THE GREAT MULTITUDE IDENTIFIED (VERSES 13-17

In verses 13 and 14, a question is asked, and it’s actually asked by one of the elders who is assembled in this throng. He asks, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” One of the commentators that I read pointed out that John must have been an excellent student, because he allowed the teacher to answer the question.

John says, “Sir, you know.” YOU know the answer to the question.

Well, WHO are they and WHERE did they come from? The elder does answer his own question. “These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation….” What great tribulation? Well, what was taking place there on earth? And again, I emphasize, what was taking place on earth, even at the time that John wrote this? What took place, what is taking place in the succeeding 2000 years, and what will continue to take place if this earth stands for another 2000 years? That is the period that is being referred to. These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation.

Need we be reminded that this life is not a playground? This life on earth is never depicted in the Scriptures as a place of leisure, a place of play, a place of unconcern. Whoever came up with the theory that appears sometimes on people’s bumper stickers and license places that says, “Whoever ends up with the most toys wins,” suggesting that it’s just fun and games and play and amassing all the things that we can in this life, is wrong. This life is depicted in Scriptures as being “a battleground,” a place of war, a place where, as soldiers in the army of God, we are constantly in battle: 2 Corinthians 10, verses 4 through 6 [“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”]; Ephesians 6, verses 10-18 [“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with Truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints….”]. You know, that’s why the Holy Spirit, through Paul, told us about the armor of God that we should put on. We must keep that in our minds. As we are in this world, as we are fighting the battles of this world, as we are fighting against the forces of Satan—against evil and wickedness, and so on, we can look forward to one day being part of that “great multitude,” who came out of “the great tribulation” with robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Of course, we understand, without comment, what is indicated here—the blood of Christ that we come in contact with through baptism. His blood makes us clean, washes us, as it were, white as snow [Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”].

Verses 15 through 17 [“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He Who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”].

In these verses, we see the status, the heavenly status, of this “great multitude.” We see that they are serving “day and night.” We see that they are worshiping without distraction. We see that they are serving without exhaustion.

You know, we in this world have many problems that we deal with in our lives. We stumble; we fall; we get tired; we get discouraged; we get down in the dumps; we even sometimes grow weary of worship and service. That’s not a diatribe [a bitter, abusive denunciation] against any of us—we’re human! These are part of our human frailties. But when we get to heaven, we will administrate without failure; we will worship without end. In heaven, we’ll fellowship without suspicion.

In this world, in this life, we must try every spirit, 1 John 4, verse 1 [“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”]. We must be on guard for false teachers, and so on. But over there, we won’t need to do that, because only those who are faithful and true to His Word will be there.