Albert Barnes Commentary Revelation 7

CHAPTER VII

ANALYSIS OF THE CHAPTER

The state of things represented in this chapter is that where there had been awful consternation and alarm, as if the end of the world were coming. The signs of the approaching consummation of all things are, as it were, held back until there is an opportunity to seal the number that was to be saved.

This is symbolized by four angels standing in the four quarters of the earth, holding the winds and the storms so that they would not blow on the earth, until the servants of God could be sealed on their foreheads. The idea is that of sudden destruction about to burst on the world. If unrestrained, this destruction would apparently bring on the consummation of all things. However, it is held back until the purposes of God regarding His people are accomplished—that is, until those who are the true servants of God are designated by some appropriate mark.

This provides an opportunity to disclose a glorious vision of those who will be saved, both among the Jews and the Gentiles. The fact, as seen in the symbol, is that the end of the world does not come at the opening of the sixth seal, as it seemed it would, and as it was anticipated in the time of the consternation. The number of the chosen was not complete, and the impending wrath was therefore suspended. God interposes in favor of His people and discloses in a vision a vast number from all lands who will yet be saved, and the winds and storms are held back as if by angels.

The points, then, that are apparent in this chapter, without any reference now to the question of the application, are the following:

1. The impending ruin that seemed about to spread over the earth, apparently bringing on the consummation of all things, is restrained or suspended (Revelation 7:1). This impending ruin is symbolized by the four winds of heaven that seemed about to sweep over the world. The interposition of God is represented by the four angels who have power over those winds to hold them back, as if it depended on their will whether to let them loose and spread ruin over the earth.

2. A suspension of these desolating influences and agents until another important purpose could be accomplished—that is, until the servants of God could be sealed on their foreheads (Revelation 7:2–3). Another angel, acting independently of the four first seen, and having power to command, appears in the east, having the seal of the living God. He directs the four angels, having the four winds, not to let them loose upon the earth until the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads.

   This obviously denotes some suspension of the impending wrath, for a specific purpose: that something might be done by which the true servants of God would be so marked as to be publicly known—as if they had a mark or brand to that effect imprinted on their foreheads. Whatever would serve to designate them, to determine who they were, or to ascertain their number, would be a fulfillment of this act of the sealing angel.

   The length of time during which this would be done is not designated. The essential thing is that there would be a suspension of impending judgments in order that it might be done. Whether this was to occupy a longer or a shorter period is not determined by the symbol; nor is it determined when the winds thus held back would be allowed to blow.

3. The number of the sealed (Revelation 7:4–8). The seer does not represent himself as actually beholding the process of sealing, but he says that he heard the number of those who were sealed. That number was one hundred and forty-four thousand, and they were selected from the twelve tribes of the children of Israel—Levi being reckoned (who was not usually numbered with the tribes) and the tribe of Dan being omitted.

   The number from each tribe, large or small, was the same; the entire portion selected being but a very small part of the whole. The general idea here, whatever may be the particular application, is that there would be a selection, and that the whole number of the tribe would not be embraced. The selection would be made from each tribe, and all would have the same mark and be saved by the same means.

   It would not be in accordance with the nature of symbolic representation to suppose that the saved would be the precise number referred to here; rather, some great truth is designed to be represented by this fact. We should look, in the fulfillment, for some process by which the true servants of God would be designated. We should expect that a portion of them would be found in each one of the classes here denoted by a tribe. We should suppose that the true servants of God thus referred to would be as safe in the times of peril as if they were designated by a visible mark.

4. After this, another vision presents itself to the seer: that of a countless multitude before the throne, redeemed out of all nations, with palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9–17). The scene is transferred to heaven, and there is a vision of all the redeemed—not only of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, but of all who would be rescued and saved from a lost world. The design is doubtless to cheer the hearts of the true friends of God in times of gloom and despondency, by a view of the great numbers that will be saved, and the glorious triumph that awaits the redeemed in heaven. This portion of the vision embraces the following particulars:

   1. A vast multitude, which no one can number, is seen before the throne in heaven. They are clad in white robes—emblems of purity; they have palms in their hands—emblems of victory (Revelation 7:9).

   2. They are engaged in ascribing praise to God (Revelation 7:10).

   3. The angels, the elders, and the four living creatures fall down before the throne and unite with the redeemed in ascriptions of praise (Revelation 7:11–12).

   4. A particular inquiry is made of the seer—evidently to call his attention to it—respecting those who appear there in white robes (Revelation 7:13).

   5. To this inquiry, it is answered that they were those who had come up out of great tribulation, and who had washed their robes and made them pure in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).

   6. Then follows a description of their condition and employment in heaven (Revelation 7:15–17). They are constantly before the throne; they serve God continually; they neither hunger nor thirst; they are not subjected to the burning heat of the sun; they are provided for by the Lamb in the midst of the throne; and all tears are forever wiped away from their eyes.

      This must be regarded, I think, as an episode, having no immediate connection with what precedes or what follows. It seems to be thrown in here—while the impending judgments of the sixth seal are suspended, and before the seventh is opened—to provide relief in the contemplation of so many scenes of woe, and to cheer the soul with inspiring hopes from the view of the great number that would ultimately be saved.

      While these judgments, therefore, are suspended, the mind is directed onward to the world of triumph, as a view fitted to sustain and comfort those who would be partakers in the scenes of woe. At the same time, it is one of the most touching and beautiful of all the representations of heaven ever penned, and is eminently adapted to comfort those, in all ages, who are in a vale of tears.

