Revelation 7:4-8

I confess I have a bit of humour in my heart, though it is unintentional. I initially thought about this passage as simply a division of the chapter, but it didn’t dawn on me until after last week’s study (to be fair, it was pointed out to me faithfully) that it’s basically a list of names. I am like you all on this; I hate dealing with lists of names. There are only so many ways to translate a name, which doesn’t always give you anything to talk about. However, THIS list of names is important because of who is included and because of who is NOT included. It is a list of 12 Tribes from Israel, but with a twist – there are two names missing that were in the original list. We’ll look at that in a bit.

Also, the number of people is very significant. Last time, I promised that we would look at this, and I can do so a little by way of introduction. Who are the 144,000? Depending on who you listen to, the answers can be very different. The cultic group that refer to themselves as “Jehovah’s Witnesses” (who do not belong to nor represent Jehovah in reality) claim that only 144,000 people will ever gain heaven. Because they have no concept of how the Scriptures should be translated and read, they literalize the number as being the limit of people that God will allow into heaven. There are some actual opinions, however, that can be debated, and we will cover those as well.

We must also consider the purpose for these particular individuals being sealed because there is one, and it is quite specific. Again, we will say more as we get into the text. And why are there 12,000 from each tribe included in the list? Here is an associated and relevant question: why are there no Gentiles on the list? This will be a bit of a deeper dive as to why in these areas to gain a greater understanding of the contents of the text. We do this to gain a better overall insight as to the meaning of the later passages we will see.

I broke the text down as follows:

KV4: The Servants of God Sealed

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

4-8: The sealing of the 144,000

Last time, we saw and even talked a bit about what that seal was and whether it was literal or figurative; although we avoided drawing conclusions, I can state that I believe there may be aspects of both, like other prophecies in the Scriptures. I will not be dogmatic on this because I do not know everything I need to know to say otherwise, and neither does anyone else.

This is one of the reasons that there is more than one way of looking at eschatology. The Amillennialists, the Postmillennialists, the Dispensationalists, and the classic Premillennialists can all claim some good ground to stand on, and there are voices I respect in all camps. Each of them has a view as to what this means. Each has strengths and weaknesses in their argument. However, none of us can claim the understanding to say how it is or in what combination. With that said, let’s introduce the text.

KV4: The Servants of God Sealed

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

What we do all know for certain is that the servants (douloi from previous verses, “self-proclaimed slaves”) of God are sealed for the coming events. That seal we suggested last time was for the purposes of marking ownership, authority, and protection of the one having the seal placed, in this case, God. We know from chapter 14:1 that this mark is the name of Yeshuah and YHVH, and it is marked upon their foreheads. It is the only mark that these servants will receive as opposed to the mark of the beast, the Antichrist, who forces everyone he can to take his own mark to declare their loyalty to him on pain of persecution and death. God places His ownership on His willing and regenerated servants. They are His and will never belong to another. He places His authority on His willing servants so that they may perform the task He sets before them with the full authority of Heaven. He sets His protection on all His willing servants because their jobs will be dangerous and probably involve confronting the enemies of God face to face. What will that look like? Let’s look at the text and see.

