JESUS MY HELP, I CALL ON YOUR NAMEI CAST MY CARES ON YOUJESUS MY HOPE, MY TOWER OF STRENGTHMY FAITH IS FOUND IN YOUI SEE YOU PIERCED, WOUNDED FOR MEWHEN I LOOK TO THE CROSS I SEEI SEE GRACE, SEALED BY YOUR SACRIFICEI SEE LOVE REACHING FOR MEPRECIOUS BLOOD WASHES AND SANCTIFIESHEALING FLOWS SETTING ME FREE, I SEE GRACEBEARER OF SIN, AFFLICTED AND TRIEDYOU PAID REDEMPTION’S PRICEBEARING MY CURSEYOU SET ME ON HIGHYOUR DEATH HAS BROUGHT ME LIFEI SEE YOU PIERCED, WOUNDED FOR MEWHEN I LOOK TO THE CROSS I SEEI SEE GRACE, SEALED BY YOUR SACRIFICEI SEE LOVE REACHING FOR MEPRECIOUS BLOOD WASHES AND SANCTIFIESHEALING FLOWS SETTING ME FREE, I SEE GRACE(I See Grace is written by Karen Lim of New Creation Church, Singapore.)
Many of us have seen the phrase "Sealed With A Kiss", or SWAK. When I was in Middle School and had to give out Valentines cards to the entire class (even the girls), I said they were SWAK--Sealed With A Knee. But in our passage today, God says we are SWAT--Sealed With A Tav. Now you may know that a tav is the last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, and it looks like an "x" or a "+". Remembering the scripture, "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end," we see that if we use the Greek alphabet, then He is the Alpha and Omega. But if we use the Hebrew alphabet, it starts with an Aleph (representing an ox, strength, and leader--indeed, the word "aluph", derived from the name of this letter, means "master" or "lord"), and ends with a Tav (which looks remarkably like a cross). So saying "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end," could mean "I am your strength and your shield", as well as all of the other meanings we associate with it. This will all make more sense later, I promise.
"After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the Seal of the Living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a Seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.' Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah...Reuben...Gad...Asher...Naphtali... Manasseh ... Simeon ...Levi...Issachar...Zebulun...Joseph...and Benjamin, 12,000 (each).
Wow! So rich. First of all, did you realize that myriads of angels stand at the ready, and if God commanded, they would destroy the earth and all who live in it? Daniel 7:2 says, "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up from the great sea." Zechariah 6:5 says, "The angel answered me, 'These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.' " So these mighty angels have the ability to go to the four corners of the earth in an instant, and carry out the spoken will of God. Yet by God's mercy, he does not destroy us; his will is to redeem us. Matthew 24:31 says, "And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
But how will the angels know whom to gather and whom to leave behind for death and destruction? Revelation 9:4 says, "They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Remember how God orchestrated the Exodus of His people out of Egypt? He protected them from the Egyptian plagues.
- "But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land." (Exodus 8:22)
- "But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die....The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were." (Exodus 9:4, 26)
- "No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived." (Exodus 10:23, the plague of darkness)
- "But among the Israelites not (even) a dog will bark at any man or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt." (Exodus 11:7, the angel of death)
Before that last plague, the Israelites were instructed to kill a lamb for the Passover meal, and to sprinkle the blood of this lamb on the top and both sides of the door frames of their houses. As the blood dripped from the top of the doorframe onto the threshold, there were four points of blood; if you connected the dots, the left with the right, and the top to the bottom, you got an image of the Cross. So the angel of Death, when he saw the image of the Cross and the blood of the lamb there, he would pass over that house and move on to the next one. This is the origin of the Jewish Passover. Unfortunately, most Jews do not see the spiritual significance of the Blood of the Lamb and the image of the Cross, or the tav, in this yearly celebration.
