After this powerful message, the scene turns to a multitude of people
before the throne in heaven. This is where we will pick up our discussion in
this post.
The Great Multitude From Every
Nation Before The Heavenly Throne. 7:9-12
In 7:9a the vision switches from emphasizing the full number of the
people of God in this age, as was the case in 7:1-8, to emphasizing the large
number of the saved people of God in this age: “After this I looked, and
behold, a great multitude that no one could number….” This part of the vision
is very encouraging, for it unveils for us that there will be no small number
of those whom God saves. They will be so many that no one can count them.
In 7:9b the vision emphasizes the diversity of the saved: “from every
nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages….” This same set of terms is
used in different order in Rev. 5:9 also to speak of the redeemed from all over
the world and from among all kinds of people.[1] We also see the same terms used in Rev. 11:9
to speak of people from all over the world and from all kinds of people who
look upon slain Christian witnesses and most likely are among those who are
judged for their opposition to Christ.[2] The
point here is that God has redeemed and will bring to him all kinds of people
from all over the world.
In 7:9c-12 we discover what this innumerable multitude is doing. They
are standing before the throne of God in heaven and before the Lamb and they
are worshiping:
…standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10
and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the
throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their
faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory
and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever
and ever! Amen.
There are a number of more specific things we learn about this
multitude of saints as they worship. To begin, the most obvious is that they
have died and are in heaven (9c).[3] As
we affirmed in our last blog, these saints are also the 144,000 alluded to in
7:1-8.[4]
What this means is that God has protected and preserved them so that they did
not fail and fall in the ultimate way. This view, then, of the saints is the
outcome, the culmination of God’s promised sealing and protection of them in
7:1-8.
What is more, they are “clothed in white robes” (9d), which elsewhere
in Revelation is a picture of right standing with God.[5] It
is a picture of those who have washed their robes (i.e. they have been forgiven
of sins and a righteous standing with God has been imputed to them) in the
blood of the Lamb, that is, they have rested upon the substitutionary atoning
death of Christ (7:13-14) and so they have been given salvation that is
accomplished and applied by Jesus Christ and cannot be earned by them (3:18,
understood in context). The result of their being genuinely clothed in the righteousness
of Christ is they desire to and can live a persevering life of practical righteousness
so that they can enjoy the reward of full eternal life (3:4-5; 6:11; 19:8; 22:14).
The picture we have here, then, is of persevering saints who have been saved and
preserved by Jesus Christ.[6]
Additionally, we see that these saints are depicted “with palm branches
in their hands” (9e). Palm branches were used in the Israelite celebration of
the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:40-43), a feast that commenorates the
divine protection of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. This picture,
then, of saints “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”
who are also pictured as celebrating the ultimate protection by God through
wilderness wanderings (the ultimate fulfillment of the feast of tabernacles)
communicates at least three truths: (1) These saints from among all peoples in
the world are now seen as the true Israel, a reality that fits with the picture
in 7:1-8 and elsewhere in Revelation (e.g. 19:6; 21:1-2). (2) God has protected
and preserved these saints and brought them into the ultimate promised land,
that is, their eternal reward. (3) What they have come out of is pictured as
wilderness wanderings with all its trials, discipline, and judgment (for those
not true believers). This suggests the difficulty of life in this current age
within a broken and sin-cursed world.
Finally, in verses 10-12 we read of what these saints in heaven are
exclaiming as they praise God the Father and God the Son (the Lamb),
accompanied also by the angelic ministers (the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders) who represent the church and intensify the picture of
praise and worship coming to God for who he is and what he has done.
More specifically, in these three verses we see the saints and angelic
beings praising God the Father and Son because “salvation belongs to [them].” Elsewhere
the Bible affirms that God and God alone saves (Exodus 14:3; 15:2; Joshua
24:1-13; Psalms 37:39; 51:14; 68:19; 98:2-3; 118:21; Isaiah 12:2; 25:9b; 33:22;
43:11; 45:18-25; Hosea 13:4; Jonah 2:9). Here, these saints affirm that God and
God alone saves, but they include the Father and the Son/Lamb, for the Father
saves in and through the Son (see elsewhere for example John 3:16; Romans
3:21-26). They affirm that the Son/Lamb, then, is God and that only God can
save. This salvation, in context, not only means their being initially declared
righteous, forgiven, and adopted into the family of God, but also the
subsequent and ongoing sanctification, perseverance, and their final
perfection. They praise God for he has saved them from beginning to end!