4-8: The sealing of the 144,000

The number that we are given in the text (in more than one place for this same group) is 144,000. It is further broken down into 12 groups of 12,000 each, and each of these has some significance. F. W. Grant (1834-1902), a Brethren theologian I became familiar with in my early Christian days, posited the idea that all numbers in Scripture have an allegorical meaning. The number 12 in his analysis was representative of the manifest sovereignty of God. In this text, one could see the calling of these 144,000 servants of a definite manifestation of the sovereign will of God from the nation of His choosing of Old (the Old Testament people of God). These, like the Apostles, were called forth by His sovereign will to proclaim His sovereign message, in this case, the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ. Why from these twelve tribes and no Gentiles? Well, I think it is because the times of the Gentiles are coming to an end, and the preservation of the nation of Israel is at stake. We find this verse in Luke 21:24 – “…and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” Interestingly, the context of that verse in Luke is about the coming of the Antichrist. As we have already put forward, it is our belief here at BereanNation.com that the group of believers known as “the Church” has been removed from the earth and is present in Heaven, watching from the mezzanine level, as the late Dr. Chuck Missler used to put it. All of that happens as the Lord deals with His chosen people from the Old Testament as He deals with national Israel as a whole and their sins. Don’t mistake me; the gospel is still the same, and the means by which people are saved is still the same, but the age of the Church is now over, and the Tribulation, or “the time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble” has begun in earnest. Understand that Jacob is Israel’s name from before the Lord changed it the night of that divine wrestling match. This is about the redemption of Israel, but it is open to any who will turn as they turn from their sins by grace through faith in Christ alone. The penalties will be more severe here, and the decision will likely mean a horrible death and a great deal of suffering at a certain point, but we will get to that as we go through the book. With that, let’s get into the text.

4: And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
John tells us here that he heard the number of those who were sealed in verse 3 from last time, and he tells us that it is 144,000. There are so many misinterpretations of who these people are that I am compelled to explain this verse in detail. The identity of this group varies from the number of people that God will let into heaven to an allegory about how everyone will ultimately be saved, of which both positions are wrong. The first of those comes from a cult calling themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses. As I will say again, these individuals do not belong to Jehovah, neither do they represent Him. They are, in reality, “taking the Lord’s name in vain” by claiming to belong to and represent Him when they do not. What I find puzzling is that they claim only 144,000 people are going to heaven, but the rest of them are being annihilated. What possible incentive would there be to be a JW if there are somewhere between 8.6 and 8.8 million followers? Let’s do a little math. I’ll use their most generous number of 8.8 million members for this. That means you have a 1.6 percent chance of being one of the chosen few (1.63% actually). Why would you want to put yourself through that if it wasn’t a certainty? Never mind that they deny the divinity of Christ for a moment, which is the absolute worst, what possible motivation could you find for being a follower or going out to find others that might decrease your chances? And yet they have teams that knock on my door, although they tend to stay away from my door. Clearly, that “interpretation” (if we can call it that) is incorrect.
The other group identifies themselves as Unitarian, and everyone will be saved universally by the god of their own understanding. I chose that phrase very selectively because that’s the “god” of Alcoholics Anonymous and their Big Blue Book. I’m not saying the program doesn’t work, but it has become a bit of a false gospel. Mind you, its stated purpose is to help you stop drinking, not to be eternally saved, so it isn’t quite the same thing. These people would be happy members of Chrislam, for example, because it would be the “god” of their understanding. They have bumper stickers with the symbol “coexist” on them, and to them, it doesn’t matter if you’re a redeemed Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Zoroastrian, or even a Satanist. They say everyone will be saved. The problem is that the Bible says otherwise. We know of at least one man (not named, but called “the rich man” in the story and contrasted with Lazarus (not that Lazarus)) that ended up in hell, so not everyone has been universally saved. Otherwise, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol-Pot are singing Barbershop around the Throne. No, hell MUST exist as a penalty for all those who will choose something or someone else before the Lord Yahweh. So who are the 144,000?
What does the text say? It says that they are from every tribe of the sons of Israel. It then goes on to name the tribes they come from, and that list over the next four verses has some surprising things about it. I will say one last thing about this group here. Their job is to preach the gospel. I think that because of their divine selection, regeneration, and redemption, these fearless men (and it will be men, sorry ladies, the text says so) will be the most effective evangelists in history in a day when becoming a believer will likely cost you your life in terrible fashion. We know that because of verses 9-17, which we will look at in the next study.

