The number of the sealed was computed with the tabulation of twelve times twelve, on the basis of the twelve tribes instead of the twelve apostles, as in chapter 4; but here it is expanded to the basic number of thousand for each tribe, as a full and complete company rather than persons equal in number to the patriarchs and apostles, as in case of the twenty-four elders. In the first the symbol was added; in the second it was multiplied. It signified the whole faithful church, the total number of the redeemed, “ the holy seed,” preserved from the pronouncements of judgment. This multiplied number was mentioned again in chapter 14, discussion of which is reserved for that exposition. In the names that head the twelve tribes, Judah stands first, significant of relation sustained to “ the Lion of the tribe of Judah” from which the Lord sprang. (Hebrews 7:14) The spiritual, figurative, use of the twelve tribes elsewhere in the New Testament designated the whole church, the spiritual Israel, as in the Old Testament they represented the whole of fleshly Israel. (Matthew 18:28; Acts 26:7; James 1:1) This 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel was an apocalypse of the holy seed of Isa 6:13; and the remnant of Jacob of Isa 10:21-23; and the remnant according to election of Rom 9:27-28; Romans 11:5; and the innumerable company (the church) of Hebrews 12:22. They stood for the new Israel. The proclamation of “ the angel of the east” to the four angels standing on the four corners of the “ earth” to “ hurt not the earth till we have sealed the servants of our God,” signified that God would not permit them to destroy Old Jerusalem until he had sealed a representative number for the New Jerusalem, the church, which was figuratively said to be “ the twelve tribes” of the dispersion. (James 1:1) The “ loud voice” of this angel commanded that the “ wind blow,” that the gospel should be preached to the four corners by the sealed servants. It was parallel to the Lord’ s declaration that after the destruction of Jerusalem his angels (emissaries) would carry the gospel to the four winds. (Matthew 24:31) Following the visions of the sealed number there was the heavenly scene of the great multitude robed in white, coming out of tribulation, composed of the angels, the elders, and the beings, who were before the throne; who were washed in blood; who served in his temple; who hungered and thirsted no more; who should suffer no heat of the sun; whom the Lamb should feed and lead; and whose tears God would wipe away. The full or unlimited understanding of all the signs with a precise explanation of all the symbols of these visions is not required in order to know the general import, and application to the period of these persecutions. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the objects of these visions were immediate and present with them while they are separated and remote from us. It should further be observed that there were spiritually gifted teachers in each church to impart the meanings to the members, whereas we have the teaching of the text itself, with the current history of the context, to follow. The course of history did not run contrary to the context nor does the language of the text contradict the events of history. The misinterpretations of false teachers and the misapplications of others arise from the anachronisms of assigning these events to the wrong periods of time, by referring them to future centuries, rather than applying the signs to the impending events of the time. The correlation in the symbolic arrangement of the contents, without the historical gaps and the fragmentary dislocations of the future theories identify them with the current history then transpiring. The entire genius of the book justifies the conviction that it was designed for the comfort and encouragement of the early apostolic churches.