SEALING THE SLAVES OF GOD:

REVELATION 7 IN THE STREAM OF

BIBLICAL-CHRISTOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION

by

Daniel Istrate

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty o f

WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

in Partial Fulfillment o f the

Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

2014

Faculty Advisor:
Dr. Vem Sheridan Poythress

Second Faculty Reader: K .

. Beale

Chairman o f the Field Committee:

Dr. Vem Sheridan Poythress

Librarian:
Mr. Alexander (Sandy) FinlaysctfLL-—
 UMI Number: 3663204

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 To A n a ,
for her undying love,
sacrifice and patience

and to A l e x and A d o r a ,
our gifts from above,
for their loving encouragement
 ABSTRACT

The purpose o f this dissertation is to explore the meaning and significance o f

the sealing o f the 144,000 slaves o f God in Revelation 7, especially in light o f the great

redemptive act o f God in Christ. The concept o f sealing is placed within its ancient

Near Eastern and Second Temple context as we trace the concept's development and

witness its transformation and culmination in Revelation 7.

The sealing o f God's slaves is central to the function o f Revelation 7 as a

digressio, a literary technique o f widespread use in the Greco-Roman literature

whereby a section o f text interrupts the flow o f the narrative, appearing unessential to

the immediate context yet playing an essential role in the rhetorical effect o f the work

as a whole. Thus, the two visions o f Revelation 7 serve a crucial role for John's

audience both by suppressing fear and by building confidence in the face o f persecution

and the unleashing o f God’s wrath in judgment.

Why is the act o f sealing able to communicate such confidence and

encouragement beyond the literary level o f Revelation? It is because, in light o f Christ's

redemption, sealing here becomes a symbol or a metaphor o f salvation, namely an

extension o f divine ownership over His slaves. The sealed are identified as God's own

possession, which, despite this life's suffering and tribulation, assures their protection

and preservation until they enter His presence.

At the visionary level Revelation identifies the seal as a combination o f divine

names - the Name of the Lamb and o f His Father, which points to the sacred Name o f

God, YHWH (or a symbol denoting such Name). Given both the plurality and the
identity o f the Name, coupled with the forehead location o f the seal, we believe John is

teaching that the primary manifestation o f salvific sealing consists in its confessional

expression. Thus, while the Name perceived at the visionary level on the forehead o f

the sealed points to the imprinting o f God's Name on their inner being in the

application o f salvation, this act o f sealing manifests itself externally through a clear

Christo-theological confession which decisively identifies the true Jews as believers

from all nations, an exact yet uncountable multitude o f people who openly confess both

the Lamb and His Father. Those who do not manifest this Christo-theological

confession are ultimately identified by the mark o f the beast. Furthermore, this

confessional nature o f the seal addresses the same orthodoxy expressed clearest in

propositional language primarily by 1 John as well as the Gospel according to John, yet

recast here in symbolic and mysterious language.

Since it is the imprint o f God's Name, the seal also has ethical, eschatological,

and pastoral implications. As God imparts new life through this act, He is impressing

His divine character on the soul o f each one o f His slaves. They now live in the new

eschatological reality o f resurrection life as they persevere through this earthly

tribulation, and so are triumphantly able to stand before the throne o f God, dressed in

the white garments o f the righteousness accomplished through the blood o f the Lamb,

and securely following Him as the Lamb who shepherds them forever.
 CONTENTS

FIGURES................................................................................................................................. ix

TABLES.................................................................................................................................... x

ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................xi

ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................xv

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTORY ISSU ES.........................................................................1

Interpretive Variety and Challenges in Revelation 7 ..............................................1
Current Research and Our Approach to the Topic..................................................2
Genre Considerations................................................................................................. 3
The Three Genres o f Revelation..................................................................4
The Four Levels o f Communication in Revelation..................................13

CHAPTER 2: REVELATION 7 AND THE FOUR SCHOOLS OF

INTERPRETATION..............................................................................................................17
The Preterist School..................................................................................................18
Representatives and Overview................................................................... 18
Preterism and Revelation 7 ........................................................................ 20

The Historicist School.............................................................................................. 24

Representatives and Overview...................................................................24
Historicism and Revelation 7 ..................................................................... 25

The Futurist School...................................................................................................29

Introduction and T y p es............................................................................... 29
Dispensationalist Futurism and Revelation 7........................................... 31
Covenantal Futurism and Revelation 7 .....................................................39

The Idealist School....................................................................................................43

Representatives and Overview...................................................................43
Idealism and Revelation 7...........................................................................44

C onclusion.................................................................................................................47
CHAPTER 3: SEALS AND SEALING LEADING TO REVELATION 7..................48
A Brief History and Classification o f Seals.......................................................... 48

The Use and Significance o f Seals..........................................................................52

Seals and Sealing in the Old Testam ent.................................................................57

Terminology................................................................................................. 57
The Pentateuch............................................................................................. 58
The Historical Books................................................................................... 59
Job and Song o f Solom on.......................................................................... 60
The Prophetical B ooks................................................................................ 62
Sum m ary.......................................................................................................64

Seals and Sealing in Post-Biblical Judaism .......................................................... 65

The Septuagint............................................................................................. 65
OT Apocrypha.............................................................................................. 66
OT Pseudepigrapha..................................................................................... 68
The Dead Sea Scrolls.................................................................................. 74
Philo o f Alexandria......................................................................................75
Flavius Josephus..........................................................................................79
Sum m ary...................................................................................................... 81
Seals and Sealing in Hellenistic Writers ca. 100 B.C - A.D. 1 0 0 ..................... 82
Seals and Sealing in the New Testam ent.............................................................. 90
Terminology and Literal Uses.................................................................... 90
Metaphorical Uses........................................................................................91

Conclusion.................................................................................................................95

CHAPTER 4: A CONTEXTUAL INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION 7 .......... 97

The Text and Unity o f Revelation 7 ....................................................................... 97

The Role o f Revelation 7 in the Structure o f the Seals and o f the B o o k 98

A Contextual Interpretation o f the Two Visions o f Revelation 7 .................... 110

Interpretation Param eters..........................................................................I l l
A First Reading o f Revelation 7:1-8....................................................... 116
A First Reading o f Revelation 7:9-17..................................................... 132
Completing the Picture from Revelation.................................................137

C onclusion...............................................................................................................146
CHAPTER 5: THE SEALING OF THE 144,000_IN THE STREAM OF BIBLICAL-
CHRISTOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION.................................................................... 148
A Methodological Proposal....................................................................................148

Symbolism and Referentiality o f the Seal, the Sealing, and the S ealed 151
On the Transformation o f a Concept....................................................... 152
On Numbers, Ethnicity, and Innumerability.......................................... 157
On the Seal’s Confessional N atu re......................................................... 168

Post-NT Developments o f the Concept o f Sealing............................................ 174

C onclusion............................................................................................................... 183

CHAPTER 6: ^ p a y iq vs. Xdpaypa: THE SEAL AND ITS COUNTERFEIT 185

Icppaylc; vs. Xapaypa: Ownership and A gency..................................................185

L(ppayi<; vs. Xapaypa: C ontent............................................................................. 187

Ikppayli; vs. Xapaypa: Significance and O utcom e............................................ 198

Etppayit; vs. Xapaypa: Biblical Precedent.......................................................... 200

C onclusion...............................................................................................................211

CHAPTER 7: SUMMARY AND APPLICATION........................................................ 213

Thesis Summary......................................................................................................213

Application...............................................................................................................218
The Overall Applicatory Principle.......................................................... 218
The Act o f Sealing’s Initial E ffect.......................................................... 218
The Message and Manifestation o f the S e a l..........................................220

BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................231

CURRICULUM VITAE
 ix

FIGURES

1. Seal o f S a u l................................................................................................................55

2. Pure for G o d .............................................................................................................. 82

 X

TABLES

1. Verbal Parallels: The Seal's Visionary Identity............................................. 140

2. Verbal Parallels: The Sealed and the Great M ultitude....................................... 141

 ABBREVIATIONS

AB The Anchor Bible

ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary

AC Antike und Christentum

ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

AGAJU Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

BDAG A Greek-English Lexicon o f the New Testament (3d ed.; Danker, F. W.)

BIS Biblical Interpretation Series

BM Bibliotheca Mesopotamica

BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

BQ Baptist Quarterly

BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CC Christian Century

CNT Commentaire du Nouveau Testament

ConBNT Coniectanea Biblica, New Testament series

DCH The Dictionary o f Classical Hebrew

DLNT&ID Dictionary o f the Later New Testament & Its Developments

DNTB Dictionary o f New Testament Background

DOTP Dictionary o f the Old Testament Prophets

DSSR The Dead Sea Scrolls Reader

EBC The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

ETL Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses

GNS Good News Studies

GNTE Guides to New Testament Exegesis

GTJ Grace Theological Journal

HA E. B. Elliott's Horae Apocalypticae

HALOT The Hebrew & Aramaic Lexicon o f the Old Testament (Koehler, L.)

HDR Harvard Dissertations in Religion

HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament

HTR Harvard Theological Review

IBD The Illustrated Bible Dictionary

IBS Irish Biblical Studies

ICC The International Critical Commentary

ISBE The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

JATS Journal o f the Adventist Theological Society

JBL Journal o f Biblical Literature

JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly

JETS Journal o f the Evangelical Theological Society

JNES Journal o f Near Eastern Studies

JPSTC The Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary

JSNT Journal fo r the Study o f the New Testament

JSNTSS Journal for the Study o f the New Testament Supplement Series
JSP Journal for the Study o f the Pseudepigrapha

JSPSS Journal for the Study o f the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series

L.A.B. Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (Pseudo-Philo)

LCL Loeb Classical Library

LSJ The Online Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon

MNTC Moffatt New Testament Commentary

NCB New Century Bible

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament

NIVAC The NIV Application Commentary

NIDB The New Interpreter’s Dictionary o f the Bible

NIDNTT The New International Dictionary o f New Testament Theology

N1DOTTE The New International Dictionary o f Old Testament Theology

and Exegesis

NIGTC The New International Greek Testament Commentary

NIVAC New International Version Application Commentary

NovT Novum Testamentum

NSBT New Studies in Biblical Theology

NTC New Testament Commentary

NTL The New Testament Library

NTOA Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus

NTS New Testament Studies

OBO Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis

 x iv

PNTC The Pillar New Testament Commentary

RPPETR Religion Past and Present: Encyclopedia o f Theology and Religion

SBA Stuttgarter Biblische Aufsatzbande

SBB Stuttgarter Biblische Beitrage

SBLRBS Society o f Biblical Literature: Resources for Biblical Studies

SBLSS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series

SJSJ Supplements to the Journal for the Study o f Judaism

SN Studia Neotestamentica

SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

TB Theologie biblique

TCJ The Classical Journal

TDNT Theological Dictionary o f the New Testament

TJ Trinity Journal

TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: A Digital Library o f Greek Literature

UBSM United Bible Societies Monographs

VC Vigiliae Christianae

VT Vetus Testamentum

WBC Word Biblical Commentary

WTJ Westminster Theological Journal

WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

ZB Ziircher Bibelkommentare

ZPEB The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia o f the Bible

 XV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Given the nature o f this project, I would like to express my appreciation first to

Dr. Vem Sheridan Poythress for his patience, encouragement and graciousness

throughout the stages o f this work; to Dr. Gregory K. Beale for his scholarly expertise;

and to Dr. Dennis E. Johnson for his thoroughness and constructive input. I am grateful

also to the library personnel at WTS for their prompt assistance whenever needed.

The support from my church family - Grace Bible Fellowship Church in

Quakertown, Pennsylvania - has been essential, and I need to acknowledge especially

the families o f L. James Roberts and Joel Alderfer for their love and encouragement.

Friends from other contexts who have been a blessing in various ways toward the

completion o f this project and whom I should acknowledge are Keith McCarthy and

Michael Phua.

Most o f all I am indebted to my family, especially to my wonderful wife, Ana.

Her crucial support and loving perseverance spurred me on toward the finish line. True

to her name, God has favored me indeed. Our son and daughter, Alex and Adora, have

prayed for me and often brightened my path with their hugs and smiles.

Finally, all horizontal acknowledgements pale in comparison to what we must

present to the One who sealed us with His Name as a sign o f divine favor and eternal

salvation. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and

might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.

 1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTORY ISSUES

Interpretive Variety and Challenges in Revelation 7

Since early New Testament (NT) interpretation, Revelation 7 has been one o f

the most difficult passages to interpret,1 as the questions it poses have been answered

in different ways by interpreters o f different theological persuasions.2 Some o f the

challenges posed by this passage include: (1) the role o f chapter 7 within the sequence

o f the unveiling o f the seven seals; is it an interlude / intermission or parenthesis, or

rather a pinnacle? (2) the identity and role o f the four angels, and their possible

relationship with the four horsemen o f Revelation 6; (3) the nature and function o f the

seal o f God, especially in the context o f Revelation, yet also against the Old Testament

(OT) background and other NT passages; (4) the nature, purpose, and agency o f the

sealing; (5) the identity o f the sealed 144,000; (6) the relationship between Revelation

7:1-8 and 7:9-17, which implicitly deals with the relationship between the 144,000 and

1 Robert Henry Charles, A C ritical an d Exegetical Com m entary on the Revelation o f St. John
(ICC; Edinburgh: Clark, 1920), 2:189.

2 See Gregory K. Beale, The Book o f Revelation: A Com m entary on the G reek Text (NIGTC;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1999), 416-417; and Steve Gregg, ed., Revelation, Four Views: A
P arallel Com m entary (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 130-133. A cursory survey o f literature
regarding the Apocalypse reveals the variety. A s w e shall detail below , the 144,000 o f Revelation 7
may be view ed as follows: a select Jewish entity or the faithful Jewish Christians who escaped the
destruction o f Jerusalem in A.D. 70 at the hands o f Titus and his army; a sym bolic number o f the
church after the time o f Constantine, those who would remain faithful through the upcoming barbarian
invasions o f the Roman Empire; the number o f the church throughout the ages, the true spiritual Israel
o f God; a literal number o f Jewish believers converted and w itnessing during the Great Tribulation; a
sym bolic number for all ethnic Israel converted at Christ’s second coming; a sym bolic number
representing the last generation o f true believers and going through the Great Tribulation yet preserved
by G od’s grace; a sym bolic or literal number o f the Christian martyrs; either the entirety o f a given cult,
or perhaps a select group o f their own number; etc.
 2

the great multitude, as well as with any chronological relationship between the two

sections; (7) the relationship between the sealed 144,000 in chapter 7, the mention o f

the sealed in 9:4, and especially the occurrence o f the same number in Revelation

14:1-5; and (8) The comparison and contrast between this heavenly sealing and the

mark o f the beast.

Current Research and Our Approach to the Topic

While commentaries on Revelation and other studies deal with these individual

aspects to a certain extent,3 what is lacking and what we intend to do is an extended

and in-depth study o f the act o f sealing, which includes the development o f the

concept both in the biblical and related Second Temple literature, as well as its role in

Revelation and its relationship to the rest o f the NT in light o f Christ's redemption.

Thus, although interacting with all the above challenges posed by this chapter, this

project is intended as a contextual study o f Revelation 7 with a focus on the seal o f the

living God and the sealing o f God’s slaves.

After we address the genre o f Revelation and its symbolic language, we shall

introduce the four major schools o f interpretation as they approach especially

3 Som e o f the more substantial treatments o f the subject o f sealing as it relates to Revelation 7
include the following: G. K. Beale, Revelation, 409-416; Bernadette Escaffre, “Un Signe sur le front:
d ’Ez^chiel h PApocalypse,” La M aison-Dieu 262, no. 2 (2010): 9-24; Jeffrey Louie, “An Expositional
Study o f the 144,000 in the Book o f Revelation” (ThD diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1990), 47-
55; Kevin J. O ’Brien, “An Examination o f the Meaning, the Purpose, and the Function o f the Interlude
within the Sevenfold Series o f the Book o f Revelation” (PhD diss., Union Theological Seminary, 1996),
50-56; David E. Aune, Revelation 6-16 (W BC 52B; Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas N elson, 1998), 456-459;
Andr6 Feuillet, “Les 144,000 Israelites Marques d’un Sceau,” N o v T 9 (1967): 191-224; R. H. Charles,
Revelation, 1:194-199.; Stephen S. Smalley, The Revelation to John: A Com m entary on the G reek Text
o f the A pocalypse (Downers Grove, 111.: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 174-188; and Peter S. Perry, The
Rhetoric o f D igressions: Revelation 7:1-17 an d 10:1-11:13 an d Ancient Com munication (W UN T 2,
Reihe 268; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2009), 56-79 and 212-224.
 3

Revelation 7 and the concept o f sealing. This is followed by a survey o f seals and

sealing in the ancient period, attempting to place Revelation's act o f sealing within its

historical context. Having thus obtained a more comprehensive understanding o f seals

and their functions, we are then focusing on a contextual interpretation o f Revelation

7, followed by a more specific discussion o f the nature and role o f sealing, as well as

o f its beneficiaries' identity and relationship both to the great multitude and contrast

from those who bear the mark o f the beast, the counterfeiter o f God's signature. We

pursue an understanding o f all these aspects especially in light o f the culmination o f

God's plan o f redemption in Jesus Christ, concluding with a summary and application

o f our study both for John's audience and for contemporary believers.4

Genre Considerations

The variety o f interpretive positions is not limited to the interpretation o f the

144,000, as Revelation as a whole displays the most diverse array o f approaches

among all the NT books. Its interpreters usually follow and are classified according to

one o f these four approaches: preterist, historicist, futurist, or idealist.5 At a

foundational level one’s interpretation o f the book is simply determined not as much

by the text as it is by the hermeneutical presuppositions one brings to the text, and

4 See especially V em Sheridan Poythress, "Counterfeiting in the Book o f Revelation as a

Perspective on Non-Christian Culture, JETS 40 (1997): 411-418.

5 Scholars at times combine elements o f these four schools, so their interpretation may be
classified as eclectic, however, usually one o f the four approaches is still dominant in their work. Most
scholarly works on the book o f Revelation include a discussion on these four schools o f thought. See
especially S. Gregg, Revelation, Four Views, 28-46, and Isbon T. Beckwith, The A pocalypse o f John
(1919; repr., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1967), 318-336; cf. Chapter 2.
 4

these presuppositions are usually dictated by the interpreter’s decision regarding this

book’s literary genre and by the genre or subgenre o f the unit under consideration.6

The Three Genres o f Revelation

We may identify three genre characteristics in Revelation: epistolary,

7 o
apocalyptic and prophetic. Most interpreters agree on its epistolary nature, though it

is often noted that this mostly pertains to the form and not as much to the message o f

Revelation.9 Yet, its epistolary framework should “remind us that, as with the other

NT epistles, there is both a theological and a parenetic purpose to the book.” 10

6 See Sam Hamstra, Jr., “An Idealist V iew o f Revelation,” in Four Views on the Book o f
Revelation (ed. C. Marvin Pate; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1998), 128.

7 The book’s epistolary form (a prologue that includes the author and recipients as w ell as a
greeting, a main body, and an epilogue that indicates the whole book was addressed to the seven
churches), as w ell as the specific letters to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, speak to the epistolary
nature o f the book. The opening o f the book - A/ioKaXuvyic, t o o Iqoou Xpiorou (the revelation o f Jesus
Christ) - coupled with the book’s similarities to other writings in the Second Temple period that belong
to the apocalyptic genre would point to the apocalyptic classification. To provide for the prophetic
genre w e may point to the blessing pronounced on oi dKouovreq xoxx; X6you<; tfjq Kpoq>t]xeiag ical
Tr|poOvT£<; rot £v aurfj yeypappdva (the ones who hear the w ords o f this pro p h ecy an d keep the things
which are in it) in 1:3, the four references to prophecy in the closing chapter o f the book (22:7, 10, 18,
19), and also John’s function as a prophet.

8 Beside the book’s epistolary framework provided by its beginning and end, most students o f
Revelation would also identify the m essages in chapters 2 and 3 as exam ples o f letters within the book.
However, som e object to the epistolary genre o f the seven communiques, proposing they should rather
be seen as “prophetic oracles” (M ichaels, J. Ramsey, Interpreting the Book o f Revelation [GNTE 7;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1992], 32), or “prophetic proclamations issued by the King o f kings and
Lord o f Lords to his subjects,” after the contemporary form o f Roman imperial edicts (David E. Aune,
“The Form and Function o f the Proclamations to the Seven Churches (Revelation 2 -3),” NTS 36
[1990], 204).

9 For example, Adela Yarbro Collins notes that the book’s dominant literary form is the vision
account, so, regardless o f the book’s epistolary framework, Revelation should not be seen primarily as a
letter because its “epistolary form is subordinated to and in the service o f the book’s revelatory
character” (“The Early Christian A pocalypses,” Sem eia 14 [1979]: 70-71).

10 Edwin Reynolds “Ten Keys for Interpreting the Book o f Revelation,” JATS 11, no. 1-2
(2000): 263.
 5

The more commonly employed genre categories are those o f "apocalyptic" and

"prophetic," especially as applicable to Rev 4:1-20:10. Yet, these categories as they

are used by contemporary scholars reveal certain assumptions, as interpreters often

seem to emphasize one or the other: to a great extent, those employing the "prophetic"

label tend to equate it with "predictive," which usually translates into a this-worldly,

event-oriented, and even an historical-chronological understanding o f the book.11

Those appealing to the "apocalyptic" category tend to interpret its vision as more idea-

oriented as they deal with the nature o f Revelation’s symbols and visionary language,

yet perhaps downplay an historical-referential level in its interpretation. So, are

Revelation’s visions primarily prophetic-historical or apocalyptic-symbolic? Or, as

Ronald Herms frames the question in his discussion o f the communicative function o f

" This is most common among proponents o f the Preterist, Historicist, or Futurist schools.
Prophetic usually is taken to refer primarily to fore-tellin g o f com ing events rather than fo rth -tellin g or
proclaiming a m essage on behalf o f a sender. Though all prophecy in Scriptures is forth-telling, and
Revelation itself is thoroughly prophetic in the sense that it consists o f the m essage Jesus communicated
to the churches through John the prophet, yet the bulk o f prophetic material in the Scriptures does not
necessarily include a fore-telling dimension (see J. D. Hays, “Prophecy and Eschatology in Christian
Theology,” DOTP, 603-604).
When this predictive aspect o f prophecy is coupled with certain temporal references in
Revelation, such as & 6eT yevSoOai 6v id^et o f 1:1 (“the things which must happen soon”), the apparent
chronological order implied by ft eteei; tcai & eiotv Kai & p e/J x i yevSaOai perd ra u ia o f 1:19 (“the things
which you have seen and the things which are and the things which are about to happen after these
things”), as well as the & 8ei yev^aOai pera xauta o f 4:1 (“the things which must happen after these
things”), many interpreters usually see the descriptions follow ing 4:1 as predictions with a direct
correlation to specific events in history, often in chronological order as w ell as eschatological.
For example, Paul F. Anderson speaks o f Revelation as “the only book [o f the Bible] totally
devoted to prophecy” (The New International Version: A Com plete O utline o f the New Testament
[Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1981], 44), and adopts a w holly futuristic view for chapters 4-22;
also, Robert L. Thomas, who takes a dispensationalist futurist view , sets up a similar contrast between
two basic approaches to Revelation when saying that “appealing to its apocalyptic genre as a basis for
relying more heavily on sym bolism [constitutes a] failure to appreciate the book’s primary character as
a prophecy” (“A Classical Dispensationalist V iew o f Revelation,” in Four Views on the Book o f
Revelation [ed. C. Marvin Pate; Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 1998], 203).
According to Ranko Stefanovic, a Historicist, while “Revelation 1:9-3:22 must be understood
as essentially forth-telling, ...th e visions o f Revelation 4-22:5 were intended to be understood as the
prophecies o f the church and the world throughout the Christian dispensation ... [and] are thus
primarily fo retellin g in their intention and design” (Revelation o f Jesus Christ: Com m entary on the
Book o f Revelation [Berrien Springs, Mich.: Andrews University Press, 2002), 15 (emphasis ours).
 6

apocalyptic images and symbols, “Do they provide information or evoke impressions

and response? Or both?” 12

The answer determines one’s basic approach to the interpretation o f the

visionary material in Revelation (generally Rev 4:1-20:10, and especially chapter 7,

our subject o f study): for those who see Revelation as primarily prophetic, in the sense

o f predicting information, these chapters are mostly about specific and literal events in

history, often in chronological order, even if presented in veiled and symbolic

language.13 But, for those who see the book as primarily apocalyptic, this material’s

referential aspect becomes secondary, so that by means o f highly symbolic language

its purpose is to communicate lessons applicable to the whole gamut o f the church’s

experience throughout the centuries. So, if prophetic-predictive is emphasized, one’s

interpretation would be mostly concordant with Preterism, Historicism, or Futurism; if

apocalyptic-symbolic, one’s dominant interpretive approach would be Idealism.

Also, a decision regarding the predominant generic nature o f the material

affects one’s view o f the book’s structure: a primarily predictive and event-oriented

understanding o f the book lends itself better to a telescoping and linear or

12 Ronald Herms, An A pocalypse f o r the Church an d f o r the World'. The N arrative Function o f
Universal Language in the Book o f Revelation (BZNW 143; Berlin, Germany: de Gruyter, 2006), 29.

13 After dism issing ‘apocalyptic’ as an a lleg ed genre for Revelation, Thomas states that “by its
own claim the book is a prophecy and deserves a literal interpretation, just as other prophetic books do
... even though God gave it in an unusual sym bolic fashion” (Thomas, “A Classical Dispensationalist
V iew o f Revelation,” 181).
 7

chronologically sequential view o f its contents,14 while a primarily apocalyptic-

symbolic understanding allows more room for a topical or thematic arrangement o f the

material, as well as being open to a more literarily stylized structure o f the book,

whether chiastic, recapitulative, or cyclical.15

Restricting the generic category to "prophetic" (or even "visional-prophetic"16)

seems too one-sided, especially if "prophetic" is heavily understood in its predictive

aspect, and also in light o f the last few decades’ advances in apocalyptic studies and

the nature o f Revelation’s visionary and symbolic language.17 Considerable space has

been devoted to the discussion o f the apocalyptic genre and its relation to the book o f

Revelation. Much effort was expended in describing and classifying the works that

generally fit the apocalyptic genre as defined by John J. Collins and the SBL

Apocalypse Group, emphasizing the apocalyptic literary form and content; Collins

defined an apocalypse as “a genre o f revelatory literature with a narrative framework,

in which a revelation is mediated by an otherworldly being to a human recipient,

14 Ibid., 191-193. In his commentary on Revelation, he argues that the seven-sealed scroll is “a
‘history’ o f the future that gives the successive steps leading to the inauguration o f the world-kingdom
o f Christ,” with the seventh seal containing the seven trumpet judgments, and the seventh trumpet the
seven bowls (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Com m entary [Chicago: M oody Press,
1992], 379).

15 Such generalizations have their exceptions, as interpreters combine these elements, ending
up with a more eclectic view. Interpreters like Robert H. Mounce, George Raymond Beasley-Murray,
and George Eldon Ladd em ploy both futurism and recapitulationism. For a more detailed discussion on
the structure o f Revelation, see G. K. Beale, R evelation, 108-151.

16 Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 29.

17 According to Ronald Herms, “apocalyptic literature richly em ploys sym bols and images,
which can present difficulties for ‘propositional’ or linear [or literal, one-to-one correspondence to
reality] thought” (An A pocalypse f o r the Church an d f o r the World, 28-29); this does not mean the text
does not communicate . See also Elisabeth SchQssler Fiorenza, The Book o f Revelation: Justice an d
Judgm ent (2d ed.; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress, 1998), 3 and 171.
 8

disclosing a transcendent reality which is both temporal, insofar as it envisages

eschatological salvation, and spatial insofar as it involves another, supernatural

world.” 18

David Hellholm (initially working with the International Colloquium on

Apocalypticism in Uppsala) and Adela Yarbro Collins expanded that definition by

adding the aspect o f function, while David Aune further synthesized and adapted their

w ork.19 This is Aune’s more comprehensive definition o f apocalyptic, revolving

around the genre’s three major aspects: form, content and function:

(1) Form: an apocalypse is a prose narrative, in autobiographical form, o f

revelatory visions experienced by the author, so structured that the central
revelatory message constitutes a literary climax, and framed by a narrative o f
the circumstances surrounding the revelatory experience(s). (2) Content: the
communication o f a transcendent, often eschatological, perspective on human
experience. (3) Function: (a) to legitimate the transcendent authorization o f the
message, (b) by mediating a new actualization o f the original revelatory
experience through literary devices, structures and imagery, which function to
"conceal" the message which the text "reveals," so that (c) the recipients o f the
message will be encouraged to modify their'ycicognitive and behavioral stance in
conformity with transcendent perspectives.

18 John J. Collins, "Towards the Morphology o f a Genre: Introduction," Sem eia 14 (1979), 9.
The whole issue o f Sem eia 14 represents the conclusions o f the Society o f Biblical Literature’s
A pocalypse Group, which was part o f the SBL Genre Project.

19 See David Hellholm, ed., Apocalypticism in the M editerranean W orld an d the N ear East
(Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1983), and “The Problem o f Apocalyptic Genre and the A pocalypse o f
John,” Sem eia 36 (1986): 13-64; also, Adela Yarbro Collins, “Early Christian Apocalypticism ,” Sem eia
36 (1986), 7, and her “Apocalyptic Themes in Biblical Literature,” Interpretation 53 (1999), 117-130;
and, David E. Aune, “The Apocalypse o f John and the Problem o f Genre,” Sem eia 36 (1986): 65-96,
essay updated and included in his Apocalypticism , Prophecy, an d M agic in Early Christianity:
C ollected E ssays (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2006), 39-65. For further discussion on the apocalyptic
genre and its application to the Book o f Revelation see also D. Aune, Revelation 1-5 (W BC 52A.
Dallas, Tex.: Word, 1997), lxx-xc; G. K. Beale, Revelation, 37-43; R. Michaels, Interpreting the Book
o f Revelation, 21-33; and L. J. Kreitzer, “Apocalyptic, Apocalypticism ,” DLNT&ID, 55-68. For a more
recent review o f genre and the apocalyptic, see Adela Yarbro Collins, “Apocalypse Now: The State o f
Apocalyptic Studies Near the End o f the First Decade o f the Twenty-First Century,” HTR 104 (2011),
447-457, as w ell as Scott M. Lewis, What Are They Saying about New Testament A pocalyptic
(Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2004).

20 “The Apocalypse o f John and the Problem o f Genre,” 86-87.

 9

However, although Revelation is often categorized as an "apocalypse," that

label is not as precisely defined and as helpful as one wishes when it comes to its

application to the book’s interpretation. And, having surveyed the field, scholars agree

both that the Apocalypse does not fit that neatly any genre mold, and that the lengthy

“studies on the apocalyptic have yielded diminishing returns, especially in terms o f

significant new interpretative insights into the book o f Revelation,” leading scholars

more and more to consider it as an apocalypse in the tradition o f the OT prophetic

7I
material, and thus emphasize that OT connection.

Perhaps employing only one o f the genre categories and neglecting the other

does not do justice to the book, so another option is to combine the prophetic and
• • 22
apocalyptic into one label, such as prophetic-apocalyptic or apocalyptic-prophetic.

21 See G. K. Beale, Revelation, 39-41. Beale sees Revelation as “an intensification o f

prophecy.” In the same context he also quotes Ramsay M ichaels’ conclusion about the genre o f
Revelation: “If a letter, it is like no other early Christian letter w e possess. If an apocalypse, it is like no
other apocalypse. If a prophecy, it is unique among prophecies” (cf. Michaels, Interpreting Revelation,
31 -32). We should note M ichaels’ dissatisfaction with long definitions o f apocalyptic as too verbose
and “almost inevitably circular” (Interpreting Revelation, 26). See also S. Smalley, R evelation, 6-8,
w ho finds the designation apocalypse as inadequate by itself, and goes on to also draw on the category
o f prophecy, concluding that Revelation may be labeled “as apocalyptic deepened by prophetic insight
and also as prophecy intensified by apocalyptic vision” (8).
To illustrate the fluid and disconcerting current situation in the apocalyptic genre studies and
interpretation, w e should note Adela Yarbro C ollins’ solution to the existence o f different theories o f
genre as applicable to the apocalyptic: “a student o f apocalypses ought to select a theory o f genre that
best fits his or her purpose in a particular situation” (“Apocalypse N ow ,” 456-457); and in the same
context, while maintaining the basic dichotomy between perceiving Revelation as apocalyptic-symbolic
or idea-oriented and prophetic-historic or event-oriented, Yarbro Collins makes clear her preference for
the former:

Because o f the nature o f the dreams and visions they [apocalypses] narrate and the
extraordinary character o f their narratives, most scholars would now agree that an apocalypse
is an imaginative response to a specific historical and social situation. Yet there is a significant
minority in this country, w hose presence is attested by the wide circulation o f the “Left
Behind” novels, for whom the canonical apocalypses are historical fact.

22 See also G. R. Beasley-Murray, "Revelation, Book of," DLNT&ID, 1026, where he argues
that Revelation “is to be defined as an apocalyptic prophecy and/or a prophetic apocalypse.” However,
w hile representatives o f every school are open to em ploying both labels (cf. note 23), som e interpreters
 10

Yet even among those who employ such a combination there is an apparent tendency

to see one aspect as primary and thus interpret the text either in a more referential-

literal, temporal and event-oriented manner, or rather to emphasize its symbolic-

theological, trans-temporal or idea-oriented message.23 So, while some charge that

especially o f the Futurist school, resist the apocalyptic label altogether. Thus, Robert Thomas argues
that “the best overall characterization o f the literary style o f the Apocalypse is to call it prophetic. A
blending o f genres such as prophetic-apocalyptic or prophetic-apocalyptic-epistolary is not the best
answer because it does not allow for the preeminence o f the book’s prophetic character” (Revelation I-
7, 28).

23 Though George E. Ladd applies his use o f proph etic-apocalyptic mainly to the nature o f the
kingdom Jesus cam e to bring, the characteristics are also applied to the Apocalypse o f John as part o f
the apocalyptic literature. By proph etic Ladd means the historical and this-worldly nature o f G od’s
kingdom, which in his view points to a future earthly millennial kingdom, while by apocalyptic he
refers to the eschatological aspect o f that kingdom, fulfilled “beyond history, in a transcendental world
which would be inaugurated by a cosm ic catastrophe terminating history and introducing an entirely
different order o f existence” (“Why not Prophetic-Apocalyptic?” JBL 76, no. 3 [1957]: 193).
Gregory K. Beale, after suggesting that “it is best to understand apocalyptic as an
intensification o f prophecy” and “Revelation is best seen as fitting into the genre o f OT prophetic-
apocalyptic works, especially that o f Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah,” concludes that Revelation is an
apocalyptic-prophetic work, a label he then continues to em ploy (Revelation, 37-38). Isbon T.
Beckwith also labels his interpretive method o f Revelation as apocalyptic-prophetic ( The A pocalypse o f
John, 336). A lso, after noting that prophecy and apocalyptic overlap, David L. Barr believes that in
Revelation “John is closer to the apocalyptic mode than the prophetic” (“The A pocalypse o f John,” in
The Blackwell Com panion to the New Testament [ed. David E. Aune; Chichester, U.K.: W iley-
Blackwell, 2010], 643).
Jon Paulien classifies Revelation as an historical apocalypse in the vein o f Daniel 7-12 (and
Daniel 2), labels it as an apocalyptic prophecy, and contends that at least certain portions o f it (such as
Revelation 12) should be interpreted according to an historicist model, seeing in Revelation a sequence
o f events m oving from John’s time to the end o f history - see “The end o f Historicism? R eflections on
the Adventist Approach to Biblical Apocalyptic - Part One,” JATS 14, no. 2 (2003): 15-43, and “The
End o f Historicism? Reflections on the Adventist Approach to Biblical Apocalyptic - Part Tw o,” JATS
17, no. 1 (2006): 180-208. Paulien’s case goes against the apparent consensus by a majority o f scholars
o f the apocalyptic, who, although classifying Daniel 7-12 as historical apocalypse, consistently refrain
from including Revelation in that category (see John J. Collins, "Towards the Morphology o f a Genre,"
14-16; Elisabeth Schlissler Fiorenza, “The Phenomenon o f Early Christian Apocalyptic,” in
A pocalypticism in the M editerranean W orld a n d the N ear East, 293; also A. Y. Collins, "The Early
Christian Apocalypses," 69-72. In a more recent article, Adela Yarbro Collins addresses this again,
though in passing, when she states that “Revelation evokes Daniel in various ways but omits the
reviews o f history implied in the dreams o f Daniel 2 and 7” (“Apocalypse N ow ,” 453), thus keeping
Revelation separate from the category o f historical apocalypse.
We should note that all four interpreters mentioned above combine the two genre terms o f
apocalyptic and prophetic, yet each one ends up follow ing a different interpretive approach to
Revelation: Beckwith is closest to the Preterist model, Ladd follow s the Futurist school, Beale is mostly
identified with the Idealist approach, while Paulien is o f the Historicist persuasion.
 11

“appealing to its apocalyptic genre as a basis for relying more heavily on symbolism

[constitutes a] failure to appreciate the book’s primary character as a prophecy,”24

others view the book’s symbolism as primary and dominating to the extent that the

text “expresses directly the theological significance and only indirectly points to the

underlying event.”

If apocalyptic-prophetic is perhaps still the best option for Revelation’s genre -

as we believe, though "prophetic" should be understood more as a continuation o f OT

prophecy26 and not limited to future predictions - then what is the connection between

apocalyptic and the OT prophecy? Though a debated topic by scholars, it is probably

best to see OT prophecy as the origin o f Apocalypticism, o f which Revelation is an

exponent.27 Thus, the Hebrew prophets are God’s ambassadors to His covenant

people, often bringing a dual message o f judgment and salvation: judgment or curses

for covenant unfaithfulness, coupled with the promise o f a future salvation and

restoration, blessings usually conditioned upon by the Israelites’ repentance and heart-

service toward their Suzerain. The general flavor o f these prophecies is this-worldly,

24 Thomas, “A Classical Dispensationalist V iew o f Revelation,” 203. See also his discussion
on this in Revelation 1-7, 23-39.

25 V em S. Poythress, “Genre & Hermeneutics in Revelation 20:1-6,” JETS 36, n o.l (1993): 42.
Although this statement is specific to Rev 13:1-8, it is applicable to the bulk o f the book.

26 Georg Glonner sees John as the last pro p h et o f the end-times, standing in the succession o f
Jeremia, Ezechiel and Daniel (Zur Bildersprache des Johannes von Patmos [MUnster: Aschendorff,
1999], 233).

27 See T. J. Johnson, “Apocalypticism, Apocalyptic Literature,” DOTP, 36-43; also, Paul

Hanson, The D awn o f the Apocalyptic: The H istorical an d Sociological Roots o f Jew ish A pocalyptic
E schatology (Philadelphia, Pa.: Fortress, 1979), 1-31. Lester L. Grabbe argues that apocalyptic should
be seen as a subdivision o f prophecy (“Introduction and Overview,” in K nowing the End from the
Beginning: The Prophetic, the Apocalyptic, an d Their Relationship [JSPSS 46; ed. by Lester L. Grabbe
and Robert D. Haak; T&T Clark International: N ew York, 2003], 22-23).
 12

land-bound and often physically verifiable, although they are conditioned upon

people’s spiritual motivation and also accompanied by spiritual benefits. The prophet

generally speaks o f a definite earthly judgment as well as a future salvation that is

organically connected with Israel’s present situation, though at times prophetic

messages o f judgment and salvation go beyond Israel’s situation, the language

becoming universal and the images employed pointing to what appears as an other­

worldly future reality, implying discontinuity between the present and the future and

yet maintaining elements o f continuity.

In general contrast, and yet with some continuity, the apocalyptic writers seem

to have abandoned the this-worldly approach and adopted a more radical

eschatological perspective: the current state o f affairs (mainly Israel’s exilic and post-

exilic continuing oppression and suffering at the hands o f her enemies) has gone on

for too long, with no end in sight, so there must be a decisive intervention by God to

restore all things.

In communicating their future-oriented message, the apocalyptic writers

usually employ a literary vehicle which is replete with visionary reports, imagery and

bizarre symbolic language, which is also the literary vehicle o f the book o f Revelation.

If otherwise the study o f the apocalyptic genre does not provide that much pay-off for

28 See Hanson’s explanations o f prophetic eschatology and apocalyptic eschatology, in The

Dawn o f Apocalyptic, 10-12. According to Hanson, in the prophetic eschatology, the prophet translates
or “interprets for the king and the people how the plans o f the divine council will be effected within the
context o f their nation’s history and the history o f the world.” In apocalyptic eschatology, prophets are
replaced with visionaries, who although witnesses to what is unfolding in G od’s council, they
increasingly cease the process o f translating what they have seen “into the terms o f plain history, real
politics, and human instrumentality;” instead o f interpreting, as the prophets used to, they rather
disclose to the elect “the cosm ic vision o f Yahweh’s sovereignty - especially as it relates to his acting
to deliver his faithful.”
 13

interpreting Revelation, a proper appreciation for the apocalyptic literary vehicle is

crucial in this book’s interpretation, especially when its close ties to the prophetic

material o f the Old Testament are acknowledged. Thus, understanding - in its

historical and literary milieu - the “use o f complex symbolism which was 'in the air' at

the time when John was writing,”29 provides probably the greatest import for the

interpretation o f this book. However, the process o f interpreting that complex

symbolism also introduces the greatest challenge; for although we may agree that

Revelation is a prophetic letter that consists o f visionary and revelatory material

presented in apocalyptic-symbolic conventions in order to encourage the persecuted

and challenge the complacent in the church,30 yet the mechanism one employs to

arrive at meaning from a text that is replete with such symbolic communication is

what generates the various interpretations o f this book.

The Four Levels o f Communication in Revelation

Since the dominant literary form in Revelation is the vision account replete

with wild symbolic language,31 to explain and exemplify that interpretive mechanism

it is helpful to consider the multiple levels o f communication in symbolic discourse

29 V em S. Poythress, The Returning King: A G uide to the Book o f Revelation (Phillipsburg,

N.J.: P&R Publishing, 2000), 47. See his succinct discussion and comparison o f apocalyptic features
versus the book o f Revelation (pages 45-47).

30 We may note the similarities between this formulation o f Revelation’s genre and the
definition o f apocalyptic mentioned above, as provided by Aune (“The A pocalypse o f John and the
Problem o f Genre,” 86-87); the common thread regarding the interpretation o f this book has to do with
a proper understanding o f its sym bolic and visionary language.

31 Cf. Collins, “The Early Christian Apocalypses,” 70-71.

 14

proposed by Vem S. Poythress and followed by other students o f Revelation: the

linguistic, visionary, referential, and symbolic levels. To exemplify, the

application o f these four levels o f communication to Revelation 13:1-8 yields the

following: the linguistic level is the written text describing the beast; the visionary

level refers to the content o f John’s vision, what he actually was allowed to see in the

Spirit as he observed the rise, appearance and deeds o f the beast; the referential level

consists o f this beast’s historical referent, at which point there intervenes the variety o f

interpretations, whether the Roman empire or emperor, the pope, an end-times

Antichrist, or the persecuting power o f the state; and the symbolic level specifies the

connotations o f the symbolic imagery in regard to its historical referent, the

characteristics and theological significance o f the beast such as its amazing strength,

hideousness, and demonic empowerment, yet as one under the authority o f God and

ultimately judged and destroyed by Him.

How does one arrive from the imagery used in this passage - a hideously

hybrid animal that the whole earth follows and worships, one that is able to speak

blasphemies against God, and one allowed to make war and defeat the saints - to a

historical referent? Evidently, symbolism is acknowledged by all, for no one takes the

language literally. Poythress argues that in narrative material there is a real concern

with historical events, so the literal meaning is primary or direct, and serves as the

32 V em S. Poythress, “Genre and Hermeneutics,” 41-54. See also Beale, Revelation, 52-55.

33 As Poythress points out, while most interpreters agree that the beast stands for an antichrist
figure, it is the identification o f this historical referent that is contested by interpreters: “Preterists
usually think that the beast refers to the Roman Empire or Roman emperor. Futurists think that it refers
to the final Antichrist, who may be associated with a revived Roman Empire. Protestant historicists
find a reference to the papacy. Idealists find a reference to state persecuting power throughout history”
(“Genre & Hermeneutics,” 41).
 15

foundation for the theological meaning which is indirectly deduced. For example,

Mark 2:1-12 at a literal and direct level describes the healing o f a real paralytic, while

at its theological level it indirectly teaches the authority o f Jesus to forgive sins, as

well the priority o f the spiritual over the physical (such as forgiveness o f sin over

healing) due to the necessity o f addressing the root o f the problem in the kingdom

Jesus came to inaugurate. However, in apocalyptic and visionary material as

Revelation 13:1-8, because o f the preponderance o f symbolic language, the focus is

reversed so that the theological import o f the text becomes primary while the

underlying event secondary. In this case, “imagery captures the symbolical and

theological significance ‘directly,’ but we must make a transition to another sphere in

order to find the referent. The challenges associated with this transition are what give

rise to the differences among schools o f interpretation,”34 and it is to these different

34 Ibid., 42. Though concluding that ultimately it refers to a future reality, Darrell Bock uses
similar terms in framing the dilemma o f interpreting apocalyptic material: it is “not a matter o f literal
versus figurative/allegorical approaches, but o f how to identify and understand the reference o f the
figure in question” (Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock, P rogressive D ispensationalism [Wheaton,
111.: Victor Books, 1993], 93).
The difficulty may be illustrated by pointing out the wide divergence o f opinion regarding the
identity o f the first horseman o f Revelation 6: for Kenneth Gentry, a Preterist, the first horseman is the
Roman army marching towards Jerusalem in AD 67 (“A Preterist V iew o f Revelation,” in Four Views
on the Book o f Revelation [ed. C. Marvin Pate; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1998], 53); for E. B.
Elliott, a Historicist, it is a picture o f the Roman emperors between Domitian and Aurelian (H orae
A pocalypticae (3d ed.; 4 vols.; London: Seeley, 1847), 1:125-140); for R. L. Thomas, a Dispensational
Futurist, it is “a growing m ovement o f anti-Christian and false Christian forces” (“A Classical
Dispensationalist V iew ,” 193); for Tim LaHaye, and other Dispensationalist populists like Hal Lindsey,
it is the Antichrist (LaHaye, Revelation: Illustrated an d M ade Plain, 100; and Hal Lindsey, There's A
N ew W orld Coming: A P rophetic O dyssey [Santa Ana, Ca.: Vision H ouse,1973], 102-104); for George
E. Ladd, a Covenantal Futurist, it sym bolizes the proclamation o f the gospel o f Christ (A Com m entary
on the Revelation o f John [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972], 99); for Sam Hamstra Jr. and
William Hendricksen, both Idealists, it is Christ the Victor (Hamstra, “An Idealist V iew o f Revelation,”
105; and Hendricksen, M ore Than Conquerors: An Interpretation o f the Book o f Revelation [Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1961], 102-103); for Dennis Johnson, also an Idealist, it is sim ply Conquest
{Triumph o f the Lamb: A Com m entary on Revelation [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2001], 119);
and for Eugenio Corsini, a somewhat peculiar interpreter, the first horseman represents “humanity in its
 16

approaches to the interpretation o f Revelation that we shall turn next, as we are

specifically interested in each one's view o f Revelation 7 and the concept o f sealing.

ideal perfection, as it was at the beginning” ( The Apocalypse: The Perennial Revelation o f Jesus Christ
[GNS 5; trans. Francis J. Moloney; W ilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1983], 140).
 17

CHAPTER 2

REVELATION 7 AND THE FOUR SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION

One o f the major tasks for the initial audience o f Revelation - as it is for us,

though more difficult as we are so far removed from their context - was to

acknowledge the nature o f the literary vehicle the visionary prophet used, and to

properly interpret its content so that the audience “in effect, relive the experience o f

the seer and thereby appropriate for themselves the revelatory message.”35 And, since

the literary vehicle o f the apocalyptic is loaded with symbolic language that draws one

back into the flow o f OT prophetic speech, the audience is called “to grasp the

significance o f the symbols in conveying the m essage..., [to] find meaning through

the symbols.”36 We shall now consider how each o f the four schools has interpreted

Revelation 7.

35 Aune, “Genre”, 90. A lso, John’s audience is the equivalent o f what narrative critics call the
im plied reader or hearer, with John being the im plied author, as James Resseguie states, the implied
reader “is thoroughly familiar with the literary, historical, social, linguistic, and cultural repertoire o f
the implied au th or... [and] can assemble the clues from the text and interpret them as the implied
author intended” (The Revelation o f John: A N arrative Com m entary [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker,
2009], 54.

36 Kenneth A. Strand, Interpreting the Book o f Revelation: H erm eneutical G uidelines with
B rief Introduction to Literary Analysis (2d ed.; Naples, Flo.: Ann Arbor Publishers, 1979), 31; see
pages 25-31 for a fuller treatment o f sym bols in Revelation.
 18

The Preterist School

Representatives and Overview

Preterism was systematically formulated by the Jesuit scholar Luis de Alcazar

(1554-1613) during the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation to address the

Protestants’ Historicist interpretation which generally identified the pope with the

Antichrist. The approach has not found much favor with Protestants, though there are

some representatives, including Hugo Grotius (1640), Firmin Abauzit (1730), Moses

Stuart (1845), James Stuart Russell (1887), some 20th century evangelical interpreters

such as Jay Adams and R. C. Sproul, as well as modem Christian Reconstructionists

like David Chilton, Gary North and Kenneth Gentry.

Preterists generally interpret Revelation through the lens o f the events leading

to either the Fall o f Jerusalem in AD 70, the Fall o f Rome in AD 476, or a

combination o f the two: Revelation 1-11 (or 4-11) as applicable to the struggle

between the church and the people o f Israel, and Revelation 12-19 (or 12-21) mostly

speaking o f the struggle between the church and the Roman Empire. The church is

portrayed as triumphant in either case, with the judgments described in Revelation

applying to the downfall and destruction o f her enemies, whether Israel and Jerusalem

by AD 70, or the Roman Empire and Rome itself by AD 476. In the former scenario,

the church effectively replaces ancient Israel as God’s chosen people, while in the

latter scenario, the church as Christ’s kingdom replaces the paganism o f the Roman

Empire, with Rome eventually becoming the object o f God’s judgment for her
 19

persecution o f Christians prior to emperor Constantine and her seduction o f God’s

people afterwards.

The Preterism described thus far is usually theologically conservative and is

often labeled partial or moderate Preterism, in contrast to fu ll, radical or consistent

Preterism, whose proponents claim that all NT prophecies concerning the future were

fulfilled by A.D. 70, including Christ’s return, the resurrection, and the consummation

o f the kingdom. For full Preterists, if there is a physical coming o f Christ, then the

Bible either does not speak o f it,37 or both the prophecies o f Jesus in the gospels and

those in Revelation regarding the timing o f such return in the lifetime o f that first

generation must be wrong; modem liberal scholars also take the latter view without
i o

necessarily being part o f the Preterist school.

37 J. Stuart Russell concludes that the obvious and unambiguous sense o f passages such as Matt
10:23, 16:27-28, and 24:34 is “that our Lord’s second com ing would take place within the limits o f the
existing generation” (The Parousia: A C ritical Inquiry into the New Testament D octrine o f Our L ord's
S econ d Com ing [new ed.; London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1887], 540), and one should not use the
Apocalypse to map out the consummation o f history: “Where nothing has been revealed it would be the
height o f presumption to prognosticate the future” (550).

38 See Albert Schweitzer, The Q uest o f the H istorical Jesus: A C ritical Study o f Its P rogress
from Reimarus to Wrede (trans. W. Montgomery, 1910; repr., N ew York: Macmillan, 1948), 395-397;
Bertrand Russell claim s that the early Christians “did accept from Christ the b elief that the second
com ing was imminent,” thus inferring that Christ “was not so w ise as som e other people have been”,
which is one o f R ussell’s two major lines o f reasoning for rejecting Christianity (W hy I Am Not A
Christian, an d O ther Essays on Religion an d R elated Subjects [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957],
3-23); also, according to Bart Ehrman, “If Jesus were to be taken literally - that is, if he really meant
that the Son o f Man was to arrive in the lifetime o f his disciples - he was obviously wrong” (Jesus:
A pocalyptic Prophet o f the N ew Millennium [New York: Oxford University Press, 1999], 244).
A major purpose for R. C. Sproul in writing The Last D ays A ccording to Jesus (Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Baker, 2000) was apologetic, to address “the tensions o f timeframe references in the N ew
Testament” (26) especially those referring to Christ’s second coming. He is concerned with skeptics
(such as Russell and Ehrman) who dism iss those prophecies as mistaken and thus “assault the
credibility o f the apostolic witness and even o f Christ h im self’ (203).
 20

A benefit drawn from the Preterist School is its serious treatment o f Revelation

in its initial audience’s historical context, though usually dependent on an early date.39

An obvious problem with this school is that it provides little help to the church at large

in its current struggle, though some interpreters such as David Chilton often combine

Preterism with some form o f Idealism to apply the message o f judgment on Israel as a

warning, and the message o f God’s preservation o f His people as a comfort, to the

church throughout the ages.

Preterism and Revelation 7

But what does a Preterist interpretation o f Revelation 7 look like?40 David

Chilton applies Meredith Kline’s model o f the covenant treaty to the book o f

Revelation, suggesting it follows the structure o f a covenant lawsuit against first-

century apostate Israel that rejected Christ and thus brought about God’s judgment

upon the nation:41 “The Book o f Revelation is not about the Second Coming o f Christ.

39 Beside those who believe John was simply mistaken about Christ’s return, there are
interpreters who see Revelation as written after the Fall o f Jerusalem, yet the author uses vaticinia ex
eventu to describe in retrospect the events o f A D 67-70, thus casting them in the form o f predictive
prophecy. Others, such as J. Christian W ilson, still argue for an early date (W ilson: A D 68-69, during
the reign o f Galba), claim ing that when John describes past events he is right, yet when he prophesies or
predicts the future he is wrong; according to W ilson, “How do you tell a genuine prophecy from a
vaticinium ex eventu? Answer: Vaticinia ex eventu always com e tru e;... genuine prophecy usually does
not” (“The Problem o f the Domitianic Date o f Revelation,” NTS 39 [1993], 602-603).

40 We shall use David Chilton as the main exponent: The D ays o f Vengeance: An Exposition o f
the Book o f Revelation (Ft. Worth, Tex.: Dominion Press, 1986).

41 Cf. Meredith G. Kline, Treaty o f the G reat King: The Covenant Structure o f Deuteronomy:
Studies an d Com m entary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1963). See Chilton’s discussion o f the
Covenant Lawsuit, in his D ays o f Vengeance, 13-20. Kenneth Gentry suggests “the seven-sealed scroll
is G od’s divorce decree against his Old Testament w ife for spiritual adultery” (“A Preterist V iew o f
Revelation,” 51-52).
 21

It is about the destruction o f Israel and Christ’s victory over His enemies in the

establishment o f the New Covenant Temple.”42 The breaking o f the seals describes the

progression o f God’s judgment in vengeance against covenant-breaking Israel leading

to the "Great Tribulation," which is the siege and eventual fall o f Jerusalem; the

pictures o f destruction in Revelation 6 point to the de-creation o f God’s old creation,

Israel, “as the Kingdom is transferred to the Church, the New Creation.”43

It is in this context that the sealing o f the 144,000 and the vision o f the great

multitude are introduced. Will anyone be preserved and be able to stand through the

coming cataclysm announced in chapter 6? Revelation 7:1-8 speaks o f the true Israel,

the Church, the New Creation introduced as a resolution to the de-creation language

and the fall o f Israel: Yes, the faithful or the believing remnant will be saved by

obeying Jesus’ prophetic warning to flee Jerusalem after its first brief siege.44 The

144,000 is thus a symbolic number standing for the complete number o f Jewish

Christians that escaped the impending doom.45 They are part o f the Church, yet “also a

special group: the Remnant-Church o f the first generation.”46 Just as Ezekiel’s faithful

contemporaries were sealed to be spared before the destruction o f the first temple

42 Chilton, D ays o f Vengeance, 43.

43 Ibid., 197.

44 Cf. Matt 24:15-25 and parallel passages.

45 In making his case for an early date for Revelation, Kenneth Gentry states that “Revelation 7
is strongly indicative o f a pre-fall Judea” (Before Jerusalem Fell: D ating the Book o f Revelation
[Powder Springs, Ga.: American Vision, 1998], 235). Gentry believes the 144,000 to be Jewish
Christians living in their own land o f Judea just before the four angels are ready to unleash their
destructive forces manifested in the Jewish revolt and the ensuing retaliation by Rome that culminated
in A.D. 70 (see pages 232-238).

46 Chilton, D ays o f Vengeance, 355.

 22

(Ezekiel 9:1-7), so would now John’s contemporaries be sealed unto preservation just

before the destruction o f the second temple.47

The seal is to be identified both with baptism and the Holy Spirit, marking

“these believers as the covenant-keeping bond-servants o f our God, who will be

preserved from God’s wrath as the ungodly are destroyed.”48 However, in his

comments on Revelation 14:1-5, Chilton goes beyond a purely Preterist interpretation

to argue that “while the specific application o f the 144,000 is to the Church o f the first

generation [specifically Jewish believers], in principle they are seen as the Church in

her entirety.”49

The second vision o f this chapter, Revelation 7:9-21, is seen as describing the

universal church, the expansion o f the Remnant o f Israel “into an innumerable

multitude gathered in worship before the Throne in heaven. The nucleus o f Israel

becomes the Church, redeemed from every nation in fulfillment o f the Abrahamic

47 See also Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postm illennial Eschatology (3d
ed.; Draper, Va.: A pologetics Group Media, 2009), 406. Beside Christ’s prophecy to this effect, Gentry
points also to the “historical records (Eusebius and Epiphanius) that Christians would flee Jerusalem
and be spared.”
The preservation o f the church is further seen in Gentry’s identification o f the fifth trumpet o f
Rev 9:1-12 with the final siege o f Jerusalem (407-408). The trumpet brings about the devastation by the
locusts and the torment they inflicted for five months on all who did not have G od’s seal on their
foreheads, w hile the last siege also lasted five months; he quotes F. F. Bruce in support o f the parallel:
“Titus began the siege o f Jerusalem in April, 70. The defenders held out desperately for five months,
but by the end o f August the Temple area was occupied and the holy house burned down, and by the
end o f September all resistance had com e to an end” (N ew Testament H istory [New York: Doubleday,
1969], 382).

48 Chilton, D ays o f Vengeance, 206; in his comments on Revelation 9:4, Chilton identifies the
seal with baptism: “Only the Christians are immune to the scorpion-like sting o f the dem ons...; the
unbaptized Israelites, who do not have the seal o f God on their foreheads ... are attacked and tormented
by the demonic powers” (Ibid.).

