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.
What kind of a question is that? Of course the people matter. God is all about people, His chosen people, His redeemed people, any and all people. If you have been around Christian people for any length of time you will have heard these words before:
For God loved the world so much that He gave His only one-of-a-kind Son, that whosoever is believing in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [IVV]
John 3:16
The people of the world, mankind, are the object of God’s love. Why are you asking that question Ian? Those of you who have been following the Gems in the last couple of weeks know I am digging into the list found in Revelation 5:9. Namely the statement that “Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Well, that’s interesting: God loves people so much that he redeemed people from every people for God. Hang on a moment. Run that by me again. God so loves the people he created, that he redeemed people from people. I am sorry Ian, but that sentence is too hard for me to understand. There are just too many people.
That’s the point! I wrote in Gem 2240
Why not just take one of these four categories?
- Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe.
- Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every language.
- Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every people.
- Christ’s blood has ransomed people for God from every nation.
Isn’t this overkill? Surely one category will suffice? Does it matter that all four are stated? If only one is needed, which would you choose? Would you prioritise tribe, language, people group or nation?
Do you see and understand that something very significant is being said here? That is why I have felt to pull this list apart in the hope of showing you what underlies these words. My Greek professor, Basil Brown (who is now present with the LORD) used to say, “Class, not one word of Scripture is a throw-away. Every word recorded in the text is important. Study every word, it’s there for a purpose.” That is what I am doing; following Prof to the best of my ability.
That is why I am calling this Gem series Tribe, Language, People, Nation – Does it Matter? You know already that the words we are really investigating are: phulēs “tribe”, glōssēs “tongue/language”, laou “people” and ethnous “nation”. Four different words, each with a specific meaning. If they all meant the same, (i.e. synonyms of each other) then we could just choose one word to represent them all. But John has written down what he saw and what he heard. Thus he has recorded for us:
Your blood [Jesus Christ’s, the Lamb of God] has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
The word in focus in this third position is the Greek word [λαοῦ] in all of its forms through Revelation:- λαοῦ, λαῶν, λαοῖς, λαὸν, λαοὶ. There are only 5 different forms of the word across 7 verses because two of the usages are repeated. You see that from the second chart I gave you in Gem 2239.
The following explanation of the word [λαος, ου ὁ] a masculine noun, comes from Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Vol IV, pages 29-57 described by Gerhard Kittel himself as one of those words of decisive importance.
Here is a summary of what Kittel has to say:
[laos / laoi] referred to individuals (persons) who form a collective or a crowd, people. It was used as a substitute for the word ‘population’, the collective or total number of people. In the Septuagint (LXX) [laos] was used as a specific term for Israel, the chosen people of the Land of Promise – עמי הארצ [am ha ’arets] people of the land.The first use is in Gen 34:21-22.
“These men are our friends,” they said. “Let’s invite them to live here among us and trade freely. Look, the land is large enough to hold them. We can take their daughters as wives and let them marry ours. But they will consider staying here and becoming one people [laos]1 with us only if all of our men are circumcised, just as they are. Gen 34:21-22 (LXX)
Who are ‘they’? Hamor and his son Shechem along with the descendants of Jacob. There in essence is the beginnings of God’s chosen people.
God states very clearly the basis for His decision to choose Israel as His own people.
For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations!”
Deuteronomy 7:6-7
Know this and don’t ever forget it: It’s not because of any good that you’ve done that GOD is giving you this good land to own. Anything but! You’re stubborn as mules. [MSG] Deuteronomy 9:6
However in both the singular and the plural form of [laos] the connotation contains a dual meaning for [am ha ’arets] in another way.
In the Hebrew term the word carries the connotatation ‘people of land’, even manual or blue collar workers, “common people. This dualism is also paralleled in the Greek term [laos], from which is also derived the English term ‘laity’. I referred to that feature in Gem 2209 related to Laodicea. Common people, commoners from [laikos] ‘of the people’, i.e. derived from the common people. It came into English usage as “laity” meaning ordinary people, not professional, those without expertise or training, unpaid and unordained commoners; layman and laywoman. In Classic Greek there were the few [hoi oligoi] or smaller numbers of landed gentry, a well educated upper class. These were in contrast to ‘the many’ [hoi polloi], the masses, regarded as the plebs, rabble, the ‘great unwashed’ or ‘proles’ (proletariat). The term [hoi oligoi] was used for the Upper Class as distinct to the new breed of educated, monied middle class, still looked down on because they came from the lower class. These were called the ‘hoi polloi’ by the Upper Class.
This matches the dualism in the both terms [am ha ’arets] and [laos]. The Israelites were not chosen because they were smart, intelligent, skilled or powerful. In fact they were a stubborn and resistant people. Just as those who became Christians were simple, ordinary, everyday sinners. It is interesting that the Greek word used in Revelation 18 and 21 is [laos].
Then I heard another voice calling from heaven, “Come away from her, my people [ὁ λαός μου]. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her. Revelation 18:4
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people [λαοὶ αὐτοῦ]! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.
The sense behind the use of this word [laos] is the chosen people of God, chosen not because of anything they did to merit God’s grace, but chosen because He selected this people to be His own treasured or special people.
Link to the story of an Iranian guy in Hamilton NZ, who said “Any God who chooses the Jews I choose to turn my back on.”
https://www.bereaninsights.org/stories/page/2/
The point behind the use of [laos] in these examples is to emphasize the fact that God is no respecter of persons; high class, middle class or low class, they are all the same to Him. Return your thoughts for a moment to John 3:16 and think about the WHOSOEVER of the KJV, ASV etc. Whoever enters into a trusting / believing relationship in Christ is accepted by God; no matter who they are. Rank, position, class, wealth, power nor any other human classification can prevent you from a close and intimate relationship with God in Christ. Anyone and everyone who has accepted His Son is welcomed by the Father. WHOSOEVER among the laos, the common, ordinary people of the earth, can be a child of God, as long as they are covered by the blood of the Lamb, the Saviour of the World.
The LORD accepts all who come to Him and say sorry for the way they have been living and seek to turn their lives around (repentance). But the amazing thing is He allows you the right to refuse Him. That amazes me even more than His grace. But then why would you refuse such a God of love?
Emperor, king, general, duke. These are just labels. Climb up the family tree of any of them high enough and you’ll find a commoner who dared to take a chance.
Ken Liu
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful.
Seneca the Younger
Elites are always indifferent and unconcerned to the plight of common people.
Jeffrey Fry
The rich think this land is theirs though they have never earned the right to call it theirs.
Maaza Mengiste