Prayer – Lord, once again I ask for wisdom and
understanding for this passage of scripture today. Help me to see the order of
things that happen. Thank you.
Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners
of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or
the sea, or even on any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east,
carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who
had been given power to harm land and sea, "Wait! Don't harm the land or
the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of
his servants." And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000
were sealed from all the tribes of Israel…. Revelation 7:1-4
Meditate. Consider God’s protection of the earth and His
chosen ones.
Holding back, as in restraining, the four winds. The four
winds, according to the insight of Matthew Henry, bring trouble and disruption
to the church. Terrible problems. God has been merciful to those who follow Him
by keeping trouble away—but it looks like it will be released when God’s chosen
144,000 Jews are sealed with God’s mark. Those are special people—chosen from
every tribe, except Dan. Does the fact that they are marked mean that they have
accepted Jesus as their Messiah? That could be assumed since God is protecting
them as His own.
This “angel” that is carrying the seal of the living God,
is Jesus Himself. He directs those four angels not to let those evil winds
loose on the earth until after the 144,000 are sealed. The power of His word is
revered, the angels listen to the Lord and do hold back the winds. Jesus will have
His servants help Him put the mark on the chosen ones. Then the winds of
trouble and evil will blow. These things will just happen in the order that God
has planned.
...until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads.... (Underlined for emphasis.) We--that is Jesus and His faithful followers who are chosen to be priests and kings--are the ones who will seal the foreheads of the 144,000. Are you among the faithful followers of
the Lord that He has chosen as priests and kings—His servants that will assist
Him with tasks like the sealing of the 144,000? Believe in Jesus as your savior—the
King of kings, Lord of lords—and the Son of the Almighty God. If you faithfully
follow Him—pure and holy—you will not only serve the Lord, but stand befoe the
God as the first fruits of His chosen ones. What an honor that will be, but it
begins with a choice to put Jesus first in your life…and walk according to the
leading of the Holy Spirit. Can you choose Jesus over other things that demand
your time and energy in your life? What happens next in your life…in God’s
plan?
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| Tower of David - Jerusalem Fortress in the Old City |
© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
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