49 Ibid., 359. W hile Gentry agrees that the 144,000 is a sym bolic number referring to the
Jewish Christians that escaped Jerusalem for Pella before the final stage o f the siege, he specifically
denies that the 144,000 sym bolize the entire church (“A Preterist V iew o f Revelation,” 57, n. 49).
 23

promise and thus the Church becomes the whole world.”50 Espousing an

eschatological optimism characteristic o f late nineteenth century postmillennialism

and favorably quoting C. H. Spurgeon as well as B. B. Warfield on the topic, Chilton

believes this vision points to an age when the gospel will triumph, arguing that the

Scriptures plainly indicate that “the tendency o f the nations, over time, will be toward

conversion. The saved will vastly outnumber the lost.”51

As we conclude the Preterist interpretation o f Revelation 7, we could make the

following observations: though the nature o f symbolic-apocalyptic language is

acknowledged, the sealed 144,000 have a this-worldly historical referent, the physical

entity o f Jewish Christians that escaped God’s judgment o f Jerusalem in AD 70, while

the great multitude is the eschatological or the other-worldly reality o f the universal

church. Although Chilton goes beyond the usual Preterist identification o f the 144,000

with the Christians o f AD 70, stating in his comments o f Rev 14:1-5 that “in principle

they are seen as the Church in her entirety,” the rule among Preterists is to limit the

144,000 to the referential level.52

50 Chilton, D ays o f Vengeance, 214.

51 Ibid., 215-216.

52 See Chilton, D ays o f Vengeance, 359. A s noted above, Gentry agrees that the 144,000 is a
sym bolic number referring to the Jewish Christians that escaped Jerusalem for Pella before the final
stage o f the siege, yet he specifically denies that the 144,000 sym bolize the entire church (“A Preterist
V iew o f Revelation,” 57, n.49).
 24

The Historicist School

Representatives and Overview

The major assumption o f Historicism is that Revelation gives us a

chronological outline or a map o f the history o f the church in the interadvental period,

identifying certain points in Revelation with major events or specific persons in the

history o f the Western church, usually in chronological order. The approach seems to

have had its roots in the works o f twelfth century Anselm o f Havelberg (1100-1158),

Rupert o f Deutz (1075-1129), and Joachim o f Floris (1130-1201),53 and was also

developed by Nicholas o f Lyra (1270-1349). It was largely propagated by Protestant

Reformers such as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon, and John

Knox, followed by other great biblical students such as George Whitefield, Jonathan

Edwards, Adam Clarke, Edward B. Elliott, Albert Bames, and Charles H. Spurgeon.

This school does not have a significant representation on the contemporary scene other

than some Modem Seventh Day Adventists such as Ranko Stefanovic and Jon

Paulien.54

A contribution o f the Historicist school is the underlying assumption that

Revelation speaks to the church, as “the philosophy o f history revealed in the

53 Cf. Gregg, Revelation, 31.

54 Jon Paulien points out the relationship between a high view o f Scripture and the acceptance
o f predictive prophecy; he argues that most interpreters in the history o f the church “believed in
predictive prophecy and felt that Daniel and Revelation in som e way offered an outline o f Christian
history leading to the end o f the world. [So, most Adventists] understand that the Book o f Revelation
speaks to the entire Christian era from the cross to the second com ing o f Christ” (“The End o f
Historicism? Part 1,” 41).
 25

Apocalypse has found specific fulfillment in all major crises o f human history up to

the present day,” even if that "present" is the interpreter’s own time.55 A weakness o f

the historicist approach has been its shifting and contradictory identifications o f

descriptions in Revelation with historical events, persons or institutions, so that almost

fifty years ago Walvoord could speak o f at least fifty systems o f interpretation as

having arisen from the historicist approach.56 And, since interpreters o f this school

tend to see themselves living in the last days o f history, it is only natural for a

historicist in the sixteenth century to make different correlations between history and

Revelation than one living in the twentieth century.

Historicism and Revelation 7

cn
How does a Historicist interpret Revelation 7? E. B. Elliot correlates

Revelation 7 to events in the fourth century, employing the work o f Edward Gibbon

published in the 1700s (The History o f the Decline and Fall o f the Roman Empire) to

draw parallels between Revelation and the history o f the church in the Roman empire.

Elliott identifies the sixth seal and its ensuing cataclysmic events (Revelation

6:12-17) with “the great politico-religious revolution o f the time o f Constantine,”

55 Robert H. Mounce, The Book o f Revelation (rev. ed.; N1CNT 17; Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 1998), 29.

56 John F. Walvoord, The Revelation o f Jesus C hrist (Chicago: M oody Press, 1966), 125.

57 To exem plify the Historicist approach w e shall use Edward B. Elliott’s work, H orae
A pocalypticae (HA).
 26

extending to the time o f Theodosius.58 Constantine’s Edict o f Milan in A.D. 313

proclaimed religious freedom, thus acknowledging Christianity as a legal religion in

the empire, while Theodosius in A.D. 380 declared Christianity as the official religion

o f the Roman Empire.59 During this eventful fourth century, Christianity is tested by

heresy and worldliness, becoming more and more complacent and nominal. With the

rapid transition from the prevalent paganism into Roman Christendom, Elliott argues

that the great majority o f Christians “o f the Roman earth would be at this time

Christians in profession only, but in the heart earthly, as before.”60 This was quickly

leading to “general unsoundness and defection from the faith ... [possessing] the

characteristics o f an incipient antichristian apostasy,”61 which would serve to trigger

God’s judgment at the hands o f the four destructive angels, identified via Gibbon as

“the threatening tempest o f barbarians.”62 Thus, the judgment is about to begin, but

not directed to the land o f Israel; rather, the angels are “to desolate the Roman

earth.”63

58 Elliott, HA, 1:225. Later Elliott identifies this period o f about 70 years with the h alf hour o f
silence in Rev 8:1 (he takes the aorist o f 6y6vExo as a pluperfect, which would render this translation:
“When He opened the seventh seal, there h a d been silence in heaven for about half an hour” (cf. 1:296-
301).

59 For corroboration, Elliott appeals to Gibbon, whom he calls “the infidel illustrator o f the
Apocalypse prefigurations;” Gibbon labels this period as “The ruin o f the Pagan religion” (HA, 1:226).

60 Ibid., 1:233.

61 Ibid., 1:243

62 Ibid., 1:228.

63 Ibid., 1:227.
 27

It is out o f this vast body o f professing Christians, pictured by the twelve tribes

o f Israel, that the 144,000 true Christians and servants o f God are sealed.64 Although

this selection is said to have taken place at the end o f the fourth century, it prefigures

an abiding distinction for the whole subsequent history o f the church between, on the

one hand, the great body o f professing believers, the inhabitants o f the Roman earth,

who are “departing farther and farther from spirituality and the truth,” and on the other

hand, the true Israel, the little flock o f His elect, the ones soon to suffer persecution at

the hands o f the professing believers until they are vindicated and made manifest as

the inhabitants o f God’s New Jerusalem.65 The seal is a symbol o f God’s sovereign

grace manifested in His “choosing, enlightening, and quickening his true servants,

(contradistinctively to any mere outward Christianization by baptism or profession,)

and protecting and preserving them to the end;” it is Christ Himself, symbolized by the

angel in possession o f the seal, who applies the seal in order that He might mark God’s

true servants as His own, and that He might preserve them both as a body o f believers

through the coming trials in this world until the end o f time “and individually unto

eternal salvation in the next world.”66

While the seal points to the doctrine o f salvation by grace, Elliott argues that

St. Augustine becomes the agent o f its implementation, for it was “his doctrine of

electing and preserving grace” that would be the seal o f God’s true servants from then

64 Pointing to the inconsistencies among the historicist interpreters, Elliott notes that “[Charles]
Daubuz and Bishop [Thomas] Newton interpret the sealed ones, or 144,000, o f the Jews admitted to
baptism during Constantine” (//T , 241, n.3). Another historicist, Adam Clarke, identified the 144,000
with Jewish Christians who escaped Jerusalem before its fall in A D 70.

55 Elliot, HA, 1:242.

66 Ibid, 1:272.
 28

on. So, once the “Augustinian spiritual doctrine o f saving grace” was introduced in

contrast to “the ritualistic ecclesiastical doctrine o f religion,” this Augustinianism

would be the mark o f Christ’s true church even as the four destructive angels are given

free rein, a picture of the barbarian hordes at hand to ravage the Roman world.67

If the number 144,000 represents for Elliott a small percentage o f true

believers out o f the totality o f professing Christians about the end o f the fourth

century, the vision o f the great multitude makes it clear that all the elect and sealed

ones throughout the ages form a countless multitude - this throng o f the elect is a

picture o f the church in the heavenly state, worshipping God forever before the throne.

The purpose o f this vision was to assure those - in Augustine’s time and in every age

- who embrace the doctrine o f God’s electing and redeeming grace that, despite

tribulations in this life, they will be safely brought into the eternal blessedness o f
Aft
God’s presence and o f the Lamb’s.

We may conclude the Historicist’s approach to Revelation 7 by pointing out

that, while the great multitude is a picture o f all the elect around God’s throne in their

eternal state, the 144,000 are interpreted as a this-worldly entity bound to a specific

historical circumstance - whether they be Jewish Christians among unbelieving Jews

before the Fall o f Jerusalem, true Christians among nominal or apostates before the

Fall o f Rome, Jews admitted by baptism into the visible church during the time o f

67 Ibid., 1:279-292. Albert Barnes, also a Historicist, sees a possible fulfillment o f this act o f
sealing for preservation in the benevolent attitude o f the king Alaric and his Goths especially toward
Christians and churches during the sacking o f Rome (“Barnes’ N otes on the N ew Testament,” Study
Light, accessed July 3, 2012, http://www.studylight.org/com/bnn/view.cgi?book=re&chapter=007.

68 Elliott, HA, 1:278.

 29

Constantine, or Waldesians in the late Middle Ages.69 The tendency is not to go

beyond the referential level.

The Futurist School

Introduction and Types

Futurist interpreters usually see Revelation 4-19 (or 8-19) as applicable only or

primarily to the generation before Christ’s return. Proponents o f futurism believe in a

literal earthly millennial kingdom o f Christ (Revelation 20:1-10) which is to take place

before the Last Judgment and the eternal state. The view was documented very early

(Papias, c. 130 and Justin Martyr, d. 165), though Justin noted the presence o f other

eschatological views among second century Christians.70 This prophetic-futurist

approach to Revelation ceased to play a major role by the fourth and fifth centuries,

being repudiated by the Alexandrian Fathers and displaced first by the spiritual or

symbolic approach o f Tyconius (c. 390) and Augustine (354-430), and then by the
71
Historicist view between the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries.

During the Counterreformation, in an effort to present alternatives to the

antipapal interpretations o f Revelation common among the Reformers (who identified

the pope with the Beast, and the Roman Catholic Church with Babylon),Spanish Jesuit

69 See Elliott, HA, 1:241, n. 3; and Gregg, Revelation, 128.

70 According to Gregg, extant evidence indicates that the futurist view o f the millennial
kingdom o f Christ goes back to Papias (c. 130), bishop o f Hierapolis, and other Church Fathers such as
Justin Martyr (d. 165), M elito o f Sardis (c. 170), Irenaeus o f Lyon (c. 180), Tertullian (c.220), and
others ( Revelation, 28-29).

71 Cf. Beckwith, The A pocalypse o f John, 318-329.

 30

scholar Franciscus Ribeira (1537-1591) taught that the first five seals o f Revelation

6:1-11 cover the time o f the spread o f Christianity and the persecutions through the

reign o f Trajan; starting “with the sixth seal the Apocalyptist turns to the End, with
77
which all the rest o f the book is concerned.”

At this point we should differentiate between two major views in the Futurist

School: Dispensationalist and Covenantal Futurism.73 Though the major positive

lesson o f the futurist approach is that the church is to look forward to Jesus’ second

coming as the culmination o f history, a significant drawback o f this school consists in

the minimal relevance o f the bulk o f the book to its initial audience. To use

Beckwith’s words,

The book ... is addressed to the needs o f a definite historic community, its
message is first o f all meant directly and distinctly for that community. Its
contents then cannot be understood to consist principally o f pictures o f
medieval and modem history, or o f predictions o f an eschatological era
removed from the readers’ present by indefinite ages.74

72 Beckwith, The A pocalypse o f John, 331.

73 We are using the terms Covenantal Futurism or Chiliasm to refer to the eschatological
system usually called H istoric (or C lassic) Prem illennialism only to avoid confusion between this and
the Historicist approach to Revelation introduced above. The presence o f Progressive
Dispensationalism should also be acknowledged, though only cursory reference w ill be made to this
position when appropriate; see Blaising & B ock’s P rogressive D ispensationalism for a more detailed
exposition o f this view.

74 Beckwith, The A pocalypse o f John, 335. Though to a lesser degree, Beckwith’s assessm ent
is also applicable to Progressive Dispensationalism, which combines elem ents o f Preterism and
Futurism, yet being still heavily futurist in outlook; the book’s relevance is thus split between the two
time periods, the first century and the last generation - with heavy emphasis on the latter. Working with
the already an d not y e t matrix and interpreting the last days as beginning with Christ’s first coming,
progressive dispensationalists like C. Marvin Pate conclude that there is partial fulfillment o f
Revelation already in the first century, especially associated with the fall o f Jerusalem and the conflict
between Caesar and Christ; but the full extent o f the prophecies is for the not y e t, Revelation 6-18
pointing forward to their final fulfillment “in the distant future beyond John’s day” (“A Progressive
Dispensationalist V iew o f Revelation,” in Four Views on the Book o f Revelation [ed. C. Marvin Pate;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1998], 146).
 31

Dispensationalist Futurism and Revelation 7

Dispensationalism was developed as a system by John Nelson Darby (1800—

1882) and was popularized mostly by the Scofield Reference Bible (published by C. I.

Scofield in 1909). Notable representatives o f Dispensationalism include Joseph A.

Seiss, Lewis Sperry Chafer, John F. Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, Dwight Pentecost, Hal

Lindsey, and Robert L. Thomas.

Among Dispensationalism’s basic tenets we could list (1) a literal approach to

the text informed by the grammatical-historical method o f interpretation; (2) a division

o f history in dispensations or periods (usually seven or eight) closely tied to a

progressive view o f revelation and the different biblical covenants; God is understood

to work and save people according to the covenantal provisions in place during a

given dispensation; (3) a distinction between Israel and the church - since the OT

promises are part o f the covenants between God and Israel, they will be literally

fulfilled for ethnic and national Israel; the church is the mystery in G od’s plan,

revealed in the NT as only a parenthesis in His dealings with Israel - it was brought

about by the Jews’ refusal o f the Messiah and His kingdom, and will be brought to a

close by the future yet imminent Rapture o f the church before Daniel’s seventieth
7c
week.

But what does a dispensationalist interpretation o f Revelation 7 look like? Our

main representative for Classical Dispensationalism is Robert L. Thomas. According

75 This event triggers the start o f the last seven-year period before the millennial kingdom;
som e label this as the Great Tribulation, yet others divide it in two halves: ‘the beginning o f the birth
pains,’ follow ed by the actual Great Tribulation (see Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 4 6 3 -4 6 4 ,4 9 6 ).
 32

to Thomas, the opening o f the seals in Revelation 6 marks the beginning o f Daniel’s

seventieth week. Though he does not take the invitation av&Pa w8s (“Come up here”)

in Rev 4:1 as pointing to the Rapture o f the church (as some do76), he does believe the

church is taken away (raptured) before the beginning o f the Tribulation events which

commence with the breaking o f the seals in Revelation 6. The period o f time covered

by the first six seals is identified by Thomas with “the beginning o f birth pains” in

Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:8). With the church out o f the picture, “the seals are

not directed against Christians but against earth-dwellers who are in rebellion against

God.”77 By the time the sixth seal is broken, the earth-dwellers fully realize the

presence o f the great day o f the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb, yet this is not a

description o f the actual end, but only “the beginning o f the woes that compose that

day.”78 Their response is to hide, preferring death to having to stand before God and

the Lamb on the Day o f their wrath.

With the seventh seal about to be broken and to unleash all the other woes in

the book (for the “scroll is a comprehensive account o f the future wrath o f the

Lamb”79), the two visions o f Revelation 7 introduce an unexpected pause in the

76 So Joseph A. Seiss, The Apocalypse: A Series o f S pecial Lectures on the Revelation o f Jesus
Christ (12th ed.; 3 vols.; N ew York: Charles Cook, 1917), 1:234-235; see also John Walvoord,
Revelation, 103, who sees the 24 elders around the throne as representing the raptured church. For
various proposals regarding the rapture in Revelation, see Michael J. Svigel, “The Apocalypse o f John
and the Rapture o f the Church: A Reevaluation” Trinity Journal 22 (2001): 23-74.

77 Thomas, Revelation 1 -7 ,425.

78 Ibid., 459.

79 Thomas understands the three sets o f sevens as telescopic and sequential: “the seventh seal
contains the seven trumpet judgments (Rev 8:6-11:15) and ... the seventh trumpet contains the seven
bowls o f wrath (Revelation 16-19)” (Ibid., 379). Walvoord takes the same chronological and telescopic
approach to the seals, trumpets and bowls (R evelation, 124).
 33

narrative. While it is but a short delay in the march towards the trumpet judgments

which are contained in the seventh seal, this interlude “in the chronological

progression represented by the opening o f the seals ... [reveals that] the status o f

believers at this point in the series is radically different from that o f the world’s

rebels.”80 Answering to the question o f Rev 6:17 —xiq Suvatai otaGfjvai; “Who is able

to stand?” the first vision provides the answer: those who are sealed are kept safe

through the coming trumpet judgments and are able to stand in the Day o f wrath.

Who are the 144,000? Dispensational proponents believe that during the

church age people are saved by responding to the gospel o f grace, the mystery

revealed to and preached by Paul; but once the Rapture comes, those left behind have

a chance to respond to the gospel o f the kingdom, the same message that was preached

by John the Baptist, Jesus, and the twelve.81 According to Thomas and Walvoord, a

vast number o f Jews and Gentiles will be converted during those seven years o f

80 Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 462.

81 See also Gregg, Revelation, 135-136, and 319-325. This gospel m essage was restricted to the
Jews, proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah, even though His sacrifice as atonement for sins was not
part o f such gospel proclamation. If the Jews repented and received Him as the Messiah, then He would
have brought in the kingdom promised by the OT prophets. For a more detailed exposition see Matthew
M cGee, “Israel's Kingdom Gospel and Our Grace Gospel,” accessed July 10, 2012,
http://www.m atthewmcgee.org/2gospels.htm l. Though not all dispensationalists would fully agree,
according to M cGee, “There is only one gospel that w e are to proclaim today [namely, Paul's gospel,
that Jesus was the propitiation for our sins, was crucified for us and rose again, as per 1 Cor 15:3-5].
However, there have been other valid gospels [such as what Jesus and the tw elve preached, which
would have brought in the earthly kingdom o f Israel had it been received] in the past (Galatians 3:8,
Matthew 9:35, and 10:5-7) and there will be others in the future (Matthew 24:14 and Revelation 14:6-7)
after the rapture o f the church.” Som e dispensationalists would see the word g o sp el as more inclusive,
and argue there is only one gospel, yet having different facets or phases, a reference to the different
tests o f faith administered by God in various dispensations.
 34

tribulation.82 God’s initial plan for Israel to be a kingdom o f priests for the world, put

on hold after they rejected the Messiah, will be resumed after the Rapture by the

witness and missionary work o f Revelation’s two witnesses and the 144,000. So, the

144,000 will be ethnic Jewish believers during the tribulation, whom God will

choose84 and seal to protect them during their evangelistic mission - 12,000 from each

o f the tribes listed, physical descendents o f Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.85 And even if

from a human standpoint the tribal distinctions are lost, Thomas argues they are not so
« « • O i
in God’s mind, who will reveal these when the time for the sealing comes. The

number 144,000 is usually seen as a literally exact number, though there are dissenting
87
voices arguing for a symbolic understanding, still representing Jewish believers.

82 Tim LaHaye argues that as a combined effect o f the rapture, the work o f the 144,000
witnesses, as w ell as other factors, there will be more people converted during those seven years than
during the entire Christian dispensation (Revelation, 114-122).

83 As Gregg notes, A m o Gaebelein calls the 144,000 “the preachers o f the Gospel o f the
Kingdom, as a witness to all nations before the end com es;” Hal Lindsey speaks o f them as “ 144,000
Jewish B illy Grahams;” and Ray Stedman labels them as “Christ’s Commandos” (Gregg, Revelation,
133). See also Thomas, “A Classical Dispensational V iew ,” 197.

84 Som e dispensationalists believe this choice is a result o f their especially virtuous lives; thus,
according to Seiss, “these are not simply Jews ... [they are rather] “singled out from the Israelitish
populations on account o f their spiritual attainment and character not found in the rest” (The
Apocalypse, 1:409).

85 Cf. Seiss, The Apocalypse, 1:407-413; Walvoord, Revelation, 141-143; Thomas, Revelation
1 -7 ,472-477. According to Thomas, the term Israel here “must be referred to the physical descendants
o f Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;” to suggest anything else is untenable, im possible, unjustifiable,
ridiculous, anomalous, “so m isconceived that it does serious violence to the context,” and “cannot be
exegetically sustained” (Ibid, passim, esp. 476).

86 Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 482. Cf. Walvoord, Revelation, 143.

87 One o f the dissenting voices is A m o C. Gaebelein, who sees this number as a “sym bolic and
not actual number”, to include the whole multitude o f ethnic Israelites saved after the rapture o f the
Church (The Revelation: An Analysis an d Exposition o f the Last Book o f the Bible [New York:
Pickering & Inglis, 1915], 86).
 35

But what is the seal, and what are the nature and purpose o f this sealing? Based

on Rev 14:1, Thomas suggests the seal is the name o f God and o f the Lamb, and

although the nature o f this inscribing o f God’s Name on their foreheads is not clear -

whether physical or symbolic - its purpose is the protection and preservation o f this

group.88 While Walvoord and others take this to include physical protection from the

beast and safe deliverance through the time o f tribulation and into the millennial

kingdom (without the detour o f having to die and ascend into the third heaven),89

Thomas understands the sealing as providing protection not necessarily from physical

harm, but rather from the wrath o f God during the coming judgments. Since the

specific mission o f the 144,000 is to witness to a rebellious world especially during the

Great Tribulation,90 the seal is a guarantee o f “special protection from the wrath o f

God while they witness. After their witness is concluded, martyrdom may well be their

fate,” which is indeed what happens.91

88 Seiss believes the angel carrying the seal is Christ, the seal is the Holy Spirit, and the sealing
is such an impartation o f the Spirit that the 144,000 are “partakers, in very extraordinary degree, o f the
gifts and powers o f the Holy G h o st... in the sphere o f the m iraculous... lighting up their very faces,
perhaps, like the face o f M oses when he came down from the mount, or like the face o f Stephen in the
midst o f his murderers” (The A pocalypse, 1:420-421).

89 Walvoord, Revelation, 214.

90 According to Thomas’ chronology o f eschatology, the sixth seal brings us close to the
middle o f D aniel’s seventieth week, so the sealing o f G od’s servants takes place just before the
midpoint o f the seven-year Tribulation, at the end o f the period Jesus calls ‘the beginning o f birth pains’
(Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 463-464).

91 Thomas, Revelation 1 -7 ,475; see also his comments on Rev 14:1-5, where he argues that the
144,000 in chapters 7 and 14 are the same group, also identified with the rest o f the w om an’s offspring
on whom the dragon makes war in Rev 12:17, “the w itnesses to whom the dragon has access through
the beast and who will experience martyrdom because o f their refusal to worship the beast (13:5)”
( Revelation 8-22: An Exegetical Com m entary [Chicago, Moody Press, 1995], 192).
 36

The second vision o f Revelation 7 is seen by Thomas as being simultaneous

with the first, both representing believers about mid-way through Daniel’s seventieth

week: if the 144,000 are a special group o f Jewish believers on earth, sealed and

appointed to witness to the gospel o f the kingdom, the great multitude consists o f

“Gentiles and Jewish believers who have died either natural or violent deaths during

the period o f the first six seals and come out o f the Great Tribulation.”92 Here Thomas

differs somewhat from other dispensationalists, such as William Kelly and Walvoord,

who see the great multitude as made up o f Gentile believers who are converted as a

result o f the special ministry o f the 144,000 Jewish witnesses and who suffer

martyrdom for their faith during the Great Tribulation,93 and also from Seiss, who

believes these are believers who are left behind at the rapture because they are found

unprepared - a characteristic o f most professing believers right before the Rapture -

yet who repent after the Church is raptured and prove the genuineness o f their faith by

laying down their lives in martyrdom.94 What dispensationalists do agree on at this

92 Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 485.

93 Walvoord, Revelation, 144-145, and esp. 149. We should note that Walvoord's view is only
possible because he believes that Revelation 7 “is not necessarily in chronological order” (145), which
goes against his stated commitment to a chronological sequence o f events (124). A llow ing for some
freedom from a strict chronological order for chapter 7 gives Walvoord the ability to place the 144,000
close to the beginning o f D aniel’s seventieth week, and the great multitude by the end o f that seven-
year period, just prior to Christ’s return to set up the millennial kingdom. Thomas, on the other hand,
must have this great multitude in the middle o f the seven-year period, as he sees this chapter and its
events in chronological and sequential order.

94 Seiss, The Apocalypse, 1:429-454.

 37

point is that the great multitude as well as the 144,000 are different from the Church,

as the Church is raptured prior to these developments.95

Thus, given this second vision’s early appearance in the book’s development,

the presence o f a temple (7:15), as well as his commitment to a literal interpretation

and a sequential-chronological approach to the book’s plot, Thomas argues this great

multitude cannot represent the complete number o f the redeemed standing before God

in the eternal state; the eternal state does not have a temple, and it is only introduced in

chapters 21-22.96 Though innumerable, they are rather a part o f God’s saints “in the

presence o f God awaiting the culmination o f His wrath against the earth” about 3.5

years before Christ comes to set up the kingdom; this is so, argues Thomas, even if the

three major promises made to this multitude in Rev 7:15b-17 will ultimately be

fulfilled only in the eternal state.97

95 According to Seiss, the 144,000 “are not o f the Church proper; for their repentance com es
too late for that. They are a superaddition to the Church - a supplementary body - near and precious to
Christ, but made up after the proper Church has finished its course ... [like] children belated in their
birth” ( The Apocalypse, 1:4 12).
In his more peculiar view, the great multitude does not fare so well, though safe in heaven.
Since they are not raptured due to their lukewarm Laodicean Christianity, the many who do repent
during those seven years and persevere even through martyrdom are the ones constituting this great
multitude before the throne o f God, to John’s surprise. Yet, by their neglect and disobedience they will
have forfeited their right to a crown, so they w ill be forever “servants in G od’s house, though not o f the
higher order o f sons,” the latter being a privilege reserved for those who make the rapture, the few and
faithful members o f the Church (ibid., 429-454).

96 Ibid., 486. However, he allow s for chapter 12:1-5 to be retrospective o f Christ’s earthly life
(with 12:6 jum ping to the second h alf o f D aniel’s seventieth week, without any warning in the text); he
also argues that chapter 14 is wholly proleptic, being “a sort o f interm ezzo to provide encouragement by
telling the ultimate triumph for those who refuse the beast’s mark and to predict the doom o f those who
receive it” (Revelation 8-22, 189). Now, if 12:1-5 can be retrospective and the whole chapter 14
proleptic, one wonders why chapter 7 has to fit strictly in the chronological order in the process o f the
unsealing o f the scroll.

97 Thomas, Revelation 1-7, 500, 504.

 38

To conclude our discussion on the dispensationalist futurist approach to

Revelation 7, we could emphasize its referential and event-oriented nature: the chapter

is part o f the predictive material in Revelation, with fulfillment only after the rapture

o f the Church, and chronologically fixed within that seven-year period that follows.

The 144,000 are literal ethnic Jews who become believers within the first half o f

Daniel’s seventieth week, an Israelite remnant that serves to witness to the Gentile

world.98 Their sealing provides the 144,000 with either full protection through the

Great Tribulation and safe transition into the millennial kingdom, or limited to the

duration o f their time o f witnessing: once their mission is over they may be martyred.

The great multitude consists o f either Gentiles or both Jews and Gentiles, made up

only o f martyrs or more inclusive, yet this group is different from both the 144,000

and the church: it is a numberless yet definite group standing in God's presence

sometime during Daniel’s seventieth week, whether about midpoint or toward its end.

While dispensationalists differ in minor points about the interpretation o f chapters 6

and onward, Walvoord aptly points out that “the general conclusion that these chapters

picture future definite events is the important coherent factor.”99

98 Progressive dispensationalists concur, seeing “the 144,000 as a select group o f Jews who are
converted to Christ during the Great Tribulation, which in turn evangelize the Gentile nations - the
innumerable multitude” (Pate, “A Progressive Dispensationalist V iew o f Revelation,” 165).

99 Walvoord, Revelation, 125.

 39

Covenantal Futurism and Revelation 7

Though rightly classified as futurist, this system o f interpretation is largely

different from Dispensationalism. It is also referred to as Historic Premillennialism or

Chiliasm, as proponents o f this system trace their literal view o f the millennium back

to Papias, Justin Martyr, and other Church Fathers who believed that at His parousia

Christ will set up a visible kingdom on earth lasting for a long time or 1000 years -

from where they received the name chiliasts in antiquity. Modem representatives

include Henry Alford, J. Barton Payne, R. Laird Harris, George Raymond Beasley-

Murray, George Ladd, Alan F. Johnson, and Robert H. M ounce.100 The major

distinction between Covenantal and Dispensationalist Futurism consists o f the way in

which each system views Israel and the church in redemptive history: while

dispensationalists believe ethnic Israel is distinct from the Church (dealing with two

peoples o f God under different programs, remaining distinct even through eternity),

chiliasts believe that there is only one people o f God now embodied in the Church.

While the former claims the kingdom brought by Christ was rejected and thus put on

hold until its Millennial fulfillment, the latter teaches the kingdom was inaugurated

with Christ’s first coming, continues in this age through the ministry o f the Spirit, and

will be consummated in the millennium and the eternal state. Christ will return not

twice, as in Dispensationalism (first in a secret rapture fo r His saints before Daniel’s

seventieth week, and then again after the seven-year period with His saints), but only

100 Beside the classic works o f George Eldon Ladd in this field, see Craig L. Blomberg and
Sung Wook Chung, eds., A Case f o r H istoric Prem illennialism: An Alternative to "Left B ehind”
E schatology (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2009) for a more recent exposition o f this view.
 40

once - after a short yet most intense period o f tribulation ever, accompanied by

widespread apostasy - to establish the millennial kingdom on earth.

But what does a covenantal futurist interpretation o f Revelation 7 look like?

Our main representative will be Robert H. Mounce. As most futurists, Mounce

interprets the bulk o f Revelation as applicable to the last generation before Christ’s

return, yet he believes the opening o f the seven seals (4:1-8:1) applies to the whole

church era, from Christ’s resurrection to the end o f history, while the fulfillment o f

Rev 8:2-22:5 belongs wholly in the future, speaking o f the coming Great Tribulation,

the return o f Christ, the millennium and the eternal state. The above division is based

on his understanding o f the scroll and its accessibility, for Mounce believes that the

scroll with seven seals “contains the full account o f what God in His sovereign will

has determined as the destiny o f the w orld,... [being] a heavenly book containing the

future course o f history;” 101 yet, before its contents are revealed, all its seals need to be

opened. Thus, the removal o f the seven seals (6:1-8:1) introduces us “to a series o f

preliminary judgments representing forces operative throughout history by means o f

which the redemptive and judicial purposes o f God are being carried out prior to the

101 Robert H. Mounce, Revelation, 142. The same event-oriented approach and predictive
nature o f prophecy may be seen in George E. Ladd when speaking o f the contents o f the sealed scroll:
“The book contains the prophecies o f the end o f the w o rld .... The breaking o f the seventh seal opens
the book and begins the story o f the events o f the end-time” (Revelation, 109). Revealing is also
Richard H ess’s article title (and contents), “The Future Written in the Past,” in A C ase f o r H istoric
Prem illennialism (ed. Craig L. Blomberg and Sung W ook Chung; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2009),
22-36.
 41

end.” 102 Once all seven seals are opened, the content o f the scroll begins to be

• 103
revealed, with the first trumpet judgment debuting the plagues o f the end times.

Who are the 144,000, and what does their sealing mean? With the sixth seal

opened, the scene is set for the Day o f the Lord, driving men in terror to seek death

rather than be exposed to the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb - for the day o f their

wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Both visions o f Revelation 7 answer that

question by contrasting “the security and blessedness which awaits the faithful with

the panic o f a pagan world fleeing from judgment.” 104 Thus, in the first vision, the

144,000 are not ethnic Israelites, for such racial distinctions are no longer in operation

in light o f the NT teaching; the number is rather a symbolic representation o f the

church in the last generation, not a select group but rather all faithful believers alive

prior to the trumpet blasts. And their sealing does not provide protection from physical

death but rather guarantees that they remain faithful through the persecution to come

and thus are brought safely into the heavenly kingdom.105 Though in John’s vision the

102 Mounce, Revelation, 151. Cf. Ladd: “the breaking o f the seals seem s to be only preparatory
to the opening o f the book” (Revelation, 79); also Bauckham, who states that “Only after all seven seals
have been released could any o f the content o f a scroll sealed with seven seals becom e visible”
(“Judgment in the Book o f Revelation,” Ex auditu 20 [2004]: 7.

103 George E. Ladd takes the same approach: “The six seals relate the forces leading up to the
end while the seven trumpets relate the beginning o f the events o f the end itself, particularly the time o f
the great tribulation which will introduce the end” (Revelation, 122).

104 Mounce, Revelation, 164.

105 Mounce, Revelation, 167-168.

 42

seal’s imprint is visible, it functions as a symbol to communicate ownership and

protection, as well as allegiance.106

If the first vision in Revelation 7 portrayed the church militant on the verge o f

the Great Tribulation, the second vision speaks o f the church triumphant in the eternal

state, a far greater multitude than the 144,000 - uncountable in fact - at the

consummation o f human history, an image “anticipatory o f the eternal blessedness o f

all believers when in the presence o f God they realize the rewards o f fruitful

endurance.” 107 As the church is on the threshold o f this final testing and through her

darkest hour, John is granted a glimpse “beyond this age to the hour o f ultimate

triumph,” which could only serve to strengthen the faithful to persevere and “yearn for

that final redemption.” 108

In concluding our discussion o f the covenantal futurist approach to Revelation

7, we may note that although there is more emphasis on the role o f symbolism and

literary artistry, and less on chronology and literalness than in the dispensational

106 Cf. M ounce’s comments on the mark o f the beast as w ell as the seal in Revelation 14
(,Revelation, 2 6 2 ,2 6 8 ). Ladd believes this sealing is certainly “a spiritual fact and not a visible bodily
phenomenon,” analogous with the sealing o f all Christians by the Holy Spirit (Revelation, 112).

107 Mounce, Revelation, 164. W e should note that, since the great multitude com es out o f the
Great Tribulation, the futurist who takes the Great Tribulation literally should also conclude that this
multitude is only a reference to that last generation o f believers who actually go through that period o f
short yet intense persecution at the end o f history. In fact, Beasley-Murray is consistent among the
classic premillennialists here, taking both the 144,000 and the great multitude to represent not the
church o f all ages, but the believers actually going through those end-time events (R evelation, 140).
In his comments on Revelation 14:1-5, Mounce states that “the 144,000 o f chapter 14
correspond with the innumerable multitude found in the second vision o f chapter 7. Both portray the
full complement o f the redeemed throughout history;” the use o f the same number in Revelation 7 and
14, though in actuality representing two entities, “is to point out that not one has been lost” (Revelation,
268).

108 Mounce, Revelation, 171; so also Beasley-Murray: “this book was written to inspire the
w hole Church to endure it [the tribulation] with courage and unswerving obedience to Christ”
(Revelation, 145).
 43

approach, the referential level is still predominant: the two visions speak o f two well-

defined groups o f believers, the first being all Christians alive on the verge o f the

Great Tribulation, and the second including all the redeemed o f all ages standing

before God’s throne ready to inherit the blessings o f His eternal kingdom. Although

physical Israel is not the focus, as it is in Dispensationalism, in the end Revelation is

still predictive and event oriented, for it is “a prophecy o f the destiny o f the church.” 109

The Idealist School

Representatives and Overview

Idealist interpreters generally avoid a direct correlation between the images in

the Book o f Revelation and specific historical events, but rather see it as a picture o f

the struggle between the kingdom o f God and the manifestations o f evil throughout the

ages, focusing on the underlying spiritual principles at work in history.110

According to Sam Hamstra Jr., though Revelation describes the entire

interadvental period, its “symbols employed in the various visions are tools for the

communication o f precepts. They may have no historic connection with any particular

event. Yet a symbol may find fulfillment in an historical event or person without

exhausting its meaning.” 111 Or, as defined by Vem Poythress, “Idealists think that the

109 Ladd, R evelation, 261.

110 As Gentry phrases it, in Idealism the focus is on “the scene behind the scene, ... [offering] a
look at the philosophical/spiritual issues involved in history rather than at historical events them selves”
(“A Preterist V iew o f Revelation,” 91).

111 “An Idealist V iew o f Revelation,” 99-100.

 44

scenes o f Revelation depict principles o f spiritual war, not specific events. These

principles are operative throughout the church age and may have repeated

embodiments.” 112 Representatives include William Milligan, William Hendricksen, G.

B. Caird, Michael Wilcock, Vem S. Poythress, John M. Sweet, Gregory K. Beale,113

and Dennis E. Johnson. While the major contribution o f Idealism is that it makes

Revelation applicable to the whole church during the whole time o f her earthly

existence, a shortcoming of a purely idealist interpretation consists o f its perceived

detachment from history, a lack o f a “necessary consummation o f the historical

process.” 114

Idealism and Revelation 7.

How does an Idealist interpret Revelation 7? Our representative will be Dennis

E. Johnson, who treats the book as “apocalyptic - not in the modem sense o f

‘catastrophic’ but in the ancient sense o f ‘unveiling, disclosing’ in vivid, visual form

the invisible realities and forces that drive and therefore explain the course o f

observable historical events.” 115 Johnson sees the sealed scroll as containing God’s

secret plans for history, yet those contents cannot be revealed until all seven seals are

broken; the seals then serve as a preparation for the audience to understand the coming

112 The Returning King, 27.

113 W hile Beale labels his own approach as ‘eclecticism ,’ in essence it is closest to the idealist
school (see Beale, Revelation, 48-49). Other contemporary interpreters combine different aspects o f
these schools, yet each o f them is usually closest to one o f the four approaches.

114 Mounce, Revelation, 29.

1,5 Johnson, Triumph o f the Lamb, 2.

 45

visions.116 The sixth seal takes the audience to the end o f history, to the great and

terrible Day o f the Lord, when terrified sinners unsuccessfully attempt to hide from

God’s wrath. When one expects the curtain to fall on the human drama with the

opening o f the last seal, John introduces an unexpected delay and suspense by

inserting the two visions o f chapter 7. For Johnson it is “a double vision o f the

protected and triumphant followers o f Christ,” whose purpose is to reassure the church

o f His protective care even through to coming judgment o f God and the outpouring o f

His w rath.117

Based on Rev 14:1 and Eph 1:13-14, Johnson identifies the seal as the Holy

Spirit, and its imprint as the name o f the Lamb and o f God. While the seal’s invisible

application symbolizes protection and security, this is not a promise that God’s

servants are spared from physical suffering, but rather a guarantee that He sovereignly

watches over their thoughts and actions, and that the Lamb protects them “from being

deceived by the Serpent and the beasts;” and even though the number 144,000 may be

a symbol for the martyrs from every nation, yet it is also a symbol o f “the faithful

church on earth, shielded from apostasy and from God’s wrath by our union with the
| JO
Lamb (bearing his name, sealed by his spirit).” The sequence in the text does not

dictate the chronological order o f events, so the sealing takes place sometime “prior to

116 Ibid., 117.

117 Ibid., 128-129.

118 Ibid., 130, 134.

 46

the events o f the sixth seal, which showed the destruction o f the universe through

earthquake and falling stars.” 119

The second vision is the first’s twin, according to Johnson, for it has the same

subject yet in a different location. If the 144,000 in the first vision make up the faithful

and complete church on earth, the great multitude o f the second vision “shows the

victorious church in heaven, emerging triumphant from tribulation not through a

painless rapture but through a faithful death.” 120 The people o f God’s covenant are

portrayed both as the twelve tribes, well defined and complete, and as a multiethnic

uncountable multitude dressed in Christ’s righteousness, praising God for His

salvation as well as enjoying forever Christ’s presence and Shepherd-care.

As we bring to a close our overview o f the Idealist interpretation o f Revelation

7, we could point out that the object o f its unveiling is not the identification o f specific

events at certain points in times, such as a literal sealing whose beneficiaries might be

an exact number o f ethnic Jews or Christians, whether in ancient or modem times.

Rather, the focus o f these visions is on the realities and forces that drive and explain

the events o f history: the sealing in the first vision is the symbol o f the guarantee o f

spiritual protection for all followers o f the Lamb o f every generation and their ultimate

salvation, a snapshot o f which is offered in the vision o f the great multitude before

God’s throne. The meaning o f the text, though necessarily referential in its application,

is conveyed via the symbolic level o f communication.

119 Ibid., 129. Other idealists usually place this sealing prior to the breaking o f the first seal (cf.
Gregg, Revelation, 127; and Beale, Revelation, 408).

120 Ibid., 134.

 47

Conclusion

Though each o f the four schools o f interpretation has aspects to contribute to

our understanding o f Revelation, they cannot all be right, as the differences between

their interpretation o f chapter 7, and especially o f the sealing o f the 144,000, are quite

irreconcilable. These differences are largely due to the interpreter’s understanding o f

the text’s genre, especially in the areas o f symbol interpretation, the relationship

between apocalyptic and prophetic, the role the OT plays in the process, and perhaps

other factors. As a first step in our attempt to a better understanding o f the concept o f

sealing in Revelation 7, we shall next examine the use o f seals and the functions o f

sealing in antiquity, with a view as to how they might inform our subject.
 48

CHAPTER 3

SEALS AND SEALING LEADING TO REVELATION 7

Though quite removed from the everyday experience o f the modem reader, the

act o f sealing in Revelation 7 as well as the book sealed with seven seals o f chapters 5-

8 fit very well within the biblical world and the larger cultural milieu. In the quest to

obtain a clearer understanding o f the imagery o f sealing in Revelation, we are going to

explore the history o f sealing and its uses, including both archeological and literary

sources. In William Albright’s opinion, “writing without artifacts is like flesh without

a skeleton,” 121 and seals play an important role toward providing such a skeletal
i^
structure, often affording us a bridge between philology and archeology. We now

turn to explore the background for the use o f seals, including a brief overview o f their

history, types and significance in their historical contexts.

A Brief History and Classification of Seals

According to William W. Hallo, “seals are an early hallmark o f Near Eastern

civilization, first in stamp form and, before the end o f the fourth millennium, in

121 Freedman, David N oel and Jonas C. Greenfield, eds., New D irections in B iblical
A rchaeology (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1969), 118, quoted in Leonard Gorelick and Elizabeth
Williams-Forte, eds., Ancient Seals an d the Bible (Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1983), 1.

122 According to F. B. Huey, Jr., “Seals often supply an indispensable witness to the
developing thought o f the ancients when other evidence is lacking” (“Seal,” ZPEB, 5:320). Yet, Robert
McC. Adams reminds us that though seals are highly stylized and enduring representations o f the
administrative, econom ic and cultural aspects o f their time, they are also characteristically incomplete,
so they need to be studied in conjunction with available textual sources (Preface to Seals an d Sealing in
the Ancient N ear East, edited by McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs [BM, 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena
Publications, 1977], 1-2.
 49

cylinder form.” 123 Their use soon spread to Egypt,124 where the scarab-shaped seals

dominated, and then throughout the Mediterranean world, so that the biblical

references to seals and sealing from Genesis to Revelation are quite at home.

Seals were initially made o f stone, and it seems that their initial use was to

signify the more prosperous individuals’ ownership over their goods; in time, semi­

precious stones, such as lapis lazuli, began to be the choice material for those able to

afford such seals.125 During the second millennium B.C., with the employment o f

materials o f various worth and with better drilling and manufacturing techniques, seals

began to be mass-produced, making them more widely available.126 So, while the

more powerful or prosperous still possessed the more valuable seals made o f

semiprecious stones set in gold or silver, seals made out o f terracotta, frit, faience,

softer stone, bone or wood were also available. Eventually they became so common

that, when Herodotus describes the Babylonians’ dress and appearance, he notes that
i
“everyone carries a seal and a walkmg-stick.”

123 “'As the Seal upon Thine Arm': Glyptic Metaphors in the Biblical World,” in Ancient Seals
an d the Bible (ed. Leonard Gorelick and Elizabeth Williams-Forte; Malibu, Calif.: Undena
Publications), 7.

124 The most common seal in Egypt was the scarab (or scaraboid) design, which eventually
spread throughout the Mediterranean region. It was named thus due to its likeness and association to the
dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer). According to Wiseman and Millard, “The scaraboid seals or seal
stones were set in a ring to be on the hand or arm” (“Seal,” IBD, 1408). The signet ring that Pharaoh
gave to Joseph (Gen 4 1 :42) as well as the one Ahasuerus gave to Haman (Esther 3:10, 12) and later to
Mordecai (Esther 8:2) are often identified as scarabs. For a more detailed discussion o f scarabs, see L.
G. Herr, “Seal,” ISBE, 4:372-373.

125 Christoph Uehlinger, “Seal/Stamp,” RPPETR, 11:558.

126 See also Bonnie S. Magness-Gardiner, “Seals, Mesopotamia,” ABD, 5:1063.

127 Hist. 1.195 (Godley, LCL).

 50

10#
In Mesopotamia the cylinder form o f the seal dominated until the beginning

o f the first millennium B.C., when it was largely replaced by the stamp seal, which

had been the preferred form in the Levant and the rest o f the ancient Near East.129

Hundreds o f seals have been discovered from Israel and especially Judah, dated

between the ninth and early sixth centuries B.C.; some o f these show signs o f having

been encased in a ring, while others are pierced by a hole, making it possible for the

owner to wear such a seal on a cord either on the arm, around the neck, or perhaps

attached to one’s clothing.130 The use o f the stamp seal continued through the Neo-

Babylonian and Persian Periods, yet the seal becomes more often attached to and part

o f a ring during the Seleucid Period and into the Roman era.131 It appears that the seal

in Revelation 7 belongs to this signet ring category.

The earliest seals seem to have had simple geometric patterns incised on them.

These were soon followed by religious and mythical representations, as well as scenes

128 According to Hallo, cylinder seals could have a handle or a loop at one end (m ostly older
seals), yet the majority were mounted on a pin or between tw o caps. The cylinder would be “drilled
through its long axis with a continuous hole designed to accommodate a pin;” this pin would help in
rolling the seal onto the wet clay as w ell as in fastening the seal with a chord to be carried on on e’s
body, usually around the neck (“Glyptic Metaphors,” 10-12). A shoulder pin was also com m on, and this
was used to fasten one’s robes together, with the cylinder seal being suspended from it (W illiam L.
Rathje, “N ew Tricks for Old Seals,” in Seals an d Sealing in the Ancient N ear East [ed. McGuire Gibson
and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977], 26.

129 Cf. Magness-Gardiner, “Seals, Mesopotamia,” 5:1063; D. J. Wiseman and A. R. Millard,

“Seal, Sealing: In the Old Testament,” 3:1407; and Hans J. N issen, “Aspects o f the Developm ent o f
Early Cylinder Seals,” in Seals an d Sealing in the Ancient Near East (ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert
D. Biggs; Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977), 15.

130 See Herr, “Seal,” 4:373; also, Wiseman and Millard, “Seal, Sealing,” 3:1410.

131 J. Renger, “Legal Aspects o f Sealing in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Seals an d S ealing in the
Ancient N ear East (ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca M esopotamica 6; Malibu,
Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977), 78-79.
 51

from battle or everyday life, such as hunting or herding.132 The invention and

proliferation o f writing soon transformed pictorial or anepigraphic seals into

epigraphic ones,133 and the earlier practice o f writing names on objects lead “to the

practice o f writing names on seals, which were then impressed on lumps o f clay

[called bullae] to be fastened to all sorts o f packages and documents.” 134 The chosen

m otif or writing “was incised, carved or drilled into the seal as an intaglio, so that the

impression would appear in raised relief.” 135 Also, inscribing on a seal was done “in

reverse (mirror image) so that the orientation and direction o f the writing will be

correct in the impressed clay,” 136 whether it is a bulla or a ja r impression.

As already intimated, seals may be classified based on a variety o f criteria,

with some categories already being noted above. Thus, based on the seal’s shape, we

can speak o f the stamp and the cylinder seals, with the former developing into the

scarab in Egypt and/or a signet ring in places; based on content, we have anepigraphic

and epigraphic seals, with the latter category including iconic and aniconic seals.

132 Som e o f these images are quite elaborate; cf. Gibson and Biggs, Seals an d Sealing in the
Ancient N ear East, 90-92 and passim; also, Gorelick and Williams-Forte, Ancient Seals an d the Bible,
39-43 and I-XII.

133 Christopher A. Rollston divides seals in anepigraphic (those that only had images and no
writing), and epigraphic (seals that included writing); the latter category may further be divided in
iconic and aniconic, depending on whether or not the writing is accompanied by pictorial
representations (“Seals and Scarabs,” NIDB, 5:142).

134 The scroll with seven seals in Revelation 5-8 appears to have had seven such bullae
fastened to the string which was used to bind the rolled book. Despite som e difference o f opinion as to
whether it was a papyrus or parchment scroll, C. Rollston points out that after being written, the scroll
would be rolled up and then secured by wrapping a string around it, so the scroll would not unroll;
“then a small, rounded lump o f soft clay would be placed on the string (the impressions from the strings
are consistently visible on the reverse side o f bullae)” (“Seals and Scarabs,” 5:142).

135 Uehlinger, “Seal/Stamp,” 11:558.

136 Rollston, “Seals and Scarabs,” 5:142.

 52

Further, based on who owned or used these seals, they may also be classified as
1T7
“personal seals, ... fam ily seals, official seals, and dynastic seals.”

In his introductory essay to the collection o f papers presented at the first

symposium on seals and the Bible, Leonard Gorelick divides ancient seals, based on

their use, in bureaucratic and non-bureaucratic, with the former group further

classified into functional and metaphoric seals. The functional category includes

uses o f actual physical seals, while the metaphoric category uses the concept o f

seals and sealing in a symbolic way. Both the functional - which we shall call

literal from now on - and the metaphorical uses o f seals are found in the Bible as
no

well as in other ancient contemporary cultures.

The Use and Significance of Seals

William Hallo connects the emergence and original use o f the seal to the rise

o f capital formation. He suggests that the basic significance o f the seal was legal,

serving “as a mark o f ownership or contractual obligation by an individual, in effect as

a symbolic representation o f the individual.” 139 The idea o f ownership implies one’s

authority, as well as authentication and protection or inviolability o f the sealed items,

and this cluster o f concepts points to the seal as an extension o f its owner. C. Rollston

137 Uehlinger “Seal/Stamp,” 11:558.

138 The symposium was held on December 17, 1982, in N ew York. The attending scholars’
papers are published in William Gorelick and Elizabeth W illiams-Forte, eds.. Ancient Seals an d the
Bible (Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1983).

139 Hallo, “Glyptic Metaphors,” 8. Ruth Hestrin concurs: “The main function o f the seals . . .
was to serve as a mark o f ownership” (“Hebrew Seals o f Officials,” in Ancient Seals an d the Bible [ed.
Leonard Gorelick and Elizabeth Williams-Forte; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1983], 50.
 53

summarizes the function o f the seal “as a means o f identification and also to

demonstrate ownership.” 140

Judging from the Mesopotamian legal and omen literature, losing one’s seal

was interpreted as a bad omen, often associated with the death o f a child; they even

had rituals in place to ward off any portending evil for such mishaps.141 Although at

the time (late third and second millennium B.C.), seals in Mesopotamia were often cut

from imported semi-precious stones and thus expensive, the evidence and behavior

associated with one’s loss o f his seal shows the concern was not merely due to the

material loss; according to Margaret Cool Root, this rather points to the “ancient

man’s intense psycho-social identification with his seal.” 142

This symbolic representation o f an individual by his seal is also supported by

the inclusion o f the owner’s name on one’s seal, though this practice is better

documented by the epigraphic seals o f the first millennium B.C. In Egypt, the use of

names on scarabs became more common only during the Middle Kingdom (2055 -

1650 B.C.), though it seems to have been restricted to official use.143 During the first

140 Rollston, “Seals and Scarabs,” 5:142.

141 Hallo, “Glyptic Metaphors,” 8. See also his earlier article, “Seals Lost and Found,” in Seals
an d Sealing in the Ancient Near East (ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca
Mesopotamica 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977), 57-58.

142 Margaret Cool Root, “R eview o f Gibson and Biggs 1977,” JNES 4 1 (1 9 8 2 ), 60; quoted by
Hallo, “Glyptic Metaphors,” 8. Cf. Piotr Steinkeller’s discussion o f the legal significance o f the seal in
his “Seal Practice in the Ur III Period,” in Seals an d Sealing in the Ancient N ear East (ed. McGuire
Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications,
1977),48-49.

143 Janet H. Johnson connects this surge to the political and administrative reorganization o f
Egypt by Sesostris III, ca. 1850 B.C. (“Private Name Seals o f the Middle Kingdom,” in Seals and
Sealing in the Ancient N ear East [ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca Mesopotamica
6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977],141-143). Johnson also points out that there may be
 54

millennium BC, however, writing one’s name on a seal was more common, and,

according to Uehlinger, especially so in the kingdom o f Judah: “Almost everywhere

most seals were anepigraphic; the relatively high proportion o f Hebrew seals with

inscriptions is therefore noteworthy.” 144 If in 1980 Wiseman and Millard remarked

that “ [m]ore than 200 Hebrew seals have been recovered, inscribed with their owners’

names,” 145 twenty five years later, when Millard compares different collections o f

Neo-Assyrian stamp seals and seal impressions with what has been found in the

comparably tiny kingdom o f Judah, he finds a sharp contrast: while the Neo-Assyrian

collections reveal a minute presence o f epigraphic seals (with those few belonging

usually to high-ranking officials), the numerous bullae as well as the seals from the

kingdom o f Judah, which come to over six hundred, are almost wholly epigraphic,

most o f them including “nothing but their owners’ names.” 146 On the Hebrew seals the

owner’s name is usually preceded by a possessive lamed, with some names also

followed by a patronymic perhaps to help distinguish between individuals with the

same name, while another group o f seals are “inscribed with the names and titles of

attestations o f names on cylinder seals found in Egyptian tombs as early as the first half o f the third
millennium B.C., yet she believes the evidence to be uncertain, concluding that these are better seen as
“amuletic seals intended for funerary purposes” (141).

144 “Seal/Stamp,” 1 1:558. Cf. Huey, “Seal,” ZPEB, 5:321.

145 Wiseman and Millard, “Seal, Sealing, in the Old Testament,” 1408. Speaking o f these
Hebrew seals as w ell, Hestrin concurs: “Most o f the seals bear the name o f their owner” (“Hebrew
Seals o f Officials,” 50).

146 Allan Millard, “Makers’ Marks, Owners’ Names and Individual Identity” in Crafts and
Images in Contact: Studies on Eastern M editerranean Art o f the First Millennium BCE (ed. Claudia E.
Suter and Christoph Uehlinger; OBO 210; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2005), 6. Millard also
notes that the Neo-Assyrian seals not only seem to have belonged mostly to officials, their “inscriptions
were so poorly impressed as to be ineligible... In Judah, on the other hand, the quantity o f inscribed
seals is surely far too great to have belonged solely to the officialdom o f a small state ... Moreover, the
bullae are almost always legible, implying they might be read” (6-7).
 55

ministers or other royal functionaries.” 147 Such epigraphic seals usually have a border

around them, and are divided by parallel lines to create two or more registers, as

Figure 1 shows:

Figure 1: Seal o f S a u l148

147 Hestrin, “Hebrew Seals o f Officials,” 50. According to Rollston, “Seals and Scarabs,”
5:142, examples o f such seals include: a Hebrew seal from Megiddo, simply inscribed as noto,
belonging to A saph; an Old Hebrew seal from Arad, bearing the inscription: belonging to Elyashib son
o f Ishyahw, and an Iron A ge Hebrew seal from Megiddo: belonging to Shema the servant o f Jeroboam .
For a more peculiar seal and discussion on it, see Frank Moore Cross, “The Seal o f Miqneyaw, servant
o f Yahweh,” in Ancient Seals an d the Bible (ed. Leonard Gorelick and Elizabeth W illiams-Forte;
Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1983), 55; the seal reads (belonging) to Miqneyaw, Servant o f
Yahweh.
There are such examples from outside o f Judah, as well; one o f the most famous seals
discovered at Persepolis, belonging to Cyrus the Great’s grandfather, reads, “Cyrus the Anshanite, son
o f Teispes” (Richard T. Hallock, “The Use o f Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets,” in Seals
an d Sealing in the Ancient N ear East [ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca
M esopotamica 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena Publications, 1977], 127).

148 This image o f the “Seal o f Saul” was released by the Israel Antiquities Authority on May
1 9 ,2 0 0 9 (Ferrell Jenkins, “Hebrew Seal of'Saul' found in Jerusalem,” accessed September 9 ,2 0 1 2 ,
http://ferrelljenkins.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/hebrew-seal-of-saul-found-in-jerusalem/. Dated to the
8th or 7th century B.C., the seal was discovered in Jerusalem in the vicinity o f the Pool o f Siloam. The
inscription on the lower register reads belonging to Shaul. The typical possessive la m ed is
present, while the patronymic on the top register is m issing the last letter by accident; the introductory
son o f which usually appears with a patronymic, was not included here (see Rollston, “Seals and
Scarabs,” 5:142, as w ell as his “The ‘Saul’ Seal,” Rollston Epigraphy, accessed September 9, 2012,
http://www.rollstonepigraphy.com/?p=9. For a picture o f a seal with three registers from the first temple
period see the 2,700 years old seal o f Matanyahu, also found in Jerusalem and published in May o f
2012 - it was made o f a semi-precious stone and engraved in Hebrew: “Lematanyahu Ben H o ...”, or
belonging to M atanyahu son o f Ho... (“Ancient Hebrew Seal Discovered Near Jerusalem’s First
Temple,” accessed September 18, 2012, http://w ww.foxnews.com /scitech/2012/05/02/ancient-hebrew-
seal-discovered-near-jerusalems-first-temple/#ixzz26pbjIDpV).
 56

Being closely tied to one’s identity, seals were also used as votive

offerings, the offered seal representing the individual before the gods (this

use is not m entioned in the B ible).149 A ccording to Hallo, such seals were

usually bigger in size, m ore costly, inscribed with a prayer on b eh alf o f the

donor or another designated party, and deposited “in the sanctuary in order

to convey that prayer to the deity.” 150 I f a m an could offer a seal as a votive

offering to a superior, a seal could also be bestow ed in an investiture

cerem ony by a superior, such as a king, upon a subject as a m ark o f special

favor. A nd from this ancient N ear Eastern context w here a seal takes on the

m etaphorical significance o f a sovereign’s reliance upon as well as

affection for a subject, “this m etaphor moves easily from the royal to the

divine realm .” 151 W e shall now turn to exam ine the biblical record as well

as other texts during the Second Tem ple Period for an overview o f sealing
1
and seals.

