Who Can Stand?

William Surina

Revelation • Sermon • Submitted 5 days ago • Presented 6 days ago

Revelation 7

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WHO CAN STAND?

Revelation 7:1–17

ANCHOR MOVEMENT

MARKED. WASHED. SHELTERED.

BIG IDEA

The only people who can stand in the wrath of God are those who belong to the Lamb, marked by God, washed by Christ, and sheltered forever in His presence.

INTRODUCTION

Revelation 6 ends with the world falling apart.

The sky is split open.

Mountains shake.

Kings hide in caves.

The powerful collapse in fear.

Humanity finally realizes:

this is not random disaster.

This is:

“the wrath of the Lamb.”

And Revelation 6 ends with one terrifying question:

Revelation 6:17 ESV

for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Not: Who is successful?

Not: Who is religious?

Not: Who tried hard?

But: Who can stand when sinful humanity faces the holy wrath of God?

That question hangs over Revelation 7.

And what’s shocking is this:

Before the seventh seal opens… before judgment escalates… before wrath continues…

Heaven pauses.

The chaos pauses.

And God gives John a vision of mercy.

Because Revelation 7 is not mainly about:

charts

timelines

or speculation.

It is about this:

When wrath falls, God knows who belongs to Him.

And the people who belong to the Lamb will stand.

Not because they are strong.

Not because they deserve it.

But because they are:

MARKED. WASHED. SHELTERED.

1. GOD MARKS THOSE WHO BELONG TO HIM Revelation 7:1–8

Revelation 7:1–8 NIV

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, 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 12,000.

God Controls The Judgment (vv. 1–3)

Revelation 7:1–3 NIV

The phrases after this and “after these things,” usually followed by some form of the verb eidon (“to see”), are used several times in Revelation to introduce a new vision (cf. 4:1; 7:1; 7:9; 15:5; 18:1; 19:1, “heard”). The use of after this in this passage signifies that the vision of the sixth seal has ended and John is about to see a new vision. It may also indicate that this new vision depicts events that come after the sixth seal chronologically. The scene now shifts from judgment on the ungodly to special protection for the godly.

As the vision unfolded, John first saw four angels. Angels are frequently associated in Scripture with God’s judgment (cf. 8:2ff.; 9:1ff.; 11:15–19; 14:15ff.; 15:1ff.; 16:1ff.; 18:1ff.; 19:17–18; 2 Sam. 24:16–17; 2 Kings 19:35; Ps. 78:49; Matt. 13:39–42, 49–50; 16:27; 25:31; 2 Thess. 1:7–8). These four are given power over the elements of nature (cf. 14:18; 16:5); they are seen standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth (cf. Jer. 49:36; Matt. 24:31). Unsophisticated skeptics imagine that John’s poetic reference to the four corners of the earth reflects a primitive notion that the earth is flat and square. But the phrase actually refers to the whole earth by designating the four primary points on the compass (north, south, east, and west), from which directions the four winds (i.e., all the winds) of the earth originate. Dr. Henry M. Morris comments,

This verse has long been derided as reflecting a naive “prescientific” concept of earth structure, one that supposedly viewed the earth as flat with four corners.… In terms of modern technology, it is essentially equivalent to what a mariner or geologist would call the four quadrants of the compass, or the four directions. This is evident also from the mention of the “four winds” which, in common usage, would of course be the north, west, south, and east winds.

Parenthetically, accurate modern geodetic measurements in recent years have proved that the earth actually does have four “corners.” These are protuberances standing out from the basic “geoid,” that is, the basic spherical shape of the earth. The earth is not really a perfect sphere, but is slightly flattened at the poles. Its equatorial bulge is presumably caused by the earth’s axial rotation, and its four “corners” protrude from that. (The Revelation Record [Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1983], 126)

John sees four angels restraining the winds of judgment.

From their key positions on the earth, these powerful angels ensured that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. The four winds are often associated in Scripture with God’s judgment (cf. Jer. 49:36; Dan. 7:2; Hos. 13:15).

