In Revelation 7:1-17, behold the greatest display of the glory of the triune God, that through God’s plan, Christ’s shed blood, the Spirit’s sealing, a vast multitude worships God in heaven.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to TwoJourneys.org. Now, on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 9 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast entitled An Interlude: The Saints in Heaven, where we’ll discuss Revelation 7:1-17. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
What a spectacular chapter, and I would say verse 9, the single verse I’ve quoted the most over the years from the Book of Revelation, and that is the vision of a great multitude, greater than anyone could count from every tribe, language, people, and nation standing before the throne and saying, “Salvation belongs to our God.” And what an exciting image that is. And what an encouragement to all of us involved in evangelism and missions when the work can seem so futile and so pointless, when missionaries can labor even for years among a tribal group or a people group, or we can labor in the city of Durham and see so few conversions to be encouraged to know that there is going to be this vast number of people saved. So, I’m excited to talk about the fruit of evangelism in Revelation 7.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read Revelation 7:1-17.
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the Sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed.
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 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 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
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.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; 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.'”
Andy, how does Revelation 7 relate to Revelation 6, which we wrapped up last time?
Andy
Yeah, I think there’s a very strong connection at the very, very end of Revelation 6 when a question is asked by those that are seeking refuge from the wrath of the Lamb. These are people, kings, princes, mighty ones, lowborn, slaves, masters, all these, everybody, but they’re not believers and they’re calling for a place of refuge. And then they ask this question, “For the great day of their wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 7 seems to be the answer to that question. The ones that are able to stand are the elect who have come to faith in Christ, who have found refuge in Christ, both Jew first and also Gentile. So, the chapter breaks up into a kind of a Jew first and also, Gentile feel.
You’ve got 12,000 sealed from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. And then you’ve got a multitude from every tribe and language and people and nation, those are clearly Gentiles. So, to the Jew first, also, the Gentile, that’s the answer to the question who’ll be able to stand. Stand when? Stand on Judgment Day, survive judgment day, survive the wrath of God and spend eternity in heaven and not in hell. So, Revelation 7, a bit of an interlude because we’re in between the sixth and seventh seal. So, chapter 8 begins with the breaking opening of the seventh seal. So, it’s an interlude, but it’s an interlude that really seems to be the purpose or point of everything, which is salvation of people from all over the world.
Wes
Now what are the four angels tasked to do in verses 1-3 and what’s the significance of one angel commanding others?
Andy
So, four angels are standing, it says, at the four corners of the earth, and they’re restraining the four winds of the earth so that they cannot bring damage. So, there’s a sense of damage or destruction. In verse 2, it talks about angels, four angels who have been given power to harm the land and the sea. So, as it’s written, there’s tremendous power in the four winds, the four winds of the earth. We know that wind can be incredibly powerful. You think about the of a hurricane, for example. I remember a number of years ago reading a book called The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. It was eventually made into a movie, and it said a mature hurricane is by far the most powerful event on earth. It said the power of all the accumulated nuclear power of the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War couldn’t keep a hurricane going for one single day. It’s incredible. And like a hurricane, the power of a hurricane could power of the United States for four days. So, it’s incredible power.
So, going back to the vision here, they have the power to unleash the terrors of these four winds on the earth and bring great destruction, but they’re restraining, they are restrained, they’re forbidden from allowing this wind to come. It’s going to come, but not yet. And so, there’s that sense. Also, I think it connects, in my opinion, to Daniel 7 and the vision of the four winds of the heavens churning the waters of the great sea and out of the churning mass of the sea come the four empires. And so, the churning waters of the sea represent the nations of the earth. And then the four winds then represent the things that churn and stir up the nations resulting in vast empire. So, there’s a lot of symbolic language here, but the command of one angel to another shows that angels do have authority over other angels. There are archangels and regular angels. And so, angels have power over other angels, and they give a command. The angel told them to not harm the land or the sea or the trees until they’ve had a chance to seal those that are sealed.
Wes
What’s the significance of this seal here in this passage and in what ways are Christians sealed?
Andy
Right. So, the sealing here in the vision protects them from the destruction that’s going to come. And it’s very much reminiscent of sealing done by angelic messengers in Ezekiel’s time right before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. And so, the sealing in Ezekiel 9 was of genuine Israelites who grieved deeply over the sins of the nation, so, they’re the true Israelites. And the sealing marks them out for protection. They’re basically sealed for protection so that they do not suffer the judgments that everybody else is going to suffer. They will not be swept away by the wrath of God, that’s Ezekiel 9. So, the sealing here represents protection.
And again, going back to the question in 6:17, “The great day of the wrath of the Lamb is coming and who will be able to stand?” So, the sealing enables them to stand in the great day of the wrath of the Lamb on judgment day. So, the sealing in Ephesians 1:13 is the Spirit, that we are sealed by the Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our full inheritance So, that we’re marked by the seal of the Spirit. So, that’s the sealing, I think, that happens on these servants of God.
Wes
Now in verses 4-8 we get these numbers and tribes. What’s the significance of the number 144,000? And is there anything that we should make special note of regarding the listing of the tribes of Israel here?
Andy
So, first of all, in verse 3, we’re told they are servants of God. In verses 4-8, we get more information about them, specifically these servants of God. They’re Jews, and so, if you look at it, they are sealed from all the tribes of Israel. And what’s listed here are the names of the patriarchs or the leaders of the tribes of Israel. And the number 144,000, clearly by the way gets broken down, it’s 12 times 12,000. So, it’s 12 squared times 10 cubed basically, which is what a thousand is. So, many have noted the kind of perfect number thing. And so, I think there is that sense. And the Lord is into numbers, there are 12 tribes of Israel, there are 12 apostles that are chosen, et cetera. And after Judas commits suicide, they need a number 12. They use the name Eleven in Mark 16 and all that, the eleven. But that was pretty clearly temporary, So, they wanted a replacement. So, the number’s symbolic, but I think it’s safe to take it as literal.
