And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
13. one of the elders ] See on Rev 5:5. We have similarly “one (no matter which) of the seven Angels” in Rev 17:1, Rev 21:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And one of the elders – See the notes on Rev 4:4. That is, as there understood, one of the representatives of the church before the throne.
Answered – The word answer, with us, means to reply to something which has been said. In the Bible, however, the word is not infrequently used in the beginning of a speech, where nothing has been said – as if it were a reply to something that might be said on the subject; or to something that is passing through the mind of another; or to something in the case under consideration which suggests an inquiry. Compare Isa 65:24; Dan 2:26; Act 5:8. Thus it is used here. John was looking on the host, and reflecting on the state of things; and to the train of thought passing through his mind the angel answered by an inquiry as to a part of that host. Prof. Stuart renders it accosted me.
What are these which are arrayed in white robes? – Who are these? The object evidently is to bring the case of these persons more particularly into view. The vast host with branches of palm had attracted the attention of John, but it was the object of the speaker to turn his thoughts to a particular part of the host – the martyrs who stood among them. He would seem, therefore, to have turned to a particular portion of the immense multitude of the redeemed, and by an emphasis on the word these – Who are these – to have fixed the eye upon them. All those who are before the throne are represented as clothed in white robes Rev 7:9, but the eye might be directed to a particular part of them as grouped together, and as having something special in their position or appearance. There was a propriety in thus directing the mind of John to the martyrs as triumphing in heaven in a time when the churches were suffering persecution, and in view of the vision which he had had of times of darkness and calamity coming upon the world at the opening of the sixth seal. Beyond all the scenes of sorrow and grief, he was permitted to see the martyrs triumphing in heaven.
Arrayed in white robes – See the notes on Rev 7:9.
And whence came they? – The object is to fix the attention more distinctly on what is said of them, that they came up out of great tribulation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 7:13-14
What are these which are arrayed in white robes.
What and whence are these?
I. Concerning the bright spirits in heaven–whence came they? These are they which came out of great tribulation.
1. They were then like ourselves, for, in the first place, they were tried like others.
(1) The saints now glorified were not screened from sorrow. I saw to-day a number of lovely flowers; they were as delightful in this month of February as they would have been in the midst of summer; but I did not ask, Whence came they? I know very well that they were the products of the conservatory; they had not been raised amid the frosts of this chill season, else they had not bloomed as yet. But when I look upon Gods flowers blooming in heaven, I understand from the voice of inspiration that they enjoyed no immunity from the chill breath of grief; they were made to bloom by the master hand of the Chief Husbandman, in all their glory, amid the adversities and catastrophes which are common to men.
(2) They were not even screened from temptation. To the child of God, temptation to sin is a greater grievance than the suffering of pain. Storms on any sea are to be dreaded; but a whirlwind raised by Satan on the black sea of corruption is horrible beyond conception. Yet, do not say you cannot enter heaven because you are tempted, for all those snow-white bands attained their glorious standing through much temptation, as well as through much affliction.
(3) They were men who as keenly felt trial and temptation as we do. Good men, because they are good, are not the less sorrowful when their beloved ones are taken from them: gracious men are not by grace petrified so as to despise the chastening of the Lord. Jacob mourned for Rachel, and David for Jonathan. Peter wept bitterly, and Paul had continual heaviness. Tribulations abounded and afflictions were multiplied to the first disciples, and we wrong both themselves and us if we dream that it was easier for them to suffer than for us. I grant you that they possessed a secret something which enabled them to endure, but that something was not homeborn in their nature any more than it is in ours. They were fortified by a secret strength which they found at the throne of God in prayer, a patience which the Holy Ghost wrought in them, and which He is equally ready to work in us.
2. The saints who are now in heaven needed trial like others. To what end do men need tribulation? We reply, they often require it to arouse them; and yonder saints who serve God day and night in His temple, once slept as do others, and needed to be bestirred. They required adversity to educate them into complete manhood, for they, too, were once babes in grace. They needed tribulation, moreover, that they might be made like their Saviour.
3. The children of God who are in heaven in their trials had no other support than that which is still afforded to all the saints.
4. If there was any difference between those saints and ourselves, it lay in their enduring superior tribulations, for these are they that came out of great tribulation.