5: from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,

Here, John begins to list the tribes from which the Lord is pulling these 144,000 evangelists. It is not quite the same list of children that were gathered around Israel as he was dying in Genesis 49. In fact, this list is in a particular order, and the list in Genesis 49 is by order of birth. Israel had 12 sons, so there are 12 tribes, right? NOT!!! Joseph is represented twice in the Old Testament tribes, by Manasseh and Ephraim, who were His sons. That meant there were 13 tribes. Sometimes, you hear about the half-tribe of Manasseh, but there is a second half to that tribe. Half the tribe entered the land and stayed, and half the tribe stayed on the east side of Jordan when they entered the land. Ephraim became so large that it is symbolically used to refer to all of northern Israel later in the Old Testament by several prophets. Levi was the tribe that had no land inheritance out of the 13 tribes because the Lord was their inheritance, and they kept the tent or tabernacle of meeting and camped around it in the wilderness and then in cities so designated after the entrance into the land. Actually, there is something that can be shown here, and I find it fascinating. This is a picture of the tribes as they camped around the Tabernacle in the wilderness. You can do this as math because we have the numbers of the armies. The only places they could not camp were outside the cardinal directions. Look at the view from the air. This is from the Old Testament from Numbers 2. The drawing is not to scale, but this is what it represents when done to scale. The nation of Israel was the place that the Saviour, God become Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, came from. It was represented in the OT that He would sacrifice Himself to redeem all of us when we turned to Him. Why do I bring this up? Because it has always been the job of God’s people to represent Him and tell the story of how He came to save us through His vicarious death on the cross and subsequent resurrection.
This also marks off three tribes of the 12 mentioned here: Judah, Reuben, and Gad. Judah is the first mentioned because that is the tribe of Messiah, our Lord Jesus. Reuben is mentioned because he was the firstborn of Jacob. I have no idea why Gad is positioned with these three, but here he is. There is some prophecy spoken about each of them in Numbers 2, so we will look at it in the order given in this verse.
Of Judah: “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.” (Gen. 49:9-12)
Our Lord Jesus Christ is notably called “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah” in Rev. 5:5. He took down the prey here, meaning He got the job done. “He couches” is another way of saying, “He lies down.” This is a Hebraism that is equivalent to the doubling of words. He lies down, he lies down. He rests, He rests. It is an absolute fact. And who would dare try to startle him awake? It’s a rhetorical question with the answer of “nobody.” His scepter shall not depart from Him. Amen. Until Shiloh comes means “until His inheritance is complete. The literal rendering is something like until He comes to that which is His. All of the Messianic imagery is here. The donkey’s colt is what He entered Jerusalem in for the triumphal entry. John even describes in Rev. 19 that His robe is dipped in blood and elsewhere that He treads the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God. That last bit is His eyes are darker than wine, and His teeth are whiter than milk. Do you see it? It is all about the Lord Jesus and His return.
Reuben is next, and they had some issues with Israel (Jacob). Genesis 49:3-4 says, “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.” Reuben’s status of preeminence was removed because he defiled his father’s house, to put it mildly. Israel forgave that but did not forget it. I take this to mean that there are some sins that are disqualifying but that overall, these individuals will still receive rewards and even be able, in some measure participate in the work of God. Think Steve Lawson. If and when he finally repents, and my understanding from my conversation with the guys with the sources is that he is very defiant and will not speak with anyone, and there is a suggestion (no proof) that this was physical adultery, then he will be restored to fellowship but not the preeminent place he once held in the pulpit. It does not mean that he will never speak or preach again. Compare Tim Hurd, who has been very open about his own adultery that disqualified him from ministry. It took a while, and some things were lost. He still serves the Lord and the Bible-Thumping Wingnut guy. He does a podcast with another gent named Len Pettis, and it’s pretty good stuff. He is a pretty humble guy because of that experience. Do you think Reuben didn’t repent? He repented, or I suspect that he would not be on this list. Think about it. Dan is NOT on the list.
Why is Dan not on this list? Because they spiritually defiled the Father’s house. Judges 18:22-26 says, “When they had gone some distance from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house assembled and overtook the sons of Dan. They cried to the sons of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, ‘What is the matter with you, that you have assembled together?’ He said, ‘You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away, and what do I have besides? So how can you say to me, “What is the matter with you?”‘ The sons of Dan said to him, ‘Do not let your voice be heard among us, or else fierce men will fall upon you and you will lose your life, with the lives of your household.’ So the sons of Dan went on their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house.” Dan brought idolatry into Israel, and they used force and threats to accomplish the worship of false gods in their midst. Worship of a different God is idolatry, and no idolater will enter the kingdom of God. Ephesians 5:5 says, “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
Gad is mentioned here also. Genesis 49:19 says, “As for Gad, raiders shall raid him, But he will raid at their heels.” Gad was not the strongest tribe, and they had some trouble of their own. Trouble does not stop you from serving Christ. And they were bold, going back after the raiders even though they could only nip at their heels in terms of ability.

