saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
3. till we have sealed ] The object of the sealing is twofold. (1) to mark them as God’s own, beyond the risk of loss; we may almost certainly infer, from this chapter compared with Rev 14:1, that the inscription of the seal is the Name of God and of the Lamb; and (2) to mark them as to be saved from the judgements that the other angels are to execute upon the world. Hence we are to compare this sealing, on the one hand with the mark (a less careful and indelible one than here a cross marked with ink, not a name stamped with a seal) set on the protesting remnant in Eze 9:4; Eze 9:6 (R. V.): on the other hand, with 2Ti 2:19; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30. It is scarcely likely indeed that St John refers consciously to these passages in St Paul, but it is likely that the image of the seal was the common property of the Apostolic Church, perhaps that the name was already applied, as in later times, to the rite which we call confirmation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea … – Let the winds be restrained until what is here designated shall be done. These destroying angels were commanded to suspend the work of destruction until the servants of God could be rendered secure. The division here, as in Rev 7:1, of the earth, the sea, and the trees, seems to include everything – water, land, and the productions of the earth. Nothing was to be injured until the angel should designate the true servants of God.
Till we have sealed the servants of our God – The use of the plural we seems to denote that he did not expect to do it alone. Who were to be associated with him, whether angels or human beings, he does not intimate; but the work was evidently such that it demanded the agency of more than one.
In their foreheads – See the notes on Rev 7:2; compare Eze 9:4-5. A mark thus placed on the forehead would be conspicuous, and would be something which could at once be recognized if destruction should spread over the world. The fulfillment of this is to be found in two things:
(a)In something which would be conspicuous or prominent – so that it could be seen; and,
(b)In the mark being of such a nature or character that it would be a proper designation of the fact that they were the true servants of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Till we have sealed the servants of our God] There is manifestly an allusion to Eze 9:4 here. By sealing we are to understand consecrating the persons in a more especial manner to God, and showing, by this mark of God upon them, that they were under his more immediate protection, and that nothing should hurt them. It was a custom in the east, and indeed in the west too, to stamp with a hot iron the name of the owner upon the forehead or shoulder of his slave.
It is worthy of remark that not one Christian perished in the siege of Jerusalem; all had left the city, and escaped to Pella. This I have often had occasion to notice.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A manifest allusion to Eze 9:4, and, as some think, to the usage of some eastern countries, for masters to set their names upon the forehead of their slaves, by which they were known to be theirs, as we mark our sheep or other beasts. Men as vainly dispute what this seal should be, as what the meant in Eze 9:1-11, the mark set upon those that mourned for the abominations of Jerusalem. The place where they were to be sealed signified the end of their sealing to be not so much for confirmation, for which seals are used, as notification, to signify to others they belong to God; so as it was of the same use as the blood upon the two side-posts and the upper door-posts of the Israelites in Egypt, Exo 12:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Hurt notby letting loosethe destructive winds.