149 Another use o f seals not documented in the biblical literature is the apotropaic one. The
Testament o f Solomon (written about l s,-3rd cent A D , though reflecting Palestinian first century
Judaism) exem plifies this use. Michael, the archangel, gives Solomon a ring with a seal engraved on
precious stone, and tells him, “Solomon, son o f David, take the gift which the Lord God, the highest
Sabaoth, has sent you; [with this seal] you shall imprison all the demons , both fem ale and male, and
with their help you shall build Jerusalem when you bear this seal o f God” (1 :6-7; cf. D. C. Duling,
“Testament o f Solom on,” in The O ld Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. James H. Charlesworth; Garden
City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:962. Solomon does so, and thus he binds many demons and em ploys
them as laborers in the process o f building the temple and Jerusalem.

150 Hallo, “Glyptic Metaphors,” 9.

151 Ibid., 9-10.

152 A s much as possible, the follow ing research is based on the original or extant languages o f
the texts, with the English translations having at least a control function in the process.
 57

Seals and Sealing in the Old Testament

Terminology

The relevant Hebrew words include non (vb., seal [up], confirm - HALOT

3:364), nrtin (n., seal, signet ring - HALOT 1:300), and (n., ring, signet ring -

HALOT 1:369). While the root nnn is used specifically for a seal/signet ring or the act

o f sealing, most occurrences o f nyao have to do with metal rings associated with the

building o f the Ark o f the Covenant, the altars, priestly vestments, and other

tabernacle-related items. The exceptions for nyso include the investiture o f Joseph by

Pharaoh in Gen 41:42 and the investitures o f Haman and Mordecai by Xerxes in Esth

3:10,12 and 8:2, 8,10. The uses o f the signet rings in these contexts would convey

royal authority and authenticity, strongly implied in Joseph’s case, and made explicit

in the case o f Haman and Mordecai.153

153 According to Josephus, “Empowered by the king with this authority and withal to use his
seal and to be robed in purple, Joseph now drove in a chariot throughout all the land, gathering in the
com from the farmers, meting out to each such as would suffice for sow ing and sustenance, and
revealing to none for what reason he so acted” (Ant. 2.90-93).
O f the fifty OT occurrences o f nff3Q, forty are references to various rings related to the
tabernacle items or priestly vestments in the book o f Exodus. Though three o f the appearances may
refer to signet rings (Exod 35:22, Num 31:50, and Isa 3:21), they are probably references to rings as
jew elry (o f all three, Num 3 1 :50 is closest to being a reference to signet rings captured from the
Midianites, though rings as jew elry items may be in view). The remaining seven occurrences pertain to
the investitures o f Joseph, Haman, and Mordecai. Though in Joseph’s case it is assumed this is a signet
ring because the context indicates w e are witnessing an investiture whereby Pharaoh transfers authority
into Joseph’s hands by giving him this ring, in the book o f Esther four out o f the five references to ny3b
are accompanied by a form o f the verb nnn, making it clear the ring Xerxes gave first to Haman and
then to Mordecai was a signet ring; here is one example: “But you may write as you please with regard
to the Jews, in the name o f the king, and seal it pDpo] with the king's ring [nyao]” (Esth 8:8).
 58

The Pentateuch

The earliest reference to onn in the O T154 is Gen 38:18, 25. Here Judah gives

his daughter-in-law, Tamar, his signet, cord and staff as a pledge, items which are

used a few months later to clearly identify Judah as their owner. This leads us to

conclude that on the seal was either Judah’s name or some other unmistakable mark to

identify him, which points to the seal as being an extension o f one’s identity. W. Hallo

suggests that these three items are closely connected: the seal was Judah’s cylinder

seal, with the staff being the pin on which the cylinder was mounted, and the cord

serving as the necklace on which the seal was suspended to be w orn.155

The next few references to DJiri are in Exod 28:11, 21, 36, as part o f the

instructions on making the priestly vestments, and then in Exod 39:6, 14, 30, where

the execution o f those items is recorded. In all three cases the use o f nnn is for

comparative purposes. As part o f the ephod, Moses was instructed to engrave the

names of the sons o f Israel on two onyx stones, six on each one: “As a jeweler

engraves signets, so shall you engrave the two stones with the names o f the sons o f

Israel” (Exod 28:11). On the breastplate Moses was to set twelve stones in four rows,

and on each stone he was to engrave the name o f one o f the tribes: “They shall be like

signets, each engraved with its name” (Exod 28:21). And he was also to take a plate o f

pure gold to be set on the front o f Aaron’s turban and “engrave on it, like the

154 For convenience we are going to follow this breakdown o f the OT books: Pentateuch,
Historical Books, Poetical/W isdom Books, and Prophetical Books (pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic).

155 “Glyptic Metaphors,” 14.

 59

engraving o f a signet, 'Holy to the LORD'” (Exod 28:36). While all the references to

onn in Exodus 28 and 39 compare the method o f inscribing on the priestly vestments

with the craft o f engraving seals, the comparison o f the twelve stones on the

breastplate with signets indirectly points to the reality that signets had their owners’

names on them.

Since seals serve to block access to and prevent outside interference with the

sealed items, the meaning o f onn easily expanded into the metaphorical realm to

include the verbal idea o f closing, or shutting up,lSb and this is the sense we find in the

Lev 15:3 and Deut 32:34, the last two references to onn in the Pentateuch. The former

is in the context o f bodily discharges that make a man unclean: “whether his body runs

with his discharge, or his body is blocked up [or sealed up, Dnn] by his discharge, it is

his uncleanness.” The latter is a reference to G od’s vengeance which He sovereignly

keeps stored up at hand for the day He brings His judgment on His adversaries: “Is not
1 57
this laid up in store with Me, sealed up in My treasuries?”

The Historical Books

All uses o f seals in these books are connected to or exemplify their function o f

authentication, implying also the use o f the seal as an extension to one’s identity.

156 Alan Millard defines nnn (htm) in the Qal as both sea l (noun) and close (adj.; “nnn,”
NIDOTTE, 2:324), yet its range o f meaning also includes bind, shut up, and locked (see John Elwolde,
“nnn,” DCH, 3:335-336).

157 See also Philo: “For, just as there are storehouses o f good things so are there also
storehouses o f evil things with God; as he says in his great song, ‘Behold are not these things collected
with me, and sealed up in my treasure houses, against the day o f vengeance when their foot shall be
tripped up?’” (A Ileg. Interp. 3.105)
 60

1S8
Beside the clear examples in the book o f Esther discussed above, the use o f the

royal seal to convey authenticity and authority is also seen in 1 Kgs 21:8, where

Jezebel writes a letter in Ahab’s name and seals it with his seal, causing the false

accusation and execution of Naboth, whose vineyard Ahab is now free to possess. The

other two references to nnn, Neh 9:38 and 10:1, also fit here. The Israelites repent and

make a covenant in writing, making various promises to the LORD, and the written

document is sealed with the personal seals bearing the names o f over eighty prominent

Jews, starting with “Nehemiah, son o f Hacaliah, the governor” (Neh 10:2). This

indicates the Jews returning from the Babylonian exile continued to possess seals with

individual names on them in fairly large numbers, paralleling the situation during the

ninth to sixth century B.C. that we have noted above.

Job and Song o f Solomon

Out o f six references to Dnn in the Book o f Job, the only one pointing to the

primary function o f the seal is in 38:14, and even this is for comparative purposes: in

His response to Job, God challenges him with the mysteries o f creation, pointing out

that the earth is beautified by His creative power and “changed like clay under the

seal.” The other five references carry the derived or metaphorical idea o f closing or

even hiding something away, securing something from any outside tampering. Thus,

God in His sovereignty controls the rising o f the sun, and He alone “seals up the stars”

so that their light is concealed away (9:7) - a powerful demonstration o f His authority

158 A s discussed above, in Esther the verb ann usually appears together with the noun nS3D
(ring, sign et ring), showing that Xerxes gave Hainan and Mordecai a literal signet ring.
 61

derived from His identity as the world’s Creator. In 14:17 Job expresses his desire for

a time o f restoration to God’s favor when his “transgression would be sealed up in a

bag,” and God would not remember it anymore.159 Thieves and adulterers do their

deeds by night, and “by day they shut [seal] themselves up” in their dens (24:16).

Also, in 37:7 God “seals up the hand o f every man, that all men whom He made may

know it;” in this context “God uses the weather to restrict human and animal activity

on earth.” 160 Likewise, the Leviathan’ scales in 41:15 are so tight together that they

look like shields “shut up closely as with a seal,” making his back impenetrable.

In Song 4:12, ann also communicates the idea o f closing, as the beloved is

chaste and inaccessible to anyone but her lover: “A garden locked is my sister, my

bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed” (4:12). In 8:6, though, the idea o f the seal is

that o f intimacy, as Hallo points out: “the beloved wishes to be as intimate with her

lover as the two seals worn by him, the stamp seal carried on his wrist and the cylinder

seal worn around his neck which rests on his heart,” 161 so she exclaims, “Set me as a

seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.”

159 Whether this bag is put away for good or only temporarily (to be opened at a future
judgment time) it's open to interpretation; however, the idea o f sealing as ‘closing up’ is conveyed
either way. Cf. John E Hartley, The Book o f Job (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988), 236-
238.

160 Hartley, The Book o f Job, 480.

161 Hallo, “Glyptic Metaphors,” 12.

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The Prophetical Books

There aren’t many references to nnn in the Prophetical Books. Both Isa 8:16

and 29:11 carry the derived idea o f closing: “Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching

among my disciples” (8:16). This is usually understood as a command to roll up the

scroll and seal it or secure its contents away until its testimony concerning the Syro-

Ephraimite crisis is validated in history. The second, 29:11, describes the prophets and

the seers as blinded by the LORD, which renders God’s revelation unintelligible to

them: “And the vision o f all this has become to you like the words o f a book that is

sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, 'Read this,' he says, 'I cannot,

for it is sealed.'”

Like Isaiah, Jeremiah also uses ann in two contexts. The first is one o f

judgment on Jehoiachin, the Judean king, where the seal carries the meaning o f

intimacy, as the seal on one’s hand is always close to the signet ring’s owner: “As I

live, declares the LORD, though Coniah the son o f Jehoiakim, king o f Judah, were the
1f\)
signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you o ff’ (22:4). The second context

illustrates a literal role o f the seal: in the midst o f God’s impending judgment upon

Judah, Jeremiah is instructed to buy a field as a sign that God would restore His

people. Jeremiah records his actions: “I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and

weighed the money on scales” (32:10).163

162 While in Song o f Solomon 8:6 intimacy was desired, it is the opposite here.

163 Jeremiah is then instructed by the LORD: “Take these deeds, both this sealed deed o f
purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long
tim e... Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the
 63

Ezekiel’s only use o f onn is in his lament over the king o f Tyre, o f whom the

LORD speaks o f as “the signet o f perfection, full o f wisdom and perfect in beauty”

(28:12) until he became proud and attempted to elevate his status to divinity. Just as a

document, ajar, or another object is complete before sealing, so the idea o f

completion, even perfection, is another derived or metaphorical meaning o f sealing.

The prince or king o f Tyre’s status was impeccable, as if perfection was stamped and

sealed on him, until he abandoned his station.

Daniel uses nnn three times: 9:24, 12:4, and 12:9. In chapter 9 Gabriel explains

to Daniel the meaning o f the seventy weeks: “Seventy weeks are decreed about your

people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone

for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and

to anoint a most holy place” (9:24). The idea o f completion is probably in view here,

the angel referring to a time when visions and the prophetic activity shall come to an

end.164 The two references in chapter 12 convey the idea o f shutting away fo r

preservation until a future time, with the use o f the verb ono (plug up, stop up, hide,

keep secret) in parallel with onn making the idea o f shutting away or hiding fo r

preservation more clear.165 We may understand the sealed scroll in Revelation also in

land o f Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem ,...; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the LORD”
(3 2 :1 4 ,4 4 ).

164 For this view , see Edward J. Young, The Prophecy o f Daniel: A Com m entary (Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1949), 200. Others take sealing here to refer to “the act o f authentication, that
is, the ultimate fulfillment o f Jeremiah’s prophecy” (Tremper Longman III, D aniel [NIVAC; Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1999], 226; cf. John E. Goldingay, D aniel [WBC 30; Dallas, Tex.: Word,
1989], 260); either sense is still metaphorical.

165 We may also note that the tw o verbs are so closely connected that the appearance o f the Dno
(hide away, keep secret) in Dan 8:26 is translated with a form o f the verb atppay^ci) ( / seal), which in
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light o f this usage. But before leaving Daniel we should also make note o f the

Aramaic njpjy (signet ring - HALOT 2:1945) used twice in Dan 6:17-18 to seal the

stone over the den o f lions: having thrown Daniel into the den, the king sealed the

stone “with his own signet and with the signet o f his lords, that nothing might be

changed concerning Daniel” (6:17-18), thus, in a sense, shutting up the den and

preventing any tampering.

The last OT reference to onn is Hag 2:23, and this carries the same idea o f

intimacy as Jer 22:4. However, while Jehoiachin was compared to a seal on the

LORD’S hand only to be tom off in judgment, in Hag 2:23 the perspective is different:

“On that day, declares the LORD o f hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel My servant,

the son o f Shealtiel, declares the LORD, and make you like a signet ring, for I have

chosen you, declares the LORD o f hosts.”

Summary

We may conclude that the uses o f seals and sealing in the OT communicate the

basic ideas o f identification and authentication - the seal as an extension o f one’s

identity, as well as preservation, preventing any tampering with the sealed document

or item; this also points to one’s authority over and also ownership o f the sealed items.

From this concept o f preservation it is a small step to the idea o f closing or shutting

u p - if something is sealed, then it is closed, isolated and made inaccessible, whether

temporarily or for good, and this derived meaning could then be applied

turn makes its way into major English translations like the ESV, N1V, NKJV, and NRSV as “Seal up
the vision . . . ”
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metaphorically in other contexts. Other metaphorical nuances include the idea o f

completion or perfection, as well as intimacy: o f the former, only a complete document

or a finished pottery piece would be sealed or approvingly stamped; o f the latter, given

a seal’s constant presence with its owner and the physical closeness between the two, a

seal came to be seen as a man’s close, even intimate companion.

Seals and Sealing in Post-Biblical Judaism

The use o f seals and sealing continues during post-biblical Judaism. The major

witnesses surveyed are the Septuagint, the OT Apocrypha, the OT Pseudepigrapha, the

Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus.

The Septuagint

Most LXX references to seals and sealing correspond to the OT material

detailed above, the words used usually being ocppayu; or acppayi^co. However, the

word SaKtuXux; is also used to refer to a signet ring. Thus, we find it in Gen 38:18 and

25 to refer to Judah's signet ring (rendering Heb. nriin), or to signet rings belonging to

kings or nobles: Gen 41:42 (Heb. ny3D); Esther 3 and 8 (Heb. nysu), and Dan 6:17-18

(Aram. npjy). Sometimes it may simply refer to rings as jewelry (Jdt 10:4), though

more likely the three such possible instances rather imply signets (Exod 35:22, Num

31:50, and Isa 3 :20 [Heb Isa 3 :21]). All other OT occurrences o f 8aKTuA.io<; (all in

Exodus) refer to rings used either in the construction o f the tabernacle or in the making

o f the priestly garments (e.g., Ex 25:12,14, 26; 26: 29; 27:4, 7; etc.).
 66

OT Apocrypha

Eight o f the apocryphal writings serve as witnesses to seals or sealing, both in

their literal and metaphorical capacities. Literal uses include the sealing o f statements

(1 Esd 3:8, eotppayioavxo), the sealing o f the door to Bel’s temple (Bel 1:11,

emoypdyioai; 14, cnppaylaai, SaicruHcp, and SaKTuXiou;; and 17, o(ppayi5eq), and the

sealing o f money bags (Tob 9:5 - otppayvoiv).166 A more general yet literal use is

implied by the wisdom saying in Sir 42:6, “Where there is an untrustworthy wife, a

seal [nmn - aypayk] is a good thing; and where there are many hands, lock things

up.” 167 And though the act o f sealing is only implied by the presence o f a signet ring,

Antiochus Epiphanes before his death makes his friend Philip ruler over his kingdom,

entrusting him with “the crown and his robe and the signet [ScxktuXiov], so that he

might guide his son Antiochus and bring him up to become king” (1 Macc 6:15-16).

166 Both the RSV and NRSV render the verb i|i(ppdaooj ( / block, I block up) in 2 Macc 2:5 to
communicate the idea o f sealing: “Jeremiah came and found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the
tent and the ark and the altar o f incense; then he sealed up [^pcppdooco] the entrance.” Perhaps this is so
because the idea o f sealing has the connotation o f closing up, yet it is also possible that there is a
connection to 4 Baruch (lst-2nd cent. A D .), where Jeremiah is instructed to consign the temple vessels
to the earth w hile saying the following: “Hear, Earth, the voice o f your creator who formed you in the
abundance o f waters, the one who se a led you with seven seals [6 CHppayioaq a e £v &rr& o<ppayfoiv] for
seven epochs, and after this you will receive your ornaments. Guard the vessels o f the temple service
until the gathering o f the beloved” (3:11-12). Following this, “Jeremiah and Baruch entered the holy
place, and taking the vessels o f the temple service, they consigned them to the earth as the Lord had told
them. And immediately the earth swallowed them. And they both sat down and wept” (3:18-20). We
may note the metaphorical use o f the seal here, expressing God’s ownership and sovereignty over the
earth, His creation (cf. S. E. Robinson, “4 Baruch,” in The O T Pseudepigrapha, 2:413-419). Though 4
Baruch is a later witness ( l s,-2"d centuries A .D .), we could note its only other reference to seals or
sealing in 6:25 - “the sign o f the great seal” [o<ppayt5o<;] here is pointing to the fulfillment o f God's
promise to preserve and restore the faithful captives out o f Babylon and into Jerusalem.

167 For Ben Sira w e note the Greek words used, and, when extant, the Hebrew as well; see
Pancratius C. Beentjes, The Book o f Ben Sira in Hebrew: A Text Edition o f A ll Extant Hebrew
M anuscripts a n d a S y n o p sy s o f A ll P arallel H ebrew Ben Sira Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1997).
 67

And, as already noted above, Tobit speaks o f his nephew Ahiqar as the chief

cupbearer and the keeper o f Sennacherib's seal (SaicroMov).

Seals in their literal capacity are also mentioned for comparative or descriptive

purposes, revealing both the artistry involved in making these seals and their

continuous use. Ben Sira describes the beauty and harmony intimated by a well-built

and costly seal: “A ruby seal [nmn - ocppayfc;] in a setting o f gold is a concert o f music

at a banquet o f wine. A seal [omn - otppayiq] o f emerald in a rich setting o f gold is the

melody o f music with good wine” (Sir 32:5-6). Later he praises the work o f seal

artisans: “those who cut the signets o f seals [otppayldcov], each is diligent in making a

great variety; they set their heart on painting a lifelike image, and they are careful to

finish their work” (38:27). His description o f Aaron’s priestly vestments also evokes

the seal comparison, just as in the Exodus 28 and 39 passages: “with precious stones

with engravings of a seal [omn - a(ppayi8o<;], in a setting o f gold, the work o f a

jeweler, to commemorate in engraved letters each o f the tribes o f Israel; with a gold

crown upon his turban, inscribed like a seal [ocppayiboq] with "Holiness," a distinction

to be prized” (Sir 45:11-12).

Metaphorical or derived uses o f the seal are also represented in the apocryphal

writings. The idea o f closing or shutting up is conveyed by Wis 2:5, Pr Man 1:3, and

Sir 22:27. Looking for license to live as they please, the ungodly reason that death is

the end o f it all: “For our allotted time is the passing o f a shadow, and there is no

return from our death, because it is sealed up [KaxeacppayiaGq] and no one turns back”

(Wis 2:5). Manasseh’s prayer points to God’s ownership o f and sovereignty over His
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creation, as He made the heaven and the earth, shackled the sea by His command, and

“confined the deep and sealed [atppayiadpevoq] it” by His glorious name (Pr Man 1:3;

the only reference to seals or sealing in this book). Not only death or the depths o f the

sea may be sealed up, but also one’s lips, as Ben Sira wishes his speech be guarded

and his mouth kept closed when needed: “Who will set a guard over my mouth, and an

effective seal [otppayiSa] upon my lips, so that I may not fall because o f them, and my

tongue may not destroy me?” (Sir 22:27).

The metaphorical concept o f intimacy is also attested in Sirach, indicating the

closeness between a seal and its owner. Thus, Sir 17:22, “One's almsgiving is like a

signet ring [ocppayv;] with the Lord, and he will keep a person's kindness like the apple

o f his eye;” and, in his calling to remembrance o f the great men in Israel’s past, Ben

Sira exclaims, “How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? He was like a signet ring

[otppayk;] on the right hand” (Sir 49:11; cf. Hag 2:23).

OT Pseudepigrapha

The OT Pseudepigraphical writings refer to uses o f seals and sealing that are

similar to the ones noted above. Thus, the Elephantine version o f Ahiqar describes him

as a wise scribe and counselor, as well as the keeper o f the seal or signet ring [nnpru,

built on njjy, the Aramaic word for signet ring; cf. Dan 6:17-18] for both Sennacherib

and Esarhaddon.168

168 The Elephantine version is the oldest, written in Aramaic, and usually dated to the sixth
century B.C.; for introductory matters see J. M. Lindenberger, “Ahiqar,” in The O ld Testament
Pseudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1985), 2:479-482. For later
versions see R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha an d P seudepigrapha o f the O ld Testament in English: With
 69

The three references to sealing in The Book o f Enoch (or / Enoch) are literal -

albeit in visionary material - and carry the idea o f preservation or safeguarding against

tampering, both temporarily and for good.169 In I En. 89:71, a book recording the

misdeeds o f the shepherds o f Israel (which has parallels to the condemnation o f

Israel’s shepherds in Ezekiel 34) is being read before the Lord o f the sheep, who then

takes the book and seals it. It is later opened, together with other sealed books, in the

presence o f the Lord o f the sheep when He sits in judgment o f the evil shepherds and

others (90:20). The other reference is 1 En. 90:34, where the sword o f judgment is

sealed, safeguarded or put away apparently for good, as creation is reconciled with its

Lord, leading to the appearance o f the Messiah and the age to come.

In Psalms o f Solomon (usually dated in the first century B.C.) we get a glimpse

o f the apocalyptic messianism among the Jews prior to the coming o f Jesus, describing

the Messiah as the expected son o f David who comes in righteousness and restores

Israel to purity, power and prominence among the nations.170 Because o f Israel’s sins,

Introduction an d C ritical an d Explanatory Notes to the Several Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913),
2:715-784. The same description is attested by Tobit, where Ahiqar is presented not only as Tobit’s
nephew but also as “c h ie f cupbearer, keeper o f the signet [SoucruXiov], and in charge o f administrations
o f the accounts under King Sennacherib o f Assyria,” and reappointed to the same office by Esarhaddon
(Tob 1:22).

169 1 Enoch is extant in Ge'ez, the language o f ancient Christianity in Ethiopia. A form o f the
Ge'ez word 'M'<rD (hatam a - seal, sea l up, impress, engrave) appears in all three references o f interest
(87:71, 90:20 and 34; special thanks to Dr. Vem Poythress and Tadesse Abay for their help at this
point). The word is clearly related to the Hebrew and Aramaic root for the word seal, ann, htm (see
W olf Leslau, Com parative D ictionary o f G e'ez [Wiesbaden: Otto Harrossowitz, 1987], 267. These
three references are part o f the Dream V isions ( / En. 83-90), dated to the 2nd century B.C. For
introductory issues to the book see E. Isaac, “ 1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch” in The O ld Testament
P seudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:5-12.

170 See R. B. Wright, “Psalms o f Solom on,” in The O ld Testament P seudepigrapha (ed. J. H.
Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1985), 2:640-641.
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the Lord turns His face away from His people and allows their enemies to overpower

Jerusalem, defile the sanctuary, and enslave the inhabitants, so that Jerusalem’s sons

and daughters end up “in harsh captivity, their neck in a seal [a<ppayi8i], a spectacle

among the gentiles” (Pss. Sol. 2:6). As the only reference to seals or sealing in this

book, the seal here is an expression o f ownership, for, as R. B. Wright indicates, slaves

were tattooed either on the forehead or on the hand, so this is probably a reference to

“slave collars marked with the owner’s name.” 171 The related concept o f branding

one’s own is seen elsewhere in the book: “For the mark o f God [crrmeiov tou Oeou] is

on the righteous for (their) salvation,” while sinners “shall be overtaken as by those

experienced in war, for on their foreheads (is) the mark o f destruction [crqpEiov xfj<;

ootcoXeIou;]” (P ss . Sol. 15:6, 9).

The use o f the seal to safeguard items against tampering is well illustrated in

the Greek version o f The Life o f Adam and Eve, also known as The Apocalypse o f

Moses (1st century B.C. - 1st c. A.D.). The sealed item here is Adam’s tomb: “God

made a triangular seal [otppaytba] and sealed [eotppdyioe] the tomb in order that no

one might do anything to him for six days, when his rib would return to him;” six days

later Eve also died (Apoc. Mos. 4 2 :l-3 ).172 If this was a literal use, sealing in 4 Macc

7:15 carries the metaphorical idea o f completion or perfection (seen earlier in Ezek

28:12), as Eleazar’s martyrdom for the sake o f the Law is portrayed as the seal on his

righteous life: “O blessed old age, revered gray head, life loyal to the Law and

171 Ibid., 652, note i.

172 See M. D. Johnson, “Life o f Adam and Eve,” in The O ld Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J.
H. Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1985), 2:293. This is the only section in the book
referring to seals or sealing.
 71

| «*•>
perfected by the faithful seal [atppayk] o f death.” In The Testament o f Moses (also

called The Assumption o f Moses) we encounter the signet ring used metaphorically as

well, conveying God’s authority, authentication and ownership o f His creation: “The

lights o f the heaven, the foundations o f the earth have been made and approved by

God and are under the signet ring [Lat. annulus or anulus = ring, signet ring] o f His

right hand” (T. Mos. 12:9; cf. Jer 22:24).174

2 Baruch and 4 Ezra, written perhaps about the same time as the Book o f

Revelation,175 use sealing mostly outside the literal sense. Thus, 2 Bar. 20:3 conveys

the meaning o f closing or securing something in one’s mind by means o f remembering

it, “remember everything which I commanded you and seal [ p o i u ] it in the interior

o f your mind,” while 21:23 refers to closing or shutting up Sheol: “Therefore, reprove

the angel o f death,... and let the realm o f death be sealed so it may not

receive the dead from this time.” 176 An example o f the literal sense is 87:1, where

Baruch seals the letter he is sending to the nine and a half tribes: “when I finished all

173 The book o f 4 M accabees is usually dated in the first half o f the first century A D (H.
Anderson, “4 Maccabees,” in The O ld Testament P seudepigrapha [ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Garden City,
NY: Doubleday, 1985], 2:533-534). This is the only reference to seals or sealing in 4 Maccabees.

174 R. C. Charles’s version was preferred here (A pocrypha a n d P seudepigrapha o f the O ld

Testament, 2:424).

175 For introductory matters and dates, see A. F. J. Klijn, “2 (Syriac Apocalypse of) Baruch,” in
O ld Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: 1983), 1:6 15-620, and
Bruce M. Metzger, “The Fourth Book o f Ezra: A N ew Translation and Introduction,” in The O ld
Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:520.

176 Both words are forms o f (to seal, to attest), the Syriac script for the Hebrew and
Aramaic root ann. I would like to acknowledge my special thanks to Dr. V em S. Poythress for his help
at this point.
 72

the words o f this letter and had written it carefully until the end, I folded it, sealed it
177
cautiously, and bound it to the neck o f the eagle.”

4 Ezra 6:5-6 refers to people o f faith being sealed, in a context in which God is

emphasizing that it was He who made the world and it is He who will bring it to an

end: for before any created thing, before m an’s fall into sin, “and before those who

stored up treasures o f faith were sealed [Lat. consignarentur, from consigno = to seal]

- then I planned these things, and they were made through me and not through
178
another, just as the end shall come through me and not through another.” 4 Ezra

6:20 illustrates the metaphorical idea o f completion: “and when the seal is placed [Lat.

supersignabitur, built on signo = to set a mark/sign upon] upon the age which is about

to pass away,” with sealing here signifying the end or completion o f the present age.179

The use o f the seal in 7:104-105 indicates both authentication and completion or

finality: “The day o f judgment is decisive and displays to all the seal [Lat. signaculum

= seal, stamp] o f truth ... everyone shall bear his own righteousness or

unrighteousness;” no intercession is possible then, whether father for son, or son for

parents, for on the day of judgment people’s fates will be made plain and permanent

by the just and uncontested sentence o f the Judge. The metaphorical concept o f

closing or shutting up is communicated by the sealing o f evil in 8:53, in the context o f

177 Pierre Bogaert's French translation is similar, “je la scellai avec soin et la flxai au cou de
l'aigle” (L ‘A pocalypse Syriaque de Baruch: Introduction, Traduction du Syriaque et Com mentaire
[Paris: Les Editions du Cerf, 1969], 1:528).

178 R. H. Charles comments here: “it is the persons o f the faithful that are here ‘sealed’, exactly
as Rev. vii.4 (144,000 ‘who were sealed’)” (A pocrypha an d P seudepigrapha o f the O ld Testament,
2:574).

179 See also L.A.B. 3.10.

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describing the future age: “The root o f evil is sealed up [Lat. signata, from signo = to

set a mark upon] from you, illness is banished from you, and death is hidden.” The last

reference to sealing in 4 Ezra is more ambiguous, though no less metaphorical: “And

worst o f all, the seal [Lat. signaculum = seal, stamp] o f Zion has been deprived o f its

glory and given over into the hands o f those that hate us” (10:23).180

The Testament o f Job (1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.) has two references

to sealing. The first is metaphorical, as faithful Job is said to have been sealed

(a(ppayia0f|vai) by an angel in order to enable him to destroy the idolatrous temple

nearby (T. Job 5:2), which testifies to the use o f sealing to communicate divine favor

by a special empowerment from on high.181 The only other appearance o f the concept

o f sealing in this book is T. Job 46:5, where the word 8arru)ao<; is used in its literal

sense, apparently for authentication purposes: before his death, Job entrusts her

daughter Hemera with the signet ring, asking her to go to the vault and retrieve three

golden boxes, which contain Job's daughters' inheritance.

180 Charles interprets this seal as a symbol for Zion’s independence, which is possible, though
it may be a reference to the glory o f the Law and o f the presence o f the Lawgiver forsaking the chosen
people, similar to the departure o f the Glory o f the Lord from the temple (Ezekiel 10) prior to the first
tem ple’s destruction (cf. Charles, A pocrypha an d P seudepigrapha o f the O ld Testament, 2:605).

181 This idea is also present in John 6:27 where Jesus is empowered by the Father to impart the
bread o f life. For an introduction and translation o f the book, see R. P. Spittler, “Testament o f Job: A
N ew Translation and Introduction,” in The O ld Testament P seudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth;
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:829-868.
 74

The Dead Sea Scrolls

The evidence from the DSS is often fragmentary, though some references still
18?
provide sufficient context to establish how seals and sealing were understood; when

so, the uses o f seals are similar to what we have already seen above. Thus, sealing in

the H odayof is used to convey that something is hidden or shut up (lQ H a XVI, 4-11):

he gives thanks to God for setting him by a spring o f water in a dry land, and for

planting various trees about him from which eventually a “shoot o f h[o]lines grows up

into a planting o f truth, hidden and not esteemed. And because it is not known, its

secret is sealed up [omn].” 183 A similar use to prevent against tampering is attested

later in the H odayof XXVI, as God makes known His power by sealing up mysteries

and revealing hidden things.184 A reference to a literal and ordinary use o f the seal can

be seen in the repeated instructions not to open a sealed vessel on the Sabbath,

attesting to the continuing practice o f sealing.185 Other examples include a reference to

the Book o f Tobit in 4Q196 2, 7 recounting that Ahiqar, Tobit’s kinsman, had been

Sennacherib’s chief cup-bearer as well as the keeper o f the signet rings [pry];” 186 or

the more colorful retelling o f Esther’s story in 4Q550, 5, where the king cannot sleep,

182 Am ong the fragmentary evidence w e may note H o d a y o f III, 3, which reads “every seal
[omn]” (Donald W. Parry and Emanuel Tov, eds., The D ea d Sea Scrolls Reader [Leiden: Brill, 2005],
5:2-3).

183 Parry and Tov, DSSR 5:42-43.

184 Ibid., 69. The same thought is paralleled in 4Q 427 7 I, 19-21 (DSSR 5:68); cf. 4 Q 5 1 1 30, 1-
3) where G od’s great power is acknowledged by His creation; He sealed the heavens and the deeps
“forever, and there is none to open” (see Parry and Tov, DSSR 6:185); c f Pr. Man. 1:1-3.

185 4Q 270 6 V, 14 as well as 4 Q 2 7 1 5 I, 5 (see Parry & Tov, DSSR 1:157, 167).

186 Parry and Tov, DSSR 6:13. C f Tob 1:22.

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so “the records o f his father were read before him, and among the books was found a

scroll [sealjed seven times with the signet o f Darius his father” (DSSR 6:7 - here both

onn and npn? are used). From the examples above it seems that the Qumran members

were familiar with both the literal and metaphorical uses o f the seal and sealing.

Philo o f Alexandria

Philo o f Alexandria’s writings also testify to the continuous use o f sealing in

his first century AD context. His main words for seals and sealing include mppayiq,

with 33 occurrences; evacppayi^to [I impress on, stamp], used 27 times; ejno 9 payi^(o [I

seal, impress a mark upon], 16 times; and both SaKtuXioq and acppayi^o) with seven

mentions each. Given the high number o f references involved, we shall categorize

them and provide representative uses, noting that all o f them may fit as examples for

the categories listed below.

Most o f Philo's references to seals or sealing are either allegorical or serve a

comparative function, being generally part o f philosophical discussions. Yet, the literal

and authenticating roles o f seals are also attested, as well as the occasional reference to

seals mentioned in the OT. Thus, he refers to the ’royal seal' [cnppayiSa PaoiXucrjv]

Joseph received from Pharaoh (Joseph, 120), as well as to the seals [atppayiScu;] the

Israelites presented as gifts for the tabernacle (Exod 35:22). Also, Philo knows how

seals work in real life, “For it is always the case that if ulterior impressions

[a(ppayT8e<;] are stamped upon anything, the mark o f any previous one is effaced”

(Posterity 94). And, though in the service o f a philosophical argument, this reference
 76

clearly shows Philo’s acquaintance with strong and durable seals and their constant

use: “A single seal [otppayl*;] has often left its impress on innumerable substances, and

it has sometimes happened that all the impressions have vanished . . . while the seal

has in its own nature taken no hurt but remains just as it was to begin with” (Worse,

76).187 One example o f the authenticating or confirmatory role o f the seal is in Spec.

Laws 4:137, where Philo argues that it is necessary to set the precepts o f the law on

one's heart rather than on one's ears, “for there is no credit due to the ears, but to that

most important and dominant part, stamping and impressing them on the most

excellent o f all offerings, a well approved seal [atppayioi]”.

As noted above, most often Philo used seals and sealing for comparative and

allegorical purposes. These are a few examples: “For as the smallest seal [oippayu;]

receives imitations o f things o f colossal magnitude when engraved upon it, so

perchance in some instances the exceeding beauty o f the description o f the creation o f

the world as recorded in the Law” (Creation, 6). Or, “It is manifest also, that the

archetypal seal [ctppayii;], which we call that world which is perceptible only to the

intellect, must itself be the archetypal model, the idea o f ideas, the Reason o f God”

(Creation, 25). Also, “For man as formed now is perceptible to the external senses

... But man, made according to the image o f God, was an idea, or a genus, or a seal

[atppayiq], perceptible only by the intellect, incorporeal, neither male nor female,

187 For a parallel use, see Philo, Agriculture, 166-167.

188 Philo also speaks o f an incorporeal idea, an archetypal pattern o f virtues which God uses to
stamp our souls, “For since the Creator has in every instance made one thing a model and another a
copy o f that model, he has made the archetypal pattern o f virtue for the seal, and then he has on this
stamped an impression from it very closely resembling the stamp” (Drunkenness, 133).
 77

imperishable by nature” (Creation, 134). Elsewhere Philo equates man’s rational soul

with the divine image in man, for Moses pronounced man’s soul “to be a genuine

coinage o f that dread Spirit, the Divine and Invisible One, signed and impressed by the

seal [cnppayiq] o f God, the stamp o f which is the Eternal Word” (Planting, 18; cf.

Dreams 2:45); also, “For as in wax there are potentially many seals [mppaytSeq], but in

actual fact only one which has been carved on it, so also in the soul, which resembles

wax, all impressions whatever are contained potentially” (Alleg. Interp. 1.100; cf.

Spec. Laws 1.47); and similarly, “'Presentation' [imagination] is an imprint made on

the soul. For, like a ring [baKTukiot;] or a seal [acppayiq], it stamps on the soul the

image . . . And the mind like wax receives the impress and retains i t . . . ”

(Unchangeable 43). Elsewhere, after noting that the inscription on the plate to be

attached to the turban o f the high priest was similar to the impression o f a seal, Philo

immediately interprets: “The signet [acppaylq] spoken o f is the original principle

behind all principles, after which God shaped or formed the universe, incorporeal, we

know, and discerned by the intellect alone” (Migration, 103; cf. Flight, 12, where Philo

comments on the creation o f the world: “the Word o f Him who makes it is Himself the

seal [rnppayu;], by which each thing that exists has received its shape”). And, when

interpreting the comparison between Laban’s and Jacob’s sheep, Laban’s soul is

compared to a hard and unimpressionable waxen tablet, while Jacob’s soul has been

made soft and malleable, and thus capable o f being instructed by God, allowing His

“imprints to sink deep into it, and thus reproducing the shape o f the seal [crcppayT5a<;]”

(Heir, 181).
 78

Though 5aim>A,io<; is used to refer to a simple iron ring (Creation, 141) or rings

as jewelry (Migration, 97), it generally signifies a signet ring, such as the reference to

Pharaoh's ring given to Joseph (Dreams, 2:44, Joseph 149), or Judah's signet (Flight,

150, and Names, 135; cf. Genesis 38). Just as with acppayu;, Philo usually turns to an

allegorical interpretation o f 5aicruX,ioc;, which becomes a symbol for 'confidence and

sure faith' (Flight, 150), and also “the seal o f the whole, or the archetypal appearance,

according to which all the things, though devoid o f species and o f distinctive quality,

were all stamped and marked” {Names, 135).

The verbal forms o f both ocppayi^co, 87no(ppayl^co and evacppayi^oo are used in

the same fashion as the nouns above, with a couple o f literal representations, yet

mostly appearing in comparison as a bridge to allegorical and philosophical

discussions (though we should note that evacppayi^o) is farthest from the actual

concept o f sealing, as it is often used to speak o f impressing or stamping something on

the mind or soul). Thus, Herod Agrippa’s letter to Gaius Caligula was sealed

(a(ppayiaapevo<;) before it was sent to the emperor {Embassy, 330). In their appeal to

Gaius Caligula to prevent his statue from being erected in the Jerusalem temple, the

Jews intend to invoke the memory o f the emperor’s grandfather and great-grandfather,

who both ratified (emmppayi^opevoi) the Jewish “customs with all respect for them”

{Embassy, 240). When beautiful foreign women are used by the enemy to seduce the

Israelites and thus bring about their defeat, these women are assured by their

countrymen that despite their loss o f bodily innocence they will preserve the virginity

o f their souls, as they will be marked with a seal (e7iio(ppayieio0s) unto unending
 79

purity ( Virtues, 37). Also, in his often repeated argument that the mind should master

the body, external sensations reach the mind as they “explain and display the forms o f

each o f them, setting their seal upon [evcnppayi^opevai] a similar affection. For the

mind is like wax, and receives the impressions o f appearances through the sensations,

by means o f which it makes itself master o f the body” (Creation, 166). And, just as

Philo elsewhere allegorically contrasts Jacob with Laban, so now he contrasts him

with Esau: “Jacob [what is good] then had scarcely at all gone out, [Genesis 27:1]

when Esau [what is bad] entered, not the mind which receives everything, being

stamped with the impression [evocppayioupev] o f wickedness instead o f the figures o f

virtue, if that is possible” (Sacrifices, 135). Finally, the authenticating or confirmatory

role o f sealing is also represented, as we find both in Philo's discussion o f men who

become puffed up and insolent when they prosper, “as if they had been thoroughly

able to establish [aippayiadpsvoi] the undeviating character o f their prosperity on a

solid foundation” (Moses, 1:30), as well as in his making the case that God is invisible

to persons o f intermediate character, so Eliezer sees only a man, even though God was

there conversing with Isaac: “the servant confirming / attesting to [mocppayi^opevoq]

the fact that He cannot be comprehended who is invisible, and who converses with

man invisibly, says, 'He is my lord,' pointing to Isaac alone” ( Worse, 31).

Flavius Josephus

Writing toward the end o f the first century, Josephus’s references to seals and

sealing are in stark contrast to Philo’s earlier uses: if Philo’s majority o f references are
 80

metaphorical-allegorical, all o f Josephus’s uses are functional-literal. Also, beside

atppayu; and 8aKxuX.io<;, we find a new term in Josephus for seal or signet, crr)pavTf|p,

armavTfjpo*;,189 which he uses five times: Ant. 11.271 to refer to the seal o f Xerxes,

otipavifip appearing together with ocppayiq here; Ant. 17.195, where it points to

Herod's signet entrusted to Ptolemy; J. W. 1.667, which is a parallel text o f Ant.

17.195, uses both ar|pavTf]p and SaKtu^ioq side by side, translated together as "signet

ring;" Ant. 17.228, another reference to Herod's signet ring which Ptolemy would take

to Caesar; and Ant. 20.32, where queen Helena gives her son the ring with the signet

that used to belong to her husband, Josephus employing again both aripavrfip and

SaKTuXioq.

Josephus uses 8aicri)A.vo<; eight times, two o f which we already noted, and all

literal: Ant. 8.47, which has both 8aKTuA,io<; and otppayiq, describing how a certain

Eleazar cast out demons by using a ring somehow connected to Solomon's signet (T.

Sol. 1:7- 5<xktuXi5iov exov otppayTSa); Ant. 11.269, referring to the signet Xerxes gave

Mordecai; Ant. 12.360, the signet Antiochus entrusted to Philip; Ant. 19.185, the

signet ring o f a certain Sentius, which had the image o f Gaius engraved on it; and J. W.

1.669 and 2.24, both o f which speaking o f Herod's signet that Ptolemy would take to

Caesar.

The six uses o f acppayig beside the two already noted above include references

to Pharaoh's seal used by Joseph {Ant. 2.90); David's signet used to seal the letter he

189 We should note that a search for this word in all the Greek documents under discussion thus
far yielded no results. The word does have som e attestation in other Hellenistic literature, though a TLG
order-by-date search on the lemma yields only two uses in Apollonius Rhodius' A rgonautica (3rd
century B.C.), then Josephus, follow ed by Clem ens o f Alexandria (early 3rd century A .D .).
 81

gave to Uriah to take to Joab (Ant. 7.136; cf. 2 Sam 11:14); Darius's signet, used to

seal the lions' den (Ant. 10.259); Areus’s seal, king o f the Lacedemonians, affixed on

Areus's letter to Onias: “This letter is four-square; and the seal [atppayk;] is an eagle,

with a dragon in his claws” (Ant. 12. 227); and in the context o f a squabble between the

Jews and the Romans over the control o f the high priestly vestments, which the

Roman captain o f the temple guards “kept under the seal o f the high priest, and o f the

treasurers o f the temple,” and would release to the temple treasurers only upon

checking their seal (Ant. 15.408; cf. also Ant. 18.93).

Though Josephus does not use the verb acppayif/o, in Life 1.223 arpouvco (1

indicate, signify) has the meaning o f sealing.190 Other possible uses o f or|palv(o to

indicate sealing include Ant. 7:136, 10:259, and J. W. 1:669, though in all three

instances we find another noun for sealing in the context, so that ormalv© carries

perhaps the connotation o f affixing (the seal).

Summary

The evidence in this section makes it clear that seals, with both their literal and

metaphorical uses - denoting identification or ownership, an extension o f one's

person, authentication and preservation - were common throughout post-biblical

Judaism and even through the end o f the first century A.D. Beside the written

witnesses documented above, there are archeological finds such as the recently

190 There Josephus himself, w hile leader o f the Jewish forces in G alilee during the Jewish War,
secretly opens and seals back a letter by which the Jerusalem leadership intended to bring about his
downfall; he shrewdly bribes the m essenger and gets him drunk to loosen his tongue, eventually
extracting from him information that confirms his suspicions and allow s him to avoid the trap.
 82

uncovered clay seal under the Old City o f Jerusalem, whose inscription “Pure for

God” (Figure 2) probably attests to the practice o f stamping ritually clean temple

vessels to confirm their fitness for service at the sanctuary. The seal measures about

two centimeters in diameter, is inscribed in Aramaic, and is dated between the first

century B.C. and A.D. 70. 191

Figure 2: Pure fo r God

Seals and Sealing in Hellenistic Writers ca. 100 B.C - A.D. 100

Since the Hellenistic period is vast and the sources are far too numerous for us

to attempt a comprehensive analysis, we shall focus on a few major authors during the

approximately 200 years up to and contemporary with the writing o f Revelation. Also,

given both our focus on Revelation 7 as well as the large number o f possible lexical

entries for seals and sealing in the Hellenistic world that could be explored, we shall

191 “Second Temple Seal Found in Jerusalem Excavation,” The Land o f Israel, accessed
September 18,2012, http://thelandofisrael.com/blog/second-temple-seal-found-in-jerusalem-
excavation/.
 83

limit our more detailed research to the main words we have encountered thus far:

ocppayiq, acppayi^co, and SaKruXiog.192

According to the LSJ, the ranges o f meanings for the three words include what

we have already seen, though expectedly their semantic domains are wider, as we shall

see exemplified especially in Strabo's work on geography. When surveying the

literature for the period, a few major authors whose writings often employed the terms

o f our interest stand out: Diodorus o f Sicily (2nd - 1st century B.C.), Dionysius o f

Halicarnassus (1st century B.C.), Strabo (1st century B.C. - 1st century A.D.), Pedanius

Dioscorides (1st century A.D.), and Plutarch (1st - 2nd centuries A.D.).

In his work Bibliotheca historica, the Greek historian Diodorus o f Sicily,193

includes a reference to seals in his purported description o f ancient Egyptian laws: “o f

counterfeiters or falsifiers o f measures and weights or imitators o f seals [a<ppayi5a<;]

... it [the law] ordered that both their hands should be cut o f f ’ (Bibl. hist. 1.78).

Diodorus also uses acppayi^co in a literal sense to refer to a general in the Persian army

sealing some letters (Bibl. hist. 16.52). If the above words are only used once by

Diodorus, and both in the literal sense, he uses 5aKTuA,io<; nine times, all in the literal

sense as well. And though there are a couple o f clear examples where the word is used

to refer to rings as jewelry (Bibl. hist. 5.27 and 19.34), the others point to signet rings.

Here are a couple o f examples: “After getting possession o f his [Hermias'] signet-ring

192 A search via the LSJ for the word 'seal' yields forty-five distinct lexical entries, w hile a
search for 'signet' yields an extra five; when only one o f these entries, oippayiq (though perhaps the most
prodigious), is searched in all its inflected forms and ordered by date, one finds over 650 entries
between 3rd century B.C. and 3rd century A.D. in the TLG corpus. We did not include ar)pavrf)p here
as it does not have any attestation in this period other than in Josephus (see note 189 above).

193 Diodorus o f Sicily, Bibliotheca historica (O ldfather, LCL).

 84

[SaKTuXiou] and writing to the cities . . . he [Mentor] sealed [otppayioapevot;] the

letters with Hermias' ring [SaKToXiq)], and sent the letters” (Bibl. hist. 16.52); also, just

before dying, Alexander “took off his ring [8aKruA.i.ov] and handed it to Perdiccas”

(Bibl. hist. 17.117; see also 18.2).

The Greek historian Dionysius o f Halicarnassus194 uses 5aicruA.io<; only once,

referring to rings as ornaments (Ant. rom. 2.38), and ocppaylc; six times: four o f these

are literal, while two are metaphorical. In its literal use, acppaylq refers either to its

impression on letters by which the seal's owner is identified (Ant. rom. 4:57 and 5.8)

or to a personal seal (such as the seal o f Tarquinius, or the seals o f the sons o f Brutus;

Ant. rom. 4.57 and 5.10). In its metaphorical use, Dionysius uses otppayic; to refer to

impressions made on one's mind by habitually practicing something (Comp. 25.87 and

25.235).

The Greek geographer Strabo195 uses cwppayu; no less than twenty times,

although only three times to refer to seals in a sense that we have seen thus far,

pointing to the presence o f both personal and governmental or public seals in different

geographical locations. The first is in his reference to the inhabitants o f Phocis, who

“have the star Hesperus engraved on their public seal” (9.3.1). The second, in his

description o f the people o f India: “they are not litigious; for they do not have lawsuits

over either pledges or deposits, or have need o f witnesses or seals [ocppayiStov], but

trust persons with whom they stake their interests” (15.1.53). And the third, when

speaking o f the Babylonians, and the people o f Mesopotamia in general: “Their

194 Dionysius o f Halicarnassus, Antiquitates rom anae (Cary, LCL).

195 Strabo, G eographica (Jones, LCL).

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clothing consists o f a linen tunic reaching to the feet, an upper garment made o f wool,

and a white cloak; and they wear their hair long, and use a shoe that is like a

buskin. They wear also a seal [atppaytSa], and carry a staff’ (16.1.20).

All the other uses refer to a section or division o f land.196 According to Strabo,

after Eratosthenes divides the inhabited world into two parts, he further divides these

into smaller parts, “and he calls these 'Sphragides' [tcatav 8e xam a atppaytdou;]. And

so, after calling India Section [a<ppayi5a] First o f the Southern Division,. . . ” (Geogr.

2.1.22); or “Now, as regards the Third Section [flepi 8e tfjq tp ln ^ a<ppayT5o<;]”

{Geogr. 2.1.27; also 2.1.31).

Strabo's only uses o f 8aKTuA,io<; refer to the ring o f Polycrates, the tyrant o f

Samos (6th century B.C.). Though it is not clear, Polycrates' position and the ring's

description may indicate that this is a signet ring. It was said that, as a sign o f good

fortune, he “purposely flung into the sea his ring, a ring o f very costly stone and

engraving, and that a little later one o f the fishermen brought him the very fish that

swallowed it; and that when the fish was cut open the ring was found” {Geogr.

14.1.16).

Writing during the middle o f the first century A.D., Pedanius Dioscorides, the

Roman physician and pharmacologist o f Greek origins, whose work De materia

medica on herbal medicine would be widely circulated for the next 1500 years, uses

8aKTU>ao<; no less than fifty times, even though he appeals to atppayk; only once, as he

196 W hile the BDAG does not include this use for ocppayte, it is found in the LSJ (with Strabo
being referenced), as a “num bered area on a worldmap.” Being in the same category with
'"governmentally defined an d num bered area o f la n d ' and “registered holdings o f land," the use o f
0<ppayi<; here perhaps lands an official character to such land divisions, providing an element o f
approval or authentication.
 86

does to ocppayi^co.197 The latter two appear in the same context, both pointing to a

literal use: Dioscorides describes the making o f an antidote for poison, in which men

mix dirt from the island o f Lemnos with goats' blood; after making the mixture into

tablets, they “seal [otppayt^opevoi] it with the figure [image] o f a goat and call it the

seal [o(ppayT5a] o f a goat.” 198

Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer, is the last Hellenistic author we

shall consider here.199 His uses o f atppayiq (37 times), acppayi^oo (once), and 5aicnj/Uo<;

(20 times) are mostly literal, consistent with what we have observed thus far. His one­

time use o f a(ppayl£co is in the same context with acppayiq, and both reflect the literal

use: Cinna, upon being apprehended, unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the centurion

by offering him “his seal-ring [otppayvba] which was o f great price,” if only his life

might be spared; yet, the centurion replied: “I am not come to seal [atppaytoupevoq] a

surety, but to punish a lawless and wicked tyrant,” after which he put Cinna to death

(Pomp. 5.2.1).

Plutarch uses 8aicri)X.io<; only once in its secondary sense (LSJ, anything ring-

shaped) to refer to the anus (Mor. 518.D.6), and a couple o f times to speak o f rings as

197 However, as a naturalist and pharmacologist, Dioscorides uses 5cticruA.io<; to refer to ring-
shaped parts o f the body, especially the anus or perineum, usually in the context o f applying an
medicinal ointment (LSJ notes two main uses o f the word, this being its second; as noted above, its
primary meaning is ring or signet). A few exam ples o f Scuenikux; to refer to such ring-shaped parts o f
the body include 1.47, 1.72 (twice), 2.10, 2.29, 3.11, 4.10, 5.1, etc. Since Dioscorides's work is not
available in the LCL, for the corresponding English translation see Tess Anne Osbaldeston,
D ioscorides: D e M ateria M edica (Johannesburg, South Africa: Ibidis, 2000), 55, 97, 187, 195, 379,
555, and 741. The book is available for download online, accessed on July 5, 2014:
http://www.ibidispress.scriptmania.com/box_widget.html.

198 Osbaldeston, D ioscorides, 800.

199 Plutarch's major works include his M oralia (Chem iss et. al., LCL), and
Plutarch's Lives (Perrin, LCL), the latter including descriptions o f different historical figures, such as
Alexander, Sulla, Marius, Pompey, etc.
 87

jewelry (Mor. 284.A.8 and 465.A.7) or rings in general - when referring to an Indian

archer who could “send an arrow through a finger-ring [8ia 8aicrukkn>]” (Mor.

181 .B.6), or when appealing to sayings such as, “Do not wear a tight ring

[SaKrukiov]” (Mor. 12.E. 11).

Most commonly, though, Plutarch employs ScocruXio*; to speak o f a signet-ring.

One significant example where the signet-ring is clearly seen as an extension or

representation o f one's person is in his report o f Ismenia's act o f throwing his ring

[8aienj?aov] to the ground in front o f Artaxerxes, and then stooping to pick it up, “thus

giving his men to think that he was making obeisance” (Art. 22.8.5). Likewise, one

was identifiable by his signet ring, pointing to the close relationship between a person

and his seal; thus, Plutarch speaks o f both Medullina and Cyane as each being able to

identify her own father by his ring [Saicrukux;] even in the dark (Mor. 310.C.7 and

310.B.8). Along the same lines, we read o f M arcellus's signet-ring [8aicn3X,iov] which

Hannibal took off his finger after he had fallen in battle (Marc. 30.2.2), or o f

Cephisocrates dropping his ring [SatcrtXiov] when requested by the prosecution, and

being concealed by his friend by stepping on it (Mor. 63.E.8).

Some o f Plutarch's uses illustrate well the connection between Saicrukioq and

acppayu;: both words are in proximity to each other, with the former pointing to the

ring itself, while the latter to the seal o f the ring. An example, to which Plutarch makes

reference quite often, describes Alexander not preventing his friend to reading a secret

letter alongside him, yet upon finishing, Alexander “took the ring [SaKTukiov] and

applied its seal [acppaytSa] to the lips o f Hephaestion” (Alex. 39.9.1; cf. Mor. 333.A.2,
 88

where Plutarch explains Alexander's act as “sealing [Kaxaacppayiodpevoi;] them [his

friend's lips] to silence,” which indicates a metaphorical meaning o f sealing, even if an

actual literal seal is used; for the same incident, see also Mor. 340.A.5 andl80.D.7-9).

Similarly, Clearchus “gave Ctesias his ring [5aicn3A.iov] as a token o f friendship . . .

and the device in the seal [otppayTSi] was a group o f dancing Caryatides” (Art. 18.2.4).

A related example is the reference to Sulla, who “had a seal [ocppaytSi] engraved with

a representation o f his deed - Jugurtha surrendering to him,” and kept wearing it,

which displeased Marius (Mor. 806.D.7); Plutarch describes the same incident

elsewhere to refer to Sulla's engraving on his signet ring [sv SaicruTiq)] a depiction o f

Jugurtha's surrender (Sull. 3.4.6).

There are other instances were Plutarch describes certain seals [acppaylq], such

as Philip's, “as the figure o f a lion” (Alex. 2.5.1), or Pompey's, which looked like “a

lion holding a sword in his paws” (Pomp. 80.5.4), or the military class in Egypt who

“had their seals engraved with the form o f a beetle” (Mor. 355.A.8), or even Odysseus

having “a dolphin engraved on his seal [ocppayt5i] and emblazoned on his shield” as a

sign o f appreciation for the dolphins that had purportedly saved Telemachus from

drowning (Mor. 985.B.11).

As already witnessed above, Plutarch most commonly employs acppayiq in its

literal sense. Thus we see it used in sealing sacks or letters (Lys. 16.2.3 and 20.2.5), or

a temple (77. C. Gracch. 10.8.4), or the swords o f soldiers assigned a non-combatant

mission (Mor. 203.C.9). He also uses seals for comparison, such as in Mor. 3.F.1, “For

just as seals [o(ppayi8eq] leave their impressions in soft wax, so are lessons impressed
 89

upon the mind o f children when they are young;” or in his Platonic distinction in Mor.

373.A.9 between the superiority o f immaterial forms (similar to the lasting endurance

o f seals), and the inferiority o f the forms' material likenesses (which correspond to the

transient nature o f a seal's impressions).

Two more uses still need to be mentioned. The first one is the only time

Plutarch appeals to atppayiq in a literal sense yet not referring to a seal but rather to the

impressions [ocppayidaq] a tortoise leaves on the sand where she lays her eggs, perhaps

to help her identify the spot later (Mor. 982.B.9). The second one is clearly a

metaphorical use: “wine makes the company pliable and ready to take an impression,

as it were, from the seal o f friendship” (Mor. 660.C.9).

To summarize, all these five Hellenistic writers from Diodorus to Plutarch

employ the words under our consideration mostly in their literal sense, with a few

metaphorical flavors present as well, yet corresponding to what we have already seen

either in the OT or in post-biblical Judaism.200 The literal uses speak o f the sealing of

letters, swords, sacks, or temples, either for authentication or preservation; most often,

though, they involve a personal seal that points to the relationship between a man and

his seal, speaking o f identification or even becoming an extension o f one’s person.

The few metaphorical uses refer to impressing something on someone’s mind, the seal

o f a friendship, or even sealing one’s lips unto secrecy.

