Let's come together now to the Book of Revelation in Chapter 7.
I am thrilled to walk through this chapter with you today for
many reasons, but the main one is because Revelation 7 holds
the answer to the closing question of Revelation Chapter 6
now, hopefully. You remember that at the
breaking of the 6th seal, the people realize that this is
something coming directly from God.
The global disturbance, the the cosmic shakings was undoubtedly
the outcome of God's direct wrath.
And so humanity will flee and they will try to find refuge.
And when it dawned upon them that this is indeed God's
justice, God's doing, John hears them in their panicked voices
cry out. Who can stand, Who can escape
the fury of God's wrath? Who can hide from the blazing
holiness that he has manifested? Who can shield themselves from
his judgments? And before John is given
insight. Into what will happen at the
breaking of the 7th and final seal of the scroll.
God gives them the answer to that question.
Let's read it together in Revelation 7, beginning in verse
one down to verse 8. After this I saw 4 angels
standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four
winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or see or
against any tree. Then I saw another Angel
ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living
God. And he called it with a loud
voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth
and sea, saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees,
until we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads. And I heard the number of the
seal, the 144,000. Sealed from every tribe of the
sons of Israel, 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of
Naftali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manessa, 12,000 from the
tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the
tribe of Issachar. 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000
from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were
sealed. Father, we, we need your wisdom,
we need your help, we need your guidance, and we rest in the
truth that you promised to give us the answers in your Word.
And so we come now, Lord, hungry and thirsty, and we believe we
will be filled because you are a gracious God.
We thank you in advance for this message may be given in clarity.
May it deal with any confusion or contradiction, and may it
produce consecration. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
So there are two companies of people who will be untouched by
the disasters that will follow this moment.
The things that are yet to be unfolded, the things that are
yet to be realized. In the Book of Revelation, the
first group is described in the section that we just read.
They are defined by their Jewish heritage and they are numbered
precisely 144,000. The second group we will touch
on next week if the Lord wills, and they are different than the
first, but I think it's worth looking at it very briefly.
Just take a peek at them in verse 9 to see how this second
group is identified. Look at verse 9 after this I
looked and behold a great multitude that no one could
number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
So you see, there's a division here.
Unlike the first group, the second group is not limited to 1
ethnicity. They are drawn from all nations,
they are drawn from all tribes. They are defined by a variety of
peoples. Also, we find that unlike the
first group, there is no number to the second.
There is no count. There is no exact record.
It's actually beyond a number. And finally, the another
difference to consider is that unlike the first group, the
second group that John sees is in heaven, while the 144,000 are
still on earth at this point. Now, there's a lot to discuss.
That's why we're going to take our time by investigating the
first group today, famously known as the 144. 1000 So I want
us to go back to verse one now and let me just say this from
the beginning. You're going to need your
Bibles. You're always going to need your
Bibles. But especially with this text, I
want us to travel to different portions of Scripture because it
will help us make sense of what seems to be mysterious and
cryptic, and it will be a reward.
So hold on to your Bible and let's go together now and see
what God has to say to us through this.
There is an obvious contrast between the chaos and the
previous chapter and what we find here in the opening text.
What we find in the last scene of chapter 6 is utter chaos.
And then suddenly we are faced with strange, calm, very unusual
atmosphere in this book. That what you find here is the
source of the the troubles and the turbulences that we've
studied so far is the very same cause for the tranquility here.
It's the Lord. God is the one who brings about
this peace, this temporary repose.
We read A4 Angels who are standing at the four corners of
the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth.
What is that? Well, the four corners of the
earth is a scriptural metaphor that speaks of the earth as a
whole. You find that in the book of
Isaiah especially. So it's not talking about the
actual landscape of our planet necessarily, it just speaking
about the entirety of our world. What about these four winds?
Are they literal winds? Likely not.
Again, this is another phrase that is familiar in the Bible
that refers to an unusual act of God on a massive scale.
It speaks about this remarkable manifestation that will take
place in a way that cannot be ignored by the masses.
And so in some contexts, whenever you see these four
winds defined, it actually speaks of a great miracle that
is about to take place. In other instances, it's
actually speaking about a significant act of judgment.
So you don't have to turn there. But if you're a note taker,
you'll appreciate these two references from the Old
Testament. You remember the Valley of Dry
Bones when the prophet Ezekiel was brought there by God?
