Revelation 7:9-14
Lesson Focus In the end, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Lesson Outcomes Through this lesson, students should:
1. Encouraged not to take John’s numbers literally.
2. Encouraged to understand that suffering is often a result of faithfulness to Christ.
3. Understand that, even if we die for our faith, we will end up safe in the protection of Christ.
Catching Up on the Story John’s vision in the heavenly throne room continues. We’ve noticed how worship forms the backdrop for all that happens in Revelation. We’ve witnessed the casting off of crowns in the act of submission. We’ve witnessed the heavenly throne room break out into worship with the rest of God’s good creation joining in. Both the celestial beings and the creatures of this world bow down in worship because the Lion of Judah has become the lamb who was slaughtered and, through that sacrifice, has brought salvation for all.
As creation worships Jesus as the lamb who was slain, he takes the scroll with the seven seals and begins to break the seals. A horse and rider are released upon the earth when each of the first four seals is broken.
With the fifth and sixth seals, we get visions of martyred saints huddled under the altar crying out to God to come and bring salvation, along with a vision of the rulers of the world hiding in mountains and caves. Both groups are seeking refuge.
Chapter seven is a brief interlude before the seventh scroll is opened. Here, John sees a great multitude of those marked with God’s seal.
A Great Multitude The purpose of this interlude is practical in nature. It functions as a respite from the tension of the preceding chapters. John hopes to “reassure the faithful that God will execute judgment, that they will be preserved through the tribulation even if they are killed; and that they will be rewarded for their faithfulness” (Gorman, pg 6 of chapter 8).
The second half of chapter 7 belongs to the first half in style and theme. In the first half, verses 1-8, John sees an angel who is sent to place God’s seal on the heads of those who are faithful. This seal would protect them as they sought to remain loyal to the slaughtered lamb.
Next, John hears that the number of those who have been sealed is 144,000. Over the years, there has been significant speculation as to the literalness of this number. The most likely hypothesis is that the 144,000 sealed saints represent a complete picture of the church.
Eugene Boring notes, “The number 144,000 is intended as symbolic theology, not literal mathematics. From our perspective it may seem limiting, exclusive, and rather small; but in the ears of John’s hearer-readers the number is stunningly large. Along with ‘myriad’ (literally, 10,000), ‘thousand’ is the largest numerical unit found in the Bible. In biblical usage both are used primarily to mean ‘a very large number’ rather than to be taken with literal precision” (Boring, 130).
The 12,000 listed from the twelve tribes of Israel are meant to convey a sense of wholeness or completion. In verse 9, the scene shifts slightly but remains a continuation of the first half of the chapter. What John sees this time is a “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb….” Again, rather than being a precise number, this great multitude represents the complete number of God’s people.
The saints in this great multitude are clothed in white, symbolizing their purity and faithfulness. They wave palm branches as they pour out worship and praise to the one on the throne and the lamb who was slain.
We’re meant to connect the waving of palm branches and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
A Song of Praise Standing at home in the presence of the Father and the Son, the multitude begins to sing. “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the lamb!”
At this point, the faithful multitude is joined by the rest of the heavenly throne room. The angels, the elders, and the four living creatures join in, falling on their faces before the throne in submission and worship.
Their song confesses that all blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to God and God alone. The “amen” that brackets their song affirms the confession that the great multitude made. Salvation comes from God alone.
This is a powerful confession in a world and culture that looked to divine power and salvation in people like the emperor. Salvation belongs to God, not Caesar. The only power and might that matters belongs to God, not Caesar.
It is important to remember that the church in John’s day was experiencing great trials and tribulations. The persecution of Christians was rampant and an ever-present danger. John’s vision speaks directly to their situation as a word of faithful encouragement, saying, “You’ll be tempted to look for power and salvation elsewhere, but don’t fall for it! Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!”
As the Amen resounds, one of the elders looks to John and wants to know, “Who are those, robed in white, and where have they come from?” (v. 13). John responds by confessing his ignorance.
The elder responds, telling John that the great multitude is those who have come out of “the great ordeal.” Some translations might use the word “tribulation.” While an accurate translation, the term has been hijacked by Hollywood and popular theology alike. The cosmic upheaval that might come to our minds today is not what John intends us to imagine.
