Chapter 7 (Saturday of the First Week of Advent)

After 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 could blow on earth or sea or against any tree. I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, ‘Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.’ 

And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel: 

From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 

from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 

from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 

from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed. 

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’ 

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
   and worship him day and night within his temple,
   and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
   the sun will not strike them,
   nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
   and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ 

Commentary

In the first interlude (7:1-17), the proceedings are stopped so that those whom the Lamb has chosen can be sealed with God’s sign: they appear on earth as the 12 x 12 x 1000 of the tribes of Israel and in heaven as the countless multitude who come out of tribulation and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, who stand before his throne and God’s throne and are led by the Lamb to the streams of the water of life. This vertically ascending vision shows the elect being brought, not to judgment, but, bypassing Death and Hades, to eternal life.

In heaven too—“under the altar”—the souls of those who have witnessed with their blood (6:9) are destined for the first resurrection (20:4). But, as for the Lamb who stands on Mount Zion with the one hundred and forty-four thousand who bear his Father’s name on their foreheads (14:1-5) and who sing a new song before the throne, the four living things and the elders, it is clear that they must be in heaven, although it does not seem that these, who “have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb”, have already died. In fact, they are the same one hundred and forty-four thousand who, earlier, when they were being sealed upon their foreheads (7:1-4), were depicted standing on the earth, threatened by the “angels of the winds”. And why should not these who have been “sealed” be the same company whom, immediately afterward, the seer observes standing “before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white garments and with palms in their hands”? We would misunderstand the language of the Book of Revelation if we were to object that the one hundred and forty-four thousand (on earth: 7:4) were chosen from the twelve tribes of Israel, whereas the countless host (in heaven: 7:9) come “from every nation and tribe and tongue and people”; for here too Israel is only the living archetype that is fulfilled in the uncountable multitude chosen from all parts of the earth.

Musical Selection

Salvation belongs to our God
Who sits upon the throne
And unto the Lamb
Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks
Honor and power and strength

Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Amen

And we the redeemed shall be strong
In purpose and unity
Declaring aloud
Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks
Honor and power and strength

Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Amen

Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Amen

Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Be to our God, forever and ever
Amen

Collect

Merciful God,
you sent your only Son into the world
to free the human race from its ancient bondage;
as we watch for his coming,
lavish your heavenly goodness upon us,
that we may gain the prize of true deliverance.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever. Amen.