Seeing the Old Testament in the Final Book of the New Testament
Though our church is currently taking a break for the summer from our preaching series through the book of Revelation, we can still take a moment to keep it on our minds and perhaps look at some things that we may have missed on the first read-through. For most of us, we go to a book like Revelation asking questions about the future: What will the end times look like? When will the Rapture take place? How bad will persecution get? Who will the Antichrist be? Why does every person and creature have so many eyes, heads, and horns? (Don’t worry there are even more of those to come) What you may not have noticed, however, is that the early chapters of Revelation spend a great deal of time referencing back to people and stories from the Old Testament to explain what was going on during John’s time as he wrote the book and what is to come as God makes all things right and new. It is clear that we cannot fully plumb the depths of Revelation without a strong foundation in the Old Testament. Cover to cover the Bible tells a glorious story of who God is and what He has done for us. To demonstrate this, let’s take a look at Revelation 7 to see how knowing the Old Testament can open up a passage and bring incredible truths to light.
A quick reminder on the context of Revelation 7: It follows up the events of chapter 6 where the first 6 Seals are opened on the Scroll of the Lamb. These usher in many events of the Apocalypse. It is a harrowing chapter that focuses on the coming wrath of God against sin in the world. It ends with even the most powerful people of the world cowering in fear and asking, “Who can stand against the wrath of the Lamb?” Chapter 7 pauses the action to describe the fortunate people of God who are excluded from the Wrath of God due to the work of Jesus and the Gospel.
Verses 1-3 describe a break in the action as God stops the destruction of Earth for a moment so that the servants of God can have God’s seal placed on their foreheads. Now immediately the mention of God’s seal fits with the context of the seals on God’s scroll being opened by Jesus in chapters 5 and 6. Jesus is found to be the only one worthy for the task. We know that a royal seal on a document is a sign of authority and that only someone to whom that authority was designated was allowed to break the seal in order to read and carry out the words of the document. For example, Pontius Pilate placed his own seal on the tomb of Jesus in Matthew 27 to show that no one was allowed to tamper with the stone rolled over the entrance. That gives us some immediate context for the sealing of God’s people, but we are intended to look even further back in Scripture at this mention.
The idea of God’s people being specially marked in order to avoid a coming wave of God’s wrath and punishment should lead us all the way back to Exodus 12 and the first Passover. You could even argue that it goes even further back to the introduction of circumcision to Abraham in Genesis 17, but we’ll look at Passover here. In order to finally break the hard heart of Pharoh and the Egyptian people, God promises a devasting final plague. God was going to strike dead all of the firstborn sons in Egypt. Humans and livestock could not escape this devastation that God would release the angel of death to carry out. Much like Revelation 6, you could ask “Who will escape this coming wrath of God?” Moses instructed each Israelite household to kill a perfect lamb from their flocks and to paint or “seal” the doorposts and lintel of their homes. This blood marking served as a visual sign of faithfulness to God. The angel of death passed over these households and they were protected from God’s wrath. Most of us have made the Gospel connection between Passover and the Salvation that comes from Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, but it is amazing to see that it also serves as a picture of how God will preserve His church even during the chaos of the end times.
Back in Revelation 7, verses 4-8 describe the 144,000 (a highly symbolic number showing completeness and God’s knowledge of the saved) sealed from every tribe of Israel with a list of 12 tribes. Now we are normally tempted to breeze past lists as something too tedious to read intently. But we would miss multiple truths being communicated if we do so with this list. Again, we will go back to some Old Testament stories to get the full sense of what is being communicated to John and us with this list. Let’s look at 2 lessons from this list.
Judah is given the first slot
Since the tribes of Israel get their names from the sons of Jacob in the book of Genesis, we would normally see the names listed in birth order with Reuben as the firstborn. However, Judah gets top billing on this list. This can be traced back to Genesis 49 where Jacob gives out his blessing to all of his sons before his death. These blessings serve as prophecies for each of the eventual tribes. Judah’s blessing is that “your father’s sons shall bow down before you” and “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Gen. 49:8-12) Years later, King David would be born to the tribe of Judah and establish the royal family for Israel; and even more years later, Jesus would be born as the Lion of Judah and would become the Savior and King for all peoples.
