Tagged: Lamb of God

A little scroll opened in his hand: Revelation 10

Previously: The mighty angel and the small scroll

The scripture

Rev. 10:1 – Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like fiery pillars, 2and he had a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea, his left on the land, 3and he cried out with a loud voice like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders spoke with their voices. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. Then I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down!”

5Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6He swore an oath by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will no longer be an interval of time, 7but in the days of the sound of the seventh angel, when he will blow his trumpet, then God’s hidden plan will be completed, as He announced to His servants the prophets.”

8Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “God, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

9So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

10Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. 11And I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” (HCSB)

A little scroll opened in his hand (v. 2)

John notes that the mighty angel has “a little scroll opened in his hand” (v. 2). Later in this chapter we will see that John, for the first time, becomes an actor in this drama as he is instructed to take the scroll and eat it. It seems reasonable to view the little scroll here as the same scroll we see in Revelation 5, which the Lamb takes from the hand of the One seated on the throne. The same root word for scroll, biblos, is used in both instances (biblion in the first and biblaridion in the second), the only difference being that in Revelation 5 it is described as being “sealed” while in Revelation 10 the emphasis is upon it being “opened.”

Interpreters who say it is the same scroll explain that the scroll in the hand of God in Revelation 5 represents forfeited inheritance, or the title deed to the earth that Satan takes from Adam at the Fall. But as the Lamb receives the scroll from God the Father and opens each seal, He unveils the Good News – that He has come to defeat the usurper, pay humanity’s sin debt, and redeem the earth and its inhabitants. Now, in Revelation 10, the scroll lies fully opened; the redemption story has been told and what remains are the final acts of human history culminating in the personal, physical and visible return of our Lord.

Since John has witnessed the opening of the scroll’s seven seals (Rev. 6:1-8:5), it makes sense that the scroll is now fully opened. And just as the Lamb takes the scroll in the presence of a mighty angel in Revelation 5, it follows that John is commanded to take the same scroll from another (some  say the same) mighty angel and “eat it” in Revelation 10. The fact that the scroll is described as “little” in this passage could be a matter of revelation. Once the seals have been broken and the divine story told, it is now time to “eat,” or internalize, the Word of God, so the scroll is of a size that John can consume. Many times in scripture we are commanded to take God’s Word into our minds so that it directs our thoughts, words and actions. For example, the Psalmist writes, “I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11). And the Israelites are commanded in Deut. 18:18, “Impress these words of Mine on your hearts and souls, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.”

The seven thunders spoke (vv. 3-4)

The mighty angel now puts his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. In effect, he is claiming possession of the world for God. When someone sets foot on a piece of land, it often symbolizes his intention to take it as his own. The Lord tells His people in Deuteronomy 11, as they are about to step into the Promised Land, “Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours” (v. 24). He repeats the message in Joshua 1: “I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses” (v. 3). The apostle Paul instructs us, “Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, and don’t give the Devil an opportunity” – more specifically, a beachhead or a foothold (Eph. 4:26-27); once Satan claims a tiny portion of our lives, he guards it ferociously as if it’s his property, even though our whole beings belong to God. The mighty angel has a message for Jew and Gentile alike, for believer and unbeliever: he is reclaiming the earth on behalf of our Kinsman Redeemer, and he claims it while standing on the earth and sea.

When the mighty angel cries out with a loud voice, “the seven thunders” speak with their voices. Who, or what, are the seven thunders? To begin, it’s important to note that these thunders are well known; they are the seven thunders. Some say this is the voice of God, for often in scripture His voice is compared to thunder (Job 26:14, 37:5; Ps. 29; John 12:28-29). There also is thunder at the opening of the seventh seal and the pouring of the seventh vial, concluding events in cycles of the Lord’s judgment upon the earth. This booming voice could be coming from God’s throne, although John doesn’t say (Rev. 4:5). The thunders could even relate to the seven spirits of God (Rev. 1:4, 4:5, 5:6). The thunders are said to speak with “their voices,” indicating a plurality of sounds, but unified in their message, for John clearly understands what is being spoken and begins to write it down.

