And I heard the number of those who were sealedThis phrase indicates a specific revelation given to John, emphasizing the importance of divine communication. The sealing represents God's protection and ownership, reminiscent of the sealing of the Holy Spirit in
Ephesians 1:13-14. In biblical times, seals were used to denote authenticity and authority, suggesting that those sealed are marked as belonging to God and are under His protection.
144000
The number 144,000 is symbolic and has been interpreted in various ways. It is often seen as representing completeness or perfection, derived from multiplying 12 (a number symbolizing God's people, as seen in the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles) by itself and then by 1,000, a number indicating vastness. This suggests a complete and perfect group of God's people. Some interpretations see this as a literal number, while others view it as symbolic of a larger group of believers.
from all the tribes of Israel
This phrase connects the vision to the Old Testament, where the tribes of Israel represent the people of God. It suggests continuity between the Old and New Covenants, with the Church being seen as the spiritual Israel (Galatians 6:16). Historically, the tribes of Israel were the descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob, each with its own territory and identity within the Promised Land. This reference underscores the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel and the inclusion of all believers in His redemptive plan.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
John the ApostleThe author of the Book of Revelation, who receives and records the vision.
2.
The 144,000A symbolic group representing those sealed from the tribes of Israel, indicating a complete and divinely chosen group.
3.
The Tribes of IsraelThe twelve tribes, representing the people of God, though the list in
Revelation 7 is unique and symbolic.
4.
The SealingA divine act of protection and ownership, marking those who belong to God.
5.
The VisionPart of John's apocalyptic vision, revealing God's plan and protection for His people.
Teaching Points
Symbolism and CompletenessThe number 144,000 is symbolic, representing completeness and perfection in God's plan. It encourages believers to trust in God's perfect plan for His people.
Divine ProtectionThe sealing signifies God's protection and ownership. Believers can find assurance in God's promise to protect and preserve His people through trials.
Identity in ChristJust as the 144,000 are marked as belonging to God, Christians today are sealed with the Holy Spirit, affirming their identity and security in Christ.
Faithfulness and RemnantThe concept of a faithful remnant is a recurring theme in Scripture. Believers are called to remain faithful, knowing that God preserves a remnant for Himself.
Hope in TribulationThe vision of the 144,000 offers hope and encouragement to endure tribulation, reminding believers of their ultimate victory and place in God's kingdom.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Revelation 7:4?
2.How does Revelation 7:4 relate to God's covenant with the tribes of Israel?
3.What significance do the "144,000" hold in understanding God's plan for salvation?
4.How can Revelation 7:4 inspire us to remain faithful in our daily lives?
5.What connections exist between Revelation 7:4 and Old Testament prophecies about Israel?
6.How does the sealing of the "144,000" influence our view of divine protection?
7.What is the significance of the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7:4?
8.How are the 12 tribes of Israel represented in Revelation 7:4?
9.Why does Revelation 7:4 specify a literal number of 144,000?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Revelation 7?
11.Revelation 7:4 states 144,000 are sealed from the tribes of Israel; does this number conflict with historical records of the “lost” tribes?
12.Why is Dan excluded from Revelation's 144,000 list?
13.Who are the 144,000 mentioned in religious texts?
14.Who are the Tribulation Saints?What Does Revelation 7:4 Mean
And I heardJohn is not guessing; he hears an audible, authoritative announcement that comes straight from heaven. Revelation repeatedly uses the phrase “I heard” to signal divine disclosure (Revelation 1:10; 4:1, 8; 6:1). What follows, then, is factual, not symbolic speculation. Just as Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10), John listens and records exactly what God reveals.
the number of those who were sealed• Sealing in Scripture speaks of ownership, protection, and authenticity (Revelation 7:3;Ezekiel 9:4–6;2 Corinthians 1:22).
• Here the seal is God’s mark placed “on the foreheads” of His servants before the coming judgments, guaranteeing their safety while the earth is shaken (Revelation 9:4).
• Just as believers today are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13), these future servants receive a visible, preserving seal for their specific mission during the tribulation.
