Revelation 07: Jesus is Our Shepherd

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Bible Breakdown Podcast
• 1:53 Reading Revelation Through Original Audience Lens
• 4:54 The 144,000 and God's Protective Seal
• 7:24 The Great Multitude in White Robes
• 10:22 Jesus Our Shepherd: Present-Day Comfort
• 12:23 Closing Prayer and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 0: 0:24

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Revelation, chapter 7. Today's title is Jesus is our shepherd. Jesus is our shepherd and this is one of those chapters where we're really going to get into, where you're going to see how we are looking at and going about studying the book of Revelation from a very different point of view than maybe what you've been used to. So if you have your Bibles, want to get it out with me. Revelation, chapter 7.

Speaker 0: 0:53

While you're doing that, as always, if you're new around here, make sure you take just a few moments to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you take just a moment to leave us a five-star review on the podcast it really does help. And make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook. You can go to Facebook and just type in Bible Breakdown Discussion and somewhere in there you will see our discussion and we love it. We love interacting with you and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. You're going to find a lot of resources there, a lot of wonderful things, and it is wonderful to study God's Word together. Okay, all right. Well, once again, if you've been with us for a little while.

Speaker 0: 1:28

We've been looking at this idea of the book of Revelation as a title Jesus Wins, jesus Wins and what we've been talking about through this is to remember that, way back when the original audience would have read this, it would have been very different than how we look at it now, because now we look at the book revelation and, if we're very honest, we see it as a very mysterious book that we don't understand right. We look at it as a lot of things that some people would say it all happened right then at the time, and so now we're looking at this historical document, most people would say they see it as a futuristic book of things that hasn't even happened yet. And there are a lot of wonderful books, blogs, podcasts that go into what it could mean for the future. Right, there's all those different things. That's not what this podcast is all about. What we want to do as we look at the book of Revelation is we want to ask the question what would it have meant to the original audience? And to the original audience, it would have meant Jesus wins, because they were a people group that were living within. We've been looking at this. If you're looking online with me right now, these seven different churches and these seven different churches were being attacked and persecuted by the people from Rome, by Jewish people from Jerusalem who didn't enjoy Christianity. Then you've got all kinds of other things. I mean, they're just being persecuted like crazy and this persecution is getting bad At this point.

Speaker 0: 2:56

If it was written toward the end of the first century, which was what most people think, then actually what is going on is Paul has been martyred, peter has been martyred. So many people have been martyred. Really, it's just John that is left and he is writing to the early church and he is telling them don't be afraid, jesus wins. And even though it's going to get bad and bad things are going to happen Jesus wins. And that is what this whole book is about to the original audience. And so in the first few chapters, that's what Jesus has been doing. Chapter one he talks about who he is, that he is the conquering king. Chapter 2 and 3, he says I see you, I see what you're going through, I see what's happening, I see all the things and here's your next steps. And then 4, 5, and 6, we start talking about how Jesus is saying that, even though bad things are happening, I'm still moving and I'm still doing things. Bad things are happening, I'm still moving and I'm still doing things. Well, today we're going to see how we really are going to begin to separate ourselves from some of the different podcasts that talk about the future, because for some of these, we're going to see how so Jesus is going to be sealing, protecting these 144,000 people of the tribes of Israel, and there's a lot of podcasts and a lot of places that like to think about okay, in the future, what will this look like? What we want to do is what would this have meant to the people of the time? So I think the best thing for us to do is to read through this and then we're going to go back and we're going to talk about some of the different aspects of this and how it would have presented itself to the early church. So let's read this together and then we may stop along the way, but most of it, we'll save for the end of the chapter. Okay, you ready?

Speaker 0: 4:34

Revelation, chapter 7, verse 1, says this Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they would not blow on the earth or the sea or even on any tree. I saw another angel coming up from the east carrying a seal of the living God. He shouted for those four angels who had been given power to harm the land and sea. Wait, don't harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants. I heard how many were marked with the seal of God 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel. Now pause. This is not the first time where God has talked about placing a seal on his people. That was first mentioned back in Ezekiel, chapter 9. So the original readers would have been like oh yeah, just back in Ezekiel, when bad things were happening everywhere, god protected this remnant. That must be the same thing. So that's what John is likely referring to, and he says this there'll be 144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel. From Judah, 12,000. From Reuben Verse 9. 12,000. And from Benjamin, 12,000, which of course equals 144,000. Verse nine.