At this point, however, there is a voice from heaven, saying “Seal up what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down!” John has been faithfully recording what he sees and hears, but now he is told that this particular message is to remain hidden, at least for a time. Perhaps it is because the seven thunders speak something to be revealed later in Revelation; by the time we get to Rev. 22:10, John is told, “Don’t seal the prophetic words of this book, because the time is near.” This is not unprecedented in scripture. At least three times, Daniel is prohibited from sharing what has been revealed to him because those things are for “many days in the future,” or “the time of the end” (see Dan. 8:26; 12:4, 9). Or perhaps there simply are some things God determines should not be shared. The apostle Paul has a unique experience in 2 Corinthians 12 where he is taken up into the third heaven – the throne of God – and hears “inexpressible words, which a man is not allowed to speak” (v. 4). Is it possible that some experiences in the presence of Almighty God are so awe-inspiring, so wonderful, so frightening that there is no earthly way to express them?

John does not protest. He obeys the prohibition against writing down the words of the seven thunders and moves on. Perhaps we should as well.

Next: There will no longer be an interval of time

The first trumpet – Revelation 8:7

Previously: The seventh seal – Revelation 8:1-6

The scripture

Rev. 8:7 – The first [angel] blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up (HCSB).

The four angels standing at the four corners of the earth are prevented from harming “the earth or the sea or the trees” until the 144,000 are sealed (Rev. 7:2-3). But now, with the sounding of the first and second trumpets, a third of the earth and trees are burned up, and a third of the sea becomes blood. The hiatus is over and massive destruction of the sin-cursed world begins to take place.

Are we to believe that hail, fire and blood are literally mixed and hurled to the earth? What’s the significance of “a third,” a recurring fraction in the first four trumpet judgments? How can “all” the green grass be burned in the first trumpet judgment if the “locusts” that ascend out of the abyss are prevented from harming the grass in the fifth judgment? And do the trumpet judgments follow the seal judgments chronologically or run concurrently with them? Let’s take a closer look.

The first angel blew his trumpet

The trumpet employed by each angel in this series of judgments is the shofar, or ram’s horn, and is translated so in the Complete Jewish Bible. This horn has special significance for Israel. Loud blasts of the shofar accompany the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai and cause the people to tremble (Ex. 20:18). The shofar is incorporated into the Jewish feasts of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, or Atonement. Some Bible commentators believe the coming rapture of the church will be associated with Rosh Hashanah and the trumpets described in 1 Cor. 15:52 and 1 Thess. 4:16. They also believe the trumpets of Yom Kippur will herald national judgment on Israel, leading many Jews to receive Jesus as Messiah during the Tribulation.

David H. Stern writes, “The idea that the Great Judgment of the Last Days is heralded by blasts on the shofar has its roots in the Tanakh [Old Testament]. ‘YHVH [Yahweh; God] will be seen over them, his arrow will go forth like lightning, and Adonai YHVH will sound the shofar and will move in the storm winds of the south…. And YHVH their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people (Zech. 9:14, 16)” (Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 814).

Additionally, the shofar is to be sounded on the Day of Atonement in the Year of Jubilee, every 50th year, to signal the release of slaves and debt. For Christians, this may be seen as symbolic of Christ’s work on our behalf, redeeming us from the slave market of sin and paying our sin debt with His blood. His finished work on the cross frees us from the debtor’s prison of sin.

Whatever the significance of the shofar in the case of the trumpet judgments, its sounding precedes unprecedented acts of God upon the earth (the first four trumpet judgments) and its wicked people (the last three trumpet judgments).

Hail and fire, mixed with blood

After the angel sounds the first trumpet, John sees hail and fire, mixed with blood, hurled to the earth. R. Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and D. Brown note there is a common feature in the first four trumpets; the judgments affect natural objects – the earth, trees, grass, the sea, rivers, fountains, the light of the sun, moon and stars. But the last three trumpet judgments affect men’s lives with pain, death and hell (A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, Re 8:7).

Further, the language used to describe these judgments is drawn from the plagues of Egypt, with five or six out of the 10 plagues corresponding to trumpet judgments: hail, fire (Ex. 9:24), water turning to blood (Ex. 7:19), darkness (Ex. 10:21), locusts (Ex. 10:12), and perhaps death (Rev. 9:18).

If we step back a little, we can see a pattern in all three sets of judgments – the seals, trumpets, and bowls. As the Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times notes, “In all three series of seven, the first four judgments focus on the earth, while the last three are more cosmic in nature. The seals and trumpets follow a 4+2+1 pattern, while the bowls follow a 4+3 pattern. There is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals and the sixth and seventh trumpets, but no interlude between the sixth and seventh bowls as the pace becomes too intense” (p. 405).

