Innumerable Multitude
Synopsis: John
now sees an innumerable multitude from all nations exiting the tribulation to “stand”
before the Lamb and the Throne – Revelation 7:9-17.
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By Jamie Street on Unsplash |
In Chapter 7, the same group of saints is portrayed
with two different images - The tribes of Israel assembled for travel, and the innumerable
multitude standing and celebrating before the Lamb and the
One Who Sits on the Throne. In this next vision, the imagery continues to be
drawn from the story of ancient Israel in the Wilderness during its sojourn
from Egypt to the Promised Land.
(Revelation
7:9-12) – “After these things, I saw,
and 1o! a great multitude,—which, to number it! no one was able,—of every
nation, and [of all] tribes, and peoples, and tongues; standing before the
throne, and before the Lamb; arrayed in white robes, and palm-branches in their
hands;— and they cry out with a loud voice, saying—Salvation unto our God
who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb! And all the messengers
were standing round about the throne and the elders and the four living
creatures; and they fell down before the throne upon their faces, and rendered
homage unto God, saying—Amen! The blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom,
and the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the might,—be unto our
God, unto the ages of ages. [Amen]!”
John first “heard” the number of the sealed,
or the arithmos, 12,000 men from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Now
he “sees” a vast
multitude that no one can number (arithmeō). “Number”
links what he heard to what he now sees.
Just as the roaring “lion of Judah” became a “slain Lamb,” so, now,
a numerically defined group of Israelites from the “tribes of Israel” become
an innumerable multitude of men and women from every “tribe”
and nation.
The sacrificial Lamb fulfills his messianic role by
redeeming men and women “from every tribe
and tongue and people and nation”. Now John sees a vast multitude of men
and women “from every nation, tribe and
people and tongue”, a clear verbal link to his earlier vision of the “slain
Lamb”:
(Revelation
5:9-10) – “And they sing a new song,
saying—Worthy art thou, to take the scroll and to open the seals thereof;
because thou wast slain, and didst redeem unto God by thy blood [men] out of
every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, And didst make them unto
our God a kingdom and priests,—and they reign on the earth.” – (The Emphasized
Bible).
(Revelation 7:9) – “After these things, I saw, and 1o! a great multitude,—which, to number
it! no one was able,—of every nation, and [of all] tribes, and peoples, and tongues;
standing before the throne, and before the Lamb” – (The Emphasized
Bible).
The members of the multitude are “arrayed
in white robes.” What the “white robes” signify or how the group
obtained them is not stated at this point. The same term was applied
previously to the martyrs “underneath the altar” in the fifth seal – They
were issued “white robes” and told to wait until the full number of
their “fellow servants” was assembled. The “white robes” link the two
groups. They are of the same kind, if not identical.
“Palm-branches” are reminiscent of the annual
Feast of Tabernacles, a time of great joy and celebration at the time of the harvest
and the ingathering of the “fruits of the land”:
(Leviticus 23:39-40) – “Howbeit on the fifteenth
day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye
shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn
rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And ye shall take you on
the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees,
and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice
before Jehovah your God seven days.”
In Chapter 5, John saw “many angels
about the Throne and the Living Creatures and the elders,”
all of whom proclaimed the Lamb worthy “to receive the power,
riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory
and blessing.” So now, also, “all the angels
standing about the throne and the elders and the
four Living Creatures…” ascribe blessing,
glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor,
power and might to our God. The narrative
is now back before the Throne at the center of the Cosmos, only, a
new group has been added to the mix – The “innumerable multitude” from
every nation.
In both Chapter 5 and here, seven
honorific qualities are ascribed to the One Who is being adored. The verbal
links are deliberate; Chapter 5 pictures the overcoming Lamb; Chapter 7 presents
the multitude of redeemed men and women that follows him out of the Wilderness
to the Promised Land of plenty.
“From every nation and tribe and people
and tongue.” The reference to the international scope of the multitude alludes
to key messianic prophecies from the Old Testament. The “obedience of the
nations” was promised to the future “lion of Judah” and the Davidic
king. The promises are now fulfilled as the “innumerable multitude” of
men and women from every tribe and nation appear before the Throne and the
Lamb:
(Genesis 49:9-10) – “A lion’s whelp is Judah, From the
prey, my son hast thou come up! He hath stooped—hath crouched As a lion—or as a
lioness, Who shall rouse him? The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, Nor the commanders staff a from between his feet,—Until that he
come in as a Shiloh, And his be the obedience of the peoples.”
(Psalm
2:7-9) – “I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said unto me, Thou art my son;
This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the
nations for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou
shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
(Daniel 7:13-14) – “I continued looking in the visions of the night, when lo! with the clouds
of the heavens, one like a son of man, was coming,—and, unto the Ancient of
days, he approached, and, before him, they brought him near; 14 and, unto him, were given dominion and dignity and kingship, that
all peoples, races and tongues, unto him, should do service,—his dominion, was
an age-abiding dominion, which should not pass away, and, his kingdom, that
which should not be destroyed.”
