---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Revelation 7"
description: "CHAPTER 7   :-. SEALING OF THE
ELECT OF ISRAEL.
THE COUNTLESS
MULTITUDE OF THE GENTILE
ELECT. 1. And—so B and Syriac.
But A, C, Vulgate, and Coptic omit \""
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/revelation/7"
---

CHAPTER 7

. SEALING OF THE
ELECT OF ISRAEL.
THE COUNTLESS
MULTITUDE OF THE GENTILE
ELECT.

**1. And**—so B and *Syriac.*
But A, C, *Vulgate,* and *Coptic* omit "and."
**after these things**—A,
B, C, and *Coptic* read, "after this." The two visions
in this chapter come in as an episode *after* the sixth seal,
and before the seventh seal. It is clear that, though "Israel"
may elsewhere designate the spiritual Israel, "the elect
(Church) on earth" [ALFORD],
here, where the names of the tribes one by one are specified, these
names cannot have any but the literal meaning. The second advent will
be the time of *the restoration of the kingdom to Israel,* when
*the times of the Gentiles shall have been fulfilled,* and the
Jews shall at last say, "Blessed is He that cometh in the name
of the Lord." The period of the Lord's absence has been a blank
in the history of the Jews as a nation. As then Revelation is the
Book of the Second Advent [DE
BURGH], naturally mention
of God's restored favor to Israel occurs among the events that usher
in Christ's advent.
**earth . . . sea . . .
tree**—The judgments to descend on these are in answer to the
martyrs' prayer under the *fifth* seal. Compare the same
judgments under the *fifth* trumpet, the sealed being exempt ().
**on any tree**—*Greek,*
"*against* any tree" (*Greek,* "*epi ti
dendron*": but "*on* the earth," *Greek,*
"*epi tees gees*").

**2. from the east**—*Greek,*
"the rising of the sun." The quarter from which God's glory
oftenest manifests itself.

**3. Hurt not**—by letting loose
the destructive winds.
**till we have sealed the
servants of our God**—parallel to , "His angels . . . shall gather together His elect
from the four winds." God's love is such, that He *cannot do
anything* in the way of judgment, till His people are secured from
hurt ([Genesis 19:22](../../../kjv/genesis/19/22)). Israel, at the
eve of the Lord's coming, shall be found re-embodied as a nation; for
its tribes are distinctly specified (Joseph, however, being
substituted for Dan; whether because Antichrist is to come from Dan,
or because Dan is to be Antichrist's especial tool [ARETAS,
tenth century], compare [Genesis 49:17](../../../kjv/genesis/49/17);
[Jeremiah 8:16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/16); [Amos 8:14](../../../kjv/amos/8/14);
just as there was a Judas among the Twelve). Out of these tribes *a
believing remnant* will be preserved from the judgments which
shall destroy all the Antichristian confederacy ([Amos 8:14](../../../kjv/amos/8/14)), and *shall be transfigured with the elect Church of
all nations,* namely, 144,000 (or whatever number is meant by this
symbolical number), who shall faithfully resist the seductions of
Antichrist, while the rest of the nation, restored to Palestine in
unbelief, are his dupes, and at last his victims. Previously to the
Lord's judgments on Antichrist and his hosts, these latter shall
destroy *two-thirds* of the nation, *one-third* escaping,
and, by the Spirit's operation through affliction, turning to the
Lord, which remnant shall form the nucleus on earth of the Israelite
nation that is from this time to stand at the head of the millennial
nations of the world. Israel's spiritual resurrection shall be "as
life from the dead" to all the nations. As now a regeneration
goes on here and there of individuals, so there shall then be a
regeneration of nations universally, and this in connection with
Christ's coming. [Matthew 24:34](../../../kjv/matthew/24/34);
"this generation (the Jewish nation) shall not pass till all
these things be fulfilled," which implies that Israel can no
more *pass away* before Christ's advent, than Christ's own *words*
can *pass away* (the same *Greek*), [Matthew 24:34](../../../kjv/matthew/24/34). So exactly [Zechariah 13:8](../../../kjv/zechariah/13/8);
[Zechariah 13:9](../../../kjv/zechariah/13/9); [Zechariah 14:2-4](../../../kjv/zechariah/14/2-4);
[Zechariah 14:9-21](../../../kjv/zechariah/14/9-21); compare
[Zechariah 12:2-14](../../../kjv/zechariah/12/2-14); [Zechariah 13:1](../../../kjv/zechariah/13/1);
[Zechariah 13:2](../../../kjv/zechariah/13/2). So also [Ezekiel 8:17](../../../kjv/ezekiel/8/17);
[Ezekiel 8:18](../../../kjv/ezekiel/8/18); [Ezekiel 9:1-7](../../../kjv/ezekiel/9/1-7),
especially [Ezekiel 9:4](../../../kjv/ezekiel/9/4). Compare also
[Ezekiel 10:2](../../../kjv/ezekiel/10/2); [Revelation 8:5](../../../kjv/revelation/8/5),
where the final judgments actually fall on the earth, with the same
accompaniment, *the fire of the altar cast into the earth,*
including the *fire scattered over the city.* So again, [Revelation 8:5](../../../kjv/revelation/8/5), the same 144,000 appear on Zion with the Father's name in
their forehead, at the close of the section, the twelfth through
fourteenth chapters, concerning the Church and her foes. Not that the
saints are exempt from trial: [Revelation 8:5](../../../kjv/revelation/8/5) proves the contrary; but their trials are distinct from the
*destroying* judgments that fall on the world; from these they
are exempted, as Israel was from the plagues of Egypt, especially
from the last, the Israelite doors having the protecting seal of the
blood-mark.
**foreheads**—the most
conspicuous and noblest part of man's body; on which the helmet, "the
hope of salvation," is worn.