II. What are these? The reply was, They have washed their robes, etc.
1. All those in heaven were sinners, for they all needed to wash their robes.
2. All who are in heaven needed an atonement, and the same atonement as we rely upon. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Not one of them became white through his tears of repentance, not one through the shedding of the blood of bulls or of goats.
3. The saints in heaven realised the atonement in the same way as we must do. The act which gave them the virtue which lies in the atonement was the act of faith. There is nothing to do, and nothing to feel, and nothing to be, in order to forgiveness; we have but to wash and the filth is gone.
III. Now, what of all this? Why, first of all, we must not draw the conclusion that trouble and temptation are any argument that a man will get to heaven. I add a caution. I would, however, have you learn that no amount of trial which we have to suffer here, if we are believers in Jesus, should lead us to anything like despair, for however trouble may encompass us to-day, those in heaven came through as great a tribulation, and why may not we? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Whence come the saints?
Whence came they? Heaven, then, itself has a retrospect as well as a fruition. Heaven itself is a sequel and a consequence as well as a fact, and a present. Heaven is an arrival; heaven is a development; heaven is a result, in one aspect, however infinite its capacities of attainments beyond. Whence came they? Then they were somewhere before. These same persons, different as they are, transfigured as they are from anything that we see, yet were once here. We have seen such persons; we have talked with some of them. The dark river was known not to them, and it was no unmaking and remaking of them to us. Whence came they? They came from this earth, and they are perfected. But the question as It is answered in the context has a fuller meaning than this–it pre-supposes this, and passes on. From earth, of course is the answer, but from earth how conditioned and how used? Heaven is a sequel and a consequence–a consequence of what sort of earth? Heaven is a consummation, though never itself to be consummated. Then of what experience is it the consummation? He calls it two things: two only–pain and purification. These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes. The simplicity, the brevity of the answer may surprise us? Whence came they? We might have expected in answer, From every possible variety of condition, private or public, humble or conspicuous, adverse or prosperous; wealth and length of days, or else sickness, privation, distress, and woe. Not so. The kind of earth from which they came was one and but one. These are they that came out of great tribulation. Pain, then, is the common feature of the earth, of which the terminus is heaven. It is a thought which has exercised Christian people, and we cannot wonder at it. If those who wear the white robes came out of great tribulation, what prospect is there for me to whom tribulation is an experience unknown? The question ought to press upon us. It is easy to say, You cannot force, you need not invite, and you must not simulate pain. If pain does not come the fault is not yours. Pain may be on its way–you must bear it when it comes. This is true, but it is not all the truth. If life smiles on you personally, if it supplies your abundant needs, if its occupations are pleasant, if its friends are many, if its bereavements are few and far between; if, therefore, you cannot affect not to be happy, it is plain that as regards yourself, the only two questions on this head can be–Are you thankful? and Are you kind? Do you receive your blessings from God, and do you share them generously with men? But much more than this. The compass of pain is not thus limited. If neither bodily pain nor mental is yours, we go on to ask, What of spiritual? Is it no pain to feel myself so sinful, that when I would do good evil is present with me; when I would feel the wonderful love there is no response; when I would mount up into the heaven, which is Gods, I faint, and fall back into the dreamy world where God is not? But while spiritual pain is one kind, one ingredient of the great tribulation, there is another–the purely unselfish pain: the pain which looks upon the animate creation groaning in travail, and travails in pain with it; the pain which looks on this anguished England, with food not enough, and work not enough for its toiling millions; feels, too, with the foolish misled dupes of the so-called sympathy or philosophy which leads them on to quagmires and quicksands unfathomable. Yes, there is an unselfish as well as a spiritual tribulation; and I think some of the white-robed in heaven have come out of it. So, then, pain is one of the two earths out of which heaven is made. Now for the other. We have called it in one word, purification. They washed their robes down here and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Purification: the being made white; Oh, who shall give me that for this black thing, this spotted, sullied, sordid blackening which is all around me? I feel it, I am ashamed, I am unhappy. Oh, for the whiteness, oh, for purification. Is it a name; is it a dream; or is it a reality? These white-robed ones in heaven, they have it; nay, they had it down here. So then justification, which is in other words the forgiveness of sins, sets in motion sanctification, which is purification, too. But, lastly, we would bid you all ask, are you in process of purification? Who can say, a Scriptural writer asks, Who can say I have made my heart clean? I am pure from my sin? (Dean Vaughan.)