6: from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
Asher is mentioned first in this verse, and Israel says of him in the Genesis prophecy (49:20), “As for Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal dainties.” The gist of this is that Asher is well fed and shall enjoy royal delights in terms of the “fat” food, a Hebraism that represents abundance. There are two things I see here, and that is that privilege does not disqualify you from God’s service; I also see that all those who serve the Lord in truth will enjoy a royal lifestyle, at least theologically. I see them as servants who know how to pursue what is good.
Naphtali is next, and the Genesis prophecy (49:21) says, “Naphtali is a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words.” Eloquence is a character of these men, and they will be able to hold attention, melt hard hearts, and speak eloquently to enemies of Christ. The language around the loosed doe is romantic language seen in the Song of Solomon and used of the Bride in that book. Apparently, men will chase them to see and hear more is what I take from that.
Manasseh is next, and we should remember that he was the son of Joseph and the grandson of Israel. Israel says of nothing of him in this list. However, he gave Manasseh and Ephraim (who is also not here, more on that momentarily) the blessing of Joseph immediately before he blessed all of his sons. For Manasseh, I will refer to this blessing, Manasseh being the older of the two sons of Joseph. He blessed the two boys at once, but Ephraim received the larger blessing, and it is difficult to separate them because he was blessing his son by blessing his grandsons, but this is what he said in Gen. 48:15-16: “He blessed Joseph, and said, ‘The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.'” Manasseh is the choice of the tribe of Israel from which the Lord selects.
Ephraim is not here! Why not? I think the most likely explanation (and there are multiple explanations here) is that they are included, but indirectly, with the inclusion of Joseph coming up. It accounts for their hotheaded belligerence toward their brethren and their idolatrous worship from the time of King Jeroboam I of the Ba’als.

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

Simeon is next, followed by Levi. Here in Revelation 7, they are still dealt with as a pair, just as Israel dealt with them in his prophecy in Genesis 49:5-7, which says, “Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.” These were also born before Judah in the order, by the way. They famously used their swords as a form of revenge upon intended in-laws because one of them forced themselves on Israel’s daughter, Dinah. I won’t tell the story, but that is why they tricked all the men of that house into being circumcised as a condition of marrying Dinah, and then, when they were all sore from the operation, the two of them killed them all. What I see here is that it doesn’t matter what you have done if you have repented of it in truth. God will still use you in His service, and this is high service to which they are called. When God forgives your sin, it is really forgiven if you have really repented.
Issachar is after them. Israel says of him (49:14-15), “Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between the sheepfolds. When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.” “Sheepfolds” is better thought of as saddlebags for the clarity of the passage. There are a lot of ways to read that, but in this context, my suggestion is to see this as the strong servant. He has bent his shoulder to the dedicated service of those to whom he will share Christ, and he does that in continuity. He knows that the one who has called him in this context is Christ, He who is King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Who forces him to work? He forces himself because of the debt he owes Christ.