till we have sealed theservants of our Godparallel to Mt24:31, “His angels . . . shall gather together His electfrom the four winds.” God’s love is such, that He cannot doanything in the way of judgment, till His people are secured fromhurt (Ge 19:22). Israel, at theeve of the Lord’s coming, shall be found re-embodied as a nation; forits tribes are distinctly specified (Joseph, however, beingsubstituted for Dan; whether because Antichrist is to come from Dan,or because Dan is to be Antichrist’s especial tool [ARETAS,tenth century], compare Gen 49:17;Jer 8:16; Amo 8:14;just as there was a Judas among the Twelve). Out of these tribes abelieving remnant will be preserved from the judgments whichshall destroy all the Antichristian confederacy (Re6:12-17), and shall be transfigured with the elect Church ofall nations, namely, 144,000 (or whatever number is meant by thissymbolical number), who shall faithfully resist the seductions ofAntichrist, while the rest of the nation, restored to Palestine inunbelief, are his dupes, and at last his victims. Previously to theLord’s judgments on Antichrist and his hosts, these latter shalldestroy two-thirds of the nation, one-third escaping,and, by the Spirit’s operation through affliction, turning to theLord, which remnant shall form the nucleus on earth of the Israelitenation that is from this time to stand at the head of the millennialnations of the world. Israel’s spiritual resurrection shall be “aslife from the dead” to all the nations. As now a regenerationgoes on here and there of individuals, so there shall then be aregeneration of nations universally, and this in connection withChrist’s coming. Mt 24:34;”this generation (the Jewish nation) shall not pass till allthese things be fulfilled,” which implies that Israel can nomore pass away before Christ’s advent, than Christ’s own wordscan pass away (the same Greek), Mt24:35. So exactly Zec 13:8;Zec 13:9; Zec 14:2-4;Zec 14:9-21; compareZec 12:2-14; Zec 13:1;Zec 13:2. So also Eze 8:17;Eze 8:18; Eze 9:1-7,especially Eze 9:4. Compare alsoEze 10:2; Rev 8:5,where the final judgments actually fall on the earth, with the sameaccompaniment, the fire of the altar cast into the earth,including the fire scattered over the city. So again, Re14:1, the same 144,000 appear on Zion with the Father’s name intheir forehead, at the close of the section, the twelfth throughfourteenth chapters, concerning the Church and her foes. Not that thesaints are exempt from trial: Re7:14 proves the contrary; but their trials are distinct from thedestroying judgments that fall on the world; from these theyare exempted, as Israel was from the plagues of Egypt, especiallyfrom the last, the Israelite doors having the protecting seal of theblood-mark.
foreheadsthe mostconspicuous and noblest part of man’s body; on which the helmet, “thehope of salvation,” is worn.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,…. That is, as yet, for their commission was not contradicted, nor taken away by Christ; and at the time appointed, at the blowing of the several trumpets, they let loose the winds, and let in the Goths, Hans, and Vandals, the Saracens and Turks into the empire, and after that poured out the vials of God’s wrath upon the Romish antichrist: this retarding of them was but in appearance, that there might be an opportunity to show to John what care would be taken all along of the church of Christ, and true servants of the living God:
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads; the servants of sin, Satan, and the beast of Rome, were took no notice nor care of; they were the persons to be hurt by the winds, signified by the earth, sea, and trees, even idolaters, small and great; but “the servants of our God”, who serve him with grace in their hearts, from a principle of love, in the exercise of faith, without servile fear, and with reverence and godly fear, in righteousness and true holiness, and with a view to his glory; and are worshippers of him in spirit and in truth, being followers of the Lamb, whithersoever he goes; and so are the servants of his God, and their God; the sealing of them does not design the sealing of them with the seal of election, this was done in eternity; nor with the seal of the Spirit, which is common to all the saints in all ages; but it denotes the hiding and concealing, and so securing the saints amidst all the calamities of the empire, and throughout the whole time of the Romish apostasy, from first to last; and respects the time when the church fled into the wilderness, and was hid, and nourished with the hidden manna, for a time, and times, and half a time, Re 12:14. Christ set a mark upon them, as was upon the houses of the Israelites, when the destroying angel passed through Egypt, and destroyed the firstborn in it; and as was upon the foreheads of those that sighed and cried in Jerusalem, when orders were given to slay young and old, Ex 12:23. Christ will have a people in the worst of times; he knows who are his, and he will take care of them; he has his chambers of protection to hide them in, till the indignation is over past: the sealers, “we”, are either Father, Son, and Spirit, who are all jointly concerned for the welfare of the eject; or Christ and his ministering angels that attend him, whom he employs for the good and safety of the heirs of salvation: the seal with which these are sealed is the seal of the living God, the foreknowledge, love, care, and power of God; and the name of God, even Christ’s Father’s name, and their Father’s name, in their foreheads; the new name of children of God, by and under which they are known and preserved by him: and this is said to be “in their foreheads”, in allusion to servants, who used to be marked in their foreheads; hence they are called by Apuleius c “frontes literati”; and by Martial, a servant is called “fronte notatus” d: but then these were such who had committed faults, and this was done by way of punishment e; wherefore it can hardly be thought that the servants of God should be sealed, in allusion to them: but rather with reference to the mitre on the high priest’s forehead, as some think; or it may be to Eze 9:4, and shows, that though these persons were hid and concealed from men, they were well known to God and Christ; nor were they ashamed to make a public and open confession of Christ before men, as did the true and faithful witnesses of Christ, the Waldenses and Albigenses, in the midst of the greatest darkness of Popery, and of danger from men; and who seem to be chiefly intended.