Final blessedness of the saints
I. The previous condition of the persons here presented to Johns notice. One unacquainted with Gods ways, or with the history of our race, would have been, perhaps, ready to conclude that, in their journey hither, their path had been strewed with flowers and gladdened with perpetual sunshine. This we ourselves would be apt to desire. But the ways of God are not as our ways, nor His thoughts as our thoughts. The zeal of saints for the truth of God; their opposition to the sinful practices which abounded around them; their diligence in the cultivation of holy affections; and their zeal in the discharge of private and public duties–all standing forth in marked contrast with the maxims and customs of a world lying in wickedness–have ever exposed them to innumerable trials, to reproaches, and sufferings. In addition to the causes of tribulation which we have now specified as the peculiar lot of the Christian, I mention farther the remains of sin within him.
II. The means by which they have attained their present state.
III. This blessedness of which these saints are represented as partakers. (James Clayson.)
The worshippers in the heavenly temple
I. The temple here spoken of. It is a heavenly temple; a holy place, standing not on this perishable world, but on the everlasting hills of heaven. All other temples have been erected by man, but this temple has been built by Jehovah Himself, to be the eternal dwelling place of His Church, and the seat of His own glorious throne. The most glowing descriptions that language can convey, and the most exalted conceptions to which our imaginations can reach, fall infinitely short of that dazzling splendour which fills the courts of the living God. The world which we inhabit, though defiled by sin and under the curse of God, has yet so much beauty and magnificence in it, that we are often delighted and astonished as we contemplate its scenes. What, then, must be the glory of that world which has never felt the polluting touch of sin, which was prepared before the foundations of the earth were laid? Happy are they who dwell in such a templet Blessed is the man who is but a doorkeeper in such a house!
II. The happy beings who are the worshippers in this splendid temple.
1. The former condition of these worshippers.
(1) It was an earthly condition. They were not, like the angels, always in this house. They were natives of an apostate world.
(2) Their condition, too, was a sinful one. There is not one among them who was not a transgressor while on earth, and who has not to this very hour a remembrance of his guilt.
(3) They were also in an afflicted condition. Many of them came here out of a state of peculiar distress and suffering.
2. Their present condition.
(1) It is a state of peace, a state of freedom from pain and sorrow. The billows of adversity which once filled them with fear still swell and rage, but they are all raging far beneath them, and can never again toss them with their waves.
(2) It is also a state of purity. They have washed their robes, etc. They were indeed continually contracting fresh defilement as long as they remained on earth, and were constrained to wash again and again in the same fountain that cleansed them at first; but if this fountain had left the unpardoned guilt of only one sin upon their souls, that one sin would have disqualified them for the pure services of the habitation of God, and have barred for ever its sacred doors against them. This free and full pardon of sin is not, however, the only blessing which the heavenly worshippers have obtained through the blood of the Lamb. The same fountain that freed them from the guilt of sin, washed away sin itself, and freed them from its power. Not that they were at once brought into this state of perfect purity. Years passed away before some of them were completely sanctified, and made meet to minister among the saints in light; and they were all harassed to their dying hour, in a greater or less degree, with the struggling corruptions of their evil hearts. But sin could not follow them beyond the grave.
(3) The state of these worshippers in the temple of God is one of triumph. They have palms in their hands.
3. The greatness of their number. Satan does not number among his subjects all the inhabitants of our globe. The Redeemer has a people on the earth. Who can tell how many an humble Christian has been travelling to the land of rest, while almost all around him, and even the honoured instrument that first turned his soul to God, have been ignorant of his faith?
Lesson:
1. The gospel of Christ does not promise to its followers any exemption from the calamities of life.
2. How great is the contrast between the present and the future condition of the followers of Jesus!
3. A loud call to self-examination. (C. Bradley, M. A.)
White robes
I. The white robes of innocence. The devil stains our souls. The world, too, stains them. Alas! we stain them by our own folly and fault.
