“Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”
Saying, 'Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of God with a seal on their foreheads' — the angel's prohibition frames the sealing as preventive protection; those bearing God's seal on the forehead (metōpon) will be protected from the judgments about to fall. The forehead-marking echoes Ezekiel 9:4, where the righteous are marked for protection.
Church Fathers on Revelation 7:3
“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.” He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: “Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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