Revision #10531
Revelation 7:4
Localized for English-speaking readers
Status: approved
Changes from the previous English revision
= ## Context
- Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation depicts the judgments that follow the opening of six seals and ends with the question, "who shall be able to stand?" (6:17). Chapter 7 forms an interlude before the opening of the seventh seal. As if in answer to that question, it shows the servants of God being sealed on their foreheads (7:1-8). It then shows "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," clothed in white robes and standing before the throne (7:9-17). Verse 4 is followed by a list of the names of the twelve tribes, with twelve thousand sealed from each tribe (7:5-8).
+ Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation depicts the judgments that follow the opening of six seals and ends with the question, "who shall be able to stand?" (6:17). Chapter 7 forms an interlude before the opening of the seventh seal. As if answering that question, it shows the servants of God being sealed on their foreheads (7:1-8). It then shows "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," clothed in white robes and standing before the throne (7:9-17). Verse 4 is followed by a list of the twelve tribes, with twelve thousand sealed from each tribe (7:5-8).
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= ## Interpretation
- - **Symbolic reading**: Many interpreters, including Reformed amillennialists, read the number as 12 (tribes) × 12 (apostles) × 1,000 (a large, complete number). On this view it signifies the whole people under God's protection, that is, the complete number of the church. Many commentators explain that the number John "heard" (7:4) and the innumerable multitude he "saw" (7:9) present the same reality in two ways. They point to a parallel structure in Revelation 5, where the one John hears described as the "Lion" turns out, when he looks, to be a "Lamb."
+ - **Symbolic reading**: Many interpreters, including Reformed amillennialists, read the number as 12 (tribes) × 12 (apostles) × 1,000 (a large, complete number). On this view, it signifies the whole people under God's protection, that is, the complete number of the church. Many explain that the number John "heard" (7:4) and the innumerable multitude he "saw" (7:9) present the same reality in two ways. They point to a parallel structure in Revelation 5, where the one John hears described as the "Lion" turns out, when he looks, to be a "Lamb."
= - **Dispensationalist reading**: Dispensationalism takes the number literally as 144,000 Jews who are saved during the Great Tribulation and distinguishes them from the great multitude of 7:9, whom it identifies as Gentile believers.
- - **Features of the tribal list**: The tribe of Dan is omitted from this list, while both Joseph and Manasseh are included. The reason is unclear; some interpretations connect the omission to the idolatry of the tribe of Dan.
+ - **Features of the tribal list**: The tribe of Dan is omitted from this list, while both Joseph and Manasseh are included. The reason is unclear; some interpretations connect the omission with the idolatry of the tribe of Dan.
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= ## Controversies and Issues
- The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that only 144,000 will reign with Christ in heaven, while the rest of the faithful will live forever on earth. Shincheonji teaches that salvation is tied to filling its own twelve-tribe organization with 144,000 members. Major denominations criticize these interpretations for turning a symbol into a literal quota of people and for restricting salvation to a particular group, citing the innumerable great multitude described in the same chapter.
+ Jehovah's Witnesses teach that only 144,000 will reign with Christ in heaven, while the rest of the faithful will live forever on earth. Shincheonji links salvation to the filling of its own twelve-tribe organization with 144,000 members. Major denominations criticize these interpretations for turning a symbol into a literal quota of people and for restricting salvation to a particular group, citing the innumerable great multitude described in the same chapter.
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= ## Related Passages
…
This verse states that the number of those sealed from all the tribes of Israel was "an hundred and forty and four thousand." Interpreters disagree over whether the number is a literal headcount or a symbol, and over whom it designates. It is also a well-known number that several heretical groups have associated with their own organizations.
Revelation 7:4 states that the number of those sealed from all the tribes of Israel was "an hundred and forty and four thousand." Interpreters disagree over whether the number is a literal count or a symbol, and over whom it designates. Several heretical groups have also associated this number with their own organizations.
Full revision
Revelation 7:4 states that the number of those sealed from all the tribes of Israel was "an hundred and forty and four thousand." Interpreters disagree over whether the number is a literal count or a symbol, and over whom it designates. Several heretical groups have also associated this number with their own organizations.
Context
Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation depicts the judgments that follow the opening of six seals and ends with the question, "who shall be able to stand?" (6:17). Chapter 7 forms an interlude before the opening of the seventh seal. As if answering that question, it shows the servants of God being sealed on their foreheads (7:1-8). It then shows "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," clothed in white robes and standing before the throne (7:9-17). Verse 4 is followed by a list of the twelve tribes, with twelve thousand sealed from each tribe (7:5-8).
Interpretation
- Symbolic reading: Many interpreters, including Reformed amillennialists, read the number as 12 (tribes) × 12 (apostles) × 1,000 (a large, complete number). On this view, it signifies the whole people under God's protection, that is, the complete number of the church. Many explain that the number John "heard" (7:4) and the innumerable multitude he "saw" (7:9) present the same reality in two ways. They point to a parallel structure in Revelation 5, where the one John hears described as the "Lion" turns out, when he looks, to be a "Lamb."
- Dispensationalist reading: Dispensationalism takes the number literally as 144,000 Jews who are saved during the Great Tribulation and distinguishes them from the great multitude of 7:9, whom it identifies as Gentile believers.
- Features of the tribal list: The tribe of Dan is omitted from this list, while both Joseph and Manasseh are included. The reason is unclear; some interpretations connect the omission with the idolatry of the tribe of Dan.
Controversies and Issues
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that only 144,000 will reign with Christ in heaven, while the rest of the faithful will live forever on earth. Shincheonji links salvation to the filling of its own twelve-tribe organization with 144,000 members. Major denominations criticize these interpretations for turning a symbol into a literal quota of people and for restricting salvation to a particular group, citing the innumerable great multitude described in the same chapter.
Related Passages
- Revelation 7:9-17
- Revelation 14:1-5
- Ezekiel 9:4
- Revelation 21:12-14