II. The white robes of promise. These are the baptismal robes.
III. The white robes of cleansing. God gives us not one start alone in life; He gives us many. We make our promises, and we break them. But God never bids us give up hope. Try to do better. Lift up your hearts.
IV. The white robes of victory. It will not always be striving here. It will not always be staining our robes and cleansing them anew, and then, alas! staining them once more. If we persevere, we shall win. It is not failing to succeed which is so bad, but failing to try. And all who try, however feeble they may be, however often they may give in to the forces against them, shall at the last stand clothed with white robes, etc. (J. E. C. Welldon, M. A.)
The human population in heaven
I. Their earthly life was marked by great trial.
1. This should teach us contentment under our trials.
2. This should inspire us with magnanimity under our trials.
II. Their celestial circumstances are pre-eminently glorious.
1. Their appearance.
2. Their employment.
3. Their companionship.
4. Their blessedness.
III. The difference between the earthly and heavenly condition is attributable to Christ.
1. They were originally polluted.
2. The self-sacrifice of Christ has a purifying influence.
3. Their cleansing by this influence had taken place when on earth. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The sainted in heaven
I. The beings to whom attention is directed. They were not the unfallen, in other words, the natives of that better country: they were redeemed human spirits. They were born of human parentage, and nursed upon a human breast. Their first expression on coming into existence was a wail, and their last, perhaps, a groan. And between those periods they had known their share of human suffering. If they had suffered, they had also sinned. No lingerers on the margin of wrong, no prodigals of a day, they had wandered into a far country, and theirs had been the alienation of years. And, if they had sinned, they had repented under the influence of the Holy Ghost; their hearts had turned in longing towards their Fathers house. Nor had their experience ended here. Young Christians, in the first joy of forgiveness, are apt to think heaven very near to them–that the celestial shores will soon loom upon their view. In passing through a Christian career, there are trials to be endured, Men were they of whom the world was not worthy. Into their labours we have entered. The harvests of their life we reap. They came out of great tribulation. Again, they went to heaven by the way of death.
II. Their position and glorious appearance.
1. They are before the throne of God. The meaning of the throne of God we know not. Heaven is said to be His throne, and earth His footstool. The presence of His infinite nature is diffused throughout all things; but, purged from the grossness of earth, the glorified have a more vivid sense of His presence than is given us. Then notice their glorious appearance: Clothed in white robes
(1) As being typical of their parity. No evil is there lurking within the blessed, and they shrink not beneath the Divine scrutiny.
(2) White robes are significant of triumph.
(3) White robes are significant of rest. The man who has laboured throws aside the garments worn in toil, and puts on others in which to repose. In this world, the condition of the Christian is not that of rest but of labour.
III. The employment of the redeemed. A very natural thought is that contained in the line of the American poet, when, speaking of a departed friend, he says: Day after day we think what she is doing. The rest of heaven is not that of death, but of infinite life. The repose of the redeemed does not consist in cessation from employ, but rather in the constant prosecution of congenial labour. Multiform will be the character of life in heaven.
1. There will be social life. There the golden chain of love will link all souls together, binding them to the throne of God. There a feeling of common love will flow through every heart. All will be at home.
2. There will be an intellectual life. The glory of man is his mind. To cultivate this stands among the highest duties of the present life. The present is the infancy of our being, but there is before us a majestic maturity.
3. The employment of heaven will be religious. In this, more than even his intellectual nature, man is capable of unlimited improvement. Even in this life no bounds can be set to faith, and hope, and love, so will it be in the future. Oh, it overwhelms us to think of the position of unfallen spirits, our brain grows dizzy from the height, our eyes dazzle in the excess of glory. Yet is there no altitude where created being now stands, but what man may attain to in the upward career of his moral progress, and for ever; and for ever will he continue to advance through the infinitudes of his natures possibilities. (S. Clarke.)
The blessed state of the redeemed
I. The condition out of which the redeemed have come.
1. They came out of a state of tribulation. Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
(1) Disease, perhaps, sows its poisonous seeds in his frame.
(2) Death bereaves him of those who were the desire of his eyes.
