Revelation 7:2 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Revelation 7:2

Comments

Before the four angels can unleash their destructive powers they are commanded to stop and wait for something of extreme importance that must be done first – true believers must be sealed. There is a wonderful alternation between terrible things and wonderful things in this book. The focus here is on the protection of the elect of God. None of these fearful judgments will interfere with the purposes of God in gathering out his people; none of the problems to follow will ever sweep them from their foundation. They are sealed to prevent them being hurt by the sounding of the trumpets that will follow in chapters 8 and 9. The extent to which this book is woven together like a tapestry is remarkable. ‘And I saw another angel ascending from the east.’ Why from the east? Because the sun arises in the east and we are thinking here of the ‘Sun of righteousness’ (Malachi 4:2). Salvation is portrayed in the Old Testament by the prophets as dawning from the east and rising with the sun. So this is a beneficial message. Verse 1 speaks of the great gales of judgement that are about to blow. But no, a saving angel comes from the direction of salvation having the seal of the living God. ‘Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.’ We read of the earth, trees, and sea being hurt when the four angels are released (Revelation 8:5,7,9). This is wonderful language, and the sealing describes salvation. Why are they sealed? These chapters are about a book with seven seals. Now the word ‘seals’ is used in another context. The seal sealed a document or a parcel in ancient times. It was a seal of security. The contents were safe while the seal was unbroken. It was a seal of authentication, because stamped into the seal was the identifying mark of the sender: this is my package. Here, God says, this is my scroll, my decree or declaration, that will be opened. This is my communication, carrying my authority. So it’s a seal of authentication, a seal of security. Judgement will be withheld until all those who will be saved are not just saved, but are sealed. They are saved in such a way that they are secure for all eternity. There are saved in such a way that the authenticating mark of true salvation is stamped upon them. The apostle Paul uses this figure in Ephesians chapter 1, where, very beautifully, the seal is opened up to us in verse 12: ‘That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ Which is the earnest [an advanced payment which guarantees the rest] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:12-14). The seal authenticates; the seal secures the believer.

Application

Do you have the seal of the Spirit? The people of God are sealed. The day of judgement is restrained and held off until all the people of God – those who are truly saved – are saved and sealed. That is the picture here. If you don’t have the seal of the Spirit, we read later on in the Book of Revelation, you have another mark in its place. Either in your right hand or in your forehead, you have the mark of the beast, the mark of Satan’s instruments, the mark of this world: 666, the number of a man. It is not literal. You don’t have a tattoo on your forehead, or in your hand, any more than the believer has the mark of the Spirit in his forehead. Some foolishly think this is literal. The mark of the beast – what is that? Some physical sign or mark? Of course not. It’s a symbol; it’s all symbols in the Book of Revelation. The mark of the beast means you think like a worldling; you desire like a worldling. Your tastes and your values are for this world, for what fallen man loves. We love ourselves if we are worldlings; we love this world. We pursue greedy objectives. That is how we think as rebels against God. But the seal of the Spirit – which we are going to read is in the forehead: that means in the mind. It has transformed the way you think and view things. Have you the seal of the Spirit? When you become a true child of God, you become so, first of all, in your mind. You are persuaded, convinced. Oh you may have trouble with doubts. The devil may lob doubts in, but broadly speaking you are convinced. You really now believe in Christ. You say to yourself, ‘Why didn’t I see all this before? it so obvious to me. This is reality: that this world is created, that I am a sinner, that I need Christ and I have found him. I follow him, and I think for him and he is in my head most of the time, and my values have changed, and my conscience has come to life. When I read the Bible I know it’s true. Oh, says the cynic, how do you know it’s true? What’s your proof? You tell me about the resurrection. What’s your hard evidence for today? You don’t need evidence. It’s obvious to you it’s true, because you’ve been inwardly persuaded in your mind. You look back and your say, I wasn’t like this six months ago. I doubted everything before I was converted. I couldn’t say I was a believer. But now there is a change come about; I instinctively believe these things. If I get doubts suggested to my mind, I’m troubled, because it goes against the rest of my thinking and I need this to be explained or resolved. You have been persuaded by the Spirit of God. It’s the seal of the Spirit.

Questions

When does this sealing take place? It is presented as if it was done once on a single occasion, but since those sealed stand for the saints of Old and New Testaments, who obviously are not all alive at the same time, it must be understood as an ideal representation. This seal, as Hendriksen says, is about ownership and consequent protection. God’s protection surrounds us from the moment we trust in him, and in a more mysterious sense even before this. It is a sealing which determines that, in the outworking of God’s providence, the protection of the saints is taken account of.

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Introduction

Revelation 7:2 Commentary and Bible Study