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Revelation 7

Revelation book home•Chapter 7 of 22•17 verses

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Revelation 7 Overview

Before further judgment, four angels are restrained while 144,000 servants of God are sealed from the tribes of Israel. John then sees an innumerable multitude from all nations standing before the throne and Lamb in white robes, praising salvation. They have come out of great tribulation, and God shelters, feeds, guides, and wipes away every tear.

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Before you read Revelation 7

Coming from

The Lamb opens the first six seals. Four horsemen bring conquest, war, famine, and death; martyrs beneath the altar cry for justice; and the sixth seal brings cosmic upheaval so terrifying that kings and common people alike hide from the wrath of the One on the throne and the Lamb.

In this chapter

Leads into

The seventh seal opens with silence in heaven, followed by seven angels receiving trumpets. The prayers of the saints rise before God, then the first four trumpets strike earth, sea, rivers, and heavenly lights. A flying angel/eagle announces three remaining woes for the inhabitants of the earth.

Key understandingExplore deeper

The 144,000 are explicitly numbered from named tribes of Israel. Interpretations differ on whether the tribal list is literal, symbolic, or representative, but the text should not be made to say the word Israel is absent.

The great multitude is distinct in presentation from the numbered sealed group and is explicitly international.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

God marks His servants before further judgment

The sealing shows divine ownership and protection according to His purpose.

Salvation belongs to God and the Lamb

Heavenly worship gives credit entirely to them.

The redeemed come from every nation

The multitude cannot be numbered and transcends ethnic boundaries.

Suffering is not the final state

God leads His people to living fountains and wipes away tears.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Genesis 49

Jacob’s tribes provide the background for Israel’s tribal names.

Ezekiel 9:4–6

A protective mark on faithful servants appears before judgment.

Revelation 21:4

The promise of wiped-away tears returns in the new creation.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Do not erase Israel from the 144,000 passage

The chapter explicitly names Israel and tribes.

Do not claim the list matches ordinary tribal lists exactly

Its unusual composition should be acknowledged.

Do not confuse tribulation suffering with abandonment by God

The multitude ends sheltered before His throne.

Read Revelation 7 watching for…

The restraint before sealing.

The number 144,000.

The tribal list’s unusual features.

The innumerable international multitude.

The question ‘Whence came they?’

God’s final care for them.

Chapter outline3 sections

1-8Four angels hold back the winds while 144,000 servants of God from the tribes of Israel are sealed 9-12A great multitude from all nations stands before the throne and the Lamb and praises God 13-17The multitude is identified as those coming out of great tribulation who serve God and are comforted by the Lamb

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.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

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.

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

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Revelation 7:3

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