It’s also important to note that some commentators see these three sets of judgments playing out in chronological order – the seals first, followed by the trumpets and, finally, the bowls – while others see them as repeating and overlapping, especially since each series culminates at the end of time with a storm-earthquake. One’s view of the end times (historical, for example, or futurist) no doubt influences a belief in either consecutive or overlapping series of judgments, or perhaps it’s the other way around. In any case, it is difficult to overlook the similarities between the three sets of judgments.

Grant Osborne, in his book Revelation, identifies seven major themes in the three judgment series:

  1. These judgments are poured out on unbelievers, while believers are protected (Rev. 3:10; 7:1-8; 9:4; 16:2).
  2. These judgments are God’s response to the prayers of the saints for justice and vengeance (5:8; 6:9-11; 8:3-5).
  3. The sovereignty of God is emphasized throughout.
  4. God does not command evil to do His will; He simply allows it to operate.
  5. Unbelievers respond by refusing to repent and by cursing God, thus demonstrating depravity (9:20-21; 16:9, 11).
  6. These judgments are acts of mercy, providing a final opportunity to repent (9:20; 14:6-7; 16:9, 11).
  7. There is a progressive dismantling of creation, preparing for the final consummation.

As for the first trumpet, it no doubt ushers in a terrible storm, but commentators are divided as to what that storm symbolizes. Some argue this is a symbolic storm of heresies; others, a mixture of doctrinal errors such as the Arian heresy that denied the deity of Christ; or a tempest of war falling on the state.  In any case, the hail and fire, mingled with blood, remind us of the seventh plague God sends against Egypt (Ex. 9:18-26). The prophet Joel also promises blood and fire in the last days (Joel 2:30).

Although it’s difficult to picture hail and fire mixed with blood, imagine the apostle John, from his first-century perspective, trying to describe events that are perhaps centuries in the future. If the futurist perspective is correct, for example, how is John to describe 21st century (or later) warfare and weapons? Could the locusts be attack helicopters, and the burning mountain falling into the sea a nuclear warhead? We simply do not know.

As we read these descriptions of hail and fire mixed with blood, strange-looking locusts, and blazing mountains falling from the sky, we are well advised to cling to the clear teachings of each passage and be willing to be proven wrong on our assumptions about apocalyptic details. For example, it is clear that God is bringing judgment to bear upon the earth; that much suffering ensues; that the wicked refuse to repent; that the Lamb is in control; that His people are protected; and that the earth is being prepared for what Jesus called “the regeneration” (Matt. 19:28 KJV) and what Peter referred to as “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13).

Next: A third of the earth was burned up (first trumpet continued): Rev. 8:7

The seventh seal: Revelation 8:1-6

Previously: One of the elders asked me (Rev. 7:9-17)

The scripture

Rev. 8:1 – When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. 3Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 5The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were thunders, rumblings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them (HCSB).

Between the sixth and seventh seals we see a pause as 144,000 are sealed on earth and a vast number in heaven – from every nation, tribe, people and language – stand before the throne. Finally, as Christ opens the seventh seal, we learn there is silence for half an hour, followed by seven angels receiving trumpets that will herald judgments upon the wicked. Another angel approaches the altar, fills an incense burner with fire and hurls it to the earth, resulting in thunders, rumblings lightnings, and an earthquake.

Why is there half an hour of silence in heaven? What’s the significance of incense with regard to the prayers of the saints? Who are the seven angels who stand in the presence of God? How would John’s first-century readers understand all of this? And what are we to make of it today? Let’s look more closely at these six verses.

Silence in heaven

When Jesus opens the seventh seal, there is silence in heaven for “about half an hour” (v. 1). We have just heard the vast multitude, standing before the throne, shout praises to the Father and the Lamb (Rev. 7:10). And we’ve listened to the angels worship God with their uplifted voices as they fall on their faces before Him. When the Lamb opens the first seal, a thundering voice says, “Come.” When He opens the second, third and fourth seals, we hear the same voice. When Jesus opens the fifth seal, John hears the cry of the martyrs from under the altar. When He opens the sixth seal, there is a violent earthquake and tumultuous events in the heavens and on earth. Then, in Chapter 7, there is a high-decibel break in the action between the sixth and seventh seals as an angel cries in a loud voice to his fellow angels not to harm the earth until the 144,000 are sealed, and as angels around the throne worship God. But now, with the opening of the seventh seal, there is a deafening silence. Why? “Silence is appropriate in anticipation of the Lord’s coming judgment (Zeph. 1:7-10; Zech. 2:13)” (The ESV Study Bible, Rev. 8:1).