**4.** *Twelve* is the number
of the tribes, and appropriate to *the Church:* three by four:
three, the *divine* number, multiplied by four, the number for
*world-wide extension.* Twelve by twelve implies *fixity and
completeness,* which is taken a thousandfold in 144,000. A
*thousand* implies *the world perfectly pervaded by the
divine;* for it is *ten,* the world number, raised to the
power of *three,* the number of God.
**of all the tribes**—literally,
"out of every tribe"; not 144,000 of each tribe, but the
aggregate of the twelve thousand *from every tribe.*
**children**—*Greek,*
"*sons* of Israel." [Revelation 3:12](../../../kjv/revelation/3/12);
[Revelation 21:12](../../../kjv/revelation/21/12), are no objection, as
ALFORD thinks, to the
literal Israel being meant; for, in consummated glory, still the
Church will be that "built on the foundation of the (*Twelve*)
apostles (Israelites), Jesus Christ (an Israelite) being the chief
corner-stone." Gentile believers shall have *the name of
Jerusalem written on them,* in that they shall share the
citizenship antitypical to that of the literal Jerusalem.

**5-8.** Judah (meaning *praise*)
stands first, as Jesus' tribe. Benjamin, the youngest, is last; and
with him is associated second last, Joseph. Reuben, as originally
first-born, comes next after Judah, to whom it gave place, having by
sin lost its primogeniture right. Besides the reason given above (see
on [Revelation 7:2](../../../kjv/revelation/7/2)), another akin for the
omission of Dan, is, its having been the first to lapse into idolatry
([Judges 18:1-31](../../../kjv/judges/18/1-31)); for which
same reason the name Ephraim, also (compare [Judges 17:1-3](../../../kjv/judges/17/1-3);
[Hosea 4:17](../../../kjv/hosea/4/17)), is omitted, and Joseph
substituted. Also, it had been now for long almost extinct. Long
before, the Hebrews say [GROTIUS],
it was reduced to the one family of Hussim, which perished
subsequently in the wars before Ezra's time. Hence it is omitted in
the fourth through eighth chapters of First Chronicles. Dan's small
numbers are joined here to Naphtali's, whose brother he was by the
same mother [BENGEL]. The
twelve times twelve thousand sealed ones of Israel are the nucleus of
transfigured humanity [AUBERLEN],
to which the elect Gentiles are joined, "a multitude which no
man could number," [Revelation 7:9](../../../kjv/revelation/7/9)
(that is, the Church of Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately, in which
the Gentiles are the predominant element, [Revelation 7:9](../../../kjv/revelation/7/9). The word "tribes," *Greek,* implies that
*believing Israelites* are in this *countless multitude*).
Both are in heaven, yet ruling over the earth, as ministers of
blessing to its inhabitants: while upon earth the world of nations is
added to the kingdom of Israel. The twelve apostles stand at the head
of the whole. The upper and the lower congregation, though distinct,
are intimately associated.

