The Redeemed of the Earth

The One People of God consists of the men and women purchased from every nation by the blood of the Lamb.

The Book of Revelation applies several terms to the saints, who are persecuted by the Devil. They form a united company that transcends national, social, and cultural boundaries. What they have in common is redemption through the sacrificial death of Jesus.

For Christ’s disciples, “tribulation” and persecution are not aberrations. Persevering through trials while bearing witness to the Gospel is what it means to follow “the Lamb wherever he leads.”

[Globe - Photo by Christian Lue (Frankfurt) on Unsplash]

What sets this group apart from other nations is its inclusion of men and women from every nation, people, tribe, and language group. They comprise a “Kingdom of Priests” purchased by Jesus at great personal cost and sent by him to reflect the light of his Gospel on the Earth.

This priestly calling is presented in the opening paragraph of the Book of Revelation. Jesus of Nazareth is now “the Ruler of the Kings of the Earth” because of his Death and Resurrection – (Revelation 1:4-6).

Jesus is the “Faithful Witness,” the one who gave his life for his people, and the “Firstborn of the Dead,” the Crucified Messiah resurrected by God, thus vindicating his sacrifice. Therefore, he now possesses all authority, even over the realm of the dead:

• “Fear not! I am the first and the last, and the Living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades” – (Revelation 1:18).

• “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things says he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens and none shall shut, and that shuts and none opens” – (Revelation 3:7).

His sacrifice has freed his people from their sins; therefore, they have become his priestly kingdom sent to bear witness for him before the nations of the Earth - (Exodus 19:4-6, Revelation 5:10, 14:1-4).

The original recipients of the Book of Revelation are identified as the “servants” of God and the Seven Assemblies of Asia. They are “fellow participants” with John in the “Tribulation and Kingdom and Perseverance in Jesus” because of their “testimony of Jesus” - (Revelation 1:8-9).

In Chapter 5, John sees a glorious figure seated on the “Throne,” representing God. He holds the Sealed Scroll, but only the sacrificial Lamb is found worthy to take and open the Scroll because of his redemptive act:

• “And they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and purchased with your blood for God men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and you made them a kingdom and priests for our God, and they are reigning upon the earth” - (Revelation 5:9-10).

The same category applied to the Seven Assemblies of Asia is applied to this vast multitude. Through Christ’s death, they have become the “Kingdom of Priests,” and they are sent to reflect the light of the Lamb to the nations. Though this company is larger than the seven marginalized congregations of Asia, it also includes them.

In Chapter 7, John “hears” the “number” of God’s servants who are sealed, twelve thousand males from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, or 144,000 men. However, when he looks, John sees:

• “After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. <…> These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” - (Revelation 7:9-14).

What John “saw” interprets what he first “heard.” The Innumerable Multitude is identical to the 144,000 males from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. This is also the same group of men purchased from every nation by the blood of the Lamb and made a Kingdom of Priests in Chapter 5. Moreover, they wear the white linen robes of priests; this is the same priestly company described previously in the Book - (Leviticus 16:9-4).

In this way, the Book of Revelation transforms the image of the Tribes of Israel assembled around the Tabernacle into the Innumerable Multitude of men from every nation assembled in worship before the Lamb and God:

• “Therefore, 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” - (Revelation 7:13-17, 21:1-6).

THE BEASTLY WORLD SYSTEM

In Chapter 11, the “Two Witnesses” are called the “Two Lampstands,” and elsewhere in Revelation, lampstands represent churches. When their prophetic ministry is finished, the “Beast that ascended from the Abyss waged war with them and overcame and killed them” – (Revelation 1:20, 11:4-7).

The Beast cannot kill the Two Witnesses until he is authorized to do so. However, their deaths will not mean defeat for the Lamb or his people. Their martyrdom is followed by the Day of the Lord and the consummation of the Kingdom of God when the “Seventh Trumpet” is heard. The wicked are judged, but the saints redeemed by the sacrificial death of Jesus are vindicated by God:

• “And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he will reign forever and ever. <…> And the nations were enraged. And your wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to your servants the prophets, and to the saints…” - (Revelation 11:15-18).

In Chapter 12, Satan is expelled from Heaven. Enraged, he gathers his forces to “wage war against the Seed of the woman, those who have the testimony of Jesus.” But the “brethren” overcome the “Dragon” by the “word of their testimony” – They are willing to suffer martyrdom for the Gospel - (Revelation 12:9-17).

In Chapter 13, the “Beast that ascends from the Sea” wages war on the “saints and overcomes them.” This is the same reality as the war against the Two Witnesses by the Beast, and the war of the Dragon against those who have the testimony of Jesus - (Revelation 11:7, 12:17, 13:1-10).

All three passages describing this war allude to the “Little Horn” that attacked the saints in the Book of Daniel. They do not portray multiple battles, but the same war waged on “the saints,” the Church of Jesus Christ, by the beastly forces allied with the Dragon:

• “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” - (Revelation 7:21-22).

The “False Prophet” uses impressive signs and economic control to cause all the “Inhabitants of the Earth” to take the mark of the Beast. In contrast, those who have been “redeemed from the Earth” by Jesus are standing with him on Mount Zion as a priestly company. Rather than the beastly mark, they have God’s name inscribed on their foreheads:

• “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. <…> and they sing, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song except the hundred and forty and four thousand, those who had been purchased out of the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he leads. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb” – (Revelation 14:1-4).

Like the redeemed multitude from every nation of Chapter 5, the 144,000 males standing with the Lamb were purchased by his blood and “sing a new song.” This is the same priestly group from the tribes of Israel that became the Innumerable Multitude of the redeemed from every nation. The 144,000 is comprised of ritually pure males, and thus, they are priests. Like the Levites and priests of ancient Israel, they represent the firstfruits of the holy nation, “the kingdom of priests” – (Exodus 19:5-6).

Humanity falls into two groups. Those who are redeemed of every nation and follow the Lamb wherever he leads, and the Inhabitants of the Earth, those who take the mark of the Beast. The names of the latter group are not “written in the Lamb’s book of life,” they have not been “redeemed by his blood” - (Revelation 13:15-18, 14:1-5).

In contrast to the Inhabitants of the Earth, the faithful saints who follow Jesus overcome Satan by persevering through whatever the Devil inflicts on them, even while maintaining the testimony of Jesus. Perseverance through persecution and in testimony is the “endurance of the saints” – (Revelation 14:12).

From start to finish, the focus of the Book of Revelation is on the Church, which is composed of men and women who have been redeemed by the death of Jesus.  Though different terms and images are applied to this company, in each case, the same group is in view.

What sets the saints apart from other men is their redemption by the blood of the Lamb, not their nationality or biological connection to Israel, and the task assigned to them to bear witness before the nations of the Earth.

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SEE ALSO:

• Jesus Reigns - (Jesus triumphed over Satan and Sin through his Death and Resurrection; therefore, he now reigns from the Messianic Throne)

• Martyrs and Overcomers - (Beginning with Jesus of Nazareth and his martyrdom on Calvary, his followers are summoned to persevere in his Testimony)

• The Absent Church? - (Revelation is a message to the Church concerned with its real-life situation as it bears witness in a hostile world – Revelation 4:1-3)

• Priestly Kingdom - (The present sovereignty of Jesus is based on his past Death and Resurrection, and His disciples participate in his reign on the Earth)