The picture in v. 15 is not a reference to a localized temple building in which the saints serve God (so also 21:22!). Rather, as the second part of the verse reveals, the temple now consists in the presence of the Lamb and He who sits on the throne and who spreads His tabernacle over them (so also 21:22). The mention of God “tabernacling” with His people also continues the theme of the OT “feast of tabernacles” from v. 9 (cf. the “feast of tabernacles” in Lev. 23:34-44; Deut. 16:13-17, etc.).
16-17 The saved multitudes who enjoy God’s presence continue to be described as a fulfillment of Israel’s prophesied restoration. They enjoy the comforts of the divine presence which were promised as a part of the restoration. John appeals to Isa. 49:10, which affirms one of the resulting conditions of Israel’s restoration into the presence of God: “They will not hunger or thirst, neither will the scorching heat or sun strike them down … for he … will guide them to springs of waters” (cf. John 6:35). Consequently, the church fulfills the restoration prophecy of Isa. 49:10. Rev. 22:17 suggests that saints begin to partake of this water in the present age: “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” It is Christ’s divine position in the center of the throne which is the basis for removing the saints’ former affliction (represented by hunger, thirst, and extreme heat). He is able to provide divine comforts because He is in the position of God. Because He is their divine shepherd and they are His sheep, He will protect them, as a shepherd guards his sheep. Even the image of the Lamb who is their shepherd comes from Isa. 49:9-10, where the One who has compassion on them will feed them and pasture them. Isaiah 49 portrays God as the shepherd, so that Christ’s shepherding role here enhances His position as a divine figure.
To the end of the Isa. 49:10 allusion is appended an additional reference to a restoration promise from Isa. 25:8: God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any mourning because God “will swallow up death for all time,” which is the introductory phrase of Isa. 25:8. Although John omits the initial line about the ceasing of death, he probably assumes it as the basis for the promise that there will be no more tears. He does in fact include this part of Isa. 25:8 in 21:4: “there shall no longer be any death,” directly after “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” As with Isaiah 49, John sees the OT hope of Israel’s joyous restoration fulfilled in the salvation of Christian multitudes who had so faithfully suffered for Christ.
The language of shepherding here may have been substituted in place of the almost synonymous “pasturing” found in Isaiah. This is suggested by the context of Ezek. 37:24-28, just alluded to in v. 15, which says that at the time when God establishes His tabernacle among them, “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd” (Ezek. 37:24). The association of the Lamb with David is natural because of the Lamb’s prior identification as “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” in 5:5 and the emphasis on Judah by its position as first in the list of tribes in 7:4-8. The reason for the picture here is to emphasize the identity of the Lamb with His people. He is the corporate representative of His saints. Therefore, just as He first suffered and received His reward at the resurrection, so His flock follow the same pattern in their own lives (see on 1:5, 9; 7:14). Whereas He led them by the Spirit on earth, He will lead them in person in the future.
The focus of the second half of ch. 7 is in vv. 9-12 and 15-17, where all Christians appear to be pictured as enjoying their eternal reward. And now, not merely a portion receive this reward (as in 6:9-11), but the totality of the faithful who have lived throughout the ages. This is suggested by observing that the section follows a vision of the last judgment (6:12-17) and the sealing of God’s servants (7:1-8). Therefore, the saints’ eternal comfort is contrasted with the terror of punishment for the ungodly and is set forth as a reward for enduring the tribulation as a result of having been sealed. That this is a picture focusing most on the consummated, eternal reward of all the saints is borne out by the verbal parallels which vv. 15-17 have in common with the portrayal of the eternal state in 21:3-4, 6 and 22:3. Those pictured in vv. 13-17 are those who conquer throughout the church age and have been promised that, when they have finished their witness, they will receive white robes (3:4-5) and a secure place in God’s eternal temple (3:12) and will be given nourishment so that they will never hunger again (2:7, 17). In this light, the pre-consummative age may be partly in mind in 7:9-17. Lastly, the conclusion that all Christians are included in this picture of bliss is confirmed by seeing that the group with white robes mentioned in v. 9 is the same group that came out of the tribulation wearing white robes and entered into God’s presence in vv. 13-17. In v. 9, this group is innumerable and “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues,” a formula which there and in 5:9 refers to all the redeemed throughout the church age (see on 5:9-10).
