Last week, we saw the beginnings of God's plan for the world starting to unfold. In the first four seals of Revelation 6, we saw pictures of the wrath of God, and the wrath of the Lamb, being poured out on the world through the four horsemen of the apocalypse. They brought with them conquest, and war, and inflation, and death. And what I argued, is that all of this is happening right now. After Jesus ascended to heaven, he began opening the seals in the first century AD. We, the church, have been living in the time of the four riders since the first century.
Now, what we saw, as we read about the four riders, is a terrible vision. Things are bad. But we also saw that the outpouring of the wrath of God and the Lamb was limited, up to this point. The riders only had authority over 1/4th of the world. The inflation didn't touch the wine, or the olive oil. Things could be worse.
We then saw the fifth seal open, and this seal, is the cry of martyrs. It's here, that I want to start today, to refresh our memory of where we are in Revelation. So, Revelation 6:9:
(9) and when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of the ones having been slaughtered
because of the word of God
and because of the testimony which they had,
(10) and they cried out with a great voice saying,
"How long, O Master-- The Holy and True One-- will you not judge
and will you not avenge our blood from the ones dwelling upon
the earth?,"
(11) and it was given to each of them a white robe,
and it was said to them that they should rest yet a short time until they were filled-- both their fellow slaves, and their brothers-- the ones about to be killed as also they [were],
So the martyrs want to know, how long until God will judge the world, and avenge their blood? The martyrs look at the world, and they want more from God. They want God to make a final judgment, and fully avenge their blood.
And in response, we read that the Lamb opens the sixth scroll (this is how the majority of NT scholars understands the sixth scroll-- as a response to the cry. I'm comfortably following the herd here). Verse 12:
(12) and I saw when he opened the sixth scroll,
and a great earthquake became (=occurred),
and the sun became (same word) black as a sackcloth made of hair,
and the whole moon became like blood,
(13) and the stars of heaven fell toward the earth,
like a fig tree throws its unripe figs,
[when] by a great wind being shaken,
(14) and the heaven was split like a scroll being rolled up,
and every mountain and island from their places were removed,
(15) and the kings of the earth and the ones of high rank and the military leaders and the rich and the powerful and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
(16) and they say to the mountains and to the rocks,
"Fall upon us,
and hide us from the face of the one seated upon the throne
and from the wrath of the lamb,
(17) because the great day of their wrath has come,
and who is able to stand?"
What the sixth seal teaches us, is that the day is coming, when the "great" day of their wrath will come. Things will get worse for the "ones dwelling on the earth"-- for the idolaters, and compromisers, and murderers, and the sexually immoral. The judgment will be cosmic on that day, affecting the heavens and the earth. And on that day, those people will find themselves crying out, "Who is able to stand?"
If you've let yourself get caught up into this vision in Revelation, and let it hit you the way it should, then you might find yourself feeling a range of emotions at this point. It's one thing to look at the world, and want God to bring judgment, and make everything right. We understand the desires behind the fifth seal. We find ourselves saying, "Come Lord Jesus."
But if God's judgment results in a total dismantling of the world, and everyone wanting to die... what will that day of wrath look like for me? Can I stand, on that day? Can I survive? It's on that note, that we come to Revelation 7. This chapter is called an "interlude" by almost every scholar. It interrupts the opening of the seals, and keeps us from hearing about the opening of the last seal.
Why the interruption? Part of the answer, is that it builds tension. We expect, at this point, that the seventh seal will be open. We expect that the end will come here, in chapter 7. And our expectation, not being met, builds suspense. But the bigger reason this chapter is here, is because it answers the question of Revelation 6:17. Who can stand? (and again, I'm comfortably following the herd here).
And the answer, in a word, is the church.
Revelation 7 gives us two visions of the church. In the first vision, we will see the church-- we will see ourselves-- safe from God's acts of judgment on the earth. The first vision, is for the church, living on earth today. And that's been true for almost 2,000 years. In the second vision, John sees the church standing triumphant, in God's presence. This second vision is our future, if we are steadfast, and faithful.
Although these two visions are separate, and they each have their own little introduction, we are supposed to read them together. The second one, of the church triumphant, interprets the first [what John "hears" in verse 4, is interpreted/explained by what he "sees" in verse 9].