Similarly, Christians in the last days will have a mark on their foreheads, to show that they have been sealed with the blood of Christ. Ezekiel 9:4 says, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." That mark was the Hebrew letter tav, which resembled an "x" or a "+". This is the "seal" of Revelation. We will be sealed with the sign of the cross, so that when the angels are sent to do God's bidding, and unleash terrible winds (e.g. hurricanes, typhoons, tornadoes, and whirlwinds), we who have the Seal on our foreheads will be spared.
In ancient times there was no post office. Letters or documents were folded and tied, and a lump of clay was pressed over the knot. The sender would then stamp the hardening clay with his signet ring, or roll it with a cylinder seal, which authenticated and protected the contents. The sealing in Revelation chapter 7 results in the name of the Lord being stamped on the forehead of his followers. Its primary purpose is to protect the peple of God in the coming judgments. Revelation 22:4 says, "They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads."
Praise God for his provision! Praise Him for his protection! Praise Him for his pronouncement that all of us with the seal of God on our foreheads will be saved, just as the Israelites were protected from His judgement on Egypt so many years ago. Revelation 14:1,3 says "Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads....And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth."
Some take this number literally, and see a reference to members of actual Jewish tribes, the faithful Jewish remnant of the great tribulation. Others take the passage as symbolic of all the faithful believers who live during the period of tribulation. Remember when the disciples asked Jesus how many times they should forgive? They chose what they thought was the number of completion: seven. If they forgave someone seven times, then surely God would bless them. But Jesus plan was for them to not keep track of the number, but to forgive an infinite number of times. What did he say? Not seven, but seventy times seven. Now, we know that he did not actually mean we could or should count 490 times to forgive, then stop at 491. He meant that we should always forgive. I think the same thing applies to this number, 144,000. The number twelve is also a complete number: it was the number of the Tribes of Israel, it was the number of Apostles. So the text says 144,000, which is twelve times twelve, multiplied by a thousand. That could be an infinite number, or at least a multitude that cannot be counted. This is the number of those who are faithful to God, who will be protected and sealed against His final judgment.
Revelation 14:4 says, "These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They followed the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb." This describes the martyrs of God, but it could also describe all committed Christians, who repent from sin and turn their hearts toward God. Using another Old Testament reference, many times God differentiates between those who fall into idolatry and those who shun idols and worship the true and living God. In our passage from Revelation 7, verses 5-8 list the Twelve tribes of Israel. Missing from the list of tribes is Dan; this omission is probably due to Dan's early connection with idolatry (Judges 18:30). Taking his place is Joseph's son Manasseh. In Genesis 48:5, Jacob the Patriarch (son of Abraham, whose name was changed to Israel, father of the twelve tribes) essentially adopts Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. As adopted sons, they would share equally among Jacob's ten other sons; they would take the place of Joseph, who was blessed, and of Dan, who fell into idolatry. This is a picture of God adopting us as His children, and including us as joint-heirs with Jesus. We are included in God's provision and His estate, not because of our family lineage or blood line, but because of His grace.
What happens to those who do not accept the grace given by God? Jeremiah 10:10 says, "But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath." I urge you, friends, to turn away from false gods and their false promises. Turn instead to the living God, whose grace will make you whole. 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.' "
I have seen the best of times,
And those times when I’ve been low,
But I can take all that life may give,
And still come back I know,
And the rivers that run through the land,
And tumble free and fine,
Well, they don’t need your helping hand,
They’ve got the rest of time.
Chorus:
But God Protect The Children,
Wherever they may be,
Protect them from the raging storm,
And from the angry sea.
Verse:
Protect them in the villages
And cities near and far,
Sheltered in their mothers’ arms,
Beneath your guiding star.
Chorus:
God Protect The Children,
Wherever they may be,
Protect them from the raging storm,
And from the angry sea.
Bridge:
And when a child’s voice is heard to cry
In hunger or in pain,
Please move the stars, and change the tide
‘Till that child can smile again.
Chorus:
God Protect The Children,
Wherever they may be,
Protect them from the raging storm,
And from the angry sea.
Protect them as they grow and dream,
Long after day is done,
God Protect The Children,
Protect them ev’ry one.
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