Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #4 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are continuing to look at the first three verses. It says in Revelation 7:1-3:
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. 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, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
In this study, hopefully, we will have an opportunity to look at this word “sealed,” and then we will look at the “four angels,” or messengers. I think that we will be able to see, fairly clearly, who the “four angels” represent and we ought to have a better understanding of these verses and also of some other verses found in Revelation, chapter 9.
But let us begin by looking at a few places where the Greek word translated as “sealed” is found and the word is also translated as “sealed” in these verses. It says in 2nd Corinthians 1:20-22:
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Here, notice that God has “sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts,” so, clearly, to “seal” is identified with receiving the Spirit of God – the Holy Spirit.
Also, we see a similar idea in the Book of Ephesians 1:12-13:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Wow, what a wonderful Biblical truth God is giving us here. He is telling us that individuals that heard the Word and “believed unto salvation” (and, remember, it is not only confession of the mouth, but confession of the heart; and God is the One that does the saving so a person can believe unto salvation) were “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”
And why is it a “holy Spirit of promise”? It is because when God saves a sinner by granting them a new spiritual soul and a new heart, they have received the “promise” of the Father, the promise of the completion of that salvation plan. At the point of hearing the Gospel and becoming saved, it is only the “soul,” or the invisible heart of man, that is saved; he still has an unsaved body and that, too, must be completed (at a later time) with the resurrection of the new spiritual body. Then that person will be a “whole personality,” born again in both soul and body, and will also have the promise of the new heaven and new earth and all the glorious things that accompany salvation (that are beyond our ability to imagine) and all the wonderful blessings that God has in store for His elect people. This is all involved with receiving “that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” In other words, the Holy Spirit is a “down payment” of God’s salvation program. If you are a child of God, then you have come to know that God has saved you and there is evidence of that; or maybe you lack “total assurance” and maybe you are still unsure of your salvation, but, for some, they know – God has granted them assurance of faith. For others, they may see evidence of the working of God in their hearts and in their lives. Whether you “know,” or whether you see evidence that leads you to hope that God did save you before He shut the door of Heaven on May 21, 2011, this is the “earnest of our inheritance,” if we are truly saved.
We have received that “holy Spirit of promise” and the fact that the Holy Spirit does indwell the child of God is evidence that God will complete His entire salvation plan; that is, the Holy Spirit is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” It is the redemption of our bodies (which have also been purchased by Christ) and the redemption of this world. The Spirit of God is our comfort and our encouragement that God was faithful in saving us and bringing His Spirit into our lives and transforming us from our former nature (from the way we were going and the sins that easily beset us). Since the Holy Spirit has accomplished this “down payment,” as it were, concerning all that God has said, the complete promise of His salvation is sure. We are greatly encouraged and we can wait on the Lord, with great expectation and hope, “that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God has shown Himself true and faithful in everything thus far, in granting us His grace and bestowing His Spirit upon us and that is evidence that He will be true and faithful with everything else.
Also, we will look at another verse in Ephesians and this is the last verse we will look at. We read this word “sealed” in Ephesians 4:30:
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
That “day of redemption” would be the last day of the period of Judgment Day; it is the day of the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of those that are still alive and remaining upon the earth. It is the day we hope will come shortly. So, we are “sealed” by God’s Spirit and, therefore, God says, “Grieve not the holy Spirit,” and the holy Spirit dwells within the child of God, mysteriously. Also, God has given us a new heart and spirit that is perfect and, as a result, when we fall into sin and transgress the Law of God, we will be sorry for our sin, as King David was moved to write in the Psalms. We will take no pleasure (or, increasingly less and less pleasure) in the sins we once spent a great deal of time in and enjoyed much more than we do now.
Let us return to Revelation 7. Again, the ascending angel from the east (who is the Lord Jesus), in verse 2, is the one “having the seal of the living God.” Now we can see what that is all about. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that entered into the lives of those that were chosen before the foundation of the world, foreordained to receive God’s grace and be “born again.” So, here, it says that this angel ascending from the east possesses the “seal of the living God.” That means He has the power to save; He has the power to deliver individuals from their sins.
It goes on to say:
…and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Remember, we looked at the word “hurt,” and it said back in Revelation 2:11:
… He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
This really involves not being saved and, so, experiencing the wrath of God; the ultimate “hurt” is to be destroyed for one’s sins. Here, the Lord Jesus Christ, the ascending angel from the east, is crying to the four messengers that are holding back the four winds of the earth, telling them: “Hold off! Hurt not the earth, sea or trees until we have sealed (or saved) the servants of our God in their foreheads.” The seal is said is to be in the “foreheads” because that is where our minds are and, in the Bible, “heart, mind and soul” are synonymous, so it indicates that they have become “new creatures” and their wills are now the will of God; their wills have been turned over and now they desire to do the will of God.
