Revelation 7

Revelation 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. Chapter 6 to Chapter 8:5 record the opening of the Seven Seals. This chapter contains the writer's vision of "the Four Angels of the Four Winds", the sealing of the 144,000 and the "Praise of the Great Multitude of the Redeemed". The passage in this chapter is 'an intercalation in the numbered series of seven'. The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 17 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are among others: Papyrus 115 (ca. AD 275; extant verses 8–9) Codex Sinaiticus (330-360) Codex Alexandrinus (400-440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (ca. 450; extant verses 1-13) While the judgement is held back by the four angels (verse 1), another angel announced the sealing of God's servants (verses 2–3). The sealing indicates God's ownership as well as protection (cf. Ezek 9:4—6): these people are protected 'to serve God as the messianic army'. Just as a census in the Old Testament era provides the reckoning of Israel's military strength, the counting of 144,000 persons of the twelve tribes of Israel (verses 4–8) indicates the strength of the messianic army who will fight the war against God's enemies in the last days. The tribe of Judah, being the tribe of the Messiah (), is numbered first. I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. "Holding" is interpreted as "holding back" the winds. The noncomformist biblical commentator Matthew Henry suggests that "the blowing of the four winds together means a dreadful and general destruction". The Septuagint and Vulgate versions of Zechariah 6:5 refers to "the four winds of heaven", although the King James Version and many other translations refer to "the four spirits of the heavens".