In the exposition, it will be proper to inquire (Revelation 7:1–8) into the fair meaning of the language employed in the symbols, and then to inquire whether there are any known facts to which the description is applicable. The first inquiry may and should be pursued independently of the other. It may be added that the explanation offered on this may be correct, even if the other should be erroneous. The same remark is also applicable to the remainder of the chapter (Revelation 7:9–17) and indeed is of general applicability in the exposition of this book.

And after these things (Revelation 7:1). After the vision of the things referred to in the opening of the sixth seal, the natural interpretation would be that what is said here about the angels and the winds occurred after those things described in the previous chapter. The exact chronology may not always be observed in these symbolical representations, but doubtless, a general order is observed.

I saw four angels (Revelation 7:1). He does not describe their forms, but merely mentions their agency. This is, of course, a symbolical representation.

We are not to suppose that it would be literally fulfilled, or that, at the time referred to by the vision, four celestial beings would be stationed in the four quarters of the world to check and restrain the winds that blow from the four points of the compass. The meaning is that events would occur which would be properly represented by four angels standing in the four quarters of the world and having power over the winds.

Standing on the four corners of the earth (Revelation 7:1). This language is, of course, accommodated to the prevailing mode of speaking about the earth among the Hebrews. It was a common method among them to describe it as a vast plain, having four corners, those corners being the prominent points—north, south, east, and west. So we speak now of the four winds, the four quarters of the world, etc. The Hebrews spoke of the earth, as we do of the rising and setting of the sun, and of the motions of the heavenly bodies, according to appearances, and without aiming at philosophical exactness. Compare Barnes on Job 26:7.

With this view, they spoke of the earth as an extended plain and as having boundaries or corners, as a plain or field naturally has. Perhaps they also used this language with some allusion to an edifice, as having four corners, for they also speak of the earth as having foundations. The language which the Hebrews used was in accordance with the prevailing ideas and language of the ancients on the subject.

Holding the four winds of the earth (Revelation 7:1). The winds blow in fact from every quarter, but it is convenient to speak of them as coming from the four principal points of the compass, and this method is adopted, probably, in every language. So among the Greeks and Latins, the winds were arranged under four classes—Zephyrus, Boreas, Notus, and Eurus—considered as under the control of a king, Aeolus.

See Eschenburg, Manual of Classical Literature, section 78; compare section 108. The angels here are represented as "holding" the winds—kratountav. That is, they held them back when about to sweep over the earth and produce far-spread desolation. This is an allusion to a popular belief among the Hebrews that the agency of the angels was employed everywhere.

It is not suggested that the angels had raised the tempest here, but only that they now restrained and controlled it. The essential idea is that they had power over those winds, and that they were now exercising that power by keeping them back when they were about to spread desolation over the earth.

That the wind should not blow on the earth (Revelation 7:1). That there should be a calm, as if the winds were held back.

Nor on the sea (Revelation 7:1). Nowhere—neither on sea nor land. The sea and the land constitute the surface of the globe, and the language here, therefore, denotes that there would be a universal calm.

Nor on any tree (Revelation 7:1). To injure it. The language here used is such as would denote a state of profound quiet, as when we say that it is so still that not a leaf of the trees moves.

Regarding the literal meaning of the symbol employed here, there can be no great difficulty; as to its application, there may be more. The winds are the proper symbols of wars and commotions . In Jeremiah 49:36-37, the symbol is both used and explained: And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life. So in Jeremiah 51:1-2, a destroying wind is an emblem of destructive war: I will raise up against Babylon a destroying wind, and will send unto Babylon farmers, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land. (Compare Horace, Odes, book 1, ode 14). The essential ideas, therefore, in this portion of the symbol, cannot be mistaken. They are two:

1. That at the period of time referred to here—after the opening of the sixth seal and before the opening of the seventh—there would be a state of things which would be well represented by rising tempests and storms, which if unrestrained would spread desolation far and wide; and

2. That this impending ruin was held back as if by angels having control of those winds; that is, those tempests were not allowed to go forth to spread desolation over the world. A suspended tempest; calamity held in check; armies hovering on the borders of a kingdom, but not allowed to proceed for a time; hordes of invaders detained, or stayed in their march, as if by some restraining power not their own, and from causes not within themselves—any of these things would be an obvious fulfilling of the meaning of the symbol.

And I saw another angel. Evidently having no connection with the four, and employed for another purpose. This angel, also, must have been symbolic; and all that is implied is, that something would be done as if an angel had done it.

Ascending from the east. He appeared in the east and seemed to rise like the sun. It is not easy to determine what is the special significance, if any, of the east here, or why this quarter of the heavens is designated rather than the north, the south, or the west.

It may be that as light begins in the east, this would be properly symbolic of something that could be compared with the light of the morning; or that some influence in "sealing" the servants of God would in fact go out from the east; or perhaps no special significance is to be attached to the quarter from which the angel is seen to come.

It is not necessary to suppose that every minute thing in a symbol is to receive a complete fulfillment, or that there will be some particular thing to correspond with it. Perhaps all that is meant here is, that as the sun comes forth with splendor from the east, so the angel came with magnificence to perform a task—that of sealing the servants of God—cheerful and joyous like that which the sun performs.

It is certain that from no other quarter of the heavens would it be so appropriate to represent an angel as coming forth to perform a purpose of light, mercy, and salvation. It does not seem to me, therefore, that we are to look, in the fulfillment of this, for any special influence setting in from the east as that which is symbolized here.

