Revelation 7:13-17

Revelation 7:13-17

Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"

Revelation 7:14 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.

Revelation 7:15 "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 shelter them with his presence.

Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

Revelation 7:17 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."

Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"

One of the 24 elders asking a question to apostle John. The thing is the elders already knew who they were but they wanted to make sure that everyone, including us, knew.

Revelation 7:14 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.

What is the paradox of the statement "and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"? How do you wash something in blood and have it come out to be white? If anyone washes their cloth it’ll become stain. But here the elder told that “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb”.

Here we are not talking about the literal washing of cloth, but here we can see the spiritual washing.

What is the secret in the blood ?

(1) Blood symbolizes life, i.e., "For the life of all flesh is the blood thereof" (Leviticus 17:14),

(2) Shed blood is necessary for forgiveness, i.e., "And almost all things are by the Law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission [forgiveness]" (Hebrews 9:22),

(3) Christ's blood makes possible our justification, i.e., "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Romans 5:9), and

(4) The blood of His Cross is not a morbid thought, but our way to peace with God, i.e., "And, having made peace through the blood of His Cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in Earth, or things in Heaven" (Colossians 1:20).

Revelation 7:15 "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 shelter them with his presence.

These martyred, but now glorified Saints now stand before the "throne of God", serving the LORD "day and night in His Temple" (7:15).
Psalm 23:6-"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever”.

Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

Revelation 7:17 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."

worldly hunger and thirst will separate from God

            In the world many of the working we hard. Why all are working hard to satisfy his hunger and fulfill their family hungriness. This curse we received from that God. We can see it Genesis 3:18 & 23.

God says

Isaiah 55:1 "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

So the worldly hunger and thirst are separate from us.

Spiritual hunger and thirst will help go closer to God

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

When one is hungry or thirsty, they desire food or drink not just because they want it, but because they also need it. Jesus wants us to see righteousness the same way; to crave it not just because it's desirable, but also because it is needful. 1 Peter 2:2 - as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,[Quotes from NKJV]It means to have a real strong desire to understand what God says. Our bodies will do anything to get food and drink. If a person is really hungry he will steal or even kill to get food. These are the bad ways but God has told us how to live and act in the Bible and those who belong to God will have a strong desire to know what God says and it will be a daily search to know how God wants us to live.

We know that Jesus himself is a bread and water.

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 6:35 - Jesus said, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst.

John 7:37, 38 - Jesus cried, saying, If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; whosoever believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall flow streams of living water.

Whoever standing in front of throne they had thrust for Christ, they had hunger to know about Christ, because of that only all Jesus Christ prophcis are full filled in their life. 

… the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

Psalm 121:6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

As he kept Israel in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day, which screened them from the heat of the sun, and of fire by night,

Not only can we expect to be in God's presence forever, but He desires to dwell with us!
John 14:2-3-"2: In My Father's house are many mansions [dwellings or abodes]: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also".

Revelation 7:11, 12

Revelation 7:11, 12

Revelation 7:11 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,

Revelation 7:12 saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen."

Awesome scene!

What a dramatic and awesome scene! Combining with the great praise service of the Redeemed, the heavenly beings now unite their voices in the great chorus. All heaven is touched as the Redeemed testify of their experiences.

There is joy in the presence of God among these holy spirits when one sinner repents, no wonder that they take such an interest in the gathering together of such innumerable multitudes who are fully saved from their sins.

Remembering Yahshua word

When we see these verses(11 & 12) one thing we need to remember what Jesus told Luke 15:7

Luke 15:7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Here our Lord Yahshua was expressed, what will happen in heaven if one person repentance on earth. According to Apostle John’s vision we are able to understand that innumerable people repent their self and standing in front of throne and the Lamp.

   Let us also imagine how much joy full movement will take place in the heaven. This verse 11 and  12 is express to us that joy full moment.

   Reasons for Joy full movement

1.      144,000 people will be repented and they got seal form the God. They all will not going hurt by God’s wrath.

2.      Many martyr, rapture, during the rapture who and taken into heaven is listed in the 1 Ths. 4:16, 17.

a.      “…the dead in Christ shall rise first” (16)

b.      “…we which are alive  and remain shall be caught up together”  (17)

3.      Whoever died as martyr during the tribulation period according to revelation 6:11

“…until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled”. Now the number is full filled according to God.

Because of this John is writing here “All angles...elders and the four living creatures and redeemed souls (rev. 7:9) ” . All are assembled in the same place and giving their benediction.