For the duration of the interlude described in chapter 7 judgment will be held back as the angels turn off the essential engine of earth’s atmosphere. There will be no wind, no breeze, no waves breaking on the shore, no movement of clouds in the sky; everything will be deathly still. That is an incredible display of power, since

[the] circulation of the atmosphere is a mighty engine, driven by energy from the sun and from the earth’s rotation. The tremendous powers involved in this operation become especially obvious when they are displayed in the form of great hurricanes and blizzards and tornadoes. These winds of the earth make life possible on earth through the hydrologic cycle, transporting waters inland from the ocean with which to water the earth. Yet the angels—only four of them—had turned off this gigantic engine. (Morris, The Revelation Record, 126)

Holding back is from krateō, a strong word that suggests that the winds are struggling to break free from their restraint.

The angelic restraining of the wind also symbolizes the withholding of the plagues associated with the imminent trumpet judgments (8:5ff.).

So the next phase of God’s wrath is restrained for the moment. The winds of judgment are gathering force, soon to be released.

Everything pauses.

That matters because Revelation can feel chaotic:

war

death

collapse

cosmic judgment.

But Revelation 7 reminds us:

God has never lost control.

Wrath waits for His command.

Judgment pauses because Heaven says pause.

Before destruction moves forward… God seals His people.

In the ancient world, a seal represented:

ownership

identity

authority

protection.

“The seal serves to authenticate and identify the people of God.” (Faithlife)

The most prominent false deity of the Tribulation period, Antichrist, will seal his followers (13:16–17; 14:9–11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4), and the true and living God will seal His. Revelation 14:1 identifies the mark left by God’s seal as the names of Christ and the Father.

In the Old Testament, God marked Israel with blood on their doorposts and lintels to spare them when He killed Egypt’s firstborn. He marked Rahab with a scarlet cord to keep her and those with her from being killed. But the illustration that most nearly parallels the present passage comes from Ezekiel 9:3–6:

Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark.”

Those with God’s mark on them would be spared in the coming destruction of Jerusalem. Similarly, these servants of God whom the angel will mark with God’s seal will be protected from and preserved through the judgments yet to come (cf. 9:4).

This is covenant language.

God is saying:

“These are Mine.”

And later in Revelation, the world will receive the mark of the beast.

But before the beast marks anyone, God marks His people first.

Because darkness never moves before God allows it.

APPLICATION

Christian:

before wrath falls… God already knows His people.

Before suffering comes… God already seals His people.

You are not forgotten in chaos.

You are not invisible in suffering.

You belong to the Lamb.

The 144,000 Reveal The Faithfulness Of God (vv. 4–8)

Revelation 7:4–8 NIV

Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, 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 12,000.

These Jewish believers and evangelists are the firstfruits of Israel, which as a nation will be redeemed before Christ returns (Zech. 12:10–13:1, 8–9; Rom. 11:26).

Now faithful believers debate whether this refers to:

literal ethnic Israelor

a symbolic picture of God’s redeemed people.

The 144,000 are not all Jewish believers at that time, but a unique group selected to proclaim the gospel in that day (cf. 12:17; 14:1–5).

Despite the plain and unambiguous declaration of the text that the one hundred and forty-four thousand who are to be sealed will come from every tribe of the sons of Israel, many persist in identifying them as the church.

They cite several New Testament passages that allegedly identify the church as Israel to support that interpretation. But the identification of Israel with the church in those passages is tenuous and disputed.

Thus, they can offer no support for such an identification in the present passage. The fact is that “no clear-cut example of the church being called ‘Israel’ exists in the NT or in ancient church writings until a.d. 160.… This fact is crippling to any attempt to identify Israel as the church in Rev. 7:4” (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1–7: An Exegetical Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1992], 476).

Further, “such an attempt becomes even more ridiculous because it necessitates typological interpretation that divides the church into twelve tribes to coincide with the listing of Rev. 7:5–8, even with all the irregularities in that list” (Thomas, Revelation 1–7, 476).

The term Israel must be interpreted in accordance with its normal Old and New Testament usage as a reference to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Nor is there any exegetical reason not to interpret the numbers 144,000 and 12,000 literally.

That there were 12,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel speaks of God’s elective purpose.

Mere random human choice would not come up with such an even division. While the tribal records were lost when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in a.d. 70, God knows who belongs to each tribe. This passage also teaches that the so-called “ten lost tribes” were, in fact, never lost (cf. 21:12; Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30; James 1:1). Instead, representatives from the ten northern tribes filtered south and intermingled with the two southern tribes (cf. 2 Chron. 30:1–11; 34:1–9) and thus were preserved.

