Revelation 7 – The Preservation of the Righteous Saints

This chapter deals with the seal placed upon the righteous saints in the Last Days. In our podcast, Bryce and I discuss how the blood of the lamb from the book of Exodus applies to this text. John was clearly relating the seal in the foreheads of the righteous to the followers of Yahweh in the Old Testament, especially those that had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. The ancients saw God as a warrior who would vindicate them for the wrongs that they suffered in their time. To the ancients, God was a mighty warrior, a go-el/ga-al, גָּאַל who fixed the wrongs. This is the actual ancient meaning behind Job’s words in Job 19.25-27. Although this text has been recontextualized or repackaged by later Christian authors, originally it meant that Job would be vindicated by a go-el, or a redeemer who would testify on his behalf and right the wrongs that Job was suffering. There were many ways in which a go-el would operate, and this was one of them.^[1]See: Botterweck and Ringgren, The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, volume 2, Eerdmans, 1975, p. 355.

Bryce mentions several times how God always warned first. He quoted 2 Nephi 25.9 which says:

And as one generation hath been destroyed among the Jews because of iniquity, even so have they been destroyed from generation to generation according to their iniquities; and never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord.

God as a Mighty Warrior

One of the metaphors for God in scripture is God as the divine warrior. He is the one who is fighting on our behalf to bring deliverance, rescue, and salvation from the perils we face in life. This was how people in the Ancient Near East viewed their gods. To expect otherwise in the Biblical texts would be to expect something that these people would not understand. God speaks to man after the manner of his language, according to his understanding (see D&C 1:24). When Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea on dry ground while pharaoh and company were destroyed in the Red Sea they sang a song of victory called the “The Song of Moses”, or “The Song of the Sea” which scholars today say may be the oldest piece of literature in the Bible.^[2]Learn with Torah, edited by Joel Lurie Grishaver, p. 137. See also: The Jewish Study Bible, p. 127. It says: The language and style of the poem (The Song of the Sea) are archaic and share many … Continue reading

They sang,

“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.

The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

The LORD is a warrior;
the LORD is his name.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
are drowned in the Red Sea.

The deep waters have covered them;
they sank to the depths like a stone.

“Your right hand, O LORD,
was majestic in power.
Your right hand, O LORD,
shattered the enemy.

In the greatness of your majesty
you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
it consumed them like stubble.”
(Exodus 15:1-7)

In Deuteronomy 32 we read that God is a mighty warrior that will whet his sword with blood:

If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy. Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people. (Deuteronomy 32:41-43)

Warning

“The purpose of the final seal is to warn everyone we possibly can of the destruction that is coming.” – Bryce Dunford, Ep 20 podcast, posted December 13, 2019. To me, this is the entire point of the text. God wants to reclaim all that he can. The destruction will happen, but the Lord will succeed. The Saints will be gathered.

Now, what about these people? Who are they? Here is what the Lord has said:

Q. What are we to understand by the angel ascending from the east, Revelation 7th chapter and 2nd verse?
A. We are to understand that the angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying: Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things. (D&C 77.9)

Bryce and I talk a bit about how the term high priest can mean different things. I made the contention that this is both men and women. These people are the Church of the Firstborn, those that are exalted, and this includes both men and women. According to one scholar, “There is some literary evidence in Greco-Roman Jewish literature for πρεσβυτεροι but it is less clear cut…”^[3]Sidnie Crawford, Mothers, Sisters, and Elders: Titles for Women in Second Temple Jewish and Early Christian Comunities, January 2003, Faculty Publications, Classics and Religious Studies … Continue reading She later goes on to discuss the idea that in some early Jewish communities women participated in leadership positions. The idea was discussed in the podcast that in First Temple Israelite religion, the Israelite people gathered at the temple for the Fall festival, and saw their king and queen enthroned in the temple. Women participated in temple ceremonies, specifically there was mention with regard to the music in the temple ceremony (see Psalm 68, especially the verses read in the podcast).

From Crawford we read:

The term πρεσβύτερα, “elder,” appears in the New Testament and other early Christian sources, but with the ambiguity in meaning we have already discovered between “old person” and “senior leader.” In passages such as 1 Tim 5:1–2, discussed above, the terms πρεσβυτέρω˛ and πρεσβυτέρας mean “old men” and “old women.” This is likewise the case in 1 Pet 5:5 (but cf. 5:1) and Titus 2:2–3 (in which older people are role models). However, the word πρεσβύτερος also indicates one having a leadership role in the early Christian community as it formed hierarchies of leadership. This is clear from such passages as Acts 14:23, where the πρεσβυτέρους are appointed; 1 Tim 5:17, where the πρεσβύτεροι who “labor in preaching and teaching” are to receive double compensation; and James 5:14, where the πρεσβυτέρους τηˆς ’εκκλησίας pray over and anoint the sick. These passages originate in three very different groups within the early Christian movement, so the title was widespread. In passages such as these, we must not allow the masculine form of the noun to be misleading; it is probable that these groups of elders also included women.Women are called πρεσβύτερα in several early Christian inscriptions, in which the epithet signifies the holder of an office rather than an old woman.^[4]Crawford, p. 189. See document here.

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