Who Can Stand? (Revelation 7)
As John’s vision of the sealed scroll gets close to the end—the opening of the scroll—the question is raised, “Who can stand up to the wrath that God is about to unleash on fallen, sinful creation?” And before the vision proceeds to the last seal, John hears and sees an answer.
First, John sees the destruction and wrath being held back so that a group of people can be sealed against harm. He hears that 144,000 will be sealed, “from every tribe in Israel.” The fact that the New Testament, and John in particular, teach so much about there being no racial distinction after the cross, and that so much of the Israel imagery now applies to the church lead most to believe that this is a symbolic number referencing believers set aside to live through God’s plan for the end of all things unharmed.
Second, John sees (much as he heard about a lion, and then saw a lamb) an uncountable multitude of believers who have died and are before God’s throne awaiting the fulfillment of time. This is all believers who have lived and died awaiting God’s Kingdom to arrive on Earth.
Or that is one way of seeing these two groups. People like to speculate and debate the various interpretations of who these groups could be. But it is ultimately all about one thing:
Who can stand?
The answer is that there is a group of people who will stand and survive the end of the old and live into the new creation as things were intended to be. Those who have placed their trust in the Lamb. And whether they live at the time of the end, or—along with the vast majority of believers—they live out their lives and die awaiting God’s Kingdom, they will share in the victory of the Lamb and survive to see creation made new. And that is the hope we find in Revelation.
First, John sees the destruction and wrath being held back so that a group of people can be sealed against harm. He hears that 144,000 will be sealed, “from every tribe in Israel.” The fact that the New Testament, and John in particular, teach so much about there being no racial distinction after the cross, and that so much of the Israel imagery now applies to the church lead most to believe that this is a symbolic number referencing believers set aside to live through God’s plan for the end of all things unharmed.
Second, John sees (much as he heard about a lion, and then saw a lamb) an uncountable multitude of believers who have died and are before God’s throne awaiting the fulfillment of time. This is all believers who have lived and died awaiting God’s Kingdom to arrive on Earth.
Or that is one way of seeing these two groups. People like to speculate and debate the various interpretations of who these groups could be. But it is ultimately all about one thing:
Who can stand?
The answer is that there is a group of people who will stand and survive the end of the old and live into the new creation as things were intended to be. Those who have placed their trust in the Lamb. And whether they live at the time of the end, or—along with the vast majority of believers—they live out their lives and die awaiting God’s Kingdom, they will share in the victory of the Lamb and survive to see creation made new. And that is the hope we find in Revelation.
Comments
Post a Comment