The specific tribal names in this list raise some interesting questions. First, however, it should be noted that there is no standard way of listing the twelve tribes. There are at least nineteen different ways of listing them in the Old Testament, none of which agree with the list given here:

In the Old Testament lists, sometimes the order of birth is followed (Gen. 29:32–35:18). At other times, it is the order of Jacob’s blessing them (Gen. 49:3–27), the order of encampment (Num. 2:3–31), the order of the census before the invasion of Canaan (Num. 26:4–51), the order of blessing and cursing (Deut. 27:12–13), the order of Moses’ blessing (Deut. 33:6–25), the order of “the princes” (Num. 1:5–15), the order of inheritance (Josh. 13:7–22:34), the order by the wives and concubines (1 Chron. 2:1–8:40), and the order of the gates of the city (Ezek. 48:31–34). (Thomas, Revelation 1–7, 479)

Although Reuben was the firstborn (Gen. 46:8), Judah is listed first. Reuben forfeited his birthright as punishment for his sexual misconduct with his father’s concubine (1 Chron. 5:1). The omission of the tribe of Dan in favor of the priestly tribe of Levi is also unusual. Dan was evidently omitted due to the tribe’s penchant for idolatry (cf. Deut. 29:18–21)—which was even worse than that of the rest of the nation (cf. Judg. 18; Amos 8:14). While Dan will share in the millennial blessings (Ezek. 48:1–2, 32) the tribe will not be selected for this duty nor protected during the Tribulation. Similarly, the name of Ephraim is omitted in favor of his father Joseph because Ephraim defected from the ruling house of Judah (Isa. 7:17). Also Ephraim, like Dan, was consumed with idolatry (Hos. 4:17). His brother Manasseh is included because he was the faithful son of Joseph.

(This critical passage reinforces the biblical truth that) God is not through with the nation of Israel (cf. Rom. 9–11).

Though Israel failed in its mission to be a witness nation in the Old Testament, that will not be the case in the future. From the Jewish people will come the greatest missionary force the world has ever known. The result of their effort will be a redeemed Israel, as promised by God, and innumerable redeemed Gentiles.

But do not miss the bigger point arguing the details.

The point is:

God keeps His promises.

Even during wrath… God is still redeeming.

Even during tribulation… God is still saving.

Even after generations of rebellion… God is still faithful.

Ties this passage to (MacArthur):

Romans 11

Jeremiah 31

Zechariah 12–13.

Why?

Because Revelation 7 is reminding us:

God does not abandon what belongs to Him.

TRANSITION

But then John looks again.

And suddenly the vision gets bigger.

What began with sealed servants… explodes into a countless multitude.

2. GOD WASHES THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LAMB Revelation 7:9–14

Revelation 7:9–14 NIV

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number…” (7:9)

The Gospel Still Triumphs In The Darkest Hour (v. 9)

Revelation 7:9 NIV

As it does throughout Revelation (cf. 4:1; 7:1; 15:5; 18:1; 19:1), the phrase after these things introduces a new vision, distinct from the one in 7:1–8.

The exclamation behold reveals this vision to be a shocking, startling one to John. The aged apostle, the last survivor of the twelve, must have felt isolated and alone in his exile on the isle of Patmos. He had seen Gentiles come to Christ, through his own ministry in Asia Minor and the ministries of Paul, Timothy, Titus, and others. Gentile churches had been founded, yet they were for the most part small, beleaguered, and persecuted. Further, five of the seven churches in Asia Minor to which the Lord wrote earlier in this great book (2:1–3:22) had fallen into serious and threatening patterns of sin.

To see in his vision a vast, triumphant multitude of the redeemed singing praises to God was a profoundly thrilling experience for John, who had seen the severe failures of the churches in Asia Minor and the threats of judgment from the Lord (chaps. 2–3).

This vision must surely have renewed his joy and hope, as he realized that the church would survive and, in the end, people from the nations would be saved in great numbers.

That the group introduced in this passage is distinct from the 144,000 (7:1–8) is evident from several considerations.

First, as noted above, the phrase after these things introduces a new vision.

Second, this group is described as a great multitude which no one could count; no specific number is mentioned.

Third, the 144,000 came from the twelve tribes of Israel (7:4–8); this group came from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues.

That phrase describes people from every culture, descent, race, and language (cf. 5:9).

It depicts the mass of humanity, crossing all barriers and dividing lines.

Finally, the 144,000 are beyond the reach of persecutors because they are sealed for protection from persecution on earth (7:3); this group is beyond the reach of any persecutors because it is already in heaven.