On the meaning and implications of the “great tribulation.” According to the commentary, these verses (in conjunction with other passages in the Bible) identify the entire church age as the time of the “great tribulation.” Why would the church age be thus characterized? How do we relate this to a picture of the church as triumphant or victorious? What is the nature or dimensions of our victory in this present world? What are the probable limits? Can we expect to establish godly forms of government in this time of tribulation? Pressure for Christians to conform to ungodly political and economic systems linked with idolatrous practices or attitudes is suggested by the commentary as the most consistent form of tribulation. Is this what we would identify as the ultimate cause of tribulation? Is it possible for there to be lesser or greater periods of tribulation, and if so, why would that be the case?
On the prevalence of “apocalyptic” expectations Any analysis of human psychology shows that people have an interest in speculation concerning the end of the world. How does this carry over into understanding of biblical passages such as this? Why do we prefer to view the “great tribulation” as an event associated only with a time directly preceding the final return of Christ rather than as something that the church has been living through throughout the church age and that will intensify before Christ’s final coming? If we believe the tribulation is yet to come, how does this distort our understanding of the tribulation we are in fact living through? Do we “sensationalize” apocalyptic events to the point that we fail to recognize the dangers of the present? If we believe we are not in a time of tribulation, could this lead us to minimize the perils of the very real present pressures we face to conform to the world?
On the fulfillment of OT prophecies by the church This passage is shot through with OT prophetic references to Israel now applied to the church. If, then, Christ and the church are the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, what place in the plan of God is left for the Jewish people? If we understand Romans 9–11 as speaking to that issue, how then are we to differentiate between the Jewish people and the (secular) state of Israel? Does God have a prophetic plan from the OT for the latter at all? Why is it that so often people view biblical prophecy of Israel’s restoration as fulfilled only in events concerning the state of Israel? How should Christians properly view the state of Israel? And can a focus on the Jewish people and/or the state of Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy be held along with a high view of the inheritance God has for His church in this present age? How can Christians be compassionate toward Jews without making them the centerpiece of biblical prophecy?
1And when He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them. 3And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5And the angel took the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
1 When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there results silence in heaven for about half an hour. Some argue that this silence means that the seal has no content, thus allowing for the idea that the following trumpets and bowls make up its content and thus refer to events subsequent to those of the first six seal judgments. The silence does have content, however. The OT associates silence with divine judgment. In Hab. 2:20–3:15 and Zech. 2:13–3:2, God is pictured (as in Rev. 8:1) as being in His temple and about to bring judgment on the earth. That the temple is in heaven is to be assumed from texts such as Ezekiel 1. At the moment this judgment is to be delivered, God commands the earth to be silent. In Zeph. 1:7-18, silence is likewise commanded in connection with the “great day” of the Lord and of His judgment (Zeph. 1:14, 18 forming part of the OT background to the phrase “the great day of their wrath” in Rev. 6:17). These announcements of judgment from the Minor Prophets express cosmic end-time expectations (as implied by the pregnant word “all”), which is explicitly expressed in a universal sense in Rev. 8:1. The thought is that this final judgment of God is so awful that the whole world falls utterly silent in its presence. Thus the seventh seal is a continuation of the sixth. Whereas the first five seals deal with the entire period of the church age, the last two deal with the final judgment. As such, they are God’s response to the prayer of the saints in 6:10, “How long, O Lord, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” It is interesting that in Jewish writings silence is associated not only with divine judgment but also with the fact that the prayers of the faithful for that judgment are being heard. John does not give any further details here of the punishment of the wicked because he will do so repeatedly later on (11:18; 14:14-20; 16:17-21; 18:9-24; 19:19-21; 20:11-15). And of course, there is more description of the judgments in 8:3-5.
