Who Can Stand? (Revelation 7:1-8:5)
Big Idea: God will preserve his own people, and they will enjoy his protection and presence forever.
Canadian preacher Darrell Johnson calls this chapter the most comforting of all the visions contained in the Bible. But you have to understand what he means when he says “comforting.”
I am using the phrase, “most comforting,” both in the modern sense of the word, “creating a state of well-being,” and in the original sense of the word, “fortifying for courageous action.” The English word comfort comes from the Latin com-forte: com means “with”; forte means “strength.” To comfort is to give strength in order to be and do what one ordinarily could not be or do.
This chapter is designed for real people who are facing hard realities. It’s written for Christians who want to obey God, but are facing significant costs for doing so. When Christians face suffering and even death, they need comfort in both senses of the word. We need a state of wellbeing in the middle of discomfort and suffering. And we need fortitude to stay faithful even in the midst of incredible pressure to cave on what God has called us to do.
What to Expect
We are deep into our Revelation series. Last week we saw that God is executing his plans for the world through Jesus. Jesus is opening the seals, which means that Jesus is executing God’s plans for human history. He is worthy to do so because he conquered through his death and is now bringing his rule and reign into the world.
That sounds good! But last week, we saw what God’s plans for history involve. Here’s what happens as Jesus opens the seals: we experience war, civil unrest, economic hardship and inequity, disease, death, and persecution. That’s what we can expect in this part of history, not because things are out of control, but because God’s plans for judgment and salvation are unfolding in the world. Don’t be surprised when you open the newspaper and things look bad. Don’t be surprised when you hear of wars and injustice and economic disparity and death. Don’t be surprised that Christians will suffer for their faith and die. We’ve been warned. Life will be hard. In this passage, God is setting expectations for what life will be like.
But it gets worse! When we left off last week, Jesus had opened the sixth seal found in 6:12-17. The sixth seal is so terrifying that the earth shakes, the sun darkens, the moon turns red, and the stars fall. The sixth seal borrows from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, and Jesus to describe the final day of judgment (Isaiah 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:29). It’s so terrifying that people pray not to God but to mountains and rocks, begging them to fall and crush them. They’d rather die than stand before the holy and just wrath of the Lamb.
Chapter 6 ends with the question, “The great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17). That's a great question! Who can stand? Chapter 7 gives us the answer, and it’s a comforting one: God’s people can stand. Every single person who belongs to Jesus can stand in the middle of the suffering of this world and in the final judgment. God will preserve his own people, every single one.
Two Comforting Truths
Chapter 7 is an interlude. Chapter 7 comes after the sixth seal is opened and before the seventh seal is opened in the first five verses of chapter 8. In chapter 8, the Lamb opens the seal, and there’s silence in heaven for half an hour before God answers the prayers of God’s people for justice by hallowing his name and judging the world. Chapter 7 is the interlude between the sixth and the seventh seal being opened, and it’s designed to answer the question, “Who can stand?”
In response to this question, Revelation 7 gives us two comforting truths.
First, God will preserve his people (7:1-8).
Chapter 7 begins with the angels holding back the forces of judgment:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea… (7:1-2)
Judgment is coming! Angels stand at the four corners of the world ready to unleash winds of judgment against the world. But something has to happen first.
What has to happen? Verse 3 tells us: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Further judgment is delayed until the servants of God are marked for protection from coming judgments on earth.
And then you have a list of those who are being marked for protection in verses 4 to 8: “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel…” (7:4). And then you have all of these names in verses 5 to 8.
What do these names represent? Who is included among the 144,000? This is what you’re here to figure out! Remember that numbers in Revelation are symbolic. Some people believe that this is a certain number of Jewish people at the end of history. I believe it’s probably a number that includes the 12 tribes of Israel, representing Old Testament saints, and the 12 apostles, representing the people of God in the new covenant. 12 times 12 is 144, and then you have this multiplied by 1000, signifying completeness. This is the perfect, complete number of God’s people, all of them secure. Here you have the complete people of God from both the Old and New Testament. Who will be marked for protection? All of God’s people, every single one. All of them will be kept safe.
This is the complete number of Old Testament saints who looked forward and put their faith in the Christ who was promised combined with those saints in the New Testament era who look back at the cross and resurrection and put their faith in Christ. This is the true Israel, the church across the ages. Everyone is accounted for. And they are all sealed for protection. (Nancy Guthrie)
If you look carefully at this list, you’ll notice a few anomalies. He rearranges the order. Judah comes before Rueben, even though Reuben is older. Why? Because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. He also omits some names (Ephraim and Dan) and includes Joseph and Levi. None of this is accidental. “Something has happened in the coming of the Messiah that changes the nature of Israel” (Johnson).
