Revelation 7: How to Survive the End of the World

Introduction

"You can't say our country is doing well. There is a heavy atmosphere." That is how the preacher of Vertical Nantes opens a new message in the church's series on Revelation, a book that speaks about tomorrow "so that we can live better today." Without getting political, he observes that in some ways the world looks more and more like an ending.

Faced with the end, the responses vary. Some want to transform everything and start a revolution by any means. Others withdraw into themselves, like the survivalists who build shelters in their backyards in preparation for a collapse. People fear that civilization will collapse, that the planet will collapse. The problem, he says, is that this is not what Jesus tells us about the end.

Chapter 6 closes with a terrified humanity crying out to the mountains: "Fall on us." And with a question: who is able to stand? Chapter 7 is a pause, an interlude, that simply answers this question: how do you survive the end of the world?

Outline of the Message

1. The Question That Closes Chapter 6

Revelation has entered a section full of symbols. Each time in this series, a moment of pause comes, an interlude: chapter 7 is one of them.
The week before, the church was "a bit shaken": when God's wrath is displayed, "it is no joke."
The kings of the earth, the princes, the rich, the powerful, slaves and free people hide in the caves and tell the mountains: "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17).
How do we understand the place of Christians who live at the dawn of the end? That is precisely the purpose of chapter 7: to talk about us.

2. What John Hears, What John Sees

John hears the number of those who are sealed: 144,000, from all the tribes of Israel, 12,000 per tribe (Revelation 7:4-8).
The preacher points to a technique already seen in chapter 5: John hears a lion roar, but he sees a lamb. Here, it is the same thing.
This list recalls the book of Numbers, "one of the books Christians generally don't like to read," which counts Israel's army tribe by tribe (Numbers 1 and 26). John expects to see sturdy soldiers in armor, sword in hand.
He sees something completely different: a multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Revelation 7:9). Not Israelites, but people from every nation. Not armor, but white robes. Not swords, but palm branches.
"God's people are not Israel, strictly speaking, as a nation or an ethnic group." They are all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ. Only the name of Jesus can gather people who have nothing in common, whatever their nationality, culture, or language.
The preacher tells how for several years he has taken part in a summer camp where young people from all over Europe praise God together: "This text makes me dream."
White robes are a symbol of victory. The palm branches recall Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, but above all the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), when people slept in booths to remember slavery in Egypt and the wilderness, and waved palm branches in praise. We expect a battle, and we find an atmosphere of joy.

3. A People Sealed by God

In the first three verses, these people do not suffer God's judgments, because a seal has been placed on them (Revelation 7:1-3).
A seal is a stamp. The preacher shows an ancient seal dating from the time of King Jeroboam: it is a way of marking ownership. Whatever bears this emblem belongs to someone.
Four angels hold back the four winds of the earth, which threaten to flatten everything in their path. These winds are the four horsemen of chapter 6: in Zechariah 6, the same image is called horses and winds in turn. Before they strike, an angel marks on the forehead those who belong to God.
It is the same principle as in Egypt: the Israelites put the blood of the lamb on the lintels of their doors, and the destroying angel does not touch those houses (Exodus 12). The image also comes from Ezekiel 9, where God marks his people before the judgment.
"I don't think God is going to come with a stamp and put something on your head, but it is a sign of belonging." Your life is not your own, you belong to someone, and that someone loves you. The text speaks of servants, or more precisely the slaves of our God: someone who belongs to another.
It is also an assurance: Christians do not have to be afraid of the end or of God's judgment. Christ paid for every sin when he cried out: "It is finished" (John 19:30).
In some families, people say "in our family, we are all…" In the preacher's family it is: "We work hard." And: "We serve at church, we don't just sit in our chairs." Beyond your family name, you bear the name of Christian. When people see you speak and act, do they recognize the family of Jesus Christ, the one that loves, tells the truth, blesses when cursed, forgives, and leads everyone to meet Jesus?
Some cultures say: your life belongs to your family. Others, closer to France, say: my life belongs to me, my body, my choices. The Christian rejects both ways of thinking: he belongs to the one who bought him back with his blood.
That is why the crowd in verses 10 to 12 has no anxiety: it sings, shouts for joy, praises God. Judgment is not something to fear, it is something to look forward to.