144,000• The text gives a precise figure, not a rounded estimate. Nothing suggests a metaphor; numbers in Revelation often carry symbolic weight, yet they remain literal counts (e.g., “seven churches,” “twelve gates”).
•Revelation 14:1–5 revisits this group, calling them “firstfruits to God and the Lamb,” morally pure, and uniquely faithful.
• Their number (12,000 × 12) hints at completeness, yet that mathematical symmetry does not diminish its literal accuracy—God is capable of marking exactly 144,000 individuals, much as He kept count of the Israelites inNumbers 1.
• Far from an elite class within the church, they are a special corps of Jewish evangelists for a distinct period, paralleling how God reserved 7,000 for Himself in Elijah’s day (1 Kings 19:18).
from all the tribes of Israel• Verses 5–8 list twelve tribes and assign each 12,000 sealed servants. The straightforward reading points to ethnic Israel, not a symbolic representation of the church.
•Romans 11:1–5 affirms that God has not rejected His people;Revelation 7 shows a future fulfillment of that promise.
•Jeremiah 31:35–37 ties Israel’s continued existence to the permanence of the sun, moon, and stars. The sealing of Jewish tribes during the tribulation fits that covenant faithfulness.
• While many Jews today cannot trace tribal lineage, the God who numbers the hairs on our heads (Luke 12:7) has no difficulty identifying every tribe. This sealing testifies to His omniscience and covenant reliability.
summaryRevelation 7:4 records John hearing a definite heavenly proclamation: God sets apart 144,000 literal Israelites—12,000 from each tribe—by a protective seal before unleashing tribulation judgments. This act underscores His faithfulness to Israel, His precision in fulfilling prophecy, and His power to preserve a remnant for witness and worship, exactly as promised throughout Scripture.
(4)
And I heard the number ofthem . . .Translate,
And I heard the number of the sealed: there were a hundred and forty and four thousand sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel. There are two or three questions which these verses suggest. What are we to understand by the number twelve thousand from each tribe? Who are these who are drawn from the tribes of Israel? Why is there a change of the order and name of the tribes? It may help us to clearer thoughts to take the second of these questions first. (1) Who are these one hundred and forty-four thousand? An answer to this has been partly anticipated in our previous comments; but perhaps a fuller consideration is needed. Some have thought that the sealed ones must be Jewish Christians:
i.e., they are disposed to take the twelve tribes literally. The scope of the previous verses seems decisive against this view. The time of judgment and trial is drawing near; we have seen the tokens of the coming storm in the opening of the sixth seal; our wish is to know the lot of the saints of God; this chapter answers this wish: they are safe, having the seal of God. Now, to limit the answer to the Israelitish Christians is to break in abruptly upon the general flow of thought with a bold literalism. The sealed ones are explained to be the servants of God; the description which follows proclaims them to be the "Israel of God." It would be a strange leap away from the subject to introduce a sudden limitation of thought. Nor is there any necessity for doing so. Israelitish and Jewish names are freely adopted by the sacred writers, and used in a spiritual sense without any explanation of such usage; and the Apostle most emphatically laid down the principle that "he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter" (
Romans 2:28-29); and the principle he applies by affirming that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek" (
Galatians 3:28). The Christian Church absorbs the Jewish, inherits her privileges, and adopts, with wider and nobler meaning, her phraseology. She has her Jerusalem, but it is a heavenly Jerusalem (
Hebrews 12:22): a Jerusalem from above (
Galatians 4:26): a new Jerusalem (
Revelation 21:2; see
Revelation 3:12); and to that Jerusalem of God the true Israel of God, the chosen generation and royal priesthood of every age, turn the eye of faith. It is needless to say that this view does not rob, as it has been said, the Jew of God's promises; it only intensifies those promises by showing the growth of that Church in which the Jew may yet find the truest consummation of his holiest and highest hopes, and into which God is yet able to graft them in again (
Romans 11:23;