So, I believe at least from my sense of eschatology based on Romans 11, that at the end of the age there will be a vast ingathering of Jews and a huge number of Jews will be converted. It says Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be saved. So, the sense there in Romans 11 is the full number of Gentiles comes in, and then you’re going to get a last massive movement among the Jews, and then the end comes. But here the order is reversed because you always get that language of to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. And so, this is a perfect number, but I take it as literal.
We can reject the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ interpretation which says the 144,000 represent kind of the super-witnesses, the super saints who are so pure and holy, and so awesome that they get to be with God in heaven. Whereas all the kind of run-of-the-mill average good Jehovah’s Witnesses will be on the new earth. That’s how their theology goes. You can set that entirely aside. So, I look on this as actual, it’s representative, but I think also, actual Jews who will be marked and saved toward the end of the world.
Wes
How about the tribes themselves? Is there anything that we should make special note of regarding the listing of tribes here?
Andy
Well, there are some anomalies. First of all, it starts with Judah. That’s strange. Judah is the fourth of Jacob’s children, not the first. We also see noted, it’s interesting, we get to the number 12, we get there a strange way because one tribe, Dan, is omitted entirely and Joseph is listed, but so also, is Manasseh. Manasseh is Joseph’s son. So, usually we talked about half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. You generally didn’t see the name Joseph listed after that. Joseph is therefore represented by his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, who Jacob crossed his hands in the tribal blessing, patriarchal blessing and blessed the younger ahead of the older. But they became seen to be his sons, not grandsons, but his sons. And so, from then on, we have listings of the half-tribe of Manasseh and Ephraim. But strangely in this list, Joseph is listed along with his son Manasseh, and Dan is omitted. Why? I have no idea. We’ll find out in heaven. I have nothing more to say about it. I have no idea.
Wes
Now verses 9-12 are some of the greatest in the Bible on the ultimate success of the church’s missionary work, as you mentioned in the introduction. What encouragement do these verses give you about missions?
Andy
All right, well, here’s the thing. At one point, Jesus in Luke’s gospel, is asked in Luke 13, “Are only a few going to be saved?” There’s always that sense. It’s like it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of Christians percentage-wise. And I think it’s true. You look around, you look at your average city in America, you look at your average gathering, and you just get the sense of, in a really super-spiritual area, 10% of the general population are genuinely born again. I don’t know, but it’s just anecdotally you get that feeling and on down from there- 6%, 7%, 5%, something like that, and that’s in America. Other places like in Japan, it was less than 1% evangelical.
So, you get the feeling, percentage-wise, it’s like, man, this is not going great. But we need to realize God doesn’t play a percentage game, He knows each individual person and he knows that they are either reprobate or elect. He’s not confused about it. He knew them by name before the foundation of the world. There’s no surprises. And so, he has a plan and a purpose for all of them. Percentage-wise, Christianity doesn’t look like it’s done very well at all. All right, I would be stunned if 10% of the world population were saved in the end. It would be amazing to me. However, cumulatively in terms of the number as a whole, it’s a big number. It’s a big number. So, imagine it were 5% of the world’s population and imagine that there have been, I don’t know, there’s 8 billion people alive today, but if you look at how the population curves go, wouldn’t surprise me if overall there was like 10 billion that have ever lived.
If 10% of them are saved, that’s 1 billion people. If half of that are saved, 5% total, that’s 500 million people, by far more than the population in the United States. So, what does that even look like? What’s the largest crowd, Wes, you’ve ever seen in one place? College football game.
Wes
Yeah, probably college or professional football game.
Andy
Yeah, 75,000. What would 500 million people look like? You can’t count them. It’s a huge number. And so, let’s realize though the percentages aren’t great, God isn’t playing a percentage game. The cumulative number is what we’re looking at. And furthermore, keep this in mind, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life,” John 5:24. No one ever crosses back. You cross over from death to life, you live forever. So, that means God doesn’t lose anybody. This number has only been getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger for 20 centuries. So, it’s a pretty big number, and that’s pretty awesome. So, we’re going to see it, but we can hardly conceive of it. This gives us encouragement. If you’re a missionary in Shanghai, and there’s 23 million in population, and you’ve got about 1.7% of the city is evangelical, don’t be discouraged. Just do your work and let God do his work. And in the end, there’ll be a very, very big number of believers.
Wes
How might these verses also help to destroy racism or other strife among Christians?
Andy
Well, it seems that the redeemed from every tribe, language, people, and nation are identified as such. And in verse 13, the question is asked, “Who are they and where do they come from?” So, the question’s relevant, we’ll talk more about that, I’m certain, in a few moments. But the point is, they are identified by their ethnic markers. And so, therefore, I believe that God celebrates what I call amoral diversity. Now we have to add the word amoral because in this day and age people use the word diversity to talk about all kinds of things, including diversity of sexual preference, which the Bible would call sin. So, for us, I’m talking about an amoral diversity, a difference of racial background, of socioeconomic background, of tribal and language background.
God delights in it, and it’s one of the greatest and sweetest and most encouraging thing to any genuine Christian to know that you have brothers and sisters from very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who love the same Jesus you do, read the same Bible you do, in a different language, yes, but the same scripture and pray to the same God and have the same desires. And so, that’s pretty awesome. It’s more proof or evidence of the truth of Christianity. So, that, I think, right there has the power to destroy racism, which is evil. The fact that we’re all descended from Adam and also descended, all of us, from Noah should destroy it. The fact that we’re all going to end up in one place, in heaven, there’s one heaven that we’re all going to that should destroy it. Racism should be destroyed by genuine biblical Christianity.