200 We should note the two exceptions, where som e o f the words are used with different
meanings, even if such meanings are included by the LSJ as part o f these words’ semantic domains:
Strabo’s use o f a<ppayt<; to refer to a w ell-defined section or division o f land; and the common use o f
5aicri>Xto<; by Dioscorides (and once by Plutarch) to refer to something that is ring-shaped, in this case
often being the anus.
 90

Seals and Sealing in the New Testament

Terminology and Literal Uses

The NT Greek words for seal and sealing are atppayi*;, acppayTSoc;, and the verb

mppayi^co (though 8aKTuXio<; is also used once, in Luke 15:22, where it should

probably be rendered as signet ring). Their uses may be literal (seal, signet; I seal), or

figurative, conveying the ideas o f confirmation, attestation, authentication, or

ownership; all o f these uses could be seen as expressions and extensions o f the seal’s
901
owner or o f the authority it represents.

The first NT mention o f sealing is also the only literal use mentioned outside

the book o f Revelation. After Jesus died and was laid in a tomb, the chief priests and

the Pharisees, with Pilate’s backing, sealed the stone at the entrance o f the Jesus’ tomb

(Matt 27:66) as a symbol of official governmental authority, thus conveying the

inviolability o f the sealed tomb. The only other clear literal uses include the scroll

sealed with seven seals o f Revelation 5-8, and the sealing o f the pit in which Satan is

thrown (Rev 20:3); we should note that although these appear real in John’s visions

and thus attest to the continuous use o f seals and sealing, their meaning is symbolic,

with God’s authority being behind these seals. Another possible literal use is in Rev

20:10, where John is commanded, “Do not seal up the words o f the prophecy o f this

book, for the time is near,” which may simply refer to John writing down the revealed

things and thus making them accessible, as opposed to the command in Rev 10:4,

201 See “oqjpayi*;,” BDAG, 980-981, as w ell as R. Schippers, “Seal,” in NIDNTT, 3:497-501.
 91

where sealing means simply not writing what the seven thunders have said: “Seal up
2fl2
what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”

Metaphorical Uses

Attestation and authentication seem to be the most common metaphorical uses

o f seals or sealing in most o f the other NT occurrences, with the idea o f identification

and ownership also present. John 3:33 equates receiving Jesus’ testimony and setting

one’s “seal to this, that God is true,” as an act o f one’s agreement or attestation. In

John 6:27 Jesus exhorts His audience to work “for the food that endures for eternal

life, which the Son o f Man will give you. For it is on Him that God the Father has set

His seal,” meaning Jesus is the one attested and authenticated by the Father, certified

and authorized as His agent both to offer and to be the bread from heaven that gives

eternal life.203

In Rom 4:11 Paul compares Abraham’s sign o f the circumcision with a seal, or

an external proof that certified or attested to the reality o f his righteousness prior to his

reception o f the sign, which then served as a mark o f identification and belongingness

to a covenant community: “He received the sign o f circumcision as a seal o f the

righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.” As he closes the

book, Paul promises the believers in Rome to visit them on his way to Spain, yet not

202 The other references to seals or sealing in Revelation will be discussed in Chapter 4.

203 Though not essential here, the seal Jesus is probably referring to is the Father’s
pronouncement at His baptism as well as the Spirit’s descent upon Him (cf. John 1:29-34; Matt 3:16-
17).
 92

before he delivers an offering from the churches in Achaia and Macedonia to the

church in Jerusalem to help take care o f the poor saints there. The language o f sealing

in this instance - “Therefore, after I finish and seal unto them this fruit, I will depart

for Spain via you” - points either to the safe delivery o f the offering or to the idea o f

completion or perfection we have noted above; if the latter, Paul sees this offering

somewhat as a crowning of his service to the Judean believers.204

The metaphorical flavors o f attestation and authentication o f acppayu; are again

conveyed by Paul in 1 Cor 9:2, where he calls the believers in Corinth “the seal of

[his] apostleship in the Lord.” So, if anyone questions Paul’s calling to be an apostle,

the existence o f the church in Corinth would be the answer given to them, as that

church serves to attest and authenticate his apostolic ministry. Paul also uses acppayiq

in 2 Tim 2:19 to refer to the seal stamped on God’s work among men - the content o f

this seal turns out to be a double-fold mark serving to authenticate and identify God’s

people from the rest of mankind. So, despite the inroads false teachers may make,

God’s firm foundation has stood and stands, having this seal or mark o f identification:

“The LORD knows those who belong to Him,” and, “Let everyone who calls on the

Name o f the LORD depart from iniquity.” The background o f these statements is

Numbers 16 (especially verses 5 [LXX] and 26): just as He knew His faithful then,

and they separated from the rebellious crown o f Korah, God always knows and

chooses His own, and those who truly are His seek to lead a righteous life - this is the

204 We may note a similar use in Philo; he sees the eighth day o f the Feast o f the Tabernacles
as the seal on the previous seven, a sign o f perfection or completeness: “And after the festival has lasted
seven days, he adds an eighth as a seal, calling it a kind o f crowning feast” (Spec. Laws, 2.211 -
£7u<T<f>paYi^£Tai).
 93

content o f God’s seal o f authentication on His building in the world. In contrast to any

other message at work among men that ends up crumbling and bringing destruction to

those involved in it - just as it did for Korah and his followers, the true gospel

ministry has God as its founder, builder, owner and authenticator.

The other three relevant Pauline references involve the verb atppayi^co: 2 Cor

1:22, Eph 1:13 and 4:30. If Paul’s other uses o f acppoyiq / otppayi^co have different

things as the object o f sealing (whether it is an offering or the building o f God’s

kingdom), these three are in a class by themselves, as here God is the subject and

believers are the object o f sealing. It is perhaps easier to deal first with the Ephesian

correspondence, as here Paul appears to clearly identify the seal with the Holy Spirit.

Thus, we may render Eph 1:13-14a as follows: “In Him [Christ] you also - when you

heard the word o f truth, the gospel o f your salvation, and believed - in Him you were

also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit / in Him you were also marked with a seal,

which is the promised Holy Spirit, who is a guarantee o f our inheritance.” Eph 4:30 is

pointing to the same reality o f sealing: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit o f God by

whom you were sealed for the day o f redemption.” In both passages the seal indicates

the authentication and identification o f believers as belonging to God, thus

guaranteeing them their final inheritance, which clearly implies their protection and

preservation till the promised day o f redemption: “By giving Gentile believers the

Spirit, God ‘seals’ or stamps them as His own, and he will protect them through the
 94

trials and testings o f this life (cf. 6:10-18) until he takes final possession o f them (cf. v.

14) on 'the day o f redemption' (4:30).”205

Having the clear identification o f the seal with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians

makes it easier to see it in 2 Cor 1:21-22 as well: “But the One who is establishing us

together with you in Christ and who anointed us is God, who also marked us with a

seal and gave us the guarantee o f the Spirit in our hearts.” Murray J. Harris clearly

equates the Spirit with the seal by treating the substantival participle Souq in verse 22

adverbially - o K ai a tp p a y io a p e v o f; rjpaq ic a i Souq t o v appafSwva xou 7rveupaTO<; ev

x a v ; K a p S ia ii; pptov - though it may be a simple adverbial rendering o f an otherwise

appositional substantival participle: “He also sealed us by putting the Spirit in our

hearts as a down-payment and pledge.” He believes that sealing here implies

ownership, authentication, and security or protection, meaning that “God (1) has

'branded' believers as His property, (2) has attested the reality o f their status in Christ,

and (3) has guaranteed their 'protection in transit' as his permanent and inviolable

possession.” Supporting the identification o f the seal with the Spirit is also the

presence o f appaPoov both here and in Ephesians 1:14, as in both places the Spirit is

205 Peter T. O ’Brien, The Letter to the Ephesians (PNTC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
1999), 114. We submit that preservation and protection are only implied, as the emphasis here is on the
guarantee or assurance o f final redemption.

206 Murray J. Harrris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: A Com m entary on the G reek Text
(N1GTC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2005), 207. Again, the ideas o f protection and preservation
are clear implications o f sealing in Paul's usage.
 95

the appaPcov or the irrevocable pledge or guarantee God has given believers o f their

207
final redemption and inheritance.

Conclusion

Whether in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Levant or elsewhere in the ancient

biblical world, seals and sealing are found to be a normal part o f life throughout

recorded history. A seal’s literal and derived or metaphorical uses are manifold,

though they all stem from the idea o f a seal serving as a symbolic representation o f an

individual, or as an extension o f one’s person.

Thus, though the uses o f the seal in the ancient Near East and the world o f the

Bible stem from the idea o f ownership to include concepts like the authentication and

validation, or the derived concepts o f shutting up or closing, perfection or

completeness, and even intimacy, the basic function o f seals was to preserve or

safeguard the sealed items: “Seals were used in Egypt primarily to safeguard objects,

much in the same way as was done in Mesopotamia ... For the Egyptian and

Persepolis material, it can be said that sealing had the same basic function as in

Mesopotamia, namely safeguarding property and, it may be assumed, keeping people

207 For more on the Spirit as the appa()<Bv see Eldon W oodcock, “The Seal o f the Holy Spirit,”
Bibliotheca Sacra 155(1990): 139-163, especially 150-163.
 96

honest.”208 Or, as Bruce Williams puts it, sealing was used “to certify that containers,

bound commodities, or documents were intact.”209

This basic purpose o f sealing to safeguard or keep something intact by

extending one’s mark o f ownership was in time transferred and applied to the sealing

o f people, with some o f these instances having been already noted above in the NT

section. The primary locus that illustrates this concept is Revelation 7, to which we

now turn.

208 McGuire Gibson, “Summation,” in Seals an d Sealing in the Ancient N ear East (ed.
McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca M esop otam ia 6; Malibu, Calif.: Undena
Publications, 1977), 150-151.

209 Bruce Williams, “Aspects o f Sealing and Glyptic in Egypt,” in Seals a n d Sealing in the
Ancient N ear East (ed. McGuire Gibson and Robert D. Biggs; Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 6; Malibu,
C alif: Undena Publications, 1977), 138.
 97

CHAPTER 4

A CONTEXTUAL INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION 7

The Text and Unity of Revelation 7

The text o f Revelation 7 seems to be relatively free o f significant variant

readings.210 However, the unity o f the chapter is not as easily agreed upon, especially

by redaction critics or by proponents o f the source-critical tradition, such as R. H.

Charles.211 After cataloging ways in which other source-critical scholars divide, edit

and reshuffle the contents o f this chapter, Charles argues that the vision o f the great

multitude (7:9-17) comes from the author o f the book, for two major reasons: “it

proclaims the absolute universalism o f Christianity, as does the entire Apocalypse so

far as it comes from his hand,” and it exhibits the author’s “diction and idiom;” but the

first part o f the chapter (7:1-8) “is derived from independent Jewish sources, which

have, however, been recast in the diction o f our author.”212 The major shortcoming o f

210 We should mention the absence o f any variant readings in the critical apparatus o f the
United Bible Societies’ Greek N ew Testament, 4th revised edition. For minor variants included in the
critical apparatus o f N estle-A land’s 27th edition, see David E. Aune’s notes on the text (Revelation 1-5,
426-431).

211 See R. H. Charles, Revelation o f St. John, 1:189-194, where he pits Jewish particularism
against Christian universalism to argue for sources. For proponents espousing various theories o f text
com position for the book o f Revelation, see Arthur W. Wainwright, M ysterious Apocalypse:
Interpreting the Book o f Revelation (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1993), 119-122; Ronald Herms, An
A pocalypse f o r the Church a n d fo r the World, 5-19; and David Aune, Revelation 1-5, cv-cxxxiv, where
Aune suggests that Revelation is the result o f an author-editor’s work spread over two or three decades
during which he composed a number o f self-contained apocalyptic documents which he eventually
revised and brought together into a narrative framework (cf. Aune’s “Follow ing the Lamb: Discipleship
in the Apocalypse,” in Patterns o f D iscipleship in the New Testament [ed. Richard N. Longenecker;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1996], 270).

212 Charles, Revelation, 1:190-191. He further suggests that there are two Jewish traditions
behind the first part o f the chapter: a source about the four angels, and another source about the sealing
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this and other approaches that propose sources and stages o f development is their

generally speculative nature, as textual backing for such sources, redacting or

rearranging o f the book’s contents is lacking. Rather than further speculate “on

hypothetical sources or possible stages o f redaction,”214 many students o f Revelation

treat the book as a whole and chapter 7 as a unit, and this is also the approach we

follow.215

The Role of Revelation 7 in the Structure of the Seals and of the Book

Revelation 7 is generally perceived as an interruption or a break in the

sequence o f the seven seals, though some see it as climactic in its connection to the

sixth seal.216 The chapter has been labeled by various interpreters as an interlude, an

intermission, a parenthesis, or other similar terms. Thus, while interpreters generally

o f the 144,000, the latter having been recast in a Christian form prior to its adaptation by the author and
adoption into the book o f Revelation.

2,3 A lso, the more w e becom e aware o f the techniques at the ancient author’s disposal and the
structural features o f a document intended for oral communication - such as chain-link transitions, and
digressions - the more cautious we should be in hastily ascribing to sources or redactors portions o f text
that w e are unable to fit in our modem analytical outlines (cf. Perry, Digressions, 10 and 108).

214 Wainwright, M ysterious Apocalypse, 122.

215 Elisabeth Schtlssler Fiorenza points out that most exegetes today assume Revelation’s unity
and ‘m agnificent com pleteness’ both demonstrated by its “uniformity o f the vocabulary and style as
w ell as by the unity o f its theological conception and the force o f its argumentation” (Revelation, 36).

2,6 An exponent o f the latter is Simon Kistemaker, who states: “The entire chapter, devoted to
the saints, is more o f a pinnacle than a break” (Revelation [NTC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2001],
244).
 99

agree that texts like Revelation 7:1-17 and 10:1-11:3 delay the narrative,217 the

significance o f such a technique has been less understood.

Peter S. Perry identifies four major approaches to the structure o f Revelation,

introducing a representative for each: R. H. Charles for the Source Critical approach,

Elisabeth Schtissler Fiorenza for the Literary-Rhetorical approach, Gregory K. Beale

for the Allusions to the Hebrew Bible /Jew ish Literature approach, and Stephen

Pattemore for the Discourse Theory approach.21* According to Perry, all four

representatives agree “that Rev 7:1-17 and 10:1-11:13 require special terminology to

describe their relationship with surrounding units.”219 Yet he finds that scholars at

217 Both Revelation 7:1-17 and 10:1-11:13 com e between the sixth and seventh elem ents in the
respective series o f the seals and trumpets.

218 Perry, D igressions, 33-39.

219 Ibid., 39. Since it is beyond our scope to provide a more detailed history o f interpretation as
it relates to the structure o f the book, for such treatments see Aune, Revelation 1-5, xc-xcix; Richard
Bauckham, The Clim ax o f Prophecy: Studies on the Book o f Revelation (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,
1993), 1-37; W. Hendricksen, M ore than Conquerors, 22-31; G. K. Beale, Revelation, 108-151; V em S.
Poythress, The Returning King, 57-66; and especially the first part o f Ugo Vanni’s La Struttura
L etteraria d e ll’A pocalisse (2d ed; Brescia: Morcelliana, 1980), 7-104, where he deals with the “Storia
del Problema” beginning with Victorinus o f Pettau (ca. A.D. 300) to 1970, and pages 259-286 where he
reviews major contributors between 1970 and 1980.
Though not crucial to our interpretation o f Revelation 7, w e believe the case for progressive
parallelism or recapitulation coupled with expansion or intensification has been convincingly made,
beginning with the work o f Victorinus o f Pettau in the third century until contemporary twenty-first
century scholarly treatments; w e thus agree with Rob Dalrymple’s assessm ent that “the story unfolds in
a highly com plex fashion through the use o f recapitulation and a gradual development o f the plot”
(“John’s Account o f the Two W itnesses” [PhD diss., Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadephia,
2009), 102; also, 88-90, and 105-107). Richard Bauckham provides a great exam ple in support o f this by
showing how the formula o f Rev 4:5 (which itself is built on the Sinai theophany o f Exodus 19:16) is
progressively expanded in 8:5, 11:19, and 16:18-21, indicating “that it is the same final judgment which
is reached in the seventh o f each o f the three series” (The Climax o f Prophecy, 8). For a detailed
discussion and contrast between a more linear approach vs. a progressive recapitulative position see
Beale, Revelation, 116-151 (see also William Hendriksen, M ore than Conquerors, who argues that the
book’s seven sections run in parallel to each other, each one covering “the entire dispensation from the
first to the second com ing o f Christ,” viewed from different vantage points [25]; Anthony A. Hoekema,
The Bible an d the Future [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1979], 223-226; and R. Fowler White,
“Reexamining the Evidence for Recapitulation in Rev 20:1-10,” W T J5\ [1989]: 319-344).
 100

large not only use different terms to describe such deviation passages (arguing in the

process against employing other terms220), but even when they do use the same terms

they at times mean different things by them. He surveys the nine more common labels

used to describe such deviation texts, noting as well main scholars who use these

terms: (1) interlude - the most common o f the terms, usually indicating both a break

in the narrative sequence as well as some continuity with its context; (2) intercalation,

having delay as its key effect; this delay is in reference to both the experience o f the

audience in hearing the story, and to the narrative action itself; (3) interruption, also

emphasizing the delay-effect; (4) parenthesis, pointing to these passages’

embeddedness in their contexts; (5) digression, focusing on the disruption in the story;

(6) contrasting units, emphasizing the sharp contrast between such passages and their

immediate contexts; (7) interlock, containing both retrospective and anticipatory

elements; (8) pause, proleptic vision - these terms are used together, the former

pointing to the delay in hearing the narrative, while the latter being a description o f

either a contemporaneous or a future salvation; and (9) expansion or enlargement,

However, the linear progression approach continues to have strong support, even though some
do not subscribe to its chronological dimension. Thus, James Resseguie is in favor o f a linear
progression, yet as “a literary progression with one event folding into another until the end is reached
and everything and everyone is in their proper place and the m essianic repairs o f the cosm os are
com plete” (The Revelation o f John, 59; cf. R esseguie’s earlier work, Revelation Unsealed: A N arrative
C ritical A pproach to John's Apocalypse [BIS 32; Leiden: Brill, 1998], 162-166.

220 For example, in David A une’s source-critical approach, texts like Revelation 7:1-17 (and
eleven other sections including 10:1-11, 11:1-13, 12:1-17, 14:1-20, etc.) were com posed as self-
contained textual units w ell before being included in the narrative framework o f the Book o f
Revelation; this leads him to argue that “these textual units should be regarded not as “intermissions” or
“interludes” or intercalations” in the larger narrative structure, but rather as the focal set pieces for the
sake o f which the author-editor created the larger narrative structure, the end-result being the book itself
(R evelation 1-5, cxxii-cxxiii). However, Perry points out Aune’s lack o f consistency, as in the latter’s
analysis o f Revelation he argues the author had inserted 7:1-17 as well as 10:1-11 and 11:1-13 for
different reasons (Perry, D igression, 42).
 101

seeing these passages as subsequent scenes o f the sixth element in the series in which

they are embedded.221 Since scholars are divided, with some using terms to emphasize

continuity and others focusing on discontinuity between such deviation passages and

the respective series o f the seals or trumpets, Perry concludes that the overall message

communicated by these various treatments appears paradoxical: “Rev 7:1-17 and 10:1-

11:13 simultaneously seem unessential to the seal and trumpet series, and yet are

essential to the message and the impact o f the whole book.”222

In his survey o f scholarly treatments o f these passages Perry claims he has not

found any attempt to correlate modem terminology with first century literary practice,

which leads him to ask: “Would John’s audiences also have experienced these as

deviations? By what criteria might they detect them as deviation? What term(s) would

they have available to describe them?”223 Thus we may ask: is there a term we might

employ in labeling such passages, a term that (1) is at home in the oral and literary

contexts o f the late first century audience o f Revelation in Asia Minor; and (2) is able

to account for both the contrast and discontinuity o f such a passage in the sequential

221 Perry, D igressions, 39-50.

222 Ibid., 25. See also Resseguie, who, although using the term “embedded narratives” to
describe such passages, believes John uses these “to slow down the narrative pace and to focus the
reader’s/hearer’s attention on what is important” (The Revelation o f John, 53). Likewise, Pierre Prigent
notes that just because this material is parenthetical, it does not mean that it is either foreign or
secondary to the author's plan (L'Apocalypse de Saint Jean [CNT 14. Lausanne, Paris: Delachaux &
Niestte, 1981], 117). And Charles Briltsch argues that Revelation 7 should take precedence over the
seals o f ju d gm en t: “Kapitel darf aber nicht als bloBer «LUckenbliBer» oder als «Zwischenst(ick»
stiefmlltterlich behandelt werden. Es hat im Gegenteil den Vorrang vor alien Plagen, deren A blauf es
unterbricht” (D ie Offenbarung Jesu Christi: Johannes-Apokalypse [ZUrcher Bibelkommentare. Zllrich:
Zwingli-Verlag, 1970], 1:316; note also his further discussion and sources on p. 317).

223 Ibid., 50. A lso, as noted above, in terms o f narrative criticism John’s audience serves as the
im plied reader or hearer, able to interpret the text as intended by the im plied author, John.
 102

experience o f hearing the book being read, and its continuity and connectedness by

theme and content in the cumulative experience o f the book as a whole, so coherence

is achieved?224

In response, Peter S. Perry has argued that such deviation passages are

instances o f 7iap£K(3am<; or Latin digressio (digression), a literary technique o f

widespread use and familiarity in the Greco-Roman speeches and literature, and thus

“a part o f the mutual cognitive environment o f the Seer and audiences in Asia Minor

in the first century CE.”226 Given the evidence marshaled by Perry we would agree

224 A s Perry argues, terms like ‘understanding’ or ‘hearing’ are insufficient in describing the
audience’s relationship to Revelation; ‘experience’ captures it best. W hile listening, they are not only
thinking but are also being m oved by emotions evoked by the visions. To ‘experience’ Rev 7:1-17 and
10:1-11:13 “refers to how an audience hears, sees and responds intellectually and em otionally to those
passages while som eone reads the whole book o f Revelation aloud” (D igressions, 4).

225 Support for napeKpaau; as the appropriate category com es both from Perry’s analysis o f
deviations in communication patterns especially in the theoretical discussions on digressions by three
rhetoricians close or contemporary to the writing o f Revelation - Hermagoras o f Temnos (2nd- 1st
centuries BC), Cicero (106-43 BC) and Quintilian (35-100 AD), and from the work on digressions done
by classical scholars (such as Joseph Martin and William Race) as w ell as by literary critics (especially
Randa Sabry, w hose analysis on digressions Perry largely follow s). The ancient rhetoricians “define this
technique and discuss its appropriate function, length, location, relevance, transitions, and topics in a
speech” (Perry, D igressions, 26)
Notable here is classical scholar William Race’s opening statement regarding digressions,
quoted by Perry: “Everyone appreciates the fact that digressions (parekbaseis) are an important aspect
o f Greek literature, and are frequently the most striking and memorable part o f a work” (“Some
Digressions and Returns in Greek Authors,” TCJ 76, no. 1 (Oct-Nov 1980): 1, follow ed up by Perry’s
telling comment: “The paucity o f Biblical scholarship in this area shows not everyone appreciates the
fact!” (D igressions, 108).

226 Perry, D igressions, 15. He includes a sizeable appendix to his book (pp. 251-261) listing
exam ples o f digressions in ancient Hebrew, Greek and Roman literature, including exam ples from both
the Old and N ew Testaments (Gen 2:8-15; 36; 38; Ex 12:1-28; Zech 2:6-13; 3:8-10; 4:6b-10a; 6:9-15;
Rom 1:2-6; 1 Cor 2:6:16; 6:1-11; 9:1-27; 10:1-13; 13:1-13; 2 Cor 5:14-6:2; 6:13-7:1; Gal 2:11-14; Eph
3:2-13; Heb 5:11:6:12), as w ell as Jubilees, 2 Maccabees, Josephus, and other Greek-speaking Jews.
According to Perry, “From Hermagoras to Quintilian, many orators and teachers assumed that
digressions were a necessary part o f every speech” (136). He also states that “first century audiences in
A sia Minor would have been familiar with digressions in speeches, histories, poem s, and prose” (31).
His analysis o f digression follow s in the footsteps o f Bruce Longenecker’s work on the chain-
link transitions as attested in Quintilian and Lucian o f Samosata. Such chain-link constructions appear
at major divisions in a text, follow ing the pattern A-b-a-B; the overlap looks strange to the modem eye,
yet it makes sense in the ancient world where texts were communicated orally. Beside other examples
 103

that 7tapeK(3aoi(; is at home in the oral and literary contexts o f the late first century

Greco-Roman world; but how does it account for the discontinuity as well as the

continuity o f such passages with their immediate and larger contexts? In response, we

shall focus on Perry’s definition o f digression and its application to Rev 7:1-17.

Perry argues that the audience o f Revelation would have experienced this

chapter as an unarticulated, systematic digression. It is unarticulated because the

author digresses without comment, without announcing or acknowledging the section

as a deviation but rather presenting it as part o f the story, however disruptive to the

narrative line it might initially appear; and it is systematic in that it is not isolated but

rather works together with other digressions (especially 10:1-11:13) to develop a

thesis systematically.227

But what is a digression? In short, jtapeicPaaic; refers to “an unessential section

that is essential to the rhetorical impact o f the whole,”228 or “a section o f a speech that

is unconnected to the surrounding argument but is used to affect the outcome o f the

speech.”229 From his study o f the ancient rhetoricians’ discussions o f this technique,

Perry concludes that digressions and their context exhibit three characteristics: (1) an

in the Old and N ew Testaments (Isa 48:16b-22; 53:2b-6; John 12:20-50; Rom 7:25; 10:16-17; 12:15-16;
13:13-14; and 1 Cor 8:7-8), Longenecker identifies four chain-links in Revelation, all at major divisions
in the book: 3:21-22; 8:2-5; 15:1-4; 22:6-9 (cf. Perry, 9-11; also, Bruce Longenecker, Rhetoric at the
Boundaries: The Art an d Theology o f the New Testament Chain-Link Transitions [W aco, Tex.: Baylor
University Press, 2005], esp. pages 43-57 and 103-120. What Longenecker labels ‘chain-link’, other
interpreters call ‘interlocking’ (Adela Yarbro Collins, The Com bat Myth in the Book o f Revelation
[HDR 9; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1976], 16-20).

227 Perry, D igressions, 11, 26-27. According to Perry, all N T exam ples o f digressions are
unarticulated; such digressions are also found in all o f Josephus’s works.

228 Ibid., 210.

229 Ibid., 136.

 104

A-B-A’ pattern, where B is the digression; (2) an A-A’ logic, pointing to the fact that

the B material is interrupting the flow o f logic from A to A ’, a logic flow which would

not be affected if B were absent; and (3) processing effort, meaning that the

unexpected presence o f B requires extra effort by the audience to make sense o f the

digression material in light o f the whole speech. These characteristics point

decisively to the element o f contrast and discontinuity introduced by a digression in

the sequential experience o f hearing the book being read, showing it is unessential to

the flow o f the narrative logic. But, if unessential to the immediate context, how could

a digression be essential to the overall message and impact o f the whole speech or

literary work? In its discontinuity aspect we could easily see Revelation 7 as a

digression, for removing the chapter would not interfere with the logic flow o f the seal

septet; but then why is it part o f the book, and how does it account for the element of

continuity in the cumulative experience o f the book as a whole, so coherence is

achieved? How is this digression essential to the message o f Revelation?

We may begin to address this by first answering the question o f purpose: why

digressions? Based on the ancient rhetoricians’ treatments o f the subject, Perry

concludes that the primary reason for digressions is to affect the emotions o f the

230 Ibid., 137. This last concept o f ‘processing effort’ is borrowed from Relevance Theory,
w hose ch ief insight is that “an audience w ill choose the most meaningful connections to their
environment that requires the least amount o f effort” (Ibid., 13). ‘Processing effort’ then refers to the
mental energy needed by the audience to make meaningful connections between what they hear and
their previous experience, knowledge and assumptions. Another relevant term stemming from this
theory is ‘cognitive environment’, which is the set o f facts (including assumptions) that a person can
mentally represent as true or probably true at a given time” (Ibid., 20); thus, ‘mutual cognitive
environment’ (already introduced above) refers to a set o f facts shared by both speaker and audience;
see also Stephen Pattemore, Souls Under the Altar: Relevance Theory an d the D iscourse Structure o f
R evelation (U B SM 9; N ew York: United Bible Societies, 2003).
 105

audience, yet the ultimate goal is to get across the author’s message: “digressions

attempt to evoke emotions like fear (cpofkx;), confidence (Gapooq), and emulation
•>•2 i
(£r|A,6<;) in order that the audience may be receptive to the orator’s goals.” Thus, as a

“means o f persuasion designed to stimulate emotion,” digressions are part o f the

7i&0o<; o f a speech or literary work. The question o f purpose for Revelation 7 is

interconnected with the purpose o f the whole book: what is John’s message, what is he

trying to persuade his audience of, and what emotions does Revelation 7 intend to

evoke that would contribute to John’s overall message?

Beside the diverse interpretations given to Revelation’s imagery, the book’s

setting, occasion, authorship and date o f writing have been extensively discussed by

scholars throughout the book’s history o f interpretation. Regardless o f particular

231 Perry, D igressions, 146.

232 Ibid., 114.

233 One o f the more contested issues in recent scholarship pertains to persecution: was the
church at the time o f the writing o f Revelation persecuted by the Romans, and to what extent?
Revelation itself speaks o f current persecution and even martyrdom, preparing the faithful for even
more severe times ahead. Part o f our dilemma stems from the debate over the date o f the book’s
writing, and how this intersects with the Roman’s governm ent’s attitude toward the church.
Traditionally, the majority o f commentators have placed Revelation during Domitian’s time, and until
a few decades ago the dominant view was that o f large-scale persecution o f Christians by Domitian.
However, som e have called that into question (see especially Leonard L. Thompson, The Book o f
Revelation: A pocalypse an d Em pire [New York: Oxford University Press, 1990], 133-167; see also his
“Ordinary Lives: John and His First Readers,” in R eading the Book o f Revelation: A Resource f o r
Students [SBLRBS 44; Atlanta: Society o f Biblical Literature, 2003], 25-47), with few others arguing
that Revelation portrays more internal conflict rather than persecution (see Paul B. Duff, Who Rides the
Beast? Prophetic Rivalry an d the Rhetoric o f C risis in the Churches o f the A pocalypse [Oxford:
Oxford, 2001], 3-14). However, the internal evidence o f Revelation points to persecution, so the latter
position lacks credibility.
Concerning the Roman’s government’s attitude toward the church, “The truth likely lies
som ewhere in between the recent historical revisions concerning Domitian (Thomson and others) and
more traditional assessm ents o f Domitian” (Beale, Revelation, 6). Based on the evidence (such as
Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Dio Cassius, I Clement, and the rise o f the imperial cult especially in Asia),
Beale suggests “the plausibility o f selective yet significant persecution under Domitian” (Revelation
13). For more details, see Beale, Revelation, 5-16; A. Y. Collins, Crisis an d C atharsis (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1984), 69-73; Steve J. Friesen, “ Satan's Throne, Imperial Cults and the Social
 106

positions on the more debatable aspects, students o f Revelation have generally

acknowledged the presence o f major themes such as God’s majesty and His judgments

on evil, spiritual warfare and satanic counterfeiting, compromise and idolatry, worship

and witness, persecution and martyrdom, and the ultimate intervention o f God through

Jesus Christ to eradicate evil and bring about the consummation o f the new creation.234

Among these, judgment and martyrdom are prominent in the opening o f the first six

seals, which provides the context for the digression o f the sealing o f the 144,000 and

the great multitude before the throne.

The location o f digressions is also an important factor in evoking the

maximum emotion from the audience, as a digression is “often used immediately

before a conclusion in order to influence the audience’s perception o f the whole

‘j-** » •
speech.” This holds true for both Revelation 7 and 10:1 -11:13, as both digressions

are inserted right before the last item o f their respective septets, a position which

heightens the emotional potency o f these passages.

Regarding Revelation 7, the tension mounts as the six seals are opened. Upon

the earth and its inhabitants are unleashed the judgments o f God Almighty at the hands

o f angels o f destruction, with strife, war, famine and death in their wake. Anxiety and

fear builds, as the audience begins to grapple with the earthly repercussions o f these

judgments. The fifth seal returns the audience to the heavenly throne room, yet this

Settings o f Revelation, J S N T 21, no. 3 (March 2005): 351-373; Grant R. Osbom e, Revelation (BECNT;
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2002), 6-12; and Simon R. F. Price, Rituals an d Power: The Roman
Im perial Cult in A sia M inor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 78-124.

234 Cf. Poythress, The Returning King, 16-25, 39-47.

235 Perry, D igressions, 26.

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time not to stand in awe of the majesty o f God nor to witness the universal worship

afforded in the previous throne-room scene, but rather to behold souls o f their own

numbers as martyrs crying out for the Lord’s vengeance upon the earth’s inhabitants;

yet these are told to wait, as persecution will continue and there will be others killed as

they have been. If the fifth seal has the faithful in anxiety and fear over the real

possibility o f losing their lives for their witness o f Christ, the sixth seal does not

alleviate their angst but rather intensifies it, as it brings upon the scene the elements o f

cosmic destruction, with the result that people everywhere are terrified at the display

o f God’s awesome power and imminent wrath. The clear expectation is that the

seventh seal is about to bring it all to an end, with the curtain o f judgment beginning

its rapid fall on humanity’s tragedy.

But John digresses here! The visions introduced at this breaking point are

indeed intended to work on the emotions and attitude o f the audience both by

suppressing fear and by building confidence in the face o f persecution and the

unleashing o f God’s wrath in judgment. This fits in neatly with the overall purpose o f

the book as it builds toward and climaxes in the display o f God’s wrath and judgment

236 Interpreters often see Revelation 7 as a response to the question posed in 6:17, and rightly
so. According to Heinrich Kraft, “Die Schrecken des sechsten Siegels schlossen mit der Frage 'Wer
kann bestehen?'. Darum wird nun die Antwort darauf gegeben” ( Die Offenbarung des Johannes [HNT
16a; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1974], 123); cf. Mounce, The Book o f Revelation, 164; and Beale,
Revelation, 405). However, Martin Karrer points yet to another connection in the immediate context by
suggesting that chapter 7 also answers the martyrs' o f 6:10, even though 6:11 gives that question's initial
answer ( D ie Johannesoffenbarung als Brief: Studien zu ihren literarischen, historischen und
theologischen O rt [Gftttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008], 239.
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unleashed in the destruction o f Babylon, the city o f the ungodly, and her replacement

with the city o f His true saints, the New Jerusalem.

The picture o f the seven churches portrayed in the opening chapters leads us to

conclude that, although they display commendable aspects, many believers are either

seduced or pressured into different compromises, with various results. There are

references to patient endurance, tribulation, suffering, prison threats, slander,

martyrdom, and a coming hour o f trial, yet also o f sexual immorality, false teaching

and teachers, idolatry, materialism, double-mindedness and self-deception. Due to the

widespread enticement coupled with sporadic pressure and persecution, believers

might be tempted to give in or slip further away from their calling. In a context where

Christians are being seduced by prosperity and status, with some already “benefitting

from participation in the imperial society and economy, one can imagine how they

could dismiss Antipas’ death as exceptional and believe the Empire did not intend

harm.” Yet that is deceptive, as the potential for violence is not only there but has

already began to show its true nature in Antipas’ martyrdom. Their participation in

meals where the food has been sacrificed to idols is not perceived by some as

237 Cf. Bauckham, The Climax o f Prophecy, 5. Concordant with our argument, Beale sees the
book o f Revelation “as a polem ic against Rome and especially against compromise with ungodly
Roman culture” (Revelation, 4); Loren L. Johns also argues that, “The two pressures in the province o f
A sia that most adequately explain the presence o f such a political critique in the Apocalypse are (a)
local pressure to participate in the imperial cult; and (b) the temptation to engage in the sort o f
commerce and trade that inevitably served the imperial cult” (The Lamb C h ristology o f the A pocalypse
o f John [W UNT 2.167; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003], 153).
Beside this foreground Roman challenge to the heart o f the Christian faith and worship, Karrer
also sees in the background a Jewish challenge to the identity o f God’s true people, in what he calls
“Die implizite Auseinandersetzung [debate] mit dem Judentum” (D ie Johannesoffenbarung als B rief
266-269).

238 Perry, D igressions, 24.

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idolatrous, and many “seem unaware o f any conflict between their Christian identity

and participation in imperial society. That Christians may be killed for their witness is

a difficult thesis in this cognitive environment.”239 Also, through most o f the letters to

the churches, faults and compromises bring about various threats from the Lord in His

attempt to restore them, threats o f His visitation which would be recalled as the six

seals are being opened.240 By visions o f judgment and martyrdom John attempts to jolt

them into reality, for both judgment and persecution are real and at hand even if one

may be expected and the other one not. He “brushes aside the web o f deception in

order that his audiences can let go o f their attachment to imperial society, recognize

Rome’s violent intentions, and witness to Jesus even if it means facing death.” And, at

the most emotionally potent moment due to the built-in expectation achieved by the

previous six elements in the series, when they are most fearful and trembling before

the visitation o f the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb, the audience is only glad for a

digression to “mitigate fear o f God with confidence in God’s protection ..., [to help

them] overcome fear o f persecution and evoke confidence in G od’s promised

vindication.”241 John wants them to know that, as witnesses for Christ, they should be

prepared to face persecution or even martyrdom; however, he also comforts and

assures them o f God’s ultimate protection through adversity or death, as their final

2,9 Ibid., 25.

240 A call to repentance is also ringing through John's writing, for as Glonner points out,
“Johannes schreibt seine Offenbarung an die Gemeinden der Asia in dem BewuBtsein, daB das Gericht
zu diesem Zeitpunkt noch aussteht. Seine Rede soli die Leser zur pcrdvoia bewegen, ehe das Gericht
wirklich hereinbricht” (Zur Bildersprache des Johannes von Patmos, 231).

241 Perry, D igressions, 243 and 25.

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vindication and reward is in God’s presence.242 How does John accomplish this? To

this consideration we shall now turn.

A Contextual Interpretation o f the Two Visions o f Revelation 7243

John introduces two visions as part o f this digression: the sealing o f the

144,000, and the great multitude before the heavenly throne. Questions emerge, such

as the identity o f the four angels, the timeframe and kind o f judgment they bring

about, the nature o f the seal and the identity o f the sealed. Also, do both o f these

visions refer to the same group o f people, or there are two separate entities in view? Is

the referent o f these 144,000 the same as the referent o f those identified by the same

242 As succinctly stated by Heinz Giesen, their earthly life is at risk, but not their salvation
(Studien zur Johannesapokalypse [SBA 29; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2000], 89).

243 By introducing this subtitle as such, w e do not mean to imply that there are multiple valid
interpretations o f Revelation 7. David L. Barr (The R eality o f Apocalypse: Rhetoric an d P olitics in the
Book o f Revelation [SBLSS 39; Atlanta: SBL, 2006], 163-172) takes a position between E. D. Hirsh’s
one right or objective interpretation controlled by the authorial intent as codified in the text, and Stanley
E. Fish’s view that “there are as many readings o f a text as there are readers ... [for] the reader
com pletely controls the meaning o f a text, and the validity o f a reading corresponds to its usefulness in
a particular social, political, and historical context” (163; cf. E. D. Hirsch, Validity in Interpretation
[N ew Haven: Yale University Press, 1967]; and Stanley E. Fish, Is There a Text in This Class?
[Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1980]). For Barr, meaning arises “in the continual interaction
between the text and the reader; thus, while there are many valid readings o f a text, “there are also
misreading, weak readings and false readings” (The Reality O f A pocalypse, 164).
What is not taken into account in Barr’s discussion is the divine author o f the biblical text.
When one does, that both enlarges and restricts the boundary for a biblical text’s meaning as it places it
beyond the absolute control o f the text as understood by the human author, and yet within the bounds o f
divine revelation as a whole. Thus, the meaning o f Revelation 7, for example, arises not only from the
text as it relates to the rest o f the book, but also from its relation to the whole o f G od’s revelation (cf.
V em S. Poythress, “Divine Meaning o f Scripture,” WTS 48 [1986]: 241-279). On the spectrum
between Hirsch and Stanley, w e are thus much closer to Hirsch’s position, as the meaning o f Scripture
and its applications which are “genuinely in accord with G od’s word are part o f G od’s intention”
(Poythress, “D ivine M eaning,” 277); it is to that end that w e strive. For a related discussion, cf. Beale,
“Questions o f Authorial Intent, Epistemology and Presuppositions and their Bearing on the Study o f the
Old Testament in the New: A Rejoinder to Steve M oyise,” IBS 21, no. 4 (1999): 151-180 (see
especially p. 165, where Beale also notes that if the interpreter acknowledges the divine Author o f the
w hole Scripture, then a later expansion o f a previous text “is part o f one com plex authorial act o f
communication”).
 Ill

number in chapter 14? These and other issues will be tackled as we address the

interpretation o f this chapter. But before launching into the interpretive issues o f these

visions we need to lay down some guiding parameters for our interpretation.

Interpretation Parameters

A first parameter has already been introduced: understanding the use o f

complex symbolism in Revelation in its historical and literary milieu provides

probably the greatest impact for the interpretation o f this book, and to this end we

shall employ the multiple levels o f communication in symbolic discourse proposed by

Vem Poythress and followed by other students o f Revelation: the linguistic, visionary,

referential, and symbolic levels.244 After demonstrating the existence o f multiple

layers in Rev 13:1-8, Poythress rightly asks, “If multiple levels exist at one point in

Revelation ..., might they also exist at other points?”245 We submit that they do, and

will apply them in the interpretation o f the two visions o f Revelation 7.

A second parameter is related to the nature o f oral communication, as

Revelation would have been read aloud in the seven congregations. Since our primary

focus is the seventh o f the twenty-two chapters - thus picking up in the middle o f the

244 See Chapter 1, pages 13-16; cf. Poythress, “Genre and Hermeneutics,” 41-43, and The
Returning King, 47. Scholars speak o f an apocalyptic worldview with its literary conventions as
common to segments o f Judaism and to early Christianity at the time o f the writing o f Revelation (cf.
David E. Aune, Timothy J. Geddert and Craig A. Evans, “Apocalypticism ,” DNTB, 46). Implied in our
discussion is that both the author and the audience o f Revelation shared in this apocalyptic worldview
and conventions, for “if an author w ishes to connect with an implied audience, that author needs to
adopt a genre that w ill communicate to readers within that audience’s culture. Not to do so would risk
great misunderstanding” (Paulien, “The End o f Historicism?” [2003]: 22, 33).

245 Poythress, “Genre and Hermeneutics,” 43.

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story, with previous and subsequent context, we need to acknowledge two intertwined

literary dynamics at work in interpreting Revelation 7: earlier material is primary and

anticipatory, while later material is secondary and expansive. As the book was being

read aloud for the first time, the audience could only begin to make some sense o f

chapter 7 in light o f chapters 1-6, as the only known material to that point. Yet they

would not have been expected to fully understand chapter 7 before experiencing the

reading o f the whole,246 and perhaps growing in understanding by sitting through

multiple readings o f the book.247 Thus, some priority in interpreting Revelation 7 is to

be given to its previous context, acknowledging at the same time its anticipatory

nature and the subsequent development o f its themes.248

246 At a minimum, they knew there should be more to the book beyond these tw o visions o f
Revelation 7 simply because they had just heard o f seven seals, and yet the seventh was yet to be
broken. Once that seal is opened and silence ensues, the audience doesn’t have much time to process its
input, for they are quickly introduced to seven trumpets in the very next line, which conveys clearly that
they should brace for still more to come.

247 A couple o f related yet important assumptions need to be acknowledged, w ell expressed by
S. Pattemore in his application o f Relevance Theory to the book o f Revelation: first, w e assume that
“behind the text are an author and an audience who share a mutual cognitive environment, and the text
was intended as optimally relevant communication within that environment;” and second, “the com plete
text o f Revelation itself is perhaps the m ost important context within which any part o f the text is to be
understood” (The P eople o f G od in the A pocalypse: Discourse, Structure, an d Exegesis [SNTSM S 128;
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004], 52). This is not to deny the importance o f a larger
context as part o f that mutually cognitive environment, especially the prior inscripturated revelation in
both the N ew and the Old Testaments (cf. Poythress, “Divine Meaning in Scripture” as per note 243
above, as well as our A M ethodological Proposal in Chapter 5).

248 Bauchkam states that “Revelation was evidently designed to convey its m essage to some
significant degree on first hearing (cf. 1:3), but also progressively to yield fuller meaning to closer
acquaintance,” and this meaning was “to be progressively tapped by attentive rereading” (The Climax o f
P rophecy, 1-2); Perry speaks o f the experience o f reading/hearing Revelation as sequential and
cumulative, “analyzing how the audience may interpret each new utterance in light o f previous
statements” (Perry, D igressions, 39; see especially n. 37); Pattemore asserts that the “priority o f
preceding context is even more prominent for text which is heard rather than read. It implies that for the
hearers, the most accessible context o f a sub-text is the immediate preceding text/su b-text,. . . [yet]
later passages can provide a wider circle o f context” (The P eople o f G o d in the A pocalypse, 53-54); cf.
also Robert Dalrymple, “John’s Account o f the Two W itnesses,” 98-100, for a related discussion and
references.
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A third parameter is o f a theological nature: Revelation is to be interpreted in

the context o f an inaugurated eschatology, in the tension o f the already and not yet, the

period between Christ’s resurrection and His second coming, shared both by John’s

audience and by us.249 According to Richard B. Gaffin, Christ’s first coming and

especially His resurrection triggered the eschaton or the last days, “the commencement

o f the age to come.” As the firstfruits o f the ones who have fallen asleep (1 Cor

15:20), Christ is “the 'firstborn' o f the eschatological resurrection o f the righteous (Col.

1:18), and the Kingdom o f God in person ..., the eschatological Man.”251 With Christ

249 For a summary o f how inaugurated eschatology has becom e an evangelical consensus, see
Russell D. Moore, The Kingdom o f Christ: The N ew Evangelical P erspective (Wheaton, 111.: Crossway,
2004), 25-65. Key figures in this process include the groundbreaking work o f Geerhardus Vos, follow ed
by Herman Ridderbos and George Eldon Ladd. More recently, fruitful interchanges between the
Reformed and Dispensationalist camps have taken place, with contributions on both sides;
representatives include V em S. Poythress, Richard B. Gaffin Jr., and Anthony Hoekema, on the
Reformed side, and Robert Saucy, Darrell Bock, and Craig Blaising, on the Progressive
Dispensationalist side.
A s Moore notes, correctives from both sides have led to a basic agreement that the goal o f the
NT is the Kingdom understood as G od’s eschatological rule inaugurated by the Christ event and
consummated in a new creation. According to Poythress, this new creation, understood in continuity
with the present creation as a renewed heaven and earth, “is very much like the millennial earth as
envisioned by most premillennialists;” and if there is agreement on that, then he sees it as “a
comparatively minor dispute as to whether this renovation o f earth, follow ing the Second Coming,
com es in one stage or two, that is, in a 1000 year millennium follow ed by a fuller renewal or by total
renewal all at once” (“Response to Paul S. Karleen's Paper ‘"Understanding Covenant Theologians’,”
G TJ 10, no. 2 [1989]: 148).

250 Richard B. Gaffin, Resurrection an d Redem ption: A Study in P a u l’s S oteriology (2d ed.
Nutley, NJ: P & R Publishing, 1987), 90. Elsewhere Gaffin points out that for the NT writers
“eschatology is defined in terms o f his [Christ’s] first as w ell as his second com ing. Specifically Christ's
resurrection is an innately eschatological event— in fact, the key inaugurating event o f eschatology. His
resurrection is not an isolated event in the past but, in having occurred in the past, belongs to the future
consummation and from that future has entered history” (“Life-G iving Spirit”: Probing the Center o f
Paul’s Pneumatology,” JETS 41, no. 4 (1998): 575). A lso, according to E. SchOssler Fiorenza, “the
resurrection and enthronization o f Christ marks the beginning o f the eschatological end time. All
Christian time and history is 'end tim e '. . . [or] the short time before the end” (R evelation, 3).

251 Moore, The Kingdom o f Christ, 56-58. Emphasizing a similar idea (yet based on Romans
1:3-4), Sinclair Ferguson refers to Jesus as “the Man o f the new age” (The H oly S pirit [Downers Grove,
III.: InterVarsity Press, 1996], 105). According to Moore, George Eldon Ladd, an evangelical most
often connected to the perspective o f the already an d not-yet because o f his extensive exegetical work
on it, placed his synthesis o f the present and future realities o f the kingdom o f God in the trajectory o f
 114

being the firstfruits o f the eschatological resurrection harvest, the resurrection o f

Christ and that o f the believers at the end o f the age, “though separated in time, are not

so much separate events as two episodes o f the same event, the beginning and end o f

the one and same harvest.”252 Beside this future bodily resurrection o f believers, those

who have been united with Christ by faith have also been already raised with Him to a

new life, and this past resurrection is to be understood not metaphorically but rather as

“an experience in the actual life-history o f each believer”253 (Eph 2:1-6; Col 2:12, 3:1).

Thus, because o f his union with Christ, the believer’s resurrection

encompasses both a past and a future aspect. Just as Christ’s resurrection inaugurated

His messianic reign in heaven as the Davidic king and His return will consummate it,

so believers are already the beneficiaries o f the resurrection life by virtue o f their

union with Christ but not yet possessing a resurrected or spiritual body like His, for

our glorification remains to be accomplished at His appearing. And because we share

in Christ’s resurrection life already, “the exalted Christ is that image into which

Christians are even now already being transformed (2 Cor. 3:18) and which they will

Werner Georg KUmmel (though modified, cf. below ), and also “linked his concept o f inaugurated
eschatology to the insights o f Oscar Cullmann and Geerhardus V os” (Ibid., 32; cf. Ladd’s A Theology o f
the Testament [rev. ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1993], 44-45, 66-67).
Ladd also argues that though KUmmel “accepts the basic understanding o f the kingdom o f God
as the new eschatological order, the age to com e, the e s c h a t o n he also admits that “the kingdom o f
God was in som e real sense present in Jesus' person;” in this, Ladd states, “KUmmel takes a decisive
step beyond most writers who hold this view by recognizing that the eschaton was already present in
Jesus’ person,” though KUmmel sees Jesus only as a sign o f that imminent eschatological kingdom.
Ladd rightly argues that it was not only a sign o f that eschatological kingdom that was present in Jesus,
but the kingdom itself (Ladd, “Kingdom o f God - Reign or Realm?” JBL 81, no. 3 (Spring 1962): 230,
237. For further discussion and references, see Moore, The Kingdom o f Christ, 202, notes 40-44.

252 Richard B. Gaffin, “Redemption and Resurrection: An Exercise in Biblical-Systematic

Theology,” Themelios 27, no. 2 (Spring 2002): 19.

253 Ibid., 20.

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one day bear bodily in their future resurrection at his return (1 Cor. 15:49).”254 This is

the eschatological reality o f the already and not-yet in which the audience o f

Revelation lived and experienced this book, an eschatological reality we also share.

Thus, our outlook on the book, and especially on chapter 7, is informed by the

inauguration o f prophetic fulfillment for the people o f God living in the interadvental

period, which points to the relevancy o f the book’s visionary material primarily for a

late first century audience as well as for the book’s twenty-first century readers, and

for anyone in-between.255

Having laid down our interpretive guidelines, we shall first attempt a first

reading o f the two visions in Revelation 7, dealing with the text only in light o f its

previous context, followed by a thesis statement and its application to a fuller

254 Ibid., 26-27, and 24.

255 A very helpful anchor for this inaugurated eschatology for the book o f Revelation is
provided by G. Beale (Revelation, 181-182), who sees Rev 1:1 as a title for the whole book, which
should be interpreted in the framework provided by the eschatological context o f Daniel 2 (and 7).
Addressing the issue o f nearness or imminence, Beale argues that John’s focus is on “the definite,
imminent time o f fulfillment, which likely has already begun in the present” (181); John does not have
a prophetic perspective whereby the events to be fulfilled in the far future are perceived as near, nor are
the events to be fulfilled speedily (against J. Walvoord, The Revelation o f Jesus Christ) or perhaps at
any time (against Alan F. Johnson, “Revelation,” in The E xpositor’s Bible Com m entary [ed. Frank E.
Gaebelein; 12 vols.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1976], 12:397-603). Thus, “John’s substitution
o f t v m j z \ implies his expectation that the final tribulation, defeat o f evil, and establishment o f the
kingdom, which Daniel expected to occur distantly “in the latter days” [&t’ &j x 6tc o v t & v fipep&v Dan
2 :2 8 ,4 5 ] would begin in his own generation, and indeed, that it had already begun to happen” (182).
A long the same lines, see also B eale’s discussion on the significance o f Rev 1:19 {Revelation,
152-170, and 137-141), where he speaks o f “John’s “inaugurated” latter-day view o f Daniel 2” (137),
and submits that “the fulfillment o f Daniel 2 is not merely imminent, but is taking place in John’s very
presence” (154); arguing for a similar ‘already-and-not-yet’ approach to Rev 1:19 in light o f Daniel 2,
he states elsewhere: “each o f the three object clauses in v. 19 refers equally to the entire book” (John's
Use o f the O ld Testament in Revelation [JSNTSS 166; Sheffield: Sheffield Academ ic Press, 1998],
188); and, in concluding his discussion on the eschatology o f the NT, the early Church Fathers and the
Apocalypse, Beale emphasizes that Revelation is not to be seen primarily as a book o f prophecies about
future events but rather as a book o f inaugurated eschatology and beginning fulfillment, “a book about
how the latter days have begun, are continuing their course, and how they will be consummated” (Ibid.,
164).
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interpretation o f these two visions. Since our primary focus is on the concept o f

sealing and its beneficiaries, that focus will determine and generally limit our

treatment especially o f the second vision.

A First Reading o f Revelation 7:1-8

There is no need for comment at the linguistic level, as the textual record

appears to have come to us without considerable problems:

1After this I saw four angels standing upon the four comers o f the
earth, holding back the four winds o f the earth so that no wind may blow on
the earth, nor on the sea, nor on/against any tree.
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the rising o f the sun, having
a/the seal o f the living God; and he cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
to whom [authority] was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, “Do not
harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we seal the slaves25 o f our God
upon their foreheads.”
4 And I heard the number o f those who were sealed, 144,000, sealed
from each tribe o f the sons o f Israel: 5 from the tribe o f Judah, 12,000 [were]
sealed; from the tribe o f Reuben, 12,000; from the tribe o f Gad, 12,000; 6 from
the tribe o f Asher, 12,000; from the tribe o f Naphtali, 12,000; from the tribe of
Manasseh, 12,000; 7 from the tribe o f Simeon, 12,000; from the tribe o f Levi,
12,000; from the tribe o f Issachar, 12,000; 8 from the tribe o f Zebulon, 12,000;
from the tribe o f Joseph, 12,000; from the tribe o f Benjamin, 12,000 [were]
sealed.

The vision opens with the phrase Mexa xouxo (after this [thing]), which

various interpreters see as an introductory marker, comparable with Mexa xauxa (after

256 Despite the common use o f the word ‘servant’ as a rendering o f 6oOXo<; in current English
translations, the word ‘slave’ is preferred here due to the strong concept o f ownership implied by the act
o f sealing, especially when paralleled to the marking o f slaves in the ancient world (cf. Aune,
Revelation 6-16, 455; F. J. Dftlger, Sphragis: Eine altchristliche Taufbezeichnung in ihrer Beziehungen
zur profanen und religidsen Kultur des Altertums [Paderbom: SchOning, 1911], 58; and Grant R.
Osborne, Revelation [BECNT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2002], 309-310; also, John MacArthur,
Slave: The Hidden Truth about Your Identity in Christ [Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas N elson, 2010], esp.
13-28); and Murray J. Harris, Slave o f Christ: A New Testament M etaphor f o r Total D evotion to Christ
(N SB T 8; Downers Grove, 111.: 1999).
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these [things]) o f 7:9, and pointing to what comes next in John’s visionary experience.

At this visionary level we could describe what John actually sees: at first it is four

angels at the four comers o f the earth, whose job is to hold back the four destructive

winds. Another angel ascends from the east, holding the seal o f the living God in his

hand and crying out to the first four angels not to proceed in their destructive activity

until God’s servants are sealed on their forehead. Next, John does not actually see the

sealing taking place, but hears and records the number o f the sealed ones: first is the

number as a whole, 144,000, followed by what is comparable to a census list o f twelve

thousand from each tribe o f Israel, though the tribal list is an irregular one.

At the referential level we may attempt to identify the elements o f the vision,

such as the angels involved and their mission, the time-and-space coordinates o f the

four winds’ destructive activity, as well as the timing, nature, purpose, subjects and

beneficiaries o f the sealing. Yet this referential level is most controversial, as proven

by the various and contradictory solutions concerning the identity o f the 144,000

offered by the schools o f interpretation presented above in chapter 1, as well as by

other proposals.257 Given the visionary nature o f Revelation 7, we submit that the

257 To summarize, the historical referent o f the 144,000 given in Chapter 2 would include: (1)
Preterism: Jewish Christians who fled Jerusalem on time to avoid its impending doom in A D 70; (2)
Historicism: Jews admitted by baptism into the visible church during the time o f Emperor Constantine;
true Christians among nominal or apostates before the Fall o f Rome, during the time o f Augustine;
Waldesians in the late Middle Ages; or possibly another entity o f true believers in comparable
circumstances (before an ensuing crisis); (3) Dispensationalist Futurism (including Progressive
Dispensationalism): literal ethnic Jews who becom e believers within the first h alf o f D aniel’s
seventieth week, an Israelite remnant that serves to witness the gospel o f the kingdom to the Gentile
world; (4) Covenantal Futurism: a sym bolic representation o f the last generation o f believers, all the
faithful who are alive prior to the Great Tribulation; (5) Idealism: a symbol for the faithful church
between Christ’s tw o advents.
B eside using the Four Schools o f Interpretation as a criterion for listing various view s on the
identity o f the 144,000, other divisions have been offered, such as D. A une’s three-fold classification:
(1) Jews or Jewish-Christians, or Israel’s faithful remnant; (2) The Church, inclusive o f Jews and
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symbolic level is primary and provides a gateway to the referential, just as Vem

Poythress has argued concerning Revelation 13 and visionary material in general:

Thus, roughly speaking, historical narratives in the Bible contain both a direct
relation to the underlying events and an indirect indication o f the theological
significance o f the events. In Revelation 13 [and 7!] the relation is
reversed. The symbolism dominates in such a way that the passage expresses
directly the theological significance and only indirectly points to the
underlying event.2 8

This shall be our approach also, as we first attempt to speak to the significance o f the

vision and comment on its historical referent in light o f that, for “understanding the

significance o f the imagery involves making a transition from symbols to actual

historical significance.”

