REVELATION 9

9:4 PROTECTED BY THE SEAL

“And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree; but only those men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads" (Revelation 9:4). There is only one other verse in the Bible that mentions the seal of God on the forehead: “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice…saying, ‘hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.' And I heard the number of those which were sealed: and there were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:2-4). In the first three trumpets the very things that were not to be harmed until the 144,000 are sealed (the earth, the sea, and the trees) are then harmed. This makes it clear that the group with“the seal of God in their foreheads” who are not harmed by the locusts of the fifth trumpet are the 144,000.

A mark that protects them from the destructive plagues that fall upon those around them is reminiscent of the experience of the children of Israel during the plagues of Egypt. God intended to bring His people out of the slavery of Egypt to the Promised Land, and He could have done so by simply wiping out the Egyptians. God said to Pharaoh through Moses, “Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth” (Exodus 9:15).

But God wanted to accomplish more than just free His people. He wanted the Egyptians to know about Him—“that you [Pharaoh and the Egyptians] may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the Land” (Exodus 8:22). He wanted them to know that He was above their nature gods—“that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s” (Exodus 9:29). He wanted the rest of the world to know about Him—“that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). He accomplished this by protecting His people in the midst of the plagues—“I will set apart the land of Goshen…that you may know that I am the Lord.” “There was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt…but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” “All the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals…but against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exodus 8:22, 10:22,23, 11:5-7).

The children of Israel were protected from the last plague (the death of the firstborn children) by putting a mark on their doorposts.[1] The result of the protection of God’s people in the midst of the destruction of Egypt was that the whole world did hear about the God of Israel. Moreover, when the children of Israel went out of Egypt a multitude of Egyptians went out with them— “And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians…then the children of Israel journeyed…a mixed multitude went up with them also” (Exodus 12:36-38).

Because of the seal in their foreheads God’s people will be proteted from the plagues. This protection is not simply to spare God’s people from pain, but it is designed to be a witness to the people of the whole world, a part of God’s last great effort to bring them to repentance. As it was in Egypt, the result will be the deliverance of a great multitude.

Continue to next section: WITNESS OF THE 144,000