God's People
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After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.
(In the last 10 years freak weather and damage caused by storms, hurricanes and tornadoes make it look as though these winds have now been unleashed.)
(2) Then I saw another angel coming up from the east. He had the seal of the living God and shouted in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage the earth and the sea: (In chapter 9 we will see that these freak weather disasters happen at the same time, when humanity is threatened by destruction through modern warfare.)
(3) "Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God." (4) Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from the descendants of all the tribes of Israel. (In the following verses 12 tribes of Israel are listed. This vision confirms that in the eyes of Jewish prophets predicting the "end-times" the tribes of Israel still exist, even though today their descendants are normally not aware of their Jewish ancestors from 2000 - 3000 years ago. Manasseh does not belong here and Dan is missing. The Normans who founded the End-Time Anglo-American world culture according to chapter 13 were called "Dani" in Roman times, see 5:5, 14:1, Genesis 49:17.)
| (5) 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, (6) 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, (7) 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, (8) 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulon,12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin. |
The Enormous Crowd in White Robes
(Unlike in ancient times worshipping the God of the Jews is very widespread in the world today among peoples without any Jewish roots such as Negroes and East-Asians. This statement may sound trivial to most of us today, but it was certainly important for Jews living 2000 years ago, when the Revelation was written. Even today some descendants of the tribe of Judah still regard themselves as special enough to fight and discriminate against descendants of other Israelite tribes, nowadays known as "Arabs" or "Palestinians" and vice versa.)
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white gowns holding palm branches in their hands. (10) They shouted in a loud voice, "Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb." (11) All the angels were standing round the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne, worshipped God, (12) and said, "Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength belongs to our God for ever and ever. Amen!" (13) One of the elders asked me, "Who are these people in white gowns - and where are they from?" (14) I answered, "Sir, you tell me." And he said, "These are the people who have come out of the terrible times, they have washed their gowns and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (They have either become martyrs themselves or they have studied the teachings of Jesus and followed his example in other ways. The benefit of the murder of Jesus on the cross for us today is that it made him important enough to keep a record of his words. Without this murder he would probably be forgotten now. If anyone expects forgiveness of his sins without doing anything for it just because Jesus was killed, he will probably be disappointed on "Judgment Day", see 5:9.)
(15) That's why they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and the one who sits on the throne will protect them. (16) Never again will they be hungry; never again will they be thirsty. The sun will not burn them, nor any scorching heat. (17) For the Lamb in the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to the sources of the water of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (See 21:4)