And it was a. Vision, but it spoke about the
hopelessness of the nation of Israel and God gives Ezekiel
instructions of how to speak to this valley and how they can be
revived. And let me read to you what he
says in Ezekiel 37 verse 9. Ezekiel says, then he said to me
prophesied to the breath prophecy, son of man, and say to
the breath. Thus says the Lord God come from
the four winds, O breath and breath on the slain, that they
may live. So here's a positive reality to
these four winds, that it's a call for this force, this power
to bring about something good and redemptive.
But here's an example of it leading to judgment.
It's an obscure passage, but again, you don't have to turn
there. Just listen carefully and write
down the reference for later in Jeremiah 49, verse 36.
Listen to what God says, and I will bring upon Elam the four
winds from the four quarters of heaven, and I will scatter them
to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which
those driven out of Elam shall not come.
So there is this call for the four winds to scatter a certain
people group, which is obviously an act of discipline and
chastisement. In Revelation 7, when the four
winds are mentioned, it's. Clear that judgement is in view.
And that the Lord calls his servants, his heavenly angels,
to hold back further punishment, to put it on pause.
And I can't help but recognize something before we move on.
And it is how precise God's protection is.
Notice again here at the last part of verse one.
Look there in Revelation 7 that no wind might blow on earth or
sea or against. Any tree, not one tree can be
affected. Not one tree can be cut down.
Not one tree can blow over or be uprooted unless God permits it.
Beyond that, not one leaf can be broken off any shrub or tree
unless God wishes it. And in case you think that this
is just a text to prove just how much God cares about the
environment, oh, if he cares about trees this much, how much
more you and I, I'll never forget it some time ago, sitting
in my living room going through the book of Job.
And I've read that book many times, but something so simple
yet profound touched me. And it still ministers to me
today. And I hope it ministers.
To you do. You remember what Satan said to
God when he brings up his observation of the detailed care
that Job had because of his relationship with God.
This is worth turning to in Job One and highlight.
It may be printed and put it somewhere in your house because
it is a wonderful insight into the great.
Compassion and supervision that God has for His servants in Job
One, verse 9 and 10. Then Satan answered the Lord and
said, does Job fear God for no reason?
Have you not put a hedge around him?
Highlight that around Job himself and his house and all
that he has. That's pretty descriptive.
Wouldn't you say? And he doesn't even end it
there. Notice what he says at the last
part on every side, not just one side.
So I was in my living room, I was reading this and I thought.
Pause, Lord, you don't just keep watching my front door.
You're in the backyard and you're in the side door going
into the garage. And any and everything that I
own, you protect because it's yours.
Ultimately, every part of your life is guarded and watched over
by your God. What are you anxious about?
What are you fearful about? Every part of you, the sole of
your foot up to the crown of your head, is taken into
consideration. So here is the Lord showing,
even in Revelation 7, just how meticulous He is, just how
caring He is. Things that you don't even think
about, God thinks about, or maybe things that you
obsessively watch over and are worried about.
God is already there, and it's not just Job in view here.
Job is not just a special character.
What you find in Revelation 7 is that the reason why God holds
back further judgement is because there's another group of
people that He is watching over and wants to do something with.
And this is what we want to look at.
Come back to verse 2 of Revelation 7.
Verse two and three reads Do not harm the earth or the sea or the
trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads. We got to talk about this seal
in the ancient world, this practice of sealing something
what was very familiar. If you were a ruler or an owner
of some kind of property or an estate, you probably had a
signet ring, a ring that had an autograph of some sorts or
initials or some kind of emblem that was undoubtedly tied to
you. And someone would take that ring
and they would press it into wax and it would seal a document, a
contract, or even a significant item to mark ownership, to
authorize it and to say this belongs to someone.
And So what you have here is God borrowing that practice in order
to communicate that he is looking to identify a certain
group of people in order to authenticate His ownership and
to protect them. And so he tells these angels,
let's stop here because we still have to seal the servants of our
God. And listen, this should not be
unfamiliar to the Old Testament student, because we find this
practice in Ezekiel Chapter 9. This is when God was about to
pass judgment on Jerusalem and before judgment is unleashed,
listen to what he says. It's incredible in verse 4 of
Ezekiel 9 and the Lord said to him, pass.