The Vision of the Sealing and Its Prior Context. Our focus at this stage is on

the message to and experience o f John’s initial audience who read or heard this vision

for the first time, without the benefit o f the book’s subsequent material. As the

Gentiles; and (3) Christian martyrs (Revelation 6-16, 440-448). G. Beale (Revelation, 416-423) offers a
five-fold classification: (1) Literal or ethnic Jewish Christians who believe in Christ during the final
tribulation (the Dispensationalist Futurist view); (2) All Israel saved in the end times, in conjunction
with Romans 11:24-26; (3) Jewish Christians surviving the crisis o f A.D. 70, in contrast to unbelieving
Jews (cf. A. Feuillet, “Les 144,000 Israelites Marques d ’un Sceau,” 191-224); (4) A figurative number
standing for all o f G od’s people; and (5) All the redeemed, forming an army o f the Messiah.
O f course, such classifications overlap, with scholars fitting in more than one category. Thus
George Caird, an Idealist, refers to the 144,000 as “the noble army o f [Christian] martyrs” (A
Com m entary on the Revelation o f St. John the D ivine [HNTC; N ew York: Harper, 1966], 96). Robert
Thomas, a Dispensationalist Futurist, also suggests that the 144,000 become martyrs during the
Tribulation after their witnessing ministry is accom plished ( Revelation 1-7, 475). And for Richard
Bauckham, the 144,000 are all the believers seen as an army o f martyrs, follow ing their Davidic
Messiah even to death (Clim ax o f Prophecy, 210-237).
Then there are more recent cults that identify either them selves or a select number o f their own
as this group. A m ong these are the Jehovah’s W itnesses, who believe the 144,000 is a reference to ‘the
little flock,’ the especially faithful witnesses who will exclusively spend eternity in heaven, while all the
other faithful W itnesses spend eternity in G od’s paradise here on earth.

258 Poythress, “Genre and Hermeneutics,” 42.

259 Ibid.
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account o f the opening o f the first six seals conies to a close, the judgment theme is

prevalent. Yet, the introductory scene o f this first vision o f Revelation 7 suggests a

delay in this judgment, both by means o f the digression itself and also by means o f the

four angels’ act o f holding back the four winds, which implies a temporary restraint on

evil. The stage has been set by the opening o f the sixth seal with the unleashing o f the

cosmic signs accompanying the coming wrath o f God and o f the Lamb, a scene that

culminates with people in all walks o f life being terrified, attempting to hide in caves

and among rocks or be covered by mountains only to escape “from the face o f the One

who is sitting on the throne, and from the wrath o f the Lamb; for the great day o f

Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” It is plain that there is none; yet the

digression calls for a pause in answering that question, affording the audience a

measure o f hope. That ray o f hope is strengthened by the fact that these agents o f

divine judgment are totally restrained by the four angels until the sealing o f God’s

slaves is accomplished. Thus, not only is the dreaded yet impending seventh seal not

yet opened, but the author seems to imply that, temporally, no judgment is allowed to

take place - not even upon any tree - before this act o f sealing is accomplished, thus

placing the first vision o f chapter 7 before the opening o f the seals, perhaps parallel or

identical to the four horsemen’s acts o f judgment.260 The audience, which by now has

260 Addressing the chronological sequence o f this vision to the seals, G. Osborne refers to 7:1-8
as “a flashback to the time just prior to G od’s outpouring o f judgment” (R evelation, 303), noting also
that “several (e.g., Farrer, Caird, Morris, Beasley-Murray, Johnson, Beale) believe that the four winds
are identical with the four horsemen” (Osborne, Revelation, 305). We should note, though, that not
everyone em phasizes chronology: “The drama o f the Apocalypse unfolds the history o f the Church and
the world from varied aspects o f time and eternity . . . and, as a result, there is no need to fit the
disclosures o f 7.1 -3 into a rigid, temporal timetable for a different view ” (Sm alley, Revelation, 180).
Nevertheless, w e believe the chronological sequence has its role, pointing to God's favor shown to som e
before His wrath is unleashed against a creation corrupted by sin.
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probably begun making a connection between the destructive activity o f the four

winds and that o f the four horsemen in the prior context,261 is afforded temporary

relief and is now emboldened to look forward with some anticipation o f good news, as

the terror o f the coming judgment is put off for a little while.

But what are the instruments o f this delayed judgment, and what could be said

about its scope and object? John introduces four angels standing at the four comers o f

the earth, their position conveying universal authority and pointing to the judgment

about to be unleashed by the four winds o f the earth as all-encompassing. The

expression "four comers" covers it all, whether it refers to the four comers o f a house

as representing the whole (cf. Job 1:19), the four comers o f the land to encompass the

A supporting argument for this temporal sequence com es from the text’s structural level:
White argues that an angelic ascent or descent is a marker o f a recapitulatory episode; thus, “the angel's
ascent in 7:2 can be seen to initiate a visional sequence which temporarily suspends historical progress
in the seal cycle and introduces a recapitulatory interlude” (W hite, “Reexamining the Evidence,” 338);
see also G. Beale (Revelation, 975), who states that “when 'and' is follow ed by an angelic descent ( ‘and
I saw an angel descending from heaven’) or ascent, without exception it introduces a vision either
suspending the temporal progress o f a preceding section to introduce a synchronous section (see on
10:1) or reverting to a time anterior to the preceding section (see on 7:2 and 18:1).”
Another parallel between the four angels and the four horsemen that may point to their
identity, and thus to the temporal sequence suggested above, is the use o f the divine passive (passivum
divinum): the four angels are said to have been given [power or authority] to harm (£860r| in Rev 7:2);
the same divine granting o f authority is recorded explicitly o f three o f the horsemen by the use o f &>60r|
(6:2, 6:4, and 6:8), while limits are clearly placed on the fourth one in 6:6, “And I heard som ething like
a voice in the midst o f the four living creatures, saying, 'A quart o f wheat for a denarius, and three quarts
o f barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and wine!'”

261 Akira Satake is confident the image o f the four horses in Revelation 6 com es from
Zechariah 6, where they are identified with the four winds o f heaven; in light o f this, Satake argues that
the reference to the four winds in Rev 7:1 indicates a close connection between this chapter and its
immediate context (D ie O fferbarung des Johannes [Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar ttber das Neue
Testament 16; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008], 226). For a more detailed discussion on the
connection between these fo u r winds o f the earth and the fo u r winds o f heaven o f Daniel 7:2, Jeremiah
49:36 and Zechariah 6:1-5, see Beale, Revelation, 406-408; cf. Caird, Revelation, 94). There is also a
possible connection to the four kinds o f destroyers o f Jeremiah 15:3 as instruments o f G od’s judgment:
“the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds o f the air and the beasts o f the earth to devour and
destroy.”
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entire territory o f a nation (cf. Ezek 7:2262), or the four comers o f the earth as a

synecdoche (see also Isa 11:12 & Rev 20:8).263 We do learn that the four winds’

mission is destructive, as they are only prevented from doing harm for the time being.

Thus, given their universal scope o f action and destructive mission, the four winds’

activity points to God’s judgment about to be unleashed over creation, a role shared

with the four horsemen o f the first four seals.264 The latter’s activity is directly aimed

at mankind, as strife, war, famine and death take their toll, leading into the martyrs’

scene o f the fifth seal, and closely followed by the ensuing cosmic judgment triggered

by the opening o f the sixth seal. If the judgment o f the seals aims directly at mankind

as the object o f the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb, and only indirectly at the rest o f the

created order,265 apparently the universal judgment about to be unleashed by the four

262 Given the interchangeability o f yo m a and ntepu^ in the LXX o f Ezekiel (rendering the
Hebrew HJ? - wing, extrem ity - HALOT, 1:486), Beate Kowalski speaks o f Rev 7:1 as even quoting from
Ezek 7:2, “Man kann daher von einem Zitat sprechen” ( D ie Rezeption des Propheten Ezekiel in der
O ffenbarung des Johannes [SBB 52; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2004], 131).

263 The idea o f universality associated with four winds is also clearly conveyed by Jesus’
words when describing the gathering o f the elect by the angels at the last day “from the four winds”
explained as “from one end o f heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31), while Mark 13:27 has “from the
ends o f the earth to the ends o f heaven.”

264 Identifying the w inds’ activity with G od’s judgment may be challenged, as the winds could
be seen as natural elements. However, the presence o f the angelic beings controlling these winds
suggests there is more at work here than natural phenomena (cf. Ps. 104:4, and Heb 1:7). Bauckham
argues that although R evelation usually avoids having God as the direct agent o f judgm ent, the
septenaries o f judgm ents them selves stem from His throne, being expressions o f the holy God
described in chapter 4's vision; for exam ple, the use o f the passive £860r| in Rev 7:2 (see also 6:4,8;
9:3,5; 13:5,7,14,15; 16:8) denotes that such “evils do not happen without the knowledge and authority o f
God,” and the fact that “God leaves humanity to the consequences o f its own ways, is [itself] a form o f
judgment” (Bauckham, “Judgment,” 6. Also, as argued by Aune, “no distinction w as made between
plagues and punishm ents sent by God upon humankind and the hostility and persecution inflicted
on Christians by Jews and pagans (Mark 13:9-20 = Matt 24:9-22 = Luke 21:12-24; cf. D id. 16:5)”
(A une, R evelation 6-16, 440).

265 Though the sixth seal’s judgment com es about in the context o f un-creation, or a reversal o f
creation, and the third’s also involves certain goods.
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winds is initially directly aimed at the rest o f the created order, and only indirectly at

mankind. However, mankind is still in view, even if only implied at first, for as divine

punishments fall on the house, its inhabitants are going to suffer. Furthermore, the

introduction o f the sealing o f God’s slaves makes it plain that it is people that

constitute the ultimate object o f His wrath, which is to be brought about by the four

winds.266 Thus, the judgment about to take place through the agency o f the four winds

is universal in scope, and aims at mankind as its ultimate object, being probably a

parallel account o f the judgment brought about by the four horsemen o f the previous

chapter.

Having noted that the reason for the delay o f judgment was the introduction o f

the sealing o f God’s slaves, and also that its timing is best seen as prior to the

judgment wrought by the four horsemen, a few more questions need to be addressed:

What is the nature o f this sealing and its role for John’s audience at this stage? Also,

who is performing it, and what could be said about its beneficiaries?

The act o f sealing is announced by an angel ascending from the rising o f the

sun, whom John perceives as holding perhaps a signet-ring. The audience does not

266 A s Beale points out, “Probably earth, sea, and trees represent (by m etonym y) the earth and
its inhabitants, who are affected by the w oes o f the four horsemen from the preceding chapter”
(Revelation, 407). Kraft suggests that trees are specifically singled out (beside the earth and sea)
because trees readily indicate the effects o f the wind (in light o f the four winds o f judgment), and also
because in the Bible man can be compared with trees, so perhaps John invites associations to Psalm 1 at
this point (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 125); if so, this would lend support to our contention that
judgment is ultimately directed at people.

267 Some interpreters see this eastern origin as “a promise o f blessing, since benediction in the
thought o f Judaism is at times associated with the east, especially in relation to theophany” (see also
Prigent, who states it plainly: “on attend que le salut vienne de l'Orient” [L fA pocalypse de Saint Jean,
119]; and BrUtsch, D ie Offenbarung Jesu Christi, 1:321, and his references thereby; cf. Smalley,
R evelation, 181). However, Beale challenges this on the basis o f Rev 9:14 and 16:12, where evil powers
 123

know on what basis, yet John identifies it as the seal o f the living God. Since seals

were commonly applied to objects, with the seven-sealed scroll in the immediate

context being a vivid example, the audience would be wondering about the purpose o f

this seal, only to find out very soon that it is to be applied not to inanimate objects but

to people, and no harm or judgment may be unleashed until that action is completed.

As discussed in chapter 3 above, a seal in the ancient world was seen as an extension

o f the person, expressing one’s ownership and inviolability o f the sealed items. Thus,

John’s audience would rightly infer that the nature o f this sealing has to do with

preservation, and placing God’s seal on people would mean extending His ownership

over them, identifying them as His possession, which effectively points to His

protection o f them through the postponed yet imminent judgment.

have their origins in the east; he suggests this may be a parody, as “the angel w ho protects saints mocks
the forces o f evil threatening the saints by appearing to com e from the same hellhole” R evelation, 408).
For signet ring, cf. our Chapter 3, above. H. B. Swete also identifies it as a signet-ring “which
the Oriental monarch uses to give validity to official documents or to mark his property” (Com m entary
on Revelation [1911; repr., Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications, 1977], 96). For similar
statements see also Mounce, Revelation, 167; Smalley, Revelation, 181; Craig Keener, Revelation
(N1VAC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2000), 234; and others

268 Pointing to similar practices in that cultural milieu, Osborne notes that “In many Greco-
Roman cults (e.g., Cybele, Attis, and Mithras) the worshipers were sealed to indicate they belonged to
the gods” (Revelation, 307). According to Walter Burkert, “A man devoted to Mater Magna [Roman
name for Cybele], a Gallus or Archigallus, it seem s, had to receive a tattoo mark on his body, burned
into the skin with hot needles, according to Prudentius” (Ancient M ystery Cults [Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1987], 103. Burkert (168, n.89) also makes reference to the refusal o f Alexandrian
Jews to participate in mystery cults, which brings about the branding o f their bodies:

N one o f those who do not sacrifice shall enter their sanctuaries, and all Jews shall be subjected
to a registration involving poll tax and to the status o f slaves. Those who object to this are to be
taken by force and put to death; those who are registered are also to be branded on their bodies
by fire with the ivy-leaf symbol o f Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former
limited status." 30 In order that he might not appear to be an enem y o f all, he inscribed below:
"But if any o f them prefer to join those who have been initiated into the m ysteries, they shall
have equal citizenship with the Alexandrians (3 Macc 2:28-30).

Similarly, Jack Finegan notes that in Tertullian’s description o f Mitras initiations, the deity
“sets his mark on the foreheads o f his soldiers, celebrates an offering o f bread, . . . ” {M yth and M ystery:
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But who is performing the sealing? In John’s vision, the angel ascending from

the rising o f the sun is both announcing it and including himself among the agents

performing it. How would John’s audience relate to the angelic agency? Prior to this

episode, the audience leams that the book itself comes to John via an angel (1:1).

Also, each o f the seven prophetic messages in chapter 2 and 3 is addressed to the angel

of that respective church, who thus serves as the agent between Christ and that

respective congregation. Perhaps it is sufficient at this point to note that angels serve

as God’s agents or messengers, acting as His representatives, their actions bearing His

authority.269

To whom do God’s agents apply the seal? While at the visionary level a visible

sign on the forehead is implied, in this highly symbolic context the seal o f the living

God applied by His agents carry the main ideas o f His ownership and protection o f the

sealed. But who are these beneficiaries o f such a gracious act? They are identified as

God’s slaves, which would correspond to the basic function o f a seal, that o f setting it

to one’s property, in this case by God’s agents to God’s own possession. But how

would John’s audience relate to this category o f God’s slaves?

An Introduction to the Pagan Religions o f the B iblical W orld [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1989], 209;
cf. Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics, 421, where he argues that heresies stem from Satan, who is
responsible for counterfeiting true religion by promoting the idol-mysteries, such as Mithras (who seals
his soldiers on the forehead during their initiation). See also F. J. DOlger, who speaks o f a
Mitrassphragis as the seal (sign or tattoo) applied in such ceremonial dedications to Mithras, though
extant evidence makes it difficult to describe such a sign accurately (“D ie Sphragis der
Mithrasmysterien,” A C 1 [1929]: 88). Cf. Aune, Revelation 6 -1 6 ,458.

269 Given their role as G od’s agents, angelic action is often equated with G od’s action, as
Osborne succinctly states it: “the act o f sealing the saints here is done by God through His angel”
(Revelation, 310).
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In the immediate context, the main clues the audience has in identifying these

slaves include previous lexical references to this category, as well as prior promises o f

protection o f God’s own.270 The word bovloq appears twice in Rev 1:1, both

identifying the intended audience o f the book, as well as referring to John as the

immediate recipient o f this revelation. In the only other relevant use o f the word prior

to chapter 7, Christ warns the church in Thyatira o f tolerating a false prophetess,

named Jezebel, for she “is teaching and leading astray My slaves to practice sexual

immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols” (2:20). Since the immediate context

does equate God’s slaves with believers in general and specifically with the faithful in

the church o f Thyatira, and given the general biblical teaching that refers to believers

as God’s slaves who have been bought by Him at the expense o f Christ’s sacrifice

(cf.l Cor 6:20 & 7:22-23; 1 Peter 1:18-19 & 2:16), the faithful listening to the book

being read would have not hesitated to identify themselves as the beneficiaries o f this

sealing.

Thematically, given the implied protective function o f sealing in this fearsome

context o f impending judgment, the audience can build on other prior instances o f
771
God’s promised care o f His own, such as 2:11 b and 3:10. Yet, these two promises

270 Though somewhat tenuous at this juncture, one may see a connection between the act o f
sealing and Rev 3:12, “The one who conquers, 1 will make him a pillar in the temple o f my God. Never
shall he go out o f it, and I will write on him the Name o f my God, and the name o f the city o f my God,
the new Jerusalem, which com es down from my God out o f heaven, and my own new Name.” This
writing o f Jesus’ Name on the one who overcom es bears som e relationship to the act o f sealing,
provided w e understand the seal as a reference to that Name, so w e shall deal with this at a later point.

271 Rev 2 : 1 lb, “The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death,” a promise fully
applicable to the Last Day; and 3:10, “Because you have kept my word concerning patient endurance, 1
will keep you from the hour o f trial that is com ing upon the whole world, to try those who dwell upon
 126

are in contexts where believers have already gone through certain trials and have been

faithful or emerged victorious, in contrast to this act o f sealing which implies that such

safekeeping is accorded even before any wind o f judgment is unleashed. So, while

John’s audience would be able to relate to promises o f God’s present or future

protection, it seems somewhat puzzling at this stage to comprehend a protection that

seems to have started before any trouble actually began, since they themselves have

experienced hardships already. However, even though the sealing takes place prior to

any judgment is allowed, the benefit o f this act in no way would exclude a life-long

continuous protection as well as the ultimate preservation o f God’s own.

Before considering the number o f the sealed, we should address the location o f

the seal - why on the forehead? Perhaps the simple answer is that one’s forehead is

the earth” - this may be a reference to a com ing empire-wide persecution, or an intensification o f the
tribulation leading to the Last Day, or possibly both.
The Futurist interpreter may object, saying that persecution and trials are to be separated from
the Last Day wrath and judgment, as believers are subject to the former but not to the latter, concluding
that the destruction unleashed by the four winds - as well as the judgment and wrath brought about by
the opening o f the first six seals, the trumpets and the bowls - all these judgments pertain to a future
time o f great tribulation; this appears to be corroborated by the promise o f protection to the church in
Philadelphia noted above (3:10).
However, the relevancy embedded in the nature o f biblical revelation would lead us to
perceive John’s audience guided not by modem eschatological charts but rather by seeing G od’s Word
as applicable to them, as per our discussion about interpretation parameters (pages 111-116). The force
o f the six-seal narrative strongly implies that the faithful listening to the book being read see them selves
in the midst o f this progressive judgment, and are thus able to breathe a sigh o f relief when the seventh
seal is postponed by this jrap&cpaau; or digression; and, as G od’s slaves, they further identify
them selves with the recipients o f the seal. And, given the content o f this progressive judgment -
including strife, war, famine, death, and persecution, all o f which having been already experienced in
part by the audience, it is difficult to separate between trials and persecution on the one hand, and G od’s
judgment and wrath on the other hand, as they are intermingled; others have also cautioned against a
dichotom y between acts o f nature and G od’s judgment (see Bauckham, “Judgment,” 6, and Aune,
R evelation 6 -1 6 , 440). If anything, biblical revelation points to G od’s judgment being effected through
such means in history, and the fact that He shelters His own from the final effect o f His wrath does not
negate that His people also suffer as a result o f His judgments on creation and humankind. Furthermore,
the fact that these judgments are clearly a common experience o f the church in the interadvental period
does not negate the possibility o f their intensification immediately prior to Christ’s return.
 127

always in plain view, so that everyone would recognize that these slaves belong to the

living God. John’s audience would probably make the connection to the OT use o f

forehead especially in Exodus 28:36-38, where the high priest is instructed to have the

plate with the inscription “Holy to the LORD” attached to his turban and always on his

forehead, as he continually represents the people and their offerings before the LORD.

In a similar manner the seal on the forehead shows these slaves’ consecration to the

Lord. The difference is that while in the old order this applied to one person in the
777
whole nation, now it applies to a multitude.

But no sooner does John’s audience identify themselves as God’s slaves and

thus the beneficiaries of this act o f sealing, when two challenges present themselves:

the text appears to limit the number to 144,000, restricted to members o f the twelve

tribes o f Israel. How would they have understood this precise number and their

relationship to it, as well as the stated Israelite origins o f the sealed ones?

John does not necessarily witness the act o f sealing taking place, yet he hears

the number o f the ones who have been sealed (xcov eatppayiopevov), 144,000,

explained as 12,000 sealed (sacppayiapevot) from each tribe o f Israel, though his tribal

list is somewhat irregular. Neither o f these numbers appears in the book up to this

point, yet given the symbolic nature "in the air" we submit that the believers in the

seven churches o f Asia Minor receiving this letter did not hesitate perceiving their

272 See also Beale, Revelation, 412; Escaffre, “Un Signe sur le front,” 14-15; and other
interpreters. Escaffre also notes the rare use o f the word forehead in the OT (10 times) in contrast to the
words h ead (over 500 times) and fa c e (over 300 times). After studying the word fo reh ea d in passages
such as Exod 28:36-38, 13:16, Deut 6 :8 ,2 Chron 26:16-23, Ezek 3:9 and 9:5, she concludes: “Dans la
Bible hdbraVque, le front est done la partie du corps visible par tous qui peut temoigner de l'identite de la
personne, de sa consecration au Seigneur ou de son infidelity” (“Un Signe sur le front,” 15-16).
 128

metaphorical significance and continuing to see themselves as somehow included in

this number. Having already identified themselves with the slaves o f God intended to

receive the gracious act o f sealing that marked them as belonging to God and therefore

sheltered from His wrath, these numbers together with their Israelite limitations -

though somewhat puzzling - could only serve to shed further light on their identity

and mission, another aspect to be dealt with more fully below.

A last aspect o f this vision to note for the time being is the unusual list of

tribes. Though elsewhere such lists hardly coincide, this list seems indeed peculiar, as

its irregularities pertain both to the order and the contents o f the list. Order-wise,

Judah is listed first, though he was Leah’s fourth bom; Reuben, the first bom, is here

second; Gad and Asher are listed third and fourth, though the birth narratives o f

Genesis 29-30 has them as seventh and eighth; Naphtali comes in fifth, though sixth in

the Genesis order; Manasseh, is sixth, though a son o f Joseph, who is eleventh in order

o f birth; Simeon, the second bom, is listed seventh; and Levi, Leah’s third bom, is

here eighth. Content-wise, Levi is included although he was not to be considered

among the twelve tribes, for he did not have a well defined territory as the other tribes

did (Deut 10:8-9; Josh 13:14); the presence o f both Joseph and Manasseh is surprising,

as Joseph was usually replaced by his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, yet Ephraim is

missing, and so is the tribe o f Dan.

The initial tribal order is provided by the birth narratives in Genesis 29-30, and

35:16-21, and although the other tribal lists in the Scriptures usually diverge at times,

their differences are not as striking as in this list. The standard explanation for Judah
 129

being first is his Davidic-Messianic role, while Dan’s and Ephraim’s exclusions are

usually ascribed to idolatry; we shall address the significance o f this tribal list’s

irregularities below.273 But having summarily gone through this vision o f the sealing

o f the 144,000 in light o f its prior context in Revelation, would the audience have had

any other help in understanding the act o f sealing and their relationship to it? They

did, and certainly the OT is an appropriate place to start, as many interpreters who

read or hear this vision in fact do.274

The Act of Sealing and Its Old Testament Background. As Bauckham

points out, “Revelation’s use o f the Old Testament scriptures is an essential key to its

understanding, [and the book is] designed to be read in constant intertextual

relationship with the Old Testament.”275 If so, which OT texts would come to mind at

a first reading or hearing o f the vision o f the sealing in Revelation 7? While the pride

273 Cf. especially notes 322-323 below. The tribes are listed in places such as Genesis 49,
Exodus 1:1-4, Numbers 1:5-15 and 13:4-14, 1 Chron 2:1-2 and 12:24-37, etc. Elsewhere in Numbers
(1:20-43; 2:3-31; 7:12-83; 10:14-28), the tribes are grouped in camping and marching order, with Judah
being the head o f the first group (Issachar and Zebulun being part o f the same team camped on the East
and marching out first), except 1:20-43, where Reuben’s group o f three is listed first. Tribal lists also
appear in other Jewish writings, such asJu b. 28:11-25, 32:3, and 33:22; L.A.B. 8:6, 8:11-14, 26:10-11,
etc.

274 We agree with Pattemore’s assumptions that, (1) “the OT and other prior texts are part o f
the mutual cognitive environment” shared by both author and audience, and (2) “the author has
communicated with a view to optim izing relevance. Thus whether the relationship o f a statement to a
previous text is an ‘informal quotation’, an ‘allusion’, or an ‘echo’ is scarcely relevant” {The P eople o f
G od, 41).

275 The Climax o f Prophecy, x-xi. Cf. Ferrell Jenkins, who states it in even stronger terms: “no
interpretation o f the Apocalypse can be correct unless it makes use o f the Old Testament images and
terminology in the interpretation and exposition o f the book” {The O ld Testament in the Book o f
Revelation [Marion, Ind.: Cogdill Foundation Publications, 1972], 71). For the OT background for
Revelation in a commentary style see G. K. Beale and Sean M. McDonough, “Revelation,” in
Com m entary on the New Testament Use o f the O ld Testament (ed. G. K. Beale & D. A. Carson; Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2007), 1081-1161 (for Revelation 7, see pages 1106-1110).
 130

77f%
of place goes to Ezekiel 9, given the lexical and thematic parallels we must at this
7 77 •
juncture also include Exodus 12 (itself a digression). In a vision, the prophet Ezekiel

is brought from his place of exile back to Jerusalem and made to witness the detestable

sins committed by the house o f Judah and their idolatrous worship even in the Temple

courts. Not only do they indulge in such abominations, but the LORD also informs

Ezekiel that they have filled the land with violence, thus provoking His anger and

fierce judgment: “Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have

pity. And though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them” (Ezek

8:18). Judgment is about to come at the hand o f the six city executioners, each

summoned and ready, weapon in hand. Yet, just as in Revelation 7, judgment is stayed

for a while, as the LORD commands a messenger to go through the city o f Jerusalem

“and put a mark [in - LXX oripeiov] on the foreheads o f the men who sigh and groan

over all the abominations that are committed in it” (9:4).278 The six executioners are

then commanded to strike and kill everyone without pity, whether old or young,

women or little children, beginning from the sanctuary, but to “touch no one on whom

is the mark” (9:6). Both the mark in Ezekiel 9 and the seal o f Revelation 7 occur in

276 According to Kowalski, Ezek 9:4 is the sole OT background for this sealing since it is the
only point in the OT where there is a protective mark placed on the forehead (D ie Rezeption des
Propheten Ezekiel in der Offenbarung des Johannes, 133).

277 Unusual for commentators at this point, Kraft presents Exodus 28 (the priestly breastplate
which contained the names o f the tw elve tribes engraved on precious stones) as background for Rev
7:2, contending that this was what John first thought about in the context o f sealing (D ie Offenbarung
des Johannes, 125).

278 The messenger is described as clothed in linen, with a w riting case at his w aist (9:2, 3, 11),
and it appears that he marks the faithful on the forehead by using his writing tool.
 131

visionary material, so they are subject to the same interpretive process, whereby the
77Q
referential is perceived through the symbolic, the latter being primary.

If verbal and thematic parallels - such as a mark on the forehead for protection

- make it very probable that Ezekiel 9 was part o f John and his audience’s mutual

cognitive environment, linking the two episodes,280 the primacy o f Exodus 12 in the

story o f the redemption o f God’s people from Egypt assures this passage’s place in the

same shared domain, although the parallels between Revelation 7 and Exodus 12 are

mostly thematic. The bloodstain in Exodus 12 is clearly an outward, physical sign,

which both the angel o f death as well as any human observer walking by an Israelite’s

dwelling could notice that first Passover season, yet it guaranteed their safety. The ties

between the Israelites’ protection through that most terrible o f plagues and our
7ft1
redemption from sin are too strong not to have been familiar to John’s audience. It

279 According to Escaffre (“Un Signe sur le front,” 9-16), Ezek 9:4-6 points to this mark as the
Hebrew letter Tav (the Hebrew word for mark is actually in), the last letter o f the Hebrew alphabet,
which may have double significance: first, it could be taken as a signature or as the last word (as in Job
3 1 :35), but at the same time it may refer to all the letters or things in between, similar to ‘the first and
the last,’ ‘Alpha to O m ega,’ or ‘Aleph to Tav’ (12-13); in conjunction with this, Tav is also the first
letter o f the word Torah, so the one who has this mark would be one who keeps the Torah from the
beginning to the end (12-13). Since in the Old Hebrew the letter Tav resembled the shape o f the cross,
in a Christian context the mark is som etim es seen as the sign o f the cross (cf. Tertullian), and thus a
prophecy about Christ’s sacrifice that would provide protection or salvation for His people (13-14).
Kowalski notes that although Ezek 9:4 serves as the primary background for Rev 7:2-3, John
does not use a^gelov (the LXX rendering o f w ), but rather em ploys oippayfq. He does so, says
Kowalski, because appefov was a more neutral word, while the combination o f aippayi^oippayt^w was
more expressive, landing itself easier to the contrast to ydpayga (D ie Rezeption des Propheten Ezekiel
in der Offenbarung des Johannes, 133).

280 This is so despite obvious differences noted by Satake between the two episodes: while the
marking in Ezekiel took place in Jerusalem, Revelation 7's sealing extends to the four com ers o f the
earth; and John introduces the number o f the sealed as 144,000, with no counterpart in Ezekiel 9
(Satake, D ie O fferbarung des Johannes, 227-228).

281 Though references to Israel’s experience recorded in Exodus are sprinkled throughout the
previous chapters o f Revelation (redemption by blood, 1:5; references to golden lampstands and priestly
garments in John’s vision o f the exulted Jesus, 1:12-13; or manna, 2:17), the clear parallels between the
 132

is a small step from that familiarity to their ability to recognize their similar

predicament, and God’s comparable solution: protection for His people is provided in

both instances, whether by means o f the bloodstains on the doorposts and the lintel of

their houses, or via the seal o f the living God applied to their forehead.

We agree with one o f Bauckham’s thesis that “John expects his readers to

know and explicitly to recall [the OT writings] while reading his own work.” Thus,

the LORD’S protection afforded to His chosen people especially through the last

plague in Egypt as well as to His faithful in Ezekiel’s vision serve John’s audience by

assuring them that, as His slaves, their Master owns and extends His protection over

them whatever the future might bring. And to give them a glimpse o f that future, John

introduces another vision before the opening o f the seventh seal.

A First Reading o f Revelation 7:9-17

As translated below, at a linguistic level the text o f the second vision o f this

TiapsKpaau; (digression) appears secure, with no significant variants:

9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude whom no

one was able to count, from every nation, and from all tribes and peoples and
languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white
robes and with palm branches in their h a n d s,10 and crying out with a loud
voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
1'And all the angels had been standing around the throne and around the elders
and the four living beings, and they fell before the throne, on their faces, and
worshiped God, 1 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and

plagues in Egypt and the judgments brought about by the trumpets and bowls (such as hail, fire, blood,
darkness, and sores) make it certain that the Exodus narrative was part o f the cognitive environment
shared by John’s audience. See Bauckham, The Climax o f Prophecy, x-xi; and Beale, J o h n ’s Use o f the
O ld Testament in Revelation, 199-208.

282 The Clim ax o f Prophecy, xi.

 133

thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and
ever! Amen.”
13 And one o f the elders said to me, “These who are clothed in white
robes, who are they, and where have they come from? 14And I said to him,
“My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who are coming
out o f the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in
the blood o f the L am b .15 Because o f this they are before the throne o f God,
and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and the One who sits upon the
throne will spread His tent over them. 16 They will no longer hunger nor thirst;
neither shall the sun beat upon them, nor any scorching h e a t.17 For the Lamb
in the midst o f the throne will shepherd them, and He will guide them to
springs o f living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

John’s second vision also starts with a discourse marker, in this case Mexa

xauxa, which points to the place o f this section both in John’ visionary experience and

in the book’s literary sequence. Our interest is not in this vision’s detailed exegesis but

mainly in the relationship between the great multitude and the 144,000, specifically as

it pertains to the concept o f sealing: are the two groups identical? Is the great

multitude largely different, though perhaps inclusive o f the 144,000? Or, are these two

entirely different groups? And how would have John’s audience related to this second

group?

At the visionary level, John is afforded a glimpse o f a great multitude from

every nation and language standing before the throne o f God, arrayed in festive white

robes and holding palm branches, loudly ascribing salvation to God and to the Lamb,

and joined by the angels’ worshipful antiphonal response consisting o f a song

reminiscent o f the earlier throne-room praise hymns. One o f the elders elucidates for

John the identity o f this great multitude, regarding both their past experience, their

present position and occupation, and their future blessings: having been made pure

through the blood o f the lamb, they have now reached the presence o f God where they
 134

abide and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary,283 as He spreads His tent over

them; they will be provided for and sheltered by the Lamb, their Shepherd, who will

lead them to springs o f living water and comfort them.

By way o f contrast, if the first vision lists the precise number o f the sealed as

144,000, with 12,000 from each o f the twelve tribes listed, the second vision speaks o f

a multitude “which no one is able to count” (ov apiBpfjoat auxov oubeiq edbvaxo).

And, while the 144,000 come “from every tribe o f the sons o f Israel” ( ek naor\q cpuX.fj<;

uicov ’IapaijA,), the great multitude comes “from every nation, and from all tribes and

peoples and languages” ( ek 7tavxo<; eOvouq Kai (puX.(5v Kai hx&v tcai yXtaaa&v). Also, if

the 144,000 appear to be on earth, as the four winds o f the earth are about to unleash

God’s judgment on creation, the great multitude is “standing before the throne and

before the Lamb” (eoxcoxec; svdmov xou Gpovoo Kai Evamov xou apviou), thus

implying the heavenly setting o f the throne-room vision o f chapters 4 and 5. And

finally, while the 144,000 are sealed before any tribulation starts, the great multitude is

explained as “the ones coming out o f the great tribulation” (oi epxopevoi ek xfjq

0X,i\|/£oo<; xfjq p£ydXr|c;). Since the two groups seem so different, could there be any

overlap between them, or even identity? And how would this vision have first

impacted John’s audience?

At a first reading the audience appears to get a glimpse behind the curtain o f

history. The great tribulation o f the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb has come and gone,

and the answer to what first appeared as a rhetorical question, “Who is able to stand?”

283 A s reminded by Jean Delorme and Isabelle Donegani, this heavenly sanctuary is not only
the most intimate but also the most inviolable o f places (L'Apocalypse de Jean: Revelation p o u r le
tem ps de la violence et du desir [Paris: Les Editions du Cerf, 2010], 1:205).
 135

(6:17), implying that no one could, is now getting a loud and clear answer: an

uncountable number o f people - reminiscent o f the Abrahamic promise - from all

nations and languages are indeed standing before God and before the Lamb, singing
-> O C

praises and ascribing salvation to the divine persons.

The new exodus redemption language (especially Exodus 12 and 19) employed

in Revelation 7:9-17 points to the doxology o f Rev 1:5-6 and the hymn o f 5:9-10.

From the beginning o f the book, John includes his audience from the seven churches

among those whom Jesus loves and saves by His blood: “Jesus Christ, the faithful

witness, the firstborn o f the dead, and the ruler o f kings on earth. To Him who loves us

and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His

God and Father, to Him be glory and power forever” (1:5-6). In 5:9-10, the twenty-

four elders praise the Lamb for ransoming by His blood men unto God “from every

tribe and language and people and nation,” and for making them “a kingdom and

priests to our God.” Likewise, the multitude o f 7:9-17 consists o f the redeemed “from

every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” who are now able to stand

284 Prigent also notes that the great multitude cannot but evoke “la promesse faite a Abraham
d'une postdritd aussi nombreuse que les dtoiles du ciel ou que le sable des mers (Gen. 15, 5; 22, 17)”
(L 'Apocalypse de Saint Jean, 123). Yet, Satake does not believe this to be a fulfillment o f the
Abrahamic promise sim ply because Revelation does not usually stress the innumerability o f the
redeemed (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 231). However, the evidence does point to such a
fulfillment, as a majority o f commentators indicate. According to Beale, the uncountable “multitudes in
Rev 7:9 are the consummate fulfillment o f the Abrahamic promise and appear to be another o f the
manifold ways in which John refers to Christians as Israel. . . [They] are the innumerable true Israelite
descendants o f Abraham (cf. Gal. 3:7, 29)” (427; see 426-431 for a ftiller discussion).

285 As Satake points out, the international character o f the church goes counter to Jewish
apocalyptic, which favors an Israelite remnant: “'Aus alien VOlkem usw.' unterstreicht den
intemationalen Charakter der Kirche (vgl. 5,9), was fUr die jddische Apokalyptik 'atypical' ist, die
gewdhnlich die Gerechten als eine begrenzte Gruppe innerhalb Israels betrachtet” (D ie Offenbarung des
Johannes, 331.)
 136

triumphantly, celebrating with palm branches in their hands their victory over
'JO/
suffering, evil, and death, because their robes are white, washed in the blood o f the

Lamb. As a result, one o f the elders informs John that they shall be in God’s presence

and serve Him in His temple forever.

Also, the new exodus restoration language o f the prophet Isaiah comes through

very clearly, pointing to the reality o f the new heaven and new earth: “they shall not

hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for He who has pity

on them will lead them, and He will guide them by springs o f water” (Isa 49:10). That

John is pointing to that consummation reality is made even clearer by his weaving in a

reference to Isa 25:8, “He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe

away tears from all faces, and He will remove the reproach o f His people from all the

earth, for the LORD has spoken.”287

Thus, having seen themselves twice as the beneficiaries o f the redemption

brought about by the blood o f the Lamb (1:5-6 and 5:9-10), John’s audience’s

identification with the redeemed - and thus part o f the great multitude - continues in

286 J. A. Draper argues that Revelation 7 represents “the eschatological pilgrimage o f the
survivors o f the Gentiles, together with the restored fullness o f Israel, to celebrate the Feast o f
Tabernacles in the heavenly Jerusalem, in fulfillment o f Zech. 14,” and thus the palm branches (“The
Heavenly Feast o f the Tabernacles: Revelation 7:1-17,” JSNT 19 (1983): 140). The possible connection
between Revelation 7 and the Feast o f the Tabernacles is further explored by H&kan Ulfgard in his
Feast an d Future: Revelation 7:9-17 an d the Feast o f Tabernacles (ConBNT 22; Stockholm: Almqvist
& W iksell, 1989); see also Joseph Comblin, Le Christ Dans L'Apocalypse (Th6oIogie biblique II1.6;
Toumai, Belgium: Descl6e, 1965), 227-231; and Kraft, who also connects Rev 7:9 to the Feast o f the
Tabernacles, seeing the palm branches as a celebration o f the entrance into the promised land (D ie
Offenbarung des Johannes, 129).

287 Not everyone agrees that the great multitude is a picture o f the consummated reality.
White, for example, argues that the saints o f the great multitude “are at rest in the intermediate state
(“Reexamining the Evidence,” 337). Beale also allows for a combination o f realities: “7:15-17 could be
a merged picture o f already and not yet” (Revelation, 1015).
 137

this vision as well: they are the ones who have overcome and now stand triumphant in

God’s presence because o f Christ’s sacrifice. Moreover, since they have been

redeemed by the Lamb, they are certainly part o f His eschatological flock whom He

will shepherd into eternity (cf. Isa. 40:11).288

But how would the rest o f Revelation bear upon the above first reading o f this

7tap£KPaai<; or digression? We have established that it was indeed a welcome pause

for John’s audience: if before the digression they were terrified at what the judgment

o f the wrath o f God and o f the Lamb would bring, after these two visions their spirit is

restored, so that with increased confidence in the Sovereign God and heartfelt

thankfulness to the Redeemer Lamb they are now ready to face the tribulation ahead,

as they look beyond it to their heavenly reward. Yet, would the rest o f the book

challenge this first reading, or would it confirm and substantiate it? To this we shall

now turn.

Completing the Picture from Revelation

As noted above, just as earlier material is primary and anticipatory, so ulterior

context may help shed light on earlier passages. Thus, as the reader and listeners

progress through the rest o f the book and perhaps in subsequent readings, it is

expected they perceive more clearly the message o f the two visions o f chapter 7,

especially the import o f the sealing, the 144,000’s visionary identity, as well as the

288 As Prigent points out, here w e have the last part o f the answer to the question posed in Rev
6:17, “Who is able to stand?” It is the Christians, who do not fear the trials o f the end because they
already see and live in the reality beyond the end, as salvation is both a present and an eschatological
reality (L 'Apocalypse de Saint Jean, 128).
 138

relationship between the 144,000 and the great multitude. Based on clear verbal and

thematic parallels, we shall note relevant passages as they contribute to the

understanding o f these two visions.

The Seal’s Visionary Identity and Symbolic Meaning. The first text or piece

o f the puzzle that clearly sheds some light on the vision o f the sealing o f the 144,000

is Rev 9:4, which further confirms the suggested protective role for the act o f sealing.

Here the host o f the demonic locusts is instructed “not to harm the grass o f the earth or

any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal o f God on

their foreheads,” leading the audience to conclude that the seal has a significance

beyond itself, a symbolic meaning that provides for the security o f the ones so marked

- a concept similar to that o f Ezek 9:4-6, where a mark on the forehead also provides

protection for those who have it.

A second piece o f the puzzle shedding light on the audience’s understanding o f

the sealing’s visionary identity is Rev 14:1-5. Both verbal and thematic parallels

present already in 14:1 point us to the possibility o f equating the two groups and to the

identification o f the seal’s markings: “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was

standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His

Father's name written on their foreheads.” This is the only other passage where the

number 144,000 (c k o to v xeooepdKovra xeaoape<; x^-vdSeq) appears in the book, and

both times these people have a mark upon their foreheads (em xffiv pexcb7t(ov auxc&v) -

in 7:3 by virtue o f being sealed (acppayiacopev), and in 14:1 by having the divine name

written (yeYpappevov) upon their foreheads. Given the similarities, John’s audience
 139

would have almost certainly equated between the two groups, whose members would

also be understood as those protected from the demonic locusts o f 9:4.289 Furthermore,

14:1 provides for a very probable identification o f the markings on the seal o f God, for

we may safely infer that the seal’s inscription consisted o f what the 144,000 have

written on their foreheads: the Name o f the Lamb and o f His Father, or “a combination

o f divine names.”290

Contextually, the 144,000 having the divine names on their foreheads in Rev

14:1-5 present a counterbalance to the followers o f the beast introduced in chapter 13.

Since the mark o f the beast, placed either on his followers’ right hand or forehead, is

actually the name o f the beast or the number o f his name (13:16-17; 14:9-11), this

further strengthens the case that the seal God places on His own slaves in ch.7 consists
901
also o f a Name: His own, and the Name o f the Lamb.

A third piece o f the puzzle that further confirms the proposed visionary

identification o f the seal with the divine names is found in Rev 22:3-4, where John

describes the New Jerusalem: “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the

throne o f God and o f the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will worship Him. They

will see His face, and His name will be upon their foreheads.” The verbal parallels to

289 According to Beale, if an image or symbol is identified elsewhere in the book, the
identification should be assumed even if not explicitly made (Revelation, 55-56). He draws on Leonard
L. Thompson, who states that “earlier occurrences o f a term, an image, or a m otif becom e a given in the
narrative line to be drawn on in the development o f a later scene” (“The Literary Unity o f the Book o f
Revelation,” in M appings o f the B iblical Terrain: The Bible as Text [ed. V. L. Tollers and J. Maier;
Lewisburg, Pa.: Bucknell University Press, 1990], 353-354).

290 Beale, Revelation, 133; cf. Exod 28:11-21, and 36-38.

291 See also Allan Millard, “Makers’ Marks,” 1-10. The contrast between the sealed and the
marked is further addressed in the follow ing chapter.
 140

Rev 7:3 include the words slaves (SouLoi / Sou^ouq) and the prepositional phrase upon

their foreheads (sju xcov pex(i)7tG)v aux<5v). The parallels between 14:1 and these verses

include His name (xo ovopa auxou) as well the same prepositional phrase, upon their

foreheads (e7ti xcov pcxcbjirov auxcov), as shown in Table 1:

Table 1. Verbal Parallels: The Seal's Visionary Identity

Revelation 7:3-4 Revelation 14:1 Revelation 22:3-4

oypttYvgcaMsy u lijp f liit' . . . Kai pex auxou Kai o 0povo<; xou 0eou Kai

■ ■ ■ ■ xou ev auTfl eaxai,

ripcDV &ci X(Bv pexdwtcov mmmmM £%°vaai Kai ■ ■ auxou

auxcfcv . . . Laxpeuaoumv auxfi . . . Kai

| H xou rcaxpoc auxou wmmm

x<Sv pexdwtcov auxfiiv.

M xfflv pexdwioov aux&v.

The above similarities do not only help John’s audience understand the seal as

the divine names, but they also suggest that the 144,000 sealed on their foreheads in

Revelation 7 are the same group as those who appear on Mount Zion with the Lamb in

Revelation 14, and also they are either part o f or identical with God’s slaves who

inhabit the city o f New Jerusalem in Revelation 22. Furthermore, while at a visionary

level the seal applied to God’s slaves in Revelation 7 consists o f God’s name and the
 141

name o f the Lamb, at the symbolic level this seal provides for the protection o f the

sealed and for their identification as God’s possession.292

The Sealed and the Great Multitude. We have already noted that John’s

audience would have identified themselves as beneficiaries o f the sealing, and thus at

least as part o f the 144,000. Further, based on the parallels between 1:5-6, 5:9-10 and

7:9-17 (see Table 2), they would have also seen themselves as part o f that great

multitude before the throne, for they rightly could claim to be among those redeemed

by the blood o f the Lamb:

Table 2. Verbal Parallels: The Sealed and the Great Multitude

Rev 1:5-6 Rev 5:9-10 Rev 7:9,14

To Him who loves us for You were slain, and | a great multitude ...

and has

w m m m m H I for God

and made us a m

kingdom, priests unto H l f H H , an(* you have

His God and Father made them a kingdom and

priests onto our God and they

= "
shall reign on the earth.

292 We have already noted three prior references to G od’s slave or slaves (tw ice in 1:1, and
2:20) as evidence that the Christians in John’s audience identified them selves as such, and thus as
recipients o f G od’s seal (see discussion on page 125 above). Three o f the fourteen uses o f SotWx; in
Revelation (6:15, 13:16, and 19:18) contrast being a slave to being fr e e (&£U0epoi;), while all the others
are qualified by a Genitive, which is either G o d or a pronoun pointing to Him (7:3; 10:7; 11:18; 15:3;
19:2, 5; and 22:3, 6). And, as Prigent and others have observed, “le titre « serviteur de Dieu » d6signe
couramment les chr6tiens dans 1'A pocalypse” (L'Apocalypse de Saint Jean, 119).
 142

Yet, the redeemed from every tribe and language, who have washed their robes

and made them white in the blood o f the Lamb are also those who have been made

“priests (iepeu;) unto God” (1:6), or “a kingdom and priests (lepetq) to our God, and

they will reign (fSaoiXeuaouoiv) on the earth” (5:10). Similar language is used o f the

saints who share in the first resurrection, over whom the second death has no power:

“they will be priests (iepeu;) o f God and o f Christ, and they will reign (paatXeuaouaiv)

with Him for a thousand years” (20:6); and also o f God’s slaves in 22:3-5, who

worship or serve Him, having His name on their foreheads: “they will reign

(PamXeuoouaiv) forever and ever” (22:5).

Further verbal and conceptual parallels may be adduced between the great

multitude o f chapter 7 and the redeemed people o f God o f Revelation 19-22: they are

both labeled as oyfox; noXvq or a great multitude (7:9 and 19:1, 6); they are in the

presence o f the throne o f God and o f the Lamb (7:9,15 and 22:3); they ascribe

salvation (ocoxripia) to God (7:10 and 19:1); they wear (jtepipaAXco) white robes

(axoXf|), washed (rctarvco) in the blood o f the Lamb (7:9, 13-14 and 19:8, 13-14 &

22:14); they both serve or worship God (Xxxxpeuocnv; 7:15 and 22:3); God will make

His tabernacle with them (aKTyvtbcjei; 7:15 and 21:3); they partake o f the water o f life

(£cofj<; Jttiydc; i)5axcov in 7:17; xrjq 7rpyfj<; xou uSaxoq xfj<; £cflfj<; in 21:6, Jioxapov 05axo<;

in 22:1); and for both groups God Himself will wipe away (e£aXeh|/ei) every tear

from their eyes (7tav Saicpuov etc xcov 6(p0aA.pcbv avxcov; in 7:17 and 21:4).

Though fewer in number, parallels may also be adduced between the great

multitude o f chapter 7 and the 144,000 o f Revelation 14:1-5, as well as further

 143

connections to the saints in Revelation 19-22. The 144,000 on Mount Zion are singing

a new song, and their voice is actually heard coming out o f heaven as the sound o f

“the roar o f many waters” <pa>vf|v uSanav noXk&v). At the culmination o f history,

as John hears again “the voice o f a great multitude, like the roar o f many waters (mq

(pcovf|v uSdxoov 7toAM>v) and like the sound o f mighty peals o f thunder, crying out,

'Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns'” (19:6). This appears to be the

same group as in 19:1, where John also hears “the loud voice o f a great multitude in

heaven, saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.'” The

textual parallel to 7:9-10 is unmistakable, as there John sees “a great multitude that no

one could number ... standing before the throne and before the Lamb, and crying out

with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the

Lamb!'”

Another connecting thread between the great multitude o f chapter 7 and the

144,000 on Mt. Zion is the Lamb in His role as their shepherd. While in the latter

passage the 144,000 are said to be with the Lamb and to follow Him “wherever He

goes” (14:4), the blessings o f His shepherding on the former group are spelled out in

more detail: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not

strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst o f the throne will be

their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs o f living water, and God will wipe

away every tear from their eyes” (7:16-17).293

293 Konrad Huber also points out that beside the unique relationship o f unity between the Lamb
and the Father, Revelation also emphasizes the closeness between believers and the the Lamb: “die
Glaubenden sind mit ihm, sind in seiner Nahe und urn das Lamm versammelt (Offb 14,1; 17,14); der
Name des Lammes ist zusammen mit dem Namen Gottes au f ihre Stim geschrieben (Offb 14,1; 22,4;
 144

A last connecting theme we shall note here is the purity o f the 144,000

redeemed from the earth, as they are described as not having “defiled themselves with

women, for they are virgins... and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are

blameless” (14:4-5).294 This purity is represented in the description o f both the great

multitude as well as the redeemed saints at the culmination o f history by the color o f

the robes they wear: pure white.295 In Revelation, white is associated with

righteousness, purity, and the heavenly reality (see also the description o f Jesus at His

vgl. Offb 7,3); sie folgen ihm nach, wohin immer es geht (Offb 14,4); das Lamm wird sie w ie em n
Hirte weiden und ftlhren (Offb 7,17; vgl. Ps 23; Jes 49,10)” (Einer G leich Einem Menschensohn: D ie
Christusvisionen in Offb 1,9-20 und Offb 14,14-20 und die C hristologie der Johannesoffenbarung
[MUnster: Aschendorff, 2007], 282).

294 Interpretations o f virginity and lack o f defdem ent vary, with som e sim ply dism issing the
references as later additions by a “monkish interpolator, convinced that the highest type o f Christian life
was the celibate” (Charles, Revelation o f St. John, 2:9), others taking them literally, seeing this group as
indeed male celibates in the early church (so Martin Kiddle, The Revelation o f St. John (MNTC;
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1940), 435-436; and Yarbro Collins, C risis a n d Catharsis, 129), with
most seeing these sym bolically; the latter seem s most plausible, as virginity and non-defilem ent are set
in contrast to the idolatry and adultery o f the great prostitute, and perhaps also in the context o f Israel’s
warfare where ritual purity involved abstinence from sexual intimacy (see Bauckham, Clim ax o f
P rophecy, 229-232; Beale, Revelation, 738-741; and Brian K. Blount, who comments: “The verb
[poXuvcn, / stain or defile] is not sexual for John; it rather applies to idolatry and the lack o f resistance to
that idolatry... because idolatry had long been imagined as improper sexuality, particularly unchastity,
in Israel’s history” (Blount, Revelation: A Com m entary [NTC; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox,
2009], 268; see OT references such as Isa 65:4; Jer 3:2, 13:27, 23:15; Ezek 16 and 23, Hos 1:2, 2:2-3:3,
5:3-4; etc.).
Daniel C. Olson presents an alternate yet intriguing (even if not viable) explanation for
virginity, with elem ents that could be seen as complementary to the sym bolical approach presented
above. He argues that John describes the 144,000 here as an undefiled heavenly priesthood, in
contradistinction to the fallen angels o f 1 Enoch; these watchers o f 1 Enoch are portrayed as deficient priests
for having left their heavenly calling and defiled themselves with women, and thus, “The 144,000
virgins o f Revelation 14 are an anti-image not only to the devotees o f the beast, but also, it seem s, to the
fallen angels” (“Those Who Have N ot Defiled Them selves with W omen”: Revelation 14:4 and the
Book o f Enoch” (CBQ 59 [1997], 501). Based on this and further biblical and patristic evidence, Olson
goes on to suggest that it is possible Christians are destined to achieve angelic status, and that “die
redeemed 144,000 actually take the vacated offices o f the fallen angels” (507).

295 “Leurs « ro b e s b la n ch es » attestent leur participation & la v ie c e le ste . . . N o u s

a ssisto n s k n ouveau ici & une grande liturgie c e le ste , devant le trone de D ieu et devant
I'A gneau” (Delorm e and Donegani, L'Apocalypse de Jean, 1:203). Kraft's interpretation o f these white
robes is colored by his understanding o f sealing as baptism; he speaks o f them as white baptismal robes
which serve as a picture o f the saints' glorified bodies (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 130).
 145

transfiguration, or that o f the angels addressing the women at Jesus’ empty tomb).

Thus, the faithful in Sardis, those “who have not soiled their garments,” are promised

to walk with Christ dressed in white (3:4), which is best taken as a reference to their

eternal destiny in parallel with 7:9-17, as the subsequent verse indicates by elaborating

on the promise: “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I

will never blot his name out o f the book o f life (3:5).” The Laodiceans are encouraged

to acquire white garments from Christ, an invitation to repent and be washed by His

blood unto righteousness. The twenty-four elders around the throne are clothed in

white garments (4:4), each martyr under the throne is given a white robe (6:11), and

the armies o f heaven are arrayed in white linen as they ride on white horses and follow

the Faithful and True, the Word o f God, the King o f kings and Lord o f lords (also

called the Lamb in 17:4, a parallel account) who is riding on "a white horse, clothed in

a robe dipped in blood," and coming from heaven to bring a final judgment upon His

enemies (19:11-16).296

Still in the context o f purity and the color white, we should not fail to mention

Revelation 19:8, where John records that the Bride o f the Lamb was given “to clothe

herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds o f the

saints.” Though the Bride’s clothing here is not specifically described as white, the

color is strongly implied by the context, especially 19:14, “And the armies which are

296 Though more oblique, a few other references to the color white also seem to identify it as
the color o f heaven, pointing also to purity and righteousness: the white h ea d an d hair o f the exalted
Christ (1:11); a w hite ston e promised to the faithful in Pergamum, presumably in their eternal abode
(2:17); a white clou d upon which one like a son o f man, with a golden crown on his head, was seated
(14:14); and a g re a t w hite throne in heaven, as the earth and sky simply dissipated before G od’s
aw esom e presence (20:11).
 146

in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white

horses,” while the One on the white horse leading them “is clothed in a robe dipped in

blood,” perhaps indicating that their white garments are so because o f the bloody

stains o f their King’s robe (19:13).297

It is reasonable to conclude that John’s audience would have seen the white

robes o f the great multitude as a symbol o f the righteousness effected by the shedding

o f Christ’s redemptive blood on the cross, a concept implied in the doxological words

o f 1:5 - “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood,”

punctuated elsewhere in the book, and crowned by the blessing pronounced on “those

who wash their robes” (Rev 22:14).298 Yet, since white functions as a characteristic o f

the heavenly reality, such a righteousness is only made visible at Christ’s return, when

His reign is made manifest in the reality o f the new heaven and new earth.

Conclusion

We have presented Revelation 7 as a unit, serving an important function within

the structure o f both the seven seals and the book as a whole. In its role as a

297 See also Beale’s discussion on the Bride’s wedding clothes, especially as he addresses the
tension between G od’s people being given the white clothing and their duty to wash their clothing and
make it white, as well as OT background for such clothing (Revelation, 934-944); according to Beale,
white clothing in Revelation “conveys the idea o f pu rity resulting fro m a test o fp erseverin g faith" (936;
emphasis his).

298 Redemption or deliverance from sin by the blood o f the Lamb is o f course also echoed by
the vision o f the Lamb who seemed as though it had been slain (5:6); the great multitude stand before
God, having washed their robes and having made them white in the blood o f the Lamb (7:14); and the
faithful overcom e the devil “by the blood o f the Lamb and by the word o f their testim ony” (12:11).
A lso, as Resseguie points out, “The outer garment represents the inner nature o f a person, and therefore
white robes sym bolize a spotless inner nature. However, this can only occur with Christ’s victory on the
cross” (Revelation Unsealed, 178-179).
 147

7tapeKj3aoi<; or digression, the chapter appears unessential and even disruptive to the

immediate context, yet proves crucial to the bigger picture, for it provides the needed

comfort and consolation to a people in need o f some good news.

Following a contextual reading o f the two visions, also with appeal to OT

background, we have attempted to show that the parallels and interconnectedness

between the sealed 144,000 (7:1-8), the great multitude (7:9-17), the 144,000 on

Mount Zion (14:1-5), and the redeemed Bride o f the Lamb described in chapters 19-

22, lead us to conclude not only that the two visions o f Revelation speak o f the same

group from different points o f view, but also that the faithful in John’s audience

identified themselves with all o f these groups. Since they were the redeemed slaves o f

God, they saw themselves as the beneficiaries o f the sealing, as part o f the great

multitude before the throne, as the blameless followers o f the Lamb on Mt. Zion, as

well as His Bride dwelling with God and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem.

Yet, does the sealing and these passages address only John’s immediate

audience? And, having zeroed in on the divine names as the seal’s visionary identity,

and on the protection afforded to the recipients o f this act o f sealing as illumined by its

OT background, what does the sealing represent in the flow o f salvation history? And

how does it relate to the divine names and the protection the sealed ones enjoy? These

concerns we shall address next.

