Insight from Revelation 7:<\/p>\n
This chapter answers a very important question that is tied to the events described in Revelation 6. Revelation 6, remember, speaks of the outpouring of God\u2019s wrath upon the disobedient. But what will happen to the saints who are on earth? They are not in rebellion against God. Is God pouring his wrath out on them? Is God making any distinction between the righteous and unrighteous? Revelation 7 proclaims that God will protect his people from his wrath and that all of God\u2019s people will be saved. None of them will be lost. This does not mean that God\u2019s people will not suffer. All Christians will suffer persecution. It means that all Christians will be saved by God from God\u2019s wrath. This chapter begins with a vision of God\u2019s people being sealed on earth. It ends with a vision of God\u2019s people having been safely delivered to his presence!<\/p>\n
In Revelation 7:1, John sees \u201cfour angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth\u201d. The \u201cfour winds\u201d described in 7:1 are symbols of God\u2019s wrath. Why are the angels holding the winds back? They are doing this so that God\u2019s people might be protected from God\u2019s wrath! The reader needs to remember the four horses and riders in Revelation 6. These were symbols of God\u2019s wrath. The \u201cfour winds\u201d in Revelation 7 seem to be another symbol used to describe the same thing. Thus, the \u201cfour winds\u201d in Revelation 7 are equal to the \u201cfour horses and riders\u201d described in Revelation 6. The four winds blowing on the earth are doing the same thing as the four horses and riders riding throughout the earth. Both are symbols of God\u2019s wrath. The saints need to know that God, in order to be holy and to protect the honor of his name and the glory of the Christ, must pour his wrath out on the earth. But the saints need to know that God will protect them from this wrath. This chapter demonstrates that God does this. He seals all of those who love and trust him.<\/p>\n
The fact that God\u2019s people are protected by God as he pours out his wrath should bring great comfort to the Christian. God\u2019s protection of his people is a theme seen throughout the Bible. The Christian should remember the ten plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians. At that time, the Lord made a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. This doesn\u2019t mean the Israelites didn\u2019t suffer. It means God protected them in the midst of their suffering. The Lord made a distinction between Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the Lord made a distinction between Noah and the wicked people of the earth at that time. See also Matthew 24:31.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4744","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}