Multitude from All Nations

After this I looked

and a vast host appeared,

which it was

impossible for any one to count

gathered

out of every nation

and from all tribes and peoples and languages,

standing before the throne

and before the Lamb,

clothed in long white robes,

and carrying palm branches in their hands.

In loud voices they cried

‘To our God seated on the throne,

and to the Lamb,

we owe our salvation!’

All the angels were standing in a circle

round the throne

and round the elders

and the four living creatures,

and they fell on their faces in front of the throne

and worshiped God crying:

“Amen!”

“The blessing and the glory

and the wisdom and the thanks

and the honor and the power and the might

be ascribed to our God,

For ever and ever!

Amen!”

Then, addressing me, one of the elders said,

“Who are these people clothed in the long white robes?

And where have they come from?”

“My lord, you know.” I replied.

The elder said:

“

They are those

who have just come out of the great distress,

and have washed their robes

and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason

they stand

before the very throne of God,

and render Him service day and night in His sanctuary,

and He who is sitting upon the throne

will shelter them in His tent.

Nevermore shall they hunger,

nevermore shall they thirst,

nevermore shall the sun smite them

nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb who is before the throne

will be their Shepherd,

and will guide them

to the water springs of Life,

and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

7:9 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,

John sees another vision of a much greater number – couldn’t be counted – they are not on earth, but they are in

heaven. They are coming out of the great tribulation. In the Greek it says – anyone coming out of the great tribulation, has
been in it. You can’t come out of something you haven’t been in. The verb used is “they ARE coming out” – one by one in
a long procession. And all the way through Revelation we are giving clues as to how they are escaping. They are escaping
by martyrdom. This is good news for the martyrs. They’ve been in the big trouble but one by one they are coming out.
Death will be a release from the pressures they are under. (DP)

No one – no man
Of all nations – out of every nation – the human race is one nation by origin, but afterwards separated itself into tribes,
peoples, and tongues; hence, the one singular stands first, followed by the three plurals. (JFB)
Though the church of God is but a little flock in comparison of the wicked world, yet it is no contemptible society, but

really large, and to be still more enlarged (MH)

The 144,000 among this group; the complete group on earth with believers of all nations in eternal heavenly bliss
This crowd in heaven is composed of those who remained faithful to God throughout the generations (LB)
God reveals that the Gentile martyrs stood strong without wavering in persecution
The vision reassures the believers that, from God’s point of view their salvation is secure, complete and perfect
Passion for Jesus with extravagant obedience to Him will be the heartbeat of the church; intimacy with God
The Great Commission will not be fulfilled without martyrs
A martyr means someone who gave testimony in the law court. Those who were faithful to give testimony gave it with

their life – became someone who was willing to die for their faith (DP)

Though they may have escaped the ‘sword of war’ (Mark 13:7-8; Revelation 6), they will be exposed to the ‘sword of

justice’. They shall be put to death as enemies to the empire. (Mark 13:9) (MH)

The antichrist destroys two-thirds of Israel, one-third escaping, and, by the spirit’s operation through affliction, turning

to the Lord, which remnant shall form the nucleus on earth of the Israelite nation that is from this time to stand at head of the
millennial nations of world. (JFB)

The posture of these praising saints: they stood (MH)
The throne of God would be inaccessible to sinners were it not for a Mediator (MH)
Their habit: they were clothed with white robes and had palms in their hands – as conquerors used to appear in their
triumphs (MH)
Palms in their hands–in token of their victory over sin; but here is no mention of crowns (W)
The palm branch was a symbol of joy and triumph. It was used at the feast of tabernacles, on the fifteenth day of the

seventh month, when they kept feast to God in thanksgiving for the ingathered fruits.

References: Isaiah 60:1-5; Romans 11:25 (For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in
your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.); Revelation 5:9; 3:5, 18; 4:4; 6:11;
7:14, 15; 22:3; Leviticus 23:40 (Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of
leafy trees and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days)

7:10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”

Their employment: crying out with a loud voice (MH)
Crying – cry – it is their continuing, ceaseless employment (JFB)
Salvation – The Salvation (JFB)
Both the Father and Son are joined together in these praises; the Father contrived this salvation, the Son purchased

it, and those who enjoy it must and will bless the Lord and the Lamb. (MH)

References: Psalm 3:8 (Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah); Isaiah 43:11 (I, even I, am the Lord, and
besides Me there is no savior.); Jeremiah 3:23 (Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly, in
the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.); Hosea 13:4 (Yet I am the Lord your god ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but
Me; for there is no savior besides Me.); Revelation 19:1; 5:13; 12:10; 22:3

7:11 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.

This is the song of the angels, elders, and living creatures – who all fell on their faces and worshiped (MH)
They consented to the praises of the saints, their ‘Amen’ thereto; and then they added more of their own (MH)

References: Revelation 4:4, 6, 11; 5:9, 12, 14; 11:16

7:12 saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,

Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,

Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Seven specifications (W):

1. Blessing

2. Glory

3. Wisdom

4. Thanksgiving

5. Honor

6. Power

7. Might

References: Revelation 5:13, 14; 4:4, 6, 10

Talk with Elder

7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and
where did they come from?”

