During this time already in this study we have seen the six seals opened and God’s will to protect His own people during this time of tribulation. The remainder of this chapter will open up with a glimpse of the tribulation saints. All these people pictured here will have died during the tribulation. This shows us once again that God is in control. This is the message of Revelation that God is in control despite all that is going on. The Spirit is still at work even during this time drawing people into a relationship with Jesus. This will be the time Isaiah 26:10 describes, “Your kindness to the wicked down not make them do good. They keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty.” The following chapter can be broken into the following. First is the action of the people in heaven in verses 9-12, second is the question of the elder to the Apostle John in verses 13-14a, and the answer in verse 14b-17.
Revelation 7:9-12, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation, and tribe and people, and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb! And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God. They said, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever. Amen!”
After this I saw a vast crowd great to count refers to the amount of people that the Apostle John saw. The Greek word for tribe is Phule meaning a company of people united by kinship or habitation, a clan, tribe is used of the tribes of Israel in Matthew 19:28, Luke 2:36, 22:30, Acts 13:21, Romans 11:1, Phil 3:5, Hebrews 7:13, Jas 1:1; Rev 5:5, 7:4-8; 21:12. The Greek word for people is
They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands refers to the state they were in. They had not yet achieved glorification but that they are clothed in white refers symbolically to leukos (bright) as lekano figuratively to white or make white. This means that they had not yet been made white but they appeared bright. Palm branches in Scripture are associated with celebration, deliverance and joy. They were especially prominent during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Old Testament commemorative celebration of God’s provision for < during their wilderness wandering being employed for the construction of the booths the people lived in during that feast (Neh 8:15;17). During Jesus triumphal entry the joyous crowed palm branches as they welcomed Him into Jerusalem, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of Lord, even the King of Israel” (John 12:13). The palm branches in the hands of these redeemed saints are a fitting celebrative symbol of the unequaled provision of salvation from the world, Satan, Antichrist, sin, death and hell provided by them by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb! This describes the action that is going on around the throne. They are praising the Lord for His provision to save them in the person of Jesus. Then after this the angels join in with the praise of the triumphant tribulation martyrs and say, “And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God. They said, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever. Amen!”
Blessing is a noun in the Greek eulogia meaning good, speaking, praise, God and Christ. They are giving God the blessing and the honor due to His name for the impending judgment will show the world as it has already that He is on the Throne and deserving of all the praise. Despite the times that we may not “feel” God’s presence we still must give Him praise because He is deserving of it. Wisdom is in the Greek Sophia used of God in Romans 11:33; 1st Cor 1:21, 24,27; Eph 3:10, Revelation 7:12. Thanksgiving in the Greek is Eucharista meaning thanks in Revelation 7:12. Honor in the Greek is time meaning honor, or esteem used in ascriptions of worship to God in 1st Tim 1:17; 6:16; Revelation 4:9, 5:9, and 7:12. Amen refers to let it be so.
Revelation 7:13-14a, “Then one of the twenty-four elder asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where do they come from? And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”
It wasn’t as if the elder didn’t know but to underscore the of John understanding what is going on. The importance of the elder’s question underscores the fact that people will be saved during this time. There will be a time though during the tribulation that those who turn there backs on God will be confirmed in that rejection. Revelation 9:20-21, “And the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor heart nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” This honestly was a very hard truth to swallow for me. Up until the Lord guided me Isaiah 26:10 describes, “Your kindness to the wicked down not make them do good. They keep doing wrong and take no notice of the Lord’s majesty” as I was reading this chapter (which I encourage) the Lord opened my eyes to this verse. See during this time the Lord will still be at work but whether people take notice or not is up to them. They may very well reject what they know to be true and in the end as we have already seen be confirmed in their rejection of the very salvation that God offers. This question underscores the importance of understanding that God is still in control. I know this has been said throughout this but it is true, God is still in control and He is still at work.
Revelation 7:14b-17, “Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. That is why they are standing in front of the throne of God, serving him day and night in His temple. And he who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them. They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat. For the Lamb who stands in the front of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears.”