A sevenfold benediction

The angels and the saved already present join in the praise, offering a sevenfold benediction to God. Since all in heaven agree with and participate in God's plan, all are thankful for its fulfillment. The angels standing around the throne represents the great quantity of "adorers of God" in heaven, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” There are seven points in the praise of God by all the heavenly host about the throne in response to the great multitude’s praise:

1. Praise - zamar means to make music or sing praises.

2.      Wisdom – Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

3. Thanks - 1 Corinthians 15:57 …thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. Glory
5.  Honor
6. Power - Revelation 4:11 "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory [4] and honor[5] and power[6], for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
7. Strength - Strength is a mixture of perseverance and faith. Strength is the quality of being able to purge through tough, heinous or heartbreaking times, situations, feelings and emotions where others woul think it normal or expect you to give up. True strength is relying on the lord, his guidance and leadership, while you are undergoing the pain and suffering. True strength is saying "I will not give up". Psalm 84:7 They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

Another Angle

Amen used in the beginning

This is heard at the beginning of the tribulation.. Amen usually is a concluding statement in prayer or praise. But it is followed buy a doxology. This doxology has seven powerful words.
In another angle we can see this situation; the seven words may be associated with completion in the end of time. These words describe God perfectly, but also may be a prayer for the end of time and the judgment. This may also show that God's plan and design of the end of time, as well as heaven is complete and perfect. The saved in heaven will experience complete and perfect happiness though God's design and his sacrifice of Christ Jesus. A word on translation. The word Amen comes from the Hebrew root for firm, and by extension, truly, solidly, absolutely. It is an indication that this is an absolute. All Blessings, and all Glory, and all wisdom, and all thanksgiving, and all honor, and power and might be unto "our" God. Absolutely! Truly!

Revelation 7:9-10

Revelation 7:9-10

Revelation 7:9 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,

Revelation 7:10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

After the sealing of the 144,000 and before the last judgments, we see a great multitude that no man could number around the throne. These are all those saved through the testimony of the 144,000 during the great tribulation.

These are obviously the believers in Jesus Christ (Lamb) who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb and raptured into heaven.

1. After these things = this is the second occurrence of this phrase in the Revelation to mark the beginning of a new vision sequence. How much time elapses between these two visions is not known. This vision sequence begins at Revelation 7:9 and will continue through Revelation 15:4.

2. A great multitude = the Greek literally says a much or many group or multitude. We would say "a huge crowd."

3. Which no one could count = this phrase is obviously a figure of speech. It is not intended to be taken literally. Logic requires this conclusion. If the language is forced to be literal, then John has lied. A man could certainly number the multitude given the time and cooperation of those to be counted. The author is emphasizing the vast number of individuals that compose this group. The contrast between the specific number of sealed Jews and the unlimited nature of the great multitude should not be missed. This is the first important contrastive point that we should glean from this text.

4. From every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues = points out the second important contrastive point to be gleaned from this text. This innumerable multitude is Gentile and Jew in composition. This innumerable multitude represents a universal gathering unlike the 144, 000 who are specifically identified as Jewish.

5. Standing = is a perfect participle. This is very important because it indicates that the universally innumerable multitude is one group. In other words, they are not assembling, but have assembled. John sees the finished product. The importance of this point will become evident later.

6. Before the throne and before the Lamb = gives us the location of the standing universally innumerable multitude. This is the third important contrastive point John gives us. Unlike the earth bound 144, 000, this group is in heaven.

7. Clothed in white robes = signals a change in the status of these earthly beings who are in heaven in contrast to martyrs of the fifth seal. These individuals have bodies and are clothed. The fifth seal martyrs did not have bodies and were given robes to be worn later. 

8. Palm branches in their hands

As an important aside, the palm branches were associated with the ingathering celebration or the Feast of Tabernacles (on the 15th day of the 7 month for seven days), Leviticus 23:40 also Leviticus 23:33-44, Zechariah 14:16-21, John 12:12-15 and are prominently used by the innumerable multitude before the throne, (other verses on the feast of ingathering - Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22, Nehemiah 8:14-16).

The palm tree was associated with the temple worship. King Solomon decorated the walls of the inner court and outer court by carving into the walls the figures of the cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers, 1Kings 6:29. The Lord will also decorate the wall of His millennial temple with carvings of palm trees alternating with cherubim, Ezekiel 41:17-20.

The palm tree and its fruit were used in the Song of Solomon to describe the passion, great love and desire that the king had for the woman who was his love and spouse, Song of Solomon, 7:6-9a, with the bride breaking in from Song of Solomon, 7:9b-10. It is not difficult to transpose this episode on King Solomon’s life onto the expected relationship the Lord will have for His own, the love, care, and desire for them. A manifestation of His love could be in the form of the decoration of His walls in His millennial temple with representations of His love for them. Everything about the temple worship was about the love relationship between God and His people, and looked forward to that great event of Jesus Christ dying on the cross, being buried for three days, then raising from the dead according to scripture. That singular event forever settled the sin question would be covered for those who believe on His name, and confess His name, Hebrews 9:23-28.

9. Salvation = is a strange term to associate with God the Father and God the Son. However, the universally innumerable multitude is not indicating God’s need for salvation, rather, they are stating a fact: salvation or victory belongs to God. Their experience bears this out. God the Father and God the Son are both recognized as the source of deliverance for the universally innumerable multitude.