Revelation 7:9-17

The Sealed of God, Celebrating and Satisfied - Revelation 7:9-17

In chapter 6 of Revelation we looked at a lot of hardship, war, hatred, murder, violence, no peace, natural disasters and more. It would be very easy to get somewhat depressed at the thought of that being what is going to keep on happening. As believers we look for something better than that, in fact we long for something better than that because we KNOW there is something better. Romans 8:18-19 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.[1] 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.[2] In Mark 13 that we looked at a couple of weeks ago and in chapter 6 we see that the struggle, the trials and the hardships are real and they are going to continue. But last week in chapter 7:1-8 we saw that those who are His have security, that even though there are struggles, trials…we are sealed and do not need to fear the final judgment of God as He pours out His wrath on those who oppose Him. But we are still here! Sometimes we need to see a light at the end of the tunnel that we know is not a train coming at us, a glimmer of hope. We as human beings created in the image of God, yet broken due to sin, need to see our future hope. That is exactly what we see here in Revelation 7:9-17. We are going to see what we as believers instinctively long for. Let’s pray.

We are going to look at all 9 verses of this passage but we will focus in on the last three. Let’s read Revelation 7:9-17 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 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 dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[3]

In verses 3-8 of this chapter John hears about those who are the sealed of God but here in verses 9-17 he sees them. Remember back in chapter 4 he heard about the Lion of the Tribe of Judah but he saw a Lamb as if it had been slain, the same person, Jesus, but from a different perspective. That is what is going on here. John had been hearing about a scene that was taking place on earth and now his perspective has changed and he sees the sealed of God as they celebrate in the throne room of God. And look at who is there: So many that they cannot be counted but more significantly look who that number consists of. From all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. When in the Word of God, especially the New Testament, you see the word “nations” it is not talking about countries. It is talking about ethnic groups. To make that simple; skin color and cultures. Let me say this as clearly as possible: If you have a problem with another person simply because of the shade of their skin or the difference in their culture then you will not be comfortable in the throne room of God, you will not be comfortable in heaven. When the Word of God speaks of tribes it is talking about people who come from a particular family group, like those who descend from Jacob, through Isaac. If you have a problem with those who descend from Ishmael then you will not be comfortable in the throne room of God. When the Word of God speaks of people it is talking about people who are different perhaps from you but are bound together and the same applies to this group as the others. When the Word of God speaks of tongues it is talking about language, do I need to express what those who have a problem with those who speak a different language will experience?

The importance of this is that this multitude that cannot be counted of different hues, and family groups, and locations, and languages are all doing the same thing. They are wearing the white robes that have been made white by being washed in the blood of the Lamb that was slain. Very clearly this is a statement that they have been declared pure, made holy and righteous by the work of the Lamb. They are all waving palm branches. Where have we heard that before? When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, just days before He was crucified, and the people proclaimed Him as the conquering king. Now that has been accomplished in reality. He is the King and those who came out of the great tribulation knew it and proclaimed it so because they had been delivered through the trials and they know it did not have anything to do with them. Look again at verse 10: 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” These redeemed from every nation, tribe, people and tongue knew they didn’t come through the great tribulation because of their ethnicity, their family association, the country of origin or their language. They were saved by God and the Lamb; by God’s grace and mercy. The psalmist said in Psalm 121:1-2 1I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2My help comes from the Lord,Who made heaven and earth.[4] The psalmist understood and those who come out of the great tribulation know it, but do you know it? You must not take your eyes off of your Salvation because it belongs to God. I know we are not in the great tribulation right now but we are in a time of tribulation that will continue and if we take our eyes off of our Salvation (He who sits on the throne and the Lamb) then we are the most miserable of people here on the earth.

In the midst of the redeemed praising the Father and the Son for their salvation the other members of the King’s court sing a marvelous song of praise much like the song we heard sung in Revelation 5 when we first entered the throne room of God. Revelation 5:12 Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”[5] Revelation 7:12 “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” These two songs of praise are very similar but they are not exactly the same. Why are the two songs of praise sung by the same singers different? The same reason there are 160 Psalms instead of just one. The attributes, the wonder, the majesty and the beauty of our Lord God and the Lamb cannot be expressed in a single song. Just go home and try it yourself. Sit down and write down everything you can think to praise God and Jesus about. Then go back the next day and do it again without looking at the first list, then compare the two. Created beings cannot list all the goodness of the Creator. But there is one thing I do want to point out here. In chapter 5 the song was sung to and about the Lamb that was slain and in our passage this morning it is to and about God. Clearly we can see that by proclaiming approximately the same thing about the Lamb as is said about God these citizens of heaven are proclaiming the Lamb to be the eternal God. In this song and the song in chapter 5 we can see that worship of God is endless because you can never come to the end of His greatness.

So we have seen that in the presence of God and the Lamb will be people of every color, family group, every country, and every language and they will all be acknowledging His Kingship over creation. The redeemed will all acknowledge that it is the work of God that put them before the throne and not due to their ethnicity, their family affiliation, their country of origin or their language. They are saved by grace through faith, not by their own works or attributes. They know that they have been made righteous and able to stand before the throne because of the blood of the Lamb. The citizens of heaven sing a song of praise to God equating the Lamb that was slain with the eternal God. We see the Sealed of God celebrating.

