Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
The number of God’s people expands exponentially from 144,000 to countless numbers from every nation. People from all over the world will be part of this great cloud of witnesses. This is significant for the mission of the church. It shows that the “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). There is still a lot of work to be done for this to happen. With the increase in technology, there are few parts of the world today where the message of Jesus has not reached. Missiologists talk about “unreached people groups” as part of the theory that narrowly interprets the references to “tribe and peoples.” I don’t know if we need to interpret these verses so specifically, or that once there is one believing person in each “people group” however that is defined, then the end will come. But this theory gives a good incentive to keep pushing to get the gospel out to the world.
This group stands before God’s throne and before the Lamb, joining the living creatures, elders, and angels who praise the Triune God, as described in chapters 4-5. Their praise is for the salvation that God has provided through the Lamb. These people have experienced this salvation and now are full of praise. Some interpreters take this to be the results of the “rapture” of 1 Thessalonians 5. That is certainly possible and could be assumed behind this passage. Or, this passage could refer to those who have died and now are around God’s throne.
The characteristics of these people is significant.They are clothed in white. White represents purity in Revelation. These people have been found worthy because their dirt and stains have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. As Isaiah 1:18 states, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.”
Let us be found as part of this group!
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