So really, we should work through all of Revelation 7 at one shot, taking the chapter as a whole. That would be the best way to do this.
The problem with this, is that some of you are like me, and you grew up in evangelical churches where you were taught a much different approach to the visions of Revelation 7. In these visions, we see two maybe familiar things: we see 144,000 people sealed, and we see something called "the great tribulation."
And when some of you read these things, you might find yourself thinking that these visions describe Messianic Jews who make it through the Great Tribulation. It's not us, because at this point in the book, we've already been raptured up into heaven. I'm not exactly sure when this rapture was supposed to have happened, because Revelation hasn't talked about that at all. But the first vision in Revelation 7 is often taught, at a popular level, as having nothing to do with the church.
There is a broad scholarly agreement, among NT scholars, that all of this is not how you read the book. And a healthy, sizable majority of NT scholars think that the first vision describes the church, and not ethnic or Messianic Jews. I'm using maybe 10 commentaries on Revelation to help me, and with one exception (Peter Leithart), they all say it's the church, for lots of reasons.
But if you've been taught otherwise, I'm not sure you're going to buy anything I'm selling this morning. And I completely get that. I'm not offended by that. I know I have to persuade you that NT scholarship is on the right track.
So for that reason, we are going to just work through the first vision this morning. We'll do this in three steps. First, we will read the vision in its entirety. Second, I'll spend some time defending the majority position. Third, we will wrestle with what the vision means.
So first, the vision. Revelation 7, starting in verse 1 (and the OT links to the specific language are found in virtually every commentary, but I'm pulling them from Joseph Trafton, Reading Revelation, 79ff.):
(1) After this, I saw four angels,
standing at the four corners of the earth, [Is. 11:12; Job 37:3; Is. 41:9; Ezek. 7:2]
holding/controlling the four winds of the earth [Ezek. 37:9; Dan. 7:2; 8:8; 11:4; Zech. 2:6; 6:5; Jer. 49:36],
in order that wind couldn't blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree,
(2) and I saw another angel,
ascending from the rising of the sun (the East),
having the seal of the living God,
and he cried out with a great voice to the four angels-- to the ones whom it was given to them to harm the earth and the sea--, saying,
"Don't harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads,"
(4) and I heard the number of the ones being sealed-- 144,000--
being sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
(5) from the tribe of Judah: 12,000 being sealed,
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 Naphtali: 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh: 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: 12,000 being sealed.
At first glance, this vision obviously describes Jews. Right? It's a very Jewish focus, talking about the "sons of Israel" (verse 4).
So why do most scholars say that we are supposed to see the church, and not ethnic Jews, here?
There are three things that should give us pause, up front:
(1) The first thing that should give us pause, is that aspects of this description are stylized, or symbolic. The fact that every tribe has exactly 12,000 people sealed, and that the total leads up to 12 squared, times a thousand, makes us think we shouldn't read this literally. Numbers throughout Revelation are symbolic, not literal.
(2) The second thing that should give us pause, comes from cheating ahead to Revelation 14:1-5. Here, the same group of 144,000 is found (NIV):
14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Here, in verse 4, the 144,000 are described as male virgins, who haven't defiled themselves with women. Are we supposed to take this literally? This should make us stop, and think about what exactly is going on.
(3) The third thing that should give us pause, is the actual tribes listed. One of the tribes, Dan, is completely missing from this list. In its place, a tribe is added that doesn't totally make sense. The tribe of Manasseh descended from Joseph. Why would Joseph be listed, along with one of his sons? At the same time, another of Joseph's sons, Ephraim, isn't listed. The only explanation for setting up the list this way, is to deliberately exclude the tribe of Dan.
And if we ask ourselves why the tribe of Dan is missing, the answer is pretty obvious. Let's turn to 1 Kings 12:28-30 (NIV no reason):
28 After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 29 One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.[d]
And now let's turn to Amos 8:13-14 (NIV no reason):
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba lives’—
they will fall, never to rise again.”
