A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Antisemitism is on the rise. Pastor John shares this perspective as we begin A Daily Walk.

John Randall: There seems to be, even in some Christian circles, some kind of an anti-Semitic attitude which is inexcusable. Think about it, what God has done with this group of people and the blessing that we have received because of it. They were the ones to whom the Scriptures were given. Almost every author, minus a few, were Jewish.

They meticulously preserved Scripture, and the Dead Sea Scrolls proved it. Our Lord and Savior came from the Jewish nation. The first disciples were also Jewish and took the gospel throughout the known world. It was part of the plan of God that most of us as Gentiles would be grafted in. So the identity, to say it again, they are Jews. One hundred and forty-four thousand. That is the first group.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for another edition of A Daily Walk. If you've been studying along with us recently as we've been going through Revelation, you'll recall in chapter 6, we saw the vision of coming death and destruction. In chapter 8, another wave of judgment begins.

But in chapter 7, we have a break in the action, and a question is asked: Will anyone be saved during this time of tribulation? The answer just may surprise you. Here is Pastor John Randall.

John Randall: Revelation chapter 7 this morning, drawing your attention to verse 1 as we begin. "After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed."

In Revelation chapter 5, the Apostle John saw the Father seated on His throne in heaven, holding a scroll in His right hand that was sealed with seven seals. Then he heard a voice calling out in heaven to find someone who was worthy to come and to take the scroll and to open its seals. But when the invitation was given, there wasn't anyone who was worthy to step forward. It was in that moment, thinking that all hope had been lost, that the Apostle John began to weep.

But while he was weeping, an elder spoke to him and told him to stop crying. There was one who was found worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the offspring of David. He is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

I get excited when I say those titles. As Jesus, who is both lion and lamb, steps forward, He takes the scroll in His hands, and suddenly all of heaven and earth and all of creation break forth in unified praise to the one who alone is worthy. Jesus then proceeded to open the scroll one seal at a time. As each seal was opened, it brought forth judgment upon the earth as the seven-year tribulation period begins.

While the church has been raptured safely tucked away in heaven, the Antichrist emerges as the counterfeit Messiah. He rides upon a white horse with a bow in his hand and a temporary crown upon his head. When he arrives, he is empowered by the devil, and he will present solutions to the problems within the world. He will establish a temporary covenant of peace with the nation of Israel and he will rebuild their temple.

Yet meanwhile, there will be war, famine, death, and pestilence on the world's population as one-fourth of the world population is destroyed. Chapter 6 concludes with a fearful cry and question of those who were left behind. In Revelation 6:17, this is what they say: "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" As you enter into Revelation 7, that question of who is able to stand is answered.

Revelation chapter 7 has been referred to as the parenthetical chapter because it serves as a break within the action. The chapter gives us a moment to catch our breath in light of all that will come upon the earth. It is a temporary pause or an interlude before the seventh seal is opened, which gives way to the next series of judgments known as the trumpet judgments. It also reveals in the midst of judgment God's mercy.

Chapter 7 answers the question, will anyone be saved during the tribulation period? Will anyone come to faith in Christ after the church is gone? The answer to that question is yes. There are two groups that are identified in this chapter. The first group, found in verses 1 through 8, are the 144,000 Jewish believers who are sealed and protected by God and used to evangelize during the time of tribulation.

The second group that is mentioned in verses 9 through 17 are those who trust in Christ for salvation during the tribulation and then were martyred for their faith in Christ and then taken to heaven. The chapter opens first of all with a command to the angels to momentarily restrain the successive judgments that are about to come upon the earth. Look at verse 1. "After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree."

The Apostle John had witnessed six seals being opened, and now the seventh and final seal is to be opened. The angels, four angels, are standing at the four corners of the earth. Now the four corners of the earth is not implying that the earth is flat. The phrase simply refers to the four primary points on a compass: north, south, east, and west. The four winds are a description of judgment that is briefly restrained.

The phrase here "holding back" is a strong word that implies that the winds are struggling to break from their restraint. Yet the angels are not to unleash further judgment until the Lord gives the command. In other words, in the midst of judgment and the consequences of man's sin, God is still showing mercy. He is giving people time to repent.

The Bible does tell us that we reap what we sow. If you sow to sin, you will reap a harvest of bad fruit, broken relationships, and painful circumstances. But the Lord doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives us mercy. The Bible says it is His kindness that leads us to repentance. Perhaps in your life this morning, you are on the wrong path. You are on the broad road that leads to destruction, and you are about to experience the severe consequences unless you turn and you repent. The Lord is giving you time. He is showing you mercy because He loves you. Respond to that mercy today and turn from your sin before it is too late and the irreparable damage has been done.

Before there is another set rolling in with waves of God's judgment, there is a group that has to be sealed and protected. They are the 144,000. Look at verse 2. "I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel were sealed."

Now John sees another angel. He is coming out of the east and he commands the other four angels to hold back the judgment of God until he is able to go forth and seal the servants of the Lord. This angel had the seal of the living God. In ancient times, a seal was often referred to as a signet ring. Kings and rulers would have a signet ring and they would stamp it in wax and they would put it on a particular document, parchment, or property. It proved ownership. It also guaranteed safety and protection.

