Are You Standing?
SCRIPTURE: Revelation 7
This is a pretty packed passage, so I won’t linger. Today we’re going to look at the when, who, what, and why it matters. (Note, this is probably a lot of words to digest in one setting :P. In “real life”, we took this in two parts.)
When is this happening?
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. 2 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, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
When looking at Revelation, everyone wants to think in terms of chronology. We know this is about the end times, so we want to know specifics. However, as we’ve addressed before, this is not a chronological book. We’re seeing what’s going to happen big picture from several perspectives. This passage is no different. While there are definitely differing views of timeline here, I think it is most important to see this passage as an answer to two questions posed in chapter 6.
Question 1- 10b“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Answer: Not until all who will be saved are.
Question 2- 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
- Answer: Those
I guess I kind of already gave this answer away, but let’s look at it anyway.
4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 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, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
So the short answer here is that both groups represent those who have will be/have been saved. There are different views on this, of course, but I think this really fits with the context and the Scripture. Let’s break it down a bit more.
- Complete and True Israel
- So the first number we have is this 144,000. 12, much like 7, is a number of completion. So this listing is not meant to be an actual number of people, but rather symbolically representing the complete Israel. The tribes are listed here, but not all of them. Specifically, Dan and Ephraim are left out because these tribes had become seats of paganism, and replaced by Joseph and Levi (Levi was not usually included because their inheritance was Spiritual instead of physical). So, it seems the full picture is that of complete and true Israel—everyone who is really part of the people of God (i.e. those who are saved).
- Those sealed
- There is a lot of question about the sealing, and we’ll address this again when we get to the mark of the beast passage. However, this being sealed on the forehead is not a physical marking, but a sign of being completely God’s—following Him, belonging to Him, being marked by thoughts, desires, and actions which are of Him (Matthew 22:37 “37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”… See also: Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I really think the same idea is being communicated here.)
- Innumerable and Multicultural
- John heard the sealing then saw this multitude. They were symbolically complete and true Israel, but when he saw them, their number exceeded 144,000—and they were from everywhere! Oh, the beauty and expanse of God’s salvation.
- Purified and Worshiping
- About what were these people doing? They were purified (clothed in white) and praising (waving palm branches) the purifier!
What is this great tribulation?
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 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.
I will be brief here, though this is undoubtedly one of the more debated topics. Jesus told us there would be tribulation (John 16:33). From the Fall until His return this is true. Therefore, in a very real sense, the great tribulation is now. That fits with the interpretation of who these people are, as well. Those singing the song we’re about to digest a bit are not just from one isolated point in history. They are the redeemed. If you are saved, you’re in this number.
Nonetheless, because I know someone (if there are indeed people reading these posts) who will ask if the great tribulation (given the definitive article and such) is actually referring to a specific time when persecution will get worse. I don’t pretend to know all these answers, but I do wholeheartedly believe it will be getting worse (see our little chat on progressive parallelism from last week); it’s building.
What does (could) this mean for you?Several months back, I preached on this passage in celebration of our homecoming. So, if this seems really familiar…it is. Nonetheless, the picture here is still absolutely beautiful!
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
Now, here's a point where I think people really start to miss out on how incredible Heaven will be. Even Christians, because we carry with us the baggage of a sin nature, recoil at being told we'll be serving God in Heaven. I think that's because we have a misconception of what service is. We think of it as some sort of demeaning task. However, that comes from our arrogance. Service is meant to be an act of love. At least, that's what Jesus did when He came "not to be served, but to serve" (Matthew 20:28). Now, I cannot say we definitely won't be washing dishes in Heaven, but I know in Jesus' parable of the talents when He greets the faithful servants, He says, "‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’" (Matthew 25:14-30). So whatever we do, and we could spend another whole sermon talking about all these possibilities, we can know for sure it will be done with joy--out of a pure love for Him. It's going to be amazing. I can promise you that. But better yet, He did.
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
Nonetheless, there is a physical aspect to this promise, as well. Hunger and thirst are realities of our human weakness. Some reading this post have felt the impact of really needing food. Many around the world die from this every day. From what I've seen online, approximately 21,000. That's astronomical. And that, in part, is what is being promised here. All the physical pains in this fallen world will cease. No one will go hungry. No one will feel the pain of arthritis, or asthma, or diabetes, or cancer. Life will be as God intended in the garden of Eden...only better! The next point continues this thought-->
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
We already mentioned there won't be a physical sun, per se, in Heaven. However, I think this promise alludes to something else about Heaven's environment. Not only will our bodies be freed from physical maladies, but the environment itself will be perfect. This truth really struck me last year when I was reading a tiny book by C.S. Lewis called "The Great Divorce", which actually has nothing to with divorce, but is an allegory about Heaven and Hell (I highly recommend it!). Because of how most modern images and films depict Heaven--vague, bright whiteness or...clouds--I think we tend to have a very sterile picture of Heaven in our minds (which could feed the disinterest some feel). I won't dwell on this for long, but thinking of it really blows my mind. Take a few seconds to think of all the things you love about Earth: maybe a sunset, trees in the fall, a beach, a clear night sky... (you fill in the blank). This world is truly beautiful... AND, this is the tainted version! Why should we expect Heaven to be less stunning? It will be even better...and without the bad points. The sun won't burn, mosquitoes won't bite, poison ivy won't...poison.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
Here, again, we are reminded that this is all because of Jesus' love. We have this great statement: the Lamb is the Shepherd. The one who is in control, died in our place, as our sacrificial Lamb. Now, He leads us by springs of living waters. This probably reminds you of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters...." Or possibly, the story of the woman at the well, when Jesus tells her, "...If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water... whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:10,14). This water, this salvation, will never run dry.
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
There will be no more need for tears. AND, if that wasn't encouraging enough, look at the verse again. He doesn't just say, "you won't cry anymore". He says, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes". The hands that formed the universe will reach down to wipe away your tears.
Breath-taking. This image...is absolutely wonderful.
However, as I mentioned when I preached on this in September, there is a great number from every tribe, people, and language...but it's not everyone.
This is for those who have 'washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb'. Now, this is actually a really paradoxical statement. However, to those of us who have grown up in the church, it seems common place. However, typically, blood doesn't make things white...or clean. But Jesus, who is completely pure, shed His blood in our place. This picture isn't about people who will be worthy. It's about Hell-deserving people who have accepted Christ's forgiveness, who have given Him their lives and been saved by His grace. It's all about Him.
But there's another group. Those who aren't cleaned...by choice. Revelation 9:20-21 tells us, "20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts." We then see in Revelation 20:12-15, "12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done... 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
I do not need to go into the same detail here about Hell as I did about Heaven. They are opposites. One is eternal life. One is eternal torment. And the people who enjoy Heaven are not somehow better than those who suffer Hell. The difference is Jesus Christ. Has the Lamb become your Shepherd, or not? " 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved... 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9-10,13).
And, again, I think that is the main point in this passage. Remember those two questions from Revelation 6?
Revelation 6:10b“O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Not until all who will be saved are.
Revelation 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
- Those. Are you among them? Are you calling people to be?
Judgment is coming. Only those in Christ will be able to stand. But, oh, what standing this will be! Come to Jesus.
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