18. A Great Multitude

Revelation 7:9 KJV 1900

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Revelation 7:10 KJV 1900

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Revelation 7:11 KJV 1900

And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 7:12 KJV 1900

Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 7:13 KJV 1900

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Revelation 7:14 KJV 1900

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Revelation 7:15 KJV 1900

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Revelation 7:16 KJV 1900

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Revelation 7:17 KJV 1900

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

We are in the middle of a parenthetical passage. Chapter 7 is inserted into the narrative to allow us to catch a glimpse of the grace of God at work during the most horrible time earth has ever known.

In our last study, we saw the Lord redeem 144,000 Jewish men. These men were sent out into the entire world to preach to all nations.

In this passage, we will see the fruits of their preaching, as a vast multitude is brought to faith in Jesus Christ and is delivered out of the Great Tribulation.

It comforts my heart to know that the Rapture of the church does not spell the end of people being saved. I praise the Lord that He intends to redeem a multitude that no man could number during the dark years of the Tribulation Period.

This passage reveals the heart of our great God. It is in His heart and plan to save sinners, and He is going to do just that during the Tribulation.

BUT!!!!…. Although, i do believe that we are witnessing salvation during the tribulation period. we cant deny, the bible is clear.

I want to be clear that i believe these are people that has never heard the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Is addressing the rapture and the events of the tribulation.

2 Thessalonians 2:6 “And now ye know what withholdeth” this is the Holy Spirit

2 Thessalonians 2:7 “… only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.”

this is the Holy Spirit being taken away from the Earth when the Church is raptured

2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed… ”

“And then” meaning once the Holy Spirit is gone and no longer “Withholding”

then the Antichrist will not be held back and he is given temporary power on Earth

2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 “… because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

“who believed not the truth” believed is past tense… those that had the chance to be saved but didn't because they “ had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ came into this world to seek and save the lost.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

But, The Bible is also clear that we must redeem the time…

2 Corinthians 6:2 “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near:”

So, let’s take these verses and consider the subject: A great Multitude.

I. Who They Are?

A. We See in v9 “a multitude which no man could number.”

No attempt to declare their number is given.

What a beautiful picture of the grace of God.

*** On the Day of Pentecost, 3,000 souls were saved, Acts 2:41 “… the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

*** We are also told that God “ added to the church daily” Acts 2:47 “… And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

*** Some time later, in, Acts 4:4 “… many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

These great demonstrations of the powerful, saving grace of God.

But Gods grace will will not end at the Rapture. But it will continue through the Tribulation Period!

B. v9 describes the multitude “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues”

Here is a multitude that knows no racial, economic, social, or national distinctions.

The Gospel has been preached worldwide, without respect to any people group and a vast multitude is saved.

They are Gentiles and they have been saved by grace.

In the first 9 verses of this chapter, God dealt with Jews. Now, He extends His grace to the Gentile nations of the world.

I believe these are people that have never heard the gospel

Gentiles - non-Israelites, a foreign nation not worshipping the true God

C. We See Them “standing”

Some people look at this multitude and see the church.

This multitude is not the church!

1st, they are “standing”.

When the church is shown in Heaven, they are sitting, Rev. 4:4.

2nd, this crowd was saved out of “Great Tribulation” v14.

The church will be saved and taken to heaven before the tribulation when the church raptures out of the world.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

Romans 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Revelation 3:10 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

While they are not the church, their appearance and condition in Heaven is clearly described.

D. We See Them in v9 “clothed with white robes”

This is always a picture of righteousness in the Bible. These people are saved by grace and they have been made righteous.

After Jesus resurection he is described in white raiment

Matthew 28:3 “His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:”

And in Psalms 51 David prayed to be forgiven.

Psalm 51:7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

I praise the Lord that the blood of Jesus is able to reconcile us to God.

E. We See Them Victorious “palms in their hands”

These redeemed saints have palm branches in their hands.

Palms are a symbol of victory.

The crowds waved palm branches and placed them in the road as Jesus entered Jerusalem 2,000 years ago,

John 12:13 “Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

Leviticus 23:40 “ And ye shall take you … branches of palm trees, … and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.”

These saints are celebrating the great victory that was given to them over sin, Satan and the power of the Antichrist.

They have overcome and they enjoy the spoils of the victory they have been given.

F. We See Them What They Shouting in v10

Revelation 7:10 “And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”

These saints lift their voices in praise to the Lord for His redemption.

They know, that they are, and what they have in Heaven is only because of what Jesus has done for them.

If there was ever a reason for praise, it is the grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins!

When the angelic host around the throne of God witness the praise they lift their voices and cry “Amen!”