(3) Adverse providences involve him in disappointment and indigence; the malice of men, in vexation and disgrace; and his own errors and imprudence in inextricable difficulties.
(4) Existence itself may become a burden through a complication of calamities.
(5) It is generally thought, however, that there is here an allusion to those sorrows which are peculiar to Christians. Like Stephen, they winged their way from martyrdom to the presence of God.
2. They came out of a state of impurity. The earth on which they dwelt is one wide scene of disobedience and rebellion against the Majesty of the universe. The taint of moral pollution adheres to all its intelligent inhabitants, and introduces disorder into its very frame.
II. The means by which the redeemed have been advanced to glory.
1. By washing their robes, and making them white in the blood of the Lamb, they acquired a title to be before the throne.
2. By washing their robes, and making them white in the blood of the Lamb, they acquired a meetness to be before the throne. They are freed from their inability to love and enjoy God; they are blessed with an incipient and growing meetness for heaven.
III. The nature of the felicity to which they are exalted.
1. They are raised to an exalted station. Those before the throne of God witness His glory in its brightest manifestations, and enjoy the most intimate communion with the Father of their spirits. The near sight which they obtain of God gives them more distinct apprehensions of His nature–produces more complete assimilation to His image, and fills with livelier joy. The servants who stood in the presence of Solomon must have caught something of the wisdom of their master; and those who are before the throne of God, cannot fail to advance in everything heavenly and divine.
2. They are engaged in the most exalted employments.
3. They are freed from all the infirmities, imperfections, and sufferings of the present life.
4. They make continual advances in the knowledge and enjoyment of God. (J. Kirkwood, M. A.)
All Saints Day a witness of grace
Putting aside those festivals in the Churchs year which speak to us of the life and death of our Blessed Lord, there is no festival so sublime as that which we keep to-day. We commemorate to-day, not the life of any one servant of God, but the life and example of all; of those whose very names we know not, save that we know that they are written in the Book of Life. There is a threefold lesson which speaks to all of us through this festival.
1. The lesson of faith. Especially is this a festival which tells of faith, inasmuch as, above all others, it bridges over the gulf which separates this world from the world beyond the grave. This life is to the future state what the bud is to the flower, the blade in the ear to the full corn. This is a truth of especial importance to us to-day, when we commemorate the faithful dead, whose warfare is accomplished. For it teaches us that there is a real fellowship between them and us; that their relation to us is not done away by death; that their souls are not sleeping idly; that they are living more truly, and in a nobler sense, than we ourselves. In this world, men of noble birth desire–and a right feeling it surely is–to keep the brightness of their name untarnished, not to disgrace the title which their fathers bore. My ancestors, such an one will say, were brave and pure; they helped to vindicate liberty; I will try to be not less brave, not less upright, not less generous and true, than they. Canst thou remember this, O Christian, and forget of what spiritual lineage thou art come? so noble, so pure, so ancient, that by its side the noblest title of this world is but of yesterday? that thou art of the communion of Gods saints, and they thy fathers and ancestors in the faith? Canst thou remain cowardly, remembering that they were brave?
2. But again, the doctrine of this festival is a witness for Christian endurance. It is difficult not to feel sad when we think what multitudes of our fellow-creatures are living sordid burdened lives, whose earthly course seems little else than a constant round of suffering and care. Yet let us observe, that wherever a ray of light shines in on this mystery of suffering, it is from the blessed thought of a life unseen. Or, take the case of one, whose life is often burdened by a consciousness of sin–who finds himself compassed with infirmity; who is often wearied of this constant struggle against besetting sins, Oh, blessed day, such an one may well say, when this strife shall cease; when God in His pardoning mercy shall make me to become that which I long and pray to be.
3. But again, this blessed festival, inasmuch as it thus throws rays of brightness on the sorrows of earth, teaches us a lesson of final perseverance and spiritual joy. We need to remember that in the dreariest November, the gloomiest days of the decaying year, there still stands out a festival of summer gladness, telling of that meeting beyond the grave, where no parting shall ever mar the unity of perfect love; that gathering on the eternal shore, as when the apostles beheld on the shore of the Lake of Galilee the presence of their risen Lord. (J. S. Bartlett, M. A.)