Instead, as we have already said, John is referring to the trials and persecutions the church is currently experiencing. They have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (v. 14).
“Most likely, therefore, the language “made white in the blood of the Lamb,” has a double entendre. Language from the Old Testament sacrificial system, used here to signify Christ’s death and understood as the means of our being “purchased” for God, becomes in this book the ultimate symbol for victory through death. That is, it is the way of triumph for the martyrs, who, as Christ, will be raised to eternal glory” (Fee, 114).
In other words, the great multitude is those who have died at the hands of persecutors. Instead of seeking refuge and salvation separate from Christ, they have clung to their faith, confessing the crucified Christ until the end. Their reward takes the form of residing safely in the presence of Christ.
In verse 15, the elder tells John that the saints are before the throne of God and engage in worship day and night. The one who sits on the throne personally shelters them. Though they have experienced the worst life has to offer, nothing can touch them now.
It should be noted that this image represents more than just “going to heaven when you die.” The heavenly throne room will not be where John’s vision ends. It ends with a remade heaven and earth and with God making his dwelling among those who have been found worthy in the resurrection.
With language taken from Isaiah, which will again be used at the end of John’s revelation, the elder describes how God will care for these saints.
For those who have persevered, there will be no more hunger or thirst. They will be led by the waters of life. The suffering of the saints will not be glossed over as if they were irrelevant. Instead, in an act that recognizes the sadness and turmoil the saints experienced, the crucified yet resurrected lamb will wipe every tear from every eye.
The lamb wiping every tear away from every eye is the same as when a parent scoops up their child after a nasty fall or when a spouse embraces their partner after losing a parent. The hurt and the pain are absorbed by the one offering the loving embrace. At that moment, the pain is redeemed and cast away. The embrace also communicates safety and strength. After a time, the embrace is loosened, and the one offering the embrace gently wipes the beloved’s tears away, saying, “It’s alright. I’m here now. All will be well.”
So What? The temptation for us today is the same as it has always been for God’s people; we are constantly tempted to look somewhere other than to the one who sits on the throne or to the lamb who was slain for deliverance. To be sure, here in America, any persecution we might face pales compared to that of the early church. So much so that it seems almost heretical to call it persecution.
Nevertheless, we’re tempted to look beyond Christ to whatever else might bring salvation. We look to money, political power, or whatever we think will practically work. We do this because it seems like those things have worked in the past. And, I think we’ve seen that genuinely following Jesus often leads to suffering. We don’t like suffering.
That faithfulness to Jesus often leads to suffering, John knows all too well. That’s his point, really. To be safe with Christ in the end, we need to remain faithful and obedient.
Discussion Questions:
Read the text aloud. Then, read the text to yourself quietly. Read it slowly, as if you were very unfamiliar with the story.
John tells us that he sees “a great multitude that no one could count” (verse 9). Who are these people? What are they doing, and why would they be doing what they’re doing?
John notes that the members of the multitude are robed in white. What might it mean that these people are robed in white?
The crowd is waving palm branches. Is this image supposed to remind us of something? If so, what?
In verses 10-13, the multitude begins to sing a song. What is the content of the song? Given what we have discussed about the cultural context of those who will read this revelation (refer back to the lessons on the seven letters), what important things does this song confess?
In verse 13, one of the elders asked John, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” After John confesses that he does not know, the elder begins to describe the crowd. What is the “great ordeal” that the crowd has come through? Is the elder talking about a past, present, or future reality? Justify your answer.
How can robes washed in blood come out white? What might John be getting at here?
Verses 16-17 describe what has/will happen to the great multitude. What does this sound like to you?
The passage ends with the elder declaring, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Why would God wipe away their tears? Have you ever had someone wipe away your tears? What was that like?
What might God be calling us to do?
What might God be calling us to become?
WORKS CITED
Boring, M. Eugene. Revelation. Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989.
Fee, Gordon D. Revelation. New Covenant Commentary Series. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.
Gorman, Michael J. Reading Revelation Responsibly. 2011. Reprint, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2011. https://www.perlego.com/book/878953/reading-revelation-responsibly-pdf.