Revelation 7:9-17

We begin our time this evening by looking at what happened AFTER the 144,000 Jewish evangelists were sealed by the angel or angels. The Greek word meta tauta is used here, “after these things.” It is a kind of marker of a break in time. In conversations with some of you this week, the question came up as to how one knows for certain we are in a pause of sorts or a set of what I called last week parenthetical events. This word is one of the ways. After the sealing of the evangelists is this. Some have used this passage as a proof text of some kind of mid-tribulation harpazo event, but all we can say for sure is that this group is described here. It doesn’t mean that they occur here or that we should read these events and objects as being literal or figurative. I think the passage has significance and meaning, and we will examine what that is, hopefully identifying them as needed.

From what I see when I read, I believe that the surrounding context helps to supply the identity of the people group. Immediately before this, we have the sealing of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. These men have the job of preaching the message of Messiah Yeshuah to the nation of Israel from the text, but their message is not restricted to Israel. It is for everyone who is left after the exit of the group known historically as the Church from the earth by means of that harpazo event that some suggest never appears in the New Testament.

What they are referring to is that the English word Rapture is never translated into the New Testament. They are correct in that. Rapture is based on the Latin word Raptuo. If we were to translate that into Koine Greek, we get the word harpazo, which occurs 13 times in the New Testament, five being in the context of this event. The English word is not there, but it is in the Greek. What Pretribulation believers say (regardless of flavour) is that at this point in the prophetic timeline, that event has already occurred.

Others take this passage, as I said a moment ago, as a kind of a prooftext of a mid-tribulation rapture. They contend that this great multitude seen here is all believers from all of time from all over the planet. They equate this with the massive crowd being raptured at this point. Others suggest that this group is the result of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. It is a very confusing text, but hopefully, the kind of careful study we like to do here will help us figure out the real identity of this group of people.

I broke the text down as follows:

KV9: Meta tauta: The Great Multitude

9-12: The Great Multitude Revealed

13-14: The Great Multitude Identified

15-17: The Blessings of that Multitude

Remember, I’m not saying you must agree with everything I say. I’m giving you what I see in the Scriptures. I’m not always right; sometimes, the Lord has mercy on me and shows me through the Scriptures where I am wrong and why. An example of that is that I used to “speak in tongues,” as per the Charismaniacs. I do not deny that some saints of old had this gift from the Lord. Originally, I was taught that I could open my mouth and speak an angelic language and that others had the gift of interpreting what that meant. Imagine my dismay when upon completing an initial reading of the New Testament (which took about 3 weeks), I did not find anywhere the private prayer language they were talking about. Jesus certainly never spoke it, and though the Apostles spoke in other languages, they must have been human languages because about 15 language groups heard the same message in their own language on the very first morning the Holy Spirit came and formed the Church. It turns out was an Apostolic thing in the writings of the Church fathers, and by the time Augustine of Hippo wrote about it in the late 300s or early 400s I think, he said that nobody knew what that was, and none of the others of the day really commented on it that I could find. Eventually, the Lord showed me what “tongues” really was – the unintentional speaking of another language for the communication of the Gospel. It is first seen in Acts 2 when about 15-17 language groups each hear Peter, who as far as he seemed to know was speaking his native Aramaic, in their own mother tongue as he preached the very first Gospel sermon. The LORD showed me that in Scripture. No one but the Holy Spirit taught that to me, although it has been confirmed by many other Bible teachers over the years since then. God in mercy had months before begun to move me away from my Pentecostalism towards real faith in Him instead of someone’s made-up nonsense. I guess it also had something to do with a public disagreement with how Kenneth Hagin’s book Prayer, the grandfather of modern Pentecostalism, interpreted 1 Cor. 14, when it was suggested to me that I should not return to that particular Bible study. In His mercy, God had shown me the truth, and not for the last time. I don’t think that last time has happened yet.

