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REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 3 - THE CHURCH OF CHRIST AND THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS (REVELATION 7:1 – 9:21)
PART 3.1 - THE CHURCH OF GOD AND HIS LAMB FROM THE SONS OF JACOB AND THE NATIONS (REVELATION 7:1-17)

3. The Immense Number of Those Called out From the Nations Standing Before the Throne of God and Before His Lamb (Revelation 7:9-17)


The Significance of the Great Multitude of Witnesses

REVELATION 7:13-17
13 One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and from where did they come?” 14 I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. 16 They will never be hungry, neither thirsty any more; neither will the sun beat on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Numbed by the triumphal song of the angelic choir, the prophet, John, stood on the threshold of heaven and stared breathlessly at the innumerable mass of witnesses before the throne. He may have asked himself: Who are all of these? Where do they come from? Perhaps he suddenly realized that these weak, small, insignificant and unlearned people were the real victors (Revelation 2:9; 24-29; 3:8, 21; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). Jesus had repeatedly assured: “The first will be last, and the last first!” (Matthew 19:30; 20:16; Mark 10:31; Luke 13:30). The visible power of faith and glow of hope indwelling this multitude that had been laughed at and ridiculed by society for swimming against the stream caused a storm of questions to arise in John's heart. He remained quiet, however, and continued to expectantly look upon the throne of God, deeply impressed by this heavenly reality.

One of the elders from the circle of 24 patriarchs – perhaps Adam, the father of humanity, or Paul, the missionary to the nations, had compassion on the aged and speechless prophet, and asked the question for him that had been stirring in his heart: Who are these arrayed in white robes? The elder helped John know his own mind, and encouraged him to pour out his heart. But for the prophet the sight of the great throng of witnesses was too marvelous, too new, for him to be able to assess it. He therefore gave the question back to the elder, and asked for a spiritually valid answer before God.

In confusion because of the splendor of the elder, John addressed him with the sovereign title, “My Lord”. Without further hesitation the elder began to enlighten the venerable prophet to the mystery of this immense crowd of witnesses.

The answer of the elder is not formulated in the normal past tense of the Greek language, which approximately would have stated: “These are those that have come…” No, he chose to us the form of the Greek present tense that reaches into the future, and in so doing declared: “Those are the coming, that have already come, that now come, and that will still come!”

As a comforting preview, the heavenly patriarch showed the earthly patriarch the completed church of Jesus Christ, to keep John, in view of the dubious situation regarding his churches (Revelation 2 and 3), from discouragement. He shouldn’t despair, in spite of hardship, persecution betrayal, torture and death beginning to break over his immature and inadequate churches of Asia Minor.

The elder strengthened John with a simple verb: They’re coming! They’re breaking through! In defeat they are strengthened and victorious, just as their Lord experienced His greatest victory when His crucified body was dying in God-forsakenness on the cross. The elder wanted to comfort the deported apostle: Fear not! Your prayers have been heard. It does not mean eternal loss if some of the church members in Asia Minor die in the persecution. No, they are already swinging victory palms. With this declaration the elder also comforts us: The persecuted church enters the eternal world and stands in the glory of the throne room of God.

Tribulation of the End of Time: An immense number of persecuted saints come out of the great tribulation, a truth that Daniel had already recognized (Daniel 12:1), and which was confirmed by Jesus (Matthew 24:21). The Lord spoke here in allusion to a specific distress, which presumably would break over the residents of Jerusalem and Israel following his ascension, and repeat itself in the last days (Matthew 24:15-28).

Other words of Jesus in Revelation, which speak of the great tribulation (Revelation 2:22), have to do with a judgment of the Lord over the spiritualistic feminist.

On the contrary, the warnings of Jesus in Matthew 24:9-14 and in Revelation 3:10, indicate a global temptation for all mankind. Paul, too, had urgently warned about the great falling away from God and His Messiah. He described the rule of the son of the evil one as being the cause of it (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12).

The battle between God and Satan, Christ and the antichrist, the Holy Spirit and the unholy spirit transcends all generations of our earth. Every church is drawn into this tense situation. In the last days Jewish Christians will nearly be torn apart in the struggle between law and gospel. The hate of multi-cultural minded syncretists, as well as the rage of hair-splitting fanatics of the law, will cynically and brutally be unleashed upon all who confess Jesus Christ as the only way, the true justice, and the source of life.

There has always been persecution and tribulation in the history of the church. We cannot plumb the depths of what suffering occurred under the Roman Caesars, what took place following the invasion of Islam, the Crusades, the Mongol invasions, the reign of the Turkish Empire, the slave trade, the two world wars, the reign under the Bolsheviks and many other dictatorships. No person could bear up under the weight of this suffering – except Jesus, who for the sin of the world was overwhelmed and crushed on the cross. The Bible warns us of the concentrated appearance of evil personified in the days leading up to Jesus’ return. The reign of the Lamb of God forces the evil one to come forth. No one can even imagine the suffering his malice will cause for Christians. But his horrendous deeds will be a sign of his weakness, since, as the defeated prince of this world, all that will be left to him will be lies and violence (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Luther gave up his spirit when he sang: Great power and cunning make up his awful weapons.

Jesus sends His sheep into the midst of wolves (Matthew 10:16)! As He was victorious as a Lamb, they, too, can only overcome the evil one through His Lamb-Spirit. Whether they remain alive or not is not decisive, but whether they remain in His love! Here lies the secret of their authority, their blessing, and their peace.

Righteousness by Faith Alone: The elder did not paint a picture of end-time saints as being infallible heroes, or as being victorious due to their own achievements. Jesus made it clear: “Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:12-13) The victors in the throne room of God are not standing there as though they had run and completed their course faultlessly and irreproachably. But they did wash their garments clean in the blood of the Lamb. They did not appeal to their own righteousness, honor and holiness. Much more, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was their only fame and glory. They had believed and experienced: The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7-10; Hebrews 12:1-2).

By tracing their righteousness and purity back to the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God alone, each person in the great crowd of witnesses was individually and simultaneously confessing his own sin, unworthiness and guilt. Not one of them was in himself good, righteous, or holy (Romans 3:23-24; Mark 10:18). The Lord alone is their righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6). Their pride had long been broken, their honor was like a filthy garment. The foundation and basis of their spiritual life was what Christians conscientiously confess in the second article of Faith, along with the interpretation of Martin Luther. They sing: Nothing have I to bring, you, Lord, are everything!

With this confession of the persecuted and the oppressed, it becomes apparent that no Muslim, no Hindu, no Buddhist, and no Animist could exist among the crowd of witnesses. Why? Muslims deny the historical fact of the crucifixion of Christ (Sura al-Nisa' 4:157) and His atoning sacrifice. They try, through the keeping of their laws, to attain their own righteousness (Suras Hud 11:114; Fatir 35:29-30).

No one can be justified through the keeping of the law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9). Without the Lamb of God there is no righteousness or holiness before God. This holds true not only for Muslims, but likewise for the followers of all other religions and cults. Jews, also, are including, for among them, too, an individual must put on Christ's garment of salvation (Isaiah 61:10).

PRAYER: Holy Father, we praise You because the saints, who passed through the great tribulation and suffered a lot, did not live without faults. But they washed themselves and their clothes in the blood of Your Lamb. There is no justification by good works, but only by the blood of Your Son Jesus. His pure blood qualifies us to become Your children that are protected even in great tribulations.

QUESTION:

  1. How did the saints wash their clothes and their hearts when they had passed through the great tribulation?

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