So why is the tribe of Dan excluded from the list of the 12 tribes? Almost certainly, to make a point. Dan is excluded from the list of Israelite tribes, because idolaters are not truly part of God's people. Part of what marks God's people off, as belonging to him, is that they worship him alone. So this list is more about theology, than genealogy.
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Peter Leithart, Revelation, 329, says it best:
"The Danites are the “Judas tribe” of the Old Testament. Just as Judas is excluded from the Twelve because of his betrayal of Jesus, so the Danites are excluded from the list of tribes. He is another fallen “firstborn.” Dan’s name is removed from the Lamb’s book of life, his tribe excluded from the holy city of Jerusalem. His absence from the tribal list in Revelation 7 is a cautionary tale against the seductions of the harlot, porneia, and meat sacrificed to idols. Slaves of Jesus might end up like Dan."
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These three things, together, should make us open-minded to the possibility that something else is going on here.
[There's possibly a fourth thing. It's often argued that 10 of the tribes, as of the first century, have completely disappeared. All of northern Israel was scattered across the Assyrian empire, and is lost. However, Peter Leithart notes that Anna is from the "lost tribe" of Asher, in Luke 2:36. So I'm not going to press this.]
And if we bring in the letters to the churches, and the book of Revelation as a whole, we start to see why so many NT scholars think we should see the church, and not ethnic Jews, in the first vision of Revelation 7 (put this in the outline, making sure to have verses):
(1) Throughout Revelation, the church receives the blessings and mission first promised to Israel:
(A) Jesus has purchased a people for himself, to become a kingdom of priests serving God (Revelation 1:5-6; 5:9-10; Exodus 19:5-6). It's not that the church has replaced Israel. It's that Israel has been redefined (or, possibly, that even in the OT, "Israel" was never only an ethnic category-- in Hosea, Israel is called "not my people." And it was a mixed multitude who came out of Egypt; Exodus 12:38). Israel is made up of Jew and Gentile, as God originally intended (Genesis 12:1-3).
(B) The churches are pillars in God's temple (Revelation 3:11).
(C) The church is Jerusalem (Revelation 3:11).
(D) The church eats the hidden manna (Revelation 2:17).
(E) The church rules the nations (Revelation 2:26; cf. Psalm 2, especially Psalm 2:9).
(F) Faithful members of the church are written in God's book of life (Revelation 3:5; cf. Exodus 32:32; Daniel 12:1).
(2) Earlier in Revelation, we read about those who called themselves "Jews," but they were a synagogue of Satan (Revelation 2:9).
This type of language, of people calling themselves Jews, but not being Jews-- Revelation won't concede that point-- is like Paul's (Romans 2:17). The true Jew is the one who is circumcised of heart, not flesh (Romans 2:28-29). And the church as a whole-- both the circumcised and the uncircumcised-- is called Israel (Galatians 6:15).
To my mind, all of these arguments are persuasive. There's lots of others, if you need more. And one of the other really brilliant arguments, I'll wait to share until next week. But this was more than enough, for me, to be convinced.
So let's assume, for the rest of the morning, that NT scholarship is on the right track. When we read about the tribes of Israel here, we should understand that John is seeing a vision of the church. Who will stand, on the day of the wrath of God, and of the Lamb? The church.
At this point, I think we can reread Revelation 7:1-3, and unpack it a little bit. Verse 1:
(1) After this, I saw four angels,
standing at the four corners of the earth, [Is. 11:12; Job 37:3; Is. 41:9; Ezek. 7:2]
holding/controlling the four winds of the earth [Ezek. 37:9; Dan. 7:2; 8:8; 11:4; Zech. 2:6; 6:5; Jer. 49:36; Book of Enoch 76],
in order that wind couldn't blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree,
In Jewish thought, we live on a flat earth, that has four sides-- north, south, east, and west. Each of these sides has three gates, and out of these gates come different things. Good things, like rain, and dew, and pleasant smells, and prosperity, come out of some of these gates. And out of others, comes things like devastation, drought, heat, and destruction. The most complete description of this is in The Book of Enoch, 76, which is a little awkward. But Enoch seems to unpack, what the OT and NT elsewhere assume to be true (and Enoch does that about all kinds of things, including the sons of God).
https://bookofenochreferences.wordpress.com/category/the-book-of-enoch-with-biblical-references-chapters-71-to-80/chapter-76/
The idea is that when God blesses, and judges, the world, He often does so through the winds. The winds sometimes bring prosperity. Sometimes, they bring terrible things. And there are angels stationed at the gates, who open and close the gates at God's command.
