The opening of the sixth seal commences the final judgment and the destruction of the present fallen world. But before the opening of the seventh seal there is a dramatic pause while the redeemed of God are assured of the Lord’s protection even as they endure calamities. They are sealed from spiritual harm which harkens back to the same protection God gave his people in Ezekiel 9.

Chapter seven is a theological interlude consisting of two images of the church. The 144,000 (12x12x1,000) members of the tribes of Israel that the Lord describes to John is a symbolic depiction of the church in the world, the church at war against the spiritual forces of this present darkness (Ephesians 6:12). Opening his eyes to see what the Lord has just described John sees a great multitude of men and women from every nation and people. Verses 1-8 and 9-17 both depict the same people. 

The precise numbering in the first half of chapter seven communicates God’s knowledge of and care for each one of his redeemed. He has numbered his people with great care and will not lose a single one of them. The vast multitude seen by John depicts the church in all her breadth brought safely home. The white robes and exuberant praise described by John are meant to comfort the church who, in every generation, makes its way through times of great tribulation. The breaking of the seventh seal describes creation’s silent awe as the Lord arrives in final judgment. For the enemies of God, it is the silence of dread. But for the church it is the silence of unspeakable relief and joy. 

Typical of apocalyptic literature, the imagery moves back and forth across the page and particular symbolic representations come and go. The 144,000 Israelite men assembled for war are the very same vast multi-national company of the redeemed that John sees. The church militant in this present age will become the church victorious who, having come out of its years of tribulation, will be at rest in the presence of God.