**9. no man**—*Greek,* "no
one."
**of all nations**—*Greek,*
"OUT OF *every
nation.*" The human race is "*one nation*" by
origin, but afterwards separated itself into *tribes, peoples,*
and *tongues;* hence, the one singular stands first, followed by
the three plurals.
**kindreds**—*Greek,*
"tribes."
**people**—*Greek,*
"peoples." The "first-fruits unto the Lamb," the
144,000 ([Revelation 14:1-4](../../../kjv/revelation/14/1-4)) of
Israel, are followed by a copious harvest of all nations, an election
*out of* the Gentiles, as the 144,000 are an election out of
Israel (see on [Revelation 7:3](../../../kjv/revelation/7/3)).
**white robes**—(See on [Revelation 7:3](../../../kjv/revelation/7/3); also [Revelation 3:5](../../../kjv/revelation/3/5); [Revelation 3:18](../../../kjv/revelation/3/18);
[Revelation 4:4](../../../kjv/revelation/4/4)).
**palms in . . . hands**—the
antitype to Christ's entry into Jerusalem amidst the palm-bearing
multitude. This shall be just when He is about to come visibly and
take possession of His kingdom. The *palm branch* is the symbol
of joy and triumph. It was used at the feast of tabernacles, on the
fifteenth day of the seventh month, when they kept feast to God in
thanksgiving for the ingathered fruits. The antitype shall be the
completed gathering in of the harvest of the elect redeemed here
described. Compare [Zechariah 14:16](../../../kjv/zechariah/14/16),
whence it appears that the *earthly* feast of tabernacles will
be renewed, in commemoration of Israel's preservation in her long
wilderness-like sojourn among the nations from which she shall now be
delivered, just as the original typical feast was to commemorate her
dwelling for forty years in booths or tabernacles in the literal
wilderness.

**10. cried**—*Greek,* "cry,"
in the three oldest manuscripts, A, B, C, *Vulgate, Syriac,* and
*Coptic.* It is their continuing, ceaseless employment.
**Salvation**—literally,
"THE salvation";
all the praise of our salvation be ascribed to our God. At the Lord's
entry into Jerusalem, the type, similarly "salvation" is
the cry of the palm-bearing multitudes. *Hosanna* means "save
us now"; taken from , in which Psalm ([Psalms 118:14](../../../kjv/psalms/118/14);
[Psalms 118:15](../../../kjv/psalms/118/15); [Psalms 118:21](../../../kjv/psalms/118/21);
[Psalms 118:26](../../../kjv/psalms/118/26)) the same connection
occurs between *salvation,* the *tabernacles* of the
righteous, and the Jews' cry to be repeated by the whole nation at
Christ's coming, "Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the
Lord."

**11.** The angels, as in , in their turn take up the anthem of praise. There it was
"*many* angels," here it is "*all* the
angels."
**stood**—"were
standing" [ALFORD].

**12.** *Greek,* "*The*
blessing, *the* glory, *the* wisdom, *the*
thanksgiving, *the* honor, *the* power, *the* might
[the doxology is *sevenfold,* implying its totality and
completeness], *unto the ages of the ages.*"

**13. answered**—namely, to my
thoughts; spoke, asking the question which might have been expected
to arise in John's mind from what has gone before. One of the
twenty-four elders, representing the Old and New Testament ministry,
appropriately acts as interpreter of this vision of the glorified
Church.
**What,** &c.—*Greek*
order, "These which are arrayed in white robes, WHO
are they?"