Having the seal of the living God. Bearing it in his hands. In regard to this seal, the following remarks may be made:

1. The phrase "seal of the living God" doubtless means that which God had appointed, or which he would use; that is, if God himself came forth in this manner, he would use this seal for these purposes. Men often have a seal of their own, with some name, symbol, or device, which designates it as theirs, and which no other one has a right to use. A seal is sometimes used by the person himself; sometimes entrusted to a high officer of state; sometimes to the secretary of a corporation; and sometimes, as a mark of special favor, to a friend. In this case, it was entrusted to an angel who was authorized to use it, and whose use of it would be sanctioned, of course, wherever he applied it, by the living God, as if he had employed it himself.

2. As to the form of the seal, we have no information. It would be most natural to suppose that the name "of the living God" would be engraved on it, so that that name would appear on anyone to whom it might be affixed. Compare Barnes on 2 Timothy 2:19.

   It was customary in the East to brand the name of the master on the forehead of a slave (Grotius, in this passage); and such an idea would meet all that is implied in the language here, though there is no certain evidence that there is an allusion to that custom. In subsequent times, in the church, it was common for Christians to impress the sign of the cross on their foreheads—Tertullian, De Corona; Cyril, Book VI. See Grotius. As nothing is said here, however, about any mark or device on the seal, conjecture is useless as to what it was.

3. As to what was to be designated by the seal, the main idea is clear: it was to place some such mark upon his friends that they would be known to be his, and that they would be safe in the impending calamities. There is perhaps an allusion here to Ezekiel 9:4-6, where the following direction to the prophet occurs: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that cry, for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark. The essential ideas in the sealing, in the passage before us, would therefore seem to be:

   1. That there would be some mark, sign, or token, by which they who were the people of God would be known; that is, there would be something which would answer, in this respect, the same purpose as if a seal had been impressed upon their foreheads. Whether this was an outward badge, or a religious rite, or the doctrines which they would hold and by which they would be known, or something in their spirit and manner which would characterize his true disciples, may be a fair subject of inquiry. It is not specifically designated by the use of the word.

   2. It would be something that would be conspicuous or prominent, as if it were impressed on the forehead. It would not be merely some internal sealing, or some designation by which they would be known to themselves and to God, but it would be something apparent, as if engraved on the forehead. What this would be, whether a profession, or a form of religion, or the holding of some doctrine, or the manifestation of a particular spirit, is not here designated.

   3. This would be something appointed by God himself. It would not be of human origin, but would be as if an angel sent from heaven should impress it on the forehead. If it refers to the doctrines which they would hold, they could not be doctrines of human origin; if to the spirit which they would manifest, it would be a spirit of heavenly origin; if to some outward protection, it would be manifest that it was from God.

   4. This would be a pledge of safety. The design of sealing the persons referred to seems to have been to secure their safety in the impending calamities. Thus the winds were held back until those who were to be sealed could be designated, and then they were to be allowed to sweep over the earth. These things, therefore, we are to look for in the fulfillment of the symbol.

And he cried with a loud voice. As if he had authority to command, and as if the four winds were about to be let forth upon the world.

To whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. Who had power committed to them to do this by means of the four winds.

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, etc. Let the winds be restrained until what is here designated is done. These destroying angels were commanded to suspend the work of destruction until the servants of God could be made secure. The division here, as in Revelation 7:1, of the "earth, the sea, and the trees," seems to include everything—water, land, and the produce of the earth. Nothing was to be injured until the angel should designate the true servants of God.

Till we have sealed the servants of our God. The use of the plural "we" seems to denote that he did not expect to do it alone. Who were to be associated with him, whether angels or men, he does not intimate; but the work was evidently such that it demanded the agency of more than one.

In their foreheads. See the notes on Revelation 7:2; compare with Ezekiel 9:4-5. A mark so placed on the forehead would be conspicuous, and would be something that could be immediately recognized if destruction should spread over the world. The fulfillment of this is to be found in two things:

1. in something that would be conspicuous or prominent—so that it could be seen; and
2. in the mark being of such a nature or character that it would be a proper designation of the fact that they were the true servants of God.

And I heard the number of them who were sealed. He does not say where he heard that, or by whom it was communicated to him, or when it was done. The material point is, that he heard it; he did not see it done. Either by the angel, or by some direct communication from God, he was told of the number that would be sealed, and of the distribution of the whole number into twelve equal parts, represented by the tribes of the children of Israel.

And there were sealed one hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. In regard to this number, the first and the main question is, whether it is meant that this was to be the literal number, or whether it was symbolical; and, if the latter, of what it is a symbol.

As to the first of these inquiries, there does not appear to be any good reason for doubt. The fair interpretation seems to require that it should be understood as symbolical, or as designed not to be literally taken, for the following reasons:

1. The whole scene is symbolical—the winds, the angels, the sealing.
2. It cannot be supposed that this number will include all who will be sealed and saved. In whatever way this is interpreted, and whatever we may suppose it to refer to, we cannot but suppose that more than this number will be saved.
3. The number is too exact and artificial to suppose that it is literal. It is inconceivable that exactly the same number—precisely twelve thousand—should be selected from each tribe of the children of Israel.
4. If literal, it is necessary to suppose that this refers to the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. But on every supposition this is absurd. Ten of their tribes had been long before carried away, and the distinction of the tribes was lost, no more to be recovered. Moreover, the Hebrew people have never been, since the time of John, in circumstances to which the description here could be applicable. These considerations make it clear that the description here is symbolical.