The answer to John’s question is now known. The identity of the tribulation believers is given are the ones coming out of the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21). The phrase The ones who come out shows that this will be an every increasing prolonged process; this group will keep growing as people keep dying during the Tribulation (especially during the last half the great tribulation). The term great tribulation refers to a specific time in the future that is unique in all of human history. It refers to the future day of divine judgment immediately before Jesus Christ returns to establish His earthly kingdom. All the judgments described during this time, from the sixth seal through the trumpet and bowl judgments, have no parallel in human history. The elder then switches from talking about there identity to they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. Their dazzling white robes were first mentioned in verse 9 where they primarily symbolized celebration, victory and exaltation; here they primarily emphasize righteousness, holiness and purity. Soiled garments in Scripture symbolize the defilement of sin (Isa 64:6; Zech 3:3) and salvation is often pictured as a washing (Psa 51:7; Isa 1:18; Titus 3:5). It may seem weird that their robes were washed in the blood of the Lamb but this refers to the Old Testament that there had to be a blood sacrifice to cleanse the people of their sins. This cleansing was a spiritual cleansing. The blood of the Old Testament animal sacrifices did not provide that cleansing from sin (Hebrews 10:4) but pictured the need for a sacrifice that could-the sacrifice that would once for all cleanse from sin; the blood of the Lamb This frequent metaphor in Scripture for Christ’s sacrificial death on the Cross which provided cleansing from sin for every believing sinner in every age (1:5; 5:9; 112:11; Matthew 26:28; Acts 20:28; Romans 3:25; 5:9; Eph 1:7; 2:13; Col 1:20; Heb 9:12-14; 10:19; 13:12; 1 Pet. 1:2, 19; 1 John 1:7) Christ’s substitutionary death atoned for the Tribulation believer’s sins, and by repentant faith they were justified and reconciled to God (Romans 5:10; 2 Cor 5:18-21)
As a result of this is so that they can that is why they are standing in front of the throne of God, serving him day and night in His temple. That they are standing in front of the throne of God means that they have been purified and cleansed from their sins by the sacrifice of the Lamb of god on their behalf. They are thus fit to stand in the presence of the Lamb and serve Him day and night in His temple. Serve here is used to describe priestly service (Luke 2:37;; Heb 8:5; 13:10). Day and night refers to the length of the service since there is no actual day or night in God’s eternal heaven (22:3-5).
That God is described as and he who sits on the throne will live among them and shelter them is a very comforting picture. He who sits on the throne is used in (4:1-3; 5:1, 13; 7:10). Will live among them and shelter them in other translations is said spread the tabernacle or tent of His Shechinah presence over these persecuted believers. Tabernacle is a word John likes to use (13:6; 15:5, 21:3) used of God’s protective sheltering presence. It corresponds to the Old Testament promises of God’s protective presence (Lev 26:11-12’ Ezek 38:27; Zech >2:10-11; 8:3,8). That they will be protected shows that God is a God of compassion. These tribulation saints will have spilled there blood witnessing the judgments of God, but when they enter into the presence of Christ they will be in the most secure place. There they will receive shelter from the terrors of the fallen world that are to come as God continues to unleash His devastating and destructive judgments.
They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat.
This is a comforting picture that many have used throughout church history to bring comfort from trials or bad situations. These verses are drawn from Isaiah 49:10. During the Tribulation believers will experience unspeakable horrors as are many today who are being persecuted for there faith. They will be hungry and thirst and they will be exposed to scorching noontime heat but in heaven they will have these experiences no more only eternal bliss and satisfaction in the presence of the Lamb.
For the Lamb who stands in the front of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears.”
The picture of God as a Shepherd of His people is one of the most beloved and common in the Old Testament (Pss 23; 80:1; Isa 40:11; Ezek 34:23), and Jesus is depicted as the Shepherd of His people in the New Testament (John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:4). Macarthur points out that ,”Interestingly, the other three uses of poimaino (shepherd) in Revelation (2:27; 12:5; 19:15; “rule” or “shepherd” in all thre cases) reveal Christ in a destroying mode, crushing sinners with a rod of iron as in Psalm 2:9.”
Even in the midst’s of an age where we live in today where false teaching is rampant seemingly losing its grip on divine truth and apparently headed for defeat it is comforting to know that the ultimate triumph is yet to come in the return of Christ. God will redeem His people, this is the message of this chapter, and the book of Revelation. That thought should bring comfort to the present for us who are already believers and motivate us to praise God for the greatness of His redemption. If your not sure where you are with Jesus then make sure, for the day is coming ever nearer for His return.
Bless each of you. If you aren’t sure of your salvation or just have questions then email me at david@servantsofgrace.net
God bless,
Pastor David