Verse 14 describes and identifies them: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

John sees:

every nation

every tribe

every people

every language.

This is global redemption.

And notice WHEN this happens.

Not during peace.

Not during revival culture.

Not when the world embraces truth.

This happens:

during tribulation

during judgment

during persecution

while the world is collapsing.

And still people are being saved.

“When the earth is at its worst… God will save the most people.” (MacArthur)

The redeemed were clothed in white robes.

Leukos (white) describes a dazzling, brilliant, shining white.

In ancient times, such clothing was worn for festivals and celebrations.

Robes is from stolē, which depicts a long, full-length robe.

These long, radiant white robes are the same ones worn by the martyrs in 6:9–11. That fact suggests that the group in view in this passage is part of that earlier group of martyred believers.

As the Tribulation wears on, the number of martyrs will increase, as will the number of believers who die naturally or violently, eventually accumulating into the vast, uncountable multitude depicted in heaven in this passage.

The white robes are symbolic rather than literal, since the saints do not as yet have their resurrected bodies (6:9; 20:4).

The robes picture especially their exaltation, victory, and rejoicing. Such white robes, also symbolic of holiness, are reserved for Christ (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:3), angels (Matt. 28:3; Mark 16:5), and the glorified church (19:8, 14).

The saints also held palm branches … in their hands.

Palm branches are associated in Scripture with celebration, deliverance, and joy.

They were especially prominent during the Feast of Tabernacles, the Old Testament commemorative celebration of God’s provision for Israel during their wilderness wandering (Lev. 23:40), being employed in the construction of the booths the people lived in during that feast (Neh. 8:15–17).

During Jesus’ triumphal entry the joyous crowd waved palm branches as they welcomed Him into Jerusalem, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the 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 for them by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Location

John saw this vast, uncountable crowd of victorious, joyous saints standing before the throne of God in heaven (cf. 4:2). They were also in the presence of the Lamb, whom John saw in his earlier vision standing near the throne (5:6). Many had suffered death at the hands of Antichrist (cf. 20:4, where “beheaded” speaks of violent death) for refusing to take his mark or worship him. They are no longer seen under the altar praying for divine vengeance (cf. 6:9–11), which has already begun, but standing triumphantly before the throne of God, “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:23).

Church:

the gospel does not depend on culture to work.

Darkness cannot stop the gospel.

Hell cannot stop the gospel.

Wrath cannot stop the gospel.

The Lamb will have His people.

APPLICATION

Some of us talk like:

people are too far gone… culture is too dark… revival is impossible…

Revelation 7 says otherwise.

Jesus is still saving sinners.

Heaven Worships Because Salvation Belongs To God (vv. 10–12)

Revelation 7:10–12 NIV

And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

The multitude cries:

“Salvation belongs to our God… and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:10 NIV

And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Notice what heaven celebrates.

Not human effort.

Not morality.

Not religion.

Salvation.

Because saved people know:

they should not be standing there.

The angels worship.

The elders worship.

The throne room erupts in praise.

Why?

Because sinners have been redeemed.

“Salvation will ever and always be the theme of heaven’s praises.” (MacArthur)

Church:

the center of Christianity is not self-improvement.

It is rescue.

The Only People Who Stand Are Covered By The Lamb (vv. 13–14)

Revelation 7:13–14 NIV

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

John became an active participant in the vision when one of the twenty-four elders asked him, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

The elder was not asking for information because he did not know, but to underscore his point both for John and all readers of John’s record. Dr. Robert Thomas comments on the significance of the elder’s question: “This exemplifies the dialogue format used from time to time to convey an explanation of a vision (cf. Jer. 1:11, 13; Amos 7:8; 8:2; Zech. 4:2, 5). This tool shows that visions were not given for the purpose of spectacular displays, but to convey revelation, the details of which were not to be missed (Revelation 1–7: An Exegetical Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1992], 493).

(The elder’s question specifies and emphasizes the truth that) People will be saved during the time of tribulation.

Some may doubt that, given the intensity of God’s judgments during that terrible time. And there will come a point in the Tribulation when those who continue to reject the gospel will be confirmed in that rejection.

Revelation 9:20–21 reads, “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 hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.”

Revelation 16:9 reiterates that truth: “Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.” Paul wrote of those who will “perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:10–12).

Some argue that the redeemed Tribulation martyrs and others seen in heaven will be people who never lived during the church age.