Remember last week I used as an illustration a storm was forecasted to come through and the main thing we would all want to know is; “Will me and my family be ok?” I told you then that John was preempting that question with this chapter and in these last three verses we see the most beautiful answer to that question. Remember the sealed of God are celebrating their deliverance from the tribulation of God’s judgment having been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. Now let’s read verses 15-17 again: 15 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 dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[6]

In these short three verses we see 10 eternal blessings that are divided into three different categories. The first category with three blessings I will call; “Satisfied in the direct presence of God”. Blessing one: Those who have been washed clean and are the sealed of God are before the throne of God. In Revelation 3:21we read this 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.[7] Can you imagine the satisfaction of those who have suffered the trials and tribulations of this world getting to surround the very throne of God? They know that this is only because salvation belongs to the very God they are spending eternity with. Blessing two: Those who overcome will be serving God day and night or continually. What man was created to be and do is now coming to fruition. Mankind was created in the image of God to serve and worship their Creator but sin separated His creation from their Creator. But the Lamb has washed them clean from sin and its stain bringing them into the presence of God so that they can serve Him continually. Blessing three: Pay attention to this one because it is massive. He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. The word “dwell” is the Greek word for “to tabernacle”. It is the same word used in John 1:14 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.[8] Jesus who left glory to tabernacle, to live with man has now brought mankind to Him. Some of the translations say that He has pitched His tent over them. The closest mankind has ever come to that is when the Hebrew people were wandering around in the wilderness and the glory of God was present in the Tabernacle. The main point here is that God who created mankind to dwell with Him has now finished the work of restoring what sin had tried to destroy. God dwells with mankind of every nation, tribe, peoples and tongues, a multitude that cannot be counted. And mankind is satisfied to be in His presence, serving Him continually and living with Him in close communion.

The second category I will call; “Satisfied that the negative effects of sin is gone” and this category has four blessings. Blessing 4: Verse 16 says that the sealed of God will never again hunger. For most of us this may not seem like such a big deal. Most of us have never really been hungry, at least not the kind of hungry where you do not know when you will get to eat again. But we have already seen in chapter 6 that want and hunger is part of this life of tribulation that we are in and it is just going to get worse in the great tribulation. You and I may not know what it is like to go to bed hungry but there are millions of people around the world that that is the normal way they go to bed. This want, this lack and need is a part of the effect of sin. When Adam and Eve sinned against God He told Adam that he would only get his nourishment by the sweat of his brow. This is exactly what He said to Adam in Genesis 3:17b-19a “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread… But never again will the effect of sin halt those who are the sealed of God from being fed. In fact we are told in Revelation 2:7 and 22:14 that the overcomers will eat of the Tree of Life. We can also look at this from a spiritual perspective. Look at Matthew 5:6 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.[9] Those who are the sealed of God, who have hungered and thirsted for righteousness, are now filled because of the washing in the blood of the Lamb. The sealed of God will be satisfied and never hunger. Blessing 6: Also in verse 16 we see that the sealed of God are satisfied in that they will never thirst again. Isn’t that what Jesus told the woman at the well? These people who came out of the tribulation experienced thirst to the point that many of them probably died. But now they are satisfied. Jesus promises in Revelation 21:6 “To him who is thirsty I will give to to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Blessing 7: Never again will the sun beat down the sealed of God due to the effects of sin on the earth because we know that in the heavenly city there is no need for the sun because the glory of God illuminates it, the Lamb is its light (Revelation 22:23). Blessing 7: Verse 16 also says that the sealed of God are satisfied in the fact that the effect of sin has been removed in that they no longer suffer from the effect of scorching heat. Believers have historically been subjected to torture and execution by fire. Just look at the three Hebrew men of Daniel who were thrown into the furnace. Men and women of God have been burned at the stake for their testimony of the lamb. But no more. The sealed of God are satisfied that the effects of sin are gone forever.

The final category we will call “Satisfied in the joy of the redeemed”. Blessing 8: The lamb is going to be our Shepherd. In John 10 Jesus said that His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. The interesting thing here is that the Shepherd is the Lamb slain. The One who laid down His life for the sealed of God will take care of them for all eternity. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb that was slain, He is the Lamb that was slain and the Shepherd who cares for His sheep. The sealed of God are satisfied being cared for by the Good Shepherd. Blessing 9: The Good Shepherd will lead the sealed of God who came out of the tribulation to springs of living water, that is what David the psalmist indicated back in Psalm 23. No longer will the sealed of God thirst because the Shepherd sees it as His responsibility to lead us to the stream that will not only nourish the resurrected bodies of the sealed of God but will also quench their spiritual thirst according to Revelation 21:6. Blessing 10: The sealed of God will have no more sorrow, regrets, pain, suffering or death…because God will wipe away every tear.

Folks we have not seen in our lifetime or in our study so far the tribulation that will be unleashed upon the world. It will be unlike anything before or after and as Jesus said in Matthew 25 if the Lord did not cut it short no one would be left. God will release the ‘four angels’ holding back the wind of judgment and His wrath will be on display. The sealed of God will not experience His wrath but they will suffer at the hands of evil men. But will they be ok? The answer is clearly yes. In the face of this tribulation God let’s His people know through the revelation John was given that those who overcome, those who are the sealed of God will celebrate around the throne of God recognizing that salvation belongs to God and to the Lamb who was slain. People of every color and shade, of every family group, of every country, of every tongue will surround the thorn of God and celebrate His salvation. The sealed of God will not only celebrate but they will be satisfied beyond any earthly satisfaction. They and I have to say we, the redeemed, will be satisfied to be in the direct presence of God on His throne with the Lamb. We will be satisfied in that the negative effects of sin are gone. We will be satisfied in the joy of the redeemed because the Redeemer will shepherd us wiping away every tear from our eyes. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ro 8:18–19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Co 4:17–18). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 7:9–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 121:1–2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 5:12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[6] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 7:9–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[7] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 3:21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[8] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 1:14). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[9] The New King James Version. (1982). (Mt 5:6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.