4. Washed in the Blood of the Lamb

One of the elders asks John: "Who are these who are dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?" John answers: "My lord, you know." They are those who come out of the great tribulation; they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:13-14).
"I'm not very good with washing machines, but I know that when I put something red in with something white, it doesn't get whiter." The image is all the stronger for it.
The robe is the clothing in which we present ourselves before God. If you were to meet God right after church, you would shave, fix your hair, and put on your best clothes. What can make you presentable before him? Only one thing: Jesus, being covered by what he has done. No act of piety, nothing you can do yourself.
On this point, Scripture is exclusive: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Jesus did not say "I am one way among others." No religion saves; all leave people under condemnation. What saves is letting yourself fall into the arms of the Savior who paid in our place the penalty our sins deserved.
What Jesus did on the cross is the center of Christianity, and it must be the center of your life. Scrubbing harder doesn't work, other products only spread the stain: only what Christ has done makes us whiter than snow before God.

5. Those Who Persevered Through Tribulation

These people went through what translations call the great distress or the great tribulation, described mostly between chapters 12 and 14. This time will be hard for Christians, not because God is punishing them, but because another, on the other side, is at war against Christ and his church.
The only thing Satan can do against you is make you lose your trust in God. When doubt takes up space, when faith in what Jesus did on the cross wavers, you begin to drift away. That is where he can reach you, not when you are close to Christ.
These people are not simply people who believed once, prayed a prayer when they were young, or were baptized. They are people who held on. "True faith keeps bearing fruit. True faith perseveres to the end."
If you have faith today, you have no reason to be afraid: you can say with confidence that if you die tonight, you will go to be with Jesus. But faith is active, not passive. James, the half-brother of Jesus, says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Jesus does not say: "If you sin or you aren't perfect, you're finished." He speaks of perseverance, of the desire to be transformed and to keep loving him.
When does this tribulation take place? Some place it in the future, others say it has already begun: John calls himself a companion of the churches in the tribulation (Revelation 1:9). "I don't know, and it is not the most interesting question." Satan does not wait patiently for his hour. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and we are sometimes a little naive.
In the list of the twelve tribes, one is missing: Dan. The preacher recalls that it fell into idolatry to the point of denying its God (Judges 18, 1 Kings 12). Eleven out of twelve, but one did not go all the way. The danger of apostasy is real, without becoming paranoid.
The letter to Laodicea, the only church for which Jesus has nothing positive to say ("I will spit you out of my mouth," Revelation 3:16), also contains the most beautiful call to repentance: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (Revelation 3:20). Jesus does not watch us with his arms crossed. Like the good shepherd, he leaves the 99 sheep to go after the one that is lost (Luke 15:4). But this love must never become an excuse.

6. Three Weapons of Satan Against Your Perseverance

Distraction. Anything that takes time and energy without being part of what is essential can become a distraction, even what is beautiful and good. Satan seeks to occupy your thoughts, your emotions, and your actions with something other than Jesus, until he kills your affection for him. "Don't tell me you don't have time to read your Bible ten minutes a day if you have time to scroll two hours on social media."
The preacher confesses that God convicted him while he was preparing this message: he was neglecting his sanctification in one specific area, with the argument that he was working for the church. We can be distracted by good things: making ourselves happy, spending time with others before spending time with God, building our own little kingdom rather than his.
Compromise. Compromise after compromise, we slide down a slope that leads to apostasy. Satan always uses the question from the Garden of Eden: "Has God really said…?" (Genesis 3:1). The preacher takes examples from society (man made in the image of God, the distinction between man and woman, the child in the mother's womb, end of life, marriage between a man and a woman), then brings them back to the heart: did God really say that I must forgive my spouse seventy-seven times? That I must bless those who persecute me? When I doubt it, resentment sets in, gossip takes root. That is why there are no small sins: each compromise makes the next one easier.
Persecution. In suffering, Satan wants to tell you that God has forgotten you, that he loves you less than the others, so that you stop praying and meeting with your brothers and sisters. Like Esau who, exhausted and starving on returning from the hunt, sells his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew (Genesis 25:29-34).
"The best defense is always offense." Be aggressive, not against others: against your distractions (discipline yourself, don't give up), against your sin (crucify it, no longer let it run your life, because it cost your Savior his life), and in trials, by saying: "Lord, I don't understand, I'm hurting, but I'm not leaving." Your cries of suffering will become cries of praise.