This vast multitude of men and women is “standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” This is in contrast
with the sixth seal opening when men
from every level of society attempted to hide from the impending “wrath.”
On the Day of the Lord, no one is able to “stand” before
the Lamb or the Throne, yet, now, a vast multitude that no one can number is observed
“standing” before the Throne and Lamb, and, in
celebration, not dread. How is this possible? Who is able “to stand?”
The Interpretation
In Chapter 5, one of the elders pointed to
the Lamb as one who fulfills the messianic role of the victorious “lion of
the tribe of Judah.” Likewise, at the end of Chapter 7, “one from among the elders says” provides
John with the interpretation of the sealed company, the vast “innumerable
multitude” he saw “standing” in celebration before the Throne and
the Lamb. Two questions are answered:
Who are these men and women, and, from where did they come?
(Revelation
7:13-17) – “And one of the elders
began, saying unto me—These who are arrayed in white robes, who are they? and
whence came they? And I at once said to him—My lord! thou, knowest! And he said
unto me—These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and they washed
their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; For this cause,
are they before the throne of God, and are rendering divine service unto him,
day and night, in his sanctuary; and he that sitteth upon the throne shall
spread his tent over them; They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more, neither in any wise shall the sun fall upon them, nor any burning
heat; Because the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd
them, and shall lead them unto life’s fountains of waters; and God shall wipe
away every tear out of their eyes.” – (The Emphasized Bible).
The “innumerable multitude” is comprised
of men and women from every nation who have “washed their robes
and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.” The martyrs under the altar were told to wait
until the full number of witnesses was assembled. That promise is fulfilled
in the innumerable multitude. The completed “number”
is being gathered.
“Who
is able to stand?” The question left hanging at the end of the sixth seal opening is now
answered - The men and women John sees “standing” before
the Throne and the Lamb have been enabled to do so by the blood of the Lamb.
Standing before the Throne, the multitude receives vindication, not “wrath.”
Rather than attempt to hide in caves or under rocks, they stand “day and
night” offering worship before the Throne.
The 144,000 male “servants of God”
from the tribes of Israel were sealed before the first
four seal openings. The scene now shifts
to the other side of the “great
tribulation” - The “innumerable multitude” of men and women from
every nation and “tribe” is seen by John exiting the “great tribulation”
to stand before the Lamb. They endured “tribulation,”
however, they do not undergo “wrath” - Tribulation and wrath in the book
of Revelation are not synonymous.
The “great
tribulation” alludes to a passage from Daniel, one applied several
times in Revelation:
(Daniel 12:1-3) - “And at that time will Michael, the great ruler who standeth for the sons
of thy people, make a stand, and there will be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation, up to that time,—and at that time
shall thy people be delivered, every one found written in the hook; and
many of the sleepers in the dusty ground shall awake,—these [shall be] to
age-abiding life, but those to reproach and age-abiding abhorrence; and
they who make wise shall shine like the shining of the expanse,—and they who
bring the many to righteousness, like the stars to times age-abiding and
beyond.” – (The Emphasized Bible).
The “tribulation” is called “great,” however,
its duration is not specified; however long it is, the
reader is not told. The term “tribulation” occurs five times in the book,
almost always applied to saints. “Tribulation” is what the followers of
the Lamb endure because of their testimony. It is not identical with “wrath.”
It is what the Dragon and its allies inflict on the “saints” (Revelation
1:9, 2:9-10, 2:22, 7:14).
For example, on the Isle of Patmos, John
labeled himself a “fellow-participant in
the tribulation.” He endured the same “tribulation” as the seven
churches of Asia. Although not stated, his statement indicates the “tribulation”
was underway even at the time he wrote.
John saw the “innumerable multitude” in the
process of “coming” out
of the “great tribulation.” This translates a present tense Greek
participle, which signifies continuous action. This is
not a one-time event but an ongoing process, one that
continues until the full number of witnesses is assembled before the Throne.
Washing robes to “make them white”
alludes to another passage from the book of Daniel. The “time of trouble, such as never was since there was
a nation, up to that time” was to refine God’s people:
(Daniel
12:9-10) – “Then said he, Go thy way,
Daniel; for closed up and sealed are the words until the time of the
end. Many will purify themselves and be made white and be refined,
but the lawless will act lawlessly, and none of the lawless shall
understand,—but they who make wise shall understand.” – (The Emphasized Bible).
