Introduction
C. Supplementary revelation of salvation in the Great Tribulation ch. 7
God led John to record what he saw between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals to explain how God would be merciful during this period of judgment. Wiersbe divided chapters 6-7 into three parts: retribution (Revelation 6:1-8), response (Revelation 6:8-17), and redemption (ch. 7). [Note: Wiersbe, 2:587.] John received two new visions that corrected the possible impression that no one would survive the "beginning of birth-pangs" (Revelation 6:17). God will deliver two groups of people during the first half of the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 24:14). He will preserve 144,000 Israelites alive on the earth, and He will take to heaven a multitude of people from all nations who will die then. John saw both groups in this chapter. It contrasts the security of believers in Jesus with the panic of unbelievers during the period just described (ch. 6). [Note: Swete, p. 95.] It also answers the question posed in Revelation 6:17: "Who is able to stand?" Furthermore it serves as a dramatic literary interlude delaying briefly the disclosure of what will follow in the seventh seal to heighten expectation.
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