After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
A Biblical study on the Multitude of Revelation 7.
http://beginningandend.com/who-are-the-multitude-of-revelation-chapter-7/
Revelation 7:9 "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
This is after John's second vision has taken place. Only here, and in
John 12:13 were palms used to glorify our Lord. The Jews used these palm branches,
"and cried Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord". That is a fact, Jesus did come in the name of the Lord God Almighty.
Revelation 7:10 "And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."
In other words, these great numbers of people, came from all races and nations and languages on the face of the earth, and each and every one of them have been saved.
This is not part of the "rapture" as many teachers teach. No; but it is the people who have died in the Lord's work, and have gone to be with Him. It is my father who died twelve years age, and my uncle Ron who has passed on; It's my grandmother Knecht, who passed on when I was a child, and every other saint of God, who lived a life on this earth, and died and went to be with the Lord; from any century in this earth age. Those are the ones John sees standing before the Lord in their white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and their sins made white as snow.
Though we laid their fleshly bodies in the ground, Praise God their souls went immediately to be with the Father. [
Ecclesiastes 12:7] From Adam and Eve to this present time, all these saints of God are now angelic soul beings; though they sinned in the flesh, each has repented of their sins, and God is faithful and just to forgive all those sins, and make them white and pure as snow.
Revelation 7:11 "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts [living creatures], and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God."
John is seeing in this vision this beautiful scene through the heavenly door.
Revelation 7:12 "Saying, A'-men: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. A'-men."
There are seven-fold blessings the saints are ascribing back from themselves to the Lamb of God [Jesus Christ]. These are given to Jesus Christ because of what Jesus has done. They again are;
Blessing, Glory, Wisdom, Honor, Thanksgiving, Power, and Might. Remember back in
Revelation 5:12 it named the seven spirits of life given Jesus Christ by the Father?
Here the saints recognize them and praise the Lamb. However rather than "riches", in verses 5:12, we have "Thanksgiving".
The saints have already received their riches, at this time; and they are part of those riches through all eternity. So now they stand before our Lord in their white robes and bow and praise God in Thanksgiving. What a glorious Wonder to watch.
Revelation 7:13 "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?"
Revelation 7:14 "And I said unto him, Sir [My Lord], thou knowest. and he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Notice where they came from, the great tribulation. They came out of the tribulation and
"washed their own robes" in the blood of the Lamb. Nobody washed the robes for them.
They were made white by the blood of the Lamb by their repentance and confession in Jesus Christ. These "witnesses", we will read of in
Revelation 19, and our robes are the product of our righteous acts done in our flesh body, while living on this earth.
Those acts are the things you do, and in helping others in the name of the Lord. Our Salvation comes only by grace [unmerited favor] of God, through the blood of the Lamb [Jesus Christ on the cross]; yet our righteous acts are what we are clothed in throughout all eternity. True righteousness is only in Christ, but when you try, God accepts it as perfect. So these saints are standing there in their righteous works.
The term
"great tribulation" is better translated
"great afflictions" in the flesh, or body. For these saints went through afflictions in the flesh, or body; However they may not have lived in the period of the "Great Tribulation". That is the time when Satan will rule the earth, in person, as Antichrist. Many millions have suffered greatly in the name of God, and even given their lives in His service.
Revelation 7:15 "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he hat sitteth on the throne shall dwell among [spread His tabernacle over] them."
Many of these saints will return with Christ at the seventh trumpet. However, when the Godhead, and His throne move to earth eternally, it will be following the Great White Throne Judgment. Then all souls will be on earth and in God's eternal kingdom, or they will simply not exist. Not even the memory of them will exist. We will discuss this in
Revelation 22
http://www.theseason.org/revelation/revelation7.htm
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