But of what is it symbolical? Is it of a large number, or of a small number? Is it of those who would be saved from among the Jews, or of all who would be saved in the Christian church—represented as the "tribes of the children of Israel?" To these inquiries we may answer:

1. The representation seems to be that of a comparatively small number rather than a large one, for these reasons:

   1. The number itself is not large.
   2. The number is not large when compared with those who must have constituted the tribes referred to here—the number twelve thousand, for example, as compared with the whole number of the tribe of Judah, of the tribe of Reuben, etc.

   3. It would seem from the language that there would be some selection from a much greater number. Thus, not all in the tribes were sealed, but those who were sealed were "of all the tribes"—ek pashv fulhv; that is, out of these tribes. So in the specification in each tribe—ek fulhv iouda, roubhn, etc. Some out of the tribe, namely, twelve thousand, were sealed. It is not said of the twelve thousand of the tribes of Judah, Reuben, etc., that they constituted the tribe, but that they were sealed out of the tribe, as a part of it preserved and saved. "When the preposition ek, or out of, stands after any such verb as sealed, between a definite numeral and a noun of multitude in the genitive, sound criticism requires, doubtless, that the numeral should be thus construed, as signifying, not the whole, but a part taken out."—Elliott, i. 237. (Numbers 1:21; 1 Samuel 4:10).

      The phrase, then, would properly denote those taken out of some other and greater number—as a portion of a tribe, and not the whole tribe. If the reference here is to the church, it would seem to denote that only a portion of that church would be sealed.

   4. For the same reason, the idea would seem to be that a comparatively small portion is referred to—as twelve thousand would be a comparatively small part of one of the tribes of Israel. If this refers to the church, we should expect to find its fulfillment in a state of things in which the largest proportion would not be sealed: that is, in a corrupt state of the church in which there would be many professors of religion, but comparatively few who had real piety.

2. To the other inquiry—whether this refers to those who would be sealed and saved among the Jews, or to those in the Christian church—we may answer as follows:

   1. There are strong reasons for supposing the latter to be the correct opinion. Long before the time of John all these distinctions of tribe were abolished. The ten tribes had been carried away and scattered in distant lands, never more to be restored; and it cannot be supposed that there was any such literal selection from the twelve tribes as is spoken of here, or any such designation of twelve thousand from each. There was no occasion—either when Jerusalem was destroyed, or at any other time—on which such transactions as are referred to here occurred in reference to the children of Israel.

   2. The language is such as a Christian, who had been by birth and education a Hebrew, would naturally use if he wished to designate the church. (Compare to Barnes on James 1:1).

      Accustomed to speak of the people of God as "the twelve tribes of Israel," nothing was more natural than to transfer this language to the church of the Redeemer, and to speak of it in that figurative manner. Accordingly, from the necessity of the case, the language is universally understood to have reference to the Christian church. Even Professor Stuart, who supposes that the reference is to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, interprets it of the preservation of Christians, and their flight to Pella, beyond Jordan. Thus interpreted, moreover, it accords with the entire symbolical character of the representation.

   3. The reference to the particular tribes may be a designed allusion to the Christian church as it would be divided into denominations, or known by different names; and the fact that a certain portion would be sealed from every tribe would not be an unfit representation of the fact that a portion of all the various churches or denominations would be sealed and saved.

      That is, salvation would be confined to no one church or denomination, but among them all true servants of God would be found. It would be improper to suppose that the division into tribes among the children of Israel was designed to be a type of the sects and denominations in the Christian church. Yet, the fact of such a division may not improperly be employed as an illustration of that. For the whole church is made up not of any one denomination alone, but of all who hold the truth combined, just as the people of God in ancient times consisted not solely of any one tribe, however large and powerful, but of all combined. Thus understood, the symbol would point to a time when there would be various denominations in the church, and yet with the idea that true friends of God would be found among them all.

   4. Perhaps nothing can be argued from the fact that exactly twelve thousand were selected from each of the tribes. In language so figurative and symbolical as this, it could not be maintained that this proves that the same definite number would be taken from each denomination of Christians. Perhaps all that can be fairly inferred is that there would be no partiality or preference for one more than another; that there would be no favoritism on account of the tribe or denomination to which any one belonged; but that the seal would be impressed on all, of any denomination, who had the true spirit of religion.

      No one would receive the token of the Divine favor because he was of the tribe of Judah or Reuben; no one because he belonged to any particular denomination of Christians. Large numbers from every branch of the church would be sealed; none would be sealed because he belonged to one form of external organization rather than to another; none would be excluded because he belonged to any one tribe, if he had the spirit and held the sentiments which made it proper to recognize him as a servant of God.

      These views seem to me to express the true sense of this passage. No one can seriously maintain that the writer meant to refer literally to the Jewish people. If he referred to the Christian church, it seems to be to some selection that would be made out of the whole church, in which there would be no favoritism or partiality, and to the fact that, in regard to them, there would be something which, in the midst of abounding corruption or impending danger, would designate them as the chosen people of God, and would furnish evidence that they would be safe.

Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. That is, a selection was made, or a number sealed, as if it had been made from one of the tribes of the children of Israel—the tribe of Judah. If the remarks made above are correct, this refers to the Christian church, and means, in connection with what follows, that each portion of the church would furnish a definite part of the whole number sealed and saved.

We are not required to understand this of the exact number of twelve thousand, but that the designation would be made from all parts and branches of the church as if a selection of the true servants of God were made from the whole number of the tribes of Israel.

There seems to be no particular reason why the tribe of Judah was mentioned first. Judah was not the oldest of the sons of Jacob, and there was no settled order in which the tribes were usually mentioned. The order of their birth, as mentioned in Genesis 29:1; 30:1, is as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin.

In the blessing of Jacob, Genesis 49:1, this order is changed, and is as follows: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin. In the blessing of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:1, a different order still is observed: Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun, Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Asher; and in this last, moreover, Simeon is omitted.