We should not assume that a delay means God is any less serious about vindicating His holiness. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus tells the parable of the persistent widow to illustrate the importance of ceaseless prayer. “Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay [to help] them? I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice” (Luke 18:7-8a). And in 2 Peter 3:4-13, we are told that God’s timing is not ours: “[W]ith the Lord one day is like 1,000 years, and 1,000 years like one day. The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9). The Lord’s judgment never falls before He has extended ample grace and mercy, which people may mistake as indecision or apathy on God’s part.

But why silence for half an hour? W.A. Criswell explains, “It is, first, the silence of awe and of intense expectancy. This is the last drama of the ultimate mystery of Almighty God… It is [secondly] a silence of ominous foreboding. Even the Lord God Almighty pauses before the onward rush of this great, final judicial administration…. Is that a brief while? No, indeed. It is seemingly interminable, unbearable…. The silence, the stillness in heaven is a pause one could never forget. Remember that time is altogether circumstantial and relative” (Expository Sermons on Revelation, pp. 161-62).

Matthew Henry argues that the prolonged silence may be seen from two perspectives: first, the perspective of peace, since there are no longer any cries being lifted up from the saints to God; and second, the perspective of expectation as the redeemed join the heavenly creatures in watching open-mouthed at what the Lord is about to do. Perhaps it is as Zechariah wrote, “Let all people be silent before the Lord, for He is coming from His holy dwelling” (Zech. 2:13).

We can’t say with certainty whether the silence lasts 30 minutes, or simply a notable period of time. Heaven is a noisy place filled with songs, praise, and adoration – all joyfully rehearsed by human and angelic creatures in the presence of God. Silence of even a few minutes would seem deafening by comparison. No doubt the saints, angels, elders and heavenly creatures are holding their collective breaths as the Creator is about to bring human history to a close.

Seven angels are given trumpets

During this silence, seven angels are given trumpets. John tells us these are “the seven angels who stand in the presence of God” (v. 2). But who are these angels? We see four angels standing at the four corners of the earth in Rev. 7:1. And there are “seven angels” – presumably not the seven angels – with the last plagues in Rev. 15:1, but there is no specific mention elsewhere in Revelation of “the seven angels.” Some commentators say these are “the seven spirits before His throne” whom we encounter in Rev. 1:4, but a number of translations render it “the seven-fold Spirit,” or Holy Spirit, in the book’s opening vision.

These angels are distinguished from the multitude of other angelic creatures around the throne in that they “stand in the presence of God.” In scripture, the angel Gabriel identifies himself as one “who stands in the presence of God” (Luke 1:19). And in the apocryphal Tobit 12:15 we read, “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.” Perhaps there are others, unnamed in scripture, who serve in similar capacities. But it does not appear this is the seven-fold Holy Spirit, who is never depicted as blowing a trumpet. In any case, these seven angels take their trumpets in turn and prepare to blow them — a loud and clear warning of impending judgment.

Just as seals prevent written messages from being revealed until the proper authority breaks them and thus unravels the scroll, trumpets play unique roles as well. John is a Jew and is well versed in the place of trumpets in Israel’s national life. According to Numbers 10, trumpets have three important uses. They call people together (Num. 10:1–8), announce war (Num. 10:9), and herald special times (Num. 10:10). “The trumpet sounded at Mount Sinai when the Law was given (Ex. 19:16–19), and trumpets were blown when the king was anointed and enthroned (1 Kings 1:34, 39). Of course, everyone familiar with the Old Testament would remember the trumpets at the conquest of Jericho (Josh. 6:13–16)… Sounding seven trumpets certainly would announce a declaration of war, as well as the fact that God’s anointed King was enthroned in glory and about  to judge His enemies (Ps. 2:1–5). As trumpets declared defeat to Jericho, they will ultimately bring defeat to Babylon” (Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Rev. 8:1).