We, today, would want to explain things like rain, and lightning, and thunder, and drought, and famine, a little differently. But God gives John a revelation-- a vision-- that makes sense to John. John, who is steeped in the OT, and familiar with the kinds of ideas found in Enoch, understood exactly what he was seeing.
And what he was seeing, is that four angels are holding back judgment on the earth. Specifically, I think (this is far more debated-- some scholars closely identify the four riders with the four angels, Zechariah 6:5), the open gates will bring the judgments of the sixth seal.
Verse 2:
(2) and I saw another angel,
ascending from the rising of the sun (the East),
having the seal of the living God,
and he cried out with a great voice to the four angels-- to the ones whom it was given to them to harm the earth and the sea--, saying,
"Don't harm the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads,"
So the great day of wrath is almost here. But before that great day comes, God's people are sealed. They have God's seal written on their foreheads.
So think about yourselves, as having God's seal on your foreheads. You can't see it. It's not a computer chip implanted into your skin. But it's no less real, for it being invisible to our eyes.
What does this seal do for you?
It has to be some type of protection. That much is clear. But protection from what?
This is a little debated (partly because scholars struggle to reconcile how Christians can be killed, and persecuted, yet sealed). But I think God's seal protects us from God's wrath. We don't have to fear God's judgment, when the four angels open up the gates. God's judgment, if we are faithful, doesn't need to scare us.
Who will stand, on the great day of the wrath of God and the Lamb? We will, because we have God's seal.
So God's seal protects us from God. If we turn to the OT, there are two passages that help us understand this idea. The first, is when Israel was in Egypt. On the night when every firstborn Egyptian male was killed, Israelites put a sign, or a seal, on their doorposts. And when the destroying angel saw the seal, he passed over the Israelites. That's basically how the seal works here-- except the seal is on our foreheads, and not our houses.
And as we keep reading in Revelation, and we start seeing the plagues from the book of Exodus, the seal will make perfect sense. God will keep his people safe, as He unleashes judgment on the world.
A second OT passage that helps us understand this idea of sealing, is found in Ezekiel 9. Revelation 7 shows an awareness of Ezekiel 9 (how exactly Revelation is related to the OT is a complicated thing, but OT allusions are everywhere. Virtually every commentator links this to Ezekiel 9, fwiw).
So let's read Ezekiel 9, partly just as an excuse to spend some time in the OT (I think the more often I do this, the more likely I'm going to be able to make it through Revelation):
(1) And He called out in my ears [with] a great/loud voice/sound, saying,
"Draw near (plural), O executioners of the city,
with each one a weapon/tool of his destruction in his hand,"
(2) and LOOK! Six men coming from the direction of the upper gate
that faces toward the north!,
with each one a weapon/tool for his shattering in his hand,
while one of them in their midst clothed in linens,
with an inkpot/writing case of the scribe at his side,
and they came,
and they stood beside the bronze altar.
(3) Now, the glory of the God (Elohim) of Israel had gone up from above the cherub that was upon it to the threshold of the house,
and He called to the one clothed in linens,
who [had] the inkpot/writing case of the scribe at his side,
(4) and Yahweh said to him,
"Pass through in the midst of the city-- in the midst of Jerusalem--
and put a mark/sign upon the foreheads of the people sighing and groaning over all the abominations being committed in her midst,"
(5) while to these ones He said in my hearing,
"Pass through in the city after him,
and strike/kill!
Your eyes shall not look with compassion,
and they shall not spare.
(6) The elders/old men, the young men, and the young women, and the little children, and women/wives you shall completely kill,
while upon each one who has upon him the mark/sign you shall not draw near,
while from my sanctuary you shall begin,
and they began with the elders/old men who were in front of the house,
(7) and He said to them,
"Defile the house,
and fill the courts with the slain.
Go out!,
and they went out,
and they struck in/throughout the city,
(8) and then, when they were striking, I was left behind,
and I fell upon my face,
and I cried out,
and I said,
"Ah, Lord Yahweh!