That cannot be true, however, for the obvious reason that since the Tribulation lasts seven years (Dan. 9:27) and the Great Tribulation half of that (Rev. 11:2–3; 12:6; 13:5), they would all have to be younger than seven years of age. Others hold that these are people who never heard the gospel during their lifetimes and received the opportunity to repent after death. That interpretation is also impossible, “inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27; cf. John 8:21–24). People have the opportunity to repent and believe the gospel only during their lifetimes; these are people whose lifetimes will extend past the Rapture into the Tribulation.

John’s bewildered reply to the elder is emphatic: “My lord, you know,” and is both a confession of ignorance and a request for further revelation.

John’s calling the elder lord did not ascribe deity to him; he was using the word kurios (lord) in the common manner as a title of great respect.

This is the sort of respect John shows heavenly beings in 19:10 and 22:8–9.

John had been taught by the Lord that few would be saved (Matt. 7:13–14; 22:14) and had seen the churches in decline, so that this great crowd of the redeemed may have been incomprehensible to him. The heavenly elder’s reply confirmed the identity of these believers as the ones who come out of the great tribulation (cf. Matt. 24:21).

They lived into it, were redeemed during it, and have now come out of it through death by violence, natural causes, and martyrdom.

The phrase the ones who come out translates the present durative participle of the verb erchomai. It depicts a prolonged process; this group will keep growing as people keep dying during the Tribulation (especially the last half, the great tribulation).

Therefore the Rapture of the church is not in view in this verse, since it is a single, instantaneous, and sudden event (cf. 1 Cor. 15:51–52).

The elder’s description of these believers as having come out of the great tribulation clearly distinguishes them from any other group of redeemed people in history.

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 eschatological 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. Never has such worldwide devastation happened.

The term great tribulation cannot describe the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 or any other historical event. This term must describe a future time of divine punishment on the whole fallen world; the “great day of [the] wrath” of God and the Lamb (6:17). Jesus Himself coined the phrase “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21) and limited it to the second half of Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Matt. 24:13–22; Mark 13:14–20; cf. Dan. 9:27). Its limit will be forty-two months or 1,260 days (11:2–3).

Of this period Thomas writes, It is the superlatively great crisis of trial through which all rebels against God must pass just before Christ’s second coming.

The servants of God will not suffer the direct effects of God’s wrath. They will be untouched by it (Caird). The saints on earth will not be exempt from the ire of God’s enemies during this period, however. During both the Great Tribulation and the three-and-one-half years of tribulation before it, they will bear the brunt of suffering caused by anti-God animosities. The intensity of persecution will be a marked increase over that experienced before this end-time arrives and will increase again when the seven-year period reaches its midpoint. Some will have already been martryed by the end of the sixth seal (cf. 6:9–11) and many more persecuted in other ways. (Revelation 1–7, 497)

If these believers were part of the church, why would the elder not have so identified them?

There would appear to be little reason to distinguish this group from others in the church if the church is on earth both before and during the Tribulation. If that were the case, the elder could simply have referred to them as the church. The elder further described the redeemed and heavenly Tribulation believers as to how they gained the privilege of being in the presence of God and the holy angels. It is because they are clothed in the white robes, which they have washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Their dazzling, brilliant 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 (cf. Isa. 64:6; Zech. 3:3), and salvation is often pictured as a washing (cf. 22:14; Ps. 51:7; Isa. 1:18; Titus 3:5).

That anything could be cleansed by washing it in blood seems strange to consider, but not to those who are familiar with the Old Testament. To them such a washing was required for spiritual cleansing; there had to be a blood sacrifice to cleanse people from their sins. The blood of the Old Testament animal sacrifices did not provide that cleansing from sin (Heb. 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. That is a frequent metaphor in Scripture for Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross which provided cleansing from sin for every believing sinner in every age (cf. 1:5; 5:9; 12:11; Matt. 26:28; Acts 20:28; Rom. 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 believers’ sins, and by repentant faith they were justified and reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:18–21).

Blood normally stains.

But the blood of Jesus cleanses.

This is the gospel.

The wrath of God falls on sin.

So how can sinners stand before a holy God?

Only one way:

Someone else had to bear the wrath first.

That is the cross.

The Lamb was slain so guilty sinners could stand before God.

The people in Revelation 7 are not standing there because they survived the tribulation better than everyone else.

They are standing there because they were washed by the Lamb.

