Revelation
Chapter 7
Overview
John’s vision pauses before further disaster strikes. Four angels hold back the winds while God’s servants are marked for protection. John first hears a carefully ordered number from Israel’s tribes, then sees something far larger: an uncountable crowd drawn from every nation, people, and language. They stand before God and the Lamb, celebrating rescue after terrible suffering. The scene moves from a world holding its breath to a vast chorus of praise, then ends with a promise of shelter, living water, and the wiping away of every tear.
1After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the earth’s four winds so that no wind would blow on the land, the sea, or any tree.
2Then I saw another angel rising from the east. He carried the seal of the living God. He shouted loudly to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea.
3He said, “Do not harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”
4Then I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal: 144,000 from all the tribes of the people of Israel.
5From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were marked with the seal; from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000; from the tribe of Gad, 12,000;
6from the tribe of Asher, 12,000; from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000; from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000;
7from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000; from the tribe of Levi, 12,000; from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000;
8from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000; from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000; and from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were marked with the seal.
9After this, I saw a vast crowd that no one could count. They came from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
10They shouted loudly, “Rescue comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!”
11All the angels stood around the throne, the elder leaders, and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God.
12They said, “Yes—this is true! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Yes—this is true!”
13Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
14I answered him, “Sir, you know.” He told me, “These are the people coming out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15That is why they stand before God’s throne and serve him in worship day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will spread his shelter over them.
16They will never again be hungry or thirsty. The sun will not beat down on them, nor will any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb at the center of the throne will care for them like a shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”