The duration of this silence is about half an hour. “Hour” in Revelation often refers to the suddenness of the time of judgment of the wicked (3:3; 11:13; 14:7; 18:10), whereas “half” is associated with “times” of crisis and judgment in Dan. 7:25; 9:27; and 12:7 (which lie behind the forty-two month period of Rev. 11:3, 9; 12:6; 13:5). About half an hour might not refer so much to the precise temporal duration of the silence (about) but figuratively emphasize the suddenness and unexpectedness of a decreed judgment. Note that the last occurrence of the expression “one hour” (18:19) is directly followed in 18:22-23 by a description of the aftermath of judgment, which is absolute silence.
2 The vision of the seven trumpet angels appears to be an interruption of the last judgment scenario of v. 1 continued in vv. 3-5. The verse seems out of place by introducing a new series of judgments which is not picked up again until v. 6. However, we see the apparent awkwardness as part of an interlocking literary transition together with vv. 3-5, which has parallels elsewhere in the book. The placement of v. 2 before vv. 3-5 allows the latter to act as a parenthetical transition, both concluding the seals and introducing the trumpets. The transition functions on both a literary and thematic level (see further comments on the transition below). The narration of the trumpet series resumes in v. 6. John sees seven angels holding seven trumpets. The seven angels could be identified with the seven guardian angels of the seven churches in chs. 2–3 (see on 1:20).
3 The primary thematic function of the parenthesis in vv. 3-5 is to pick up and conclude the description of final judgment begun in 6:12-17 and 8:1. As already suggested, the temple atmosphere of this section is part of the OT judgment imagery, which includes the element of silence. Therefore, this parenthesis continues the imagery of the last judgment from v. 1. Another angel appears and stands at the altar. This may be the “angel of His presence” (Isa. 63:9) or even Christ Himself (as in 10:1; 14:14). The altar in view is the same of 6:9, under which were the souls of the persecuted saints. That much incense was given to him is a “divine passive” meaning “given by God” and showing, as elsewhere in Revelation, that the angel is an agent of God whose actions merely indicate prior divine decision. This is consistent with the fact that in 6:10 the saints presented their prayer directly to God and not to an angel, which demonstrates their direct access to the divine throne as priests. That the altar of v. 3 is the same as that of 6:9 is confirmed by the repetition of “altar” three times in vv. 3-5, in connection with the following statement that he added “much incense … to the prayers of all the saints.” This phrase is almost identical in wording to 5:8, which is then developed in 6:9, showing that the altar and temple theme originate in the temple vision of chs. 4–5. The response to their prayers is that punishment cannot be executed until the number of God’s people destined for persecution is completed (6:11). This cannot happen until history comes to an end. This is why, if 6:12-17 and 8:1 are viewed as a response to this petition, they must be understood as depicting the last great judgment (see on 6:12-17). Vv. 3-5 make this connection between 6:9-11 and 6:12-17/8:1 explicit by formally alluding to 6:9-10. This observation alone provides significant evidence against the traditional futurist view of Revelation, which depends on the contention that the various series of plagues depicted in the book are entirely consecutive in nature.
4 The fact that the smoke of the incense goes up with the prayers of the saints shows that the petition of 6:9-10 is now being presented before God. In the Bible, incense is always associated with sacrifice, so that the sacrifice, accompanied by a pleasing aroma, will be acceptable to God. These verses echo Lev. 16:12-13, where the priest takes the censer full of coals off the altar before the Lord, fills his hands with incense, and puts the incense on the fire before the Lord. In Ps. 141:2 prayer is associated with incense and compared to a form of sacrifice: “May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.” The fact that incense is offered from the altar shows that the prayers of the saints who were slain for their testimony (6:9) represent the sacrifice of their lives in the cause of Christ, and so their petition for judgment in 6:10 has been found acceptable to God.