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CHAPTER 5

THE SEALING OF THE 144,000

IN THE STREAM OF BIBLICAL-CHRISTOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION

As we proceed, we shall first submit a methodological proposal to guide our

thesis in the interpretation o f Revelation 7, suggesting it be adopted and applied for the

book at large. This is followed by a statement o f our thesis concerning the relationship

between the divine names and the protection they afford to those sealed. In this

context we shall further explore the symbolism and referentiality associated with the

act o f sealing and its beneficiaries, with support both from subsequent reading(s) o f

Revelation as well as from other relevant NT writings, especially 1 John. To conclude

this section we shall trace some relevant developments o f the concept o f sealing in the

post-NT times.

A Methodological Proposal

Though most interpreters o f Revelation rightfully appeal to the OT as

necessary background for understanding the book’s symbolism, it is not so common to

recognize and pursue the strong ties between Revelation and the rest o f the NT

writings. And when it is done, it is often by drawing parallels rather than by openly

interpreting Revelation’s symbols in light o f clearer NT teachings, the latter o f which

we submit should be the case, as well as explicitly adopting such an interpretive

principle as part o f one’s methodology.299 Addressed to the people o f God in

299 “The OT and Judaism are the primary background against which to understand the images
and ideas o f the A pocalypse” (Beale, Revelation, 56); cf. B eale’s major work on the subject, John's Use
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representative churches o f Asia Minor at the end o f the first century A.D.,

Revelation’s contents were expressly barred from being sealed up (Rev 22:10), which

points to the accessibility and applicability o f the book’s message to John’s immediate

audience in a manner similar to the other Scriptures’ relevancy. Thus, with other

interpreters, we believe that John in Revelation is hardly saying anything new that has

not been taught elsewhere in the NT, yet he says it in a new way. Though the style and

forms are different, the substance is the same, as truths revealed more plainly

elsewhere in the NT are here recast in the highly symbolic and mysterious language o f

the apocalyptic-prophetic mold.300 If many interpreters regard the OT as the key to the

o f the O ld Testament in Revelation; also Steve M oyise, The O ld Testament in the Book o f Revelation
(JSNTSS 115; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), especially pages 71-72 for his short
treatment o f the OT background for the act o f sealing; and M oyise, “Intertextuality and the U se o f
Scripture in the Book o f Revelation?” Scriptura 84 (2003), 391 -401, where he reviews eight recent
authors’ treatment o f Revelation’s use o f OT Scripture. W hile interpreters do em ploy N T theological
categories and draw links between Revelation and N ew Testament teachings, a stated interpretive
principle to this extent is generally lacking even among Idealist interpreters. For example, Bauckham
{Clim ax o f P roph ecy, ix-xiii), lists four guiding principles for his interpretive approach to Revelation,
none o f which seeks to em ploy the previous NT writings at large as a key to the book’s interpretation:
(1) paying close attention to the book’s literary composition; (2) its use o f the OT serves as an essential
key to understanding the book; (3) it is strongly indebted to the canonical Jewish and Christian
apocalypses, w hile its relationship to non-canonical apocalyptic material is uncertain; and (4) while
Revelation’s intertextual connections with the OT serve as a key to its meaning, a proper understanding
o f the book cannot be divorced from its relevancy to its first readers’ context, for it should be seen “as a
prophetic critique o f the political idolatry and econom ic oppression intrinsic to Roman power in the late
first century, and as a call to its readers to bear witness to the truth and righteousness o f God in thefir]
specific circumstances ...in the cities o f the Roman province o f A sia” (xii-xiii). A lso, w hile Beale does
list the N T as part o f the background for interpreting Revelation’s sym bols (alongside the OT, early
Judaism, and contemporary Greco-Roman context), the use o f the O ld Testament in Revelation is a
primary concern as w ell as an explicit methodological practice; appeal to the rest o f the N T in the
process o f interpretation becom es more o f an unspoken yet utilized approach (see Revelation, 58 and
68, vs. 76-99).

300 This general approach is not uncommon among Idealist interpreters o f Revelation, as
Hamstra states, “The idealist does not expect a unique or new teaching to surface in the Apocalypse;
rather, he or she expects that the truths contained therein will be taught elsewhere in Scripture” (“An
Idealist V iew o f Revelation,” 131); and Poythress argues that Revelation “repeats in sym bolic form the
m essage o f the rest o f the N ew Testament. Few o f the 'secrets' that it reveals are, to Christians believers,
otherwise inaccessible” {The Returning King, 46); also, Metzger suggests that if other parts o f the
Scriptures appeal to our emotions (e.g. Psalms), to our will (e.g. the Law) or to our intellect (e.g.
 150

treasure o f Revelation, we submit that the rest o f the NT provides the substance o f this

treasure, and the act o f sealing the slaves o f God in Revelation 7 is no different.

The sign o f the woman and the dragon in Rev 12:1-6 helps illustrate this. Most

commentators understand the woman as a symbol o f the people o f God, the dragon as

Satan, and the male child as the Messiah.301 Satan is anxiously awaiting the child’s

birth to devour him, yet “the child was caught up to God and to His throne” (12:5). An

instance o f what John portrays here in symbolic language is found plainly described in

Matt 2:1-23, where the new bom king o f the Jews narrowly escapes Herod’s massacre

o f the male infants o f Bethlehem.302 Just as our interpretation o f the symbols in Rev

12:1-6 is greatly illumined by Matt 2:1-12, we submit that clearer NT categories

Romans), through images and pictures Revelation invites us to understand its more mysterious m essage
by exercising a disciplined imagination, implying that the content o f Revelation is not substantially
different from the rest o f the Scriptures (see Bruce M. Metzger, Breaking the Code: Understanding the
Book o f Revelation (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2006).

301 This is the traditional and dominant interpretation o f these sym bols, though Roman
Catholics see the woman as Mary, the mother o f Jesus. Interpreters (especially Historicists) working
with the assumption that Revelation’s descriptions correspond to historical events in chronological
order would take an alternative view at this point; thus, for E. B. Elliott seeing here “the child Jesus,
bom at Bethlehem, [is] an explanation on no account admissible,” for the male child must be the
Church rising to political power in the fourth century AD: “first to recognition as a body politic, then
very quickly to the supremacy o f the throne in the Apocalyptic world, i.e., the Roman Empire;” this
position o f authority is “designated as the throne o f God,” from where the Church rules the heathen “as
with an iron rod” (Elliott, HA, 3:11-12).
W hile interpreting Revelation within a chronological-sequential framework and yet allowing
for chapters 12 through 14 to be treated as a parenthetical section, most Futurists see the male child
incident (12:1-5) as a reference to the birth o f Jesus (cf. Gaebelein, Revelation, 73-75; Walvoord,
Revelation, 187-191; and Thomas, Revelation, 2:120-126). An exception is M. J. Svigel, who argues
that the catching up o f the male child in 12:5 is the clearest reference in Revelation to the Rapture o f the
church (“The A pocalypse,” 7 7 2 2 [2001]: 53-57).

302 This is only one example, for Satan’s schem es and attacks with the intent o f frustrating
G od’s plan and destroying His Messiah took various forms throughout the history o f redemption.
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should be used in interpreting the more elusive and symbolical language associated

with the sealing o f the 144,000.303

Symbolism and Referentiality o f the Seal, the Sealing, and the Sealed

Applying the above proposal to Revelation 7, and having noted that the act o f

sealing appears to provide protection for God’s slaves through this world’s afflictions,

to set them apart as a holy and victorious army o f the Lamb, and to identify them as

God’s own people before His throne where they shall dwell forever, what NT category

does John intend to portray for his audience? While the OT (primarily Ezekiel 9 and

Exodus 12) provides the background for understanding Revelation 7 (esp. vv. 1-8), we

submit that this sealing o f God’s slaves is best identified as a symbol or metaphor o f

the great salvation proclaimed and inscripturated by the other NT apostles and by John

elsewhere. Just as the gospels describe and the epistles explain the redemptive acts o f

God on behalf o f His own people as accomplished through Christ’s life, death and

resurrection, and just as this redemption is applied by the Spirit to the hearts o f His

chosen ones, likewise the sealing o f God’s slaves in Revelation describes the same

reality, yet in a different and enriching fashion: understood as the symbolic writing o f

the divine names on the foreheads o f God’s slaves, applying this seal to all who

303 Another exam ple is Revelation 5, where the slain lamb is a picture o f the redemption
accomplished by Jesus through His death and resurrection. To be consistent, if the pictures o f
Revelation 5 and 12 are identifiable with events or concepts described elsewhere in the N T, why not the
sealing o f Revelation 7 (as w ell as other sym bols)? If such consistency in interpreting Revelation’s
sym bols appears to support our m ethodological proposal, we may also point to the unity o f Scripture
provided by the Spirit’s divine authorship, the perspicuity o f Scripture, as w ell as the common faith o f
the church referred to as “our common salvation and the faith that was once for all delivered to the
saints” (Jude 3) or simply the faith (Acts 6:7; 1 Cor 16:13; Col 2:7; 1 Tim 4:6; Jas 2:1; etc.).
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belong to Him as a picture o f salvation speaks both to the transformation o f the

concept o f sealing as well as to its intrinsic confessional nature.

On the Transformation o f a Concept

How has the concept o f sealing been transformed? We have previously shown

that the uses o f the seal in the ancient world through NT times stem from the idea o f

ownership, with the seal being a symbolic representation or an extension o f one’s

person. And though sealing was practiced for authentication and validation, with other

derived metaphorical concepts involved, its initial and basic purpose was to mark an

object as one’s own, and thus to safeguard it or keep it intact.304 In time, this concept

was transferred from extending one’s ownership over physical goods (pottery, cattle,

etc.) to marking one’s slaves or religious devotees, and thus implicitly safeguarding or

preserving them unto their owner’s or gods’ bidding.305 It is this physical marking or

sealing applied to slaves that John employs and transforms in Revelation 7; God is the

Owner, while certain people are His slaves, and sealing becomes a metaphor or

symbol to convey divine and eternal ownership o f God’s own, with all the benefits

that accompany it, yet especially that o f protection and preservation.306

304 See Gibson & Biggs, “Summation,” 150-151, and our Chapter 3, above.

305 For more details see Otto Betz, “oxiypa,” TDNT, 7:658-660, and Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus
17-22: A New Translation with Introduction an d Com m entary (A B 3 A; N ew York: Doubleday, 2000),
1690-1695.

306 The transition did not occur in a vacuum, as our study on the use o f seals indicates that the
physical or literal uses o f the seal often received a metaphorical or sym bolical application (see Chapter
3, above). Moreover, a couple o f other earlier and contemporary Second Temple sources indicate the
presence o f somewhat parallel concepts. Thus, in The Psalms o f Solom on ( Ist cent B.C. to Is' cent A.D .)
w e read o f God branding His own : “For G od’s mark is on the righteous for (their) salvation” (15:6),
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When compared to its OT as well as other ancient Near Eastern and Second

Temple background, the concept o f sealing in the NT and especially in Revelation is

transformed in light o f the great redemptive acts o f Christ: from the physical

protection and this-worldly deliverance afforded to the Israelites by the blood during

the Passover as well as by the mark on the foreheads o f the faithful in Ezekiel 9

(though here something more than physical protection may be involved), sealing in the

NT, and particularly in Revelation 7, transcends physical ownership and temporary

safeguarding, becoming in essence a symbol or a metaphor o f the ultimate protection

T07
o f God’s own, the proof and guarantee o f their eternal salvation.

w hile sinners “shall be overtaken as by those experienced in war, for on their foreheads (is) the mark o f
destruction” (Pss. Sol. 15:9); and 4 Ezra 6:5-6 (perhaps written about the same time as Revelation)
speaks o f God sovereignly planning everything that com es to pass “before those who stored up
treasures o f faith were sealed”- this terse reference to the sealing o f the people o f faith points perhaps to
their destiny.
O f course, the concept o f Yahweh saving a remnant is a common OT prophetic theme, and this
salvation is associated with His visitation o f His people; the Qumran community saw itself as the
faithful who would be saved when Messiah com es in judgment, just like it happened when God told
Ezekiel “to mark with a tau the foreheads o f those who sigh and groan. But those who remained were
delivered up to the sword, which carries out the vengeance o f the covenant” (CD XIX, 10-13).

307 According to Aune, “the recognition o f Jesus as the Messiah o f Israel by his followers
obviously made one o f the optional elements o f the apocalyptic narrative mandatory. The story [in
John’s Apocalypse] now had to include a Messiah and that Messiah had to be linked to Jesus o f
Nazareth;” one aspect o f that transition implies linking “traditions o f the temporary m essianic kingdom
to the eternal kingdom o f God” (Aune, “Transformation o f Apocalypticism ,” in K nowing the Endfrom
the Beginning: The Prophetic, the Apocalyptic, an d their Relationship (JSP 46; ed. Lester L. Grabbe
and Robert D. Haak; T&T Clark International: N ew York, 2003), 61. In the process, everyday aspects
o f life in the ancient world (such as sealing, redemption, adoption, or the giving o f a pledge) - though
som e would have acquired a sym bolic value and depth o f meaning even prior to their NT use - were
now em ployed as sym bols o f the greater and ultimate realities in light o f Christ’s death and resurrection
and the crowning o f G od’s revelation through His Son (Heb 1:1-2).
Thomas E. M cComiskey calls for caution when dealing with Revelation’s use o f antecedent
symbols. While noting that “[o]ne o f the striking features o f the book o f Revelation is its adaptation o f
OT imagery to its Christocentric proclamation,” w e should beware o f the tendency to “m ove sym bols
across the Testaments uncritically without regard to the limits o f their new contexts in Revelation”
(“Alteration o f OT Imagery in the Book o f Revelation: Its Hermeneutical and Theological
Significance,” JETS 36 [1993], 307 and 312). For example, M cComiskey argues that w e should not
ascribe all the divine attributes to Jesus simply because He is described in Rev 1:14 as having the white
hair o f Daniel 7:9’s Ancient o f Days, but rather limit the transfer to the text-intention o f the passage in
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However, John is not the first NT writer to employ the concept o f sealing

believers. Three especially relevant instances testifying to God’s application o f a seal

to His people are Eph 1:13,4:30, and 2 Cor 1:22, all three references being found in

soteriological contexts. As noted above in chapter 3, Paul identifies the seal with the

Holy Spirit, a guarantee or assurance o f the eternal inheritance for those who trust in

Christ upon hearing the gospel o f salvation. This eternal inheritance, though, starts

now, as believers are sealed into and share the richness o f the resurrection life in

Christ, yet looking forward to the day o f their final redemption.308

Yet, if both Paul and John use sealing to speak o f the same underlying concept

o f salvation, what is John’s contribution in Revelation 7? If the seal is understood as

the divine names stamped on people’s foreheads, how does it then function as a

metaphor o f salvation?

which the symbol (or parts o f it) is used in Revelation; thus, since the main ‘theological datum’ o f Rev
1:12-20 concerns Christ’s ability to judge and speak authoritatively to the seven churches - and not
with the way He relates to the Father, w e should limit the transfer to the point o f contact between
Daniel and Revelation, which here is “the quality o f venerableness” (312). However, while w e affirm
with M cCom iskey the centrality o f ‘the quality o f venerableness,’ we may not deny the reality o f many
other resonances with Daniel 7:9-10, especially in light o f the affirmations o f Christ’s deity elsewhere
in Revelation.

308 In expounding on the idea that believers have been “sealed unto the day o f redemption”
(^ocppayioOqTE eiq f|p£pav dTtoXuipcbaeax;; Eph 4:30), E. W oodcock states that “se a lin g la b els them
as G od's in v io la b le property, as having the mark o f G od's ow n ersh ip and p rotection , and as
b ein g guaranteed o f their final sa lv a tio n ” (“The Seal o f the H oly Spirit,” 162). N ote the similarities
between W oodcock’s statement here and the comments o f O ’Brien on Eph 1:13 (Ephesians, 114) as
w ell as those o f Harris on 2 Cor 1:21, as w e cite him here again: “God (1) has “branded” believers as
His property, (2) has attested the reality o f their status in Christ, and (3) has guaranteed their “protection
in transit” as his permanent and inviolable possession” (The S econ d Epistle to the Corinthians, 207).
Again, w hile these ideas are more implicit or understood in the Pauline usage o f the seal and sealing,
Paul's emphasis is on the guarantee o f the final redemption and inheritance. See also G. K. Beale, who
connects Paul’s metaphors to the present eschatological resurrection reality shared by believers whether
in the first or the twenty first century: “These three metaphors [down payment, seal, and first fruits] are
classic expressions o f Paul's already - not yet understanding o f eschatology, especially o f how the
resurrection has begun and w ill be consummated in the future” (A New Testament B iblical Theology:
The U nfolding o f the O ld Testament in the New [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2011 ], 578).
 155

The answer must touch on two aspects o f the imagery o f sealing: the different

emphases o f sealing analogy, and the resulting imprint o f the seal. Having equated the

act o f sealing with the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in the hearts o f those who believe

the gospel o f Christ, Paul reaches into the commercial world for an analogy, calling

the Spirit an appapcbv, a guarantee or a pledge o f the saints’ eternal inheritance. The

sealing is done at the heart level by placing God's Spirit there. Thus, while

preservation and protection for the sealed are implied, the nature o f the Pauline

commercial imagery places the emphasis on the reality o f being in Christ as well as on

the guarantee and assurance o f the final redemption and inheritance.

In addressing the same reality o f salvation, John reaches into another area o f

his audience’s experience for his analogy, the world o f slave ownership: just as slaves

were at times branded by their owners, so here John portrays the Owner o f all creation

stamping His Name as a seal upon His slaves, thus identifying and claiming them as

His own people.309 While all the benefits o f salvation apply, John's emphasis in the

sealing o f the 144,000 is both on the protection that God affords to those whom He

identifies as His own possession, and on their preservation. They are secure even as

they witness the manifestation o f God's judgment and as they experience the demonic

attacks described in Revelation 9:1-11. And they will be kept or preserved by Him

because they are especially identified as His possession (even if it may involve their

309 In describing this, Comblin appeals to adoption, which is another metaphor o f salvation:
“Ce nom est le signe de la consecration a Dieu et de l'adoption” (“La liturgie de la nouvelle Jerusalem,”
£77. 29 [1953], 18).
 156

martyrdom) until they reach their destiny in God’s presence as His people (Rev 21:1-

8), shepherded forever by the Lamb (14:1-5).

At the visionary level, John's sealing is applied to the forehead, so the

beneficiaries o f this seal instantly display the divine names on their foreheads. While

acknowledging that referentially sealing is still a heart issue, we submit that the seal's

display on the forehead consists o f a Christo-theological confession or testimony,

whereby the beneficiaries o f this sealing clearly and unambiguously acknowledge both

the Father and the Son as the source and author o f salvation.310 Thus, while act o f

sealing points to God's gracious act o f salvation whereby He identifies His own and

pledges to protect them, the outward manifestation o f this salvation is one's

confession. For, as the act o f sealing is proven by the presence o f the imprint, so

110 Though few interpreters regard the seal as a physical and visible sign upon the forehead o f
the 144,000 during the future great tribulation, most see it as a symbol, yet the referent o f that symbol
varies. Som e proposals have been noted already, such as physical preservation for Jewish Christians
around the events o f A.D. 70; physical protection for som e other group or the w hole church as a
remnant at som e other time in history; invulnerability for the 144,000 during the Great Tribulation, at
least until they achieve their witnessing mission; or spiritual preservation through trials or demonic
attacks, etc.
Another less common view is held by some Seventh Day Adventists, who identify the seal as
the keeping o f the Sabbath, the test o f true faith in the last days (see Joseph Bates, A S eal o f the Living
G o d [Abrams, Wis.: Lighthouse Publishing, Version 1.0], 1998, accessed July 23, 2013,
http://temcat.com/L-1 -adv-pioneer-lib/JBATES/Seal-The% 20Living-God-Joseph-Bates.pdf.). In a letter
dated 31 January 1849, Ellen White also taught that “if the mind is filled with other things, present truth
is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal o f the living God. This seal is the
Sabbath” (“To Those Who Are R eceiving the Seal o f the Living God,” Ellen G. White Writings,
accessed July 24, 2013,
http://egwtext.whiteestate.org/publication.php?pubtype=Periodical&bookCode=Broadside2&lang=en&
year= 1849&month=January&day=31). According to Denton E. Rebok, “The sign, or seal, o f God is
revealed in the observance o f the seventh-day Sabbath ... the mark o f the beast is the opposite to this —
the observance o f the first day o f the week” ( The S eal o f G o d an d the Sealing Work : A Com pilation
from the Bible an d the Spirit o f Prophecy [Loma Linda, Calif., 1955], 58); Robert D. Brinsmead also
claims: “The Papacy had removed the seal from G od’s law by substituting the pagan Sunday in the
place o f G od’s seventh day Sabbath as the day o f rest and worship. Having accom plished this, Rome
extolled her power and authority by pointing to Sunday as the MARK o f her institution” (G od's Eternal
Purpose [Conway, Mo.: Ministry o f Healing Health Center, 1959], 162); cf. “Bible Truth vs. Adventist
Truth: Sabbath as the Seal o f God,” Nonsda, accessed Sept 18, 2012,
http://www.nonsda.org/study7.shtml).
 157

salvation or belonging to God’s new covenant people is inextricably linked with one’s

Christo-theological confession.

On Numbers, Ethnicity, and Innumerability

Now, if the seal consists o f this basic confession, why are there only 144,000

beneficiaries o f it, and why are they introduced as 12,000 from each o f the tribes o f

the sons o f Israel? Moreover, what is their relationship to the great multitude o f the

second vision o f Revelation 7? We submit that both groups give us a snapshot o f the

redeemed people o f God in its completeness both throughout history (7:1-8) and in the

age to come (7:9-17); if the former is a picture o f the church militant, the latter

represents the church triumphant.311

It should not surprise us that in such a symbol-laden context John is also using

numbers and ethnicity as symbols, building upon them yet pointing to realities beyond

them. The symbolic value o f the number 144,000 has often been explained as

311 We concur with Smalley (and others), who after reviewing the main suggested
interpretations for the 144,000 (a faithful remnant o f Israel, a ‘last generation’ o f believers protected
from physical harm, or a special group o f martyrs preserved until their w itnessing m ission is done, or
perhaps martyrs portrayed as a messianic army), concludes that the sealed 144,000 constitute “an
inclusive symbol o f all followers o f Christ: the Christian church in its totality, made up ... o f those from
a Jewish as w ell as Hellenistic background, and balanced by the faithful multitude who appears later in
the chapter” (186-188); see also Beale, Revelation, 416-426; Blount, Revelation, 144-147; Hendriksen,
More than Conquerors, 110-111; also Delorme and Donegani, who note that the p e ia xauxa o f verse 9
“ne signifie pas qu'un nouvel 6venement se passe apr£s la sigillation des cent quarante-quatre mille,
mais qu'une seconde vision s'ajoute h la pr^cedente” (L'Apocalypse de Jean, 1:202). Standing on
Augustine's shoulders, Brtltsch also states his preference for this view: “Darum ziehen wir Augustins
Auslegung vor (in «Doctrina christiana» 111, 62): 'quo numero (144 000) significatur universitas
sanctorum in Apocalypsi'” {D ie Offenbarung Jesu Christi, 3:328).
Though not fully in agreement with our view , Feuillet sees the 144,000 as an expression o f
God’s viewpoint: it is definite and complete, for He knows the exact number o f the elect; the great
multitude is the same group, yet seen now from a human standpoint as uncountable as the stars (“Les
144,000 Israelites marques d’un sceau,” 196). Bauckham presents a variation on this, as he sees the
great multitude as the Christian interpretation and fulfillment o f the Jewish expectation and
eschatological hope portrayed by the sealing o f the 144,000 {The Jew ish W orld around the NT, 161-
173).
 158

indicating the completeness (the number 12), vastness (times 1000), and perfection

(12,000 times 12) o f God’s people. The number 144,000 is large, yet countable or

manageable, thus simultaneously indicating both vastness and completeness, leading

us to conclude that God seals a large number o f people as His slaves, yet the number is

also precise, with none missing - “the complete number o f God’s Israel,”312 or “die

Symbolzahl fur das wahre endzeitliche Gottesvolk.”313

Why the Israelite origins for the 144,000, and how would John’s audience

understand this? Just as Poythress argues for the temple imagery in Revelation 11 as

speaking rather o f the church, the reference here to the sons o f Israel also points to the

continuity between the old and new covenants, emphasizing that “Christians are true

heirs o f the Old Testament and o f Jewish claims.”314 It is by their Christo-theological

312 Resseguie, The Revelation o f John, 32; for more discussion on the significance o f these
numbers and their associations in Revelation and elsewhere, see pages 28-32; also Beale, Revelation,
59-61, 416-417, Osborne, Revelation, 312; and Yarbro Collins, C osm ology an d E schatology in Jewish
a n d C hristian A pocalypticism (SJSJ 50; Leiden: Brill, 1996), especially chapter 3, “Numerical
Symbolism in Jewish and Early Christian Apocalyptic Literature,” 55-138. In her work Yarbro Collins
shows how numbers (especially 7, 10, and 12, and their multiples) are important in extra-biblical
literature o f John’s time as they are used as sym bols, pointing to the orderliness in the cosm os as w ell as
the divisions o f time; yet, “Revelation goes beyond other writings in the same genre in the prominence
o f numerical sym bolism ,” for the use o f numbers in Revelation is not intended to help one “calculate
the end,” but rather to help “create order and meaning in on e’s perception o f history, the world, and
life,” which ultimately points to G od’s sovereignty over this world: “nothing is random or accidental.
Everything is measured and counted. There is a divine plan, all is in G od’s control, and the outcome
will be advantageous to those loyal to G od’s will as revealed in the book” (136-137).

313 Giesen, Studien zur Johannesapokalypse, 89.

314 Poythress, “Genre & Hermeneutics,” 44. Aune also states: “Whether the readers understand
the 144,000 to be Christians o f pagan and/or Jewish origin, the list o f tribes serve [sic.] to underscore
the continuity between Judaism and Christianity” (A pocalypticism , Prophecy, an d M agic in Early
Christianity: C ollected Essays [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 2006], 130-131; elsewhere he writes: “The
number 144,000, explicitly based on 12 x 12,000 ... is likely to be understood as predicated on a
Christian eschatology that understood the people o f God to be built upon the tw elve tribes o f Israel and
the tw elve apostles” (Revelation 6 -1 6 ,460). Especially pointing to sealed in Revelation 7 (in
conjunction with 14:1), Karrer also argues for the continuity o f God's people, speaking o f Christians as
being God's slaves, and thus the true sons o f Israel, the beneficiaries o f God's seal (D ie
Johannesoffenbarung als Brief, 267).
 159

confession that these sons o f Israel show they are part o f God’s own people - the true

Jews and sons o f Israel are those who acknowledge not only the Father (one God in

the Jewish sense) but also Jesus as God, or those who bear witness to the Word o f God

and the testimony o f Jesus (Rev 1:2, 9, and 20:4; cf. Rev 12:11, 17, and 19:10).

That John is speaking here not o f physical Israel is suggested also by his

previous references to Jews in Rev 2:9 and 3:9, which are not complimentary. In his

message to the church at Smyrna, Christ knows about “the slander o f those who say

that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (2:9), while assuring the

church at Philadelphia o f vindication: “I will make those o f the synagogue o f Satan

who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-behold, I will make them come and

bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you” (3:9).315

According to Beale, “It is possible but unlikely that John intended his readership to understand
that those sealed were only ethnic Israelites. Instead, this is another example o f the ways that Christians
are portrayed in the Apocalypse under the OT guise o f the true people o f God, the true Israel”
(Revelation, 418); also, the square o f 12 (as in 144,000) is best seen as "the tw elve tribes multiplied by
the tw elve apostles,” thus pointing to the church, noting also that Rev 21:12-14 speaks o f these tw o sets
o f tw elve as essential to the N ew Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling o f G od’s own people (Revelation,
417). Yarbro Collins also believes John assumes continuity between Israel and the church as the one
people o f God: “John’s implicit use o f the term lou daioi for Christians fits with his assumption o f
continuity... [and] Those who have a right to be called Jews, in John’s opinion, are those who believe
in Jesus as the anointed Son o f God” (“Insiders and Outsiders in the Book o f Revelation and Its Social
Context,” in ‘T o See O urselves as Others See Us Christians, Jews, “Others ” in Late A ntiquity [ed.
Jacob Neusnerand Ernest S. Frerichs; Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1985], 208).

315 As noted by various authors, the unwarranted transfer o f John’s references to the Jews in
2:9 and 3:9 from their original contexts to one’s own would constitute grounds for charges o f anti-
Semitism, for such language “can be terribly offensive;” and “calling synagogues satanic ... makes
John’s m essage extremely distasteful nowadays” (Steven J. Friesen, “Sarcasm in Revelation 2 -3 :
Churches, Christians, True Jews, and Satanic Synagogues,” in The R eality o f A pocalypse: Rhetoric and
P olitics in the Book o f Revelation [SBLSS 39; ed. David Barr; Atlanta: SBL, 2006], 127 and 136).
Friesen sees these references in light o f the “irony, satire, and sarcasm” em ployed in
Revelation (“Sarcasm,” 132), while Yarbro Collins argues that w e should see this “not as a rejection o f
religious and ethnic Judaism viewed from a distance, but as a passionate polem ic against a sibling or
parent faith, like the attacks o f the Qumran community on all other Jews as virtual apostates” (“Insiders
and Outsiders,” 208). For beside such parallels with Qumran, there are other instances within the Jewish
tradition where on e’s abhorrent behavior leads to his forfeiting the privilege o f being regarded as a Jew,
as Daniel charged the two elders in Susanna 1:56, “You offspring o f Canaan and not o f Judah, beauty
 160

We may wonder what would lead John (himself a Jew) to be so harsh in his

treatment o f his own ethnic group. We should note that this is a polemical context

where perhaps the fledgling churches were threatened in some way by the more

established synagogues. It appears that some actions o f the Jews at least in those two

cities led him to make a prophetic pronouncement concerning their core identity by

denying their "Jewishness" possibly because they have caused trouble for the church,

especially as Christianity and Judaism grew further apart toward the end o f the first

century A.D. As Douglas Edwards notes, Jews at that time enjoyed some distinct

privileges, such as being exempt from certain taxes as well as being permitted to

worship their God, which precluded their participation in the festivals and worship o f

the Roman pantheon. And even though the majority o f Christians were Gentiles by

birth, the church would have been perceived as a Jewish sect, thus enjoying the same

benefits and protections the Jews did. Motivated by jealousy, the Jews would openly

accuse Christians as not being truly Jewish, for they neither kept the Law o f Moses

nor lived a distinctly Jewish lifestyle or worship at the synagogue anymore. Such

denunciations would have exposed Christians to scrutiny and possible persecution by

ambitious Roman officials anxious to promote emperor worship, even if such

-11/
incidents were more isolated.

has beguiled you and lust has perverted your heart.” A lso, “the Jews” in the gospel o f John are often in
opposition to Jesus and His disciples, who were also Jews, implying that Jesus and His followers are the
true sons o f Israel; this perhaps reflects not only the situation in Jesus’ time when the Jewish leadership
rejected Him, but also tensions and antagonism Christians were feeling from the Jewish community
toward the end o f the first century A.D. in parts o f the Roman world (see also D. A. Carson, The G ospel
A ccording to John [PNTC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1991], 141-142).

316 Edwards, Religion & Power: Pagans, Jews, an d Christians in the G reek East (N ew York:
Oxford University Press, 1996), 102. Cf. Beale, Revelation, 30-31. As already noted above, even though
 161

Another possible scenario may be connected with the fiscus Judaicus, the two-

drachma tax per person imposed by Vespasian on the Jews after the destruction o f the

Temple in A.D. 70. According to Suetonius (70-130 A.D.), Domitian ordered this tax

to be “levied with the utmost rigour, and those were prosecuted who without publicly

acknowledging that faith yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin

and did not pay the tribute levied upon their people,” with J. C. Rolfe noting that the

prosecuted “are doubtless Christians, whom the Romans commonly confounded with

the Jews.”317 In such a context it is possible that practicing ethnic Jews caused trouble

for Gentile Christians asking they should pay the tax (since they benefited from being

perceived and treated as a Jewish sect), or denounced Jewish Christians who might

have decided against paying the tax (since they would see themselves primarily as

Christians), demanding they should continue paying the tax due to their Jewish

ethnicity. These denunciations would probably lead the Roman authorities to pose

questions o f ultimate allegiance and identity, a scenario that finds further support in

Edwards’ note that Domitian’s successor, Nerva, “limited those who had to pay the tax

the evidence for a widespread persecution carried out by Domitian against Christians is lacking, their
status was precarious under what Thompson labels as ‘Rom e’s double-edged policy toward Christians’
in effect perhaps even before Domitian’s time:

On the one hand, Christians were not hunted down. They were tried only if accusations from
local provincials were brought against them. But if accused and convicted, then Christians who
were not Roman citizens were killed simply for being Christians. ...O n the one h a n d ,...
Christians could live quietly and cordially among neighbors in apartment com plexes without
harassment. On the other hand, if som eone chose to bring charges against them, they most
likely would be tried and executed (Thompson, “Ordinary Lives,” 37).

317 Suetonius, Dom. 12.2 (in The Lives o f the Caesars, 2.365-367; Rolfe, LCL); for R olfe’s
comment, see p. 366, note 2.
 162

[only to practicing Jews], which had the effect o f defining more sharply who was or

318
was not a Jew.”

Whichever scenario, because they played a role in the persecution o f God’s

people, John sees these Jews as agents o f the evil one, functioning in effect as a

synagogue o f Satan and thus forfeiting their claim to "Jewishness." This raises the

question o f Jewish identity: who are the true Jews? Strongly implied here is that

John’s Christian audience constitute the people o f God and have the claim to the title.

In fact, as noted already, Yarbro Collins assumes John is implicitly using the term

IovSaioi to refer to Christians.319 Thus, we agree with the majority o f commentators

who see John here as conducting a polemic against unbelieving Jews (perhaps for

denouncing or accusing Christians, causing their persecution by the Romans), and thus

contrasting them with the saints in the church - who constitute the true Israel,

regardless o f their ethnicity (cf. Rom 2:28-29 and Gal 3:28-29).320

118 Religion & P ow er, 102.

319 “Insiders and Outsiders,” 208.

320 According to Yarbro Collins, John’s remarks in these verses “imply that membership in the
tribes o f Israel is not primarily a matter o f birth (2:9; 3:9)” (C osm ology a n d Eschatology, 130); such
vilification o f the Jews rather “has a social function. On a basic level, it defines who the Christians are.
They are the genuine Jews, the heirs o f the promises o f Israel,” and as such they “should claim that
title” (“V ilification and Self-Definition in the Book o f Revelation,” HTR 79 [1986], 314 and 319. See
also Peder Borgen, “Polemic in the Book o f Revelation,” in Anti-Semitism an d E arly Christianity:
Issues in P olem ic an d Faith [ed. Craig A. Evans and Donald A. Hagner; M inneapolis, Minn.: Fortress,
1993], 199-211; based on an analysis o f relevant contemporary texts, “Borgen concluded that John was
reworking these traditions to support the idea that the church was the true Israel founded on the salvific
death o f Jesus, the eschatological community in which were found the true Jews” (Friesen, “Sarcasm,”
136-137; and, according to Gentry, “John attributes a spiritual significance o f the highest order to being
a “Jew”, i.e., in the true sense o f the word: a Christian” {Before Jerusalem Fell, 223).
In his discussion on the Isaianic background for Rev 3:9, Beale points out the reversal o f roles:
while in Isaiah it was the Gentiles com ing to bow down before Israel, now ethnic Jews hostile to
Christianity end up bowing down before Christians. Thus, “ethnic Jews have becom e like unbelieving
Gentiles because o f their rejection o f Christ and persecution o f Christians” (Beale, Revelation, 94; cf.
239-241 and 286-289). A s Friesen notes, here w e witness “structural irony with a sarcastic twist,” going
 163

A last aspect o f ethnicity concerns the list o f the tribes o f Israel. The

irregularities in this list - such as the order o f the names (Judah being listed first, yet

other "misplaced" names, such as some sons o f concubines promoted before some o f

Leah’s sons), the presence o f both Joseph and Manasseh, the inclusion o f Levi, and the

exclusion o f Ephraim and Dan321 - are perhaps best explained as alerting the audience

to the primacy o f the tribe o f the Messiah as well as to the fact that these are not

necessarily the privileged physical tribes, thus pointing to a new Israel, and perhaps to

what Yarbro Collins calls “the impression o f chosenness, or exclusivity.”322

on to explain this in terms congruent with Beale’s treatment above: “Revelation reuses Isaiah to assert
the right o f the m ostly Gentile congregation to enter the new Jerusalem. Christ is the royal official
with jurisdiction over the holy city, and the role o f Isaiah’s gentiles is played by the Jewish community
in Philadelphia, the synagogue o f Satan” (Friesen, “Sarcasm,” 141).
However, not all scholars see John castigating unbelieving Jews and im plying that Christ’s
followers are the true Israel. Thus, Friesen unconvincingly argues that “the sarcastic phrase “synagogue
o f Satan” did not question who could claim to be Jewish; it denied the opponents’ allegiance to God”
(“Sarcasm,” 138). Yet he also points out and rightly critiques a couple o f other view s, such as H.
Kraft’s, who suggests John does not address ethnic Jews but rather church members who “abandoned
the churches to seek refuge in the legal status o f the Jewish community” (Friesen, “Sarcasm,” 141; cf.
Kraft, D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 6 1).

321 On the exclusion o f the tribe o f Dan, see Philippe Lefebvre, who notes a distrust o f Dan in
Jewish literature which culminated in his om ission from Revelation 7 (a novel item here is Levebvre's
use o f the LXX o f 2 Sam [2 Kgm] 21:11, which speak o f Dan as a descendant from giants: Aav ui6q
Icoa £k tffiv &Jtoy6v(ov x<Sv yiydvrujv (“Mystdre et Disparition de Dan: de la Septuante & L'Apocalypse,”
in IX C ongress o f the International O rganization f o r Septuagint an d C ongnate Studies: Cam bridge,
1995 [ed. Bernard Taylor; Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1997], 279-307); also, E. Bernard A lio gives a
succinct history o f interpretation concerning the om ission o f Dan, concluding that John either omitted
the name by accident or because o f its unfavorable perception already existent by Is' century A.D. due
to associations to idolatry, apostasy, as well as the tradition that the Antichrist would eventually arise
from the tribe o f Dan (A pocalypse de Saint Jean [Paris: J. Gabalda et Cie, 1933], 111).
Kraft dism isses the accidental om ission, basing his argument on linking Gen 49:10 with Gen
3:15, as w ell as on the tradition that Judas Iscariot was from the tribe o f Dan. The om ission o f Ephraim
is due to the name's notorious ties with idolatry, especially in Hosea, which makes it hard for John to
associate this tribe with salvation (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 127). See also Satake, Die
O ffenbarung des Johannes 229-230.

322 “The use o f the tw elve tribes evokes a sense o f chosenness; these tribes, this people is
chosen from among all people. The twelve thousand from each tribe intensifies the impression o f
chosenness, or exclusivity” (C osm ology an d Eschatology, 130). According to Bauckham, the matter is
not conclusive, yet the interpretation o f the tribes should not be sought in the first vision (as a reference
to the Christian church instead o f physical Israel), but rather in what follow s, the image o f the
 164

We have submitted that the same people o f God are represented both by the

144,000 and by the great multitude. Yet, while most commentators identify the great

multitude with the people o f God before the throne, others believe the 144,000 have a

different referent. In light o f this tension, what other evidence could be adduced to

support the identity o f the 144,000 with the great multitude?

First, as already detailed above, the lexical and conceptual parallels between

the sealed 144,000 (7:1-8), the great multitude (7:9-17), the 144,000 on Mount Zion

(14:1-5), and the redeemed Bride o f the Lamb after Christ’s return (19-22) - such

interconnectedness323 points to these passages portraying one and the same people o f

God. To refer to the most poignant o f such parallels, since all inhabitants o f the New

Jerusalem are God’s slaves who have the divine names (the seal) written on them and

whose tears God Himself wipes away, that strongly suggests that all believers o f all

times receive the seal, not just one specific group (Jewish Christians, male ascetics, or

innumerable and international multitude before the throne (R. Bauckham, The Jew ish W orld around the
NT: C ollected Essays I [W UNT 233; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008], 161-173). See also Christopher
R. Smith, “The Portrayal o f the Church as the N ew Israel in the Names and Order o f the Tribes in
Revelation 7.5-8,” JSN T 39 (1990): 111-118, and “The Tribes o f Revelation 7 and the Literary
Competence o f John the Seer,” JETS 38 (1995): 213-218; Ross E. Winkle, “Another Look at the List o f
Tribes in Revelation 7,” A USS 27 (1989): 53-67; R. Bauchkam, Clim ax o f Prophecy, 220-223, and his
“The List o f the Tribes in Revelation 7 Again,” JSNT 42 (1991): 99-115 (republished in his The Jewish
World, 161-173); and Aune, Revelation 6 -1 6 ,464-465.
An ingenious yet unconvincing explanation is offered by J. Seiss (The A pocalypse, 1:410-411),
who argues that the tribes’ names and their order are important because the nam es’ significance
describes the 144,000 in that order, and the omitted names would not fit this description; thus, “Judah
means confession or praise; Reuben, view ing the Son; Gad, a company; . .. ” and the description o f the
144,000: “Confessors or praisers o f God, looking upon the Son, a band o f blessed ones, . .. . ” Dan, for
instance, would not fit here, because “Dan means ju dgin g, or the exercise o f ju d icia l prerogatives; but
these 144,000 are not judges and never becom e such.” W e should further note that for Seiss the 144,000
are ethnic Jews in a future tribulation period, who confess Jesus as the Messiah, look upon the Son for
salvation, constitute a distinct company from their fellow Jews, yet “are not o f the Church proper ...
[but] a superaddition to the church— a supplementary body ... made up after the proper Church has
finished its course” (The A pocalypse, 1:412).

323 Cf. Table 1 above.

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martyrs324), and the great multitude before the throne must refer to the same sealed

entity. John’s audience correctly saw themselves as part o f both the sealed and the

great multitude, and so should we and every believer in Christ.

Second, the identity o f the two groups is suggested by the rhetorical effect o f

juxtaposing hearing and seeing (or vice versa), and interpreting one in light o f the

other. The question is asked in 6:17, “Who is able to stand?” and the answer comes in

chapter 7 via the hearing-interpreted-by-seeing pattern. This is often paralleled to the

relationship between the question o f 5:1, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break

its seals?” and its answer by a hearing-interpreted-by-seeing scenario: John hears that

the Lion o f Judah is worthy for this task (5:5), yet when he turns he sees a Lamb who

appeared to have been slain (5:6). Similarly here, “John hears that those who are to be

sealed number 144,000, and that this number is made up o f 12,000 from each o f the

twelve tribes o f Israel. However, what he sees is a great multitude that no one could
' l ’J K
count, from every nation.”

324 A s Satake points out, this multitude does not consist only o f martyrs, and their future
reward (7:15 b -17) largely coincides with the presentation o f the eschatological blessings in 21 :,3f
provided for all true Christians” (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 232).

325 M oyise, O ld Testament in the Book o f Revelation, 133, and Beale, Revelation, 425. Many
other interpreters use this aspect in support o f the identity o f the two groups, Johnson being another
example: “As Judah’s Lion proved to be the slain Lamb, displaying royal power through the weakness
o f his sacrifice, so the flock he protects sounds like a precisely numbered, exclusively Israelite army
braced for battle but looks like a countless, international crowd celebrating a victory already won”
(Triumph o f the Lamb, 133). See also Bauckham’s Climax o f Prophecy, 215-216; his The Jew ish World,
161-174, as w ell as his “The Book o f Revelation as a Christian War Scroll,” N eotestam entica 22
(1988), 17-40. J. R esseguie’ summarizes this well: “In chapter 7 John hears 144,000 (7:4) but sees a
multitude o f faces (7 :9 )... The 144,000 sym bolize the true Israel o f God, which includes all— both Jew
and Greek (R evelation Unsealed, 34; cf. his Revelation o f John, 52-53).
Rev 14:1-5 provides an example o f the reverse scenario: seein g interpreted by hearing', there
John first sees the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, and then he hears their song as com ing out o f heaven. As
Resseguie notes, John brings hearing and seein g together at the conclusion o f the book, em phasizing
the importance o f both, as w ell as pointing to their relationship throughout the book: “I, John, am the
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Third, and connected to the previous argument, the universalization principle

in Revelation finds expression in the comparison o f the two visions o f chapter 7 and

the invitation to interpret one through the lenses o f the other. Thus, the movement

from one nation and twelve tribes to every nation and all tribes and languages suggests

that the former is but representative and pointing to the latter, and thus together

pointing to the same reality.

And fourth, we could also mention a couple o f logical and theological

arguments for the identity o f the two groups. In John’s narrative those who are sealed

and those who are marked make up two comprehensive and mutually exclusive

groups, so that every human being belongs to one category or the other: one has either

the seal o f God (Rev 9:5) or the mark o f the beast (Rev 13:7, 16), which doesn’t leave

any room for sealing only a part o f God’s people.327 Moreover, according to Rev 13:8,

since none o f those who worship the beast have their names written in the Lamb’s

book o f life, those who do refuse to worship the beast (i.e., those who are sealed) do

have their names written therein, which is another indicator o f their salvation and

one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship” (22:8;
cf. Revelation U nsealed, 36).

326 Dealing with the aspect o f universalism in apocalyptic, Aune concludes that in Revelation
“the people o f God are not restricted ethnically but is constituted o f those from every nation, tribe,
people and language group. These constitute a new minority which finds itself oppressed by ‘those who
dwell on the earth’ and their rulers, all dupes o f Satan (“Transformation o f A pocalypticism ,” 62). See
also Beale’s work on universalization o f the OT in the Apocalypse: “Revelation,” in It Is Written:
Scripture C iting Scripture (ed. D. A. Carson and H. G. M. Williamson; Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1988], 327-329; and Beale and M cDonough, “Revelation,” 1085; also Jacques Ellul,
who notes that "while the tendency was always toward unity by the disappearance o f diversity, now
unity appears (in God) in the communion o f existing diversities, and human plurality is maintained" The
Book o f Revelation (trans. George W. Schreiner; N ew York: Seabury Press, 1977), 224.

327 We could also note the authority given to the beast “over every tribe and people and
language and nation”(Rev 13:7-8), echoing 5:9 and 7:9, where G od’s people com e out o f every tribe,
people, language and nation.
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eternal destiny. But, even if this sealing provided some temporary and ethnically

limited benefits (see Rev 9:4 and 14:1), it is inconsistent with the NT to bestow

benefits based on ethnicity. Moreover, if the seal is intended to provide ultimate

protection or salvation - as argued here - it is theologically foreign to the rest o f the

NT to show favoritism and limit its beneficiaries to Jews as an ethnic group (see the

messages to the seven churches; Rev 5:9; 7:9; 14:6; 22:2; etc). John has already

applied Israel’s Scriptures to the Christian church and has also castigated unbelieving

Jews, making it probable that his reference to the sealed “sons o f Israel” is used

symbolically o f the church.

In summary, we would affirm that the numbers referring to the sealed are used

by John symbolically, to express both the vastness and the completeness o f God's

chosen people - though many, yet none will be missing. Their Jewish ethnicity points

out the historical roots and heritage o f God's people, though 'Israel' is redefined to

mean the faithful; due to their role in persecuting God's people, ethnic Jews forfeited

their claim to 'Jewishness', as John uses now the term Tou8aioi to refer to Christians.

The irregularities in the list o f the tribes also point in this direction, as it

328 Beale lists ways in which Revelation 1-6 already applies the OT to the church: “Exod. 19:6
in Rev. 1:6 and 5:10; Dan. 7:18, 22 in Rev. 5:9; Isa. 62:2 and 65:15 in Rev. 2:17 and 3:12; Isa. 43:4;
4 5 :19; 49:23; and 60:14 in Rev 3:9” (Revelation, 418). Plenty o f other N T evidence may be adduced
that in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that the church is the beneficiary o f
Israel’s promises, though few exam ples should suffice: Rom 2:28; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 2:12-22; 3:6; Gal
3:29;1 Pet 2:9-10; 3:5-6; and Jas 1:1, where believers are actually referred to as ‘the tw elve tribes.’ For
a more in-depth discussion on the church as the new eschatological Israel, see Beale, A New Testament
B iblical Theology, 651 -749.

329 Brtltsch beautifully w eaves together both the perfection o f the number 144,000 and the
'imperfections' o f the tribal list: “es handelt sich urn das vollkom mene Werk Gottes mitten in aller
Menschenunordnung” - “it is the perfect work o f God in the midst o f all human imperfection” (D ie
O ffenbarung Jesu C hrist/, 1:324)
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communicates the ideas of'choosenness and exclusivity' o f God's own, whom we

identify both with the sealed - the church militant, and with the great multitude - the

church triumphant.”330

On the Seal’s Confessional Nature

We have thus far made the case that both the 144,000 and the great multitude

represent the precise number and the whole people o f God; that they are identified by

God’s seal o f ownership and protection on their forehead; and that the seal’s imprint

consists o f the name o f the Lamb and o f His Father. We have also submitted that the

application o f this seal is proven or validated by one’s Christo-theological confession

or testimony.331 Thus, by the use o f symbol and word pictures John is doing the same

thing in Revelation 7 as in his other writings: arguing that a true believer cannot have

the Father without also having the Son: “Whoever denies the Son, does not have the

Father either. Whoever confesses the Son, has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). The

reason for this is that the Father Himself has given us the testimony about His Son.

And since Jesus is the only One who came to reveal the Father to us (John 1:18), and

the only Way for us to come to the Father (John 14:6), inheriting eternal life is

impossible without embracing the Son: “And this is the testimony: God has given us

330 That we are dealing here with two perspectives on the same group is also evident in
Satake's work, as he sees both the sealed 144,000 and the great multitude as "Christians par excellence,"
described by Revelation 7's first half in their earthly experience and by the second half in their heavenly
reality (D ie O fferbarung des Joh an n es, 226-227).

331 According to Seiss, the inward sealing would show itself outwardly “in the doctrines
professed by the sealed ones, in the power with which they announce and defend them, perhaps in
miraculous works wrought in proof o f them, in a particularly holy, prayerful, and self-denying life ...
making them appear like beings from another world ” ( The A pocalypse, 1:421).
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eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does

not have the Son o f God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). Thus, true Jews are

those who confess both the Father and the Son (and the Spirit, Paul might add via Eph

1:13,4:30, & 2 Cor 1:21-22). “Whoever believes in the Son o f God has this testimony

in him self’ (1 John 5:10) or in his heart (NIV) - and also on his forehead, according

to Revelation!

This addition o f the Name o f Jesus to that o f God (the Father) is done in the

context of building the church on the foundations provided by the OT and especially

by Israel, the OT chosen people o f God. On their way to the New Jerusalem, all

Israel’s tribes are sealed with the Name o f the Lamb and o f His Father, and only thus

can they be ready to face spiritual warfare and physical persecution, yet still be

assured o f being able to stand when the Day o f the wrath o f the Father and o f the

Lamb arrives. And, having been cleansed by the blood o f the Lamb and arriving into

God’s presence through the foreordained tribulation, they have the assurance o f

forevermore enjoying the divine presence as they are shepherded by the Lamb.

This clearly has implications not only for the role o f the Book o f Revelation in

the larger polemical context o f Asia Minor concerning the perceived struggle between

the church and the synagogue regarding the identity o f the true people o f God, but also

perhaps for the book’s authorship, or at least for its relationship to other Johannine

writings. The concept o f sealing as a metaphor o f salvation which consists o f a

Christo-theological confession is closely tied especially to 1 John, yet being also

related to 2 and 3 John as well as the Gospel according to John - “that you might
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believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son o f God, that by believing you may have life in

His name” (John 20:31). Revelation takes this message to its final outworking in

God’s eternal plan: those who will be in God’s presence in the eschaton will walk with

Jesus, having His Name (and the Name o f His Father) on their foreheads, in their

hearts, and on their lips. They are the true Israel o f God.

Looking first at previous context, Revelation 6 lends its support: it is the Day

o f the LORD, and God’s wrath is to be outpoured, yet it is the wrath o f the One seated

on the throne as well as the wrath o f the Lamb: “Fall upon us and hide us from the

face o f Him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath o f the Lamb. For the

great day o f their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6:16-17).

The throne room vision o f chapters 4 and 5 clearly situates God the Son on par

with the Father. There are hymns addressed to both the Father (in chapter 4) and the

332 According to Feuillet, “It would be stating the obvious here to insist that the fourth Gospel
and the Johannine Epistles can be separated only with the greatest difficulty from the Apostle John”
(The A pocalypse [transl. T. Crane; Staten Island, NY: Alba House, 1965], 105). Feuillet goes on to
suggest that while the w hole corpus com es from John, the apostle is the sole author (even if he used a
scribe) for the Apocalypse, while a collaborator o f John was responsible for the final redaction o f the
Gospel and the Epistles.
Though it is neither our purpose nor are w e able to satisfactorily address the authorship o f the
book o f Revelation here, w e submit that the close connection we see between the Christo-theological
confessional nature o f the sealing o f the 144,000 and the other Johannine writings constitutes what V.
Poythress calls ‘evidence from theological them es,’ serving as one o f the strands in w eaving a case for
the Johannine authorship o f Revelation (cf. Poythress “Johannine Authorship and the U se o f
Intersentence Conjunctions in the Book o f Revelation,” WTJ 41 [1985]: 329-336, where he states that
evidence, such as common patterns o f intersentence conjunctions, “needs to be taken together with
evidence o f other kinds: evidence concerning other kinds o f grammatical sim ilarities or differences,
evidence from theological them es, external testim ony, and so on” [329], See also Poythress’s two
previous articles in which he argues that sim ilar patterns for the use o f the intersentence
conjunctions in the G ospel o f John and in 1-3 John points to com m on authorship: “The Use o f the
Intersentence Conjunctions De, Oun, Kai, and Asyndeton in the Gospel o f John,” N o vT 2 6 [1984]: 312-
40; and “Testing for Johannine Authorship by Examining the U se o f Conjunctions,” WTJ 46 [1984]:
350-69). Though even in the case o f Revelation he believes “that the pattern tends strongly to confirm
unity o f authorship,” he cautions that “such evidence is easily counterbalanced by evidence for grammatical
patterns that distinguish Revelation from the Gospel and the Epistles” (“Johannine Authorship and the Use o f
Intersentence Conjunctions,” 332).
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Son (in chapter 5), yet the climax o f the throne-room’s vision (chs. 4-5) is the hymn

addressed to both persons o f the Trinity in 5:13-14, “And I heard every creature in

heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and

dominion forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders

fell down and worshiped.” This worship is directed to the Father and the Lamb alike,

and the book makes it clear that only God is to be worshiped (Rev 19:10; 22:8-9).

A succinct analysis o f the book’s introduction and the seven letters renders the

same result: true Christian confession cannot choose or separate between the Father

and the Son (and the Holy Spirit, yet that is not a primary concern here). Thus, the

book and its salutation comes from all three persons o f the Trinity (1:4-8). Though

other references point to the unity between the Father and the Son (such as 2:8; 3:21

and others), none is more relevant to the divine names as the seal o f God, as promised

by the living Christ in 3:12, “The one who overcomes: I will make him a pillar in the

sanctuary o f my God, and he shall never again go out o f it; and I will write on him the

name o f my God, and the name o f the city o f my God - the new Jerusalem, which

comes down out of heaven, from my God - and My new name.” This verse points not

only to the act o f sealing, but also to the spiritual nature o f God’s true Israel by the

imprinting on His people o f the name o f God’s city, the locus o f His presence with His

people: the New Jerusalem.

The confessional nature o f the seal finds its strongest support in the second

vision o f Revelation 7. The sealed, portrayed in vv. 9-10 as a great multitude standing
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before the throne, make that good confession as they address their hymn to both the

Father and the Son: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the

Lamb!” Such a confession highlights the unity o f the divine persons, and thus the

divinity o f Christ. This unity is again brought again to the fore at the closing o f the

chapter, where John makes alternate references to God and the Lamb, which makes it

intentionally difficult to distinguish between the two.333

Such a situation is paralleled by the eternal state mentioned in Rev 22:1-4 and

1 Cor 15:28. The association between God and the Lamb in Rev 22:1-4 is telling:

Then he [the angel] showed me the river o f the water o f life, bright as crystal,
coming out from the throne o f God and o f the Lamb through the middle o f the
street o f the city; and on either side o f the river was the tree o f life producing
twelve kinds o f fruit, yielding its fruit each month; the leaves o f the tree were
for the healing o f the nations. And no longer will there be anything accursed,
but the throne o f God and o f the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will
worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

Whose slaves/servants are they, and whom do they worship? Whose Name will be on

their foreheads? The singular personal pronouns in verses 3-4 are most likely referring

to Yahweh’s Name, pointing to the ultimate and perfect unity o f the eternal state also

mentioned in 1 Cor 15:28, which reads thus: “When all things have been made subject

to Him [to the Son by the Father], then the Son H im self will also willingly become

subject to Him [to the Father] who put all things in subjection under Him [under the

Son], that God may be all in all,” beautifully weaving together both the economic

333 Satake believes 7:15 c-l 7 is an inclusio, which shows the work o f God and o f the Lamb to
be inseparable (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 234).
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submission o f the Son as well as the ontological equality between the divine

334
persons.