“It’s one of the greatest and sweetest and most encouraging thing to any genuine Christian to know that you have brothers and sisters from very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who love the same Jesus you do.”
Wes
Now verses 9 and 10 give us further description as well as a description of what the people are doing. What’s the significance of the palm branches they hold in their hands and what were they doing?
Andy
Wow. So, they are worshiping. They are there in heaven, they’re wearing their white robes, they’re holding the palm branches, and they’re celebrating. They’re worshiping, and they’re saying salvation belongs to our God who sits in the throne and to the Lamb. And so, they are celebrating the fact that God the Father has saved them through God the Son. It was a collaborative effort. Though the Spirit’s not mentioned, we know that it is by the Spirit also, that it happens. Father, Son, and Spirit together worked for their salvation, and they’re celebrating it. They’re around the throne, and that’s the image of a submission to King Jesus, taking his yoke upon them. They delight in his yoke. They’re happy to bow down to King Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is eternal. We will be his subjects, his servants. We’re going to see it in Revelation 22. His servants, or even slaves, will serve him, and we’ll do that forever, and we don’t mind. We’re delighted to do it.
So, they are around the throne ready to do his bidding, but mostly at this point to worship him. They’re holding palm branches, and its reminiscent, obviously, of the triumphal entry. So, this is kind of the triumphal entry reclaimed. So, these people, at the actual first triumphal entry, didn’t really know who Jesus was. And some of them maybe even kind of turned on him later in the week and shouted, “Crucify, crucify.” We don’t know, but maybe. But here in heaven, they’re holding palm branches celebrating Jesus’ victory, really. The white robes represent the imputed righteousness of Christ, the purity and holiness. The fact that they need white robes shows that their backstory is still available. Their shameful nakedness is still knowable but covered. And so, I think this argues for a retention of a knowledge of our sinfulness, but a complete covering of that sinfulness.
We do not present to each other as blasphemers, persecutors, and violent men as Paul was, or as the adulterer and murderer that David was with Uriah the Hittite or any of that. You don’t present that way. When I wrote my book on heaven, I said, “There’ll be no scarlet letters on our white robes.” So, with that obviously harkens back to is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book by that name, Scarlet Letter, and it represented Hester Prynne’s adultery. “A” sewed to the bodice of her dress so she could wear her sin, the emblem of her sin, forever and be ashamed forever. There’s not going to be any shame. We’re going to be completely pure and covered in righteousness all the time, but the backstory is still knowable so that we can celebrate the grace of God. I also look on this as the fulfillment of the original call of Abram from Ur of the Chaldees where God made the promise to him through his offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed, and here’s the fruit of that.
Wes
What happens in verses 11 and 12 and what does it teach us about the nature of human and angelic worship in heaven?
Andy
It’s together. We’re going to be together with angels and living creatures. We’re all together. It’s not like separate categories. So, there are separate categories of being in existence. Some things are kind of close to incomprehensible. When you have the vision in Ezekiel one of living creatures facing four different directions with the face of a lion and the face of a man and the face of an eagle and all that. It’s just like, okay, I have trouble picturing that, and it doesn’t seem that attractive or appealing, but God makes different creatures, and we see that. So, these are spiritual beings, angels and all that, who join together with us and are worshiping the same God and delighted to do so. And so, they’re together and they fell on their faces before the throne. And so, I think often about this statement made in Job 13:11, which Job said to his friends, “Would not his majesty terrify you?”
Whenever the majesty of God shows up, creatures are on their face. Doesn’t matter how great and powerful they are, that’s how infinitely majestic God is. So, they’re on their faces before the throne, and they’re celebrating. And they’re worshiping saying, Amen, meaning, you’re right, salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. Amen, we agree. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks, and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. So, we are ascribing to him everything. For from him and through him and to him are all things. So, we’re going to give him the honor and the glory He deserves.
Wes
In verses 13 and 14, we get an interaction between John and one of the elders. We’ve mentioned that this is not uncommon occurrence in John, and we also see others throughout scripture having interactions with angelic beings. What does the elder ask and how does John answer in verses 13 and 14?
Andy
That is strange, the elder asking John for information. John’s like, I don’t know. I’m just here. You tell me. Yeah, I don’t know. But what’s absolutely electric for me and exciting, and this question captivated me when I preached this sermon years ago, long before I wrote my book on heaven. But this is one of those great questions that proves to me beyond a shadow of it out that when we are in heaven, we will remember history. We’ll remember the backstory; we’ll remember the things that were done in this present evil age. We must remember them because God is glorified by how he acted and what he did in this present evil age. And so, these in the white robes, this multitude greater than anyone could count, who are they and where did they come from? Now my question always when I ponder this is, how long do you think a full answer to that question would take? If you say full, what do you mean? I mean, I want to know everything.
How did God bring them about, knit them together in their mother’s wombs? How did he work with them for years before they were finally converted? How did he actually convert them? Who were the evangelists? Who did God use? And then how did he use them in a domino effect or a multiplication kind of ministry to win other people to Christ? How long will that story take? I think it’ll take eternity to tell. That’s the level of detail. Because it says in 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord, a single day is like a thousand years.” It’s just incredible. And so, I want to know their backstory. I want to know their ethnic background, but I also, want to know specifically what God did to save them and use them.
And here’s the cool thing also, all of its cool. I could go on and on about this for hours, but this is the perfection, the perfection of the two great commandments. We will be loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength at this moment, and we will be loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. So, the answer to that question will captivate us. We will in no way be bored or disinterested or like the priest and Levite walking by on the other side. No, no, we’ll be all in. And how many of these people do we know? Of the multitude greater than anyone can count we know 0.000000, many 0’s, 1%. That’s how many we knew in life. Well, we got a lot of new friends to meet. And finding out who they were and how God saved them and used them, that’s pretty awesome. So, I stepped through Revelation 7:13 into a whole world, like Narnia, to try to discover what that’s going to be like to learn the story of how they were saved.
