Revelation 7:1 ¶ And after these
things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the
four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the
sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw
another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and
he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the
earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not
the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of
our God in their foreheads. 4 And I
heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred
and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve
thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of
the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe
of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph
were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve
thousand. 9 After this I beheld, and,
lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10
And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11
And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders
and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped
God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and
glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto
our God for ever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 7:13 ¶ And one of the
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white
robes? and whence came they? 14 And I
said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came
out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are
they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
7:1 opens with four angels
standing on the four corners of the earth preventing any wind from blowing.
What is the significance of that? Are the four corners of the earth a reference
to literal places or is that just a phrase referring to every direction as in
the four winds in Matthew 24 or
Jeremiah 49?
Matthew 24:31 And he shall send
his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Jeremiah 49:36 And upon Elam
will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter
them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts
of Elam shall not come.
I suggest that four corners of the
earth represent every possible direction and every possible location. We know it is a figurative statement because
the Bible says the earth is a circle and doesn’t have four physical corners
just like it says that there is a huge empty space in space which we now have
seen and that the earth hangs in space and is not resting on a giant’s
shoulders or the back of a turtle as in some mythologies.
Isaiah 40:22 It is he that
sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in:
Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the
north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
It is then that another angel
tells them to wait until God has sealed servants He has chosen. This angel
ascends from the east and proceeding from the east seems to have special
significance throughout the Bible but a study of that here would divert the
narrative. Perhaps, this sealing means to alert them to their calling. There
are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes but a tribe of Joseph is mentioned in
place of Ephraim.
Joshua 14:4 For the children of
Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto
the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their
cattle and for their substance.
Joshua 16:4 So the children of
Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.
Ephraim was a troublesome tribe,
which you can see by a search of the Old Testament but still, while not
mentioned by name in Revelation, his brother’s tribe is, and there is a tribe of Joseph mentioned here along
with Manasseh’s tribe. Once before, the phrase, tribe of Joseph, referred to Manasseh, and Ephraim was named;
Numbers 13:8 Of the tribe of
Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun...11 Of
the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi.
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