The seal of the living God is used 14 times in the New Testament. In Revelation chapter 7, the Lord is going to mark a specific group of people who will be protected and survive the tribulation period. They are the 144,000. When you read through the Bible, you will find other examples of the Lord marking and setting apart a certain group of people in the Old Testament. For example, in the book of Exodus, when the nation of Israel was there in bondage in Egypt, the Lord set apart His people. If they took the blood of the lamb and they put it on their doorpost when the angel of death came through, he passed over them. They were marked by the blood and then protected.

We also could think of the example in the book of Joshua when a woman by the name of Rahab hid the spies as they were doing reconnaissance in the city. She asked to be protected and delivered. They said if you take a scarlet cord and you hang it outside of your balcony, when we see that scarlet cord, you and everybody in your family will be protected. That is what she did. She was set apart.

Probably another great example of this is in Ezekiel chapter 9 where the prophet Ezekiel saw a vision. It sounds very familiar. It says the glory of God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man clothed with linen who had a writer's inkhorn at his side. The Lord said to him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. There Ezekiel saw a similar vision that John is seeing here as people who were grieved by the idolatry and the abominations that were upon the earth were marked and set apart and protected by God.

The point is that this is not the first time in Scripture that the Lord marked a group of people and He will do it again during the tribulation period. Now there have been a number of people who have tried to identify themselves as the 144,000. There is a cult known as the Jehovah's Witnesses, and I did say cult because that is what it is. They claim to have 144,000 of them who will reign in heaven.

Then there is another sect or group of the Seventh-day Adventists that believe that they are the spiritual Israel and see themselves as the 144,000 who keep the Sabbath regularly because they worship on Saturday as opposed to Sunday. Others have tried to identify the 144,000 as representative of the church. But who are they really? The answer to that question will depend on which interpretive approach you take to the book of Revelation. With the exception of the futurist interpretation, which is what we use here, everybody else seems to interpret the 144,000 as being symbolic.

Consider the facts revealed here in Scripture. In Revelation chapter 7 and Revelation chapter 14, it helps us identify this group of people. First of all, they are called the children of Israel. It says right here in verse 4, "I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed." That is pretty clear. It says what it says. It makes perfect sense. The tribes of the children of Israel is a reference to the literal descendants of Jacob, who was eventually given the name Israel.

So here we find they are Jewish. You know of all 65 occurrences of the term Israel in the New Testament, they refer to Jewish people. It means what it says. There are some that teach and suggest that God has cast aside the Jewish people and that His plans and promises for them are over and done with. They even suggest that all of the promises concerning the land and of their future have been annulled and been passed on to the church. These are false teachings, doctrines known as replacement theology, reconstructionism, or supersessionism. Kingdom Now theology is another word for it.

It takes Israel out of the end-times picture altogether. But a careful study of the Bible makes it very clear that God's not done with Israel. The church is not Israel, and Israel's not the church. When Constantine had his conversion experience in 312 AD, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, where it became legal to be a Christian. Many of Christian teachers had been saying the kingdoms of this world are all going to fall, but now we have a Christian in power in the person of Constantine. During that time period when that took place, some of these ideas came into being.

For example, a man by the name of Origen, who was a highly respected scholar, teacher, and philosopher, said the Scriptures had been read incorrectly and that all the promises of Israel are only allegories and illustrations. Augustine followed, and Augustine also said they were allegories and that the Old Testament blessings of Israel were now for the church. Then Martin Luther came on the scene. He was used powerfully, but he was wrong on this point. He was mightily used by God, but he was entirely anti-Semitic. He was on the wrong side of the issue with the Jews; he actually hated them.

But here's a problem: those men in the past could not see how the nation of Israel that had been dispersed would ever come back together. They didn't live to see it. They couldn't imagine how the prophecy spoken concerning them could be fulfilled because the nation was completely scattered in every direction. Fast forward to 1948. The nation of Israel is brought back together in accordance with biblical prophecy. It happened.

The Lord made an everlasting covenant with His people, and everlasting means everlasting. It doesn't end, and so He is not done with them. God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. He made a covenant concerning the land. He had a Mosaic covenant, a Davidic covenant, and a new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31 where God promised to give Israel a new heart, that He would write His will upon them. In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul writes about God's past dealings with Israel, looking at their election. In Romans chapter 10, he speaks of God's present dealings with Israel and their rejection. Then Romans chapter 11, he speaks of God's future dealing with Israel and their restoration. That hasn't happened yet, but it will.

As you read through the Bible from cover to cover, you can see the promises and the covenants that the Lord made with His people. Even though they had forfeited their end of the commitment, God would fulfill His end of the promise. The second thing to consider about the identity of the 144,000 is not only are they Jews, but look at their tribal affiliation. In verses 4 through 8, you will notice all the names of the tribes that are mentioned here.