Wes
Wow. What’s the Great Tribulation that’s mentioned? What does it mean that these have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white?
Andy
All right, So, here’s the thing. There are interpretive schemes of the Book of Revelation that are very tightly consecutive, and they believe the Great Tribulation is that final seven-year period right before the second coming of Christ from Daniel 9 in the weeks of Daniel, went through in the podcast and all that. And you got this seven-year tribulation, it is the Great Tribulation. All the other tribulations that have ever happened are not the point. So, these, therefore, they take a sequential approach that these are tribulation saints. And that the Jews are first redeemed and then these 144,000, and they are evangelists. They don’t represent necessarily all the Jews that are saved, but they’re especially equipped to be missionaries and evangelists and that this multitude are people that haven’t been converted yet.
I look on the Revelation 7:9 multitude as the history of missions all told together, but they look on it as tribulation saints based on verse 14. They say, well, that’s what it says. These are those that have come out of the Great Tribulation. But if the Great Tribulation isn’t just the seven-year period, but all that Jesus discussed in Matthew 24 with those non-specific signs: wars, rumors, wars, famines, earthquakes, you’ll be persecuted and hated by all people and all that, that’s tribulation for 20 centuries. It’s a bloody trail for 20 centuries. So, that really is the Great Tribulation. We don’t know for sure that the words in Revelation 7:14, “great tribulation” refer to the weeks of Daniel in the final seven-year period, or “then there’ll be great distress unequal from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again.” Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t think you’re going to be harmed either way by seeing this multitude being the sum total of all missions there’s ever been, including those that will be saved in the last final years.
But anyway, the answer that’s given here is these are those that came out of that terrible, satanic, demonic tribulation. They survived it. They came out of it. They were not ultimately harmed by it because they’re in heaven. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So, again, there’s that backstory. They’re all sinners, but they’re servants of God. They’re redeemed saints, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Wes
What is their reward as described in verses 15 through 17?
Andy
The rewards are, first of all, access to God. They’re before the throne of God, and they serve him night and day in his temple. The word serve often means worship. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Often serve means worship, but it could also, mean just do what he wants you to do. Go do this, go do that. I think about the angel whose job it was to move the stone in front of the empty tomb. That was a cool job. And so, he was sent to serve in that way. It’s like, oh, so cool. All the angels wanted that job. That was pretty awesome, but one was chosen. These are saints that are before the throne of God. They have access to God. They serve him day and night in his temple continually, and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. That’s a picture of protection. So, they’re protected, they’re in his tent. He owns them and protects them. And he says, “Never again will they thirst or hunger, hunger or thirst. They will not experience physical pain. The sun will not beat upon them or scorching heat.”
“The word serve often means worship. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
So, all of these things are things they did experience in their difficult lives on earth. But there’ll come a time when all of those things will be finished. And then he says, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.” Like the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” He will take care of them. Or John 10, “He is the good shepherd, and they’re his sheep.” He will look after them. He will provide for them. I also like the Lamb at the center of the throne. That’s my translation though. What does yours say?
Wes
The Lamb in the midst of the throne. I think we’ve talked about that being a little bit different.
Andy
A little odd, I don’t know, like the throne is a region or something like that. But Jesus says in Revelation 3, “He who overcomes will sit down with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” So, I’m pretty sure Jesus is on the Father’s throne. We also picture him at the right hand of the throne. At any rate, the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd and he will care for them just like “He makes me lie down beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” He will refresh them, and they will drink of the living water forever. And we’ll see it again in Revelation 22, where the river of the water of life flows clear as crystal down through the center of the city, and they’ll drink from it and they’ll be refreshed. So, those are the rewards of the redeemed.
And finally, sorry, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And what that means is they’ll never grieve again. It’s Revelation 21:4, “There’ll be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.” No more. Those days are over, and for him to wipe those tears… Now, the tears here seem to be connected to the suffering they endured for Christ, but I think there are tears connected to repentance and sorrow over sin, and I imagine that too. We’re going to give Jesus an account on Judgment Day for every careless word we’ve spoken, everything we did do or didn’t do. 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” To tell Jesus about the bad things we did, will bring tears to our eyes, I’m sure, but then he’ll wipe every tear from our eyes and we’ll never sorry again.
Wes
It’s an amazing passage. These 17 verses here in Revelation 7. What final thoughts do you have for us on this passage?
Andy
Oh, I guess simply, let’s be encouraged about evangelism and missions. Let’s not grow weary or be discouraged. Let’s not play the numbers game. Let’s not play the percentage game. If those kinds of analysis help motivate missions, then let it be so. But just understand, God has elect; he chose them by name before the foundation of the world in Christ, and he’s going to get them all. And so, we don’t worry about what percentage of this big city or that nation is Christian, we just are faithful to share the gospel. And be encouraged that in the end we’re going to be absolutely blown away by, I think, the Jews and Gentiles together that will be in those white robes, celebrating the salvation of God, cumulatively represent the most glorious thing God has ever done. It is the greatest display of the glory of God, that through God’s sovereign plan, Christ’s shed blood, the sovereign Spirit’s powerful work, this multitude is standing there in heaven, most glorious thing God has ever done.
