2. Blessed is he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand Rev. 1:3

3. Chapter Seven The First Parenthesis The Purpose of Our Study in the Book of Revelation To Be WiseTo Be WatchfulTo Be PrayerfulTo Be Ready

4. The 7 Year tribulation 31/2 years The Six Seals – Chapter 6 Jesus 2 nd Coming The Seven Trumpets The seven Bowls The 7 th Seal 8-22 The Layout of the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls

5. The 144,000 The Tribulation Saints The First Parenthesis

6. What is a Parenthesis? “Insertion of a word or sentence, which is necessary to explain or give information. The purpose of the parenthesis is for the writer to give you more information about a specific thing or time without breaking the sentence structure. It does not have to be chronological with the context. Ex. – The boy loved his dog. (It was given to him by his favorite uncle just before he died) The dog and the boy were inseparable.

7. I. The Four Angels

8. Rev. 7:1 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.

9. II. The Sealed Servants

10. Rev. 7:2 - Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God.

11. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:

12. Rev. 7:3 - "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."

13. Rev. 7:4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

14. From the tribe of _______ 12,000 were sealed Judah Rueben Gad Ashur Naphtali Manasseh Simeon Levi Issachar Zebulun Joseph Benjamin Notice – Dan & Ephraim are missing Rev. 7:5-8

15. Two Problems Seen in these Verses Problem One – Distinctions made between Jews and Gentiles in Christ Problem Two – There is a discrepancy in the lists of the twelve tribes of Israel

16. Problem One Distinctions made between Jews and Gentiles in Christ The Bible clearly teaches that the church is a single body consisting of Jew and Gentile in Christ I Cor. 10:32 - Give no offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. Gal. 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek… for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

17. Eph. 2: 11- 14 = Because of this remember, that you [being] in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Un-circumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He is our peace, who has made both one ( Jew and Gentile), and has broken down the middle wall of partition [between us];

18. Eph. 3:1-6 For this cause I Paul…2 If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you (Gentiles): 3 How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words, 4 so when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel

19. The bible makes it clear that the seal of the church is the Holy Spirit, not a mark on the forehead. Eph. 1:12 - In whom you also [trusted], after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,

20. Eph. 4:29 - And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. I Cor. 1:21-22 - Now He which establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, [is] God; 22 Who has also sealed us, and given the deposit of the Spirit in our hearts. The Purpose of the Seal for the Church is a Guarantee Deposit Until We Receive Our Glorified Bodies

21. The Purpose of the Seal for the 144,000 To protect them from the judgments coming against men Rev. 9:3-4 - And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

22. Preguntas If the tribulation is still the church age, why are those who have been “made one” (Jew and Gentile), now completely distinguished from one another? If the 144,000 thousand are in the church age, why are they sealed in the forehead with a mark and not by the Holy Spirit? Much more will be taught about the 144,000 when we get to Chapter 14

23. Problem Two Discrepancies in the lists of the 12 tribes of Israel There are 29 lists of the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old testament There is only one list of the 12 tribes of Israel, found in the New Testament. It is in the book of revelation, chapter seven.

24. Genesis 35: 22-26 - Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: 23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: 24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: 25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: 26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these [are] the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram. The First Listing of the Tribes in the OT

25. The list in Gen. 35 is the exact same list as the last chronological last listing of the 12 tribes in Ezekial 48. "These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side, which is 4,500 cubits long, 31 the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates on the north side will be the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah and the gate of Levi. Cont… The last Mention of the Tribes in the OT

26. The lists in Gen. 35 and Ezek. 48 do not match the list in Rev. 7 – Why? Ez. 48:32-35 "On the east side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin and the gate of Dan. 33 "On the south side, which measures 4,500 cubits, will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar and the gate of Zebulun. 34 "On the west side, which is 4,500 cubits long, will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher and the gate of Naphtali. 35a "The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits (Approx. 5 miles) Cont….

27. A little something extra in Your Lunch Bag In the millennium, Jerusalem will have a new name. “Yahweh Shammah” and the name of the city from [that] day shall be, “YAHWEH is there”. Ezek. 48:35b Back to the Question, Why the change in Rev. 7?

28. Dan brought Israel into Idol Worship during the Time of the Judges And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. 31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when [there was] no king in Israel… Judges 18:30-19:1a

29. Jeroboam Set Up Golden Calf Idols In Dan & Ephraim I Kings 12:7 - If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, [even] unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.

30. Whereupon the king (Jeroboam) took counsel, and made two calves [of] gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went [to worship] before the one, even unto Dan. I Kings 12:28-30

31. This Act by Jeroboam was pure political

32. Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! 18 Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways. 19 A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame. Hosea 4:17-19

33. Deut. 29:18-21 - Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from YAHWEH our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. 19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.“ Cont…

34. This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 YAHWEH will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and YAHWEH will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 YAHWEH will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. God had to judge the two tribes that brought Israel into idolatry The completion of God’s judgment on Dan and Ephraim will be in the tribulation period

35. Dan and Ephraim are included again in the millennium It would seem that Dan and Ephraim are not protected from the wrath of God as are the other tribes. They will be restored but may be very few in number. God’s grace is greater than Israel’s backsliding. Ezekial 48 absolutely declares that Dan will be re- instated by the grace of and promise of God during the millennium.

36. III. The Great Multitude

37. Rev. 7:9 - After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, …Cont.

38. 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

39. Rev. 7:10 - And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

40. Rev. 7:11 - All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.

41. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,

42. Rev. 7:12 Saying, "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" Saying, "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"

43. Rev. 7:13 - Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?"

44. 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. Rev. 7:14 - I answered, "Sir, you know."

45. Important Facts About the Great Multitude They come from every nation, tribe, people and language They all came out of the Great Tribulation They all had white robes washed in the blood of Jesus They all waved Palm Branches They were a completed Group who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." They all cry put “Salvation Belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

46. Rev. 7:15 - 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. Rev. 7:16 Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

47. Rev. 7:17 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."