Last month I wrote about persecution and martyrdom in the 5th seal judgment in Revelation 6:9-11. My plan is to progress through each chapter of the book of Revelation and choose something interesting or pertinent to write about in these blog posts. As I do so, I hope a number of things will become very clear to you: (1) God protects His own; (2) God keeps His promises; and (3) Satan is a copycat!
Revelation 6 witnessed the first six seal judgments that caused war, famine, death, and cosmic disturbances. Revelation 7 is an interlude or pause before the final seal is opened in the next chapter. This is sort of like a moment of calm during the storm, so to speak, and the events described in this interlude show God’s tremendous grace and mercy during a very dark time.
In the first verse of chapter 7, John sees four angels at the four corners of the earth (depicting the whole earth, i.e., North-South-East-West) holding back the four winds and preventing “any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree” (7:1). What is expressed here is God’s protection from harm. He is temporarily preventing additional world-wide destruction.
Then, an additional angel shows up holding the “seal of the living God” (v. 2) and declares a halt to the destruction “until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” (v. 3). For lack of a better term, this sounds like a stamp or a brand that will be marked on the foreheads of those who believe in God. (It should come as no surprise that Satan will try to copy this seal with his own counterfeit mark of the beast in chapter thirteen, but more on that later.)
Ultimately, the seal is a sign of spiritual and eternal protection upon all of God’s people. It would not protect them (or us) from all aspects of pain and suffering, nor would it protect them from death (as evidenced by the souls of the martyrs under the altar in 6:9), but it will protect them from God’s wrath to come. I like the way Eugene Peterson describes this seal: “We are protected from the God-separating effects of evil even as we experience the suffering caused by evil” (Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination, 1988, page 83).
What does it mean to be sealed?
Being sealed by God protects those who believe in Him during the judgments described in Revelation. It also appears to provide spiritual protection from demonic forces, as well. Both 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and Ephesians 1:13 prove the seal is identified with the Holy Spirit (although that is not explicitly stated in Revelation), which means that John is pointing to spiritual protection — and not necessarily physical protection — from the evil and oppression aimed at believers by Satan and his minions.
Rev. 7:4 says the number of those sealed was 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. Regardless of whether you see this group as Jewish or Christian, or whether they are protected during the church age or in the age to come, the result is God’s people are “sealed” before further judgment occurs. No matter what happens, their destiny is secure, and they will be brought to their reward of eternal life. Why do you suppose this was important for John’s 1st century audience to know? And why is it still relevant for us, two thousand years later?
The take-away for me is that God protects His own and that He is the one doing the sealing and saving! God is doing all the work here, not me or you. Yes, life may get hard, and my physical safety might one day be in jeopardy… but my salvation is secure! Yours can be, too.
Concluding Thoughts:
Are you trusting in your own abilities for both physical and spiritual salvation? Are you trying to stay safe in life and never take any risks for God? Perhaps you don’t want to put yourself out there for fear of what might happen if others found out about your faith? Or maybe you feel like you are not “good enough” in God’s eyes for Him to forgive you, let alone love you? Finally, do you think you have to work to be a better person to somehow earn your salvation?
Revelation 7 teaches us that all of the above positions are incorrect. You do not have to earn this. God does all the work. And there is nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less. Regardless of what’s going on in the world around you, if you are a genuine believer in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you, too, are “sealed” as a servant of God and your eternal future is guaranteed. Count on it!