Through the city, he's speaking to a divine messenger.
Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the
foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the
abominations that are committed in it.
Do you see that? So he speaks to, contextually,
an Angel. He's about to unleash punishment
upon his own. He's about to discipline the
holy city. And he says, before we move
forward, I'm asking you to mark a certain group of people on
their foreheads. Sound familiar?
Do you see just how saturated revelation is with the Old
Testament? But notice that people who are
marked, I want you to mark those who sigh and groan over all the
abominations that are being practiced in this place.
One of the evidences of somebody's relationship with God
being true and genuine and sincere is how you and I not
only respond to our own sin, but the sin around us.
What was it that God was looking for at this time?
I want you to find those who are broken over the abominations
that are being practiced. I want you to find those who are
who are shattered by the idolatry that is being
committed. God looks for how we view sin.
That's important to God. But then he goes on to say this
in verse 6 of Ezekiel 9. Kill old men outright, young men
and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one whom is
the mark on whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary.
So they began with the elders who are before the house.
So again, this mark. Is a protective thing and both
in Ezekiel and in Revelation we we see that the Lord has his own
seal which is spiritually applied to those who belong to
him so that when judgement does go forth, they would be spared,
they would not experience wrath. So we see consistent reality to
the seal. Now if you're sitting here
wondering, OK, there's a seal obviously available in the Old
Testament. It's there in Ezekiel, and there
will be seal that will be known in the Tribulation period.
What about now? Well, I'm here to remind you
that if you do belong to Christ, you are sealed.
What did Paul tell the Ephesians?
You know this very well in Ephesians 113 in him you also,
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised
Holy Spirit. I'm sealed, So are you.
And this is, this is incredible if you truly grasp it, because
it's one of the many ways that God assures us that because of
our faith in the gospel, we are securely owned by God.
We belong to him. We are his eternal possession
because he has placed his signature on your soul and mine.
The Savior's name is there, and no one can change that.
Listen very carefully. It doesn't matter how intense
the doubts are relating to your standing with God.
It doesn't alter this reality. And it doesn't matter how
convincing Satan's arguments are against you.
You are promised a seal. You are sealed.
And the significance of this seal is that it not only
protects us from dangers in this life, but it promises us eternal
life. The same word sealed in
Revelation 7, three is in that verse, Ephesians 113.
And in Ephesians 430, we're told do not grieve the Holy Spirit by
whom you were sealed until the day or to the day of redemption.
What's the purpose of that seal? It's meant to mark me and keep
me until I am totally redeemed. He's not going anywhere and
there's no one who can pry him away.
This is speaking about just how safe we are in Christ, sealed
until the day of redemption. And that beauty, that
inheritance, that down payment that was made should move you to
the degree where you say I don't want to grieve him.
He's chosen to taking up residence in me.
He's chosen to hold me and to keep me until the end.
And so, between now and that day of redemption, oh, may I please
him, May I honour him. May he not be broken, though
committed to keeping me because of that precious blood, may be
pleased to take up his home in my heart.
Now I find something quite fascinating about this seal in
Revelation 7. Many things, and the one that
comes to mind is this, that this seal in Revelation 7 appears
before another mark that will be placed on the foreheads.
Of others. You guys know where we're going
with this, right? The mark of the beast.
The mark of the beast that will show up in Revelation chapter
13. In Revelation 1316, we learned
that those who would pledge their allegiance to the
Antichrist will be marked with his name or the number of his
name on their foreheads or on their hand.
And we'll talk about why that is the case when we come to that
chapter. But what does it tell you about
Satan? That he has his own mark.
I'll tell you what it means. It means that he is so envious
of God, so covetous, that he seeks to imitate him in every
way possible. He so wants to be God, that even
with God's mark, he tries to have his own version of it.
If God marks his people with a seal, I'll mark my people with
my own seal. This is how demented and twisted
the enemy is. So you have to understand that
the mark of the beast is a demonic counterfeit.
It's a dark parody of the wonderful gift that we have in
God through the Holy Spirit. But here's the difference
between God's seal and Satan's seal.
The seal of God comes upon those who willingly and humbly receive
Jesus. Christ as Lord.