5 God’s formal acknowledgement of the angel’s presentation of the saints’ prayers and His positive response is the unmentioned link between vv. 4 and 5. This is evident from recognizing v. 5 as a clear divine answer to the petition of 6:10. The verse formally interprets the scenes of woe in 6:12-17 and 8:1 as the answer to the prayer of 6:10 and demonstrates that God has heard and answered these prayers, for the angel throws fire from the altar down to the earth to signify that the last judgment is taking place. The phrase peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake is almost identical to the description of the last judgment in 11:19 and 16:18 (see also 4:5, which serves as an introductory note giving expectation of a final judgment), and is rooted in descriptions of divine judgment in the OT, particularly at Sinai (Exod. 19:16, 18; see also Ps. 77:18 and Isa. 29:6, “You will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise”). Jesus used earthquake imagery to portray woes preliminary to the final cosmic destruction but not part of it (Matt. 24:7, Mark 13:8, Luke 21:11). Richard Bauckham has shown in “The Eschatological Earthquake in the Apocalypse of John,” Novum Testamentum 19 (1977), 228, that 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; and 16:18-21 form a progressive sequence of allusions to Exod. 19:16, 18-19 that systematically build upon one another, commencing with lightnings, sound, and thunders in 4:5 and at each step adding other elements. The effect of these progressive, yet virtually identical repetitions is to underscore the final judgment and that each recapitulated portrayal of the judgment fills out in more detail how it will occur. Therefore, after the introductory note of 4:5 announcing the expectation of the final judgment, each of the remaining phrases is a formal notation that the last judgment has been narrated, but not exhaustively so.
Note that in Exod. 19:16, 19, the judgment is accompanied by loud blasts of a trumpet, which is particularly interesting as the trumpet judgments are about to be unfolded. That v. 5 is about the last judgment is confirmed from 14:18-19, where the judgment day is commenced apparently by the same angel, described in the same language here as in vv. 3-5. There, “another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar,” and commanded a second angel to execute God’s final act of wrath against the earth. The portrayal here is modeled to a great extent on Ezek. 10:1-7, where an angel standing in the temple of the Lord takes fire from between the cherubim and scatters it over the city, emphasizing the decree of God’s judgment narrated in Ezekiel 9. This judgment comes on all the unfaithful, those upon whose foreheads God’s angel did not give a protective mark, exactly as the saints have their foreheads sealed in Rev. 7:3 so that they will be protected in a similar way. The pattern of this passage follows broadly that of some OT depictions of divine judgment against sinners: prayer for help, divine response to prayer, which leads to fire proceeding from the heavenly temple to consume the persecutors (e.g., Ps. 18:6-15; Hab. 3:15). Those not bearing the seal suffer final judgment.
On the silence of God. Many of the believers to whom John was writing were suffering for their faith. Some may have been asking, “Where is God?” (cf. Psalm 79 and Rev. 6:10). This passage states that there will be a time when God will right the wrongs perpetrated against His people, thus showing that evil will not remain unpunished forever. There are times God appears to be silent in response to our suffering, particularly the suffering of believers experiencing persecution in various parts of the world. How does this passage give us and those who so suffer hope in this regard? Are we in the western world particularly affected by our dependence on material things and relative freedom from persecution? Do our materialism and the philosophy of the age we live in hinder us from a full appreciation of the fact that there awaits a yet unseen judgment at the end of history that will show God and His people to have been in the right all along?
On the effectiveness of prayer. These verses present us with the effects of the prayers of the deceased saints pictured in 6:9-11. The power of these prayers seems to be related to the sacrificial witness of their lives. Do our prayers come out of a sacrificial life, or do we come asking God only to throw us life-preservers to rescue us from our own foolishness? The prayers of the saints as pictured there focus on the holiness and truthfulness of God and a desire for that to be manifested in the execution of His justice. Are our prayers directed toward obtaining benefit for ourselves or glory for God?
The seventh and last seal has finally been opened. The sixth seal introduced the beginning of the last judgment by portraying the cosmic conflagration and the shrieking cries of terror by the ungodly in response to their imminent judgment (6:12-17). This is contrasted in ch. 7 by the portrayal of the sealed saints, whose faith is thereby protected (7:1-8) with the result that they are enabled to stand in God’s presence forever as a reward for their faithful perseverance (7:9-17). The focus of the last half of ch. 7 is on the time after the final judgment, when the saints receive their eternal reward. Therefore, the seventh seal picks up where the sixth left off, in order to continue the picture of the final judgment. Like 6:12-17, it is a further answer to the saints’ request for judgment to be rendered against the world which persecutes them (so 6:9-11). The final judgment is the chronological end point on which 6:1–8:1 is focused. God will demonstrate Himself to be just and righteous at the conclusion of history. Saints in heaven and especially on earth can be comforted with that fact.