So again in Ezekiel 48:1, there are two enumerations of the twelve tribes, differing from each other, and both differing from the arrangements above referred to: namely, in Ezekiel 48:31-34, where Levi is reckoned as one, and Joseph as only one; and in Ezekiel 48:1-27, referring to the division of the country, where Levi, who had no heritage in land, is omitted, and Ephraim and Manasseh are counted as two tribes (Professor Stuart, vol. 2, pp. 172-173). From facts like these, it is clear that there was no certain and settled order in which the tribes were mentioned by the sacred writers.

The same thing seems to have occurred in the enumeration of the tribes which would occur, for example, in the enumeration of the several States of the American Union. There is indeed an order which is usually observed, beginning with Maine, etc., but almost no two writers would observe the same order throughout; nor should we consider it strange if the order should be materially varied by even the same writer in enumerating them at different times. Thus, at one time, it might be convenient to enumerate them according to their geographical position; at another, in the order of their settlement; at another, in the order of their admission into the Union; at another, in the order of their size and importance; at another, in the order in which they are arranged in reference to political parties, etc.

Something of the same kind may have occurred in the order in which the tribes were mentioned among the Jews. Perhaps this may have occurred also by design, so that no one tribe might claim precedence or pre-eminence by being always placed at the head of the list.

If, as is supposed above, the allusion in this enumeration of the tribes was to the various portions of the Christian church, then perhaps the idea intended to be conveyed is that no one division of that church is to have any preference on account of its locality, or its occupying any particular country, or because it has more wealth, learning, or numbers than others; but that all are to be regarded, where there is the true spirit of religion, as on a level.

There are, however, three peculiarities in this enumeration of the tribes which demand a more particular explanation. The number indeed is twelve, but that number is made up in a peculiar manner.

1. Joseph is mentioned, and also Manasseh. The fact was that Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:1), and these two sons gave names to two of the tribes, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. There was, properly speaking, no tribe of the name Joseph.

   In Numbers 13:1 the name Levi is omitted, as it usually is, because that tribe had no inheritance in the division of the land; and so that the number twelve might be complete, Ephraim and Joseph are mentioned as two tribes (Revelation 7:8, 11). In verse 11, the writer states expressly that by the tribe Joseph he meant Manasseh—Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, etc.

   From this it would seem that, as Manasseh was the oldest (Genesis 48:14), the name Joseph was sometimes given to that tribe. As Ephraim, however, became the largest tribe, and as Jacob in blessing the two sons of Joseph (Genesis 48:14) laid his right hand on Ephraim, and pronounced a special blessing on him (Genesis 48:19–20), it would seem not improbable that, when not particularly designated, the name Joseph was given to that tribe, as it evidently is in this place.

   Possibly the name Joseph may have been a general name which was occasionally applied to either of these tribes. In the long account of the original division of Canaan, in Joshua 13–19, Levi is omitted, because he had no heritage, and Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned as two tribes. The name Joseph in the passage before us (Revelation 7:8) is doubtless designed, as remarked above, to refer to Ephraim.

2. In this list (Revelation 7:7) the name of Levi is inserted among the tribes. As already remarked, this name is not commonly inserted among the tribes of the children of Israel, because that tribe, being devoted to the sacerdotal office, had no inheritance in the division of the country, but was scattered among the other tribes (18:7). It may have been inserted here, if this refers to the Christian church, to denote that the ministers of the gospel, as well as other members of the church, would share in the protection implied by the sealing; that is, to denote that no class in the church would be excluded from the blessings of salvation.

3. The name of one of the tribes—Dan—is omitted; so that by this omission, and the insertion of the tribe of Levi, the original number of twelve is preserved. There have been numerous conjectures as to the reason why the tribe of Dan is omitted here, but none of the solutions proposed are without difficulty. All that can be known, or regarded as probable, on the subject, seems to be this:

   1. As the tribe of Levi was usually omitted in an enumeration of the tribes, because that tribe had no part in the inheritance of the Hebrew people in the division of the land of Canaan, so there appear to have been instances in which the names of some of the other tribes were omitted, the reason for which is not given. Thus, in Deuteronomy 33, in the blessing pronounced by Moses on the tribes just before his death, the name Simeon is omitted. In 1 Chronicles 4–8, the names of Zebulun and Dan are both omitted. It would seem, therefore, that the name of a tribe might be sometimes omitted without any particular reason being specified.

   2. It has been supposed by some that the name Dan was omitted because that tribe was early devoted to idolatry, and continued idolatrous to the time of the captivity. Of that fact there can be no doubt, for it is expressly affirmed in Judges 18:30; and that fact seems to be a sufficient reason for the omission of the name.

      As being thus idolatrous, it was in a measure separated from the people of God, and deserved not to be reckoned among them; and in enumerating those who were the servants of God, there seemed to be a propriety that a tribe devoted to idolatry should not be reckoned among the number.

      This will account for the omission without resorting to the supposition of Grotius, that the tribe of Dan was extinct at the time when the Apocalypse was written—a fact which also existed in regard to all the ten tribes; or to the supposition of Andreas and others, that Dan is omitted because Antichrist was to spring from that tribe—a supposition which is alike without proof and without probability. The fact that Dan was omitted cannot be supposed to have any special significance in the case before us. Such an omission is what, as we have seen, might have occurred at any time in the enumeration of the tribes.