Revelation 7:11 “And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,”

Revelation 7:12 “Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”

The angels cannot praise God for salvation, for they have never known the depths of sin. But, these angels have seen the love of God in action as He went about the business of saving lost humans. They marveled as they watched as their Creator, the Lord Jesus, died on Calvary to save people who despised Him. They have witnessed the spontaneous outbursts of praise as sinners have been saved down through the ages.

II. What They Went Through

A. v14 “came out of great tribulation.” These people have been living through the horrors of the Tribulations Period.

B. “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” –

These people were saved the same way people have always been, and will always be, saved: by grace through faith.

God only knows one method of salvation.

*** Whether it was Adam and Eve in the Garden;

*** Abel with his sacrifice;

*** Abraham and his ram;

*** Israel and the sacrifices of the Tabernacle and the Temple; salvation in the Old Testament was through the blood of the Lamb.

When they shed the blood of an innocent animal to atone for their sins, they were looking ahead to the day when God would send the perfect sacrifice that would take away sin forever.

Those Old Testament saints were saved by looking forward to Calvary. When Jesus cam and went to the cross, He accomplished what millions of animal sacrifices could only picture.

Those of us on this side of the cross are saved by looking back to what Jesus did at the cross and realizing that His death and resurrection are all that is needed to our salvation.

Even in the midst of Great Tribulation, souls will be saved by the simple preaching of a simple Gospel. Here it is once again: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”, 1 Cor. 15:3-4.

Getting saved is one thing, willing to give your life for salvation is another.

Being tortured and threaten with death to renounce your relationship in Christ would be tough

III. Where They Will Be?

A. “they before the throne of God”

Revelation 7:15 “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”

Their days of suffering have ended and they have arrived in heaven. They are home with Him and they are there to stay!

Notice where they are! Because they have been redeemed and cleansed, they are allowed to stand in the presence of God!

This was unheard of in Bible times.

In the Temple there was a place called the “Court of the Gentiles”.

This was the outer court of the Temple and non-Jews were not allowed to go any deeper into the Temple complex that this outer court. To do so brought a Gentile under the penalty of death.

When Jesus died, the veil in the Temple was ripped down the middle, Matt. 27:51. This signified the fact that all men had equal access to God. These redeemed Gentiles are brought into the very presence of God.

v14 tells us that they “came out of great tribulation”. These people are in Heaven because they were martyred for their faith in Jesus and for their refusal to embrace the Antichrist and their king and as their god. It is possible that these precious saints are the same crowd we saw praying from under the altar in Revelation 6:9-11

Revelation 6:9 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:”

Revelation 6:10 “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

Revelation 6:11 “And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” Now, their prayers are answered, they are home and judgment is being handed out upon the earth.

B. They will “serve Him day and night in His temple”

Revelation 7:15 “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.” This joyous, redeemed multitude is in the presence of God and they are at the beck and call of God.

They will spend their eternity carrying out His will as they serve Him, worship Him and bask in His presence.

III. What They Are Rewarded With

Now, remember, these saints were saved out of the Tribulation Period.

They had been saved, but they had also suffered with everyone else on earth. Just because they turned to the Lord does not mean that they were sheltered from the horrors of those days.

In fact, their faith in Jesus Christ might have made their lives even more miserable here on earth.

A. They will hunger no more –

Revelation 7:16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.”

Remember the famines we talked about in Rev. 6:5-6? We are also told that Antichrist will require people to wear a mark in their bodies before they can buy or sell, Rev. 13:16-18. Because of their faith, they will refuse the mark and will go hungry.

B. They will thirst no more –

Revelation 7:16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.” We are told that the waters of the earth will turn to blood and be unfit to drink during the Tribulation, Rev. 8:8; 11. As a result, the people of earth will be thirsty. But, in Heaven, they are led to fountains of living water by the Lamb. They are satisfied there.

Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

C. They will suffer no more –

The references to the sun and the heat remind us that the Tribulation Period will be a period of intense physical suffering, and the redeemed saints of God will not be immune from the effects of God’s judgments upon nature.

In Rev. 16:8-10, the intensity of the sun will be greatly increased causing dehydrated men great pain and suffering. They will literally chew their tongues in their pain and agony. But, in Heaven, none of the things that hurt them on earth will be allowed to follow them there.

D. They will weep no more –

Imagine all they have seen and suffered because of their faith. Their hearts have been broken and their eyes wet with tears even as they gave their all for Jesus Christ. But, the Lamb of God will wipe away the tears of their suffering and sorrow. He will comfort them and give them rest, peace and blessing.