My point here is that I don’t know everything, but I do know how to read, and by God’s mercy and grace, He has given me the ability to communicate with others. If you don’t agree with me, you can comment on the video below if you like, or if you’re on the call this evening, you can wait until after the broadcast portion so we can have some order to the time. If I am wrong, I want and need to know. I think we would all say the same, so I will get on with the study. We have nine verses to cover and last time, I had eight pages of single-spaced notes on a list of names, so I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

KV9: Meta tauta: The Great Multitude

9: After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;

This evening’s topic of study is the group of people that are distinct from the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. We see them in the very next verse after the evangelists have been identified clearly by the text itself. These are the servants of the Most High God meant to deliver the Gospel message regarding His Son, Yeshuah Ha’Meshiac, or Jesus the Messiah. We know these men are to preach the gospel to the physical nation of Israel for their repentance, but that their message and preaching will be open to all from anywhere who will listen. These men will preach until the job is done and everyone has heard if they have not before.

I find it interesting that Charismania today talks about this nonsense called the “billion-soul harvest.” That’s garbage preached by a false teacher you may have heard of named Bob Jones. Have you ever heard of Bob Jones University? Same guy, and yes, that university is the real thing. My problem with this is that there is not one lick of Scripture that speaks about that during the “church age” that these people seem so fond of saying we are in. The opposite is true if you read Scripture. It is the reverse that is foretold: apostasy, not so-called revival. It is only here, after the Church is removed from the Earth by God Himself, that we see this great multitude saved and worshipping Christ. There might be a reason for that, and we will consider that in a bit.

What is interesting to me though is that we might have run into at least a part of this group before, and we will speak about this in our first section, which we will start right now.

9-12: The Great Multitude Revealed

You heard me correctly a moment ago. I think we have met at least a part of this group in Rev. 6:9-11, and there are some reasons why. If you’re just joining us for the first time this evening, I am referring to the Martyrs under the altar from the 5th seal judgement. We looked at that in our August 15th study this year, and the video is on Rumble if you want to go and see it. I encourage you to do so for instructional purposes. There is certain language that is used in common for the two groups, and it may indicate some connection, although that is just an opinion I and some others have. Let’s get into the text and see.

The first thing John says is Meta tauta, or “After these things.” This is a clear indicator, according to more than a few Bible Scholars (including Missler, MacArthur, Stearman, and others), of a pause in the action for a different vision. We saw this in the first verse of this chapter. “Meta tauta…” It is one of the reasons I think there is an actual pause in the main sequence of events, and here is a second one, and it starts with meta tauta. And this is between the sixth and seventh seal openings? Most non-Amillennial scholars view this as a pause to provide information that is important to the context. Amillennial theologians have other things to say about this, and I will not talk about them because as a Premillennial theologian, I do not feel qualified to explain them. I’m not trying to start an argument over it; I’m just reading the text in English. So, after these things, in this case, a vision of 5 angels and 144,000 Jewish evangelists being sealed as the servants of God. After that, we see this group, and more importantly, we clearly understand that these people are distinct from the 144,000. After that clear number is given, we see a great multitude that no one can number. This is further indicated by John’s use of the word “behold,” indicating his surprise at seeing a different group of people.
For the record, these people are not able to be counted by humans. I’m sure there is an exact number, and I’m sure that God knows that exact number and would tell us what it is if we would need to know, but I cannot think of a reason that number is important. This group is from everywhere and includes every nationality, every region of the planet, every division of people group there is, and every language known to man, all in a literal sense of that.
All these are standing in front of the throne of God and the Lamb, and they are clothed in white robes. Her is the first thing that makes me think about the Martyrs under the altar: the “stōlas leukas,” or white robes. These are not the same kind of symbolic and figurative robes given to the church. It is thought that all the Christians who are taken in the harpazo event are immediately given their new bodies. These white robes here are perhaps symbolic of the intermediate state of the redeemed, according to Dr. John MacArthur in His commentary series on this passage. I share that view, for the sake of transparency.
Palm Branches in each of their hands are seen as a symbol of celebration of deliverance and victory. It also represents the Old Testament Feast of Booths, or Feast of Tabernacles, a commemorative celebration of the Lord leading and providing His people through the wilderness in Lev. 23:40 – “Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.” It is a figurative statement of how the Lord led His people through the great wilderness of death and provided for them to keep them safe since they are now in His presence. How do we know that? The Word of God tells us so in this verse. These saints are now in this verse “standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” And if that isn’t enough, look at what they do. Next verse.

