Revelation of John 7 · The Lantern

144,000 Sealed

After this thing I saw four angels standing upon the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind may blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried in a loud voice to the four angels to whom it had been given to harm the earth and the sea,

"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God" He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, etc. The Lord born in the flesh, who is the angel of great counsel, the messenger of the Father's will, visited us as the rising sun from on high (Luke 1), bringing the banner of the cross to mark the foreheads of His own.

How can this be? See what is said toward the end of the Apocalypse. Toward the middle, it is said: "I saw the Lamb standing upon Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." But at the opening of the sixth seal, it is said in the Apocalypse: "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising o…

saying, “Do not harm the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we may have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

And how great, too, are those things which in the meantime are happening in that respect on our behalf! Something is given for an example, that the anger of an avenging God may be known.

Until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads? For this reason, the dominion of the nations has been broken, so that the faces of the saints could be freely marked with the sign of faith, to which they had resisted.

And I heard the number of those sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand sealed out of every tribe of the sons of Israel.

"Now, sir," I continued, "explain to me, with respect to the mountains, why their forms are various and diverse." "Listen," he said: "these mountains are the twelve tribes, which inhabit the whole world. The Son of God, accordingly, was preached unto them by the apostles." "But why are the mountains of various kinds, some having one form, and others another?

And he says that one hundred and forty thousand were sealed; for many were those who believed in Christ from among the Jews, who owed their salvation from the common destruction to this number.

And I heard the number of them that were signed, an hundred forty-four thousand were signed, of every tribe of the children of Israel. It is a definite number put for an indefinite one, and it does not refer only to the twelve tribes of Israel, but all the Church, in the elect, is represented by it.

Out of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand sealed; out of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand;

Someone may ask, Where does one read that all Israel will be saved? First, of course, there is the apostle: "Until the full number of the Gentiles should enter, and thus all Israel should be saved." In the second place, John says in his Apocalypse: of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand shall believe, of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand shall believe, and of the remaining t…

From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand sealed, etc. It is fitting that he begins with Judah, from which tribe our Lord arose; and he omits Dan, from whom it is said the Antichrist is to be born, as it is written: Let Dan be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that its rider falls backward (Gen. 49).

Now, this perfection consists in the description of the city, that is, that the soul have within itself a divine worship of God, a divine bond with God, a divine zeal for God, and a divine sense of God. The worship is in the east, the bond in the south, the zeal in the north, and the sense in the west.

out of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand;

out of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand;

out of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; out of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand sealed.

Praise from the Great Multitude

After these things I looked, and behold a great multitude, which no one was able to number, out of every nation and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, having clothed themselves with white robes, and palm branches in their hands.

If, therefore, we also live as dedicated and devoted to God-if we make our way over the ancient and sacred footsteps of the righteous, let us go through the same proofs of sufferings, the same testimonies of passions, considering the glory of our time the greater on this account, that while ancient examples may be numbered, yet that subsequently, when the abundance of virtue an…

By the robes he suggests baptism, and by the palms the triumph of the cross. Since they have conquered the world in Christ, it may be that the robes signify the love which is given through the Holy Spirit.… They are said to carry palm branches in their hands.

After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues. Here it is clearly revealed that the aforementioned number does not only consist of Jews, but of all the elect; for it is the same people that are indicated by the countless multitude and by the hundred forty-four thousand signed.

And they were crying out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God, to the one sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels had stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell before the throne upon their faces and worshiped God,

saying, “Amen! The blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God, to the ages of the ages! Amen.”

And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These ones having clothed themselves with the white robes — who are they, and from where have they come?”

And I have said to him, “My lord, you yourself know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For yet again a countless throng are revealed, clothed in white and distinguished by palms of victory, celebrating their triumph doubtless over Antichrist, since one of the elders says, "These are they who come out of that great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." For the flesh is the clothing of the soul.

Therefore, he says that these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation; for the righteous did not only endure a considerable struggle but also a very great one under the dominion of the Antichrist.

And they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. He does not speak only of the martyrs. For they are washed in their own blood. But the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, cleanses the whole Church from all sin (II Corinthians VII), therefore they are before the throne of God.

Because of this they are before the throne of God, and they serve him by day and night in his temple; and the one sitting on the throne will tabernacle over them.

They will not hunger any more, neither will they thirst anymore, nor may the sun fall upon them, nor any scorching heat;

They will not hunger because they are fed by the living Bread. He said, "I am the living Bread who comes came down from heaven." Nor will they thirst, for they will drink from a cup so excellent that it will be for them what the Truth said, "Whoever believes in me shall never thirst," and again, "Whoever drinks from the water that I shall give him, it will become in him a sprin…

Neither shall the sun strike them, nor any scorching heat. "We have passed," he says, "through fire and water, and you have brought us to a place of refreshment" (Psalm LXV).

Christ is this Center in eternal beatitude. The theologian deals with the salvation of the soul, how it starts with faith, moves forward through the virtues, and is consummated in the gifts. Hence in the Apocalypse: "They shall neither hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike them nor any heat.

because the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them, and he will lead them to fountains of waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation of John7

144,000 Sealed

Praise from the Great Multitude