To recall the light shed by Paul’s identification o f the seal with the Holy Spirit

(Eph 1:13,4:30, and 2 Cor 1:21-22), the seal o f the living God in Revelation 7 stands

for the stamp o f divine ownership by the Holy Spirit on one’s heart, which enables

that person to embrace and confess the Father and the Son - especially the testimony

about Jesus Christ, which is never to be separated from that o f the Father, as

334 Other evidence for the ontological equality may be adduced, such as Rev 7:17, where the
position o f the Lamb in the m idst o f the throne points to His unity with and inseparability from the One
sitting on the throne, His Father. As such, Huber says, the Lamb's position is unique, different from all
creation and the celestial beings who are around the throne; and, “D iese einzigartige Beziehung, ja
singulSre Einheit des Lammes mit Gott findet in der Tatsache der anbetenden Huldigung sow ie im
Inhalt des huldigenden Lobpreises, der in der Folge dem Lamm entgegengebracht wird, ihre vollgUltige
Bestatigung (Offb 5,8-10.11-12.13.14; vgl. Offb 7,9-10; 15,3-4; 19,6-8; 22,3) ” (Einer Gleich Einem
Menschensohn, 281).
In the same verse (7:17) the Lamb is leading the redeemed to streams o f living water (water o f
life), while in 22:1 this water flow s from the throne o f God and o f the Lamb. A s Satake notes, YH WH
is the only source o f living water in the OT (cf. Jer 2:13 and 7:13; D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 235-
236). In Revelation it is the Lamb who becom es the source and giver o f living water, at least alongside
with the Father (cf. Rev 2 1 :6 and 22:17; also John 4:10-14).
Rev 2 1 :22 also speaks to the ontological equality o f Jesus and the Father: “And 1 saw no
temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need
o f sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory o f God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb;” and 20:6,
“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no
power, but they will be priests o f God and o f Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand
years);” cf. Aune, “Transformation o f Apocalypticism ,” 61-62, where he notes: “In the Apocalypse o f
John, the Lamb is given the position o f co-regent with God, occupying a bisellium ( ‘two-sided throne’)
with him.” A lso, two o f Ian BoxalPs most com pelling arguments for Jesus’ participation in divinity
include His sharing o f G od’s throne as w ell as His acceptance o f worship, especially in light o f
Bauckham’s study which makes it clear that only the Creator receives worship in Revelation, never the
creature (see Boxall, “Jesus in the Apocalypse,” in Blackwell Com panion to Jesus [edited by Delbert
Burkett; Chichester, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2011], 124-126; cf. Bauckham, The
Theology o f the Book o f Revelation [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], 31-35; also, Bauckham,
Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel: G od C rucified an d O ther Studies on the New Testament's C hristoiogy o f
D ivine Identity [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2008], especially 1-59 and 152-181).
Another line o f supportive evidence com es from Bauckham’s fascinating study on the statistics
o f Christological titles in Revelation. He points out that the word Xptar6<; occurs seven times, while
’Ir|aou<; occurs fourteen (7 x 2) times (also fourteen references to “the Spirit”). Yet the most important
Christological term in Revelation is “the Lamb”, which occurs twenty-eight (7 x 4) times (indicating the
worldwide scope o f the Lamb’s victory); and seven o f the twenty-eight “are in phrases coupling God
and the Lamb together (5:3; 6:16; 7:10; 14:4; 21:22; 22:1, 3),” pointing to a com plete unity o f the two
persons (Climax o f Prophecy, 34-35).
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exemplified by the confession in Rev 7:10. And just as John argues elsewhere, those

who deny the Son are antichrists (1 John 2:18-27), who are to be equated with those

exhibiting Revelation’s mark o f the beast, while those who confess Christ and the

Father do so because o f the anointing o f the Spirit (1 John 2:20 and 27; 2 Cor 1:21-

22), thus exhibiting the seal o f the Living God.335

Post-NT Developments of the Concept o f Sealing

The literal and metaphorical uses o f seals and sealing have continued in the

post-NT times and down to our day. Since our main interest lies with the metaphorical

use, we shall attempt to trace this aspect o f sealing during the period following John’s

writing, especially during the second century and only as it relates to our subject o f

study.336 For Revelation 7 we have argued that sealing serves as a metaphor o f

335 Though various instances in the N T where the Father and the Son are juxtaposed and
presented in unity may be greatly multiplied (such as just these few from the Johannine writings: John
5:18; 10:30 and 38, 14:9, 15:23-24, 16:3; 1 John 1:3; 4:15; and 2 John 3, 9), w e should especially note 1
John 2:22-24,

Who is the liar but the one w ho denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one
who denies the Father and the S o n .23 N o one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever
confesses the Son has the Father a ls o .24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.
If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in
the Father.

We submit that the anointing o f vv. 20 and 27 (xpiopa; and perhaps the participle xpioaq in 2
Cor 1:21) probably has the same referent as the sealing o f Revelation 7, namely the Spirit and His
empowering work in a believer’s heart; thus, the involvement o f the three persons o f the Trinity may be
seen as further confirmation that the concept o f sealing is a picture o f salvation planned and
accomplished by the Triune God.

336 We should mention, though in passing, that 1 Clement (perhaps written shortly after
Revelation) also makes use o f seal and sealing in his letter to the Corinthians, though all uses are literal.
The references surround the event described in Numbers 17 where the LORD makes clear His choice o f
Aaron by having his staff sprout and produce almonds overnight. According to 1 Clem ent’s version o f
the event, M oses “sealed [^aippdyioev] the rods with signet rings [tou; SaicniXiou;] o f the chiefs o f the
tribes” (43:2), then he “sealed [tecppdyiaev] the keys and likewise also the doors” (43:3); the next day
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salvation, it is outwardly manifested as a Christo-theological confession by the

empowering o f the Spirit, and implies all the benefits and blessings accompanying that

divine act, primarily those o f divine ownership and protection unto eternal salvation.

We shall address three post-NT metaphorical uses o f sealing that are relevant to its use

in Revelation 7: sealing as congruent with the salvation metaphor, sealing for

apotropaic purposes, and sealing as baptism.

Examples o f the first category include texts such as 4 Ezra 2:33-48 and the

Odes Sol 8:12-13,19, whose writers use the concept o f sealing in ways that are

consistent with our view.337 Having been sent to reprove his own people Israel, Ezra is

portrayed as rejected by them, so he turns to the Gentiles with a message o f comfort,

urging the nations to “wait for the shepherd; he will give you everlasting rest” (2:34).

Using allusions to both Revelation 7 and 14, the ancient writer presents God’s celestial

kingdom as His inheritance for the Gentiles, calling on them: “Rise and stand, and see

at the feast o f the Lord the number o f those who had been sealed [signatorum, from

signo = to set a mark/sign upon]. Those who have departed from the shadow o f this

age have received glorious garments from the Lord” (2:38-39). He further refers to the

Gentiles as Zion, asking them to “conclude the list o f your people who are clothed in

M oses “showed the seals [xotg cf(ppayT5ac;] to the ch ief o f the tribes,” before opening the tabernacle and
taking out the twelve rods (43:5).

337 The book o f 4 Ezra is a composite book: chapters 1-2 and 15-16 (labeled as 5 and 6 Ezra by
some scholars) are dated to 2nd or 3rd century A .D ., and serve as a Christian framework for the Ezra
Apocalypse (4 Ezra 3-14), dated to about 100-110 A.D. (Cf. B. Metzger, “The Fourth Book o f Ezra,”
1:5 17-520). For an introduction to and translation o f the O des o f Solom on (written in the early part o f
the second century A .D ., perhaps as early as A.D. 100) see J. H. Charlesworth, “Odes o f Solomon: A
N ew Translation and Introduction,” in The O ld Testament P seudepigrapha (ed. J. H. Charlesworth;
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1985), 2:742.
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white, who have fulfilled the law o f the Lord” (2:40), another pointer to Christians as

the true Jews. After this Ezra is granted a vision o f Mount Zion, where he sees a great

multitude he cannot number, praising the Lord, Who in turn is portrayed as a young

man o f imposing stature placing a crown on the head o f each worshiper. The author

clearly conflates Revelation 7 and 14, equating the great multitude and the 144,000 on

Mt. Zion. Further indication o f the connection between sealing and confession is 2:45,

where the angel instructs Ezra about the identity o f the great multitude: “These are

they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and have

confessed the name o f God. Now they are being crowned, and receive palms.” And,

when Ezra inquires about the imposing young man placing crowns on everyone’s

head, the angel replies: “He is the Son o f God, whom they confessed in the world”

(2:47). For this ancient author, as well, confessing the name o f God is the same as

confessing the Son o f God, and that confession is the characteristic o f this great

multitude - the author’s rendering o f the 144,000 true Jews on Mt. Zion.

In our other example in this category, Odes Sol. 8:12-13 and 19, Christ is said

to have proclaimed: “I turn not my face from my own, because I know them. l3And

before they had existed, I recognized them; and imprinted a seal - tb 7]338 on

their faces... 19 And my righteousness goes before them; and they will not be deprived

338 This is the first person singular form o f the Syriac root (tb “), to imprint a seal, which
is a cognate o f the Hebrew T1J730, ring, sign et ring. Special thanks to Dr. Vem Poythress for his help
with this. Cf. Michael Lattke, D ie Oden Salom os in ihrer Bedeutungfiir Neues Testament und Gnosis
(OBO 25; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998), 1:100, in whose text (and in other scholarly
literature as w ell) the act o f sealing is part o f 8:15 (“Ich habe sie versiegelf'); cf. Lattke's Oden
Salom os: Text, Ubersetzung, Kom mentar (NTOA 41; GOttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999),
1:129-141 - his translation o f 8:15c here is virtually identical: "ich versiegelte sie" (141). Charlesworth
appears to be the only one to have this sealing as part o f 8:13.
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o f my name, for it is with them.” Here the seal seems to be identified with Christ’s

name, applied to the elect before they even existed, which is very much in line with

sealing as a metaphor o f salvation.339

The second metaphoric use o f sealing related to Revelation 7 is seen in the

Testament o f Solomon.240 In this folktale, king Solomon is given by archangel Michael

a signet ring341 to be used for apotropaic purposes: with it Solomon could imprison

both male and female demons, and either thwart their harmful activity or use them for

different tasks, such as the cutting stone or help otherwise with the construction o f the

Jerusalem temple. While in most cases Solomon is simply said to apply the seal to

demons and thus gain authority over them, he could also delegate the ring and its

authority to others, such as Omias, in sending him to summon Beelzeboul, the Prince

o f Demons: Solomon gives Omias the seal (2:9, xfiv acppayiba), who takes the ring

(3:1, to SctKTuMSiov) and flings the same to Beelzeboul's chest (3:3), who was coerced

to follow Omias and appear before Solomon (3:4-6). Moreover, after Solomon's

interview with Onoskelis - a female demon o f fair complexion yet with mule legs,

Solomon’s act o f sealing appears to be done by speaking God’s name - thus the

connection between the seal and the Name, as in Revelation: “So I uttered the Name

339 O des Sol. 11:1-3 may possibly be cited here as well, as it connects the work o f God in o n e’s
heart: “M y heart was pruned and its flower appeared ... For the Most High circumcised me by his Holy
S p irit... and His circumcising became my salvation.” See also Gos. Thom. 53, which also speaks o f the
circumcision o f the Spirit, deeming it more profitable than its physical counterpart.

340 The work dates between the late l sl to early 3rd century A .D . (see D. Duling, “Testament o f
Solom on,” 1:940-943), and it contains quite a number o f references to seals and sealing, using both
cnppayii; / a<ppayi^co, and 5aicri>Xio<; (as w ell as its neuter alternate, SaKTuXiSiov).

341 The ring is introduced in 1:7 as having a seal engraved in precious stone ( S o k tu X I S io v e %o v
0<ppayT5a yXtMpffc X(0ou Ttpiou), and Solomon is promised that, while he bears this seal o f God (£v
rf|v mppaytba tautriv oe tpspeiv roC 0 e o C ) he would have power over any demon.
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o f the Holy One o f Israel, and commanded her to spin the hemp for the ropes used in

the construction o f the Temple o f God. Thus, sealed [atppayvoGev] and bound, she was

made powerless so that she had to stand day and night to spin the hemp” (4:12). And

later on, when Solomon asks a lecherous demon who it is that thwarts him, the demon

replies, “He who is about to return (as) Savior thwarts me. If his mark is written on

(one’s) forehead, it thwarts me, and because I am afraid o f it, I quickly turn and flee

from him. This is the sign o f the cross” (17:4), identifying such a mark on one’s

forehead with the sign o f the cross, o f which he is afraid and from which he thus flees

- a superstition common in certain sectors o f Christianity to this day.342

A third category o f post-NT texts that are relevant to our discussion include

those which identify seal and sealing with Christian water baptism. The first

unambiguous identification o f baptism with the seal is found in the Shepherd o f

Hermas, about the middle o f the 2nd century AD. As G. Fitzer points out, we cannot

ascertain whether Hermas adopted an already established tradition in equating water

baptism with the seal, as he uses oippayv; to refer both to baptism and to preaching;

however, the tradition seems more established toward the end o f the 2nd century and

beyond.343

542 See also G. W. H. Lampe, The S eal O f The Spirit: A Study in the D octrine o f Baptism an d
Confirmation in the New Testament a n d the Fathers (2d ed.; London: S.P.C.K., 1967), 113-114.

343 See G. Fitzer, “a<pp&yu;,” 7Z)AT 7:951-952, and references therein. Everett Ferguson notes
that “S eal was the com m onest baptismal designation in the second century” (Baptism in the Early
Church: History, Theology, and Liturgy in the First Five Centuries (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
2009), 8; cf. Alio, who also speaks o f the seal only as a second century term for baptism [“cnppayic;, d6s
le II' stecle, a un terme technique pour le sacrement du Bapt£me”], though allow ing for perhaps an
allusion to baptism in Revelation 7 (Saint Jean: L'apocalypse, 108). J. K. Parratt also points out that,
“According to G. W. H. Lampe, o<pp&yic; is uniformly used o f baptism in the post-canonical writings”
(“Seal o f the Holy Spirit and Baptism,” BQ 23, no. 3 [July 1969]: 111); cf. Lampe, The S eal O f The
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This is a debated topic, and our purpose here is not a detailed analysis o f seal

and sealing’s associations with baptism, though we believe the two are separate in the

NT and only get identified in later literature, such as in The Shepherd o f Hermas:

3 So these also who had fallen asleep received the seal o f the Son o f God [t t \ v
ocppayvSa t o o uiou ton Geou] and entered into the kingdom o f God. “For
before,” said he, “a man bears the name o f the Son o f God, he is dead. But
when he receives the seal [aippayTSa], he puts away mortality and receives life.
4 The seal, then, is the water [f| atpptiyiq ouv t o udcop eatlv]. They go down
then into the water dead, and come up alive. This seal [cnppayiq], then, was
preached to them also, and they made use o f it ‘to enter into the kingdom o f
God’.”344

Spirit, especially chapter 6, where his survey o f second century writings that identify baptism with
seal/sealing include 2 Clement, Hermas, Acts o f Paul, Hippolytus’ A postolic Tradition, The Rest o f the
Words o f Baruch, etc. (pages 103-148).

344 Herm. Sim. IX, 16:3-4 (K. Lake, LCL); cf. Herm. Sim. VIII, 6:3. According to Karl Olav
Sandnes, Hermas’s equating o f seal with water baptism “has paved the way for a reading back into N ew
Testament tim es o f later liturgical practices, thus arriving at conclusions which are either assumed or
circuitous” (“Seal and Baptism in Early Christianity,” in Ablution, Initiation, an d Baptism: Late
Antiquity, E arly Judaism, an d Early C hristianity (3 vols.; ed. David Hellholm et. al.; Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 2011), 2:1441.
Another mid-second century text making the identification between sealing and baptism is 2
Clement. Just as Hermas, the author o f 2 Clem ent shares the concern o f post-baptismal sin, and equates
baptism and the seal. He urges that baptism be kept pure and undefiled (6:9), for those “that have not
kept the seal [<ppoyT8a], He saith, ‘Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and
they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh’” (VII.6), concluding with a call to repentance while still on
earth, and this exhortation, “Keep the flesh pure and the seal [mppayTSa] o f baptism undefiled, that we
may obtain eternal life” (2 Clem. 8:6 [K. Lake, LCL] - w e should note that K. Lake adds 'o f baptism',
which is not in the Greek text). As Lampe points out, though, in 2 Clem ent “the seal has com e to be
regarded as something primarily connected to the flesh; Baptism imprints upon the mortal flesh a seal,
which must be preserved intact by righteous living ... so that the flesh, being joined to the Spirit, will
ultimately be able to partake o f life and immortality” {The Seal o f the Spirit, 105-106).
A couple o f other texts perhaps toward the end o f the second century that associate sealing
with baptism include Sibylline O racles 8.244 and Epistula Apostolorum 41 -42. The former reads,
“There w ill then be a sign for all men, a most clear seal [o<ppqyi<;]: the wood among the faithful, the
desired horn... illuminating the elect with waters in twelve streams” (J. J. Collins, “Sibylline Oracles: A
N ew Translation and Introduction,” in The O ld Testament P seudepigrapha [ed. J. H. Charlesworth;
Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983], 1:424); while the seal here points to Jesus and the cross, it also
speaks o f baptism, as J. J. Collins notes that such “language o f illumination is com m only used for
baptism from the second half o f the 2nd cent. A D ” (ibid.). In the latter, Christ promises, “Truly I say to
you, all who have listened to you and have believed in me w ill receive the light o f the seal that is in my
hand” (£/?. Apos. 41), which He soon explains: “By my hand they will receive the baptism o f life and
forgiveness o f sin” (42; for introduction and text, see C. D etlef G. Mtlller, “Epistula Apostolorum,” in
Hew Testament A pocrypha [2 vols.; rev. and ed. by Wilhelm Schneemelcher; transl. and ed. by R. M.
Wilson; Louisville, Kent.: W estm inster/ John Knox Press, 1990], 1:249-284).
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The main concern in Hermas is the issue o f forgiveness o f one’s sin after baptism.

This is the context in which the seal is said to be the water [baptism], which in turn is

equated with regeneration - this we must reject as being outside the perimeter o f NT

teaching.345

If the seal consists o f one’s Christo-theological confession or testimony as we

have shown, it is not difficult to see how the concept o f sealing came to be linked to

and then identified with Christian baptism not too long after Revelation was written.346

As sealing implied the writing o f God’s name on people’s foreheads, though at a

visionary level, it speaks to the intersection o f the material with the spiritual, marking

an unseen point-of-entry or initiation into the covenant community, a spiritual and

internal initiation which is pictured by the physical and external sign o f water baptism.

Also, given the divine names the seal consists of, the parallels to the Trinitarian

345 Prigent also concludes that “au bapteme les chretiens sont devenus membres du peuple de
Dieu, ils ont 6t£ marques a son nom, ils sont a lui” (L 'Apocalypse d e Saint Jean, 121; cf. 128). He
believes that John modified Ezekiel’s use o f the mark (Taw) and adopted the word otppayii; both
because the latter was by then a technical term for baptism, and also to avoid confusion with the mark
o f the beast. In support o f his position Prigent appeals to a fourth century writing by Lactanius, despite
its late date; the passage reflects not only the post-NT identification o f the seal with baptism and the
cross, but also the apotropaic use o f the seal: “Lactance parle du « Christ immote pour le salut de tous
ceux qui portent sur leur front le signe (signum) du sang, c'est-i-dire de la croix . . . Mais com m e les
demons ne peuvent ni approcher ceux en qui ils ont vu la marque (notam) celeste, ni nuire & ceux que
protege le signe (signum) immortel” (L ’A pocalypse de Saint Jean, 120, esp. note 14, where Prigent
quotes from Instil. Divin. 4:26-27, by Lactanius).
However, cf. Gregory Dix, “'The Seal' in the Second Century,” Theology 5 1 (1 9 4 8 ): 7-12, who
argues that the Christian rite o f initiation includes the regenerational Holy Baptism, yet it is incomplete
without Confirmation and First Communion. For Dix, “Confirmation is a n ecessary part o f initiation,
since it is the sacramental bestowal o f the positive principle o f Christian life, the gift o f the Holy
Ghost,” which is the Seal.

346 A s Comblin notes, baptism and a confession o f faith have always gone together: “Le
bapteme, en effet, est, d£s le d6but, un rite qui va de pair avec une confession de foi. II s'accompagne
d'une remise des paroles de la foi et d'une confession par le candidat au bapteme” (Le C hrist Dans
L'Apocalypse, 225). Yet such association cannot serve as the basis for identification o f the seal with
baptism.
 181

baptism formula become obvious, making it easier to associate and eventually identify

sealing with baptism. Moreover, interpreters sometimes see baptismal associations in

the three passages where Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the seal (2 Cor 1:21-22; Eph

1:13, and 4:30),347 and thus transfer such associations to the sealing in Revelation 7.

Thus, corresponding to the physical sign o f circumcision, the identification o f the act

o f sealing with water baptism is understandable, though we submit such identification

is a later development, and difficult to find in Revelation 7.

We contend that sealing has reached its pinnacle in the NT and in John’s

Revelation as a metaphor o f salvation, and there is no further the symbol can be taken

347 For Jllrgen Roloff, “it appears certain that here [in Rev 7:3] John is thinking specifically o f
baptism. . . . In Paul 'seal' (sfragis) is already a technical term for baptism (2 Cor. 1:22; cf. Eph. 1:13;
4:30)” ( The Revelation o f John: A Continental Com m entary (trans. John E. Alsup; Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 1993), 97. Prigent also believes that CKppayu; refers to baptism both in Paul and in Rev
7:3, “Le mot semble faire partie de la terminologie baptismale d 6j<f chez P a u l. . . Quoi qu’il en soit de
ce point, il me parait assez Evident que le mot entraine dans notre texte une allusion au bapteme”
( L ’A pocalypse de Saint Jean, 120). According to Paul Beasley-Murray, regardless o f the time
sequences involved, “Baptism in the N ew Testament is always associated with the activity o f the Spirit”
(“Baptism for the Initiated,” in Baptism, the New Testament, an d the Church (JSNTSS 171; ed. S. E.
Porter and A. R. Cross; Sheffield: Sheffield Academ ic Press, 1999), 476. However, the association o f
baptism and the Spirit does not warrant equating the two, and thus equating baptism with the seal.
According to J. K. Parratt, even in the three Pauline texts where sealing points to the Spirit (Eph 1:13,
4:30 and 2 Cor 1:22), the seal is rather “a charismatic effusion o f the Spirit, connected no doubt with
the w hole process o f Christian initiation, but not to be identified with baptism as such” (“Seal o f the
Holy Spirit and Baptism,” 113).

348 Smalley, Revelation, 184; cf. Parratt, “Seal o f the Holy Spirit and Baptism,” 111-113,125.
According to E. Ferguson, “Revelation contains no passage on baptism, but many interpreters have seen
in the language about writing the divine name on the forehead o f Christians and their being sealed on
their foreheads a reference to a component o f the baptismal ceremony” (Baptism in the E arly Church
(196). For more detailed discussions on this topic, see DOlger, Sphragis, passim; Lampe, The S eal O f
The Spirit, passim; Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the NT (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1962), 171-
177, and passim; Jean Danidlou, The Theology o f Jew ish Christianity: A H istory o f E arly Christian
D octrine Before The Council o f N icaea (vol. 1; transl. John Baker; London: Darton, Longman & Todd,
1964), especially pages 315-331; Ferguson, Baptism in the Early Church , 201 -321, and passim; and
David Hellholm et. al., Ablution, Initiation, an d Baptism: Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, an d Early
Christianity (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011), 21-24, 899-912, 1441-1481, and passim. ForCom blin,
who believes the great multitude is not limited to the Christian martyrs, the way to see the crowd as a
reference to all Christians is to identify the washing o f the robes with water baptism (Le Christ Dans
L 'Apocalypse, 221).
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- attempts to do so fall short, as its apotropaic use and baptismal associations

exemplify. While sealing in the first group o f texts (such as 4 Ezra 2 and Odes Sol. 8)

is interpreted in ways that concur with our proposal, in the two latter groups o f texts -

using the seal for magical and apotropaic ends, or identifying it with water baptism -

the value o f this symbol is somewhat inferior, as they both downgrade the use o f

sealing from a metaphor o f ultimate salvation to a physical sign to manipulate spiritual

realities.349

The apotropaic use o f the seal we can easily dismiss as magic belonging to

folktales, yet the seal’s identification with baptism has gotten more support, as the

literature indicates. We do not deny a parallel between sealing o f baptism, just as we

349 In fairness, the identification o f sealing with baptism is a more com plex topic and not as
easily labeled as m anipulative o f the spiritual realities. It is possible that initially the seal was identified
with baptism only inasmuch as the latter external sign truly represented the former’s internal imprint o f
regeneration. Or, it is also possible the identification o f the two pointed to the aspect o f finality, another
metaphorical function o f sealing: just as a seal closes up something, so baptism was view ed as an
expression o f the end o f the pre-baptismal life as w ell as the finality o f the new reality; once baptism
took place there was no turning back for the Christian convert, as Anders Klostergaard Petersen
indicates: “It is not coincidental that early Christian texts often use the metaphor o f sealing in
connection with baptism to emphasize the irreversibility o f the ritually com pleted change” (“Rituals o f
Purification, Rituals o f Initiation: Phenomenological, Taxonomical and Culturally Evolutionary
Reflections,” in Ablution, Initiation, an d Baptism: Late Antiquity, E arly Judaism, a n d Early
Christianity, ed. David Hellholm et. al. (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011), 1:23.
However, there are further magical aspects in the association o f baptism with the seal. As
Lampe points out, M elito o f Sardis (died ca. 180) “strongly em phasizes the theory o f the Spirit’s
presence in the water, which, though quite unscriptural, becom es a com m onplace in the Fathers” (The
S eal o f the Spirit, 115). Lampe also notes how Clement o f Alexandria’s “doctrine o f the ‘sealing’ o f the
Christian for future redemption often savours o f the superstitious and the magical,” as the seal becom es
an eschatological sign or a divine stamp upon the soul o f a Christian, which “enables him [the true
‘gnostic’] to be recognized in the hereafter ... [by] the angels as his soul ascends into the heavenly
spheres” ( The S eal o f the Spirit, 154).
And though Clement and others see the act o f sealing as closely associated with the invocation
o f the Triune God during the ceremony o f water baptism (see ibid., 155), Einar Thomassen points out
that in Valentinian Gnosticism the initiates also receive ‘the N am e’ (i.e ‘the seal’) as the trinitarian
baptismal formula is invoked during water baptism; this “Name is a token that protects against evil
powers,” and “the baptismal water is said to extinguish the fire o f the passions, which is the same as to
say that it gives protection against the dem ons” (“Baptism Among the Valentinians,” in Ablution,
Initiation, an d Baptism: Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, an d Early Christianity, 2:903-904 and 9 JO-
911).
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cannot deny the parallel between regeneration and baptism, the latter being a physical

expression o f the former. But, if we are to identify the two, are we then willing to say

that all those who have ever received the sign o f baptism (represented universally by

the 144,000) end up before the throne on Mount Zion, shepherded by the Lamb

forever? Yet, not one o f the sealed is left out o f such eternal bliss. Furthermore, would

we then not be tempted - as history confirms that the church has been - to reduce

sealing to baptism, using the latter to "force" the former? Yet, sealing is done by

divine initiative and agency, as the passive voice o f eatppoyiopevcov indicates. While

one can be willingly or forcefully baptized, or may even baptize himself, sealing is a

gracious gift God bestows on those whom He chooses to call His slaves and to secure

for Himself forever.

Conclusion

We have submitted that the symbols in the Book o f Revelation should

generally be interpreted in light o f clearer NT teachings, by explicitly adopting the

theological categories already provided in previous revelation. The category that best

matches the sealing o f the 144,000 is the great salvation proclaimed and inscripturated

by the other NT apostles and by John elsewhere. Thus, while Paul speaks o f the seal as

God’s Holy Spirit given as a guarantee o f this salvation,350 the sealing o f God’s slaves

350 According to Beale, the Spirit is “an inaugurated end-time downpayment (i.e., beginning) o f
an inheritance to be consummated at the very end” (personal communication, June 2014). For an
argument for talcing dppaPtbv as a guarantee rather than downpaym ent, see W oodcock, “The Seal o f the
Holy Spirit,” 139-163. He argues that although dppapwv was used in the commercial world to secure a
transaction, such a commercial “function was unnecessary to God, whose word is sufficient to
guarantee what He has promised” (162). However, the im age’s commercial dimension need not be
 184

in Revelation is the impression o f the divine names on the foreheads o f the totality o f

His people. Such imprinting represents the stamp o f divine ownership by the Holy

Spirit on their heart, whose outer manifestation is a public embrace and an unashamed

confession o f the Father and the Son - especially the testimony about Jesus Christ,

which is never to be separated from that o f the Father - even in the face o f persecution

and martyrdom.

The most important post-NT development o f the concept o f sealing that is

relevant to our topic consists o f the sealing’s early identification with water baptism.

However, we have made the case that, despite affinities between the two which make

it understandable, such identification is a later development and not to be read back

into the NT itself. For the Spirit’s inner and private work o f imprinting on one’s being

"a combination o f divine names" as a testimony o f belonging to and confessing both

the Father and the Son should be equated neither with the pronouncement o f the

baptismal formula over the convert nor with his outer confession o f faith as a public

testimony and basis for baptism.

Furthermore, if the seal were a reference to water baptism, then would we also

look for a physical sign for its counterpart, the mark o f the beast? A comparison and

contrast o f these two signs we shall focus on in the following chapter.

pressed to divide the Spirit into a partial payment and a later full payment; in its sim plicity, the
commercial image powerfully expresses G od’s assurance or guarantee that He will glorify those whom
He saves.
 185

CHAPTER 6

E cp p ay^ vs. X a p a y p a : THE SEAL AND ITS COUNTERFEIT

We shall broach the comparison and contrast between the divine seal in

Revelation and the mark o f the beast by addressing the following four aspects

applicable to both the sealing and the marking: the ownership and agency - whose it is

and who applies it; the content - o f what it consists; the significance and outcome -

what it means for its subjects and to what end it serves; and the biblical precedent - in

light o f its nature, what other biblical indicators might point to such action.

Undergirding our discussion are the themes o f bipolar contrasts (e.g., purity and
■jc 1

corruption, truth and deceit, etc.), and Satanic counterfeiting in Revelation. Also,

our comments shall be limited by their relevance to the concept o f the sealing o f God’s

slaves.

Etppayu; vs. Xdpaypa: Ownership and Agency

John identifies the seal (ocppayu;) as belonging to the living God (7:2; cf. 9:4),

and the mark (xdpaypa) as belonging to the beast (16:2; 19:20; cf. 13:16-17). The

351 Cf. Vem Poythress, The Returning King, 16-22 and 43-44, and his “Counterfeiting in the
Book o f Revelation,” 411-418. Students o f Revelation have long recognized that the presence o f the
Lamb with the 144,000 in Rev 14; 1-5 - an image o f G od’s people - functions in juxtaposition to the
previous chapter’s description o f the beast and his followers, which stand for Satan’s followers and
G od’s enem ies. Since the sealed 144,000 are the same with the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, w e agree with
Vanni that oippayu;, as a pledge o f salvation, functions as the opposite o f xdpaypa, the mark o f the
beast: “I<ppayl<;. . . riferito invece a delle persone ha il valore di un contrassegno divino sulla fronte,
che t pegno di salvezza. II suo opposto e il xdpaypa del Gtpfov” (Vanni, La Struttura Letteraria
d e ll’A pocalisse, 191. Beside being part o f a bipolar contrast, the mark is a counterfeit o f G od’s
signature. Another prominent counterfeit is the unholy trinity, juxtaposing the Dragon to God the
Father, the Beast to Christ, and the False Prophet to the Holy Spirit.
 186

agent responsible for the application o f the x&paypa is the false prophet, who causes

everyone to receive this mark on their forehead or right hand (13:16-17), while the

agent entrusted with the sealing o f God’s slaves is identified as an angel ascending

from the rising o f the sun (7:2).

But who is this angel entrusted with the seal o f the living God? Some identify

him with Christ, while most do not. Among the former is Robert Gundry, who

interprets Rev 7:2 in the context o f an angelomorphic Christology.353 If so, then the

plural agency involved in the seal’s application - axpi acppayiaeopev xouq Soutanx; to O

0eoi> f|pa»v, “until we seal the slaves o f our God” - would perhaps reflect the inclusion

o f at least the person o f the Holy Spirit if not o f the holy Trinity.354 Yet other students

o f Revelation disagree with a Christological identification for the angel, whether due

to genre considerations, theological problems this might raise, or simply because the

352 As exam ples, Brtltsch notes three suggested identifications: Francis o f A ssisi (identified as
such by St. Bonaventure); Christ (according to St. Thomas Aquinas); and Elijah, on his m ission to
gather the scattered tribes o f Israel (seen thus by Joseph Smith) (D ie Offenbarung Jesu Christi, 3:321).

353 The clearest example o f angelomorphic Christology in Revelation is perhaps the reference
to the mighty angel o f chapter 10. According to Gundry, in Revelation it is safe to identify an angel
with Jesus whenever the description and activities o f an angel match those o f Jesus (“Angelomorphic
Christology in the Book o f Revelation,” in The O ld Is Better: New Testament Essays in Support o f
Traditional Interpretations [ed. Robert H. Gundry; W UNT 178; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005], 377-
398. Support for the identification o f this angel with Jesus is reflected in Clement o f Alexandria’s work
around A D 200, as noted by Lampe: “the spiritual seal is stamped upon the soul by Christ who is
H im self the ‘express image o f the glory o f the A lm ighty’” ( The S eal o f the Spirit, 154); see also W.
Weinrich’s reference to the English monk Bede, who makes the same identification in the early eight
century: “This is the Lord bom in the flesh, who is the “angel o f great counsel,” that is the m essenger o f
the Father’s will, “who has visited us as the dayspring from on high,” carrying the standard o f the cross,
by which he seals the foreheads o f his ow n” (W. Weinrich, ed., Revelation [ACCS 12; Downers Grove,
III.: InterVarsity Press, 2005], 104-105, based on Bede’s Explanation o f the A pocalypse 7:2-3).

354 The agency o f the Spirit may also be seen in the Pauline texts discussed above (Eph 1:13-
14,4:30 and 2 Cor 1:22). Such agency could perhaps be also inferred from the parallels between the
holy Trinity and its counterfeit (or the unholy trinity): since the agent responsible for the application o f
the mark o f the beast is the False Prophet, the counterfeit o f the Holy Spirit, then the latter might also be
seen as instrumental in the application o f the seal o f the living God.
 187

text refrains from doing so.355 In the end, whether it is accomplished directly by Christ

Himself or indirectly through an angel and some o f his companions, the act o f sealing

effects its intended divine purpose, for whatever an agent does at the M aster’s bidding

can be safely ascribed or credited to God.356 And moving beyond the visionary reality,

since we believe this sealing is a metaphor o f salvation, its actual accomplishment -

the work o f salvation itself - necessarily comes about by divine agency.

L(ppayi<; vs. Xdpaypa: Content

After introducing the branding or marking o f the followers o f the beast in Rev.

13:16, John specifies that no one is able to buy or sell ei pr| o ex°>v T° Xdpaypa Td

ovopa to o Grjpion, thus placing ovopa in apposition to xdpaypa - no one can buy or

sell except he who has the mark, the name o f the beast. In Rev 14:11 John defines the

worshipers o f the beast as si xu; XapP&vei t o xdpaypa to o ovopaxoq auxou, or anyone

who receives the mark o f its name. While ovopaxoq is often taken as a Genitive

indicating possession, its epexegetical force should be emphasized here: anyone who

receives the mark, which is its name. Thus, ovopaxoq explains or identifies xdpaypa,

355 According to Vem Poythress, “apocalyptic literature in general customarily has angels
(created spirits) as mediators o f revelation and major actors in the heavenly sphere” (personal
communication, Jan 2014). Leon Morris also argues against any such identifications, for “Christ is
never called an angel in this book (let alone ‘another angel’)” (The Revelation o f St. John: An
Introduction an d Com m entary [2d ed.; TNTC; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1987], 133). And,
while G. K. Beale does identify the angel in chapter 10 as “either the divine Christ him self or the divine
angel o f Yahweh,” his criteria are much stricter than Gundry’s: this is “unlike any other angel in the
book ... [because he has] attributes that are given only to God in the OT or to God or Christ in
Revelation” (Beale, Revelation, 522). Cf. also Osborne, Revelation, 306; and Hendricksen, M ore than
Conquerors, 149.

356 According to Kraft, given the angel's authority over the winds and having charge o f God's
seal, he represents Christ's saving and preserving power (D ie Offenbarung des Johannes, 125).
 188

for the mark o f the beast is or stands for its name. Attempting to elucidate the actual

name goes beyond our purpose, though it must be a Satanic counterfeit o f the name o f

God or o f Christ.357

What could we say about the content o f the seal? In Revelation 14:1 John sees

the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and with Him the 144,000 having to ovopa auxou

Kai t o ovopa to u 7taTpo<; auTou written on their foreheads. We have submitted that

this is a reference to the divine seal o f Revelation 7, identified by John as the name o f

the Lamb and the name o f His Father, or “a combination o f divine names.” Yet, in

Rev 22:3-4 the intentionally ambiguous singular reference - to ovopa ai>Tob - points

not only to the unity o f the divine persons but also to the singularity o f the name

involved. Thus we further submit that in John’s visions the 144,000 are the recipients

o f the one personal divine name, the seal having inscribed on their foreheads the

sacred name shared by the Father and the Son (as well as the Spirit), the
ICO
Tetragrammaton: m rr or Yahweh.

357 If gematria is involved, as Rev 13:18 may imply, beside the more popular suggestions (cf.
Beale, R evelation, 718-720) w e may also present Robert C. N ewm an’s interesting proposal, who notes
that the number 666 in Greek letters is yt/q, where x = 600, t, = 60, and q = 6 (the last sym bol is actually
the older letter vau or digam m a, which looks very much like K oine’s final sigm a; the Greeks also used
the letter koppa for 90 [between n = 80 and p = 100], and sam pi for 900 [after to = 800]). N oticing that
Xpici6<; is som etim es abbreviated as yq, Newman suggests that y^q stands for “the serpent’s Christ,” as
the serpent-like letter \ is framed by the two letters that abbreviate xpiotdi; (“Gematria and Revelation,”
(handout, Biblical Theological Seminary, Hatfield, Pa., Spring 1996). This proposal would be
consistent with Revelation’s theme o f counterfeiting as w ell as with the implied exhortation to G od’s
people not to be deceived.

358 Or possibly mrr'7 (unto or belonging to YHWH; cf. Isa 44:5, as w ell as Chapter 3 above, as
w e noted that many Hebrew seals included a possessive lamed before the ow ner’s name). This would be
the image o f what John perhaps saw, while the significance o f such a name is addressed below.
Concerning the singularity o f the divine name, see also Matt 28:19, where the singular is applied to the
three persons o f the Trinity: t 6 ovopa t o u 7tarpd<; Kai t o u uiou Kai t o u ayiou itveupaTO^. For a brief
history o f research on Name-Christology and more detailed discussions related to Jesus and the Divine
Name, see Charles A. Gieschen, “The Divine Name in Ante-Nicene Christology,” VC 57, no. 2 (2003):
 189

Despite the critics’ charge that a high Christology is only a post NT

development, we find that the revered OT name o f God, YHWH, is also ascribed to

Jesus in the NT, especially by referring to Him as "the Name" (Acts 3:16, 5:41; Phil

2:9; Matt 28:19; Rom 1 0 :9,13;Heb 1:4; Jas2:7; 1 Pet 4:16; 2 Tim 2:19; John 1:12,

3:18; 3 John 7; etc.). As Gieschen points out, “the intimate connection between a

person and his name meant that the Divine Name could not be separated from the

reality it represented.”359 Thus, R. Longenecker speaks o f "the name" as a

Christological designation: “Just as 'the name' was a pious Jewish surrogate for God,

so for the early Jewish Christians it became a designation for Jesus.”360 In his study on

the N T’s Christology o f divine identity, R. Bauckham convincingly argues “that the

highest possible Christology - the inclusion o f Jesus in the unique divine identity -

was central to the faith o f the early church even before any o f the NT writings were

written, since it occurs in all o f them;” part o f the evidence to support his claim is an

115-158 (pertaining to Revelation, see especially pages 131 -134 as w ell as related literature referenced
therein.
It is also possible that a shortened form o f G od’s Name was used. Matthew Black argues that
the “ o T ip e lc o o K ; t o u xau in the double form +, X was familiar in Judaism” at least from exilic times and
into the Second Temple period; he labels both forms as “Jewish 'signs o f Jahweh'” (“Chi-Rho Sign -
Christogram and/or Staurogram?” in A postolic H istory an d the G ospel: B iblical an d H istorical Essays
P resented to F. F. Bruce on his 6(fh Birthday [ed. W. Ward Gasque and Ralph P. Martin; Exeter:
Paternoster, 1970], 326). Whether the w hole Tetragrammaton or only shorthand was used, it denoted
the same D ivine Name.

359 Gieschen, “The Divine Nam e,” 123-124. Grounding his research also in the inter-
testamental Jewish literature, Gieschen concludes that not only is YHW H the primary name for God
and inseparable from the reality o f God, but also that “this Name was also the possession o f Y H W H ’s
visible image, such as the divine hypostasis who is identified as the Angel o f YHWH or the Name o f
YHWH in the OT” (127), who is the same as Jesus in the N T - His name (e.g. John 1:12) refers to “his
true identity as YHWH in the flesh” (137); see also Gieschen, Angelom orphic Christology: Antecedents
an d E arly Evidence (AGAJU 42; Leiden: Brill, 1998).

360 Richard L. Longenecker, The C hristology o f Early Jewish C hristianity (1970; repr., Grand
Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1981), 45.
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appeal to Jesus sharing “the divine name, the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the name

which names the unique identity o f the one God, the name which is exclusive to the

one God.”361 Furthermore, S. McDonough’s employment o f Dreizeitenformel formula

(pointing to God as the One who is, who was, and who is to come) as applicable to

361 Bauckham, Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel, 19 and 24. A major caution concerning Name-
theology is that it may be em ployed to argue the opposite o f Bauckham’s point, such as the trajectory
found in Guy G. Stroumsa’s “A Nam eless God: Judaeo-Christian and Gnostic ‘Theologies o f the
N am e’,” in The Image o f the Judeo-Christiansin Ancient Jewish an d Christian Literature (W UN T 158;
ed. P. J. Tomson and D. Lambers-Petry; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), 230-243. According to
Stroumsa, during the Second Temple the Jews avoided pronouncing the Tetragrammaton; instead they
“developed a highly com plex series o f substitutes and circumlocutions in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic,
... [leading] to a hypostatization o f the Name o f God, which eventually stood for God H im self’ (231).
One o f the implications o f this process, Stroumsa suggests, “is the fact that G od’s Name eventually
came to be perceived as another person, a second Deity, as it were” (232), whom the Jewish Christians
identified with Jesus. In fact, he posits a plurality o f “Divine hypostases, carrying G od’s forms and
G od’s nam e... One o f these divine hypostases, Jesus Christ, succeeded particularly w ell. God the Father
had lost His name. This name eventually became another divine figure, som etim es called G od’s Son.”
(243). Building on this, says Stroumsa, were the Gnostics, who sought to carry this process “to its
logical end by murdering, or at least demoting, the Father o f Jesus Christ” (243).
However, the inclusion o f the Son in the divine identity was not done to the exclusion or the
demotion o f the Father. The NT clearly presents the two as co-equal in power and glory, with
Revelation having the two sharing the eternal throne. Furthermore, Bauckham debunks such
developmental or progressive m odels whereby Jesus is only gradually ascribed divinity to the detriment
o f the Father. The biblical and other Second Temple Jewish literature indicate that in the strongly
m onotheistic Jewish context it is inconceivable to see anything or anyone able to cross the great
Creator-creature divide. Despite the diversity encountered in other areas o f Judaism, the common bond
was the unique identity o f Israel’s God as “the sole Creator o f all things and sole Ruler o f all things,”
and thus the exclusive worship o f YHWH; anything or anyone else, including esoteric intermediary
beings or sem i-gods thought to share som e divine characteristics, would sim ply be part o f His creation
and thus subject to His rule (Bauckham, Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel, 9). Yet, Bauckham identifies two
categories o f intermediary figures: in the first he includes ch ief angels and exalted patriarchs, w hile in
the second he mentions “personifications or hypostatizations o f aspects o f God himself, such as his
Spirit, his Word and his Wisdom,” further arguing that while the latter category is unequivocally
included “within the unique identity o f God,” the former category is excluded (14). The criteria
separating the tw o consist o f the act o f creation and the exercise o f rule over the created reality. Thus,
while ch ie f angels and exalted patriarchs are not participants in these, G od’s own Word and his Wisdom
“do participate in the creative work o f God and in his sovereignty, and so belong intrinsically to G od’s
unique identity” (18). It is the same with Jesus, whom the N T includes within the unique divine identity
“deliberately and comprehensively by using precisely those characteristics o f the divine identity on
which Jewish monotheism focused in characterizing God as unique” (19). Furthermore, argues
Bauckham, this “highest possible Christology ... was central to the faith o f the early church even before
any o f the N ew Testament writings were written” (19).
 191

i/i
Jesus also points to Him as possessing the divine name. It is thus reasonable to

conclude that the church very early on attributed the Tetragrammaton to Jesus, a fact

which would support the singularity o f the divine name inscribed on the forehead o f

God’s slaves in Revelation 7.

But how does the claim that Jesus possessed the divine name, which in turn

was inscribed on God’s slaves, comport with the divine names in Revelation?

According to James Resseguie, the word name “occurs thirty-eight times in the book

and signifies a change o f status or a new character.”363 Our cursory study, however,

shall only address contexts where name itself or the presence o f a divine name is

relevant to the theme o f sealing. Once we eliminate instances where the name is

actually used as shorthand for Jesus or God (2:3, 13; 3:8; 13:6; 15:4; 16:9) and those

which we have already addressed (14:1 and 22:4), the relevant references include 3:12

and 19:12-13, 16, as well as the texts which include actual references to relevant

names o f God.364

362 Sean McDonough, Yahweh at Patmos: Rev 1:4 in its H ellenistic an d E arly Jewish Setting
(W UN T 2, Reihe 107; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999), 123-128, and 195-231.

363 The Revelation o f John, 25. In his discussion o f the rhetorical devices John uses in
Revelation, Resseguie uses ‘name’ as his example o f a verbal thread - he defines ‘verbal threads’ as
“repeated words or phrases that tie together a section, even the entire book, and often elaborate a main
theme or subthemes o f a passage” (25).

364 Rev 2:17 may also be a possibility, yet there is an ambiguity involved - is the name written
on the stone the name o f the conquering Christian, or a divine name? If the latter, Aune suggests this
might be a magical amulet, also providing special protection to its owner (Revelation 1-5, 190-191),
which w e find theologically problematic. Pointing to Isa 62:2 and 65:15, Osborne favors a new name
for the believer (for this and other interpretations see his Revelation, 148-149). The secret nature o f the
name, if this be the D ivine Name, may be a reference to the ban on pronouncing it, just as Rev 19:12
refers to a name no one knows except the rider on the white horse; according to Gieschen, this is
perhaps “an allusion to the widespread Jewish practice o f not speaking the D ivine Name” (“The Divine
Nam e,” 150; see also McDonough, YHWH at Patm os, 55-122, where he traces both the writing and the
speaking o f the D ivine Name through various Second Temple literature).
 192

The first such text is in the book’s introduction - the greeting to the seven

churches comes and o tov Kai o qv Kai o spxopevoi; Kai and tcov e m a 7iveopaT(ov a

evcbmov tou Gpovou auxou Kai cuto ’Iriaou Xptoxou, o papruq o moxot;, o TtpcoxoxoKoq

xwv vEKpcov Kai o apx©v t<ov (faailEcov xfjq yfjq (1 :4-5). There is little doubt that this is

a Trinitarian formula, with God the Father being identified as “the One who is and

who was and who is coming;” the Holy Spirit as “the seven spirits who are before His

throne;” and Jesus as “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler o f

the kings o f the earth.”365 The context makes it plain that John, like the rest o f the NT

writers, is “expressing a fully divine Christology by including Jesus in the unique

identity o f God as defined by the Second Temple Judaism.”366 Thus, Jesus is ascribed

eternal glory and dominion (1:6).367 And o Epxopsvoq, “the one who is coming” (of

verses 4 and 8), is an unambiguous reference to God the Father, yet He is actually

coming in the person o f Jesus: ’I8ot) cpxexai pExa tcov vscps^cov, “Behold, He is

coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even the ones who pierced Him”

(1:7; cf. Dan 7:13); He is also the First and the Last (1:17), just as the Father is the

Alpha and the Omega (1:8). Such repeated identification and interchange between the

365 Cf. Bauckham, The Climax o f Prophecy, 35.

366 Bauckham, Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel, 58.

367 If sealing is a metaphor o f salvation, as w e believe, the parallels and play on words in Rev
1:5b-6 are probably intentional: “To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6
and made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever.” Though the sealed are G od’s slaves, yet Jesus is described in this context as free in g them by His
blood to enable them to function as His slaves; and His seal enables them to com e into G od’s presence
and function as priests, acceptable to Him as they bear His Name on their forehead. This is reminiscent
o f Exod 28:36, which speaks o f the OT priests com ing into the presence o f God bearing His seal on
their forehead, $ 7!? - H oly to YHWH; according to Gieschen, Clement o f Alexandria taught that
“the name o f Christ is the Tetragrammaton, the very name worn by the High Priest” (Gieschen, “The
Divine Nam e,” 156; cf. Clement o f Alexandria’s Strom ata, V .38.6-7).
 193

Father and the Son leaves no room for doubt when one also compares Rev 21:6 with

22:13, with the former having the One who sits upon the throne say, “I am the Alpha

and the Omega, the beginning and the end” (presumably the speaker here is the Father,

though the ambiguity in the context may also point to the Son), while the latter

reference recording Christ’s claim: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the

last, the beginning and the end” (cf. 2:8, where Jesus is “the first and the last, who died

and came to life”).

Other titles o f Christ from the seven letters point to His sharing in the divine

identity, yet it shall suffice to note these three: the Son o f G od (2:18) - by virtue o f His

divine nature He also shares in the Divine Name;368 the Holy One (3:7; cf. Isa 1:4,

where the LORD is the Holy One o f Israel; also Isa 40:25; Hos 11:9, etc.); and “the

One who has the seven spirits o f God,” i.e., the Holy Spirit (3:1; cf. 1:4) - His words

are the same as the words of the Spirit: though it is Christ’s message, the refrain “He

who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” clearly indicates it is

the Spirit’s message as well, which also points to the inclusion o f the Holy Spirit in

the unique divine identity.

This leads us to Rev 3:12, “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in

the temple o f My God. Never shall he go out o f it, and I will write on him the name o f

My God, and the name o f the city o f My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down

368 According to Mounce, Jesus’ claim to divine sonship “stands in strong contrast to the local
cultic worship o f A pollo Tyrimnos, which was merged to that o f the emperor (identified as Apollo
incarnate) so that both were acclaimed as sons o f Zeus. Thus it is not the emperor or the guardian city o f
Thyatira, but the resurrected Christ, who is the true son o f God” ( The Book o f Revelation, 102). A s the
Jews understood Jesus in John 5:16-18, the claim to be the Son o f God meant a shared nature with the
Father. That is functioning in the background, while the foreground is focusing on the Son o f God
having the authority to judge, as in Psalm 2; for further OT connections (especially to Daniel 3 and 7 as
well as Psalm 2), see also Beale, Revelation, 259-260.
 194

from my God out o f heaven, and My own new name.” There are clear parallels to the

act o f sealing, especially the fact that God writes or inscribes a name or names on

people. If we are to equate this and the act o f sealing whereby the Tetragrammaton

was placed on the foreheads o f God’s people, then what are we to make o f “the name

of the city o f My God”? Does the seal also include the name o f the New Jerusalem?

On the one hand, we should point out that although there are parallels here to

the act o f sealing, the reference to the New Jerusalem may be interpreted as a promise

o f citizenship in the eternal city, without a need to see a strict correspondence between

its writing here and the sealing o f God’s slaves. On the other hand, it is possible to see

this reference to the city as pointing to God’s Name. Interpreters point to the OT

background for this verse, such as Dan 9:18-19, where Jerusalem is the city called by

God’s Name, just as His people are.369 As Beale also remarks in reference to Ezek

48:35, a slightly different vocalization o f nntf in this verse renders “The name o f the

city is 'the LORD is there1” as “The name o f the city is 'the LORD is its Name'” (so B.

Bat. 75b), noting further that “Midr. Ps 21.2 and Pesikta de Rab Kahana 22.5a affirm

that the name o f the Messiah and o f end-time Jerusalem will be the same as the name

o f God (the former adduces Ezek 48.35 and the latter appeals to Isa 62.2 and Ezek

48:35),”370 thus lending support to seeing “the name o f the city o f my God” in Rev

369 The Name o f God is placed on each o f His own people in the priestly blessing o f Num
6:22-27 (also Deut 28:10 and Isa 43:7); and they are given a new name according to Isa 62:2, and 65:15
(see Osborne, R evelation, 198, and Beale, Revelation, 293).

370 Beale, Revelation, 294-295.

 195

3:12 as another reference to the same Divine Name inscribed in the process o f

sealing.371

The last relevant text we need to discuss is Rev 19:11-13, and 16, where Jesus

is presented as a victor followed by the armies o f heaven, all riding on white horses

and coming to make war against God’s enemies:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! And the One who was
sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame o f fire, and on His head are many
diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. 13 He is
clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The
Word o f G o d . . . . 6 On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written,
King o f kings and Lord o f lords.

Our interest is on the names ascribed here to Jesus. Faithful (5ucato<;) and True

(dXpGivo*;) used substantially and together appear only here in the Scriptures, though

the words are found elsewhere in Revelation describing Jesus: thus, Rev 3:14

describes Him as a faithful and true witness (cf. Jer 42:5 [LXX 49:5], where YHWH is

invoked as a true and faithful witness); Rev 1:5 also refers to Him as a faithful

witness; and in Rev 3:7 Jesus is o aytoq, o aA,r|0iv6q (the Holy One and the True One).

371 Comblin's description o f the new Jerusalem also points to the reality beyond the sign:
“Jerusalem, centre du judaYsme, 6tait le signe de la presence divine. Dans la nouvelle Jerusalem, le
signe s'efface devant la r6alit£. Les traits de Jerusalem indiquent la presence divine: mais tout l'effort de
l'auteur consiste a faire entrevoir au-del& du signe la r^alite, cette fois accom plie en perfection” (“La
Liturgie de la nouvelle Jerusalem,” 20).
A lso, Gieschen reads Rev 3:12 along Trinitarian lines: “the name o f God the Father and the
name o f the N ew Jerusalem, who is a tangible manifestation o f the Holy Spirit, is the sam e name
possessed by the Son” (“The Divine Name,” 132); such reading o f Rev 3:12 would parallel the
Trinitarian interpretation o f Rev 1:4-5. Gundry takes the N ew Jerusalem as a reference to “G od’s
dwelling place in the saints rather than their dwelling place on earth.. . . the perfected saints will be
G od’s most sacred dwelling place, the inmost room o f his new creation ... the whole o f the city is the
holy o f holies” (The O ld Is Better, 401-405). And does not God dwell in His people primarily through
His Spirit (Rom 8:9-11; 2 Tim 1:14; John 13:16-17), another bearer o f the Divine Name? Entering this
city means to help constitute it, and the ones who enter shall never go out o f it (Rev 3:12). It is the
writing o f G od’s Name that makes the saints into G od’s one city or people, which would also point to
the singularity o f the Divine Name inscribed on the foreheads o f G od’s slaves.
 196

John may be reflecting on 3 Macc 2:11 where the two adjectives appear together in the

predicate position describing the Lord Almighty, though he may be simply bringing

together the two characteristics used to describe YHWH in the OT (cf. Exod 34:6,

Deut 7:9, Ps 31:5, Ps 85:15, Isa 49:7, and Jer 10:10) and applying them to Christ, thus

another way o f identifying Jesus with the Divine Name.373

While speaking o f “a name written that no one knows but H im self’ (19:12) is

perhaps another way o f referring to the ban on pronouncing the divine name,374 calling

Jesus o Xoyoq t o o Oeou, The Word o f God ( 19: 13), points both to the strong ties

between Revelation and the other Johannine writings (see especially John 1:1-18; also

1 John 1:1, where the Word o f life should be translated as the Word, which is life,

namely Jesus), and to His divine identity, as noted by Gieschen: ‘“ the W ord’ or ‘the

372 For the case o f John alluding here to 3 Maccabees, see Beale, Revelation, 950 (cf. 3 Macc
6:18).

373 In connection to this description o f Jesus as “the faithful and true, w e could point back to
Rev 3:10 and 6:11, both o f which speak o f the H oly One as the True One\ while the names characterize
God in Rev 6 :10, we have already noted that they apply to Jesus in Rev 3:10, thus pointing again to the
inclusion o f Jesus in the divine identity. Especially in keeping with the implication o f our thesis
concerning the strong ties between other Johannine writings (especially 1 John) and Revelation, w e see
Christ as 6 &Xn0ivo<; in 1 John 5:20, and the same being true o f the Father in the same verse: “W e know
that the Son o f God has com e and has given us understanding in order that w e may know Him w ho is
true [God the Father, YHWH; cf. John 17:3]; and w e are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.
This One [Jesus] is the true God and eternal life” (cf. John 7:28). Though the issue o f the pronouns’
antecedents is somewhat debatable, whether one follow s the antecedents suggested in the text above (in
brackets), or sees the phrases “Him who is true” as referring first to the Father and then to the Son, the
verse surely underlies Christ’s divine identity, just as the names Faithful an d True do in Rev 19:11,

374 According to Gieschen, this is perhaps “an allusion to the widespread Jewish practice o f not
speaking the Divine Name” (“The Divine Name,” 150; see also McDonough, YHWH a t P atm os, 55-
1 2 2 ).
 197

Word o f God’ was a title sometimes given to the theophanic angel who possesses the

Divine Name.”375

The absolute authority afforded by the titles King o f kings and Lord o f lords in

verse 16 further serve to strengthen Christ’s divine identity as He and His armies are

victorious over the beast and its followers. The titles, first bestowed on Jesus in Rev

17:14 (also in a context where the Lamb and His faithful ones are victorious over the

beast and its followers), may have their origins in Deut 10:17 and Ps 136:2-3 (see also

1 Tim 6:15), where YHWH is called “God o f gods and Lord o f lords.” Beale points to

the LXX Dan 4:37 as the closest textual tradition and background for these titles:

at>TO<; s a il 0ed<; tcov Gecov Kai icupio<; tcov icupicov Kai paoiXaxx; tcov paaiXecov. Applied

to Christ by John, such titles speak o f His “sovereign defeat o f the end-time foe who is

closely associated with eschatological Babylon.. . . [This] is merely another way in

which the author o f Revelation expresses the absolute deity and kingship o f the

messianic Lamb,”376 or another way o f speaking o f Christ’s inclusion in the divine

identity.

As the above evidence suggests, the inclusion o f Christ in the divine identity

was a fact the church had already acknowledged even before the writing o f the NT

books, and it is amply attested in Revelation as well. This supports the singularity o f

375 “The Divine Name,” 132; in his discussion o f the Name as an OT divine hypostasis,
Gieschen also argues that “the [OT] texts them selves depict the Name as a theophanic form who
manifested the presence o f YHWH in a manner similar to the Angel o f YHW H, the Glory o f YHWH,
and the Word o f YHW H” (123). Bauckham also notes that G od’s Wisdom as w ell as His W ord “do
participate in the creative work o f God and in his sovereignty, and so belong intrinsically to G od’s
unique identity” (Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel, 18).

376 Beale, “The origin o f the title ‘King o f kings and Lord o f lords’ in Revelation 17:14,” NTS
31 (1985): 619; cf. Beale, Revelation, 880-882.
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the divine name YHWH as the one inscribed on the foreheads o f God’s slaves in

Revelation 7.

Eq>payi<; vs. Xdpaypa: Significance and Outcome

What do the seal and the mark mean, or what is their import for their subjects?

As a metaphor o f salvation, we have made the case that the sealing o f God’s slaves

points to possession unto protection. The people o f God receive His Name as a seal,

thus identifying them as belonging to Him and leading to their protection and

preservation through the impending judgments that manifest the wrath o f God and of

the Lamb. Though they are not exempt from suffering or even martyrdom, their

eternal destiny and reward are assured. The stamping o f God’s Name on His slaves,

though perhaps visible to John in the vision as suggested above, is most likely an inner

reality, just as the marking o f the beast’s followers.

