We are told twice in this passage exactly where this vast crowd are standing in verse 9 and in verse 15 of Chapter 7. “They are standing in front of God’s throne and before the Lamb and serving Him day and night in His temple” You can’t get closer than that. They are surrounded by angels along with the 24 elders and the four living beings. They are where they are meant to be; in the presence of God and the Lamb. Just like those who have been martyred and the 144,000 who have been saved from the tribes of Israel, they are safe and secure, protected by the presence of the One they serve.
- They are clothed in white robes and holding palm branches and shouting, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” [7:9-10]
2. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. [7:11]
3. They sang, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever!’ [7:12]
4. One of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?” [7:13]
5. Then he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of great tribulation.” [7:14]
6. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.” [7:14]
7. That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. [7:15]
8. He who sits on the throne will give them shelter. [7:15]
9. They will never again be hungry or thirsty [7:16]
10. They will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. [7:16]
11. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. [7:16]
12. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. [7:17]
13. God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” [7:17] Revelation 7:9-17
What an enigmatic statement that is: “They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.” What a mammoth stretch of the imagination it takes to fully understand that statement! What process of chemistry can possibly achieve that desired result? How are we supposed to understand the steps we must take to wash our robes in blood to make them white? It brings to mind old advertisements claiming that Persil washes whiter than snow. Really? Well, how does blood wash clothing whiter than white? It is inconceivable, isn’t it? Doesn’t that statement arrest your attention and leave you pondering “How on earth is that possible?” Maybe the answer is not ‘how on earth is that possible’, but more to the point how in heaven is that possible?
I wish to guide you through the steps to help us understand this enigmatic statement only to return to our question at the end. I personally find this section of Revelation fascinating. The way this block hangs together begs us to ask the question “How is this possible?” Well let’s endeavour to unpack it.
I am sure you have noticed that this vast crowd are wearing white robes and waving palm branches. We have encountered the white robes before. White robes were given to the martyrs (6:11), those numbered among the 144,000 were marked with the seal of God (7:3-4). Nothing was allowed to happen until each of these redeemed from the tribes of Israel were marked as belonging to God. There was not a breath of wind on the globe until that was done. Now this vast crowd are standing wearing white robes and waving palm branches. The white robes are the robes of righteousness. Waving palm branches was symbolic of victory in Roman and Greek culture. The palm branch was a symbol of uprightness, from the palm tree which as it grew the straighter it became. In Jewish culture palm branches were waved at the harvest of booths or first fruits. (Leviticus 23:40) This is symbolic of the coming harvest of the souls of the redeemed. John is the only one among the Gospel writers to connect the waving of palm branches to the Coming of the Messiah, the sacrificial lamb at the triumphant entry! Oh yes this was a triumphal entry but the crowd saw victory. It takes a lot more thought to connect all the dots.
Have you noticed the song they are singing? Note in the first instance there is singing in heaven again. The song they sing is “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” When the song breaks out, the angels, the 24 elders and the four living beings bow down and worship with their faces to the ground. They are bowing before God and the Lamb because He has saved this multitude, which cannot be numbered, through the blood of the Lamb who stands before them. The angels are standing around this huge crowd and the 24 elders and the four living creatures. The angels are not singing, those blessed with salvation are singing. I suspect as before (Rev 5:9), the 24 elders and the four living creatures are singing along with the redeemed because they represent them. They know what it means to be redeemed; angels don’t. The Redeemed know their salvation comes from God and from the Lamb. Together they sing, ““Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever!’ Why? Because He has saved this multitude and not lost one He has marked for salvation.
Notice how, once again, [Rev 5:5] one of the 24 elders steps forward and tells John not to weep for this One, who looked as though he has been slain, has won the victory. The text doesn’t tell us if this one elder from the 24 is the self same one who asks the question in 7:13, but I suspect it is. Does it intrigue you as it does me that all of this activity in heaven appears to be announced and orchestrated for a purpose? The pauses, the announcements, the questions left hanging, are all to dramatise the effect. This time John is asked who are these ones in white, waving palm branches? John says you tell me, you are the one chosen to announce the purpose.
“These are the ones who have come out of great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.” Actually they haven’t washed their robes at all. What they have done is just what John wrote in his Gospel:
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:10-12
That’s right, the world didn’t recognise him, his own Jewish people rejected him, but to those who accepted him and trusted themselves to him, He gave them the right to become children of God. These ones who accepted Him are numbered from among the Jews of the tribes of Israel and from every nation, tribe, people and language. That is why this multitude now stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. They have symbolically washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have made them white. They have been given robes of righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ.
“He who sits on the throne will give them shelter, they will never again be hungry or thirsty, they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. Because the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd, He will lead them to springs of life-giving water and God Himself will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:15-17
Are they protected? You bet they are! Now we need to unpack this remarkable statement.
It reminds me of Psalm 118:25-27.
Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success. Bless the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, shining upon us. Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
Psalm 118:25-27
In fact we should even read from verse 22 of the Psalm and include the cornerstone reference. This time the crowd don’t call out to be saved, they declare with surety they are saved because salvation comes from our God and what this Lamb has done for us. Wow! These are the ones who have come out of great tribulation down through the ages. You will see that I have changed verse 14 to coming out of great (severe) tribulation generally, not The Great Tribulation specifically which in the text of Revelation is still to come. Yes there is more to come just as there are more to be saved. None will be lost, no not one.
However we must now look carefully at what has been combined together in the statement which results from gathering up the remaining verses of this wonderful “interlude”.
“He who sits on the throne will give them shelter . . . they will never again be hungry or thirsty . . . they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun . . . because the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd . . . He will lead them to springs of life-giving water . . . and God Himself will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
These statements seem to me to be highly important. I think they expand our concept of this Lamb and what He has done exponentially. For that reason I won’t expand it for you now. I will take my cue from John and the Lamb by carefully orchestrating this revelation to be sequential and timed with pauses and statements and questions to highlight and spotlight the statements made. But before I leave you to ponder the closing sequence, allow me to go back to the enigmatic statement in the title of this Gem. How do we wash our robes in blood to get them whiter when it is impossible on earth to do so? Here on earth blood taints and stains things. You know from watching CSI and crime programmes, blood will always be present, no matter how you may try to cover it up. Well it struck me that God too wants to cover up. Not the fact that blood is present, but that the blood of Christ covers over a multitude of sins. I trust you will forgive me this pun but it is truer than true. Through the blood of Christ the sins of this multitude of uncountable people down through the ages find their sins are covered and instead they have been given robes of righteous. Robes which we know can’t be purchased by gold or silver, but are only given out to those who have placed their trust in Christ to save them.
Oh yes my faithful Gem readers, we can join and sing the song “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” because we know the miracle that happened in heaven not on earth whereby our robes have been made whiter than white by the blood of the Lamb. What is impossible on earth is perfectly possible with God in heaven.
Now it is time to leave you to allow you to ponder these final verses from Revelation 7:15-17 and the lyrics of William Cowper’s famous hymn.
Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.
John Stott
Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
Elton Trueblood
I want to be so full of God that when a mosquito bites me, it flies away singing “There’s Power in the Blood.”
Ian
‘…you were redeemed [bought out of slavery and set free]… with the precious blood of Christ… ‘
1 Peter 1:18-19