Romans 11:25-26), and in which he may yet play a part loftier than men dream of. (2) How are we to understand the numbers? As we cannot adopt the literal interpretation of the tribes of Israel, still less can we admit a literal interpretation of the numbers here mentioned; but they are not on this ground to be looked upon as meaningless numbers: there is an appropriate symbolism in the numbers of the Apocalypse. Twelve is used as the number of those who in every age have been called out to witness for some truth which the world needed. Thus the twelve tribes of Israel were the appointed witnesses of a pure theology and a pure morality in the days of idolatry and license; and later, the twelve Apostles became the inheritors of a similar, though higher, spiritual work in the world. The number twelve, then, stands for a world-witness of divine truth; and the fruits of this world-witness is a wide and sustained success: the twelve multiplied by the twelve a thousand-fold--"the native and not degenerate progeny of the Apostles apostolically multiplied" (Mede, quoted by Dr. Currey). The skeleton organisation is twelve, the college of the Apostles; the one hundred and forty-four thousand represent the growth into full numbers of the choice ones of God. (3) Does the change in the order and names of the tribes symbolise anything? The alterations are not without significance. They are briefly these: The tribe of Dan is omitted, and the name of Ephraim does not appear, but the number is made up to twelve by two representatives of Joseph: Manasseh, who stands sixth in order, and Joseph (superseding the name, but representing the tribe of Ephraim), who is placed eleventh on the list. The number twelve is maintained to show that in all changes God's purposes stand. The omission of one tribe and the changed name of another are designed to show that in the Church, as in Israel, the most splendid opportunities may be lost. Dan, once a tribe, and not an insignificant tribe, which had reared its heroes, gradually lapsed into idolatry and immorality, dwindled in numbers and importance, and at length disappeared, and as a tribe became extinct. Its omission in this list is a silent but emphatic comment on the sacred warnings: "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." "Begin not to say we have Abraham to our father: God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Similarly, Ephraim, as has been suggested by a thoughtful writer, who exalted himself in Israel, is now lost in the greater name of Joseph. (Comp.
Hosea 13:1;
Hosea 10:11;
Luke 18:14.) The order of the names is altered. Reuben no longer stands first: Judah has taken the firstborn's place; and Levi, though named, does not occupy the third, the place of his birthright, but the eighth place. Here, again, the changes have their teachings. The unstable Reuben, with all his splendid advantages--the firstborn, the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power--failed to hold his own among his brethren; the fatal instability of his character accompanied his history, and weakened his otherwise pre-eminent powers; yet weak and erring, the type of the brilliant and vacillating, he is not an outcast altogether, but finds place, and high place, among the servants of God. Judah, lion-like, resolute, and strong, wins the foremost place; from him springs the true Ruler, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to unfold the counsels of God, and to rule the world with a righteous sceptre. Levi's subordinate position is thought to be due to the fact that the Mosaic ritual and Levitical priesthood are at an end. This may be so; the changes are the result of the actual history of the tribes, and illustrate how in the Christian Church, as in the Jewish, privileges may be lost, opportunities seized or cast away, offices and functions used for a time, and then laid aside when their work is accomplished; but in all and through all changes, God's unchanging purpose runs onward to its certain close. The grouping of the tribes is, as has been pointed out, in the order of closest kinship: "We find not one violent separation of those who are naturally united, where both are truly members of the Israel of God" (Rev. C. H. Waller,
Names on Gates of Pearl). . . .
Verse 4. -
And I heard the number of them which were sealed. The description of the actual operation of sealing is omitted (cf.
Ezekiel 9, where it is also omitted). And there were
sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand. Omit "and there were." This number - the square of 12 multiplied by 1000 - is typical of a large and perfect number. No one has ever said that the number should be taken literally; and there are evident reasons why it could not be so intended. We have, therefore, to inquire what is its symbolical signification. The number 12 is always typical, in the Apocalypse and elsewhere, of a complete and perfect number. It is formed of 4 multiplied by 3. Four is generally representative of the created universe, and 3 of the Godhead (see
Revelation 5:9). 4 plus 3, that is 7; and 4 multiplied by 3, that is 12, indicate a perfect number - a number which includes and embraces everything. And thus 12 multiplied by 12 denotes the most exhaustive and perfect completion. The number 1000 is generally used to denote a large and complete, but somewhat uncertain, number (cf.
