This article describes the Great Tribulation written in Revelation 7.
In all his parables, Jesus spoke about the kingdom and gave us strict instruction to seek it. Throughout the scriptures, from Abraham, the prophets, the parables to Revelation, the kingdom of God is explained in detail. It is the same kingdom that God promised Abraham. It is the same kingdom that went into exile, that is written in Daniel and explained in the parables and Revelation. The plan God declared to Abraham is the same throughout the scriptures and nothing has changed.
Luke 4:43
but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent."
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 13:11
...“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,…
God explained his plan about the kingdom to Abraham in Genesis. He promised Abraham that his seed would bring blessing to all the nations of the earth.
Genesis 22:15-18
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son-
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
In 720 BC, Israel, the seed of Abraham fell into captivity due to their rejection of God. God, determined not to be a liar and finish the work that he promised to Abraham, sent his son to repair the kingdom by dying on the cross.
Luke 1:67-74
67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
Christ's death was just the beginning of Israel’s restoration, it was going to take more than a millennium to bring the kingdom back on track to fulfil the promise to Abraham.
Revelation 7 describes a time in Israel’s history when God brings Israel (his kingdom) out of their captivity, called the great tribulation - also described in Matthew 24.
Isaiah 54:7-8
7 "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," Says the LORD, your Redeemer.
Revelation 7:1-17
1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
3 saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honour and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Revelation 7:1-3 The four angels are instructed to hold back the four winds, from causing destruction on the earth until the tribes of Israel were sealed first.
In Revelation 7:4-12 Israel is now sealed and made clean, depicted by wearing white robes. The death of Christ enabled God to look upon Israel to complete his work, as they were now made righteous, not of their own works but the works of Christ.
Revelation 7:13-14 indicates John didn't know who these people were dressed in white robes when he was asked; however, the elder answered, “these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation”.
The great tribulation is the captivity of Israel by the nations: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. In the 5th century during the fall of Rome, the lost houses of Israel came out of their tribulation as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, migrating to the British Isles where they became sealed.
By 1618 AD after the tribes of Israel had been sealed in Britain, the four angels released the four winds. Spanning from the Thirty-Year war to the Napoleonic wars, the four winds blew. The winds destroyed the Holy Roman Empire, releasing Britain from the shackles of the Roman Catholic Church and blew (expanding) Britain across the globe to form the greatest empire the world has ever seen.
Revelation 7:15-17 reads very much like Revelation 21:3-4 and is showing a glimpse of Israel after the second resurrection.
Revelation 7:4-8 Dan is not included in the list of tribes sealed. It has been suggested that Dan left Israel before the time of King Solomon and may have assimilated into the Phoenician culture, a seafaring nation and migrated many years earlier to Britain on ships. Therefore, Dan was not included on the list because the sealing of the tribes is referring to a specific time before the four winds were released. Dan had migrated long before.