All Saints Day
We are not the first travellers; we are followers of those who have inherited the promises; and, far as the eye can reach, there is one long line of precursors all looking back to assure us that the proposed path is the right. Shall it then be questioned, that the greatest confirmation for faith is to be obtained from the memories of the worthies who have tried and verified the Christian religion? If there were a flaw in its proofs, it must have been long ago detected: if there were forgery in its documents, it must have been long ago exposed. And now how mighty are the external evidences of Christianity–evidences which the labours and events of centuries have piled up as an impregnable bulwark. It is enough for my private conviction, that Christianity is eighteen hundred years old. But this only applies generally to the truth of Christianity. Suppose me convinced of its truth, then how is my faith strengthened by the memory of those who have gone before me to heaven? We reply at once, that whatever mans theoretical persuasion that Christianity is from God, there will be nothing like a practical exhibition of its energy to prevail on him to put faith in its disclosures. The great object of Christianity is to induce me to throw aside all dependence on my own moral strength, and to trust implicitly to the merits of a surety. If I will, indeed, do this, I shall find myself strengthened for conflict with my own evil nature, and at last made more than a conqueror over sin and the grave. Yet there may be misgiving, and if we were the first to put the promises to the proof, we might almost be pardoned for hesitating ere we dared take them to ourselves. The very greatness of the thing promised, and the smallness of the condition prescribed, might cause us to question whether we had not been deceived in concluding the Bible divine. And, therefore, oh, for the history of men who have made the experiment, and proved by experience that believers in Christ gain all which is promised! Here it is that we are vastly advantaged by being followers instead of forerunners in the Christian course. You cannot show me a promise in the Bible of whose fulfilment I cannot bring you evidence in the registered experience of some believer in Christ. Does the promise refer to support in affliction? Then what is that voice that rolls in upon us from the caves of the earth, where the persecuted have taken refuge–God is a very present help, a most strong tower to all who flee to Him for refuge? Is the promise that of immortality–glorious announcements that entrance shall be ministered abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our God and Saviour? Indeed, you may tell me that no biography can exhibit the fulfilment of this promise. I cannot track the burning flight of the emancipated spirit delivered from the flesh, and launched into immortality. We own this. But, nevertheless, we can show you that these promises have sustained men in the very hour of dissolution. And though this does not show you that the promises are made good after death, yet proving them accomplished up to the very moment at which our inspection must cease, proving that they die not when everything that has not in it the breath of immortality does die, we call it nothing better than evasion, if you would plead the want of evidence of its fulfilment, because we cannot with our eyes of sense pierce the deep secrets of futurity. Now, hitherto we have spoken only of that confirmation of faith which is derivable from the experience of the righteous whom we this day commemorate; but let us now briefly consider how we may be strengthened also in patience; for those who are clothed in white robes are they who came out of great tribulation. The fact that afflictions have been the portion of the faithful should remove all surprise that we ourselves have to wrestle with sorrow; the fact that God hath not forsaken the faithful, but brought good out of evil, should scatter all fears that we may be left to perish in our distress. And what will they reply if we ask them whether they regret what they suffered for Christ, or whether, if they had to live over again, they would wish to pass through the same painful discipline? Oh! for melodious sounds in which to syllable their answers. The harshness of human speech ill suits the music of their whispers. They tell you with one voice, one peal of grateful acknowledgment, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory revealed in them. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Saints made from sinners
Professor Hy. Drummond addressing a meeting, said that as he walked through the city that morning, he had noticed a cloud like a pure snow-white bank resting over the slums. Whence came it? The great sun had sent down its beams into the city, and the beams had gone among the puddles, even the nauseous puddles and drawn out of them what they needed, and taken it aloft, and purified it, and there it was, above the city a cloud as white as snow! And God, said the professor, can make His saints, who walk in white, out of material equally unfavourable; He can make a white cloud out of a puddle, He can make saints out of the most depraved. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
These are they which came out of great tribulation.—
The ministration of suffering
Let us, in some few points, contrast suffering on earth with its fruits in heaven.