In reference to the application of this portion of the book (Revelation 7:1–8), or of what is designed to be here represented, there has been, as might be expected, a great variety of opinions. From the exposition of the words and phrases which has been given, it is manifest that we are to look for a series of events like the following:

1. Some impending danger, or something that threatened to sweep everything away—like winds that were ready to blow on the earth.

2. That tempest restrained or held back, as if the winds were held in check by an angel, and were not suffered to sweep over the world.

3. Some new influence or power, represented by an angel coming from the east—the great source of light—that should designate the true church of God—the servants of the Most High.

4. Some mark or note by which the true people of God could be designated, or by which they could be known—as if some name were impressed on their foreheads.

5. A selection or election of the number from a much greater number who were the professed, but were not the true servants of God.

6. A definite, though comparatively a small number thus designated out of the whole mass.

7. This number taken from all the divisions of the professed people of God, in such numbers, and in such a manner, that it would be apparent that there would be no partiality or favoritism; that is, that wherever the true servants of God were found, they would be sealed and saved. These are things which lie on the face of the passage, if the interpretation above given is correct, and in its application it is necessary to find some facts that will properly correspond with these things.

If the interpretation of the sixth seal proposed above is correct, then we are to look for the fulfillment of this in events that soon succeeded those which are there referred to, or at least which had their commencement at about that time.

The inquiry now is whether there were any events that would accord properly with the interpretation here proposed: that is, any impending and spreading danger; any restraining of that danger; any process of designating the servants of God so as to preserve them; anything like a designation or selection of them from among the masses of the professed people of God?

Now, in respect to this, the following facts accord so well with what is demanded in the interpretation, that it may be regarded as morally certain that they were the things which were thus made to pass in vision before the mind of John. They have at least this degree of probability, that if it were admitted that he intended to describe them, the symbols which are actually employed are those which it would have been proper to select to represent them.

1. The impending danger, like winds restrained, that threatened to sweep everything away, and to hasten on the end of the world. In reference to this, there may have been two classes of impending danger—that from the invasion of the Northern hordes, referred to in the sixth seal (chapter 6), and that from the influx of error, that threatened the ruin of the church.

   1. As to the former, the language used by John will accurately express the state of things as it existed at the period supposed at the time of the sixth seal—the series of events introduced, now suspended, like the opening of the seventh seal. The idea is that of nations pressing on to conquest; heaving like tempests on the borders of the empire; overturning everything in their way; spreading desolation by fire and sword, as if the world were about to come to an end.

      The language used by Mr. Gibbon in describing the times here referred to is so applicable, that it would seem almost as if he had the symbols used by John in his eye. Speaking of the time of Constantine, he says, "The threatening tempest of barbarians, which so soon subverted the foundations of Roman greatness, was still repelled, or suspended on the frontiers" (vol. 1, p. 362). This language accurately expresses the condition of the Roman world at the period succeeding the opening of the sixth seal; the period of suspended judgments so that the servants of God might be sealed (See Barnes on Revelation 6:12-17).

      The nations which ultimately spread desolation through the empire hovered around its borders, making occasional incursions into its territory; even carrying their arms, as we have seen in some instances, as far as Rome itself, but still restrained from accomplishing the final purpose of overthrowing the city and the empire. The church and the state alike were threatened with destruction, and the impending wrath seemed only to be held back as if to give time to accomplish some other purpose.

   2. At the same time, there was another class of evils which threatened to sweep like a tempest over the church—the evils of error in doctrine that sprang up on the establishment of Christianity by Constantine. That fact was followed by a great increase of professors of religion, who, for various purposes, crowded into a church patronized by the state—a condition of things which tended to do more to destroy the church than all that had been done by persecution had accomplished.

      This effect was natural; and the church became filled with those who had yielded themselves to the Christian faith from motives of policy, and who, having no true spiritual piety, were ready to embrace the most lax views of religion, and to yield themselves to any form of error. Of this period, and of the effect of the conversion of Constantine in this respect, Mr. Gibbon makes the following remarks, strikingly illustrative of the view now taken of the meaning of this passage: "The hopes of wealth and honour, the example of an emperor, his exhortations, his irresistible smiles, diffused conviction among the venal and obsequious crowds which usually fill the departments of a palace. The cities which signalized a forward zeal, by the voluntary destruction of their temples, were distinguished by municipal privileges, and rewarded with popular donatives; and the new capital of the East gloried in the singular advantage, that Constantinople was never profaned by the worship of idols. As the lower ranks of society are governed by imitation, the conversion of those who possessed any eminence of birth, of power, or of riches, was soon followed by dependent multitudes. The salvation of the common people was purchased at an easy rate, if it be true that, in one year, twelve thousand men were baptized at Rome, besides a proportional number of women and children, and that a white garment, with twenty pieces of gold, had been promised by the emperor to every convert" (vol. 1, p. 425).

      At a time, therefore, when it might have been supposed that, under the patronage of a Christian emperor, the truth would have spread around the world, the church was exposed to one of its greatest dangers—that arising from the fact that it had become united with the state. About the same time, also, there sprang up many of those forms of error which have spread farthest over the Christian world, and which then threatened to become the universal form of belief in the church.

      Of this class of doctrine were the views of Arius, and the views of Pelagius—forms of opinion which there were strong reasons to fear might become the prevailing belief of the church, and essentially change its character. About this time, also, the church was passing into the state in which the Papacy would arise—that dark and gloomy period in which error would spread over the Christian world, and the true servants of God would retire for a long period into obscurity.

