Apocalipse 7

ARC · Chapter 7/22

¹E depois d'estas coisas vi quatro anjos que estavam sobre os quatro cantos da terra, que retinham os quatro ventos da terra, para que nenhum vento soprasse sobre a terra, nem sobre o mar, nem contra arvore alguma.

²E vi outro anjo subir da banda do sol nascente, e que tinha o sello do Deus vivo; e clamou com grande voz aos quatro anjos a quem fôra dado o poder de damnificar a terra e o mar,

³Dizendo: Não damnifiques a terra, nem o mar, nem as arvores, até que hajamos assignalado nas suas testas os servos do nosso Deus.

⁴E ouvi o numero dos assignalados, e foram cento e quarenta e quatro mil assignalados, de todas as tribus dos filhos de Israel.

⁵Da tribu de Judah, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Ruben, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Gad, doze mil assignalados:

⁶Da tribu de Aser, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Naphtali, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Manassés, doze mil assignalados:

⁷Da tribu de Simeão, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Levi, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Issacar, doze mil assignalados:

⁸Da tribu de Zabulon, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de José, doze mil assignalados: da tribu de Benjamin, doze mil assignalados.

⁹Depois d'estas coisas olhei, e eis aqui uma multidão, a qual ninguem podia contar, de todas as nações, e tribus, e povos, e linguas, que estavam diante do throno, e perante o Cordeiro, trajando vestidos brancos e com palmas nas suas mãos:

¹⁰E clamavam com grande voz, dizendo: Salvação ao nosso Deus, que está assentado no throno, e ao Cordeiro.

¹¹E todos os anjos estavam ao redor do throno, e dos anciãos, e dos quatro animaes; e prostraram-se diante do throno sobre seus rostos, e adoraram a Deus,

¹²Dizendo: Amen. Louvor, e gloria, e sabedoria, e acção de graças, e honra, e poder, e força ao nosso Deus, para todo o sempre. Amen.

¹³E um dos anciãos respondeu, dizendo-me: Estes que estão vestidos de vestidos brancos, quem são, e d'onde vieram?

¹⁴E eu disse-lhe: Senhor, tu sabes. E elle disse-me: Estes são os que vieram de grande tribulação, e lavaram os seus vestidos e os branquearam no sangue do Cordeiro;

¹⁵Por isso estão diante do throno de Deus, e o servem de dia e de noite no seu templo; e aquelle que está assentado sobre o throno os cobrirá com a sua sombra.

¹⁶Não mais terão fome, nem mais terão sêde; nem sol nem calma alguma cairá sobre elles.

¹⁷Porque o Cordeiro que está no meio do throno os apascentará, e lhes servirá de guia para as fontes vivas das aguas; e Deus alimpará de seus olhos toda a lagrima.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Before the judgment continues, an interlude shows 144,000 people from all the tribes of Israel being sealed with God's protection, followed by a vision of an uncountable multitude from every nation, dressed in white, who have come through the great tribulation and now worship before the throne.

Explanation

This chapter functions as a pause of hope amid the judgment, answering the question at the end of chapter 6 about who can stand before God's wrath: those sealed and protected by him. The list of the twelve tribes of Israel here follows a different order than the traditional Old Testament list (Dan is absent, for example), which has sparked debate among scholars about its symbolic meaning. The second vision, of an innumerable multitude 'from every nation, tribe, people, and language' wearing white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, extends the promise of salvation far beyond Israel to include people from all humanity who remained faithful through suffering. Today's practical application is the assurance that God neither forgets nor abandons those who persevere in faith, even during the hardest seasons.

Fun facts

The list of the twelve tribes in Revelation 7:5-8 is one of several listings of Israel's tribes in the Bible that do not match exactly; here, the tribe of Dan is absent and replaced by Manasseh, a variation that continues to intrigue scholars today.

Verse-by-verse explanation

Apocalipse 7:1This expression was the standard way at the time to describe the whole world in every direction, not a claim that the earth is shaped like a square.
Apocalipse 7:2A new angel appears coming from “the east,” a direction associated with hope and new beginnings, carrying a seal meant to protect, not to punish.
Apocalipse 7:3The order to wait before causing harm until the servants of God are marked echoes the scene in Ezekiel 9, in which an angel marks the foreheads of the faithful before a judgment, sparing whoever carries that sign.
Apocalipse 7:4The number comes from multiplying twelve by twelve and then by a thousand, doubling the symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel and multiplying it by the totality of a thousand - a way of expressing ‘complete’ taken to the extreme. It is a symbolic total, and Christian traditions read this group in quite different ways, without the text settling the question here.
Apocalipse 7:5This begins the list of the twelve tribes of Israel with twelve thousand sealed from each one; compared to the traditional Old Testament lists, this version has small differences (such as the absence of the tribe of Dan), suggesting a number more symbolic of totality than a literal census.
Apocalipse 7:6This continues the list of the twelve tribes, keeping the same pattern of twelve thousand per tribe.
Apocalipse 7:7The list continues, including the tribe of Levi, which normally did not receive territory like the other tribes because of its priestly service, but here appears counted like the rest.
Apocalipse 7:8This closes the list of the twelve tribes by naming Zabulon, Joseph, and Benjamin, completing the symbolic sum of a hundred and forty-four thousand mentioned in verse 4.
Apocalipse 7:9Palm branches were used in Jewish festivals, such as the Feast of Tabernacles, as a symbol of celebration and victory. This countless multitude appears alongside the hundred and forty-four thousand counted at the beginning of the chapter - two pictures of the same scene: one numbered, the other impossible to count.
Apocalipse 7:10The countless multitude, introduced in the previous verse alongside the numbered group of the twelve tribes, cries out, attributing salvation both to God and to the Lamb.
Apocalipse 7:11The angels, who had already appeared around the throne since chapter 5, join the scene by falling down and worshiping, joining in the multitude's praise.
Apocalipse 7:12The angels' praise is summed up in a list of seven elements (blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might), the same pattern of seven qualities already seen in the acclamation of the Lamb in chapter 5.
Apocalipse 7:13One of the elders asks the question that opens the explanation of the scene: who is this multitude dressed in white, and where did it come from - a literary device common in prophetic visions, also used in the book of Zechariah, where a figure explains the symbol to the seer.
Apocalipse 7:14This is a deliberately contradictory image: blood normally stains, but here it is what makes the robes white. The idea echoes the blood of the Passover lamb in Exodus, which protected the families of Israel.
Apocalipse 7:15The reward of this multitude is to serve God continually in His temple, with the promise of protection described as a sheltering presence over them.
Apocalipse 7:16Hunger, thirst, and scorching heat will cease to exist for this group, an image that echoes the promise of Isaiah 49 about the people's return from exile.
Apocalipse 7:17This closes the chapter with a reversal of the image of the slain Lamb: now He guides like a shepherd, leading to fountains of living water, and God wipes away every tear, echoing the same promise of comfort from Isaiah 25.

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