Continuing our stroll through Revelation, we have
finally come to the place where John witnesses the resurrected saints before
the throne of God.
Revelation 7:9-17 “After this I
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all
the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the
throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory,
and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.
Amen.one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are
arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his
temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall
hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes.”
It seems as plain as the nose on my face to
identify this multitude with the resurrected saints, including those that were
raptured and delivered from God’s wrath. The description of this group in
verse 9 is a definition of the body of believers—the very same terminology that
was used in chapter 5, verse 9.
Revelation 5:9-10 “… Thou art worthy
to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign
on the earth.”
It accords with the truth declared by Paul.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I
shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 “For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the
Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.”
This also fits perfectly
with the words of Jesus recorded by John in his gospel.
John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be
troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
When John was caught up to heaven in the fourth
chapter, which many people interpret as meaning that the rapture happens at
that point, Jesus is nowhere to be found and the 24 elders are assumed to
represent the body of believers. At this point in chapter seven, however,
we see a great multitude of believers from every people group standing in the
presence of Jesus before the throne of the Father—“that where I am, there ye may be also.” It just makes so much
sense to me.
The scene is one of worship and praise by all who
are in heaven. Notice that the scene includes the peoples of the nations,
the angels, the elders and the four beasts. If the 24 elders represented
those raptured, why are they identified separately?
I’ve never really stopped to analyze what they
were saying before. “Salvation to
our God.” When I looked up the original, there was no word given for
“to.” I tend to think it should read “of.” Salvation speaks of
deliverance. I think they are praising God and the Lamb for deliverance
on their behalf. Psalm 3:8 is a good reference: “Salvation
belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people.”
Obviously, God does not need to be delivered from
anything. Again, the reference is made to the One “upon the
throne.” In other words, they are aware of who is in control. The
expanded Greek translation by Kenneth Wuest reads, “The salvation [is to be
ascribed] to our God….”
I have often heard it taught that these are
tribulation saints, but that has never really made good sense to me. John has barely begun to describe coming
events. It is often pointed out that
these saints have come out of “great tribulation.” The truth is that the scripture declares that
all believers will enter the kingdom through “much tribulation.”
Acts 14:21-22 “And when they had
preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to
Lystra, and to Iconium, and
Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into
the kingdom of God.”
1 Thessalonians 3:4 “For verily,
when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye
know.”
Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?”
Jesus declared the same truth.
John 16:33 “These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
have overcome the world.”
It was a
truth recognized by John in the opening chapter of the Revelation record.
Revelation 1:9 “I John, who also am your brother, and companion
in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ….”
All believers
are aptly described as coming “out of great tribulation, and have washed their
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
To live in the presence of the Savior and enjoy
all the blessings that accompany that position will be the privilege of every
true believer.
Romans 8:9-18 “But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead
dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but
ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God:if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so
be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.”
(to be
continued…)
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