In verse 12 the angelic beings agree with the saints (“Amen!”) and add
that it should be recognized that for all eternity praise belongs to our God
(in context probably Father and Son), he should be seen fully for how
magnificant he is (he has “glory”), he should be acknowledged as knowing how to
bring about his purposes and good ends (he has “wisdom”), he should be thanked,
honored, and it should be acknowledged that ultimate power and might
(especially to redeem mankind and all else) belong to him! There is no question
that in this full and rich praise initial, ongoing, and ultimate salvation is
attributed to the Father and Son. It is not man’s doing, nor does man add to
it. It is God’s work alone (see John 1:12-13; 3:1-8; 1 Cor. 1:18-2:16;
Ephesians 2:8-10).
Revelation 7:9-12 not only promises that God will preserve and make
secure his true followers, his elect (cf. Rom. 8:28-39), but it also gives a
wonderful example of how we should worship God and view salvation. It is his
work and he deserves the glory!
In the remainder of this interlude we discover even more about who this
multitude is and the world out of which they have been saved.
The More Detailed Identity Of This
Multitude. 7:13-17
What John experiences next in this vision is that one of the
twenty-four elders asks him a question so that the answer can be revealed to
and through John The question and answer have to do with revealing a more
detailed description of this multitude in heaven, just who they are, and what
they have experienced. Here is what we read in 7:13-14: “Then one of the elders
addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where
have they come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are
the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’”
It should be clear from the near context and the larger context of
Revelation (especially in light of all the ground we have covered in these
first seven chapters) that “the great tribulation” of which John speaks is not
merely a period at the very end of this age, but instead covers this entire
age. Since in other places the
tribulation is spoken of as a three and a half year period or two periods of
three and a half years, and since the most popular end-times understanding in
our lifetime has seen the tribulation as a literal seven year period at the very
end of the this age, I will blog on this subject in my next post and explain
more fully how we know the numbers are intended to be read figuratively and
thus the tribulation is a time that spans this entire age.[7]
What we want to see in verses 13-14 for now, however, are two important points: (1) This multitude
has received and rested upon Christ and his life, substitutionary atoning
death, and his resurrection for eternal life and forgiveness and, as such, they
have been able to persevere and enter into their eternal reward. (2) Over and
over again in the book of Revelation it is assumed and taught directly that the
Church in this current age experiences trials, persecution, and discipline, and
so they go through tribulation (see especially 2:10, 22; 3:10; 16:1-21). In my
estimation it has been a dangerously mistaken teaching in the church to suggest
that the Christian life now can be lived free or mostly free of tribulation and
that such pressing pain and difficulty are only or mainly for a future time. It
has warped our expectations for the Christian life now and opened up the door
for us to equate the “American dream” or the “good life” with the Christian
life. As a result, it also has warped our view of what our mission in the world
will look like. In fact it has contributed to a false assumption that it is
fine to be a Christian and yet not live on mission at all.
Equally as illuminating are the remaining two truths about this
multitude that John shares in verses 15-17:
(1)
These saints are viewed as priests who serve God continually: “Therefore they
are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple…”
(15a-b). The verb translated “serve” (latreuĊ)
was often used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to speak both of
the worshipful service of God by all God’s people in general, but also
particularly of the service of priests and Levites in the tabernacle and later
the temple that was part of their worship of God and also made right worship of
God possible for others (Exodus 3:12; 7:16, 26; 10:3, 7f., 24, 26; 20:5; 23:24;
Deut. 4:19, 28; 5:9; 6:13; 7:4, 16; Josh. 22:27; 24:14-24, 31).[8] The
fact that they are pictured serving God “in his temple” clarifies they all,
without exception, are viewed as priests. This also enhances the sense in
Revelation that Jewish and Gentile Jesus followers both are considered the true
Israel, the people of God. It should also be noted that saints in heaven and
then later in the new heaven and new earth (cf. Rev. 22:3) are not sedintary or
merely sitting on clouds playing harps. Instead, they are viewed as active in
service and worship of God.