10: and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Well! They aren’t under the altar praying anymore! No, they have emerged from that location and are now full participants in the activity of heaven – they worship God loudly, joyfully, enthusiastically, and from their hearts because of who He is and what He has done on their behalf. They worship Him especially because of how He saved them, and this will continue in some form for the rest of eternity.
I must share a personal story here. It was in the mid-1990s, and my mother had just phoned me about her mother, my grandma Mary. She was leaving this world after a bunch of years with the same kind of diabetes I have, heart issues, cholesterol issues, and blindness caused by a stroke. She was a believer, and I suspect it was she who had been praying for me to get me through my childhood up to age 18 when the Lord saved me. She was still alive but going down for the proverbial third time, and it was at that point a matter of hours. I did the only thing I could think of to do – I prayed. I have followed the McCheyne Bible Reading plan for a long time, and I was simply reading my daily portion, and as the Lord would have it, I was in this very passage. I had been asking the Lord what was going to happen, and I believe He answered me from Scripture. He made my heart notice this particular set of verses and comforted me that she was going to be with Him. When my mom called in the morning, I already knew where she was, and I took comfort in that. They asked me to do a reading at the funeral. What to guess at the passage I picked? You’re right if you said this one. It was a sad and long trip to Terrace Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior. It was a joyful one coming back because I knew then and still know that I will see her again. Because of this, it troubles me when pastors and teachers shy away from the topic of eschatology. It is a neglected part of theology except by the extreme views of cults and Charismaniacs. I remind you that the JWs believe that only 144,000 people will be admitted by God into heaven, and the rest will be annihilated. The Charismaniacs talk about this billion-soul harvest that the Bible NEVER speaks about. I get the impression this unstated number is bigger than that because it says nobody could count it but God, and He isn’t giving the number, probably not to give away intelligence to the enemy. He would also be the best at operational security, right? However that works, the hosts in heaven already join in with the activity of these individuals.

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,

Here is the ongoing activity of heaven. Everyone is gathered around the throne of God Himself and worshipping God. They took the position of falling on their faces prostrate before the Father because that is the position we should all take in reverence to God. He is the only one who is worthy of this kind of worship and recognition, too. The angels, the 24 elders who represent the church, and the four seraphim that surround God’s throne are all there and all prostrate before the living God, the creator and saviour of all things. It even tells what they say in the next verse.

12: saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

I tell you, this should make our hearts sing with praise for the One seated on that throne. Amen, or So be it! Blessing! Glory! Wisdom! Thanksgiving! Honour! Power! Might! All of that to no one but our God to the ages of the ages! So be it! Why? Because He is the only one worthy of receiving it for everything He has done and even more so simply for who He is!
- Blessing: eulogia, good-speaking or praise, in this case of Christ the King and God the Father. We get our English word “eulogy” from it, the speaking of good for the one who is deceased at their funeral.
- Glory: doxa, literally having a good opinion about the one to whom it is given, in this case, the Lord Himself.
- Wisdom: sophia, used here as a characteristic attributed to God, cleverness or broad and vast intelligence. I know people who fit this description. They don’t hold a candle to the God who has called us to Himself.
- Thanksgiving: eucharistia, gratitude or the giving of thanks, in this case for salvation and simply for being Himself.
- Honour: timé, valuable, esteem in this verse, I think, given to the Lord as the worthy One.
- Power: dunamis, the miraculous power of God
- Might: ischus, God’s ability to hold on to us, or anything else for that matter. These are the things they praise the Lord for, and we can do that in the now to get a start on it!

