Revelation 7:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Concerning the angel descending from the rising of the sun, John speaks of the prophet Elijah. He was to anticipate the time of the Antichrist, in order to restore and strengthen the churches against unbearable persecution. We read of this in the opening of the book both of the Old Testament and of the New Proclamation.

What was once revealed to Ezekiel concerning the man clothed in a podir, a long linen garment, who placed a seal on the faces of those who groaned (Ezek 9:4), so that the righteous would not be destroyed with sinners, is now revealed to the blessed one. For even the angels do not know the secret virtues of the saints.

Now the chief holy powers are commanded not to harm those who have sinned until they recognize the servants of truth marked with the seal. This has already happened in part, when many thousands who believed in Christ escaped the devastation of Jerusalem by the Romans, as the great James says to the blessed Paul.

That the divine angel ascended from the rising of the sun, and not from the west or evening, signifies the preaching of the Gospel and the proclamation of good. For the prophet foresaw in the Spirit this present seal of the living God when he said: The light of Your countenance, O Lord, has been manifested upon us (Ps 4:7). Now it is rightly commanded that no harm be done until the seal has been placed upon those Jews who are worthy of salvation. In this way the righteous would not involuntarily suffer in any manner together with sinners.

The Lord, born in the flesh, the Angel of Great Counsel (cf. Isa 9:6), the Messenger of the Father's will, visited us from the height of the East (Lk 1:78). He brought the standard of the Cross, by which He set seals upon the faces of those who are His.

Loud is the voice of the Lord proclaiming: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). The dominion of the Gentiles was destroyed so that the ranks of the saints might be marked with the sign of the faith in which they stood firm.

The seal of the living God is the Spirit of adoption, as is clear from the following words of the Apostle Paul: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph 4:30). “God has sealed us and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor 1:22).

By the name “seal of the living God” is meant the Cross of the Lord, the sign of the King of eternal glory, on which He suffered for our salvation. Saint Andrew of Caesarea says of this: “This will be especially so at the coming of the Antichrist, when the seal of the Life-giving Cross will distinguish the faithful from the unbelieving.”

The four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth were already ready to begin harming the earth and the sea. Then the apostle John saw another angel, who halted the destructive activity of the four angels until seals should be placed on the foreheads of the servants of God. According to St. Andrew’s interpretation, this will be fulfilled at the coming of the antichrist, when the seal of the Life-giving Cross will distinguish from unbelievers those who bear the sign of Christ openly and boldly before the faithful.