Keeping It Together When Everything Falls Apart
Rev. 7
Whenever you read the book of Revelation, sooner or later you have to get to the unpleasant subject of tribulation---more specifically, what is known as the Great Tribulation---a future dark of dark days described in several ways in the Bible.
Da 12:1 And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.
Mt 24:21-22 21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
Notice two things stand out about each of these passages: first, a warning that before God’s plan for redeeming this world is over, you and I should expect tribulation, and second, a promise that God will keep His people safe through (not always from) all tribulation.
But here’s a question there is some disagreement about—when is the Great Tribulation going to take place? Will Christians be around for this time of trouble, or will we be raptured out with Jesus before it comes? How will you tell the difference between the Great tribulation and the ordinary everyday version of tribulation?
I’ve read and studied the various theories and explanations and in all honesty, I don’t really have all the answers to these questions, and one reason why is that I don’t think the Lord wants us to spend a lot of time trying to figure out times and seasons in His own hands. I believe His main goal in telling us about the Great Tribulation is to help us be ready to handle tribulation whenever it comes, whether He leaves us here, or takes us to heaven.
Tribulation comes in all shapes and sizes. The sky doesn’t have to fall for you to feel like the world is falling apart. Money troubles, family troubles, job troubles, health problems, emotional problems, and a long list of all kinds of other things remind us that tribulation can come from almost any area of your life. The question is: how do you do it? Or another way to put it: how do you keep it all together when the world is falling apart?
This is really the question posed at the end of Rev. 6 by those who trying to hide from the wrath of God:
Re 6:17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
When the world is falling apart, who can still hold it together? The people in John’ day needed some help in that area as they faced persecution and tribulation for their faith. John’s vision in Rev. 7 is meant to show those first readers of Revelation and us how God’s people can still be secure even in the center of the storm.
How do you keep it together when the world is falling apart?
1. Remember Who you belong to. (v. 1-8)
David Frost writes in his Book Of The World’s Worst Decisions about Olav Olavson, a Swedish citizen, who fell on hard times and in 1910 sold his body for medical research after his death to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The following year he inherited a fortune and resolved to buy himself back. The institute refused to sell its rights to his body, went to court, and won possession. In fact the institute obtained damages, since Olav had had two teeth pulled out without asking their permission.
Who owns you? Not just your body, but your soul? One of the great themes of the Bible is that even in judgment, God always differentiates between His people and the rest of the world.
Ex 8:22-23 22And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land. 23I will make a difference between My people and your people…
This is the picture painted by John’s vision. He sees 4 angels standing at the 4 corners of the earth, holding back the tornado of judgment, the calm before the storm when a 5th angel from the east (the direction of Jerusalem) calls for a sealing of the servants of our God (v. 3). This sealing is an act of identifying these people specifically as belonging to God. John doesn’t see the sealing, but he does hear the number of those sealed as being 144,000 of all the tribes of Israel (v. 4), which are listed by tribe in vs. 5-8.
Now here we come to another area of diverse opinions about what John’s vision means.
There are those who see these sealed people as 144,000 literal Jews who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. Because they come to Christ, they are sealed by the Holy Spirit as belong to God. This view seems to be a more literal interpretation of the verses.
On the other hand, there are others who see this passage (as the rest of Revelation) as more symbolic. The earth is not flat, and so John is speaking symbolically when he talks about the 4 corners of the earth in vs. 1-2. The seal probably not a literal mark placed on the bodies of these 144,000, but God’s way of expressing His ownership of them. 144,000 is another of the Bible’s numbers of perfection or completeness (12 X 12 X 1000). The list is a little unusual, since Judah is listed first (rather than Reuben, the firstborn.) The tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Ephraim is omitted, while the tribe of Joseph is included. In addition, these 144,000 show up later in Rev. 14:1-3, where they are described in terms that are almost certainly symbolic.
All of this evidence points to the possibility that this vision (like most of the rest of the Revelation) is symbolic of something else, namely, the 144,000 represent God’s people who are alive during the Great Tribulation.
By now you’ve probably guessed I favor the 2nd view, though I cannot completely discount the more literal view. What I do want to focus on is what John’s vision focuses on: even in tribulation, God identifies His people as His own precious possession.
I imagine that was both encouraging and comforting to the people who first read these words. In a world where they were being hunted down, tortured, and killed, where nobody seemed to want them, God reminds them you belong to Me.
In the midst of your own trouble and tribulation, when the world is falling down around you, Jesus reminds us to remember: you belong to Him. He put His own seal upon you:
Eph 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise…
You need to remember you belong to Him for 2 important reasons:
#1-He has the right to use those who belong to Him as He pleases.
1 Co 6:19-20 19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
No man has the right to own another man, but that is not true about God. He made us and He redeemed us, and He does have the right to own us—mind, body, and spirit.
#2- He always takes especially good care of those who belong to Him. God doesn’t trash what He owns—He treasures it. Belonging to God means that you are His precious to Him. Whatever comes, He will take good care of you.
Who do you belong to? When the world falls apart, you can keep it together by remembering you belong to God, and God takes good care of His precious possessions.
Another truth to hold on to in trouble is to
2. Remember Who is your Savior. (v. 9-14)
While presenting the Gospel on the street of a California city, we were often interrupted about as follows: “Look here, sir! There are hundreds of religions in this country…How can…plain men like us find out what really is the truth?” We generally replied something like this: “Hundreds of religions, you say?...I’ve heard of only two…The one covers all who expect salvation by doing; the other, all who have been saved by something done. So you see the whole question is very simple. Can you save yourself, or must you be saved by another? If you can be your own savior, you do not need my message. If you cannot, you may well listen to it.”—H. A. Ironside
True Christianity is not about saving ourselves, but trusting in Jesus Christ to save us---not only from our sins, but to keep us through trial and tribulation. This is the theme of the song in these verses.