We now know a little bit about the individuals that are revealed in the text here, and we will learn more about them as we go! Moving on…

13-14: The Great Multitude Identified

The great multitude has been introduced as a people group, but this section has the benefit of identifying them for us, so let’s jump in and see what John tells us.

13: Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?”

This is the very question we are seeking to answer, and it is about to be answered by one of the 24 elders. Who are these people who are clothed in stōlas leukas or white robes? More importantly, where have they come from? We’ve seen the symbology of the palm branches, we’ve seen where they are standing, and we’ve seen what they are doing. Will this elder confirm it?

14: I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “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.

Indeed, he will. These are the very ones that have washed their robes, a phrase that in our studies of Scripture, we have come to see as sanctification as a response to the commands of God. They have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” our Lord Jesus Christ. There are some subtleties of the Greek here I must point out.
The text actually says, “…ek tēs thlipheos tēs meglēs…” This can be taken to mean that it is “…out of the tribulation the great…” in a literal translation if we ignore English word order for a moment. Add that back in, and we get “…out of THE Great Tribulation…” The article there is in the Greek…twice. “…out of THE Tribulation, THE Great [one]…” is not beyond the translation possibilities here, and it is indicated by the Greek itself. These are the believers who died as martyrs or otherwise in the Great Tribulation that the Lord Himself spoke of in the Gospels passages of Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Now, you could fairly accuse me of suggesting that out of turn, but I must respond to that with a question, and I ask it humbly and honestly: How then do YOU read the Greek? I would bow to gents like Christ Rosebrough or James White here because both of them TEACH Koine Greek. Am I reading that properly?
This brings me to a question that I have wrestled with for a long time, but I think I have resolved it, at least for myself. For what it is worth, I will share it with you. Does this text ONLY apply to the martyrs of the Great Tribulation? You see, the Greek text says, “THE Great Tribulation,” or ek tēs thlipheos tēs meglēs. And yet the Lord comforted me with this verse. Certainly, I can take comfort in the knowledge that she is with the Lord, having overcome her struggles on earth. But we haven’t gotten to the actual Great Tribulation, that time of Jacob’s Trouble, the sorting out and salvation of those souls of the Nation of Israel yet. We haven’t even gotten to the riders ordered forth by the living creatures, as near as I can tell on the prophetic timeline. What I am coming to see is that there is often more than one way of looking at a passage and seeing the specific truth in Jesus. It seems like prophecy isn’t just the foretelling of future events, but also the pattern of events can be seen in some measure. Yes, we all overcome great struggles and trials so that we can meet the Lord with robes of white that He Himself has helped us wash in His blood. But it will be nothing like that Great Tribulation mentioned here, although both are true. Does that make sense? I mean, it does to me.

For the purposes of this passage, we can see this as a look at the tribulation martyrs and those who die in Christ after the rapture of the saints from the earth. This verse is not only for our faith and comfort; it is a kind of guarantee that there will be believers on the earth right up until the Lord comes back, and even into the Millennial reign of Christ, but that is a whole other topic.

15-17: The Blessings of that Multitude

I initially thought to make this one thought unit with the previous one, but while considering that, I realized that it identified them and then listed the benefits these individuals will receive for their faithfulness to Christ in this very difficult time period. It forms a sort of list, and it is always worth looking at lists, even lists of names, like we saw last time. So let’s look.