Revelation 14:1;
Revelation 20:2;
Revelation 21:16, etc.). Thus the square of 12 multiplied by 1000 has the signification of a large number not definitely fixed, but nevertheless perfect; that is to say, not omitting a single one of those who should be included in the number. We are therefore taught that at the judgment day, before the destruction of the world is allowed to take place, a large number, consisting of those who have proved themselves to be God's servants, will be preserved and set apart; and that, although the number may be large, yet it will be perfect, not one of those who are worthy to be selected being overlooked or forgotten. This number subsequently is increased, being included in the "great multitude which no man could number" of ver. 9, and which is formed by the whole company of the redeemed.
Of all the tribes of the children of Israel. The Authorized Version here appears to give the correct sense of
πᾶς, "every." The number is made up not necessarily by an equal number from each tribe, but by a number from the twelve tribes viewed as a whole. As explained above, the number one thousand, though signifying "completeness," is not a definite number. Here, as elsewhere, it is the spiritual
Israel which is signified. In support of this view, we may remark:
(1) The constant use in the Apocalypse of the terms" Israel," "Jew," "Jerusalem," etc., in the spiritual sense; and it seems scarcely credible that the writer of the book, who throughout insists on the fulfilment in the Christian religion of all things Jewish, should in this place, for no apparent reason, deliberately make a distinction between Jew and Gentile. The terms are constantly used to denote thespiritual Israel, thespiritual Jerusalem, etc., except where allusion is made to some historical fact, as inRevelation 2:14;Revelation 5:5;Revelation 22:16;Revelation 15:3 (cf.Jews,Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9;Israel,Revelation 21:12;Jerusalem,Revelation 3:12 and Revelation 21:2, 10;Babylon,Revelation 14:8;Revelation 16:19;Revelation 17:5;Revelation 18:2, 10, 21;Sodom and Egypt,Revelation 11:8;Euphrates,Revelation 9:14;Revelation 16:12;Sion,Revelation 14:1;Jezebel,Revelation 2:20;David,Revelation 3:7;Gentiles,Revelation 11:2).
(2) The improbability of the omission of the tribe of Dan, if the literal Israel were meant.
(3) The general testimony of ancient commentators, which is the view of those who appointed this passage for use in the Liturgy on All Saints' Day. Some, however, have considered that the hundred and forty-four thousand are distinct from, and not included in, the multitude of ver. 9. They believe the former indicates the converted from among the Jews, and the latter those saved from the Gentiles. Thus Bengel, Dusterdieck, Ebrard, Grotius, etc. But it may be remembered that inRevelation 14:3, 4, the hundred and forty-four thousand redeemed from the earth and from among men is not confined to Jews. By other commentators the number has been thought to denote converts in the age of Constantine, etc.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
AndΚαὶ(Kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.I heardἤκουσα(ēkousa)Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 191:To hear, listen, comprehend by hearing; pass: is heard, reported. A primary verb; to hear.theτὸν(ton)Article - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.numberἀριθμὸν(arithmon)Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 706:A number, total. From airo; a number.of those whoτῶν(tōn)Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.were sealed,ἐσφραγισμένων(esphragismenōn)Verb - Perfect Participle Middle or Passive - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 4972:To seal, set a seal upon. From sphragis; to stamp for security or preservation; by implication, to keep secret, to attest.144,000 {}ἑκατὸν(hekaton)Adjective - Nominative Feminine Plural
Strong's 1540:One hundred. Of uncertain affinity; a hundred.fromἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.all theπάσης(pasēs)Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3956:All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.tribesφυλῆς(phylēs)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 5443:A tribe or race of people. From phuo; an offshoot, i.e. Race or clan.of Israel:Ἰσραήλ(Israēl)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2474:Of Hebrew origin; Israel, the adopted name of Jacob, including his descendants.
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NT Prophecy: Revelation 7:4 I heard the number of those who (Rev. Re Apocalypse) 
