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THE GREAT MULTITUDE IN
HEAVEN (VERSES 9-17)
John Sees a Great Multitude (verses
9-12)
Now, we come to
the second part of chapter 7. This is where
we see that innumerable host.
Revelation 7:9-17
“After these things I looked, and behold,
a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations,
tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their
hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God Who sits on the throne, and to
the Lamb!’ 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the
elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
‘Amen! Blessing and glory
and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power
and might,
Be to our God forever and
ever.
Amen.’
13 Then one
of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed
in white robes, and where did they come
from?’
14 And I
said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’
So he said
to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great
tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb. 15 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.’”
Again, we see
this innumerable host. Where are they? They are
“standing before the throne and before the
Lamb,” [verse 9]. We are looking
here at the same people. We are looking at them from two
perspectives, two vantage points, two positions, if you
will.
What
we’re looking at in the first part, verses 1 through
8, is the church militant, as several writers term that. What
do we mean, “church militant”?
Go back to the
opening of the first seal, Revelation 6, verses 1 and
2 [“Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the
seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a
voice like thunder, ‘Come and see.’ 2 And I
looked, and behold, a white horse. He Who sat on it had a bow; and
a crown was given to Him, and He went out conquering and to
conquer.”].
As we
discussed, the Lord is in view, coming forth on
that white horse. He has a bow; He is prepared for
battle. What is the battle? It’s a
spiritual battle. It’s the
battle of bringing the Gospel to all the
world.
And, who are
the soldiers in that army? WE
are! The 144,000 that were in view, that ARE in
view. These are the soldiers in that
battle. WE are the church militant,
the church here on the earth, the church as it was represented in
that day toward the end of the 1st Century, the church
in every age, as viewed there in those first 8 verses of
Revelation, chapter 7.
Then, in
verses 9 through 17 we see
the church triumphant. This is the church
triumphant before God on His throne, and before the
Lamb. This is the church in heaven, the church saved.
We said that this 7th chapter contains
a Message of hope, of comfort, of
assurance, and indeed, it does, doesn’t
it?
There
are five
points that we can
make from this section. These five points
have to do with this innumerable host, with these ones who are seen
standing there before the throne.
The
first point is a description of the
innumerable host—this “great
multitude,” as they are referred to here in the
text. Notice what is emphasized, what is accentuated
here.
FIRST of all, their number is
accentuated. What is their number? Well, it is as a
“multitude” that no one could count. In
Revelation 7, verse 4, John HEARS
the number, “144,000” [“And I
heard the number of those who were
sealed.”]. In Revelation 7, verse
9, John SEES the number, the
“great multitude” [“After these
things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one
could number….”].
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