Who can stand? If you are in Jesus, you can. Take comfort! Just as Israel was sealed for protection in the final plague by the blood of a Passover lamb, just as some were marked for protection from God’s judgment in Ezekiel 9, you have been sealed by God for protection. No matter how bad the world gets, no matter how much war, civil unrest, economic hardship and inequity, disease, death, and persecution take place, you are safe. God will preserve his own people, every single one.
What does it mean that you are sealed for protection? It doesn’t mean that you won’t suffer or even die for Jesus in this world. It does mean that God knows who are his (2 Timothy 2:19), and they do not need to fear the day of the wrath of the Lamb. You are sealed by him.
Many believers struggle with doubts about their faith's endurance. You might find yourself questioning, "Can I keep holding onto God through all of life's challenges?" This passage answers: while you may feel tempted to let go of God, if you are truly in Christ, he will never let go of you. The Spirit's seal is your guarantee that your faith will persevere until the end.
This truth is particularly powerful for believers worldwide who face severe persecution. Our spiritual perseverance doesn't depend solely on our own strength, but on God's faithful grip on us. What an incredibly comforting message for all believers, both in times of trial and in daily life. No one or nothing can take you away from Jesus. You are safe in him. As Charles Spurgeon once said, “Child of God, you cost Christ too much for him to forget you!”
The church in Revelation needed to hear this. God will protect every single one of his people. Not one will be lost. Who can stand on the day of the wrath of the Lamb? Who can stand in the final judgment? They can, because they are sealed and safe in him.
That’s the first comforting truth we need: God will protect and preserve his people. Every single one. Here’s the second:
Second, they will enjoy the presence and protection of God forever (7:9-17).
Not only do we not have to fear, but we have lots to look forward to. Verses 9 to 17 give us a different view of the same group of people. The first part of the vision says that we will be saved from his wrath; the second part says that the people of God will enter into the bliss of God himself. The first is a picture of God’s people on earth; the second is a picture of God’s people in eternity. They will enter the presence and protection of God forever.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)
Here we get a vision of the same group of people. Instead of symbolic language (144,000), we get a description of the vast number of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They’ve not only been sealed and protected through judgment, but now they are standing before the throne and the Lamb. They’re clothed in white robes, symbolizing that through Jesus they have been purified from sin. They are waving palms, symbolizing their festive celebration before the Lamb.
Remember the question at the end of chapter 6? “Who can stand?” The answer comes in verse 9 as these people stand before the throne and the Lamb without fear. True worshipers can stand!
Their praise goes to God and the Lamb. Why? Because salvation belongs to them. They didn’t earn their salvation. It wasn’t what they did. It was all of God, and so God deserves all the glory.
Then, in verses 11 and 12, you have angels joining the worship, ascribing seven attributes to God. And then in verses 13 and 14, you have the question asked and answered: who are these people?
Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Who are they? They are those who have come out of the great tribulation. Tribulation means “crushing pressure.” In Revelation 1:9, John called himself a partner in tribulation. I don’t think this passage is referring to a seven-year future time of heightened suffering. We’ll get to that later in Revelation. Here I think he’s referring to the tribulation that every Christian can expect to experience. Paul wrote, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Same word. All of those who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, tribulation.
And here’s the good news. Every single one of God’s people will not only be preserved, but will stand before God and the Lamb worshiping him for his great salvation. We zoom to the end of history, to our future, to what we will one day experience:
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 shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
(7:15–17)
Who can stand on the day of judgment? If you are in Jesus, you can, because God will preserve his own people, and they will enjoy his protection and presence forever.
No wonder Darrell Johnson says this is the most comforting vision in the entire Bible.
We are sealed—we are made secure, not safe. Not insulated. In the nature of things that is not possible. But we are secure. No one, nothing, can take us away from Jesus Christ; we are sealed by his Holy Spirit. The second scene tells us that on the other side of the crunch lies a new world, wherein we experience unrestricted intimacy with the center of the universe himself. Together the two scenes give us the strength and courage to not run from the suffering at the intersection of kingdoms, to not give up, to not compromise even in the face of death.
If you are in Jesus, this is your hope. If you are not in Jesus, this can become your hope today as you turn in repentance and faith to him.