Wes
Well, if you’re interested in learning more about the insights that flowed from Revelation 7:13, you can check out the Glory Now Revealed: What We’ll Discover about God in Heaven. This has been Episode 9 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast, and we want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 10 entitled The Seventh Seal Gives Way to the Seven Trumpets, where we’ll discuss Revelation 8:1-13. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to TwoJourneys.org. Now, on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 9 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast entitled An Interlude: The Saints in Heaven, where we’ll discuss Revelation 7:1-17. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
What a spectacular chapter, and I would say verse 9, the single verse I’ve quoted the most over the years from the Book of Revelation, and that is the vision of a great multitude, greater than anyone could count from every tribe, language, people, and nation standing before the throne and saying, “Salvation belongs to our God.” And what an exciting image that is. And what an encouragement to all of us involved in evangelism and missions when the work can seem so futile and so pointless, when missionaries can labor even for years among a tribal group or a people group, or we can labor in the city of Durham and see so few conversions to be encouraged to know that there is going to be this vast number of people saved. So, I’m excited to talk about the fruit of evangelism in Revelation 7.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read Revelation 7:1-17.
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the Sons of Israel:
12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed.
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 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 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
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.
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; 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.'”
Andy, how does Revelation 7 relate to Revelation 6, which we wrapped up last time?
Andy
Yeah, I think there’s a very strong connection at the very, very end of Revelation 6 when a question is asked by those that are seeking refuge from the wrath of the Lamb. These are people, kings, princes, mighty ones, lowborn, slaves, masters, all these, everybody, but they’re not believers and they’re calling for a place of refuge. And then they ask this question, “For the great day of their wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 7 seems to be the answer to that question. The ones that are able to stand are the elect who have come to faith in Christ, who have found refuge in Christ, both Jew first and also Gentile. So, the chapter breaks up into a kind of a Jew first and also, Gentile feel.
You’ve got 12,000 sealed from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. And then you’ve got a multitude from every tribe and language and people and nation, those are clearly Gentiles. So, to the Jew first, also, the Gentile, that’s the answer to the question who’ll be able to stand. Stand when? Stand on Judgment Day, survive judgment day, survive the wrath of God and spend eternity in heaven and not in hell. So, Revelation 7, a bit of an interlude because we’re in between the sixth and seventh seal. So, chapter 8 begins with the breaking opening of the seventh seal. So, it’s an interlude, but it’s an interlude that really seems to be the purpose or point of everything, which is salvation of people from all over the world.
Wes
Now what are the four angels tasked to do in verses 1-3 and what’s the significance of one angel commanding others?
Andy
So, four angels are standing, it says, at the four corners of the earth, and they’re restraining the four winds of the earth so that they cannot bring damage. So, there’s a sense of damage or destruction. In verse 2, it talks about angels, four angels who have been given power to harm the land and the sea. So, as it’s written, there’s tremendous power in the four winds, the four winds of the earth. We know that wind can be incredibly powerful. You think about the of a hurricane, for example. I remember a number of years ago reading a book called The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger. It was eventually made into a movie, and it said a mature hurricane is by far the most powerful event on earth. It said the power of all the accumulated nuclear power of the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War couldn’t keep a hurricane going for one single day. It’s incredible. And like a hurricane, the power of a hurricane could power of the United States for four days. So, it’s incredible power.
So, going back to the vision here, they have the power to unleash the terrors of these four winds on the earth and bring great destruction, but they’re restraining, they are restrained, they’re forbidden from allowing this wind to come. It’s going to come, but not yet. And so, there’s that sense. Also, I think it connects, in my opinion, to Daniel 7 and the vision of the four winds of the heavens churning the waters of the great sea and out of the churning mass of the sea come the four empires. And so, the churning waters of the sea represent the nations of the earth. And then the four winds then represent the things that churn and stir up the nations resulting in vast empire. So, there’s a lot of symbolic language here, but the command of one angel to another shows that angels do have authority over other angels. There are archangels and regular angels. And so, angels have power over other angels, and they give a command. The angel told them to not harm the land or the sea or the trees until they’ve had a chance to seal those that are sealed.
Wes
What’s the significance of this seal here in this passage and in what ways are Christians sealed?
Andy
Right. So, the sealing here in the vision protects them from the destruction that’s going to come. And it’s very much reminiscent of sealing done by angelic messengers in Ezekiel’s time right before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. And so, the sealing in Ezekiel 9 was of genuine Israelites who grieved deeply over the sins of the nation, so, they’re the true Israelites. And the sealing marks them out for protection. They’re basically sealed for protection so that they do not suffer the judgments that everybody else is going to suffer. They will not be swept away by the wrath of God, that’s Ezekiel 9. So, the sealing here represents protection.
And again, going back to the question in 6:17, “The great day of the wrath of the Lamb is coming and who will be able to stand?” So, the sealing enables them to stand in the great day of the wrath of the Lamb on judgment day. So, the sealing in Ephesians 1:13 is the Spirit, that we are sealed by the Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our full inheritance So, that we’re marked by the seal of the Spirit. So, that’s the sealing, I think, that happens on these servants of God.
Wes
Now in verses 4-8 we get these numbers and tribes. What’s the significance of the number 144,000? And is there anything that we should make special note of regarding the listing of the tribes of Israel here?
Andy
So, first of all, in verse 3, we’re told they are servants of God. In verses 4-8, we get more information about them, specifically these servants of God. They’re Jews, and so, if you look at it, they are sealed from all the tribes of Israel. And what’s listed here are the names of the patriarchs or the leaders of the tribes of Israel. And the number 144,000, clearly by the way gets broken down, it’s 12 times 12,000. So, it’s 12 squared times 10 cubed basically, which is what a thousand is. So, many have noted the kind of perfect number thing. And so, I think there is that sense. And the Lord is into numbers, there are 12 tribes of Israel, there are 12 apostles that are chosen, et cetera. And after Judas commits suicide, they need a number 12. They use the name Eleven in Mark 16 and all that, the eleven. But that was pretty clearly temporary, So, they wanted a replacement. So, the number’s symbolic, but I think it’s safe to take it as literal.