At 5:2ff., it was concluded that removing the seals signified both that Christ has revealed the meaning of OT prophecy concerning redemption and judgment and that He has actually begun to fulfill these prophetic words, as then portrayed in the first five seals. The last two seals, though they also clarify OT prophecy, have not yet been set in motion in history, as they refer to the last judgment. Similarly, the first six trumpets are woes which anticipate the final judgment day (see below).
Therefore, vv. 3-5 continue the final judgment scene of v. 1, and are a continuation of the seventh seal. This means that v. 2 is a parenthetical introduction to the revelation of the seven trumpet trials in vv. 6ff. Such an understanding is indicated by v. 6, where the seven angels have not yet sounded their trumpets, so that the trumpet judgments have not been announced. Therefore, vv. 3-5 record an activity of judgment distinct from the following trumpet woes. Vv. 3-5 are also a development of 6:9-11, where the persecuted saints are depicted “under the altar” and are appealing to God to judge their persecutors. This is apparent above all from the mention three times in vv. 3-5 of the altar in direct connection with the prayers of the saints. An angel takes incense and combines it with the prayers of the saints, and the smoke from the incense, together with the saints’ prayers, ascends before God’s throne (vv. 3-4). This can be nothing other than the saints’ prayer in 6:9-11 that God punish their persecutors, which is now given angelic approval and is formally presented before the divine throne for consideration. The divine response in v. 5 is to send judgmental fire against the earth by the hand of an angel. The response is to be interpreted as the final judgment, not as some trial preliminary to that judgment. This is borne out by the observation that the phrase “peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake” occurs (though the words are in different order) as a description of the last judgment in 11:19 and 16:18 as a part (respectively) of the seventh trumpet and seventh bowl in conjunction with the mention of the heavenly temple.
Thus vv. 3-5 are an answer to the saints’ prayer for vindication in relation to their persecutors and continues the final judgment scene of v. 1, which itself has resumed at the point where 6:17 stopped. The unity of vv. 3-5 with v. 1 is indicated by the observation that the silence of v. 1 probably refers, at least in part, to the ceasing of angelic praise in heaven so that either God will hear the prayers for judgment or the angels themselves will hear God’s revelatory answer to those prayers (see on v. 1). Vv. 3-5 state the divine answer anticipated in v. 1. The fact that the introduction to the trumpet judgments comes in v. 2 means that vv. 3-5 serve both as a conclusion to the seals and as an introduction to the trumpets. A similar phenomenon is found in 15:2-4. It likewise is preceded by an introductory reference to the seven angels who will execute the following sevenfold judgments, which thought is not continued again until 15:5. 15:2-4 temporarily interrupts the beginning narration of the following plague series by continuing a description of the final judgment scene found in 14:14-20 (see further on 15:2-4).
This “parenthesis” in 8:2, in conjunction with vv. 3-5, thus points to the fact that the entire following series of trumpets is also a divine response to the saints’ petition in 6:9-11. This suggests that God is beginning to answer the saints’ prayer for retribution even as they are praying and before the climactic and fundamental answer of judgment day. Indeed, prayer is one of the important military tactics used by the soldiers of Christ (see further the introductory comments on 8:6–11:19). Whereas the focus of the first four seal woes is primarily on the trials which test the faith of God’s people, the focus of the trumpet woes is primarily on the trials which punish the unbelieving persecutors during the same period of the entire church age when the faith of believers is tested. This is suggested by the model of the Exodus plagues, where the same elements which struck the Egyptians were transformed to protect the Israelites.
Both the seals and trumpets literarily are subdivided into units of four followed by two, with parenthetical sections between the sixth and seventh. And, as will be seen, the seventh trumpet is likewise parallel with the sixth and seventh seal. Within the series of seven trumpets the first four form a subordinate literary unity, as do the last three. The first set are judgments affecting the sources of human life, while the final three directly strike humans themselves.