The fact that these are angels’ trumpets distinguishes them from the trumpet of God (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16), which proclaims the resurrection of believers, and from other New Testament trumpets (Heb. 12:19; Rev. 1:10, 4:1). The angels’ trumpets, sounded in turn, announce the Lord’s judgment upon the wicked of the earth.

At the golden altar

But before the seven angels sound the trumpets, a special angel performs a significant act at the golden altar in heaven. In the tabernacle and temple, the golden altar stands in front of the veil and is used to burn incense, a picture of prayer ascending to God (see Ps. 141:2). This is the work Zacharias is performing in the temple when the angel informs him that he and Elizabeth will have a son (Luke 1:5ff). The “prayers of the saints” (v. 4) are not the petitions of some special believers who have achieved superior status. All Christians are saints (2 Cor. 1:1; 9:1, 12; 13:13) and the Holy Spirit ensures their prayers ascend to their heavenly Father (Rom. 8:26). What’s more, scripture nowhere teaches that we are to direct our prayers to saints in heaven. Our prayers are to be directed to the Father through the Son with the aid of the Holy Spirit. It is possible that these are the prayers of the saints both in heaven (Rev. 6:9-11) and on earth for God to vindicate His holiness. These so-called “imprecatory prayers” are seen in the Psalms (see Pss. 7; 26; 35; 52; 55; and 58) and it appears God is about to answer them.

There is nothing wrong with prayers for vengeance, as long as we are beseeching God for His vengeance, not ours, and for His holiness to be vindicated, not our self-righteousness. There may be a fine line between imprecatory prayers and spiteful ones, but there is line in any case and we should not seek to cross it.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest takes coals from the golden altar and, with the blood of sacrifices, enters the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice first for himself and then for the people. But in Revelation 8, the angel takes coals from the golden altar and hurls them to the earth. While the smoke of the incense ascends to God with the prayers of the saints, the burning coals flung to earth represent God’s answer to these prayers. The calm before the storm is ending.

“The purpose of prayer, it has often been said, is not to get man’s will done in heaven, but to get God’s will done on earth – even if that will involves judgment. True prayer is serious business, so we had better not move the altar too far from the throne!” (Wiersbe, Rev. 8:1).

Four major views of the seventh seal

How do proponents of the four major interpretations of Revelation view the seventh seal?

  • Preterists – who see the events of Revelation as fulfilled in the first centuries of the church age – say this judgment is directed at apostate Israel, which is the “earth” or “land” in verse 5. In Old Testament times, when God’s people are commanded to destroy an apostate city, Moses orders them to burn all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord (Deut. 13:16; Judges 20:40). The priest takes coals from God’s altar and uses it to kindle the fire, thus putting the city “under the ban” so that nothing survives. Now, in Revelation 8, the angel takes coals from the heavenly altar and hurls it to the earth, placing apostate Israel and its capital city of Jerusalem under the ban.
  • Historicists – who view the events of Revelation as unfolding throughout the course of history – see the angel who offers the incense as Christ, acting in His priestly role in the heavenly sanctuary. The saints are those slain by Rome during the era of the martyrs. Their prayers have ascended before God and are about to be answered by His vengeance against the Roman Empire.
  • Futurists – who argue that the events of Revelation are largely unfulfilled, especially chapters 4-22 – say the prayers are those of “all the saints” (v. 3), or at least the saints of the tribulation who are living on the earth and crying out to God for vengeance. Some futurists see the incense-offering angel as Jesus, our High Priest, while others see no reason to equate this angel with deity. The fact that fire is cast to the earth from the same censer as was used in offering up the saints’ prayers implies that the judgments are in response to those prayers.
  • Idealists, or spiritualists – who see Revelation setting forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil – see the seven trumpet judgments running concurrently with the seven seal judgments, not chronologically after them. The calamities described here are typical judgments that recur throughout the church age and should not be regarded as symbolizing particular events. Some argue that the incense represents the intercession of Christ for His church, being mingled with the prayers of the saints.

Next: The first trumpet (Revelation 8:7)

One of the elders asked me: Revelation 7:9-17

Previously: All the angels stood around the throne — Rev. 7:9-17

The scripture

Rev. 7:9 – After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen. 13Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them: 16no longer will they hunger; no longer will they thirst; no longer will the sun strike them, or any heat. 17Because the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (HCSB).