So, I believe at least from my sense of eschatology based on Romans 11, that at the end of the age there will be a vast ingathering of Jews and a huge number of Jews will be converted. It says Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so, all Israel will be saved. So, the sense there in Romans 11 is the full number of Gentiles comes in, and then you’re going to get a last massive movement among the Jews, and then the end comes. But here the order is reversed because you always get that language of to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. And so, this is a perfect number, but I take it as literal.
We can reject the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ interpretation which says the 144,000 represent kind of the super-witnesses, the super saints who are so pure and holy, and so awesome that they get to be with God in heaven. Whereas all the kind of run-of-the-mill average good Jehovah’s Witnesses will be on the new earth. That’s how their theology goes. You can set that entirely aside. So, I look on this as actual, it’s representative, but I think also, actual Jews who will be marked and saved toward the end of the world.
Wes
How about the tribes themselves? Is there anything that we should make special note of regarding the listing of tribes here?
Andy
Well, there are some anomalies. First of all, it starts with Judah. That’s strange. Judah is the fourth of Jacob’s children, not the first. We also see noted, it’s interesting, we get to the number 12, we get there a strange way because one tribe, Dan, is omitted entirely and Joseph is listed, but so also, is Manasseh. Manasseh is Joseph’s son. So, usually we talked about half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim. You generally didn’t see the name Joseph listed after that. Joseph is therefore represented by his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, who Jacob crossed his hands in the tribal blessing, patriarchal blessing and blessed the younger ahead of the older. But they became seen to be his sons, not grandsons, but his sons. And so, from then on, we have listings of the half-tribe of Manasseh and Ephraim. But strangely in this list, Joseph is listed along with his son Manasseh, and Dan is omitted. Why? I have no idea. We’ll find out in heaven. I have nothing more to say about it. I have no idea.
Wes
Now verses 9-12 are some of the greatest in the Bible on the ultimate success of the church’s missionary work, as you mentioned in the introduction. What encouragement do these verses give you about missions?
Andy
All right, well, here’s the thing. At one point, Jesus in Luke’s gospel, is asked in Luke 13, “Are only a few going to be saved?” There’s always that sense. It’s like it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of Christians percentage-wise. And I think it’s true. You look around, you look at your average city in America, you look at your average gathering, and you just get the sense of, in a really super-spiritual area, 10% of the general population are genuinely born again. I don’t know, but it’s just anecdotally you get that feeling and on down from there- 6%, 7%, 5%, something like that, and that’s in America. Other places like in Japan, it was less than 1% evangelical.
So, you get the feeling, percentage-wise, it’s like, man, this is not going great. But we need to realize God doesn’t play a percentage game, He knows each individual person and he knows that they are either reprobate or elect. He’s not confused about it. He knew them by name before the foundation of the world. There’s no surprises. And so, he has a plan and a purpose for all of them. Percentage-wise, Christianity doesn’t look like it’s done very well at all. All right, I would be stunned if 10% of the world population were saved in the end. It would be amazing to me. However, cumulatively in terms of the number as a whole, it’s a big number. It’s a big number. So, imagine it were 5% of the world’s population and imagine that there have been, I don’t know, there’s 8 billion people alive today, but if you look at how the population curves go, wouldn’t surprise me if overall there was like 10 billion that have ever lived.
If 10% of them are saved, that’s 1 billion people. If half of that are saved, 5% total, that’s 500 million people, by far more than the population in the United States. So, what does that even look like? What’s the largest crowd, Wes, you’ve ever seen in one place? College football game.
Wes
Yeah, probably college or professional football game.
Andy
Yeah, 75,000. What would 500 million people look like? You can’t count them. It’s a huge number. And so, let’s realize though the percentages aren’t great, God isn’t playing a percentage game. The cumulative number is what we’re looking at. And furthermore, keep this in mind, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life,” John 5:24. No one ever crosses back. You cross over from death to life, you live forever. So, that means God doesn’t lose anybody. This number has only been getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger for 20 centuries. So, it’s a pretty big number, and that’s pretty awesome. So, we’re going to see it, but we can hardly conceive of it. This gives us encouragement. If you’re a missionary in Shanghai, and there’s 23 million in population, and you’ve got about 1.7% of the city is evangelical, don’t be discouraged. Just do your work and let God do his work. And in the end, there’ll be a very, very big number of believers.
Wes
How might these verses also help to destroy racism or other strife among Christians?
Andy
Well, it seems that the redeemed from every tribe, language, people, and nation are identified as such. And in verse 13, the question is asked, “Who are they and where do they come from?” So, the question’s relevant, we’ll talk more about that, I’m certain, in a few moments. But the point is, they are identified by their ethnic markers. And so, therefore, I believe that God celebrates what I call amoral diversity. Now we have to add the word amoral because in this day and age people use the word diversity to talk about all kinds of things, including diversity of sexual preference, which the Bible would call sin. So, for us, I’m talking about an amoral diversity, a difference of racial background, of socioeconomic background, of tribal and language background.
God delights in it, and it’s one of the greatest and sweetest and most encouraging thing to any genuine Christian to know that you have brothers and sisters from very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who love the same Jesus you do, read the same Bible you do, in a different language, yes, but the same scripture and pray to the same God and have the same desires. And so, that’s pretty awesome. It’s more proof or evidence of the truth of Christianity. So, that, I think, right there has the power to destroy racism, which is evil. The fact that we’re all descended from Adam and also descended, all of us, from Noah should destroy it. The fact that we’re all going to end up in one place, in heaven, there’s one heaven that we’re all going to that should destroy it. Racism should be destroyed by genuine biblical Christianity.
