Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 5:4

"And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon:" — Revelation 5:4 (ASV)

The second horseman is war and bloodshed. He rides on a “fiery red steed,” whose color symbolizes slaughter (2 Kings 3:22–23). Therefore, he is given the “large sword” because the number of those he kills is so great (cf. 13:10, 14).

John might have thought of Nero’s slaughter of Christians, the martyrdom of Antipas (2:13), or perhaps those slain under Domitian’s persecutions (cf. Matthew 10:34; 24:9).

A mighty angel shouts out a challenge for anyone to come forth who is “worthy” (GK 545) to open the great scroll and its seals. All creation in heaven and earth and under the earth stood motionless and speechless. No one had the authority and virtue for such a task. If the scroll contains both the revelation and the carrying out of the final drama of history, then John’s despair can be appreciated. In this vision, the execution of events on earth is ascribed to the Lamb. As the seals are broken and the roll opened, salvation history unfolds until history culminates in the kingdom reign of the Messiah over the whole earth. History, then, has its center in Jesus Christ and its goal in his triumphant reign over all the powers of the world.

John next gives the number of those sealed—144,000—and their identification: “From all the tribes of Israel.” There are two principal views regarding the identification of this group:

(1) The number and the tribal identifications are taken literally and refer to 144,000 Jewish Christians who are sealed (to protect them from destruction) during the time of the Great Tribulation.

(2) John uses the language of the new Israel and thus refers the 144,000 to the completed church composed of Jew and Gentile.

In support of the first view is the normal usage of “Israel” in the NT as referring to the physical descendants of Jacob (Galatians 6:16 is too uncertain to be conclusive). There is no unambiguous identification of the church with Israel until A. D. 160, and even then the term “Israel of God” is not used for the church. Reference to the twelve tribes (vv.5–8) would most naturally be understood to refer to the ancient historic Israel and not to the church. Thus, John is symbolically describing the beginning of what Paul foretold in Ro 11:25–29 as the salvation of “all Israel.”

In support of the second view is the fact that the NT identifies the followers of Christ as “Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29), as “the true circumcision” and as the “Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16, though disputed). John himself has already made a distinction between the true Jew and the false (cf. Revelation 2:9; 3:9); that could imply that here in ch. 7 he intends also to designate the church as the true Israel. Additional support is found if there is a unity between the first and second groups in ch. 7, groups that otherwise must be treated as different and unconnected.

Without discussing at length this disputed issue, we agree that those who argue that the term “Israel” in other NT books refers exclusively to Jews are in our opinion correct. Strict exegesis, however, must also ask whether the author of Revelation wishes the term to have this same more restricted usage or whether he in fact uses it differently. It is plausible that the usage of the term “Jew” among Christians had undergone a historic development from the earlier days when Paul wrote Romans (A. D. 56) until Revelation was written toward the close of the century. Paul himself made a distinction between the true, spiritual Jew and the physical descendants of Abraham (Romans 2:28–29; Romans 9:8). Only those Jews who recognized Jesus as Messiah could rightly be called “Israel” (Romans 9:6), though the term might be used with qualifications to refer to the historic descendants of Jacob (“Israel after the flesh” [lit. tr. of 1 Corinthians 10:18]).

Peter likewise described the church (Jew and Gentile) in terms drawn from the OT that historically describe the true people of God among the Jewish descendants (“holy priesthood... chosen people... royal priesthood... holy nation” [1 Peter 2:4, 9]). Moreover, Gentiles who received Jesus as the Messiah and Lord were considered “Abraham’s seed” (Galatians 3:29) and the true “circumcision” .

Already in Revelation the distinction has been made between Jews who were Jews in name only and not true Jews because they did not acknowledge Jesus as Lord (2:9; 3:9). Also, John uses the OT image of the people of Israel as a “kingdom” and “priests” to God for the followers of Jesus (1:6). Similarly, many promises to the victors in the churches of Asia (chs. 2–3) are fulfillments of OT promises given to the true people of Israel. In Christ’s rebuke to the churches, we have the OT imagery of “Balaam” and “Jezebel” describing error that had influenced not the OT Israel but the NT church. In 21:9–12, the church is called the “bride, the wife of the Lamb”; she is identified with the New Jerusalem, and on its twelve gates are inscribed the “names of the twelve tribes of Israel.” Even in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the “true vine,” which many commentators understand to be an allusion to the vine that decorated the temple entrance and stood as a symbol for Israel (cf. Isaiah 5:1ff. with Jn 15:1ff.). Jesus is thus claiming to be the true Israel and his followers are the branches, who are related to the true Israel (cf. Romans 11:17–24).

This usage is evident in the NT itself; the only question is whether John takes the final step in Revelation and, in the context of a largely Gentile church, uses the OT terminology to speak of the church. It is entirely possible that when the church actually separated itself from Israel (as seems apparent in Revelation), it could appropriate to itself the name “Israel.” Other Jewish sectarian groups (such as at Qumran) also restricted the name “Israel” to their group and denied its use to other Jews. Thus in John’s mind the followers of Jesus (14:4) are undoubtedly the true servants of God, the Israel of God (cf. Jn 11:51-52).

The identification of the 144,000 with the whole elect people of God, including both Jews and Gentiles, does not negate Paul’s teaching to the effect that the majority of the Jews themselves will one day be brought back into a relationship of salvation before God. John simply is not dealing with Paul’s emphasis at this point in Revelation (but cf. 11:2–3). The number 144,000 is obviously obtained by combining 12,000 for each of the twelve tribes of Israel (vv.5–8). Earlier (cf. 4:4), twenty-four (a multiple of twelve) served as a symbolic number. The “thousand” multiple appears again later, in relation to the size of the Holy City: “He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long” (21:16). Thus, 12,000 is symbolic of completeness and perfection. Even the wall is “144 cubits” (i.e., twelve times twelve; v.17). The tree of life bearing “twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month” (i.e., twelve months; 22:2) further supports the view that John intends the number twelve to be taken symbolically. By 144,000, he signifies the sealing of the total number of God’s servants who will face the Great Tribulation. Those who are sealed come from “all the tribes of Israel,” and this emphasizes even more the universality and comprehensiveness of the Christian gospel. Whereas in first-century Judaism there were many sects with exclusive tribal claims to being the “true Israel,” for the followers of Jesus all such sectarianism is broken down and all groups, regardless of race, culture, religious background, or geographical location, are accepted before God (7:9; 14:4). There is an exclusivism in Revelation, but it is based on loyalty to Christ.