Theological Commentary: Click Here
Symbolically
speaking, Revelation 7 is one of my favorite chapters in this book. We start with a very tradition image. We have the faithful gathered. 12,000 people are gathered from each of the
twelve tribes of Israel. This is a
highly symbolic number. Naturally, we have
the idea of the Hebrew people. In
addition to that, we have a square number in 144, knowing that square numbers
are usually a sign of completion or perfection.
Finally, we have thousands, which is a symbolic way of talking about a
very large number of people.
The next
picture that we have is a great multitude that nobody can count. This multitude comes from every nation. In other words, this multitude represents the
people of the world who have come into relationship with God. These are not Jews; these are people who are
in relationship through their Gentile nature.
They are from everywhere, every race, and every time.
What I love
about these images is that they are a great symbol of what God said would
happen way back when He was calling Abraham out of Ur. Abraham said that His descendants would be
innumerable. He also said that the world
would be blessed because of Abraham and his offspring. In this picture, we have assurance that this
promise is indeed true. There were
faithful Hebrew people. That
faithfulness, through Christ and His disciples, did filter throughout the world
so that there are faithful people in all nations. Revelation 7 is assuring us that God is a God
who can keep His promises.
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