Elder answered – a Hebraism for ‘spoke’. The question is here asked, that the proposer may have the opportunity

of answering it. (AC)

Answered – to my thoughts; spoke, asking the question which might have been expected to arise in John’s mind

from what has gone before (JFB)

A question asked by one of the elders, not for his own information, but for John’s instruction. The lowest saint in

heaven knows more than the greatest apostle in the world. (MH)

Martyrdom is one key to the timing of Jesus’ return and God’s judgment
Martyrdom cleanses and purifies the bride. Makes a worthy bride for the Bridegroom. Makes her equally yoked and

fit for marriage. Physical death brings spiritual victory.

Note that it is Jesus who opens the seals and allows satan to overcome the saints for a season
Spiritual warfare: Hindrances – 2 Corinthians 11:3 – “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his

craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ; Reality – 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 “For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 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.
Three levels of strongholds: (1) personal, (2) cultural, (3) cosmic or territorial

The Father is going to allow history to end with a world leader that we call the antichrist. History is going to end in a

great cosmic conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness. The enemy is the man of sin with an evil world empire,
a worldwide false church, standing against the true church the bride of Christ. This evil empire with this evil leader is going
to make war against the saints. He will prevail or overcome them through martyrdom.

References: Revelation 7:9; Daniel 7:21 (I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them);
Daniel 7:25 (He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High … Then the saints shall be given
into his hand for a time and times and half a time.); Daniel 8:24 (His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully,
and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.); Daniel 11:33-35 (And those of the people who understand
shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering, “Now when they fall, they shall be aided with
a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue. “And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them
white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.); Daniel 12:7 (then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the
waters of the river … swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has
been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.); Daniel 12:10 (Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall
do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.); Luke 18:7-8 (Shall God not avenge His own elect who cry
out day and night to Him …?” “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the
earth?”); Romans 8:18 (For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us.); 2 Corinthians 1:5 (For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.); Philippians 3:10 (That I
may know Him and power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.); Colossian 1:24 (I now rejoice
in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church.);
Hebrews 2:10 (For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain
of their salvation perfect through sufferings.); Hebrews 5:8-9 (… learned obedience by things He suffered …); 1 Peter 4:13 (…partake of Christ’s
sufferings…); Hosea 5:15 (in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me); 2 Corinthians 4:17 (momentary light affliction); Acts 3:12

7:14 And I said to him, “My lord, 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.

The answer returned by the apostle in which he tacitly acknowledges his own ignorance: you know (MH)
White symbolizes sinless perfection or holiness which can be given to people only by the sacrifice and shed blood

of the sinless Lamb of God (LB)

It is a righteousness wrought in them by the merit of His blood and the power of His Spirit (AC)
The means by which they had been prepared for the great happiness they now enjoyed: the great tribulation (MH)
Great tribulation – in Greek “the tribulation the great” which seems to point definitely to the tribulation then in

progress, but not yet complete. (W)

References: Revelation 6:9, 11; 7:9; 22:14; 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.); Zechariah 3:3-5 (Now Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy
garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes. And I said, “Let them
put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.);
Hebrews 9:14 (how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?); Matthew 24:21 (for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since
the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall); 1 John 1:7 (but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.)

7:15 “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.

Therefore– for this reason – because of their faith in Christ and cleansing through His blood (W)
They are happy in their employment for they serve God continually (MH)
Serve Him – priestly service is implied (Z)
Temple – sanctuary (NAS)
Dwell among them – tabernacle over them (JFB)
Spread His tent over them (Z)
All 16 references to the temple in Revelation use the word that designates the inner shrine rather than the larger

precincts. It is the place where God’s presence dwells. (NIV)

References: Isaiah 4:5 (then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by
day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.), 6 (and there will be a tabernacle for shade in the
daytime from the heart, fro a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.); Revelation 21:3; 7:9; 22:3; 4:8; 11:19; 21:22; 4:9;
Leviticus 26:11 (Moreover I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you); Ezekiel 37:27 (My dwelling place also will be with
them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people); John 1:14 (And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.)

7:16 “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;

Hunger no more – have no more deprivations of any sort (W)
They are happy in their freedom from all the inconveniences of this present life. From all want and sense of want;

all their wants are supplied (MH)

The sun – symbolic of persecution (JFB)
Sun shall not strike – fall (NAS)
Heat – neither persecution nor affliction of any kind. These the Hebrews express by the term “heat, scorching”. (AC)

References: Psalm 121:5; (The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand) Isaiah 49:10 (They shall neither hunger nor thirst,
neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them);
Psalm 121:6 (The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night); Revelation 21:4

7:17 “for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them fountains of
the waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

They are happy in the love and guidance of the Lord Jesus (MH)
Fountains of waters of life – Living fountains of waters – a ‘spring’ in the Hebrew phraseology is termed ‘living water’,

because constantly boiling up and running on. By these perpetual fountains we are to understand endless sources of
comfort and happiness (AC)

God – HIMSELF – will wipe the tears away (MH)
Wipe away every tear–by removing all occasions of sorrow and filling them with joy forever (W)
In this He deals with them as a tender father who finds his beloved child in tears, he comforts him, he wipes his eyes,

and turns his sorrow into rejoicing (MH)

References: Psalm 23:1 (The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want); Matthew 2:6 (But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least
among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel); John 10:11 (I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives His life for the sheep.), 14 (I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own); Isaiah 25:8 (He will swallow
up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has
spoken); Matthew 5:4 (Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted); Revelation 21:4, 6; 22:1; 21:4