Just to make another point, we will read later of those that receive the “mark of the beast” in their “foreheads;” and that is the same idea, but in a negative way. The will of the unsaved is given over to Satan and sin and to everything “ungodly” and this is coming forth from their “hearts, minds and souls.” They are completely in agreement with sin and iniquity and transgressing the Law of God in both body and soul.
I think we can see very clearly what God is saying in these verses, but let us take a “step back” and look at the “four angels.” If you remember our previous study, we saw that the “four winds” had to do with the elect, especially in Zechariah 2: 6-7, where the elect were scattered to the four winds as they came out of Babylon. But, who are these “four angels” that hold the four winds of the earth? The implication is that once the Lord Jesus, the ascending angel from the east, accomplishes His purpose of sealing (saving) the servants of God in their foreheads, the “four angels” may proceed to “hurt” the earth and trees and sea. Hopefully, if we have time, we will look at the word “earth” and see what that relates to.
But, for now, let us take a look at the “four angels.” We will go first to Revelation 9:12-14:
One woe is past; and,* behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Outside of Revelation 7, the only other place that speaks of “four angels” is in this passage, so that would mean that these passages are related. Let us keep reading in Revelation 9:15:
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
It is also interesting that the “four angels” are said to be “bound” and if you are bound, you are “held back” and that is the idea in Revelation 7, where they were on the four corners of the earth, holding the “four winds” and it was commanded that they should not (yet) hurt the earth – they had to wait, so in that sense, they were “bound” and there was a force that was holding them. Now, in Revelation 9, they are “bound” in the great river Euphrates and the “four angels” are loosed, just as the implication in Revelation 7 after all the servants of God are sealed, you will be loosed so you can “hurt.” Well, what happens here? It says in Revelation 9:15-19:
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
There is that word “hurt” again. It is the same Greek word that is translated as “hurt” here in Revelation 9:19. So the “four angels” are bound and then the “four angels” are loosed, and is it not interesting that in verse 15 we read of the “four angels” being loosed to “slay the third part of men”? Then that is the last we read of the “four angels in this chapter – we loose track of them; well, not so much that we loose track of them, but God, apparently, changes the subject. Or did He? (repeat) Or did He? Where did the “four angels” go? We read about them in verse 15 and the next thing we know is we read in verse 16: “And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand.” That is 200 million horsemen. Then we read of them that sat on the horses: “and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.” Then notice verse 18: “By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone.” Now what did God say of the “four angels” back in verse 15? “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.”
Oh, that explains it – the “four angels” and the 200 million horsemen are one and the same; they are the same entity, but God just picked up a different “figure” to refer to them. They are the “four messengers” that are bound in the great river Euphrates and the number “four,” which represents to universality, would point to all of the messengers of the God (all of God’s elect), which are also typified by 200 million horsemen; and we read, in Revelation, chapter 19, that the Lord Jesus Christ comes riding on a white horse and the army in heaven are also upon horses and those armies are the true believers; they are clothed in white; they are clothed in the righteousness of the saints. This is the army of God – this is the sum total of all of God’s elect.
At this point, we are not going to get into whether 200 million is a literal number, or not, but it does represent all of the elect, all whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. This represents the totality of everyone that the Lord Jesus died for. They are typified by the “four angels” or “four messengers” that are, at first, bound in the great river Euphrates and then the “four messengers” are loosed. Once they are loosed and they are no longer held back, they go forth to “slay the third part of men” and they had “power in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents.” It is very similar to the locusts which also had “power in their tails” to “hurt” men, it said back in verse 10: “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power *was* to hurt men five months.”
Remember, again, Luke 10:19, where the Lord Jesus Christ joins together “scorpions and serpents” in the context of referring to the forces of Satan’s kingdom, the enemies of the kingdoms of God (false gospels that have no ability to save or to deliver a soul out of sin). God is indicating that in the Day of Judgment, His elect, His great army – first typified by locusts and then typified by the “four angels” and by the 200 million horsemen – will go forth. They will have “power in their tails” like a serpents (in the case of the 200 million) or like scorpions (in the case of the locusts), meaning there will be no more salvation because all to be saved have become saved.