A couple of tribes are missing
If you are well versed in the tribes of Israel, you may notice that this list looks a little different than how it appears in the Old Testament history books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Normally, Joseph’s name is not listed as his tribe was split into 2 “half-tribes” named after his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Lists of the 12 tribes would usually include 13 names without Joseph. Taking away Joseph from the Revelation 7 list means that two of the traditional tribes are missing. I’ve already mentioned Ephraim, who does not appear. The second omitted tribe is Dan. Why are these two excluded and what’s being taught by it? It’s certainly true that all of Israel went through seasons of disobedience and idolatry against God. Dan and Ephraim, however, stand out in their rejection of being part of God’s people. Upon reaching the Promised Land, the tribe of Dan did not take possession of the land that was allotted to them by Moses and Joshua but instead moved further north where they immediately began worshipping idols and setting up a separate priesthood (Judges 18-20). When the Kingdom of Israel split in two after the death of King Solomon, it was Ephraim who became the leading tribe of the idol-worshiping northern kingdom joined by the tribe of (you guessed it) Dan once again. The Old Testament prophets would often refer to the northern kingdom as a whole by calling it Ephraim. (Jeremiah 31:9. Hosea 5:3) The message being conveyed by the list is that being related to or associated with God is not what leads to salvation and protection from his wrath. It is achieved through repentance and faithful submission to God through the completed work of Jesus Christ. The listed tribes, like all of us to this day, may have sinned in the same ways as Ephraim and Dan at times, but they were willing to repent and turn back to God as their Lord and Savior. Ephraim and Dan represent those who are not willing to do so.
If you want to learn more about the tribes of Israel and their significance throughout the Bible check out this resource The 12 Tribes of Israel in the Bible: a Quick, Illustrated Guide (overviewbible.com).
In verses 9-17 of Revelation 7, the picture shifts to a different perspective. The text goes from talking about 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel to witnessing a “great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the Lamb.” This transition utilizes a literary device that is common throughout the book of Revelation. Many times, an Old Testament person or idea is used as a symbol of a present reality that John is witnessing in the church or in his vision of heaven. For example, in the letters to the churches Old Testament people such as Balaam and Jezebel are used to describe the worldly, sensuous, and sin-permissive attitudes that had infiltrated the churches of John’s present-day (it obviously continues today as well). Chapter 5 uses this device to describe Jesus in a beautiful and powerful way too. When Jesus arrives to open the scroll, the angel describes Him as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” Both were Old Testament prophetic titles for the coming Messiah from God. Jesus appears, however, as the Lamb that was Slain, the New Testament reality of how Jesus accomplished what was prophesied about Him in the Old Testament.
Likewise, here the people of God saved from the coming wrath of God move from the Old Testament symbol of specific tribes from a specific nation called to follow God to the New Testament reality of the Church comprised of a multitude that no one can count from every tribe, tongue, and nation on the earth. It’s a powerful and awe-inspiring image. And a perfect fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:5. “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be.”
Hopefully, you can see from just these few verses how important it is to have a working knowledge of ALL of Scripture, not just a few memory verses. This isn’t meant to overwhelm you or shame you for any lack of knowledge that you may feel. It is meant to open your eyes to the incredible depth of God’s Word that we have the privilege to have and to study. The Bible isn’t just a list of rules, random collections of stories and anecdotes, or some kind of ancient self-help manual. It is one central story interconnected through numerous characters over thousands of years intended to point us to the God of the universe and His gracious and loving plan to redeem and have a relationship with those who would recognize Him for who He is. If you want to understand Him and His Word better, start today to read and study the Bible in this way and see how much it begins to connect.