One of the elders asked me

One of the 24 elders asks John, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?” (v. 13). John replies, “Sir, you know.” John readily admits he does not know the answer and seeks insight from the elder. As Matthew Henry puts it, “Those who would gain knowledge must not be ashamed to own their ignorance, nor to desire instruction from any that are able to give it” (Rev. 7:13-17).

The elder replies, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation” (v. 14). But to which tribulation is the elder referring? The Greek puts it, He thilipsis – he megale; that is, “the tribulation – the  great.” This gives strength to the futurist position, which holds that this is the post-rapture tribulation, not tribulation in general, which believers have experienced throughout the church age. W.A. Criswell points to the distinction between the vast multitude and the 24 elders, who represent the church. “This great multitude has no thrones,” he writes, contrasting them to the elders, who do have thrones. “They have no crowns; they have palm branches. They have come after the resurrection and after the rapture and after the church has been taken up into glory” (Expository Sermons on Revelation, p. 151).

Criswell goes on, “These are they whom God has saved and is saving in that great and final trial that shall come upon the earth. Is that not astounding? No wonder John did not know who they were. No man would ever have known or guessed such a thing had it not been by the grace of the revelation of God Himself.”

Tribulation and wrath

While there is strong support for the view that this great tribulation matches a futurist world view, other commentators argue convincingly for other points of view. Perhaps this tribulation is a first-century phenomenon, with Jews and Romans persecuting Christians; certainly, believers in John’s day are experiencing first-hand the universal attacks on the body of Christ. Others contend that these saints around the throne in heaven are the product of various Roman campaigns against those who will not bow to Caesar. Still others argue that this great tribulation describes martyrs – the millions of faithful believers throughout the church age who do not “love their lives in the face of death” (Rev. 12:11).

In any case, it is clear that these are saints in heaven prior to the return of Christ, and the “great tribulation” is the persecution of believers at the hands of non-believers. Two Greek words often are translated “tribulation” or “persecution” in the New Testament. Diwgmos appears 10 times in the New Testament and always refers to the persecution of believers at the hands of unbelievers. Thilipsis appears 45 times and is translated “tribulation(s),” “affliction(s),” “anguish,” “distress,” “persecution,” or “trouble.” Nearly every time it, too, refers to violence against believers at the hands of unbelievers.

This must not be confused with God’s wrath against the wicked. Two Greek words are used to describe the suffering of non-believers at the hand of God. The first word is thumos. It occurs in 18 verses in the New Testament and is translated “angry tempers,” “fierce,” “indignation,” “outbursts of anger,” “passion,” “rage,” and “wrath.” In nine of these 18 verses, the term specifically refers to the anger and judgment of God against the unrighteous (the other nine refer to the anger of people against each other). The second word is orgay, which occurs in 34 verses in the New Testament and is translated “anger” or “wrath.” Twenty-eight of those verses refer to the wrath of God the Father or Jesus against the unrighteous; one refers to the persecution of believers; and five refer to the anger of people against each other. “Therefore, whereas tribulation almost always refers to the persecution of believers, wrath almost always refers to the anger of God against the unrighteous that results in punishment” (Will Christians Go Through the Great Tribulation by Rich Deem, www.godandscience.org).

Saints before the throne

As we read on, it is clear why these saints stand before the throne in heaven: “They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v. 14). It is not merely that they died for a just cause, although that in itself is no mere thing; great men and women throughout history have died for families, nations, freedom and many other God-ordained gifts and institutions. The martyrs John sees around the throne, however, stand there for one reason: Christ has purchased them with His blood. They do not claim any merit. They do not boast of any personal rights. No doubt on earth they refused the offers of life, possessions and freedom in exchange for recanting their faith. But they held fast. They joined the apostle Paul, who wrote, “I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ – the righteousness from God based on faith” (Phil. 3:8-9).

Yet whatever fleeting and temporal things they have forfeited for the cause of Christ are now repaid with eternal rewards. The angel explains to John: “The One seated on the throne will shelter them [or spread His tent over them]: no longer will they hunger; no longer will they thirst; no longer will the sun strike them, or any heat …” (vv. 15b-16). Missionaries that Fidel Castro imprisoned after seizing power in Cuba often were taken from their cells in the morning and made to stand in the blistering sun all day before being returned to their cold and dank dungeons at sunset. There is no doubt their skin festered and peeled and their throats became parched as they were punished for nothing more than being faithful to the One seated on the throne. But now, as John sees them stand before the throne, they are safe beneath their Savior’s protective wings.