In this context the theme o f counterfeiting is perhaps most felt, as the mark o f

the beast also points to possession unto protection. However, the ones identified with

the beast are only deceived into embracing a temporary protection, consisting o f the

ability to buy, sell, and live within the world system under the authority o f the beast

(13:16-17). Yet, their willing submission and worship o f the beast will prove fatal, for

in the end Satan and the beast are not able to protect them from the wrath o f Sovereign

LORD, as the angel announces in Rev 14:9-11:

If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead
or on his hand, he also will drink the wine o f God's wrath, poured full strength
into the cup o f his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the
presence o f the holy angels and in the presence o f the Lamb. And the smoke o f
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their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night,
these worshipers o f the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark o f
its name.

In this sense, Satan is indeed counterfeiting God’s signature on people, as he promises

them safety and prosperity while deceiving them into rebelling against the only Source

o f every true blessing, whether temporal or everlasting.377

Yet there is another aspect implied by both the sealing o f God’s slaves and the

marking o f Satan’s followers: the imprinting o f one’s character through the act o f

naming. While at the visionary level the seal consists o f an imprinted name (whether

the seal or the mark), this actually involves the impressing o f the respective character

on one’s soul and destiny. The very word character is the transliteration o f the Greek

XapaKxf|p, which means an exact representation or imprint (cf. Heb 1:3, where Christ

is referred to as the exact imprint o f God’s nature). Thus, imprinting a certain name in

this context does not only mean that the one who is named belongs to and is identified

with the one who named him, but also that the named is living in greater and greater

conformity to the name he has received. And since the name here stands for the

person, the name-bearer reflects the image or character o f the name-giver, which

translates into the former worshipping the latter.378

377 A s Escaffre also summarizes, the imitation is unable to deliver, bringing about destruction:
“Mais cette imitation est une contrefe?on qui n'apporte aucune des garanties de l'original. La marque
impos^e par la bete d&ruit les personnes qui la portent” (“Un Signe sur le Front,” 23).

378 According to Beale, “to bear or reflect the name o f som eone is to reflect that person’s
character” (A N ew Testament B iblical Theology, 465); see also Beale, We Becom e What We Worship: A
B iblical Theology o f Idolatry (Downers Grove, 111.: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008), 254-264. Cf. Jack Good,
“Nam ing Nam es,” C C 120, no. 26 (D ec 27, 2003), who sees baptism as the act o f naming (replacing
‘baptism’ with ‘sealing’ would express our position well): “Baptism sets each o f us apart as a particular
kind o f people - one owned by God. Those who have been baptized are called to live out the meaning
o f this remarkable reality” (19). And speaking on the relationship between names and identity, Lynn
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Thus, just as “the name o f God is the revelation o f his character in

communication,”379 so does the name o f the beast stand for all Satan is. Those who are

sealed with the name o f YHWH do not only belong to Him, but are also changed

gradually into His likeness, exhibiting His holy character and reflecting His image.

Likewise, those named by the name o f the beast both belong to and increasingly

reflect the character o f their master, Satan.

Ecppayu; vs. Xdpaypa: Biblical Precedent

Now, if the sealing o f God’s slaves (as well as the marking o f His enemies) is

an inner reality and it is accomplished by divine agency, we shall attempt a brief

setting o f such divine activity in its biblical context by looking for biblical precedent

for divine writing or branding especially when involving human bearers o f such or

human beneficiaries. The story starts at creation, as God makes man with the stamp o f

His own image, crowns him with glory and gives him dominion over His works

Berg observes that, “The use o f names in the Hebrew Bible and by Tolkien, Le Guin, and Rowling
reveal a heavy emphasis on the traditional b elief that names reflect a person’s essence. They indicate
something significant about som eone’s nature, character, or destiny” (“The Importance o f Nam es and
Naming in Religion, Literature, and Librarianship,” ATLA Proceedings 62 (2008): 195.
Isaiah 43 testifies to the relationship between naming and on e’s character displayed in action.
Here YHWH claims Israel as His own by virtue o f naming him in the act o f forming or calling him; yet
He formed Israel for His own glory, to display the light o f His character among the nations: “But now
thus says the LORD, He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have
redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are M ine . . . . 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring
your offspring from the east, and from the west 1 will gather you . . . 6 My sons from afar and My
daughters from the end o f the earth, 7 everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My
glory, whom I formed and made.” However, Israel fell far short o f that glory, and the people whom He
formed for H im self that they might declare His praise (v. 21) did too often fail to live up to their given
name: “22Yet you did not call upon Me, O Jacob; but you have been weary o f Me, O Israel! 23 You
have not brought Me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored Me with your sacrifices . . . 24 But you
have burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities.”

379 V em Poythress, personal communication, Jan 2014.

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(Genesis 1-2, Psalm 8), only to see Satan deceive and imprint his own rebellious

nature as his mark on mankind. Genesis’ promise o f salvation for a godly seed through

the seed o f the woman together with the destruction o f Satan and his seed are both

fulfilled in Revelation, and sealing functions as a metaphor for that reality. Yet, what

are some in-between OT instances that reflect divine writing or stamping for divine

purposes?

The first possible reference is Gen 4:15, “YHWH put a sign [rriN - LXX:

aripeTov] on Cain lest anyone who finds him would slay him.” Interpreters cannot

agree on whether or not God actually set a physical mark on Cain, or what the mark

might have been if He did. Among suggestions for this sign as something external to

Cain we might mention a dog to accompany and guard him, a colored coat, or the city
» 't o n

which he soon built and perhaps served as his protection. Others believe the text

speaks o f a physical mark upon Cain’s body, with suggestions including a horn

growing out o f Cain’s forehead, a special hairstyle, or a tattoo. Nahum Sam a’s

approach seems most plausible: “Hebrew 'ot here probably involves some external

physical mark, perhaps on the forehead, as in Ezek 9:4-6, serving the same function as

the blood o f the paschal lamb smeared on the lintels and doorposts o f each Israelite

380 For an overview and more discussion on suggested interpretations o f the mark o f Cain, cf.
Gordon J. Wenham, G enesis 1-15 (W BC 1; Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1987), 109; John H. Sailhamer,
Genesis, in EBC 2 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1990), 66-67; and R. W. L. Moberly, “The Mark
O f Cain— Revealed At Last?” HTR 100, no. 1 (2007): 11-28. These three authors do not see the mark as
a sign on Cain’s body; Wenham prefers P. A. H. De Boer’s suggestion “that the sign for Cain is simply
his name (qayin), which sounds somewhat Wke yuqqam “shall be punished” [pointing to] the promise o f
divine retribution on his attackers” (109); R. Moberly believes Yahweh here is making “a saying that
epitomizes Cain's violent over-reaction into that sign which protects him and his descendants,” to the effect
that the saying instills fear o f what Cain might do if anyone thought about mistreating him (24); and
Sailhamer interprets the mark as the city Cain builds next, whose walls afforded him the promised divine
protection (67).
 202

house in Egypt.”381 These same connections to Exodus 12 and Ezekiel 9 are made by

Matthew Black, who also interprets Cain’s mark as a protective sign on the forehead,

arguing that “the ‘sign o f Cain’ is no doubt Jahweh's ‘sign’ ... [which by exilic times

it was] possibly the Tau sign (+ or X)”.382 If the sign was indeed Yahweh’s sign, it

implies that Adam’s extended family would be familiar with it and understand its

protective intent for Cain just as the locusts o f Revelation 9 would recognize

Yahweh’s sign and not harm its bearers.

The sign o f circumcision is another precedent for divine sealing, as it is a sign

in the flesh indicating that its bearer was part o f the covenant people o f God.

According to Gen 17:9-14, every eight-days old male in the covenant people was to be

circumcised, and anyone who was not thus identified was to be cut off or destroyed as

a covenant breaker. The circumcised Israelite was afforded all the blessings o f the

covenant people, one o f which was God’s protection. Not having the sign, placed one

outside the covenant and thus outside o f YHWH’s protection, in danger o f incurring

His wrath. Exod 4:24-26 illustrates this, as only a quick intervention by a reluctant

Zipporah who applies the sign prevented G od’s judgment from being carried out.383

381 Nahum M. Sama, G enesis = Be-reshit: The Traditional H ebrew Text with the N ew J P S
Translation an d Com m entary {JPSTC; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 35. According
to Gilad J. Gevaryahu, Rashi explained Cain’s mark as a letter from G od’s name chiseled by Him on
Cain’s forehead (“Ketovet Ka’aka [Leviticus 19:28]: Tatooing or Branding?” JBQ 38, n o .l [2010]: 16).

382 “Chi-Rho Sign,” 325.

383 This is a difficult passage to interpret, as exem plified by a variety o f view s interpreters take.
Some believe that M oses was the uncircumcised one, and thus the attack on him; others that Gershom
or Eliezer was the reason for the attack, whether the attack was on M oses or on one o f the sons; for a
more detailed discussion, see John 1. Durham, Exodus (W BC 3; Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1987), 56-
59; and Walter C. Kaiser, Exodus (EBC 2; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1990), 332-334. While
Kaiser believes M oses was attacked because o f his failure to circumcise his son, Durham argues that
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Yet, the theme o f circumcision runs deeper than the external fleshly act, as

passages from the Pentateuch to the Prophets and into the NT speak o f a circumcision

o f the heart (Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 9:25-26; Rom 2:25-29; and we even read o f

Moses having uncircumcised lips [Exod 6:12, 30], and o f Israel having uncircumcised

ears, Jer 6:10). These all point to a deeper reality, an inner marking or sign that God

requires, a sign which ensures one’s enduring protection from His eternal wrath.

Apart from circumcision, the Israelites were prohibited from making any other

incisions on their body for the dead, nor making marks/imprints on their bodies (Lev

19:28; 21:5; Deut 14:l-2).384 Whether a priest or a regular member o f God’s people,

an Israelite was to be holy and different. Thus, cutting one’s body and having the

blood flow would not only render one unclean, but it would also be perceived as an

attack upon God’s creation o f the human body, so an Israelite should “not disfigure the

divine likeness implanted in him by scarring his body.” And neither should God’s

Moses him self had not been circumcised, and the circumcision o f the son by Zipporah is vicarious.
Regardless o f which interpretation one adopts, an underlying theme here is that the sign Yahweh
required afforded His protection, while its lack attracted His judgment; this is also true with the sealing
o f His slaves in Revelation.

384 J. Huehnergard and H. Liebowitz believe that Lev 19:28 juxtaposes tw o independent laws:
the first dealing with incisions or cuts on the body, sometimes associated with mourning customs (cf.
parallel verse, Lev 21:5, where mourning is not mentioned), and the second dealing with tattooing or
writing on on e’s body. After studying known mourning practices from ancient Israel, Ugarit, Egypt, and
Mesopotamia, they conclude that tattooing is not part o f mourning rituals, so the writing on on e’s body,
while still prohibited, should be considered a separate law (“The Biblical Prohibition against
Tattooing,” F T 63 no. 1 [2013]: 69-70). See also Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17-22, 1690-1695. Escaffre
also notes that passages such as 1 Kgs 18:28, Lev 19:28 and Deut 14: 1 point to the clear distinction
between the mark and the seal, as they “indiquent bien le foss 6 qui s^pare le sens de la marque/incision
de la bete et celui du sceau de Dieu” (“Un Signe sur le Front,” 22).

385 Gordon J. Wenham, The Book o f Leviticus (N1COT 3; Grand Rapids, Mich,: Eerdmans,
1979), 272. G. J. Gevaryahu’s conclusion to his discussion on Lev. 19:28 is along the same trajectory:
“Let the last word in this analysis be that o f Ralbag in the fourteenth century, who explains Leviticus
19:28 as a biblical prohibition against inflicting any pain upon our bodies, except, o f course,
circumcision o f m ales” (“Tatooing Or Branding?” 19). For more explanation, see Jeffrey H. Tigay,
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people do according to the practices o f the nations they would dispossess. According

to Huehnergard and Liebowitz, a lament from a Ugaritic text describes the gods El and
'ISA
Anat mourning for Baal, with both cutting gashes in their flesh, with such a practice

being also attested by the record o f Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets o f Baal at

Mt. Carmel. As expected, the pagan prophets failed in their quest to invoke a non­

existent god’s intervention, so in their frenzy they “cut themselves with swords and

lances until blood gushed out upon them” (1 Kgs 18:28; cf. Jer 47:5, 48:37, and Mark

5:5). Despite the prohibition, it appears that the Israelites did adopt such customs at

times, as it might be reflected in the contexts o f mourning mentioned in Jer 16:6 and

41:5.

However, while apart from circumcision there doesn’t appear to be any

exception to the prohibition against incisions or cuttings made on one’s flesh, we

could point to one exception for tattooing or writing on one’s body: being marked or

marking oneself with the sign o f YHWH is presented in a positive light, as perhaps in

Cain’s case noted above. Another possible instance o f this is 1 Kgs 20:35-43, where

Ahab seems to recognize one o f the sons o f the prophets by a sign on his face or

Deuteronomy: The Traditional H ebrew Text with the N ew JPS Translation (JPSTC; Philadelphia: The
Jewish Publication Society, 1996), 136; according to Tigay, the transfer from the priestly requirement to
the nation is because “the entire people is consecrated to God and all must maintain a quasi-priestly
level o f holiness” (136-137).

386 Biblical Prohibition against Tattooing,” 64-65. Huehnergard and Liebowitz further
relate an incident taking place in the context o f mourning, as they quote from Michael D. C oogan’s
translation o f S tories from Ancient Canaan (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978), describing in quite
horrific terms both o f the god s’ similar actions: “E l . . . cut his skin with a knife, he made incisions with a
razor; he cut his cheeks and chin, he raked his arms with a reed he plowed his chest like a garden, he raked
his back like a valley” likewise, Anat “cut her skin with a knife, she made incisions with a razor; she cut
her cheeks and chin, she raked her arms with a reed, she plowed her chest like a garden, she raked her
back like a valley” (108-109). As the authors further note, such practices described in the Ugaritic
m ythological literature probably reflect the ritual world o f Ugarit (65).
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forehead (though he might have recognized him simply by his face, having been

perhaps acquainted with him before). An even stronger case could be made for this by

pointing to Isa 44:5, “This one will say, 'I am the LORD's,' another will call on the

name o f Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The LORD'S,' and name him self by

the name o f Israel.” According to Black, “What more natural than to mark one’s flesh

indelibly - forehead or palm especially - with the sign o f the deity to whom one

belonged and whose protection and help one sought.”387

Why would such an exception be allowed? As Huehnergard and Liebowitz

very plausibly suggest, the prohibition against tattooing or inscribing/writing on one’s

body was given in the context o f slavery. Thus, “in order to emphasize Israelite

freedom from human masters, the Torah prohibited tattooing, the symbol o f servitude
T OO

as evidenced by the marking o f slaves in Mesopotamia and Egypt.” However, since

God was their new master, marking one as belonging to YHWH was an acceptable

practice. And, as the marking o f slaves continued through NT times, with Huehnergard

and Liebowitz speaking o f “the Roman practice o f writing the owner's name on the

slave,”389 the sealing o f God’s slaves in Revelation by inscribing His Name on them

seems quite at home.

387 Black, “The Chi-Rho Sign,” 325. Though sym bolical, the marking o f Ezek 9:4-6 is also
presented in positive terms, so it probably falls under this category as well.

388 Huehnergard and Liebowitz, “The Biblical Prohibition against Tattooing,” 74 (for their
whole argument see pp.70-74 and the references therein). Jacob Milgrom also notes that branding a
slave with his owner’s name (in Babylon) or with the name o f a god or Pharaoh (in Egypt) was only
customary, and “devotees o f a god would also be branded with its name” (Leviticus 17-22, 1694).

389 Huehnergard and Liebowitz, “The Biblical Prohibition against Tattooing,” 76 (see
especially the research reflected in note 65).
 206

One OT expression o f Israel’s belonging to YHWH that we still need to

mention is the inscription “Holy to YHWH” on the gold plaque attached to the front o f

the high priest’s turban: “It shall be on Aaron's forehead, and Aaron shall bear any

guilt from the holy things that the people o f Israel consecrate as their holy gifts. It

shall regularly be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before YHWH” (Exod

28:38). In the context o f Exodus 28, seal-like engravings connect these three pieces o f

the priestly garments: the ephod, the breastplate, and the turban. To remember Israel

constantly before YHWH, the high priest was to wear the names o f the tribes engraved

on stones both as part o f the ephod and as part o f the breastplate - as part o f the ephod

and carried upon his shoulders, he would have six names per one stone on each

shoulder; and as enclosed in the breastplate (thus upon his heart), Aaron would wear

twelve signets or seals, each one bearing the name o f a tribe. Yet, to bear the nation’s

guilt before the LORD and have Israel be accepted into His presence, the high priest

constantly had to wear the engraved golden tablet fastened unto his turban (thus on his

forehead). Though, in a sense, artificial (as the engraving was external to the body),

the wearing o f a seal including the divine name on the forehead provides a strong

connection to the sealing o f God’s slaves on their foreheads, which identifies them as

priests to our God: the judgment their guilt would have brought upon them has been

averted, as they are the treasured possession o f YHWH; and having washed their robes

and made them white in the blood o f the Lamb (who is YHWH Himself, the only One

truly “Holy to the LORD”), His slaves, now sealed with His Name, serve day and
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night in His temple, sheltered in the Almighty’s presence.390 As noted long ago, “Nor

in vain was the four-lettered name o f the Lord written upon the forehead o f the high

priest, since this is the sign upon the foreheads o f the faithful.”391

Other references that might contribute to our subject matter include Exod 13:9

and 16, as well as Deut 6:8-9.392 However, these passages are probably to be taken

metaphorically (cf. Prov 3:3), so the intent o f “as a sign/mark on your hand and as a

memorial/frontlets between your eyes” would have been to point to the continuous

remembrance o f God’s deliverance as well the nearness o f His commandments to the

hearts and minds o f the Israelites. This metaphorical sense was replaced with the later

development o f phylacteries (or tefilliri). And, though the memorial and symbolical

value o f such objects may still be positive, their often apotropaic use could be

paralleled to the misuse o f water baptism (as some interpret the seal) for similar

purposes in post-NT times, as we noted above. Yet, even though these verses have

390 The folly o f the Juhadite king Uzziah in assuming priestly prerogatives was made evident
when YHWH struck him with leprosy on his foreh ead, as a result he was excluded from the house or
presence o f YHWH for the rest o f his life (cf. 2 Chron 26:16-23).

391 W. Weinrich, Revelation, 105, based on B ede’s Explanation o f the A pocalypse 7:2-3. See
also Philo's M oses 2:132, where he speaks o f the high priest in similar terms, having on his forehead "a
golden leaf, on which an engraving o f four letters was impressed [^v6o«ppayio0Tioav]; by which letters
they say that the name o f the living God is indicated, since it is not possible that anything that is in
existence, should exist without God being invoked."

392 Exodus 13:9, 16, “And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between
your eyes, that the law o f the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has
brought you out o f Egypt . . . . 16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for
by a strong hand the LORD brought us out o f Egypt.” And Deut 6:8-9, “You shall bind them as a sign
on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts
o f your house and on your gates.”

393 For more discussion on this topic see J. Durham, Exodus, 178; W. Kaiser, Jr., Exodus, 382-
383; Peter C. Craigie, The Book o f D euteronom y (N1COT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1976);
Nahum M. Sama, Exodus: The Traditional H ebrew Text with the New JP S Translation (JPSTC;
Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1991), 6 6 -6 8 ,2 7 0 -2 7 3 ; and Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17-
 208

been taken literally to refer to phylacteries perhaps since exilic times, McDonough

notes how Deut 28:10, “And all the peoples o f the earth will see that you are called by

the name o f YHWH, and they shall be afraid o f you,” is interpreted by Targum

Jonathan as, “And all the peoples o f the earth will see that the name o f YHWH is

inscribed on your phylacteries that you have on you and will fear you.”394

We cannot conclude this section on biblical precedent for writing that is either

done by YHWH or that dedicates one to God and His protection without a brief

comparison between the writing o f the old and the new covenants’ stipulations. If

Exodus 20 records God writing the Mosaic covenant’s stipulations for His newly

redeemed slaves - His treasured possession and nation o f priests - on tablets o f stone,

Jeremiah 31 is the clearest to proclaim a new kind o f writing by YHWH concerning a

new covenant: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I

will be their God, and they shall be my people” (31:33).

The inability o f God’s people to keep the stipulations o f the old covenant

written in stone renders them guilty and under His judgment, in total need o f divine

intervention. In the midst of this spiritual crisis YHWH Himself promises to write a

2, 1695. Sama notes that w hile the words used for sign, reminder, and sym bol may point to “an object
that serves to jo g the memory ..., [they] do not in them selves require a literal meaning for these verses”
(Exodus, 270); he believes they are physical objects intended to remind men o f G od’s commandments.
He further notes that the tefdlin were unfortunately rendered into English via Greek as ph ylacteries
(connoting the idea o f safeguarding, and thus o f an amulet)', and, though acknowledging as “possible
that at the lowest popular level the tefillin were regarded as being charged with magical powers, able to
protect the wearer from malignant influences, ... [he is adamant that] the tefillin have nothing to do
with amulets” (270-271).

394 M cDonough, Yahweh at Patm os, 124, where he also notes that according to Targums
Neofiti and Pseudo-Jonathan, the Israelites in the wilderness “wore not phylacteries but golden crowns
inscribed with “the great and glorious name” (though they were stripped o f them after the incident o f
the golden calf, Ex. 32:25ff; cf. Ex. 33:6).”
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new covenant, this time on their hearts, an act which would “bring about the necessary

change in the people’s inner nature which will make them capable o f obedience.”395

The parallels between this new covenant writing on the heart and the act o f sealing are

inescapable, especially when we see the agency o f the Spirit in Ezekiel’s version o f

the promise: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.

And I will take away the heart o f stone from your flesh and give you a heart o f flesh.

And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be

careful to obey My rules” (36:26-27; see also Ezek 11:19, and Deut 30:5,6). We

submit that the sealing o f God’s slaves in Revelation is intrinsically related to the

application o f these new covenant promises; as God seals His own slaves unto His

care, He changes their hearts so they render unto Him their heartfelt love and

obedience.

What can be said about xdpaypa in contrast to otppayiq, as far as biblical use

and precedent? Though the meanings o f the two words overlap somewhat (especially

when used in the context o f coinage), John uses them in sharp contrast, to identify two

very distinct entities: the followers o f the Lamb are those who have the otppayit; / seal

or name o f the Lamb and o f His Father, while the followers o f the beast are identified

by the xdpaypa / mark or name o f the beast.396 This sharp distinction is due not only

to stylistic purposes, serving as an illustration o f a binary contrast that involves the

395 J. A. Thompson, The Book o f Jeremiah (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1980),
581.

396 According to standard Greek lexicon, xdpaypa is “a mark that is engraved, etched, branded,
cut, imprinted” (“xdpaypa,” BDAG, 1077). Clement o f Alexandria used the word xdpaypa to refer to
Christ’s mark on believers (albeit more than 100 years after the writing o f Revelation): “The righteous
man ... receives the stamp o f the ‘royal ‘xdpaypa’” (see Lampe, The S eal o f the S pirit,” 154).
 210

theme o f counterfeiting which John weaves throughout Revelation, but perhaps also to

some o f the connotations that xapaypa seems to have had at the time, especially as it

was used to refer to the mark or the bite o f a snake and to the branding o f animals.397

As noted above, while tattooing was generally prohibited perhaps as a

statement against permanent slavery within the people o f God, biblical precedent

allows for tattooing or writing upon someone to identify him as belonging to YHWH -

a category where cwppayv; normally fits. However, we noted that there is no exception

to the prohibition involving cutting, making an incision, or mutilating one’s body, and

397 A cursory study o f the word’s history based on the extant sources would bear this out, as its
uses attested by the time o f the writing o f Revelation fall into two categories: imprints on a coin or the
carving o f a work, and the branding o f an animal by a man or o f a man by an animal. Outside
Revelation, xdpaypa appears only one other time in the NT, in Acts 17:29, where its use falls into the
first category above, to refer to a carved work. The word is never used in the LXX, Josephus, Philo, the
OT Apocrypha, or the OT Pseudepigrapa. A TLG search revealed two uses o f the word prior to the NT,
five uses in Plutarch ( l sl-2nd century A .D .), two in Anacreontea (which although attributed at times to
the Greek poet Anacreon, 582-485 B.C.), it is dated by the TLG to l s‘-6th centuries A.D. Subsequent
uses are outside our timeframe o f interest, as they belong to Clement o f Alexandria (early 3rd century
A .D .) and later.
The first attested use is in Sophocles’s Philoctetus (5th century B.C.), where it refers to the bite
o f a viper: Philoctetus relates how he was “struck by the cruel sting or bite [xapdypari] o f the man-
slaying serpent [viper],” which led to the Greeks abandoning him on the island o f Lemnos on their way
to Troy (5. Ph. 267). N ext we find the word used by the Greek historian Philochorus (340-261 B.C.), in
his Fragmenta, to refer to the mark or imprint o f an ow l on the tetradrachm.
Plutarch also uses xdpaypa four o f his five times to refer to the imprint on a coin: Lys. 16.2.9 -
the mark o f an owl on many Greek coins; Ages. 15.6.4 - the mark or figure o f an archer on Persian
coins; also Mor. 211 .B.4; and Mor. 984.F.5 - the inhabitants o f Iasus imprinting the figure o f a boy
riding a dolphin on their coins. The only other use in Plutarch refers to the branding o f sacrificial
heifers: “These heifers are used only for sacrifice . . . with brands [xapdypara] upon them in the shape
o f the torch o f the goddess [Persia Artemis]” {Luc. 24.6.6).
The two uses in Anacreontea point to animal branding, specifically o f horses having a
mark/brand of/by fire in the area o f the hip joint {Anacreont. 26.B .2 and 8). And, according to TLG, the
use o f xdpaypa for branding camels is also attested in a second century A.D. papyrus, P.Grenf. 2.50(a).
We may note that the related verb, xapdooa) [I sharpen, scratch, engrave, carve], is used in 3 Macc
2:29 (dating to perhaps 1st century B.C.) to refer to a severe branding by Ptolemy o f the Jews in
Alexandria who would not renounce their faith but rather pay a tax and be reduced to slavery: “Those
w ho are registered are also to be bran ded [xapdooeoOai] on their bodies by fire with the ivy-leaf
symbol o f Dionysus, and they shall also be reduced to their former limited status.”
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Xapaypa would more naturally fit in this category (even if the marking in John’s

vision did minimal damage in application), thus possibly transgressing the Law itself.

All these factors - the law-transgression dimension o f xapaypa; its association with

the branding o f cattle (and possibly even its connection to the mark left by the

snakebite in Philoctetus)', its similarity to acppayiq, so as to communicate also the

counterfeiting theme; and the repulsive nature o f the beast as well as the judgments it

brings upon those bearing his mark - all these factors perhaps led John to use this the

less desirable xapaypa in sharp contrast to ocppayu;. The latter’s associations could

perhaps be seen also as an indication not only o f mutilation and permanent slavery

under a hideous master or under a subhuman beastly and demonic realm, but also o f a

curse that serves as a magnet for God’s eternal wrath, something before which no one

is indeed able to stand.

Conclusion

Having compared and contrasted the seal and the mark, we have submitted that

the concept o f God sealing His own people is part o f a larger biblical-theological

tradition that could be traced back to the Pentateuch, stretching through the

intertestamental period and into John’s own time. As noted above, the distinction

between the sealed and the marked is not necessarily new to John, as seen in Pss. Sol.

15:6-9 (written around the middle o f the first century A.D.), even if the word ot|petov /

sign is used to describe both categories: “For God’s ar|peiov is on the righteous for
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(their) salvation,... [while sinners have] on their foreheads the oripeiov o f

destruction.”

Similarly in the Apocalypse, God through Christ imprints His seal upon His

own - He applies His signature to their foreheads. In the context o f chapter 7, this is

done especially for their protection from the coming judgment. Its application points

to an inner imprint or the writing o f something new on the hearts and minds o f those

God calls His own, whereby He endows them with His Spirit to serve Him securely as

priests forever. Yet, Satan’s attempt to counterfeit God’s signature is close behind, as

his mark inscribed upon his followers comes with deceivingly similar promises o f

protection and well-being; however, the counterfeit can only deliver temporary

benefits, leading to eternal destruction for all who bear it.

Though an imprint on the forehead o f God’s slaves, we have described the seal

as an inner mark - yet, what may some o f its practical implications and pastoral

applications be? We shall attempt to address these next, after a summary o f our study.
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CHAPTER 7

SUMMARY AND APPLICATION

Thesis Summary

Throughout the history o f the church, the Book o f Revelation has often been

either neglected or abused. On the one hand, its neglect may have been the result o f

considering it either uninspired and thus o f minimal usefulness, or too advanced or

esoteric and thus out o f the reach o f the common person, or even dangerous and thus

to be avoided, perhaps as an overreaction to others’ abuse o f it - all this despite the

blessing the book itself pronounces on those who read or hear it and live mindful o f its

teaching. On the other hand, its abuse often occurs when the book takes center stage in

a group’s belief system to the neglect o f the rest o f the Scriptures as the key and

context to its understanding; such belief systems usually end up at odds with some

clear biblical teaching. Not unlike the men o f Athens, large numbers o f modem

Christians seem enthralled with new things, thought to be in the Bible, especially

concerning future or end-time prophetic teachings. Whenever this is the case, the Book

o f Revelation with its wild symbolism is almost invariably at the center o f such

endeavors. As such, its puzzling contents are dissected, dramatized and misapplied

perhaps due to sincere attempts to interpret its symbols through the lenses o f historical

events (whether from today’s headlines or major events from the history o f the

church), or due to misguided efforts to chart out a detailed map o f the future whether
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in an attempt to gain some illusory sense o f control over the unknown or in pursuit o f

the sensational.398

After addressing some introductory matters in Chapter 1, especially the issues

o f genre as well as the different levels o f communication found in symbolic discourse,

we detailed in Chapter 2 how different schools o f interpretation (as well as some

fringe groups throughout history) have approached Revelation 7, noting that the

irreconcilable differences between the outcomes preclude us from adopting all such

interpretations as equally valid. Thus, in our quest to anchor our understanding o f the

concept o f sealing in Revelation into its proper historical context, in Chapter 3 we

surveyed the development and uses o f seals against their ancient backdrop,

concluding that the concept stems from the idea o f ownership, where a seal becomes

an extension o f one person. Though it points to the related functions o f identification,

authentication, and validation, the basic function o f the seal is to preserve or safeguard

the sealed items or persons and prevent any outside tampering.

As we began to deal with Revelation 7 itself in Chapter 4, we first analyzed the

role o f the chapter within the structure o f the seven seal series and o f the book as a

whole, agreeing with Peter S. Perry that Revelation 7 is best seen as a 7tap8KPacnc;

(Latin digressio), “an unessential section that is essential to the rhetorical impact o f

the whole;”399 thus, even though at a first reading the section appears disruptive to the

pattern o f the seven seals and unessential to the logic flow o f the narrative, larger

398 The dictum, “Revelation is a picture book, not a puzzle book,” provides a helpful start in
one’s approach to interpreting the book (Poythress, The Returning King, 13).

399 Perry, The Rhetoric o f D igressions, 210.

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context points to its essential function. Before launching into a contextual

interpretation o f Revelation 7, we also introduced some interpretive guidelines to

inform our study, such as the need to understand symbolic language in its historical

and literary milieu, the primacy and anticipatory nature o f earlier material coupled

with the secondary and expansive quality o f later context, as well as the call to

interpret the book (and the concept o f sealing) within the reality o f inaugurated

eschatology, contending that both John’s initial audience and every Christian since

then have lived in the same tension o f the already and not yet, the period between

Christ’s two advents. With these interpretive guidelines in place, we then attempted a

first reading o f the two visions o f Revelation 7, addressing the chapter’s major

interpretive issues, especially as they relate to the concept o f sealing within the book

itself as well as in light o f its OT background. We concluded that the faithful in John’s

audience not only saw themselves in both visions o f Revelation 7 - as the

beneficiaries o f the sealing and part o f the great multitude before the throne - but also

as the blameless followers o f the Lamb on Mt. Zion (Rev 14:1-5), as well as His pure

bride o f chapters 19-22. In the process we also made the case for the visionary identity

o f the seal o f Revelation 7 as the name o f the Lamb and the name o f His Father (Rev

14:1).

Having addressed primarily the concept o f sealing as perceived by John’s

initial audience, and having considered the visionary identity o f the divine seal, we

then focused in Chapter 5 on the role o f sealing in the flow o f salvation history. We

started by submitting a methodological proposal, namely, that the substance o f

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Revelation is much the same as the teachings already found in the NT elsewhere, yet

now recast in the highly symbolic and mysterious language o f the apocalyptic-

prophetic mold. Thus, we contended that the sealing o f the 144,000 is used as a

metaphor o f the great salvation described elsewhere by John and the other NT writers,

with the concept o f sealing reaching its pinnacle in Revelation as it becomes a symbol

o f the ultimate protection o f God’s own, the proof and guarantee o f their eternal

salvation, resonating with the Pauline parallels which identify the seal as the Holy

Spirit. The divine names point to the seal’s confessional nature, as a Christo-

theological statement o f faith, echoing John’s concern especially expressed in 1 John

that a real child o f God (or a true Jew) confesses both the Father and the Son.

We then further strengthened the case for the identification o f the sealed with

the great multitude, and concluded that the Christo-theological confession applies to

all true believers living in the inaugurated eschatological age, from those living in the

polemical context o f late first century to the ones on the contemporary scene. And

though the presence o f the seal manifests outwardly as a basic Christian confession, in

light o f the sealing's primarily internal and spiritual nature we have found that post-NT

associations o f sealing with apotropaism or its identification with water baptism are

rather wanting, as they demote the symbol’s use from a metaphor o f the ultimate

salvation to a physical sign that in the end is or may be used to attempt a manipulation

o f spiritual realities.

As John intentionally juxtaposes the followers o f the Lamb and those o f the

beast, we proceeded in Chapter 6 to compare and contrast the seal (ocppayl<;) o f the
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living God with the mark (xdpayp.a) o f the beast. We have identified the seal as the

Tetragrammaton, possibly accompanied by a possessive lamed, or perhaps just a

symbol used as shorthand for the divine name. As a counterfeit on God’s signature,

the mark o f the beast also offers protection and well-being, though it is only temporary

and material, functioning in the end as a magnet for God’s wrath and eternal

destruction. The seal’s content as a singular name applied to both the Lamb and His

Father is just another proof o f an early high Christology, as Jesus is incorporated into

the divine identity by being given the same name as God. In imprinting His identifying

and protective seal upon His slaves, God is acting in continuity with other acts o f

marking or writing in the OT, especially the sign o f circumcision and the writing o f

the law on tablets o f stone, yet also in conformity to His promise that one day God

Himself would write His law on the hearts o f men, endowing them with His Spirit and

renewing them from the inside out - to use Peter's language, making them "partakers

o f the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). Thus enabled, the sealed freely perform their priestly

service in His presence forever, acknowledging before a universe o f witnesses that

salvation belongs to God and to the Lamb, worshipping and singing the wonderful

new song o f the redeemed. When this highest o f m an’s callings is observed against the

subhuman, bestial and even demonic perversion that the slavish followers o f the

hideous beast represent, the contrast cannot be starker.

Though certain practical implications and applications have already been

noted, we shall conclude our study with a more concentrated applicatory section. How
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was the concept o f sealing helpful to its first audience, and o f what use might it be to

us today?

Application

The Overall Applicatory Principle

Given the inaugurated eschatological context we and any future believers share

with Revelation's initial audience, our overarching applicatory principle consists o f the

book's initial and continuing relevance: Revelation was given to be understood both

then and now, and its blessing promised to those who take to heart its precious

teaching extends from those in the seven churches o f Asia Minor who first received

the book to encompass us today and all Christians till the end o f time. Also, in order

for communication to take place, we have contended that John's audience must have

been sufficiently familiar not only with the symbols o f Revelation as a vehicle o f

communication, but also with the substance communicated through them as the

already established Christian doctrines, even if that substance was recast in such a

mysterious mold. Thus, our application section is going to reflect our interpretation o f

the act o f sealing as a metaphor o f salvation, reflecting God’s ownership o f His own

unto their protection and preservation.

The Act o f Sealing’s Initial Effect

So, what was the practical value o f Revelation 7, and especially o f the act o f

sealing? Perhaps, at first, it is relief which brings about hope and comfort. When one
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reads the book for the first time, the crisis at the end o f chapter 6 strikes anyone as

quite acute. The judgment day is here, and God’s wrath and the wrath o f the Lamb are

about to be unleashed; the closing rhetorical question, xvc; Suvaxai aiaGfjvai; “Who is

able to stand?” not only doesn’t provide relief, but it actually exacerbates the situation,

driving home the unbearable truth: as the created order is unraveling all around, there

is no hope for any o f us, helpless yet culpable creatures, but to face the

incomprehensible wrath o f our Creator.

What a relief must sweep over the condemned’s heart and mind when a

message from the highest authority stays the executioner's hand. This is the great

moment when, despite our predicament, God intervenes to provide relief for His own

by applying His seal upon their foreheads. This marks them as His possession and

provides for their protection, similar to the manner in which Ezekiel’s contrite

contemporaries were delivered from judgment (Ezek 9:4-6)

This relief that brings hope and comfort in light o f m an’s predicament and

God’s impending judgment is paralleled in other NT writers, such as Paul. Thus,

Revelation 6 may be seen as a parallel o f Rom 1:18-3:20 or Eph 2:1-3, rendering us

guilty and powerless children o f wrath before God’s tribunal, only to swiftly transition

to God’s gracious intervention in providing justification through faith in His Son

(Rom 3:21-31), and new resurrection life by identification with Christ (Eph 2:4-10). In

this light, Revelation 7 portrays the same gracious act by means o f the imagery o f

sealing. As the first recipients o f the book o f Revelation, the Ephesian believers would
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have most likely perceived the organic unity between Paul’s message to them a few

decades earlier and John’s message now, even if so differently packaged.

The same relief that brings hope and comfort belongs to everyone who hears

and receives the good news, that they are no longer children o f wrath and subject to

God’s judgment but have passed from death unto life by faith in Christ. Such relief is

well summarized by Paul in Rom 8:4, “There is now no condemnation for those who

are in Christ Jesus,” which may be paraphrased by John from Revelation 7 to read,

There is now no condemnation fo r those who have received the seal o f the living God.

The Message and Manifestation o f the Seal

Moving beyond the initial sense o f relief that provides hope and comfort for

God’s slaves, we shall next reflect on the main message communicated by the act o f

sealing, which includes the themes o f possession and protection o f the seal’s

beneficiaries, and shall conclude with a discussion o f the outward manifestations

associated with the presence o f the divine name in sealing, which has to do with one’s

confession and character.

The message of sealing. Since the seal functioned as an extension o f one’s

person, the most important message sealing communicates is that o f ownership or

possession. Thus, all those who receive the seal o f the living God are identified as

YHWH’s property or treasured possession, with all o f the benefits o f belonging to

Him. And, as the context o f judgment and reprieve o f Revelation 6-7 and 9:4 seem to
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indicate, foremost among those benefits is God’s protection through the impending

judgments and trials.

Being God’s possession is not a new concept, just as being labeled as God’s

slaves is not,400 and the two reinforce each other in Revelation 7. Israel was YHWH’s

own or treasured possession, His or God’s personal property, rendered as Xaoc,

7t£pioucno<; {a chosen or special people', Exod 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18), as

7r£piouaiaap6c; (treasure or wealth) in Psalm 135:4 (LXX 134:4), and as 7iepi7toir|oi<;

(possession or property) in Mai 3:17. The latter term is picked up by Peter to speak o f

the church as a people fo r His own possession or property (Kabc, eiq 7t£pmoir|aiv; 1 Pet

2:9), while Paul uses the Pentateuchal LXX rendering o f Xxxo<; 7tepiouaio<; (a chosen or

special people) in Tit 2:14 to refer to God’s people as His own possession. By virtue

of creation, all people are God’s possession; yet, by virtue o f redemption, the chosen

become His treasured possession on whom He has set His special love, whether ethnic

Israel o f old or the transnational new covenant people o f God.

The organic unity between Israel o f old and the universal sealed people o f God

is also reinforced by the tribal list, as 12,000 o f each tribe o f the sons o f Israel are

sealed, which also points to the precise and complete number o f God’s people, the

symbolic 144,000. While the sealing o f the sons o f Israel serves as a reminder o f the

roots or heritage and thus the unity o f God’s people throughout the ages, the

complementary function o f the vision o f the uncountable multitude clarifies both the

400 Cf. Lev 25:42, where YHWH prohibits the selling o f the Israelites as slaves: “For they are
My slaves, whom 1 brought out o f the land o f Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.” See also Lev
25:55, Isa 65:9-15, and Rev 1:1, 2:20, etc. For a more detailed discussion on the concept o f slavery to
God as related to the idea o f ownership, see M. Harris, Slave o f Christ, 107-125.
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vastness and the transnational or multi-ethnical character o f the sealed possession o f

YHW H.401 Such a widening o f God’s purposes was made possible by the blood o f the

Lamb, the price God laid down in order to acquire His possession. Thus, the

realization that one belongs to the living God by virtue o f His gracious act o f stamping

His own seal on one’s forehead, and the confidence that each and every one o f His

own people representing every nation and language indiscriminately receives the same

seal and is thus both accounted for and safely brought into His presence despite the

tribulation one may be allowed to go through - these truths should fill one’s heart with

gratitude and secure hope, giving one strength to persevere though the world’s

temptations and hostility, and even through persecution unto death. For, “If God is for

us, who can be against us?” And, “Who shall separate us from the love o f Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or

sword?” (Rom 8:31, 35).

The timing o f the sealing is also crucial, as Revelation 7 reaches both

backward in time, before any judgment is allowed to come, and forward to the end o f

time, to assure each and every one o f God’s slaves o f their safety. In God’s plan o f

salvation each and all who belong to Him are made secure. One might object that the

sealed are already called God’s slaves, so this sealing must refer to something prior to

salvation. Yet we must allow for G od’s perspective on who belongs to Him and when

they do so. For, could the act o f sealing be taking the audience behind the curtain, into

the very plans and eternal decrees o f God, where His slaves are sealed in His sight

401 We may rightly see here echoes o f the Abrahamic covenant concerning both such vast
numbers and the blessing intended for all the families or ethnic groups on earth (cf. Gen 12:3, 13:16,
15:6, 22:17-18; Jer 33:22; Rom 8:9, and Gal 3:29; see also note 285).
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before any manifestation o f judgment is evident? That this appears to be so, we may

point both to John 10:16, where Jesus refers to those yet to be converted as already His

sheep, and to other passages indicating that God’s election o f all o f His people in

Christ took place before any o f them came into actual existence, ttpo KaxaPoA.fi

Koapou, “before the beginning or the foundation o f the world” (Eph 1:4), or Rev 13:8,

where those who worship the beast are the ones whose names have not been written in

the book o f life o f the Lamb ano KaTaPoXxjg Koapou, “from or before the beginning or

foundation o f the world.” Rather than impede the hearer and exclude any from

wanting to be part o f the sealed, this should encourage and embolden everyone who is

thirsty to come and receive the water o f life without cost, to wash their garments in the

blood o f the Lamb, thus providing existential proof o f their divine sealing.

Beside the privilege o f belonging to God as His slaves, we must also consider

the responsibilities that come with such an identity. As Harris notes, “slavery involves

the absence o f rights, especially the right to determine the course o f one’s life and the

use o f one’s energies.”402 Since slaves’ identity is bound with that o f their Master, they

are no longer their own - their new status came about by virtue o f God’s purchasing or

redeeming them at the expense o f His Son, Himself the faithful Slave o f Yahweh ( 12V

H}rP). Such a purchase fills one’s heart with gratitude, especially when God’s slaves

consider both their former master and the judgment o f God awaiting all children o f

wrath, as well as the infinitely high price given for their redemption. So, the joy and

comfort o f belonging to God are to be coupled with gratitude, but also with a full

402 Slave o f Christ, 107.

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determination to a total surrender and complete obedience to their new “absolute and

exclusive Master,” for now “they belong to him totally, and only to him, a

comprehensive ownership that his slaves voluntarily embrace” as they follow in the

footsteps o f the Lamb, the perfectly obedient Slave o f YHWH.403

The manifestation o f sealing. While at John’s visionary level the seal

consisted o f the Divine Name inscribed on people’s forehead, we have contended that

the seal’s nature as a metaphor and guarantee o f their eternal salvation points to an

inner act o f grace. Yet, how does it manifest itself in practice, or what is the existential

proof o f this divine act? We submit that its manifestation is dual, through both

confession and character. By identifying the seal with the Divine Name - specified as

the name o f the Lamb and o f His Father (Rev 14:1), we submitted that John is

emphasizing primarily the confessional nature o f the creed in the polemical

atmosphere o f the day, yet we have also noted the implied change in one’s character

that sealing brings about. Thus, it is the Christo-theological confession together with

the change in one’s character translated into a godly lifestyle that serve as the

existential proof o f the inner divine sealing.

Orthodoxy has always been a crucial concern for God’s people. What one

believes, confesses, and teaches others is essential to one’s standing before God, and

403 Ibid., 125. The Heilderberg Catechism’s first question and answer beautifully express the
comfort w e have in our belonging to Christ:
Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful
Savior, Jesus Christ. He has paid for my sins with His precious blood and has set me free from the
tyranny o f the devil. ... Because I belong to Him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me o f eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly w illing and ready from now on to live for Him.
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the Scriptures have strong warnings against both false prophets or teachers and their

followers. One often goes to classic passages on this topic, such as 2 Peter 2 and Jude,

though Revelation is quite emphatic in condemning the counterfeit trinity o f the

dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, as well as those who worship the beast and

bear its mark.

Jesus’ divine identity was a matter o f contention while He was still on earth,

becoming also the leading human cause for His death, and the matter soon became a

test o f true Christianity, an identifying mark o f believers everywhere. As noted in

Chapter 5 above, Richard Bauckham convincingly argues “that the highest possible

Christology - the inclusion o f Jesus in the unique divine identity - was central to the

faith of the early church even before any o f the NT writings were written, since it

occurs in all o f them.”404 Those who disagreed were outside the boundaries o f faith

(cf. Rom 10:9-13), accursed or dv&Oepa (1 Cor 16:22), false teachers “who deny our

only Master and LORD Jesus Christ” (Jude 4), and antichrists who refuse to confess

both the Father and the Son: “This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the

Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the

Father also” (1 John 2:22b-23). We have contended that what John does in his first

epistle in combating such antichrists, he also does in Revelation through the concept

o f the divine sealing: the imprinted divine name is shared by the Father and the Lamb,

strongly suggesting that the seal’s actual presence manifests itself through an outward

Christo-theological confession, as genuine believers o f all nations (or according to

404 Jesus an d the G o d o f Israel, 19.

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Rev 2:9 and 3:9, those who are truly Jews) prove they belong to the living God by

confessing both the Father and the Son as sharing the divine identity. Just as 1 John

makes this confession a test o f orthodoxy by means o f propositional language, so does

Revelation by means o f the symbolic act o f sealing, with the result that just as the act

o f sealing is proven by the presence o f the imprint, so salvation or belonging to God’s

new covenant people is inextricably linked with one’s Christo-theological confession.

In practice, then, believers in Ephesus and everywhere who have confessed Jesus as

LORD ever since Pentecost have taken comfort that they are truly God’s people, as

through Christ both Jew and Gentile enjoy the same access to the Father in one Spirit

(Eph 2:18).

Beside its manifestation as a Christo-theological confession, God’s gracious

act o f sealing is also attested by a change in character which results in the godly living

of the seal’s beneficiaries, as orthodoxy and orthopraxy do go hand-in-hand.405 Thus,

having God’s name on one’s forehead identifies one as not only belonging to God but

also having His image,406 a new identity that is to be lived out through an open

405 According to J. Seiss, the inward sealing would show itself outwardly “in the doctrines
professed by the sealed ones, in the power with which they announce and defend them, perhaps in
miraculous works wrought in proof o f them, in a particularly holy, prayerful, and self-denying life ...
making them appear like beings from another world ” (The A pocalypse, 1:4 2 1). See also R. Charles, for
whom “sealing means the outward manifestation o f character. The hidden goodness o f G od’s servants is
at last blazoned outwardly, and the divine name that was written in secret by G od’s Spirit on their hearts
is now engraved openly on their brows by the very signet ring o f the living God” (Revelation, 1:205-
206); or James B. Ramsey, who also sees the connection between the inner work o f the Spirit and its
outward manifestation: “The Spirit thus explains His own symbol, and it is one that in a word unfolds
the whole process o f grace. The seal stamps them as His; it certifies them to be His; it preserves them as
His; and it does this by forming and perfecting the image o f Christ in them” (The Book o f Revelation:
An Exposition o f the fir s t Eleven Chapters [ 1873; repr., Carlisle, Pa.: Banner o f Truth, 1977], 326).

406 A s G. Lampe points out, Clement o f Alexandria compared man’s soul with a coin upon
which God stamps His image as a seal: “The righteous man becom es ‘the Lord’s coin ’ and receives the
stamp o f the ‘royal ‘xdpaypa’; the spiritual seal is stamped upon the soul by Christ who is H im self the
 227

confession coupled with a public witness that is backed up and substantiated by a

godly lifestyle, a testimony to the new creation and the eschatological resurrection

reality in which believers now share.407 Reaching again into 1 John, one is reminded

o f the harmony that must exist between one’s confession or claims, and his practice:

“if we say we have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not

practice the truth” (1 John 1:6); or, “whoever says that he knows Him or abides in

Him, ought to keep His commandments” (2:3-4); or, whoever claims to have received

His seal proves it by follow ing the Lamb wherever He goes, through whatever trials

and persecution, and even to martyrdom .408 The seal is the divine guarantee o f their

protection, yet their perseverance is the visible manifestation o f the seal’s presence.

The identity o f the sealed is contrasted with those marked as belonging to the

beast,409 as they are two distinct, separate and mutually exclusive groups, together

‘express image o f the glory o f the A lm ighty’, and Christians bear about with them the image o f God”
(Lampe, The S eal o f the Spirit, 154). Interestingly, Clement uses the word ocppayu; to refer to baptism,
so here he em ploys x^paypa to refer to the seal o f the Spirit as it leaves its mark upon our souls, and
this “indwelling Spirit, in fact, is a ‘shining yapaKTfip’, a token o f the believer’s membership o f Christ”
(ibid. 153-154).

407 Again, the Heidelberg Catechism summarizes this well in question and answer 32, pointing
both to the confessional and the practical natures o f the seal:
Q: But why are you called a Christian?
A: Because by faith 1 am a member o f Christ and so I share in his anointing. I am anointed
[sealed] to confess his name, to present m yself to him as a living sacrifice o f thanks, to strive with a free
conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for
eternity.

408 While not all the sealed necessarily face harsh persecution, they all “face the possibility o f
death because o f their decision to follow the Lamb’s way on this new exodus” (Resseguie, The Book o f
Revelation, 138).

409 Speaking o f both otppayu; and xdpaypa, Resseguie notes that they “are not literal tattoos;
rather they are figurative signs made visible in people’s norms, values, and beliefs” ( The Book o f
Revelation, 136). We would note that while at the referential level they are not tattoos, they are
perceived as such at the visionary level.
 228

encompassing the whole mass o f humanity. One’s allegiance is either to God and the

Lamb or to the dragon and his beast; there is no middle ground.410 Those that receive

His anointing and have the privilege to be called children o f God purify themselves -

wash their clothes in the blood o f the Lamb - as he Himself is pure, while the

evildoers still practice evil. Yet the call continues to go out, inviting whoever is thirsty

to come and receive the water o f life, to switch one’s allegiance and pledge his life to

the rightful King.411

Implications from this outward manifestation o f sealing as a change in

character that reflects godliness in life abound, both for the individual and for the

church in their relationship with the world. Believers in Ephesus - as Revelation’s first

recipients - as well as those to the ends o f the earth who claim the name o f Christ

ought to reflect His character. The Bride o f the Lamb is pure, as the sealed followers

o f the Lamb are virgins in contrast to the perverse harlotry characterizing the

worshipers o f the beast (cf. Rev 13-14). The world’s seductive pleasures, its material

410 As Giesen rightly points out, “Entweder man steht auf der Seite Christi und damit Gottes
oder auf der Seite der gottfeindlichen KrSfte” (Studien zur Johannesapokalypse, 89).

411 Such distinctiveness and clear allegiance has implications for the individual Christian, yet
also for the community o f believers, including the formation and functioning o f new Christian
com m unities in pagan contexts. A recent challenge to such clear allegiance and distinctiveness both in
doctrine and practice has been presented by som e forms o f the Insider Movements (or Jesus
M ovem ents), whose proponents insist that people o f other religions may becom e Christians and yet
continue to function within their neutral religious structures, maintaining their Muslim or Hindu or
Buddhist practices; thus, w e may speak o f biblical Muslims, and Hindu or Buddhist Christ-followers. In
practice, the gathering o f new believers for worship as w ell as baptism and the Lord’s Supper become
negotiable (and often discarded, as it would disturb the social and religious fabric in which the new
converts function), and it becom es justifiable to continue affirming the five pillars o f Islam (even if only
outwardly, without really meaning it)! In light o f John’s clear distinction and contrast between the
follow ers o f the Lamb and those o f the beast, one could imagine how John (or Paul, or even Jesus)
would respond to anyone teaching that one may becom e a Christian without actually identifying on eself
as a Christian! For a more detailed discussion and critique, see David Gamer, “High Stakes: Insider
M ovement Hermeneutics and the Gospel,” Themelios 37.2 (2012): 249-74.
 229

possessions tied to temporary well-being, as well as the power it may offer for a

season, all serve as a constant trap for the Lamb’s followers, yet the infinitely stark

contrast between the outcome for the faithful and that o f the beast’s followers offers a

clear choice, intending to steer one away from compromise even at the price o f one’s

temporary life.

For in the end, Revelation’s message clearly shows that this fallen world is not

a permanent home for the Lamb’s followers, and political powers are not the friend o f

the church.412 Whether by pressure and persecution or by seduction and deception,

Satan and the world system keep after those sealed to cause them to stumble.413

Therefore, John argues they must be alert and aware that they are involved in this

412 The spiritual and inner nature o f the sealing mitigates against the church seeking political
power to effect civil righteousness, or to simply extend the kingdom by ‘sealing’ (read, baptizing)
pagans into it; it has been tried, yet ultimately with disastrous results for the true church.

413 Seduction and persecution are a powerful combination in Satan’s hands in his attacks on
believers, and especially when by means o f this hostile world’s powers he aims to compromise church
leaders. Though exam ples could be multiplied, one that is more familiar to the author concerns the
church under the communist government in Romania (1947-1989), where a number o f church leaders’
cooperation with the secret police was brought about by such means. See Daniel Mitrofan, Pigm ei $i
Uria$i: File din Istoria P ersecutarii Bapti$tilor (Oradea, Romania: Christianus, 2007; also his Pa$i:
Cultul C reftin B aptist din Romania in P erioada Comunista (Bucure$ti, Romania: Centrul de Istorie $i
Apologetica, 2012); and A lexa Popovici, Istoria Bapti$tilor din Romania (3 volume; Oradea, Romania:
Editura FSclia, 2007).
It is much easier to evaluate such scenarios with detachment and in retrospect, and perhaps be
tempted to pass judgment, though som e cases appear to lend themselves easier to such an attitude than
other more com plex ones. However, just as from other turbulent times in history, the church should
learn from this as w ell, and a proper understanding o f the m essage o f Revelation’ sealing o f G od’s
slaves proves instrumental in reminding us: who our Owner is; who w e are as His distinct and precious
possession - both individually and corporately as w e identify ourselves with the Lamb by confessing
Him and displaying His character to the world; and who our enem y is, as w ell as his methods in
seductively attracting and then coercing men to follow him and manifest his character, leading to their
destruction. The exam ples o f the seven churches display our faults and weakness, yet believers are to
take heart; for though tribulation and possible martyrdom may be our lot, those who have washed their
garments in the blood o f the Lamb, have the guarantee o f the divine seal that they shall be able to stand
on that judgment day before the Lamb and before His Father.
 230

eschatological era’s spiritual war, and fight as the sealed army o f the Lamb.414 And,

while they are called to fight by being witnesses both by open confession and a godly

character, they are to look forward to a new heaven and a new earth where God’s

sealed slaves or His treasured possession are assured to arrive safely, even if through

great tribulation, and where they will be forever secure, shepherded by the Lamb.415

4,4 According to Perry, while believers expected G od’s judgment on the ungodly, they did not
necessarily anticipate persecution. So, in an attempt to jolt them into reality, namely that they should
expect both, “John brushes aside the web o f deception in order that his audiences can let go o f their
attachment to imperial society, recognize R om e’s violent intentions, and witness to Jesus even if it
means facing death” (The Rhetoric o f D igression, 25).

415 Gundry compares the sealed 144,000 with the dimensions o f the N ew Jerusalem -
144,000,000 stadia (12,000 in length, breath, and height), with w alls 144 cubits thick, having angels as
gu ard s,... concluding that John is not describing a place but “eternally secure peoples. Neither Satan
nor demons nor beast nor false prophet nor evil men w ill be able to touch the city o f God, which is His
saints. To troubled saints John promises total absence o f anxiety over persecution such as loom s on the
horizon o f the old earth” (The O ld Is Better, 404).
 231

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 CURRICULUM VITAE

DANIEL ISTRATE
4di strate@gmail.com
www.daaaromania.org

EDUCATION
Ph.D. Hermeneutics and Biblical Interpretation, 2015
Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia PA
Dissertation title: “Sealing the Slaves o f God: Revelation 7 in the Stream of
Biblical-Christological Interpretation”
Advisor: Dr. Vem Sheridan Poythress
M.Div (with highest honor), 1997
Biblical Theological Seminary, Hatfield PA
B.S. Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Languages (summa cum laude), 1994
Liberty University, Lynchburg VA

AWARDS
Alma Smeland Senior Academic Award
Biblical Theological Seminary, 1997
School of Religion Achievement Award
Liberty University, 1993-1994

MEMBERSHIPS
Romanian Baptist Church
Bible Fellowship Church
Evangelical Theological Society

TEACHING and MINISTRY EXPERIENCE

Lecturer in NT Greek, OT Exegesis, and NT Exegesis, 1997-present
Timotheus Biblical University, Bucharest, Romania
Teaching Fellow in NT Greek, 1999-2014
Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia PA
Elder, Christian Education, 2006-2013
Grace Bible Fellowship Church, Quakertown PA
Chaplain, 2009-2010
Marketplace Chaplains USA
Lecturer in NT Exegesis and OT Exegesis, 1997-2005
Bethany Bible College, Sibiu, Romania
Lecturer in New Testament Greek, 2000-2001
Nyack College, Manhattan Center, New York