Being sealed and owned by the Lord is something that you do
because you recognize His great love and how expensive your
salvation is and how sweet and loving your God is, and so you
surrender to that seal. Satan, on the other hand, makes
no such offer. Satan will set up this system
through the Antichrist to coerce and to bully you into taking
this seal. Yes, there will be many who will
freely pledge their loyalty to the Antichrist because they're
deceived, but the system will be set up so that it forces the
masses. Because in that same chapter in
Revelation 13, you can't buy or sell without that seal.
You can't live normally. And so recognize just how
pathetic the devil is as a master.
There is nothing about him that is love or mercy.
He has to twist your arm. He has to threaten you in order
for you to bend your knee. And yet we as blood bought
Christians, we bend our knee because we're overwhelmed by the
love of Christ. We give ourselves freely.
Oh, you are worthy of 10,000 lives to be lived, but I'll give
you my one. Seal me, mark me.
And now that we've identified the nature and the purpose of
this seal to protect this group, in order to help them stand in
what's to follow in these judgments on the earth, we now
have to turn our attention to the group that will receive it
at this. Point in God's story.
So let's come back again to verse 4 of Revelation 7.
There are two main perspectives regarding this numbered group.
There are some who see it as a symbolic picture of the
universal church, while there are others who understand it as
a literal count of Jews who have put their faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ during the Tribulation period.
So I want to speak on the symbolic view.
For a moment. Why is it that there are some
believers who do not see this as actual Jews being saved and
instead a picture of the church? Well, they will argue that
numbers in apocalyptic literature are often symbolic.
And they will continue to add that since we are in the New
Covenant, there is no reason to distinguish the Jewish people,
since in Christ there is a new man comprised of both Jew and
Gentiles. So.
So why are we making a highlight here of the Jewish people when
God's main program here at this point is the church?
And they would. Go on to explain that the
#144,000 when broken down, makes this case 12 * 12 * 1000 equals
this number. So you have the 12 tribes of
Israel. You have the 12 apostles and
then you have the number 1000, which speaks of completion or
fullness. And so that equation essentially
means this, that what we have in view here is the fullness of
God's people, both from old and new covenants, who together make
up the new spiritual Israel. Interesting take.
Additionally, this view argues that the innumerable multitude
from every tribe and tongue that John sees following the 144.
Remember we peeked at them in verse 9.
Those who are proponents of this view will say those aren't 2
distinct groups, they're actually one and the same from
two different perspectives. And in order to back that up,
they will go to an interesting part of Revelation to show how
it parallels. Do you remember in Revelation 55
when John was told about the line of the tribe of Judah?
He was told about the line of the tribe of Judah, but when he
looked more carefully, he didn't see a lion.
What did he see? A lamb standing.
So two different descriptions of the same person.
He heard the lion, but he saw the lamb.
And people who hold to this perspective will also argue that
John is experiencing something similar here.
He hears about the 144 if you look at the language carefully,
but when you go to verse 9 down, he sees an innumerable amount of
people from different tribes and tongues, two different
descriptions of the same identity of the same entity.
So the argument is essentially that the 144 is just an
artistic, descriptive, symbolic way of speaking about the
universal church. Finally, they'll kind of get
into the details and point out how the tribes that are listed
here are never to be found listed in the Old Testament the
way it's listed, primarily because.
Who's omitted? Did you notice it?
Dan is omitted. The tribe of Dan is not there
and you can make a case that Ephraim also is not there by
name. Levi is there for whatever
reason as well. Joseph is included.
And so they'll say, listen, this can't be about Israel because
you don't find this kind of catalog, this kind of record in
the Hebrew Scriptures. There are more arguments that
they make. That's just an overview, but how
do we make a case for the literal view?
Here's what I want to say to begin with.
Revelation makes it clear in other places in this book.
How the Jewish people and their land plays a distinctive and
imperative role in God's work in the last days.
It's found in other places in Revelation.
May I give you 2 examples? And listen, listen, listen, pay
attention. My dear brother and sister.
There's a lot of talk about Israel today, and I'm not
concerned what the world has to say about Israel.
I'm concerned about theology. I'm concerned what the Bible has
to say about it. You and I need to be informed.
You and I need to know what the Bible says.
You and I need to be equipped. So this is where you really want
to lean in and take notes. Let's look at a couple of
examples here. Go to Revelation 11.
We talked about this a few services ago briefly, where you
have the two witnesses here who will play a very important
evangelistic role in the Tribulation period.