GOSPEL MOMENT

Some of you are trying to stand before God through:

morality

religion

church attendance

good intentions.

Revelation 7 destroys all of that.

The only people who stand… are people covered by the blood of Jesus.

TRANSITION

But Revelation 7 still is not finished.

Because the Lamb does not merely rescue His people from wrath.

He brings them home.

3. GOD SHELTERS THOSE WHO ARE HIS Revelation 7:15–17

Revelation 7:15–17 NIV

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. ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

“He who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.” (7:15)

The Presence Of God Is The Reward (v. 15)

Revelation 7:15 NIV

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.

The reason these Tribulation believers were allowed to stand before the throne of God is that they were purified and cleansed from their sins by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on their behalf.

They were thus fitted for the presence of God that they might serve Him day and night.

Serve is from latreuō, a word often used to describe priestly service (cf. Luke 2:37; Heb. 8:5; 13:10); they were rendering a “spiritual service of worship” (Rom. 12:1) to God.

Day and night is an idiomatic way to indicate their continuous occupation; there is no actual night and day in God’s eternal heaven (22:3–5).

The location of that service is in His temple (cf. 11:19; 14:15, 17; 15:5–8; 16:1, 17).

There is currently a temple in heaven, and there will be one on earth during the millennial kingdom of Christ on earth (cf. Ezek. 40–48).

In the eternal state, however, there will no longer be a need for a temple, “for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev. 21:22).

The heavenly temple currently is the holy domain where God’s presence dwells outside the fallen universe, but that will be unnecessary in the new heavens and new earth where sin has been for ever done away with.

There will no longer be a temple building, because God will occupy all places, and all believers everywhere throughout the eternal state will continue to worship and serve Him forever.

The reward of heaven is not ultimately:

gold streets

crowns

mansions

or reunions.

The reward is:

God Himself.

Protection (v. 15b)

Revelation 7:15 NIV

and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

In a wonderful, comforting picture, God, described as He who sits on the throne (cf. 4:1–3; 5:1, 13; 7:10), promises to spread the tabernacle, or tent (cf. 21:3), of His Shechinah presence over these persecuted believers.

Tabernacle is a word John likes to use (cf. 13:6; 15:5; 21:3; the related verb translated dwelt appears in John 1:14) which reflects the sheltering presence of the Lord.

It corresponds to the Old Testament promises of God’s protective presence (cf. Lev. 26:11–12; Ezek. 37:27; Zech. 2:10–11; 8:3, 8). These believers will have witnessed unspeakable suffering and indescribable horrors as God’s judgments were poured out on the world. They will have suffered terrible persecution at the hands of Antichrist and his followers. But when they enter God’s presence, they will come to a heavenly sanctuary, 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. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 232–233.

The text says:

“He will shelter them with His presence.”

Literally:

He will tabernacle over them.

“God will tent over them.” (MacArthur)

This is covenant fulfillment.

No distance.

No separation.

No barrier.

The presence Adam lost in Eden is restored forever before the throne.

The Suffering Of God’s People Will End (v. 16)

Revelation 7:16 NIV

‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat.

“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore…”

This comforting promise of further provision is drawn from and almost identical to the words of Isaiah 49:10

Isaiah 49:10 NIV

They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

As they experienced the horrors of the Tribulation, these sufferers of the Great Tribulation had endured hunger, thirst, and scorching heat as the sun beat down on them, a phenomenon which will occur in the Tribulation (16:9).

These are suffering saints.

Many were persecuted. Many were martyred. Many lost everything.

And now:

Revelation 7 does not promise believers an easy life.

But it DOES promise:

Suffering does not win forever.

APPLICATION

Some of you are exhausted.

Carrying grief. Fear. Disappointment. Silent pain.

Revelation 7 reminds suffering believers:

This world is not the end of the story.

The Lamb Becomes The Shepherd (v. 17)

Revelation 7:17 NIV

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

This is the climax of the chapter.

“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd…”

What a picture.

In Revelation 5: the Lamb is worthy.

In Revelation 6: the Lamb pours out wrath.

Now in Revelation 7: the Lamb becomes Shepherd.

The same Lamb who judges His enemies, gently leads His people.

The Shepherd-Lamb paradox. (Akin)

He guides them:

to living water

eternal satisfaction

eternal peace.

And then John says:

“God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Every:

wound

grief

trauma

sorrow

fear

tear…

ends here.