Are you destroying all who are left of Israel in your pouring out of wrath upon Jerusalem?,"
(9) and He said to me,
"The sin/guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly, exceedingly great,
and the earth is filled with bloodguilt,
while the city is filled with twistedness,
because they say,
"He has forsaken-- Yahweh-- the earth/land,
and Yahweh doesn't see,
(10) and, what's more, I-- my eyes shall not look with compassion,
and I won't spare.
Their road/conduct, upon their own heads I have brought [it],
(11) and LOOK! The man clothed in linens who [had] the inkpot/writing case at his side brought back word, saying,
"I have done just as you commanded me."
[Maybe the most interesting part of this, is the thing that happens next in Ezekiel, is that God's glory leaves the temple. God brings this terrible judgment, and then He leaves. In Revelation, God brings this terrible judgment, right before He returns.]
I think Ezekiel 9 shows us how to read Revelation. God's people who sigh and groan over the bloodshed, and twistedness, of the world, and who understand that God does see, receive the seal upon their foreheads. And they are the ones who are protected from God's wrath.
That's how we should understand Revelation 7. Who can stand on the day of the wrath of God, and of the Lamb?
People who have God's seal written on their foreheads (Revelation 14 tells us that the seal is the name of God and the Lamb-- the seal isn't the Holy Spirit, or water baptism. But I'm going to let Revelation unpack this, at its own pace). We don't need to fear God's judgment. Whatever happens when the angels release the four winds-- whatever that literally means-- isn't something that needs to scare us. When God comes in judgment, it will be something to celebrate.
And with this, we come back again to verses 4-8. John sees 144,000 of us, sealed on our foreheads. This is a number that symbolizes completion, and wholeness. We, the church, have become the fullness of Israel. We, the whole, complete, church, will stand.
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So that's the first vision. What difference does it make, for us?
We live in a world where God's people are threatened, and persecuted, and killed.
In the U.S. the persecution is often more imagined than real. We can lose our twitter accounts. We can be viewed with suspicion by coworkers. We can be left out, when people do fun things. But sometimes, we can lose our jobs because sinful, wicked people are offended by our stand for the truth. We are lied about, slandered. Our words and positions are twisted, and framed in the worst possible light.
In other parts of the world, God's people have it far worse than we do. In Ukraine, right now, Russian Orthodox Christians aren't allowed to worship. They are tracked by the state. They are persecuted. They are viewed as enemies, and a threat to the nation.
It can be really hard to follow Jesus in a sinful world. It can be costly. And we should understand that God's seal doesn't directly protect us from any of that. Perhaps, we can say that God's seal ensures that death won't be your end. Jesus has the keys to death and Hades, and he can get you out when you die [still wrestling with that].
But what God's seal does [primarily?], is protect you from God. Any time that God comes in judgment-- whether it's 6th century Israel, at the time of Ezekiel, or 1st century Rome, at the time of John, or 21st century U.S., or the very end... God's people are sealed. We are not God's target. We don't need to be scared of God.
Since we are sealed, we can go through life with an inner peace, and calm. We go through life with hope. We don't need to be stressed. We don't need to be fearful. We don't need to wake up every day, panicky about the news. What we can do, instead, is touch our foreheads, as a reminder of the truth of Revelation. There's a seal right here, and that seal shows God's ownership, and it shows God's protection. Who can stand, on the day of the wrath of God, and of the Lamb? We can, because we are sealed by God.
Translation:
(1) After this, I saw four angels,
standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding/controlling the four winds of the earth,
in order that wind couldn't blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor upon any tree,
(2) and I saw another angel,
ascending from the rising of the sun (the East),
having the seal of the living God,
and he cried out with a great voice to the four angels-- to the ones whom it was given to them to harm the earth and the sea--, saying,
"Don't harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads,"
(4) and I heard the number of the ones being sealed-- 144,000--
being sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
(5) from the tribe of Judah: 12,000 being sealed,
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 Naphtali: 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh: 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 Benjaim: 12,000 being sealed.