c Metamorph. l. 9. p. 130. d Epigr. l. 3. Ep. 20. e Vid. Popma de Operis Servorum, p. 170, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hurt not ( ). Prohibition with and the ingressive aorist active subjunctive of , not to begin to hurt.
Till we shall have sealed ( ). Temporal clause of indefinite action for the future with (sometimes or ) and the aorist subjunctive as in Rev 15:8; Rev 20:3; Rev 20:5 or the future indicative (17:7), usually with the notion of ascent (up to) rather than extent like .
An (modal) sometimes occurs, but it is not necessary. But there is no futurum exactum idea in the aorist subjunctive, simply “till we seal,” not “till we shall have sealed.”
Upon their foreheads ( ). From Eze 9:4. Old word (, , after the eye, above the eye, the space above or between the eyes), in N.T. only in the Apocalypse (Rev 7:3; Rev 9:4; Rev 13:16; Rev 14:1; Rev 14:9; Rev 17:5; Rev 20:4; Rev 22:4). For “the servants of God” ( ) who are to be thus marked linked with angels in the service of God see Rev 1:1; Rev 2:20; Rev 19:2; Rev 19:5; Rev 22:3; Rev 22:6.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In their foreheads. Compare Exo 28:3; 6 – 38; Eze 9:4.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Saying, hurt not the earth,” (Iegon me adikeseteten ge) “Saying, do not harm (disturb or disarrange) the earth; by releasing hold or restraint that they held, Rev 7:1; Rev 6:6; Rev 9:4; In any manner that it was plagued in Egypt, Exo 12:13.
2) “Neither the sea,” (mete ten thalasson) “, Nor harm the sea,” in any form of hurricane, gale, or storm, Exo 14:30; Jon 1:4-5; Jon 1:12; Jon 1:15.
3) “Nor the trees,” (mete ta dendra) “Nor harm the trees,” Rev 8:7; Rev 9:4. The third part of them are later burned, and all the green grass, only after the servants of God (saints from among the twelve tribes) were sealed.
4) “Till we have sealed the servants of our God,” (achri sphagisomen tous doulous tou theou hemon) “Until we may seal the servants of our God; against physical harm. These servants of God are later referred to as saints because of their religious identity with Israel and ;heir hope of the Messiah, Rev 11:18; Rev 14:3.
5) “In their foreheads,” (epi ton metopon auton) -Upon their foreheads;” the sealing appears to have been in the forehead to make them conspicuously recognized as people or property of the living God; Eze 9:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
Ver. 3. Hurt not ] Reprobates often fare the better for those few righteous that are among them; they are therefore singularly foolish for seeking to rid them, and root them out, as the heathen emperors did. These resemble the stag in the emblem, that fed upon the leaves which hid him from the hunter and Samson-like, by pulling down the pillars, they bring the house upon their own heads.