15: For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

Notice how this section starts with the phrase “For this reason…” This was the phrase that makes this its own section in my thinking. Right after that, it begins to list out the benefits, so that is what I will do.
They are before the throne of God. Apart from being seated on that very throne, this is the best seat in the universe! To be allowed into the presence of a holy and righteous being as God, especially when we did nothing to earn it or gain it ourselves, it is His gift to us who will turn to Him and away from everything else, especially our sinful nature, to stand in His grace. It seems to me that these are before the throne because through their sufferings for Christ, they have washed their robes (with His help) so that they stand in those white, celebratory robes spoken of in those earlier verses.
They serve Him day and night in His temple. Not only do they have the best position, they have the best job in the universe, serving our God both day and night. It is unclear to me that they will need sleep anymore because they at some point will be in their glorified bodies, according to Paul, when the mortal shall put on immortality. I heard one preacher once say that we will “serve Him with perpetual vigour.” I long for that to be true. To never be worn out by tiredness or physical infirmity ever again will be a huge blessing.
He who sits on the throne will spread His dwelling place (tabernacle) over them. I only have a very small understanding of what this means, but I think it means that we will never be alone or in need ever again at a minimum. I have no doubt though that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has entered into the heart of man what He has for those who love Him, who demonstrate that through their obedience to Him, and who will stand as a witness for Him. And that’s just the start of the list!

16: They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;

They will hunger no longer. According to Vine, this is used in a literal sense in this verse as Christ identifies Himself with His saints in speaking of Himself as suffering in their sufferings in this and other respects. If you’ve ever felt hunger, literally or figuratively, it will be satisfied. I don’t know how to put it plainer than that.
Nor thirst anymore. If you’ve ever needed a drink of water, or if you ever felt like you needed to know something, a thirst of a different kind, again, that thirst will be slaked. Your need will be satisfied, and I think whether it is a literal thirst or a figurative one for knowledge or wisdom.
Nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. I can think of an example from my past. There was a time when I paid the rent as a day labourer for construction. I forgot to bring a hat on a day when it was like 90ºC in the shade back in the late 1980s. That day found me laying Sod in the area of the Cedarview Golf and Country Club if you want a landmark. It was in a cul-de-sac on a road that ran by the golf course, and we worked hard laying that sod that day. Near the end of the day, I started feeling like I was dizzy and wanted to throw up. I sat down just as the site boss was driving up to us, and apparently, I didn’t look so well. He got me a bottle of water and told me to take it easy for five minutes. I did, though it didn’t make me feel a lot better. We left that day (one of the brothers I lived with was working with me), and after we collected our pay, he took me to the hospital. It turns out that I gave myself a case of heat stroke. After a night’s sleep, I was ready to go again, and I remembered my hat that day. I’m not sure what difference the hat made, but this kind of event simply will no longer happen. We will serve the Lord, and we will be able to do whatever task He assigns. The last verse explains how this will be possible, at least in some measure.

17: for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

The Lamb in the center of the throne will be our shepherd. What does a shepherd do? He cares for the sheep and sees to their needs. And it is the Lamb who is on the throne at this point, though I am unclear as to when that happened. Why the Lamb? Because He sacrificed Himself so that we wouldn’t pay the unpayable sentence. And who knows better what sheep (us) would need than the Lamb of God?
More, He will guide them to the springs of living water, or running water if you like (it is a Hebraism). We will lack nothing for our lives, we will have all our needs provided for, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. I can think of people I have known over the years who have died in terrible situations not knowing Christ. I truly grieve for those people. I fear my own family will be among them. Even those things, the Lord will wipe the tears from our eyes, and even tells us later on that there will be no more sorrow.

Reading through this, we are shown a picture of those who suffered in great trouble and trial coming through in celebration at the other end. They remained faithful, even though it cost them everything, including their physical life, and the Lord is letting us know that no matter what happens, it will be worth it for those who persevere with Him.

What a beautiful picture of the heavenly Great Shepherd caring for His flock that have come through the Great Tribulation. However, only those who have turned from their sins and toward Christ (repented) and believed that He took the punishment for their sins on the cross and rose again to show it will be called to that life. For those that will not, there is only one terrible ultimate destiny for them. We will see that terror in later chapters, starting with the beginning of the next chapter when the seventh seal is finally opened. That is what I saw in the text this time.

Next time, we will go through chapter 8, verses 1-5.