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Additional arguments for identifying the 144,000 as the church:
(1) The third/fourth thing that should give us pause, is the order of the tribes listed. Probably, the reason the tribes mothered by the secondary wives are elevated in order, is to mark the inclusive nature of Israel (unpacked in Mitchell Redish's commentary on Revelation).
(2) Throughout Revelation, whenever we find language about God's "slaves," it describes all of the faithful, from every tongue, and tribe, and nation (Revelation 7:3; 1:1; 2:20; 22:1-6).
(3) Throughout Revelation, all of God's people who conquer have a seal on their forehead. It's a promise for everyone (Revelation 3:11-12; 14:1-6; 22:4), and not just for ethnic Jews.
The idea isn't that the church has replaced Israel. The idea is the church is Israel. The boundaries of Israel have been redrawn. So what marks you off as an Israelite? What is the seal?
For that, let's cheat ahead to Revelation 14 (NRSV updated no reason):
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
The seal of God, is the name of the Lamb, and of God. God's people have the name of the Lamb, and of God, on their foreheads. So who are God's people? Who is Israel? Christians. Not ethnic Jews. There's no way to defend the idea that ethnic Jews, who have rejected Jesus, and are called the synagogue of Satan, have the seal of the Lamb on their forehead.
(4) "The number twelve thousand identifies those from each tribe who bear the seal on their foreheads, and the same number is used for the dimensions of New Jerusalem, where all the redeemed have God’s name on their foreheads (7:4–8; 21:16; 22:4). The city’s gates are named for the twelve tribes, while its foundations are named for the twelve apostles, making it a place for the whole people of God (21:12–14; Beale; Keener; Hirschberg, Das eschatologische, 139; Ulfgard, Feast, 70–79)" (Koester, Revelation, 427)."
So the 144,000 being 12x12, lends itself to thinking about it in terms of the twelve tribes times the twelve apostles. The number 12 is a symbolic number.
(5) The second vision, of Revelation 7:8-17, can be viewed as an explanation of who the "sons of Israel" are. They are a people purchased from every tribe. Throughout Revelation (and I still have a commentary coming that will unpack this), there is an interplay between what John "hears," and what he "sees." In Revelation 5, John "hears" that the Lion is worthy. And then when he looks, he "sees" the Lamb. The Lion is the Lamb. Here, in chapter 7, John "hears" the 144,000, and then he "sees" the multitude from every tribe. That's what I'm going to wait to unpack until next week (I want to see the other examples of where this occurs), and I'll maybe just be stuck here until the book arrives.
N.T. Wright and Joseph Trafton both allude to this argument, but neither unpacks it. NT Wright, Revelation for Everyone, 70:
"Most readers of Revelation (not all) agree that the list of people who are ‘sealed’ in this way in verses 4–8 refers to the same people who are then described as a great, uncountable crowd in verses 9–17. As with the lion and the lamb in chapter 5, we notice that John hears the number—144,000, broken down into twelve twelves—but then, when he looks (verse 9), he sees the great, uncountable crowd. This strongly suggests that they are the same people, symbolically represented as the complete people of God (twelve thousand times twelve), but actually consisting of a much larger number which nobody could count. And the people in this great crowd, as we shall see, have not escaped suffering. They have come through it to safety the other side, as Jesus himself passed through death to the immortal physical life of resurrection."
(7) The sealing of the foreheads of God's people is found later in Revelation, 14:1-5 (NRSV updated, no reason):
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
Here, we learn that the "seal" the angels put on the foreheads, is the name of the Lamb and of his Father.
Now, let's read from Revelation 22:1-4 (NRSV updated, no reason):
22 Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Here, all of God's servants are given a promise-- they will see his face (God and the Lamb are so closely tied together, it's like there's one face), and his name will be on their foreheads.
The picture in Revelation 22 isn't just for Messianic Jews. It's the final picture Revelation leaves us with, of all of God's people.
(8) The rapture view only works by trying to read Revelation 7 as chronologically sequential to chapter 6. But are we supposed to understand that everyone walking around in Revelation 7, has no sky above them? And are there mountains, or not? "Revelation does not provide a linear outline of future events, as if one should first expect the sky to vanish (6:14) and then people to be sealed (7:3)" (Koester, Revelation, 425).