But I want you to see something interesting in verse 7 and verse
8, Revelation 11, verse 7 and verse 8.
And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that
rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and
conquer them and kill them. Oh, I said this before.
Can I say it again? Don't you love it that they
could not be killed until their testimony was done?
You and I are not going anywhere until our testimony is over.
Verse 8. And their dead bodies will lie
in the street of the great city. Pause.
A city. We're talking about an actual
city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt.
I really appreciate that the Book of Revelation tells us when
something is symbolic. There are times when it's
obviously symbolic, but we see here that the Spirit tells us
that the city is symbolically called Sodom and Egypt.
Now, now we know where the city is, where their Lord was
crucified. Where's where's the city?
Good Jerusalem. That wasn't clear enough.
Look at verse 13 and at that hour there was a great
earthquake and a tenth of the city fell. 7000 people were
killed in the earthquake and the rest were terrified.
And gave glory to the God of heaven.
Highlight the fact that this is speaking about a literal city in
an actual Jerusalem in a nation actually called Israel.
Be mindful of that. Go to chapter 16.
Let's look at verse 14. This is a description of the
preparation of the battle of Armageddon.
Notice what it said here in Revelation 16, verse 14.
For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who go abroad
to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on
the great day of God the Almighty.
Verse 15. Behold, I am coming like a
thief. Blessed is the one who stays
awake keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked
and be seen exposed. And they assemble them at the
place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
Armageddon in Hebrew means Mount Megiddo.
It's 2 words. I confirmed this with one of our
pastors, Mount Megiddo. And here's what's interesting.
There is no specific mountain called Megiddo in that region.
But it can also mean Hill Country.
So it's very likely that this is speaking about the Hill Country
surrounding the plain of Megiddo, which is mentioned more
than once in the Old Testament. I personally have seen the plain
of Megiddo. We, we cross, we're, we're
traveling through Israel, the northern part.
And we, we stopped somewhere for lunch.
And in passing, the tour guide said, Oh, by the way, that's
Megiddo. And.
Then we just went on with lunch. I'm like, whoa, that's where
that's where the final thing is going to take place.
Why are we and people just, I'm staying here, I'm taking
pictures, you guys go ahead. And I looked at it and this is
the thought that dawned on me. It's this flat.
Like perfectly flat. And I thought to myself, that's
a perfect terrain for war. It's incredible.
So I grabbed somebody and said, hey, look, take a picture.
I want Megiddo behind me. I said this is.
Where it's going to all go down now?
It's a plane located 60 to 70 miles north of Jerusalem, and
it's a site where many battles have been fought in biblical
history and even in human history.
And it's the very piece of real estate that God will choose to
execute the nation's upon Christ's return.
Why am I bringing all of this up?
If the 144,000 are symbolic, should these Jewish geographical
references be symbolic as well? And if they are symbolic, what
do they represent? What?
What do they speak about? We're talking about actual real
estate, actual Jews and actual nation, different parts of that
nation. You either take it literally or
you do spiritual. Origami with the Bible, I see it
plain. It's too detailed to be
allegorical. It's so obvious.
It's so clear and unlike those who see no value or revel
relevance in the 144,000 being ethnic Jews, their literal
identity actually aligns perfectly with prophecies and
promises throughout the Scriptures, including those who
are found in the New Testament. As I mentioned earlier, there's
a lot of conversation regarding God's relationship with ethnic
Israel today. And interestingly, it was
something that the early church was wrestling with in Paul's
day. And that's why the Holy Spirit
inspired Paul to give answers. And so he helps him, inspires
him, and guides him to pen Romans 9 to 11.
And in those chapters, we learn about Israel's past and the
relationship with God, Israel's present, and in Romans 11,
Israel's future. Let's turn to Romans 11 and
let's skip over to verse 25. Listen, if you struggle and try
to make sense of God's relationship with Israel, go to
Romans 11. Go to Romans 11.
And I want you to see what he says here in verse 25.
This is brilliant Paul speaking to many Gentiles, and he says
this lest you be wise in your own sight.
Pause. In other words, I don't want you
to come up with your own idea of how this all works.
I don't want you to come to your own conclusions separate from
what God's Word has to say. So don't let politics influence
your theology. Don't let what's popular
influence what's true. I'm not concerned with what
people have to say. I'm concerned.