In their foreheads ] Not in their hands only, as the vassals of Antichrist, Rev 13:16 who have free liberty to dissemble, deny their religion, do anything, so the Catholic cause be thereby advanced. My son, give me thy heart, said Gregory XIII to our English Papists, let who will have thy tongue and outward man.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
neither. Same as nor, Rev 7:1.
have = shall have, sealed. See App-197. Compare Rev 9:4; Rev 14:1; Rev 22:4, and See Rev 13:16; Rev 14:9. This sealing is visible and protects the elect (Mat 24:31) of Israel during the tribulation, marking them off as worshippers of the true God.
servants. App-190.
in = upon. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 7:3. [81] , we may seal) By this sealing, the servants of God out of the tribes of Israel are preserved, all along from the time of John, against the calamities which threaten under the seven trumpets. Before this there had been no need of sealing, before the danger. The ancestors are sealed at one time, and their posterity at another. If the ancestors were slain, there would be no posterity. Under the trumpet of the fifth angel, not even are those slain who are not sealed; much less, therefore, are they slain who are sealed.
[81] , from the rising of the sun) It was from the east, therefore, that the plagues began.-V. g.- , the earth and the sea) Here the trees are also mentioned. The earth is Asia; the sea Europe; the rivers (ch. Rev 8:10) and the trees, Africa,-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Hurt not: Rev 6:6, Rev 9:4, Isa 6:13, Isa 27:8, Isa 65:8, Mat 24:22, Mat 24:31
till: Rev 14:1, Exo 12:13, Exo 12:23, Isa 26:20, Isa 26:21, Exo 9:4-6, Zep 2:3
the servants: Rev 19:2, Isa 54:17, Dan 3:17, Dan 3:26, Dan 6:16, Mal 3:18, Joh 12:26, Rom 6:22
in their: Rev 13:16, Rev 14:1, Rev 20:4, Rev 22:4
Reciprocal: Psa 71:3 – thou hast Son 4:12 – sealed Eze 9:4 – set a mark Eze 9:6 – but 2Co 1:22 – sealed Rev 7:2 – having Rev 17:5 – upon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 7:3. They were told to hold back the winds until the faithful ones had been accounted for. A seal is a stamp of ownership and is placed on the proper persons to indicate the approval of the authority behind it. (See the comments at 1Co 9:2.) This seal was to be placed in the forehead which indicates they would he visible to the public. Whatever was the exact fulfilling of this symbol, there was something that would tell the world of God’s approval of them. Hence when the wicked men of power were undergoing their terrors, they could realize how much they had failed in their wicked designs. Right while they were trembling in the terrors of their crumbling dominions, they could see the victims of their cruelty with the marks of approval from their God.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 3.
Hurt not the earth–Rev 7:3.
“Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
This was the counter command of the angel of the rising sun to the four angels. The purpose of this sealing, as later seen, is to preserve the holy seed, the true Israel of God, from the judgments about to come upon the earth. It was not exemption from suffering, but from the judgments about to be announced in the opening of the seventh seal. It was a suspension period before the break of fury, signifying the divine protection of the faithful seed, the assurance that no force could bring them ultimate harm.
The sealing in their foreheads was a symbol of an insignia or a mark to save them from slaughter, but not from tribulation, for chapter 2:10 said “thou shalt suffer tribulation ten days.” But they would survive it; they would be preserved in the midst of it, by a mark to distinguish the true Israel, the holy seed, from old Israel, the fleshly Jew. The old Israel was soon to perish, the new Israel to be preserved; the old Jerusalem was soon destroyed by impending judgments, the new Israel to be sealed for preservation, to survive and flourish as Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the firstborn, sealed on earth and enrolled in heaven. A similar imagery is employed by Jeremiah in foretelling the captivity of Israel in Babylon. (Eze 9:4)
Its history repeats itself in these visions of tribulation in the final destruction of Jerusalem, and of Israel’s nation. It is noteworthy that in this imagery there was the mark that sealed the servants of God in their foreheads, who worshipped not the beast, in contrast with what was later called the mark of the beast, also received upon their foreheads and in their hands, by those who submitted to the beast–to the decree of the emperor against the worship of the Lamb, and for the worship of the emperor, as set forth in the second series of symbols surrounding the church the Bride of the Lamb. In a similar figure Paul carried the mark of his Lord. (Gal 6:17)