After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  (Revelation 7:9-17)

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:  “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were 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.  (Revelation 7:1-8)


Holding Back The Four Winds

On the surface it would appear that the four angels are merely holding back the four winds to prevent them from damaging anything on earth before the appointed time, and that is certainly part of the story. In fact, it‘s openly stated in the text that these angels will be “given power to harm the land and sea.” But first, God’s people will be "sealed" with a mark in the same way that they were sealed in Ezekiel 9:4 before Jerusalem was destroyed. 

When we examined the ‘seven seals’ in earlier posts we noted that the word for ‘seal’ denoted a signature rather than a physical seal, as with the signet ring wax seals that were used on Greek documents of the day.  That fact completely changed our understanding of what the seven seals of the Revelation are all about, since they actually described the seven signatories on Christ‘s ketubah. 

The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”


“The Sky Receded Like A Scroll”

When the sixth seal judgment is spoken forth by Jesus, not only do the dramatic signs in the sun, moon and stars occur, but mankind will witness another event for the first time; heaven will finally be unveiled for all to see. This is what is meant by the sky “rolling up” like a scroll, because it will roll up to unveil God's throne and the presence of his Son at his right hand. For a world that denies the existence of God and/or his Son, this will be a game-changer. To echo the prophecies of Joel and Peter that were referenced in the last post, it will be a glorious day for God's elect. But for those in opposition to Yahweh, it will be dreadful.