The 12 tribes of Israel, also known as Jacob's sons. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. When the 12 tribes inherited the Promised Land, the tribe of Levi didn't receive a territory for themselves. Instead, they became priests and they had several cities scattered throughout Israel where they lived and ministered among God's people. Joseph's tribe was divided into two. While Joseph was there in Egypt, Joseph had two sons: Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob adopted those sons, making them part of Israel and essentially giving Joseph a double portion for his faithfulness.

Within the Bible, it is estimated that there are some 29 times that the tribes of Israel are listed. It is interesting to point out the differences when you compare the various listings. You will notice, for example, that although Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob, Judah is listed first here in Revelation. Why is that? Perhaps because Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. The Messiah came from Judah, thus Judah is placed at the forefront.

In verse 6, you will see that the tribe of Manasseh is mentioned, but Ephraim is omitted. But then in verse 8, you have the tribe of Joseph mentioned. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph, and by the way, there is no real explanation as to why there's a substitution. Perhaps it is because Ephraim, if you go back to the Old Testament, was one of the tribes that went into idolatry. You'll also notice there is no mention of the tribe of Dan. Why is that? Perhaps because in Judges chapter 18 and 1 Kings chapter 12, the tribe of Dan set up a golden calf to worship instead of God.

However, in the kingdom age, in the millennial reign of Christ, the 12 tribes are mentioned again in Ezekiel chapter 48, and guess who's mentioned first? Dan. Why? God's grace. I don't know, but these are the tribes of Israel. That is what we know for sure. Some have pointed out that due to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the tribal records were lost, and so the Jews have no way of knowing what tribe they come from. But God knows what tribe they come from. He knows, and he is going to mark them. They will be made aware of it.

The 144,000 are protected and triumphant through the tribulation period. When you come to Revelation 14, we will see this group again standing on Mount Zion with Jesus. That's where we will see them again. Revelation 14 tells us this group is marked by integrity and faithfulness, and they are going to be evangelizing during this time. With all the clear scriptural evidence that presents itself, the 144,000, we can confidently say, are Jews. Twelve thousand out of the 12 tribes. There isn't a Gentile among them. They are specifically chosen Jewish believers and they are protectively sealed throughout the tribulation as a sign. There is no confusion about this.

Guest (Male): We'll be introduced to another group in just a second. Today on A Daily Walk, we notice that there will be some Jews that will come to faith in Jesus, but what about Gentiles? Pastor John Randall will touch on that momentarily as we continue our study of Revelation. You can hear it again at adailywalk.org, 1place.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A case could be made that we've never been more divided as a nation than right now. When a nation is divided, to whom can we turn? Well, that is answered for us in a book we'd like to get into your hands from Jack Countryman. It is titled If My People, a prayer guide for our nation. You'll receive 40 days of prayer and reflections in the spirit from 2 Chronicles 7:14. We are making it available to our A Daily Walk listeners for the cost of just eight dollars. You can call us for the ordering details at 877-242-0828. That's 877-242-0828, or request it online at adailywalk.org.

We are thankful for your support, especially during these summer months. If you've been encouraged and blessed by the teaching of the word and want to help us deliver the good news all across the nation and the world, stop by adailywalk.org or call 877-242-0828. Let's get back to Revelation chapter 7 for the rest of Pastor John's message.

John Randall: Now you approach the second half of the chapter and we're introduced to another group. Not only will there be Jews saved and come to faith in the tribulation period, but there's also many Gentiles who will also come to faith in Christ during this time. Are you with me? Shall we keep going?

Verse 9. "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, tongues, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"

John now sees a second vision. The first vision is on earth. The second vision is in heaven. The first vision concerns the sons of Israel, but the second vision concerns a multitude that no one could number out of every nation, tribe, and people. They were standing before the throne clothed in white robes and they were waving palm branches. Who are these people that John sees?

First of all, we know that they are not the church proper that has been raptured and is already there in heaven. Nor are they the 144,000 Jews that have been sealed. This group right here would be classified as tribulation saints: men and women who came to faith during the tribulation period and then were martyred for their faith and died in some of the devastating wrath that was poured out upon the earth.

They are standing, it says in verse 9, before the throne of God clothed in white robes. When it says they are clothed in white robes, it speaks of the righteousness of Christ that they are clothed in. By the way, that is the only righteousness that is acceptable to God. The Bible says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. All our good works, all our efforts to be good people will never earn a place in heaven.

We couldn't be good enough to attain to the righteousness of Christ, but you don't have to attain it; you have to receive it. Jesus died so that you could receive His righteousness. Jesus Christ died on the cross in our place for our sins so that we could have His righteousness imparted to us, so that when we stand before the Father, we will be received because we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

I ask you a very searching question this morning. Have you been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, or when you stand before God, will you stand there in your own righteousness? The only righteousness that God accepts is the righteousness of His Son, and it can be imparted to you even today.

Guest (Male): We'll save the rest of the chapter for next time. Thanks for joining us today for A Daily Walk with John Randall, where you never have to walk alone. This program is made possible through your generosity and brought to you by Calvary South OC.