Speaker 0: 6:06

After this, I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the lamb. They were clothed with white robes and held palm branches in their hands and they were shouting with a great roar Salvation has come from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings, and they fell before the throne. There goes those living, those elders, falling on the ground again. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God and they sang amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God, forever and ever, amen. And one of the 24 elders asked me who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from? And I said to him sir, you are the one who knows. And he said to me these are the ones who have died in the great tribulation. They have their, they have washed their robes in the blood of the lamb and have made them white.

Speaker 0: 7:10

That comes from Zechariah, chapter 3. Of the sun, for the lamb on the throne will be their shepherd and he will lead them to the springs of life-giving water and the people and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Wow. Well, that last part actually leans back to the end of ezekiel, where he said that there was a um, there was a river flowing from the throne of god or the city of god, and it brought healing. But then also, at the very end of isaiah, he says that there will be a day when every tear will be wiped away. And it's just a reminder that so much of this would have been understood by the early church because of them knowing the Old Testament. And can I tell you, one of the things that the early church would have gotten great comfort out of that my hope is that we can get great comfort of as well is when it talked about the tribulation and that the persecution that was going to be faced, the early church wasn't looking at this as some futuristic thing, because they were experiencing persecution right then and there, right there in that moment, people are being martyred. This is during the time when Christians were being taken into the Colosseums and fed to lions and all this kind of stuff. So the idea of persecution is very real and in the moment and very real and in the moment.

Speaker 0: 8:39

What John is writing about revelation of the Holy spirit is I love this. He said before I send judgment upon the world because of what they're doing. First, I'm going to seal my people. And he and you got to imagine too, when you live in a world where you know the, the, the population of the entire world at this time is probably not even probably five, five hundred million. You know what I mean. It's like it's not seven billion, eight billion, like it is now, it's much, much smaller. And so the idea of 144 000 would have likely been for them the same thing as saying millions upon millions. Like it was. It would have likely been for them the same thing as saying millions upon millions. It would have been a massive number to them.

Speaker 0: 9:14

And what God is saying is in this moment is he's saying I am going to seal all my people. So the original audience, when they heard 12,000 of these and 12,000 of these, they would have been like wow, what big numbers of people. And God is saying before I send destruction upon the earth for justice, for what they have been doing, first I'm going to take care of my people. And the great promise would have been is that Jesus is showing that he is their shepherd and that he is going to care for them and that he sees them in the middle of whatever they're going through. Can you imagine how wonderfully comforting that would have been to these people under persecution to say, hey, stand strong, because God sees you and he's going to take care of you. Well, I want to say this to you today Just like it was true of the people in the early church, it's true of us today.

Speaker 0: 10:06

There may be some people who are listening or watching this podcast that you are experiencing persecution, maybe because of your pursuit of God. You are experiencing persecution in the way people treat you and the way people maybe look over you or discount you, or maybe even physical violence, because we have people who are watching and listening to this from all over the world. And for some of us who live in the United States, we take for granted what we have, because in other countries, people put their lives in their own hands by claiming to be Christians. And can I tell you, however you have found this God sees you, god cares for you and even in the middle of persecution, he seals you as his. That doesn't mean that you won't experience persecution. What it means is is none of that persecution can take you out of his hands. There's never a moment when he loses his grip on you, and so for all of us, the great application will be are you living as though nothing that happens to you can rob you from God, or are you living in a way that you say, god, I'm gonna do the best I can and I trust you with the rest, because nothing can take me out of your hands?

Speaker 0: 11:14

Let's pray together right now, god, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that, no matter what we face in this life, you are with us. For some of us, god, it looks very different than it does for others, but pain is the same for everybody Loss, isolation, abandonment. From others, it's all the same and it hurts. But the amazing thing is is that, god, you seal us and, as your word says, you are on the throne and you are our shepherd and I'm so thankful for you. Today, in Jesus name, we pray Amen, amen. What God's word says in Revelation, chapter one, verse seven. It says look, he is coming in the clouds of heaven and everyone will see him. Jesus is coming again and we will see him face to face. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Revelation, chapter 8.