TOPIC:“The Saved of the Tribulation”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Revelation 7:1-17
“And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an
hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel…
After this I beheld and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number of all
nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues, stood before the throne, and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (7:4, 9).
The chapter before us is one of the most disputed and debated in the book of Revelation. All that transpires in this chapter takes place under the sixth seal as the seventh seal judgment is not opened until chapter 8. This chapter has often been called by Bible scholars a “parenthesis” or an “interlude” as it comes between the sixth and seventh seal.
As we have already seen in the last message the first six seals were successive waves of divine visitations of God's wrath poured out on an unrepentant world. Here we find John pausing to insert a truth of the highest importance. The expression “And after these things” of verse 1 means “In connection with these things” and sets forth the fact that John is given a new vision of great significance. Let's now think of what John beholds in this new vision.
I.
Consider, to begin with, the SUSPENSION of God's REVENGE. Recall John's words in verse 1: “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”
In this new vision given to John he beholds four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back and controlling the four winds of the earth. These are destructive winds which God had used on various occasions like as told in Jeremiah 9:11-12. God's judgment is suspended as the winds are not permitted to unleash their destructive hurricanes and tornadoes on the earth.
Here we find God momentarily delaying and holding back the winds of His wrath. God pauses in His judgments and puts a temporary restraint on His anger in order to show mercy on His people. John sees another angel in verse 2 rising . . .