Creation tells us that God exists, and He is powerful. He will judge and punish the sinful. As for His children, God will always care for them. He leaves His children on earth (after saving them) so that they can serve their Lord and Saviour, the only Begotten Son of God, with their lives, according to Scripture.

1.  Earthly saints protected by way of timing (Rev 7:1)

The timing of all things that will occur during the Great Tribulation is under God’s absolute control. God allows all things to happen in the time which He has purposed for it to happen. As the seventh seal is unleashed, and before the first trumpet is permitted to be blown, persecution will start mild and gradually become more severe. Those who stubbornly continue to sin will face their end. God is always gracious and merciful, but He will not allow sinners to continue to sin because He is also holy, righteous and just. This is shown by God restraining the angels from unleashing the first trumpet judgment (His wrath) on every square inch of this earth (which is the domain of God).

Everything that happens to us is not due to the hand of any man, but the hand of God. As children of God, we can always depend on God.

2.  Earthly saints protected by sealing (Rev 7:2-4)

The angel “ascending from the east” (Rev 7:2) implies that the angel is from the LORD because the entrance of the Temple faces the east. The word “seal” (Rev 7:2) means to put a stamp on. The angel will put the seal on “the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Rev 7:3), those whom God has elected and who will survive through the entire seven years of the Great Tribulation. And these servants of God are “an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Rev 7:4). With the mark of God on their foreheads (Rev 7:4), they will not be lost. Even in the midst of the Tribulation, God will keep them safe.

As children of God, we must not doubt God’s love for, and His presence with, us.

3.  Earthly saints protected by prophecy (Rev 7:5-8)

Revelation 7:5-8 tells us of the tribes of the 144,000 saints. In Genesis 15, God had prophesied and promised Abraham that his descendants will occupy the Promised Land, the boundaries (Gen 15:18) of which He will fulfil in the millennial kingdom when Jesus Christ will rule on earth. These tribes and all who survive the Great Tribulation will enter the Promised Land.

As children of God, we must trust in His power to fulfill His promises, in His time.