7. The Promise That Keeps You Going to the End

Verses 15 to 17 give the first real description of heaven in Revelation: they serve God day and night in his temple, the one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them, they will no longer hunger or thirst, the sun will no longer beat on them, the Lamb will shepherd them and guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There are moments of worship when nothing else exists around you, when the problems of the week disappear because your attention is captivated by Jesus. "It will be like that for eternity."
God will dwell with us, not only spiritually but physically: our eyes will see him. No more pain, no more hunger or thirst, no more sun beating down.
The Lamb becomes the good shepherd, as in Psalm 23: "Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing." He takes care of us in the present, in the future, and even for our past: one day, Christ will pass his hand over your face and wipe away everything that was painful in this life.
That is why brothers and sisters around the world and across the centuries have accepted losing their lives: they knew they would be reunited with Jesus Christ.
One question remains: are you sealed by Jesus Christ? And if so, do you live like someone who is? Whatever your answer, the invitation is the same: "Come, and let yourself be washed by what I have done for you." So that we would not forget and would persevere, Christ gave us the Lord's Supper, which engages sight, touch, and taste. The message ends with an invitation to the table: "Come home."

Key Takeaways

God's people are not an ethnic group: they are an innumerable multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, gathered by the name of Jesus.
The seal is a sign of belonging: whoever belongs to Christ does not have to fear judgment, but looks forward to it.
Only one thing makes you presentable before God: being washed in the blood of the Lamb, and no act of piety can replace it.
True faith perseveres to the end, and Satan attacks this perseverance through distraction, compromise, and persecution.
The promise of heaven, God dwelling with us and wiping away every tear, gives the strength to hold on to the end.

Personal Application

When people see you speak and act this week, do they recognize someone who belongs to Jesus Christ?
What are you counting on to be presentable before God: your efforts, your piety, or only what Jesus did on the cross?
Which distraction, even a good one, is taking God's place in your schedule or your thoughts today?
In what area are you hearing the question "Has God really said…?" right now: forgiveness, the way you talk about others, a sin you tolerate?
If you are going through a trial, how can you say to God "I'm hurting, but I'm not leaving" rather than drifting away from him and from the church?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the 144,000 in Revelation 7?

John hears the count of 144,000 Israelites, tribe by tribe, like an army census in the book of Numbers. But he sees a multitude that no one can count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, in white robes and holding palm branches. For the preacher, God's people are not an ethnic group: they are all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ.

What does the seal on the foreheads of God's servants mean?

A seal is a stamp that marks ownership. Before the four winds of judgment blow, an angel marks those who belong to God, like the blood of the lamb on the doors in Egypt or the mark in Ezekiel 9. It is a sign of belonging to Jesus Christ, which gives the Christian the assurance of not being afraid of judgment.

Why is the tribe of Dan missing from the list in Revelation 7?

The preacher recalls that the tribe of Dan fell into idolatry to the point of denying its God (Judges 18, 1 Kings 12). Eleven tribes out of twelve are there, one did not go all the way. He sees in this an illustration of the real danger of apostasy, without falling into paranoia: Jesus does everything to bring back those who drift away.