      "We are now but a little way off from the commencement of that noted period—obscurely hinted at by Daniel, plainly announced by John—the twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days or years, for which preparations of a very unusual kind, but requisite, doubtless, are made. This period was to form the gloomiest, without exception, in the annals of the world—the period of Satan's highest success, and of the church's greatest depression; and lest she should become during it utterly extinct, her members, never so few as then, were all specially sealed. The long night passes on, darkening as it advances; but the sealed company are not visible; they disappear from the Apocalyptic stage, just as they then disappeared from the observation of the world; for they fled away to escape the fire and the dungeons of their persecutors, to hide in the hoary caves of the earth, or to inhabit the untrodden regions of the wilderness, or to dwell beneath the shadow of the Alps, or to enjoy fellowship with God, emancipated and unknown, in the deep seclusion and gloom of some convent." —The Seventh Vial, London, 1848, pp. 27-28.

      These facts seem to me to show, with a considerable degree of probability, what was designated by the suspense which occurred after the opening of the sixth seal—when the affairs of the world seemed to be hastening on to the great catastrophe. At that period, the prophetic eye sees the tendency of things suddenly arrested; the winds held back, the church preserved, and a series of events introduced, intended to designate and to save from the great mass of those who professedly constituted the "tribes of Israel," a definite number who should be in fact the true church of God.

2. The facts, then, to which there is reference in checking the tendency of things, and sealing the servants of God, may have been the following:

   1. The preservation of the church from extinction during those calamitous periods when ruin seemed about to sweep over the Roman world. Not only as a matter of fact was there a suspension of those impending judgments that seemed to threaten the very extinction of the empire by the invasion of the Northern hordes (See Barnes on Revelation 4:1 and following), but there were special acts in favour of the church, by which these fierce barbarians appeared not only to be restrained from destroying the church, but to be influenced by tenderness and sympathy for it, as if they were raised up to preserve it when Rome had done all it could to destroy it.

      It would seem as if God restrained the rage of these hordes for the sake of preserving his church; as if he had touched their hearts that they might give to Christians an opportunity to escape in the impending storm. We may refer here particularly to the conduct of Alaric, king of the Goths, in the attack on Rome already referred to; and, as usual, we may quote from Mr. Gibbon, who will not be suspected of a design to contribute anything to the illustration of the Apocalypse.

      "At the hour of midnight," says he (vol. 2, pp. 260-261), "the Salarian gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the imperial city, which had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia. The proclamation of Alaric, when he forced his entrance into the vanquished city, discovered, however, some regard for the laws of humanity and religion. He encouraged his troops boldly to seize the rewards of valour, and to enrich themselves with the spoils of a wealthy and effeminate people; but he exhorted them at the same time to spare the lives of the unresisting citizens, and to respect the churches of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul as holy and inviolable sanctuaries. While the barbarians roamed through the city in quest of prey, the humble dwelling of an aged virgin, who had devoted her life to the service of the altar, was forced open by one of the powerful Goths. He immediately demanded, though in civil language, all the gold and silver in her possession; and was astonished at the readiness with which she conducted him to a splendid hoard of massive plate, of the richest materials and the most curious workmanship. The barbarian viewed with wonder and delight this valuable acquisition, till he was interrupted by a serious admonition, addressed to him in the following words: 'These,' said she, 'are the consecrated vessels belonging to St. Peter; if you presume to touch them, the sacrilegious deed will remain on your consciences: for my part, I dare not keep what I am unable to defend.' The Gothic captain, struck with reverential awe, dispatched a messenger to inform the king of the treasure which he had discovered; and received a peremptory order from Alaric, that all the consecrated plate and ornaments should be transported, without damage or delay, to the church of the apostle. From the extremity, perhaps, of the Quirinal hill, to the distant quarter of the Vatican, a numerous detachment of the Goths, marching in order of battle through the principal streets, protected, with glittering arms, the long train of their devout companions, who bore aloft on their heads the sacred vessels of gold and silver; and the martial shouts of the barbarians were mingled with the sound of religious psalmody. From all the adjacent houses, a crowd of Christians hastened to join this edifying procession; and a multitude of fugitives, without distinction of age or rank, or even of sect, had the good fortune to escape to the secure and hospitable sanctuary of the Vatican."

      In a note, Mr. Gibbon adds: "According to Isidore, Alaric himself was heard to say, that he waged war with the Romans, and not with the apostles." He adds also (p. 261), "The learned work concerning the City of God was professedly composed by St. Augustine to justify the ways of Providence in the destruction of the Roman greatness. He celebrates with peculiar satisfaction this memorable triumph of Christ; and insults his adversaries by challenging them to produce some similar example of a town taken by storm, in which the fabulous gods of antiquity had been able to protect either themselves or their deluded votaries." We may refer here, also, to that work of Augustine as illustrating the passage before us.

      In Book I, Chapter 2, he defends this position, that "there never was war in which the conquerors would spare them whom they conquered for the gods they worshipped"—referring particularly to the sacking of Troy; in Chapter 3, he appeals to the example of Troy; in Chapter 4, he appeals to the sanctuary of Juno, in Troy; in Chapter 6, he shows that the Romans never spared the temples of those cities which they destroyed; and in Chapter 6, he maintains that the fact that mercy was shown by the barbarians in the sacking of Rome was "through the power of the name of Jesus Christ." In illustration of this, he says, "Therefore, all the spoil, murder, violence, and affliction, that in this fresh calamity came upon Rome, were nothing but the ordinary effects following the custom of war. But that which was so unaccustomed, that the savage nature of the barbarians should put on a new shape, and appear so merciful, that it would make choice of great and spacious churches, to fill with such as it meant to show pity on, from which none should be hauled to slaughter or slavery, in which none should be hurt, to which many by their courteous foes should be conducted, and out of which none should be led into bondage; this is due to the name of Christ, this is due to the Christian profession; he that sees not is blind; he that sees and praises it not is unthankful; he that hinders him that praises it is mad."—City of God, p. 11, London, 1620.

