Revelation 7 is an interlude between the breaking of the 6th and the 7th seals in John’s vision. John is allowed to see God’s plan to involve his people in the fight between good and evil.

The judgments seem overwhelming, but God has a role for his people in the midst of the judgments, and John sees that they will not be overcome by the judgments so that they can fulfill their role.

The 144,000? It’s a holy army waging holy war; it is the church’s role in the outworking of history. Let me explain.

7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

The four angels mean that God is sovereign over the four corners of the earth.

2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 

God holds back the judgments until his servants are set apart. But, who are the servants?

4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

John hears the identity of God’s servants: 144,000. (12 squared times 10 cubed—a number that shows the fullness of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.)

In the Old Testament, every time a census is taken it is for military purposes. The 12,000 that are listed come from each of the 12 tribes (though the list is slightly peculiar, a detail I do not have space to discuss at the moment).

The 144,000 are a holy army, ready for holy war.

BUT….

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 

John hears about 144,000 from Israel, but he sees an uncountable number from every nation. In Revelation, the contrast between what John hears and sees is important. In 5:5, he hears of the “Lion of Judah”—a Messianic, conquering imagine; in 5:6, however, he sees “a" Lamb standing, as though it had been slain". The same contrast is at work here. What John sees reinterprets what he hears: the Messianic holy army of Israel is actually an uncountable number from every ethnicity.

The white robes and the palm branches are the sign of military victory. (Think of Palm Sunday—the Jewish pilgrims are using a Maccabean sign of victory.)

10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

As with 5:13, the future has come into the present, and time has collapsed—John, in heaven, sees the victory of God’s army as complete. This is a victory celebration.

How did they win the victory? The rest of Revelation will explain in greater detail, but here the angel explains it to John:

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

They have conquered by their faithful witness to Jesus, in whose sacrificial and triumphant death they participate by their faithfulness.

In other words, God is creating a holy army—the church—which will win victory not by killing but by martyrdom.

We’ll have to read on to see what role this spiritual army will play.