The previous six seals have been quite dramatic and not a little disturbing. We have seen that God has decreed the war and pestilence and famine that comes upon the earth, then we have seen that there is a number of the saints that have to be martyred. Note that this last point means that martyrdom is not in the hands of the devil, but under the control of the Lord.
So, before the seventh seal is opened, John (and us) is given some much needed encouragement.
First he sees the angels putting a seal on the foreheads of the servants of God. We will refer back to this when we come to the mark of the beast passage later on, for it is important in understanding those passages.
The twelve tribes of Israel are mentioned, along with 12 000 from each tribe. So 144 000 in total. Now there is much debate over whether this refers specifically to the nation of Israel, or to spiritual Israel. I don't think the 12 000 should be taken literally, otherwise it would mean that a rather small number were saved from Israel. Though the 144 000 is not necessarily synonymous with those who are saved.
In the list the tribe of Dan is not mentioned. This may be because of Dan's association with idolatry.
Then he sees a great multitude. The great multitude, from all nations, were praising God. In John's time the nations were not praising God, just as it is today. But the final outcome is that every knee shall bow.
The multitude were dressed in white. The angel then explains that they are the ones who came out of the great tribulation, The time of tribulation will be terrible, but it will also produce much fruit. Satan will throw everything at the church, but this will just demonstrate his ultimate defeat.
The multitude will be greatly blessed and will serve the Lord day and night.
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