“It’s one of the greatest and sweetest and most encouraging thing to any genuine Christian to know that you have brothers and sisters from very different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who love the same Jesus you do.”
Wes
Now verses 9 and 10 give us further description as well as a description of what the people are doing. What’s the significance of the palm branches they hold in their hands and what were they doing?
Andy
Wow. So, they are worshiping. They are there in heaven, they’re wearing their white robes, they’re holding the palm branches, and they’re celebrating. They’re worshiping, and they’re saying salvation belongs to our God who sits in the throne and to the Lamb. And so, they are celebrating the fact that God the Father has saved them through God the Son. It was a collaborative effort. Though the Spirit’s not mentioned, we know that it is by the Spirit also, that it happens. Father, Son, and Spirit together worked for their salvation, and they’re celebrating it. They’re around the throne, and that’s the image of a submission to King Jesus, taking his yoke upon them. They delight in his yoke. They’re happy to bow down to King Jesus. The kingdom of heaven is eternal. We will be his subjects, his servants. We’re going to see it in Revelation 22. His servants, or even slaves, will serve him, and we’ll do that forever, and we don’t mind. We’re delighted to do it.
So, they are around the throne ready to do his bidding, but mostly at this point to worship him. They’re holding palm branches, and its reminiscent, obviously, of the triumphal entry. So, this is kind of the triumphal entry reclaimed. So, these people, at the actual first triumphal entry, didn’t really know who Jesus was. And some of them maybe even kind of turned on him later in the week and shouted, “Crucify, crucify.” We don’t know, but maybe. But here in heaven, they’re holding palm branches celebrating Jesus’ victory, really. The white robes represent the imputed righteousness of Christ, the purity and holiness. The fact that they need white robes shows that their backstory is still available. Their shameful nakedness is still knowable but covered. And so, I think this argues for a retention of a knowledge of our sinfulness, but a complete covering of that sinfulness.
We do not present to each other as blasphemers, persecutors, and violent men as Paul was, or as the adulterer and murderer that David was with Uriah the Hittite or any of that. You don’t present that way. When I wrote my book on heaven, I said, “There’ll be no scarlet letters on our white robes.” So, with that obviously harkens back to is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book by that name, Scarlet Letter, and it represented Hester Prynne’s adultery. “A” sewed to the bodice of her dress so she could wear her sin, the emblem of her sin, forever and be ashamed forever. There’s not going to be any shame. We’re going to be completely pure and covered in righteousness all the time, but the backstory is still knowable so that we can celebrate the grace of God. I also look on this as the fulfillment of the original call of Abram from Ur of the Chaldees where God made the promise to him through his offspring, all peoples on earth will be blessed, and here’s the fruit of that.
Wes
What happens in verses 11 and 12 and what does it teach us about the nature of human and angelic worship in heaven?
Andy
It’s together. We’re going to be together with angels and living creatures. We’re all together. It’s not like separate categories. So, there are separate categories of being in existence. Some things are kind of close to incomprehensible. When you have the vision in Ezekiel one of living creatures facing four different directions with the face of a lion and the face of a man and the face of an eagle and all that. It’s just like, okay, I have trouble picturing that, and it doesn’t seem that attractive or appealing, but God makes different creatures, and we see that. So, these are spiritual beings, angels and all that, who join together with us and are worshiping the same God and delighted to do so. And so, they’re together and they fell on their faces before the throne. And so, I think often about this statement made in Job 13:11, which Job said to his friends, “Would not his majesty terrify you?”
Whenever the majesty of God shows up, creatures are on their face. Doesn’t matter how great and powerful they are, that’s how infinitely majestic God is. So, they’re on their faces before the throne, and they’re celebrating. And they’re worshiping saying, Amen, meaning, you’re right, salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who sits on the throne. Amen, we agree. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks, and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. So, we are ascribing to him everything. For from him and through him and to him are all things. So, we’re going to give him the honor and the glory He deserves.
Wes
In verses 13 and 14, we get an interaction between John and one of the elders. We’ve mentioned that this is not uncommon occurrence in John, and we also see others throughout scripture having interactions with angelic beings. What does the elder ask and how does John answer in verses 13 and 14?
Andy
That is strange, the elder asking John for information. John’s like, I don’t know. I’m just here. You tell me. Yeah, I don’t know. But what’s absolutely electric for me and exciting, and this question captivated me when I preached this sermon years ago, long before I wrote my book on heaven. But this is one of those great questions that proves to me beyond a shadow of it out that when we are in heaven, we will remember history. We’ll remember the backstory; we’ll remember the things that were done in this present evil age. We must remember them because God is glorified by how he acted and what he did in this present evil age. And so, these in the white robes, this multitude greater than anyone could count, who are they and where did they come from? Now my question always when I ponder this is, how long do you think a full answer to that question would take? If you say full, what do you mean? I mean, I want to know everything.
How did God bring them about, knit them together in their mother’s wombs? How did he work with them for years before they were finally converted? How did he actually convert them? Who were the evangelists? Who did God use? And then how did he use them in a domino effect or a multiplication kind of ministry to win other people to Christ? How long will that story take? I think it’ll take eternity to tell. That’s the level of detail. Because it says in 2 Peter 3:8, “With the Lord, a single day is like a thousand years.” It’s just incredible. And so, I want to know their backstory. I want to know their ethnic background, but I also, want to know specifically what God did to save them and use them.
And here’s the cool thing also, all of its cool. I could go on and on about this for hours, but this is the perfection, the perfection of the two great commandments. We will be loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength at this moment, and we will be loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. So, the answer to that question will captivate us. We will in no way be bored or disinterested or like the priest and Levite walking by on the other side. No, no, we’ll be all in. And how many of these people do we know? Of the multitude greater than anyone can count we know 0.000000, many 0’s, 1%. That’s how many we knew in life. Well, we got a lot of new friends to meet. And finding out who they were and how God saved them and used them, that’s pretty awesome. So, I stepped through Revelation 7:13 into a whole world, like Narnia, to try to discover what that’s going to be like to learn the story of how they were saved.