      Such a preservation of Christians; such a suspension of judgments, when all things seemed to be on the verge of ruin, would not be inappropriately represented by winds that threatened to sweep over the world; by the restraining of those winds by some remarkable power, as by an angel; and by the special interposition which spared the church in the tumults and terrors of a siege, and of the sacking of a city.

   2. There may have been a reference to another class of Divine interpositions at about the same time, to designate the true servants of God. It has been already remarked, that from the time when Constantine took the church under his patronage, and it became connected with the state, there was a large accession of nominal professors in the church, producing a great corruption in regard to spiritual religion, and an extended prevalence of error.

      Now, the delay here referred to, between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals, may have referred to the fact that, during this period, the true doctrines of Christianity would be vindicated and established in such a way that the servants of God would be "sealed" and designated in contradistinction from the great mass of the professed followers of Christ, and from the numerous advocates of error.

      From that mass, a certain and definite number was to be sealed —implying, as we have seen, that there would be a selection, or that there would be something which would discriminate them from the multitudes as the true servants of God. This is represented by an angel coming from the east: the angel representing the new heavenly influence coming upon the church; and the coming from the east—as the east is the quarter where the sun rises—denoting that it came from the source and fountain of light—that is, God.

      The "sealing" would denote anything in this new influence or manifestation which would mark the true children of God, and would be appropriately employed to designate any doctrines which would keep up true religion in the world; which would preserve correct views about God, the way of salvation, and the nature of true religion, and which would thus determine where the church of God really was.

      If there should be a tendency in the church to degenerate into formality; if the rules of discipline should be relaxed; if error should prevail as to what constitutes spiritual religion; and if there should be a new influence at that time which would distinguish those who were the children of God from those who were not, this would be appropriately represented by the angel from the east, and by the sealing of the servants of God.

      Now it requires but a slight knowledge of the history of the Roman empire, and of the church, at the period supposed here to be referred to, to perceive that all this occurred. There was a large influx of professed converts. There was a vast increase of worldliness. There was a wide diffusion of error.

      Religion was fast becoming mere formalism. The true church was apparently fast verging to ruin. At this period God raised up distinguished men—as if they had been angels ascending from the east—who came as with the "seal of the living God"—the doctrines of grace, and just views of spiritual religion—to designate who were, and who were not, the "true servants of God" among the multitudes who professed to be his followers.

      Such were the doctrines of Athanasius and Augustine—those great doctrines on which the very existence of the true church has in all ages depended. The doctrines thus illustrated and defended were fitted to make a broad line of distinction between the true church and the world, and this would be well represented by the symbol employed here—for it is by these doctrines that the true people of God are sealed and confirmed.

      On this subject, compare Elliott (vol. 1, pp. 279-292). The general sense intended here is that, after Constantine's conversion, there was a decided tendency in the church toward a worldly, formal, and lax kind of religion. This included a prevalent denial of the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrines of grace. Furthermore, there was a lax mode of admitting members to the church with little or no evidence of true conversion. A disposition arose to attribute saving grace to religious ordinances, especially baptism, and to rely on outward ceremonies with little acquaintance with spiritual power. This led to a general breaking down of the barriers between the church and the world, as is usual in times of outward prosperity, especially when the church is connected with the state.

      At this time there arose another set of influences well represented by the angel coming from the east, and sealing the true servants of God, in illustration and confirmation of the true doctrines of Christianity—doctrines on which the spirituality of the church has always depended: the doctrines of the Trinity, the atonement, the depravity of man, regeneration by the agency of the Holy Spirit, justification by faith, the sovereignty of God, and kindred doctrines. Such doctrines have in all ages served to determine where the true church is, and to designate and "seal" the servants of the Most High.

   3. This process of "sealing" may be regarded as continued during the long night of Papal darkness that was coming upon the church, when error would abound, and the religion of forms would be triumphant. Even then, in places obscure and unknown, the work of sealing the true servants of God might be going forward—for even in those times of gloomy night there were those, though comparatively few in number, who loved the truth, and who were the real servants of God.

      The number of the elect were filling up, for even in the darkest times there were those who loved the cause of spiritual religion, and who bore upon them the impress of the "seal of the living God." Such appears to have been the intent of this sealing vision: a restraining of the desolation that, in various forms, was sweeping over the world, so that the true church might be safe, and that a large number, from all parts of the church, might be sealed and designated as the true servants of God.

      The winds, that blew from all quarters, were restrained as if by mighty angels. A new influence, from the great source of light, came in to designate those who were the true servants of the Most High, as if an angel had come from the rising sun with the seal of the living God, to impress it on their foreheads.

      A selection was made out of a church filling up with formalists, and in which the true doctrines of spiritual religion were fast fading away, of those who could be designated as the true servants of God. By their creed, and their lives, and their spirit, and their profession, they could be designated as the true servants of God, as if a visible mark were impressed on their foreheads.

      This selection was confined to no place, no class, no tribe, no denomination. It was taken from the whole of Israel, in such numbers that it could be seen that none of the tribes were excluded from the honour, but that, wherever the true spirit of religion was, God was acknowledging these tribes—or churches—as his, and there he was gathering a people to himself. This would be long continued, until new scenes would open, and the eye would rest on other developments in the series of symbols, revealing the glorious host of the redeemed emerging from darkness, and in countless numbers triumphing before the throne.