What God? Has to say.
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be
unaware of this mystery. Pause again.
Forgive me. How many people are unaware of
what God's Word has to say from Genesis to Revelation about His
relationship with Israel? How many?
So many, you have people who have come to conclusions about
this, who haven't even read through the Bible once, who
don't know the Old Testament, the foundation of the new.
And they come out confidently saying, well, this is what you
heard, that you didn't even investigate it.
You're regurgitating what somebody said from the pulpit.
Are you a brain? Did you examine the Scriptures
for yourself? Have you come to that conclusion
by your own study? He says, I don't want you to be
unaware. OK, I understand it's not a
salivific issue, but the Holy Spirit wants Christians to know.
I don't know. No, I want you to know, I don't
want you to be unaware of this mystery.
Brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel.
What hardening are we talking about here?
We're talking about a partial which speaks of the timing of
it. It's not a permanent hardening,
and it's not a complete hardening in the sense that
every single Jew is hardened. The early church was filled with
Jews. Your Messiah is Jewish and there
are Jews today who are coming to Christ.
A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness
of the Gentiles has come in. So there is a limit to this
hardening. There's debate around what does
this mean? The fullness of the Gentiles has
come in. The most likely interpretation
is that God is going to do something with the Gentiles,
which he is now in this church age and when the last Gentile
comes to Christ. There's going to be a shift.
There's going to be a change of focus.
Verse 26. And in this way all Israel will
be saved. That is not saying every single
Jewish person will come to Christ.
What it is saying is that the nation will identify Jesus
Christ of Nazareth as their official Messiah and in this
way. All Israel will be saved, as it
is written. The Deliverer will come from
Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be my
covenant with them when I take away their sins.
Look at verse 28. As regards the gospel, they are.
Enemies for your sake, but as regards election, they are
beloved for the sake of their forefathers.
Honestly, yes, go through Romans 11 if you struggle with this.
But if you don't even want to go through Romans 11, what do you
do with verse 28? Just verse 28, because what do
people say? Well, the reason why Israel is
no longer relevant, no longer will receive special attention
from God, is because they've denied the Messiah.
And Paul understands that they are enemies regarding the
gospel, but that does not nullify their election.
As unthinkable and as brutal as that denial of their Messiah is,
Paul says you have to understand God made a promise to their
forefathers and even their current rejection of the gospel
does not cancel those promises. It's clear as day.
It's clear as day, and here's why this all matters.
God is saving Gentiles, and when the final Gentile comes into the
fold, He will once again turn his attention to the people of
Israel on a much larger scale. And it makes perfect sense to
understand the Tribulation period as fulfilling that
mission, a time when the Jewish people, amid great turmoil, will
be awakened to the folly of denying the Lord Jesus Christ as
their Messiah, leading to a spiritual revival as the
hardening of their hearts is lifted.
So when we're studying revelation, we're looking at
what, yes, judgments and catastrophe, catastrophes being
unleashed upon the world. But it's not just to judge the
world and give them a final wake up call.
It's also to awaken Israel. And we should recognize the
144,000 as representing the first.
Fruits of Israel's salvation, the very same thing that Paul
speaking about in verse 26. All Israel will be saved.
When is that going to happen? Well, we're seeing the
beginnings of it in Chapter 7 of the Book of Revelation.
And we have good reason to believe that that same number of
people will serve God in a unique way.
Remember, they are identified as servants of our God and I
believe that they will be spreading the Gospel to the
world. Remember in Matthew 24 that
Jesus in the middle of all those descriptions of what will happen
in the final period of human history, the gospel will also go
to what the entire world? I persuaded that the 144,000
will play a major role of evangelizing the nations.
Can you imagine that 144,000 Jews will be preaching the
Gospel and the most dangerous and trying time of human
history, and they'll also be preaching to their own brothers
and sisters of the Jewish race? So if you are someone again who
is struggling to accept this, I want you to go back to Romans
11, the passage we just read and see how Paul quotes the Old
Testament. He goes to Isaiah 59.
He goes to Isaiah 27 and verse 26 and verse 27 of Romans 11.
To show what that the basis of his argument is grounded in the
Hebrew Scriptures, he takes 2 portions.