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

Zebulun is next, and Israel says this about him prophetically (49:13): “Zebulun will dwell at the seashore; And he shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.” Interestingly, this is describing his position. Metaphorically speaking, all followers of Christ have a position. It is described by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians as being “seated with Christ in heavenly places.” (2:6). His flank (side) is towards Sidon, a city in ancient Canaan (modern Lebanon). He was also the son of Canaan, Noah’s first grandchild. Interestingly, Sidon can mean “fishing.” This is perhaps an elaboration on the kind of things these men will be doing for the master. In Jesus’ own words, they will “become fishers of men.”
Joseph is mentioned here, and we have already theorized about why it is Joseph and not Ephraim, but Israel says in his deathbed prophecy (49:22-26), “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall. The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him; But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.” Joseph is a type of Christ in all the stories we read about him in Genesis, but as a man, he represents each embattled and struggling believer. That blessing can also be ours if we will walk in the Spirit as Christ, that Shepherd who Israel mentions. Wherever such a servant will go, God will bless and prosper their work in spite of and in the face of God’s enemies.
Finally, Benjamin, the son of Israel’s old age, his youngest son is mentioned. Israel says of him (49:27), “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil.” The image this gives of Benjamin is of a servant who just gets down to work and doesn’t quit until the job is done. He is a strong predator in this description, and the prey are the wandering sheep that are lost in the world of the Antichrist. He goes and gets them and then rests when it is finished. What a picture of the evangelist that the Lord is sealing for himself here.

These men, all 144,000 of them, are servants of God. Personally, I have no reason to think of this as anything other than a literal number any more than I can think of baby Yeshuah being born of a literal virgin. The number itself refers to 12,000 men from each of the “tribes” named here, people groups of Jewish lineage from the source that God chooses. I’ve never heard of a metaphorical number, and I have no reason to believe this number is metaphorical. I do not doubt that those that God is calling to be in this group of men has every real description that is attached to them, including that they are all from among the sons of the nation of Israel. I have heard some theorize that these names include lost tribes, but we laid that to rest by looking at how Israel referred to each of them in his prophetic dying words in Gen. 49. There are some conclusions we can draw about these men, these servants that are being sealed by the fifth angel with or without help (he said “we,” so I think there are other angels involved, and how many is pure conjecture). We will see more about it when we get to Revelation 14 because that is where we meet this group again and learn more about them.

These men will be the most bold witnesses for Christ and the most powerful and successful evangelists that the world has ever seen and will ever see. The characteristics that apply to each group may possibly apply to each man that God Himself chooses to ordain for this purpose. Will these men be subject to death like the rest of the mortals alive at this time? I do not know, but I have no reason to think that they will not be. However, I do think they will be divinely protected until they have finished the work that God has appointed them to perform. I even have an idea of what that work will be: to preach the gospel to everyone who needs to hear it, in other words, everyone. Paul told Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist,” and in doing so, complete the work of his ministry. Timothy and all of us who are mentored in a way by Paul were commanded to do this for the unsaved in our own congregations. Think about it. These people sit in the same pews we do, right beside us. They read the same passages, they sing the same hymns, they hear the same sermons, and yet they are all unsaved, and even they may not realize it. At some point, the Lord may have mercy on them and call them to Himself to be forever his. How much more will such evangelists need to preach the Word of God to others after the church is left and the stakes are so much higher, higher than they have ever been? God forbid that we do NOT share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people we are in contact with every day.

With that said, I must ask the viewer: What about you? Have you repented of your sins before a holy and wrathful God who hates sin of every kind? Have you stopped doing them and turned away from them because you see they are sinful and not just because you got caught or called out on them? Do you realize that God loves you so much that He sent His only Son to become human, and that man lived a perfect life of submission to God under the law, and then at the right time, gave up that life for you as the perfect atonement for your sins? If you do, turn to Him right now, our Lord Jesus. He will save you if you ask Him to. If you do that, then you also will join the body of believers that will not see these events from earth, and if you somehow see or read this after this time, you can know what these 144,000 men are talking about and join us in glory as those who we will read about…next time.

That’s what I saw in the text.

Next time, we will look at verses 9-17, which will finish this parenthetical interlude before the opening of the 7th seal.