**14. Sir**—*Greek,* "Lord."
B, C, *Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic* versions, and CYPRIAN
read, "My Lord." A omits "My," as *English
Version.*
**thou knowest**—taken from
[Ezekiel 37:3](../../../kjv/ezekiel/37/3). Comparatively
ignorant ourselves of divine things, it is well for us to look upward
for divinely communicated knowledge.
**came**—rather as *Greek,*
"come"; implying that they are *just come.*
**great tribulation**—*Greek,*
"THE great
tribulation"; "the tribulation, the great one,"
namely, *the* tribulation to which the martyrs were exposed
under the fifth seal, the same which Christ foretells as about to
precede His coming ([Matthew 24:21](../../../kjv/matthew/24/21),
*great tribulation*), and followed by the same signs as the
sixth seal ([Matthew 24:29](../../../kjv/matthew/24/29); [Matthew 24:30](../../../kjv/matthew/24/30)),
compare [Daniel 12:1](../../../kjv/daniel/12/1); including also
retrospectively all *the tribulation* which the saints of all
ages have had to pass through. Thus this seventh chapter is a
recapitulation of the vision of the six seals, [Daniel 12:1](../../../kjv/daniel/12/1), to fill up the outline there given in that part of it
which affects the faithful of that day. There, however, their number
was waiting to be completed, but here it is completed, and they are
seen taken out of the earth before the judgments on the Antichristian
apostasy; with their Lord, they, and all His faithful witnesses and
disciples of past ages, wait for His coming and their coming to be
glorified and reign together with Him. Meanwhile, in contrast with
their previous sufferings, they are exempt from the hunger, thirst,
and scorching heats of their life on earth ([Daniel 12:1](../../../kjv/daniel/12/1)), and are fed and refreshed by the Lamb of God Himself
([Revelation 7:17](../../../kjv/revelation/7/17); [Revelation 14:1-4](../../../kjv/revelation/14/1-4);
[Revelation 14:13](../../../kjv/revelation/14/13)); an earnest of their
future perfect blessedness in both body and soul united ([Revelation 21:4-6](../../../kjv/revelation/21/4-6);
[Revelation 22:1-5](../../../kjv/revelation/22/1-5)).
**washed . . . robes . . .
white in the blood of . . . Lamb**— ([Revelation 1:5](../../../kjv/revelation/1/5);
[Isaiah 1:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/1/18); [Hebrews 9:14](../../../kjv/hebrews/9/14);
[1 John 1:7](../../../kjv/1-john/1/7); compare [Isaiah 61:10](../../../kjv/isaiah/61/10);
[Zechariah 3:3-5](../../../kjv/zechariah/3/3-5)). Faith applies to
the heart the purifying blood; once for all for justification,
continually throughout the life for sanctification.

**15. Therefore**—because they are
so washed white; for without it they could never have entered God's
holy heaven; [Revelation 22:14](../../../kjv/revelation/22/14),
"Blessed are those who *wash their robes* (the oldest
manuscripts reading), that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city"; [Revelation 21:27](../../../kjv/revelation/21/27);
[Ephesians 5:26](../../../kjv/ephesians/5/26); [Ephesians 5:27](../../../kjv/ephesians/5/27).
**before**—*Greek,*
"in the presence of." [Matthew 5:8](../../../kjv/matthew/5/8);
[1 Corinthians 13:12](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/13/12), "face to face."
**throne . . . temple**—These
are connected because we can approach the heavenly King only through
priestly mediation; therefore, Christ is at once King and Priest on
His throne.
**day and night**—that is,
perpetually; as those approved of as priests by the Sanhedrim were
clothed in white, and kept by turns a perpetual watch in the temple
at Jerusalem; compare as to the singers, [1 Corinthians 13:12](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/13/12), "day and night"; [1 Corinthians 13:12](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/13/12). Strictly "there is no night" in the heavenly
sanctuary ([Revelation 22:5](../../../kjv/revelation/22/5)).
**in his temple**—in what
is the heavenly analogue to His temple on earth, for strictly there
is "no temple therein" ([Revelation 22:5](../../../kjv/revelation/22/5)), "God and the Lamb are the temple" filling the
whole, so that there is no distinction of sacred and secular places;
the city is the temple, and the temple the city. Compare [Revelation 22:5](../../../kjv/revelation/22/5), "the four living creatures rest not *day and night,*
saying, Holy," c.
**shall dwell among them**—rather
(*Greek,* "*scenosei ep' autous*"), "shall
be the tabernacle over them" (compare [Revelation 21:3](../../../kjv/revelation/21/3)
[Leviticus 26:11](../../../kjv/leviticus/26/11), especially [Isaiah 4:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/4/5);
[Isaiah 4:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/4/6); [Isaiah 8:14](../../../kjv/isaiah/8/14);
[Isaiah 25:4](../../../kjv/isaiah/25/4); [Ezekiel 37:27](../../../kjv/ezekiel/37/27)).
His *dwelling among them* is to be understood as a secondary
truth, besides what is expressed, namely, His being their covert.
When once He *tabernacled among us as the Word made flesh,* He
was in great lowliness; then He shall be in great glory.

**16.** ().
**hunger no more**—as they
did here.
**thirst any more**— ().
**the sun**—literally,
scorching in the East. Also, symbolically, the sun of persecution.
**neither . . . light**—*Greek,*
"by no means at all . . . light" (fall).
**heat**—as the sirocco.

**17. in the midst of the throne**—that
is, in the middle point in front of the throne ().
**feed**—*Greek,*
"tend as a shepherd."
**living fountains of water**—A,
B, *Vulgate,* and CYPRIAN
read, (eternal) "*life's* fountains of waters."
"Living" is not supported by the old authorities.

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