You can argue maybe even 3, combines them together, and he's
showing his Gentile readers, look, I'm telling you this
because the Bible predicted it. The Bible speaks about it, the
prophets foretold it. Why is that important?
Because those who believe that the church has replaced Israel
will also say that every promise made to Israel in the Old is
given to the church. Well, hold on.
Paul quotes an Old Testament promise and ascribes it to
Israel, ethnic Israel. And when I found about those who
believe every single promise in the Old Testament now goes to
the church is that they don't want to take any of the curses
that are warned against Israel. Give us the promises.
Keep the curses. This serves as many proofs that
not every promise made to Israel in the Old Testament is
fulfilled in the church, despite what many people claim.
Contrary to that distortion, Paul is testifying that the
spiritual salvation of Israel has been promised from of old,
and the current rejection of the gospel does not cancel those
promises. Let's come back to Revelation 7.
We're talking about actual Jews, a real revival, and we're seeing
the budding of the promise that all Israel shall be saved.
Now, all of what we just said as we're ready to close is just an
overview. And I'm sure you can see how
there can be a debate about this and people can go back and
forth. So maybe you're less interested
in the conversation of whether or not this is speaking about
real Jews or the speaking about the church, and you have more
intricate inquiries, like. All right, yeah, I already am
convinced that this is speaking about actual Israel, actual
tribes, actual people, actual numbers.
But the preacher? Where's Dan and why is this an
unusual list of tribes? I'm not going to answer every
single question, but I think that's the most common 1 when it
comes to this text, when it comes to Q&A's and people love
the Book of Revelation. They will ask, hey, where's Dan
in Revelation 7? There are some who say, well
Revelation 7 omits Dan because the Antichrist will come from
the tribe of Dan. Where did you get that from?
That's pure speculation. There are some who just want to
explain it away by saying, well, Dan is omitted because he has
gone extinct. That specific tribe just dried
out and they're they're no longer present.
At this point we can't say for certain why, but if there is any
argument we can make from Scripture is by looking at the
history of the tribe of Dan and seeing if that can provide any
light to why they are not included in the ceiling and in
the service in the tribulation period.
Again, if you know the Old Testament, while you'll remember
that Dan is associated with great idolatry throughout the
Old Testament, you find it in Judges 18.
Even in the early stages of the conquest and the settling of the
people of Israel in the promised land, Dan rushed into apostasy.
Dan adopted false gods and promoted it false priesthood.
It's very concerning. Then you Fast forward.
At the division of the Kingdom, when Rehoboam took over, his
father Solomon and Jeroboam caused the split.
He took 10 tribes from the north, and in fear of those
tribes going down to Jerusalem to worship at the temple and
losing their allegiance, he sets up false worship.
And he resurrects the golden calf.
And he places one and Bethel and another one, where in the region
of Dan it became a. Hub of idolatry.
There are other things, other narratives and other clues, even
prophecies that indicate that Dan did not have the greatest
future. And Dan, they have caused much
suffering in terms of the spiritual strength.
Of their brethren. So if we go with that, then we
have a practical truth here that sin disqualifies us from
service. If God is sealing this group of
Jews, this remnant, in order to serve a purpose, an amazing
purpose at a very critical time in human history and doesn't
include Dan. I argue that this is just one of
many illustrations showing us one of the costs of sin.
That's why you knowing your gifts and you knowing your
ministry is important for your sanctification.
Although not the primary motive, it is a motive nonetheless.
I want to be used maximally by God.
I don't want to miss out opportunities in my life to
serve God because of silly sin, because of anything that would
compromise my testimony. I don't.
Want to miss out If you want to learn anything from this is
Lord, please let there be nothing in my life that causes
you to overlook me when you're ready to use your people.
I want to be used. I want to be fit for the masters
use and so I want to cleanse myself and I'm praying that you
cleanse me and this day and hour that's so relevant for us.
We heard it in the announcements that laborers are few.
And I believe the laborers are few for many reasons.
And one of the reasons why there are no no laborers today as much
as there could be because people are caught in iniquity, caught
in worldliness and compromise and and sins in secret.
Just get rid of all of it. Let God use you.
Let him recruit you. At the same time, there's a
message of hope here, even for Dan.
Even if you are here today and you are in sin, and you've been
in sin since we've even started Revelation.