The angel continues: “Because the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (v. 17). Jesus is the good shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep, and who knows them and is known by them (John 10:11, 14). This is a claim to deity, since Yahweh is described in similar terms in the Old Testament (Ps. 23:1, 80:1; Isa. 40:10-11). But even more, this divine shepherd became a sheep, a “lamb led to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:7), the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

“A shepherd, in order to know his sheep and care for them, has to live among them,” writes Carl Haak. “He has to be close to them. Jesus not only came from heaven to earth to be near His sheep, He actually became like them. The Shepherd became a sheep, took on our nature, and lived our entire life (except without sin). This is why He is the good Shepherd, perfectly qualified to know us and to care for us. He is like us in our flesh. There is no shepherd like this Jesus” (“I Am the Good Shepherd,” www.reformedwitnesshour.org, Oct. 5, 1997, No. 2857).

Springs of living water

As a good shepherd leads his sheep to water, the Good Shepherd guides His saints to springs of living water. In John 7, on the last and most important day of the feast of Tabernacles – a day in which water plays a significant role – Jesus stands up and cries, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture hath said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (vv. 37b-38). The observant Jew could not miss the significance of this claim.

On each day of the feast, priests draw water from the pool of Siloam and return to the temple, circling the altar while the choir chants Psalms 113-118. The water is then poured out as a libation at the morning sacrifice. This is a time of great joy associated with Isa. 12:3: “You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.” On the seventh day of the festival, the priests carry the water around the altar not once, but seven times. It is at this high point of the festival that Jesus stands and makes His dramatic cry to the people. He repeats the offer of the Father, “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters” (Isa. 55:1), and offers fulfillment of the very things they were celebrating. Indeed, he is fulfilling the role of God, “their compassionate One [who] will lead them to springs of water” (Isa. 49:10). This is more than a prophet pointing to God’s grace; it is God Himself extending His grace.

Note these insights from Biblegateway.com: “In Jewish writings water is a very rich symbol. God himself can be called ‘the spring of living water’ (Jer 2:13; 17:13). Other texts that use water imagery speak of Wisdom (Baruch 3:12; Sirach 15:3; 24:21, 25-27, 30-31), the law (Sifre on Deuteronomy 48) and, as here in John 7:39, the Holy Spirit (Genesis Rabbah 70:8; Targum of Isaiah 44:3). Jesus, in offering the Spirit (v. 39), is claiming to be able to satisfy people’s thirst for God. The cries of the psalmists are answered. David prayed, ‘O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water’ (Ps 63:1). The sons of Korah sang, ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?’ (Ps 42:1-2)…. When Jesus cries out at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles on this particular day, the worshipers meet God in his sanctuary – in the person of his Son. The longing for God is met with God’s invitation to come and be satisfied. In Jesus, God’s own desire for man is expressed and the desire of man for God is met. All that the temple represented is now found in Jesus” (“Jesus, the Source of Living Water, Extends an Invitation to All Who Thirst,” www.biblegateway.com).

There is one final image that bears mention as the angel says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” a promise repeated in Rev. 21:4. The sinful and fallen world in which we live produces oceans of tears. Babies die in their mothers’ wombs. Natural disasters destroy in a moment what has taken a lifetime to build. War ravages lives, steals dreams, erases borders, violates treaties, brings a sudden end to enduring peace, eliminates security, and hastens the loss of innocence. Gossip ruins reputations. Angry words divide families. Ungodly leaders speed the demise of nations. Rancor in the church undermines unity in the Spirit. Even the most humble servants of Christ get sick, grow old and die. On top of all this, these martyrs around the throne have suffered additional hardship at the hands of those who hate Jesus and thus hate His sheep.

But there is an end to it all. And the day is coming when Christ will hold our faces in His nail-scarred hands and wipe the tears from our eyes with a gentle sweep of His thumbs. This is good to remember when we attend funerals, lose our jobs, suffer the slights of the wicked, and endure the pains of sickness, disease, and aging. All the more reason to look up as our redemption draws near.

