9And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:9-10
Isn’t it interesting that this list occurs 7 times throughout Revelation?
REV 5:9 | REV 7:9 | REV 10:11 | REV 11:9 | REV 13:7 | REV 14:6 | REV 17:15 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tribe | Nation | Peoples | Peoples | Tribe | Nation | Peoples |
Language | Tribes | Nations | Tribes | People | Tribe | Multitudes |
People | Peoples | Languages | Languages | Language | Language | Nations |
Nation | Languages | Kingdoms | Nations | Nation | People | Languages |
I wrote in the last Gem: You can probably answer your own questions now Tim. Does this list of four elements really matter? You bet; they matter to God. God is all about reaching the whole world. His intent was always for every single soul to come to know Him intimately as their Creator and their Redeemer. That was, is and always will be His goal.
I am sure that surprised those of you who know me well. That I would skip this question and tell Tim effectively, “You can work the answer out for yourself.” I haven’t heard back from Tim, but I am sure some of you were thinking, “I can’t believe you passed up the opportunity to talk about the things you are most passionate about Ian.”
Seven times throughout the book of Revelation we have this list with variants: 5:9, 7:9, 10:11, 11:9, 13:7, 14:6 and 17:15.
For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (5:9)
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. (7:9)
Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” (10:11)
And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. (11:9)
And he (the beast) was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. (13:7)
And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. (14:6)
Then the angel said to me, “The waters where the prostitute is ruling represent masses of people of every nation and language. (17:15)
Well, it matters to God because He had John record it in His Word seven times!
REV 5:9 | REV 7:9 | REV 10:11 | REV 11:9 | REV 13:7 | REV 14:6 | REV 17:15 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
φυλῆς | ἔθνους | λαοῖς | λαῶν | φυλὴν | ἔθνος | λαοὶ |
γλώσσης | φυλῶν | ἔθνεσι | φυλῶν | λαὸν | φυλὴν | ὄχλοι2 |
λαοῦ | λαῶν | γλώσσαις | γλωσσῶν | γλῶσσαν | γλῶσσαν | ἔθνη |
ἔθνους | γλωσσῶν | βασιλεῦσι1 | ἐθνῶν | ἔθνος | λαόν | γλῶσσαι |
Glossary
- [φυλή] phulē – race, clan, kindred, tribe
- [γλῶσσα] glōssa – tongue, language
- [laos] la-os’ – people, people groups, common people, laity
- [ἔθνος] ethnos – race, tribe, gentile, nation, foreigner, non-Jew, ethnic grouping
- [βασιλεύς] basileus / basileia – king, kingdom, monarchy, fiefdom
- [ὄχλος] ochlos – company, crowd, multitude of common people
You will see in this second table two terms which have footnotes to them. These two terms appear only once in the table, once only in a specific verse for each one. I am merely drawing your attention to them at this point. I will deal with them in a later Gem at the right time. Suffice to say, the variations in spelling with the other terms used are a result of the Greek grammatical case system where the form of the word changes depending on the role it is performing in the sentence and whether it is singular or plural.
A glance at the table above will force you to come to the conclusion that the order is random. No two lists are the same across the seven references. The order is not set in any way. ‘Nation’ and ‘People’ can appear in any position. ‘Tribe’ only appears first or second in the list and is never third or fourth. ‘Language’ never appears first in the list but always in the lower positions. According to modern usage of the terms, ethnē and φυλή could be considered interchangeable terms for “tribes”, ethnic groupings according to tribal or cultural characteristics.
Over the next series of Gems we will explore the significance of these terms and their application for God’s perspective on those He wants to reach with His Good News and by extension, those He wants us to reach. If you were to rank them and put them in an order, what would that order be?
We tend to gravitate towards our tribes; the challenge is to understand the people of other tribes.
Diana Eck
The triumph of culture is to overpower nationality.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
No tribe, howsoever insignificant, and no nation, howsoever mighty occupies a foot of land that was not stolen.
Mark Twain
If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
African Proverb