You're interested, you're curious, you're stimulated
intellectually, but you haven't developed this hunger to break
free from these shackles. Yes, sin disqualifies us, but it
never removes you from grace. Never.
Grace is always available. Here's what's so interesting.
Some people believe that Dan again has just kind of been
swallowed up in obscurity or has so damaged their relationship
with God as a people group within this nation that they are
no longer, they are no longer relevant to God.
So we preach A literal millennial reign of Christ, that
when Jesus Christ does come back, he will physically rule
and reign on the earth. And when you look at the book of
Ezekiel, you actually get a blueprint of how some of the the
actual geography will look like when Christ does come back
again. You're either left with that
option, or the choice to say what you find in Ezekiel 40 to
48 is all allegorical. All of those details, the
details of the temple, the details of the parameters and
the allotted periods of land, all of that is just spiritual
speaking about the abundance of the blessings that we have in
the gospel, in Christ. I choose a literal approach.
And when you look at the very last chapter of Ezekiel, where
God gives Ezekiel an actual insight into what will take
place around the headquarters of the Messiah in Jerusalem in
Israel, you discover something as the tribes are brought up yet
once again and are given different portions of.
That region go to Ezekiel 48. This will be worth it.
This is where we're ending Ezekiel 48 and speaking about
that future time, that actual Kingdom, that literal reign with
real land and view Ezekiel 48 verse one.
These are the names of the tribes beginning at the northern
extreme, beside the way of Hephlon of Libo Hamath, as far
as Hazar Inan, which is on the northern border of Damascus over
against Hamas, and extending to the east side to the West.
Dan 1 portion. You see what's happening here,
the very same tribe that's omitted and people say, well,
where's Ephraim? Well, you can make a case that
he's attached to Joseph. Ephraim is also associated with
idolatry. But what's really, really
concerning to people is Dan, the same Dan in Revelation 7, who is
not mentioned as being under the protection of God during the
Tribulation period and being sent out to serve God with the
Gospel is the first. Tribe mentioned in the
millennial reign, at the end of the Tribulation period, when
Christ comes back and is given a portion of land, the first one
out of all the 12. What are we supposed to take
from that? The grace of God, The grace of
God? Yes, they were disciplined.
Yes, they were removed from this group, but all when the Prince
of Peace comes, when the Messiah arrives, who's on his mind first
as he establishes his ruling reign?
Dan, Dan, where's Dan? Dan, this is yours.
Is he worthy of it? No, none of us are.
Does he deserve this? According to his history?
Absolutely not. But that's what grace is.
Do you see that? You can even find the character
of God in the tribes of Israel, in their mention, in their own
mission and prophecies to come. Oh, what a glorious God we have.
So when you and I leave this place and somebody asks who are
the 144,000, you can say, well, there's a tribulation period
coming. And God made promises to the
nation of Israel that they shall all be saved.
And God will select a group from every tribe, all the lost tribes
of Israel. What do you mean?
They don't even know where they come from.
God knows where they come from and he will recruit them and he
will use them because he will fulfill his promises to them and
He will show the world that he is a faithful God.
And what you find in Revelation 7 is just the first fruits of
what Paul said in Romans 11, that all Israel shall be saved.
What an amazing book this is. LO, we thank you for this word.
We thank you for your promises. We thank you for prophecy.
We thank you for the plain reading of these shrews.
We thank you that although there is an element of mystery to it,
when we interpret scripture with Scripture, we can have
clarification. LO, we thank you that this issue
of your relationship with the people of Israel.
Is not separate from your character.
It ties in to who you are and what We pray that you give us
wisdom and grace even around this conversation.
We pray that you equip us further.
We pray that we would not operate in our own wisdom and
our own presuppositions or ideas.
Lord help us just submit to. The word of God and to the word
of God alone. Lord, we also, in light of this
future truth that we're studying, ask for this present
time. Oh, use us.
Thank you for the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you that we're protected from all danger.
Thank you that we're not getting out of here until our testimony
is over. But O Lord, we don't want
anything in our lives to hinder us from your service.
So all idols and all sin and all filth, Lord, we pray that you
get rid of it and use us, Lord, not because we are worthy, but
because you are, and we long to serve you and there's no other.
Way we want to live. So Lord, we pray, continue to
guide us through this book and for now we pause to rejoice in
the God of this book. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Let's stand. Let's worship the living God.