Wes
Wow. What’s the Great Tribulation that’s mentioned? What does it mean that these have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white?
Andy
All right, So, here’s the thing. There are interpretive schemes of the Book of Revelation that are very tightly consecutive, and they believe the Great Tribulation is that final seven-year period right before the second coming of Christ from Daniel 9 in the weeks of Daniel, went through in the podcast and all that. And you got this seven-year tribulation, it is the Great Tribulation. All the other tribulations that have ever happened are not the point. So, these, therefore, they take a sequential approach that these are tribulation saints. And that the Jews are first redeemed and then these 144,000, and they are evangelists. They don’t represent necessarily all the Jews that are saved, but they’re especially equipped to be missionaries and evangelists and that this multitude are people that haven’t been converted yet.
I look on the Revelation 7:9 multitude as the history of missions all told together, but they look on it as tribulation saints based on verse 14. They say, well, that’s what it says. These are those that have come out of the Great Tribulation. But if the Great Tribulation isn’t just the seven-year period, but all that Jesus discussed in Matthew 24 with those non-specific signs: wars, rumors, wars, famines, earthquakes, you’ll be persecuted and hated by all people and all that, that’s tribulation for 20 centuries. It’s a bloody trail for 20 centuries. So, that really is the Great Tribulation. We don’t know for sure that the words in Revelation 7:14, “great tribulation” refer to the weeks of Daniel in the final seven-year period, or “then there’ll be great distress unequal from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again.” Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t think you’re going to be harmed either way by seeing this multitude being the sum total of all missions there’s ever been, including those that will be saved in the last final years.
But anyway, the answer that’s given here is these are those that came out of that terrible, satanic, demonic tribulation. They survived it. They came out of it. They were not ultimately harmed by it because they’re in heaven. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So, again, there’s that backstory. They’re all sinners, but they’re servants of God. They’re redeemed saints, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Wes
What is their reward as described in verses 15 through 17?
Andy
The rewards are, first of all, access to God. They’re before the throne of God, and they serve him night and day in his temple. The word serve often means worship. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Often serve means worship, but it could also, mean just do what he wants you to do. Go do this, go do that. I think about the angel whose job it was to move the stone in front of the empty tomb. That was a cool job. And so, he was sent to serve in that way. It’s like, oh, so cool. All the angels wanted that job. That was pretty awesome, but one was chosen. These are saints that are before the throne of God. They have access to God. They serve him day and night in his temple continually, and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. That’s a picture of protection. So, they’re protected, they’re in his tent. He owns them and protects them. And he says, “Never again will they thirst or hunger, hunger or thirst. They will not experience physical pain. The sun will not beat upon them or scorching heat.”
“The word serve often means worship. Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
So, all of these things are things they did experience in their difficult lives on earth. But there’ll come a time when all of those things will be finished. And then he says, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.” Like the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” He will take care of them. Or John 10, “He is the good shepherd, and they’re his sheep.” He will look after them. He will provide for them. I also like the Lamb at the center of the throne. That’s my translation though. What does yours say?
Wes
The Lamb in the midst of the throne. I think we’ve talked about that being a little bit different.
Andy
A little odd, I don’t know, like the throne is a region or something like that. But Jesus says in Revelation 3, “He who overcomes will sit down with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” So, I’m pretty sure Jesus is on the Father’s throne. We also picture him at the right hand of the throne. At any rate, the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd and he will care for them just like “He makes me lie down beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” He will refresh them, and they will drink of the living water forever. And we’ll see it again in Revelation 22, where the river of the water of life flows clear as crystal down through the center of the city, and they’ll drink from it and they’ll be refreshed. So, those are the rewards of the redeemed.
And finally, sorry, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. And what that means is they’ll never grieve again. It’s Revelation 21:4, “There’ll be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.” No more. Those days are over, and for him to wipe those tears… Now, the tears here seem to be connected to the suffering they endured for Christ, but I think there are tears connected to repentance and sorrow over sin, and I imagine that too. We’re going to give Jesus an account on Judgment Day for every careless word we’ve spoken, everything we did do or didn’t do. 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” To tell Jesus about the bad things we did, will bring tears to our eyes, I’m sure, but then he’ll wipe every tear from our eyes and we’ll never sorry again.
Wes
It’s an amazing passage. These 17 verses here in Revelation 7. What final thoughts do you have for us on this passage?
Andy
Oh, I guess simply, let’s be encouraged about evangelism and missions. Let’s not grow weary or be discouraged. Let’s not play the numbers game. Let’s not play the percentage game. If those kinds of analysis help motivate missions, then let it be so. But just understand, God has elect; he chose them by name before the foundation of the world in Christ, and he’s going to get them all. And so, we don’t worry about what percentage of this big city or that nation is Christian, we just are faithful to share the gospel. And be encouraged that in the end we’re going to be absolutely blown away by, I think, the Jews and Gentiles together that will be in those white robes, celebrating the salvation of God, cumulatively represent the most glorious thing God has ever done. It is the greatest display of the glory of God, that through God’s sovereign plan, Christ’s shed blood, the sovereign Spirit’s powerful work, this multitude is standing there in heaven, most glorious thing God has ever done.
Wes
Well, if you’re interested in learning more about the insights that flowed from Revelation 7:13, you can check out the Glory Now Revealed: What We’ll Discover about God in Heaven. This has been Episode 9 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast, and we want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 10 entitled The Seventh Seal Gives Way to the Seven Trumpets, where we’ll discuss Revelation 8:1-13. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
