Revelation 7

1. Why is there a delay before the 7th seal is broken?
2. Who are the 144,000?
3. Who makes up the great multitude?
4. What does the silence in heaven represent?

Futurist-Prophecy yet to be fulfilled
1. Those saved after the rapture must be sealed to avoid the coming judgment
2. They are Jews that are saved during the tribulation fulfilling passages like Romans 11:25-32. These converts will be great evangelists during the tribulation
3. These are Gentiles that are saved during the tribulation (due to the preaching of the 144,000). Many of them are martyred for their new faith. They are clearly distinct from the previously raptured ‘church’ and will always have an inferior status to that of the church (as will the 144,000)
4. This is a silence of expectancy. Contained in the 7th seal are the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls. The silence may be compared to the silence before the foreman of a jury reports a verdict

Historicist-Prophecy fulfilled throughout the church age
1. The invaders of Rome were delayed so that the ‘church’ could be sealed
2. The number is symbolic for the entire church, the ‘Israel’ of God. They were sealed to protect them from barbarian invasions before the fall of Rome.
3. This group is either an extension of the 144,000 OR this shows that more gentiles would receive the Gospel than Jews historically (Isaiah 54:1)
4. Some say it represents a 70 year period after Constantine while others say it simply marks the solemnity of the events

Preterist-Prophecy fulfilled in distant past
1. Chapter 6 ended with a question, the delay is the answer. God had protected the faithful remnant the 1st time Jerusalem was destroyed (Ezekiel 9). Here, He is doing the same thing prior to the 2nd destruction of the city.
2. These were those Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction and thus escaped (Luke 21:20-21). They were the ‘firstfruits’ of the New Covenant
3. These are Gentiles saved after the ‘Great Tribulation’ of A.D. 70 as the Gospel was spread all over the world (Matthew 22:7-9). Others believe they are the early Christian martyrs of the Roman Empire.
4. The silence may occur because the cries of the martyrs were now answered

Spiritualist-Prophecy fulfilled repeatedly throughout history
1. Whenever God sends judgment on societies or civilizations, He is mindful of those who are His own and who bear His seal
2. The number represents the church as the true/spiritual Israel. In any age, it is the true church that is preserved from God’s judgments.
3. While the 144,000 represented those preserved on earth, this group represents the church glorified in heaven.
4. This represents the calm that so often precedes a storm of judgment (Joshua 6)