In Daniel, the vision was “sealed”
shut until the “time of the end,” a vision that included a time of
horrific “tribulation,” a resurrection, and purified saints. A key theme
of the book of Revelation is the unsealing of the formerly Sealed Scroll. The “time
of the end” foretold to the prophet Daniel had arrived in the Death and
Resurrection of Jesus, the Lamb who puts the contents of the Sealed Scroll into
motion.
In the interpretation, the saints are coming out
of the “great tribulation,” having “washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb.” In so doing, they emulate the Lamb by becoming “faithful witnesses,” a process that continues
“up to the time of the end” (Revelation
1:5, 3:21, 7:14, 12:11).
The multitude “renders divine service (latreuô) day and night in his sanctuary.”
The Greek verb latreuo and its noun
form, latreia, are commonly used in the Septuagint version of the
Old Testament for the ritual services performed by the priests in the
Tabernacle. Its usage now emphasizes the priestly role of the
saints, an important theme elsewhere in the book:
(Revelation 1:5-6) – “Jesus Christ,—The Faithful Witness, The Firstborn
of the Dead, and The Ruler of the Kings of the Earth. Unto him that loveth us,
and loosed us out of our sins with his blood,— and he hath made us
[to be] a kingdom—priests unto his God and Father.”
(Revelation 5:10) – “And they sing a new
song, saying—Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open the seals thereof;
because thou wast slain, and didst redeem unto God by thy blood [men] out of
every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, And didst make them unto
our God a kingdom and priests,—and they reign on the earth.”
(Revelation
20:6) – “Happy and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: upon these, the second death hath no authority; but they shall be
priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him for
the thousand years.”
Likewise, the white “robes” or stolé of the men and women of the multitude
correspond to the priestly vestments worn by the Levitical priests when they performed
their priestly functions in the Tabernacle. However, every member of
this group, regardless of ethnicity or sex, is arrayed and functions as a
priest (Exodus 28:2-4, 29:5,
Leviticus 8:30).
The picture reflects the new covenant
promises from Ezekiel, and quoted more fully in Chapter 21 of Revelation:
(Ezekiel 37:21-28) – “I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither
they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their
own land…and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My
tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people.”
(Revelation
21:3-4) – “And I heard a loud voice
out of the throne, saying—Lo! the tent of God is with men, and he will
tabernacle with them, and they shall be his peoples, and he shall be God with
them; And he will wipe away every tear out of their eyes,—and
death shall be no more, and grief and outcry and pain shall be no more.”
The final three verses of Chapter 7 describe
how “God
will wipe away every tear
from their eyes.” The clause alludes to the book of Isaiah,
originally, a promise to ancient Israel:
(Isaiah
25:8) - “I will swallow up
death for ever, and the Lord GOD
will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth.”
The interpreting angel now explains - God “will spread his tent over” His victorious saints. They will neither hunger
nor thirst ever again, as the Lamb leads them to fountains of waters. This can only refer to the resurrection
life in the New Creation. The same language occurs again in the portrait of New
Jerusalem (see above):
(Isaiah 49:10-12) - “They
will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will smite them the glowing sand or the
glaring sun, for he that has
compassion upon them will lead them and to springs of water will he conduct
them.”
(Revelation
22:1-5) – “And he pointed out to me a
river of water of life, bright as crystal, issuing forth out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the broadway thereof. And on this
side of the river and on that, was a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of
fruit, every several month yielding its fruit; and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations, And no curse shall there be any more; and
the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein,—and his servants will
render divine service (latreuô) unto him, and they shall see his face, and his name
[shall be] upon their foreheads. And night shall be no more; and they have
no need of the light of a lamp or the light of a sun, because the Lord God will
give them light,—and they shall reign unto the ages of ages.”
In the interpretation, the image of Israel assembled for the
journey to the Promised Land is transformed into a vast gathering of men and
women from every nation “standing” in victory and
celebration before the Lamb and the Throne in New Jerusalem.
The Lamb has prepared his priestly kingdom to march to the Promised Land, New Jerusalem. The completed assembly of “royal priests” stands at the ready, sealed by God, and, thus, prepared for any eventuality. The Lamb vindicates the saints fully, whether past, present, or future, but not before all of them are assembled and “standing” before him and the Throne.
Every man and woman who “washes his
priestly robes in the blood of the Lamb” is well able to stand before the
Lamb and the Throne. Saints achieve victory by persevering in the “great tribulation,”
even submitting to martyrdom when necessary.
While the imagery has changed from scene to
scene, the same group remains in view, one that includes the seven churches of
Asia. The triumphant image echoes the promises made to the seven churches of
Asia, to every saint who “overcomes.” He or she will “eat of the tree of life,” be “arrayed in white robes,” become a “pillar in God’s temple,” and “sit down with him in his throne, just as he
overcame and sat down on his Father’s throne” (Revelation 2:7, 3:5,
3:12, 3:21).
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