A SPECIAL SEALING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed; from the tribe of Reuben 12,000; from the tribe of Gad 12,000; from the tribe of Asher 12,000; from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000; from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000; from the tribe of Simeon 12,000; from the tribe of Levi 12,000; from the tribe of Issachar 12,000; from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000; from the tribe of Joseph 12,000; from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

Revelation 7:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After the sixth seal is broken by Jesus, leading to unmatched calamity on earth and in the heavens, we find the scriptures sharing a brief interlude before Jesus severs the final seal. Here’s what we find in the opening eight verses of Revelation, chapter 7 in regard to what happens in the time between:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed; from the tribe of Reuben 12,000; from the tribe of Gad 12,000; from the tribe of Asher 12,000; from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000; from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000; from the tribe of Simeon 12,000; from the tribe of Levi 12,000; from the tribe of Issachar 12,000; from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000; from the tribe of Joseph 12,000; from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. Revelation 7:1-8

Here, we find John continuing to share all that he was given the privilege to see, this time being the dispatching of five angels by the Lord to carry out the next stage in His plan.

Four of these angels were “standing at the four corners of the earth” for the purpose of “holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree”. And into this windlessness, we read where “another angel” came onto the scene “from the east”, possessing “the seal of the living God”. This angel “called out in a loud voice” with specific instruction to the other “four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea”. The angel commanded the following:

“Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Who were the proclaimed “servants” of God who would receive His special sealing, which meant they would be protected from the dangers taking place during the Tribulation period?

John shares that they numbered 144,000, all from the tribes of Israel. In fact, it was pretty easy math overall. There were 12 tribes of Israel and out of the descendants alive at the time of the Tribulation, twelve thousand would be sealed from each tribe.

12 times 12,000 equals 144,000.

These 144,000 servants of the Lord God Most High would have the responsibility of continuing to share the Gospel of salvation through Christ and Christ alone without the concern of harm coming to them, despite all that was happening to everyone else on the earth. Such was the blessed nature of the seal placed on their foreheads, another form of what they had celebrated for so many years at the prescribed Passover celebration. Danger would pass over the 144,000 as they went about faithfully carrying on the Lord’s work, even during a time of great judgment.

All this brought to mind the special sealing every Christian has today through their simple belief in Jesus as Savior. For no matter what might happen to them in life, when they draw their final breath, they pass over death to enter into eternal life in Heaven. They are marked through Christ with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit serving as a deposit of the incredible everlasting inheritance to come (2 Corinthians 1:22).

Today and every day, let us as Jesus’ blessed disciples give thanks for the wonderful assurance that the best is still yet to come once this life ends when we move onto a new heaven and earth to dwell in our new forever life, free from all the afflictions of this world.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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