John’s vision once again “switches channels” from earth back to heaven, where he sees a huge crowd made up of people from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues…(v. 9). They all stand before the throne and the Lamb in white robes (symbolizing purity) and waving palm branches (symbols of victory). They shout their praise out in
Re 7:10 Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
All the rest of heaven—angels, elders, and 4 creatures—all shout out Amen! as they bow and worship God and the Lamb.
John’s mind is running with all kinds of questions when one of the elders answers him with a question: who are all these people in white robes? John replies, Sir, you know! Please tell me! Listen carefully to his answer (read vs. 14b).
They are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation Apparently there are still Christians around during the Great Tribulation! Notice however that they are in heaven, at least implying that they died during that time of great trouble. Christ didn’t deliver them from the Great tribulation, but through the Great Tribulation!
They are the ones who…washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb
The white robes represent the purity of the lives which makes them worthy to worship God, but the important question is how did they get these white robes? Not from their own self-effort, but only by being washed in (of all things) the blood of the Lamb—a beautiful picture of salvation through faith in Christ’s death on the Cross. To use Ironside’s words, they were not saved by doing but because they trusted in what was done for them.
Re 7:10 Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!
Salvation belongs only to God, and to those He gives it to. You cannot save yourself from sin. All the good works you’ve ever done or will ever do won’t remove the stain of guilt from your life. Only by washing your soul in the blood of the Lamb through faith in Christ can you be made white as snow.
In the same way, when tribulation comes, you must trust the Lamb to save you, because ultimately, only He can save you. When trouble comes—whether it’s just tribulation or the Great Tribulation---only He can rescue you. Sometimes He delivers you from tribulation, but more often He delivers you through tribulation, walking with you each step of the way, using even trouble to help us learn and grow through hard times. As Jude puts it in
Jud 24-25 24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty…
When the world falls apart, you can still keep it together as long as you remember Jesus Christ is your Savior. Finally, John’s vision encourages you to
3. Remember Your Future. (v. 15-17)
On earth this crowd of saints trusted Christ to save them, persevered through tribulation. Because of what the trust and perseverance on earth, therefore they enjoy the blessings of heaven. What John sees them enjoy is a taste of what you and I can enjoy who trust Christ and persevere through our tribulations. John’s vision promises two blessings:
We will serve Him. (v. 15a)
We make a great mistake if we connect with our conception of heaven the thought of rest from work. Rest from toil, from weariness, from exhaustion—yes; rest from work, from productiveness, from service—no.-B. F. Westcott
Heaven is not just a place of rest, but a place of service. We won’t just sit around on clouds playing harps—the Lord will have important things for us to do, things we will enjoy doing for Him, jobs that will bring us satisfaction and bring God glory. Think of one thing you really enjoy working at, a job that seems more like play than work, and you begin to get the idea of what it will be like to serve our Lord in heaven. We will serve Him.
He will Shepherd us. (v. 15b-17) The idea here is not just that Jesus will never leave us, but that we will constantly be aware of His presence. He will Shepherd us like lambs, feeding us so we’ll never be hungry, bringing us to fountains of water so we will never thirst, shelter us from the heat of pain, dry every tear from our eyes, leading us as we follow His every step. Right now you and I hold on to Psalm 23 by faith, but when we get to heaven, we will fully experience the joy of being the Good Shepherd’s lambs. This is your future.
Imagine those first century Christians who were enduring such tribulation, wondering if it was going to be worth it, reading John’s description of their eternal reward. Do you suppose it encouraged them? Do you suppose it comforted them? Sure.
Now remind yourself when you face tribulation: this is my future.
For all of us who persevere in tribulation, who keep trusting Christ in spite of the pain, the questions, the confusion, there is the promise that God will still use us, that He will never leaves us, that He will always be our Shepherd, both now and forever, if you will trust Him. When trouble hits you hard, remind yourself that God is using you, that God will never leave you, that Jesus Christ is still your good Shepherd who feeds you, who leads you, who wipes the tears from your eyes. Let your future in Christ give you hope, comfort, and strength to help you get through the tribulation in your life.
When they first manufactured golf balls, they made the covers smooth. Then it was discovered that after a ball had been roughed up one could get more distance out of it. So they started manufacturing them with dimpled covers. So it is with life; it takes some rough spots in your life to make you go your farthest.
This is how you keep it together when the world falls down around you: remember Who you belong to, remember Who is your Savior, remember your future.
The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to flatten the nation and kill thirty thousand people. Moments after the deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. Looking at the mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.” Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. “It’s too late,” they told the man. “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged him to give up.
But the father refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two, thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw and his energy gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. He called his boy’s name, “Arman! Arman!” And a voice answered him, “Dad, it’s me!” Then the boy added these priceless words, “I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive, you’d save me, and when you saved me, they’d be saved, too. Because you promised, ‘No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.’”1
God has made the same promise to us. “I will come back . . . ,” he assures us. Yes, the rocks will tumble. Yes, the ground will shake. But the child of God needn’t fear—for the Father has promised to take us to be with him.
This is God’s promise for you when your world falls apart—that because you belong to Him, because He is your Savior, because He has a glorious future for you---you can survive any and all tribulation, no matter how great. This is how you and I keep it together when the whole world falls apart.
