14“These are the ones who came out of great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.”15“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his Temple. And he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. 16They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. 17For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Revelation 7:14-17
As I wrote in the last Gem, 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.” Each one of these statements is a promise from God of what He will do for His own, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
- He will give them shelter.
- They will never again be hungry or thirsty.
- They will never be scorched by the sun.
- The Lamb will be their shepherd.
- He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
- God Himself will wipe every tear from their eyes.
These six statements are pregnant with meaning. They all relate to those who are coming out of great tribulation, who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and wearing white robes. This list of protection or the results of redemption are a prefiguring of what will be their end state in the New Jerusalem, but it will be given in the midst of their present circumstances. (See the comments I made about the strength of the present participle [ἐρχόμενοι] in verse 14 in Gem 2261.) This level of protection is made available for those coming out of severe tribulation in John’s time as well as down through the ages until The Great Tribulation. Each one of these are set in allusory language related to the protection either God Himself or the Lamb gives. Let’s look at each in turn.
Shelter – Literally: Spread his tent over them
σκηνώσει ἐπ᾿ αὐτούς
{He will tabernacle} over them
The verb used here is derived from the word for ‘tabernacled’ – ‘set up His tent among them’, ‘tabernacle’ / ‘glory, shekinah glory’, which dwells with them. It is used in John 1:14 where Eugene Peterson translated the verb here as “moved into the neighbourhood’ i.e. ‘set up his tent among them’. It also equates with the Shekinah Glory, the glory of the Presence. But in this verse the idea is the protection of God’s abiding presence over His blood bought people. The KJV translators termed it “dwell among them”. In this case the presence is more than just moving into the neighbourhood, or dwelling among them (viz John 1:14). Here the sense is “He will cover them with His presence”. He will spread over them His tabernacle, i.e cover or shelter them with His Presence. The use of the verb [skēnoō] in this verse is highly symbolic and has deep meaning connecting the symbolism of the tabernacle, the glory of the Presence of God and the protective covering that God gives to His people.
Never Hunger or Thirst again
You can sense can’t you that this construction has “multiple meaning” written all over it. The primary meaning is a constant supply of food and drink that will not run out. In the first instance it is a veiled reference to the wilderness journeyings when the children of Israel were given manna each morning and water from the rock which followed them (1 Corinthians 10:4).
Another layer of meaning must surely relate to those living under the Roman Empire during Domitian’s reign. Domitian commanded a sales tax be applied to purchases in the market place as an offering to him as lord of Rome. Those who paid were given a mark on the hand or the forehead to show they had paid obeisance to the Emperor and were permitted to keep trading. Christians during this period found it so hard to trade under Domitian. An 8.5 metre statue of Domitian was erected in the Agora where the citizens were to pay respect to Domitian as lord. Yet 12,000 Christians were baptised into Christianity during Domitian’s reign. The One sitting on the true throne kept those redeemed by the blood protected from one of Rome’s worst tyrants.
But there must surely be another layer of meaning to this analogy. Surely, it must include the allusion to spiritual food and drink which satisfies far more completely than mere physical daily bread and water. If God kept His people in the desert by supplying their significant needs on a grand scale, would He not provide for them again in other periods of need throughout history? Do you see the link to Isaiah 49:10?
They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Isaiah 49:10
John expanded Isaiah’s last line to form two lines. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The One who sits on the throne will provide over and abundantly for their daily needs and their spiritual needs as well.
The sun won’t beat down on them
John once again lifts the quote from Isaiah as it is applied to the ministry of Messiah and intensifies it once again by turning the Isaiah quote into two lines. The sun will not beat down on them // nor any scorching heat. What came immediately to my mind was the fires of martyrdom coupled with the predicted terrors coming from the sun as described in Revelation Chapter 6 with the darkening of the sun after the sixth seal. Also in Chapter 16:8, with the scorching power of the fiery sun associated with the pouring out of the vial upon the sun by the fourth angel. The promise is that the Redeemed will not experience the scorching heat of the sun again. Now that once again is a remarkable promise to hang on to. Does that mean the Redeemed will be snatched from The Great Tribulation or will they be protected during the events? Watch this space!
The Lamb will be their shepherd
Do you see John is still tracking with Isaiah in picking up the final two lines from Isaiah 49:10. “For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” John then turns the One who sits on the throne (from the Isaiah reading) into The Lamb will lead them. In other words he interprets the second doublet of Isaiah in a classic poetic and apocalyptic way by switching the One who sits on the throne for the Lamb. The Lamb is now the centre of the action in heaven before the throne! Put another way, the Lamb has now become the Shepherd. But of course, that shouldn’t surprise us because we know that is exactly what John did in Chapter 10 of his Gospel which resulted in the Jewish leaders wanting to stone Jesus. I won’t quote the passage for you, but you can refresh your mind by reading John 10:24-30.
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
John 10:31
Talk about déjà vu. But John hasn’t finished yet!
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water
John is using Isaiah, Psalm 23:1-3 and Ezekiel 34 and of course the references he records of Jesus talking of the provision of life-giving water. This slain Lamb now becomes the Good Shepherd who will lead the sheep to the water of life Jesus talked about in John 4:14.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
John 4:14
God Himself will wipe every tear from their eyes
John now picks up on Isaiah 25:8.
He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign LORD will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The LORD has spoken!
Isaiah 25:8
which leads into Revelation’s final chapters with its focus on crying and sorrow banished forever and springs of eternal refreshment ever available for the Redeemed.
What a master stroke by John himself or by the words he heard in conjunction with the visions he saw. Was it John’s cleverness or was it all due to the brilliance of Jesus’ revelation? I guess we can debate that from now until we participate firsthand in the apocalytic events described therein. Either way I think you have to agree this is a comprehensive way of reassuring God’s people across all ages of two things:
- The Redeemed from all ages are protected and safe down to the last persons God knows are worthy of salvation, and none will be lost.
- This includes those coming out of great tribulation in John’s day and all others between then and now and up until the Day of the LORD.
Yet to be a part of this great throng, we must heed the message of God’s letter to the Seven Churches, representing all churches everywhere:
- Let the one who has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
- This is for those who persevere until the end.
Even for those who lose their life for the Gospel and for Christ, in order to gain the Life of the Age to Come.
Until We Reject Worldly Behaviour, The Promises Of Heaven Are Just Beyond Our Reach.
Robb Thompson
You can’t inherit the Promised Land with Egyptian mentality!
Rick Godwin
When you get comfortable in a place where God only intends to take you through, you will delay entering into your promised land.
T D Jakes
In order to be fully committed to your purpose you must be fully persuaded of God’s promise.
Rick Godwin