(2)
In verses 15-17 we see, as is promised elsewhere in the Old Testament (Lev.
26:3-13; Ps. 121; Isaiah 25:8; 32:2, 15-20; 33:21; 65:17-25) and also shown as
fulfilled elsewhere in Revelation (21:3-7; 22:1-5), these believers experience
the complete fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to his people and the
complete restoration of true and full life:
…and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his
presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not
strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne
will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
So, what we have in
this chapter is a series of visions and explanations that let the redeemed,
that is, genuine followers of Jesus (cf. Rev. 14:1, 4), know God will save them
in the ultimate way so that they can enter into their eternal reward. This is
designed to encourage faithfulness and perseverance in this age and in the midst
of the trials we face (see Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 25-28; 3:4-5, 12, 21; 22:6-21
[esp. 22:14]).
Joyfully Persevering
In Christ With You,
Tom
[1] In 5:9 all the terms are singular. Here in 7:9
“nation” is singular and the rest plural. The difference in number does not
appear to change the meaning. Rather they are different ways of saying the same
thing.
[2] For similar uses of the terms (but fewer terms) to
speak of people from all over the world and all kinds facing judgment, see Rev.
10:9; 17:15.
[3] Since the seventh seal in
Rev. 8:1-5 takes us to the final judgment (which precedes the new heaven and
new earth), we are to understand that the view of the saints in Rev. 7:9-17 is
of them in the current heaven in their intermediate or disembodied state. This
state is glorious and far better than the life experienced in this world in
this age (see Rev. 20:4). However, they still await their bodily resurrection
(Rev. 11:11-12; see also 1Cor. 15:35-58; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thes. 4:13-18) and
the future eternal abode for the saved, the new heaven and new earth (see Rev.
21-22).
[4] This understanding of the
relationship of 7:1-8 to 7:9-17 is confirmed by John’s tendency elsewhere in
Revelation either to explain further what he has just seen through what he
subsequently hears (compare 5:6 with 5:7-14; 14:1 with 14:2-5; 15:2 with
15:3-4; 17:1-6 with 17:7-18) or to explain further what he has just heard
through what he subsequently sees (compare 5:5 with 5:6; 9:13-16 with 9:17-21).
Here in Rev. 7:1-8 John both sees a vision, but also hears an explanation.
Then, in 7:9-17, there is a further explanation or elaboration so he can see
and hear more precisely who these ones are pictured and described in 7:1-8.
[5] For Old Testament background
to this, see Zechariah 3:1-10.
[6] A careful reading of all the
robe and dressed-in-white references lead us to this understanding that the
declared righteousness of saints before God, i.e. the imputed righteousness of
Jesus Christ himself (from his life, death, burial, and resurrection), leads to
the practice of righteousness on the part of saints and their perseverence
therein. Another way this is seen is in a comparison of Revelation 19:8, where
we discover that it was divinely given to the bride of Christ to “clothe
herself with fine linen, bright and pure” (showing that God’s gracious saving
work makes possible the growth in practical righteousness or sanctification on
the part of saints that ends in their perfection in heaven), with the picture
of the purified, righteous, holy bride of Revelation 21:2, where we read of the
New Jerusalem that it is, “prepared as a bride adorned adorned for her husband”
(a clause that emphasizes the divine work in the bride to transform and
beautify her ethically). It is God’s initiating and ongoing work in saints that
enables them to act and persevere in faith, righteousness, and holiness,
resulting in their future reward of perfection.
[7] This is not to suggest,
however, that the tribulation does not intensify and get worse as this age
progresses. It does. See Rev. 11:7-10; 16:12-16; 20:7-9.
[8] Its noun form is used in
Romans 12:1 to speak of the service or worshipful service that flows out of
God’s saving mercies in our lives. We see the same verb in Rev. 22:3 to
describe the worshipful service of God’s servants in the new heaven and new
earth.
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