Four major views of the vast multitude

Finally, how do proponents of the four major interpretations of Revelation view the vast multitude?

  • Preterists – who see the events of Revelation as fulfilled in the first centuries of the church age – say the vast multitude represents the Gentiles who are saved as a result of God disowning His rebellious wife and children and seeking a new family (Hos. 1:10; 2:23; and their applications in Rom. 9:24ff and 1 Peter 2:9). These are coming out of the great tribulation in the sense that their entrance into the kingdom of heaven results from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the end of formal Judaism. Some preterists, however, see these as Christian martyrs slain by Roman emperors after the fall of Jerusalem. Still other say these could be Jews converted at Pentecost, one of three Jewish feasts requiring all faithful Jewish males to come to the temple, thereby resulting in the salvation of Jews from every nation.
  • Some historicists – who view the events of Revelation as unfolding throughout the course of history – see the multitude as the same group identified in verses 4-8. In the first vision, John sees them sealed for preservation on earth. In the second vision, he sees them glorified in heaven. This would be a great encouragement to the early church, which suffers widespread and brutal persecution. Other historicists see these as Gentile believers, who will make up a far greater number in heaven than their Jewish brothers and sisters.
  • Futurists – who argue that the events of Revelation are largely unfulfilled, especially chapters 4-22 – say these are Gentile believers brought into the kingdom during the Tribulation. The 144,000 Jews and this vast multitude of Gentiles, while saved, are not part of the church, which was raptured prior to the Tribulation. Other futurists, however, understand this palm-bearing crowd to be the church after the tribulation is over.
  • Idealists, or spiritualists – who see Revelation setting forth timeless truths concerning the battle between good and evil – tend to see this innumerable host as symbolic of the church finally glorified in heaven. The 144,000 represent “spiritual Israel,” or the church on earth, while the multitude depicts the “church triumphant” in heaven. The palm branches and white robes symbolize victory and purity. These believers are coming out of the great tribulation – the afflictions through which all saints pass on their way to glory.

Next: The seventh seal — Revelation 8:1-6

They cried out in a loud voice — Revelation 7:9-17

Previously: A vast multitude — Rev. 7:9-17

The scripture

Rev. 7:9 – After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen. 13Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people robed in white, and where did they come from?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them: 16no longer will they hunger; no longer will they thirst; no longer will the sun strike them, or any heat. 17Because the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (HCSB).

They cried out in a loud voice

The redeemed cry out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb” (v. 10). Their praise reflects at least two biblical truths. First, salvation is of God and not of man. We are bankrupt in our sins; lost and separated from God; under condemnation; deserving only of His wrath; self-sold into the slave market of sin; blinded; bound; citizens of the kingdom of darkness; spiritually dead. The redeemed know this and declare it openly before their Savior. The lost do not know their desperate state – and cannot know it unless the Holy Spirit touches their stone-cold hearts, convincing them of their unbelief, their futile self-righteousness, and their future lot with Satan (John 16:7-11). God has taken the initiative to save lost sinners and has completed the work necessary for our salvation. All that remains is for the sinner to receive the gift of eternal life by faith – and even faith is a gift of God.

The second truth in this cry of the redeemed is that salvation is the finished work of the triune Godhead. God the Father, seated on the throne, has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, in Christ (Eph. 1:3). He chose us, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight (Eph. 1:4). He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself (Eph. 1:5). He sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14). Take note that all of these wondrous acts of the Father are accomplished through the Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

While the Holy Spirit is not mentioned in the praise of the redeemed in Rev. 7:10, other scriptures make it clear that He, too, plays an active role in our redemption. He convicts lost sinners of their need for salvation (John 16:7-11); regenerates believing sinners, imparting new life into their once-dead spirits (John 3:5, 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6); seals believers, or places God’s mark of ownership upon them (Eph.. 4:3); confirms that they belong to God (Rom. 8:16); equips them for ministry through spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:7); and helps them in prayer (Rom. 8:26-27).

Yes, Christ is our Savior, and His finished work on our behalf is accomplished in full cooperation with the Father and the Spirit. Just as the Bible teaches that each member of the Godhead played a role in creation, it also teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work together in the “new creation” of redeemed lives and, ultimately, new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21-22).

Next: All the angels stood around the throne