1. Earthly suffering seems to come either as a vengeance or as a calamity upon men. It is still a surprise until we have been long wonted to it. But the heavenly side, as disclosed in the apocalyptic vision, shows that suffering ordinarily comes neither as a vengeance nor as a calamity; for, although we may understand that God sometimes employs suffering for purposes of punishment, yet such an employment of it is special. Suffering is intercalated upon the course of nature, and is part of a universal experience. Storms may be most destroying, overflowing the land, tearing up foundations, sweeping away bridges, and submerging harvests; but this result of storms is exceptional. The fall of rain and the sweep of winds are part of the economy of mercy. It is not for destruction, but for benefit. And so sufferings may, at times, in the hands of God, be punitive, but ordinarily they are not. Suffering is intended to make us let go of things that are lower, and to rise a grade higher. Here it seems as if God were angry; but in heaven it is seen that He was dealing in mercy. Here it seems as if great disaster had overwhelmed us; but there the breaking of the cloud over us appears as the waters of a bath from which we shall emerge purer, cleaner, and more manly.
2. Suffering seems to some contrary to the course of nature; an interruption and violation of natural order; but the revelation of the effects of suffering upon the future state shows that it is in accordance with the course of nature. It would seem rational to suppose that God built the enginery of the human mind for happiness; that the way of growth ought not to be through bafflings; that men should not find their stability by overthrow, and their liberty by restraint. At first view everything apparently tends towards freedom and full development. Men fail to see, however, that while there is one tendency toward liberty, there is another toward restraint. If anything can be shown by the indications and facts of nature, it is that man never grows to a mans full estate without the ministration of suffering; and that suffering is a part of nature, or it could not be universal.
3. The contrast between the earthly appearance of suffering as something that weakens and beats us down, and the glorious light of the heavenly side is very striking; for while on earth suffering seems, in all its immediate tendencies, to take away from man, it is, in point of fact, adding to him. It seems to beat him down; but when we look forward to the full disclosure, we find that it is building him up. While the storm pelts, men shrink. While the thunder sounds, they slink down. While the tempest rages, it is as if they were ruined. But when the violence abates a little, they begin to lift up their head, and to perceive that it was not all dark, that it was not all thunder, that it was not all beating, that there was an element of good in it; and gradually they learn the sweet bounty and benefit that God meant to bestow upon them by afflictions.
4. The seeming cruelty of much of suffering, and the unnaturalness of it, are contrasted with great relief with this vision of the final state of those who have suffered in this world. The fatherliness and benevolence of suffering does not appear in its mere earthly relations. In heaven it is clearly pictured. There we see what it has wrought out. Human nature is very much like some elements of vegetation. In tapioca, one of the most harmless of all articles of food, there is one of the most deadly of all poisons. But the poison is of such a volatile nature, that when it is subjected to heat it escapes, and leaves only the nutriment of the starch. I think that the heart of man originally is full of poison, but that, when it is tried by affliction, little by little the poison, the rancour, the virus exhales, and leaves all the rest wholesome indeed.
5. Earthly suffering seems to weaken, to discourage them, and to destroy them; but the fact is, that it does not really destroy or weaken them. That part in us which suffering weakens is usually that very part which ought to be weakened. The great trouble in turning flax into thread or cloth is caused by that which gives the green plant its very power; for when the flax is growing, it needs two things–one is its ligneous or woody structure, and the other is its gluten. But when it has grown enough, and man wants it to make garments, to furnish the queen in the palace and the peasant in the cottage, he must get rid of these two things. And how is the flax separated from them? It is plucked and thrown into the field, that, under the influence of repeated rains and dews, the wood may rot; then the flax is taken and put through the brakes, until every particle of the stiffness and strength that it had is destroyed, and all but the stringy fibres can be shaken to the winds; then it is subjected to certain chemical processes by which the gluten is taken away; and not till then is it in a proper condition to be carried to the spinning-wheel and the loom, and manufactured into materials for use. So it is with men. There are a great many qualities which they need up to a certain point, but which beyond that are a disadvantage to them. We need a given amount of self-will and independence; but after these qualities have been carried to a certain point, the necessity for them measurably ceases, and there must be superinduced on them opposite qualities. For man is made up of contraries. He is to be as firm as iron, and as yielding as silk; he is to be persevering, and yet most ready to give up; he is to be as steadfast as a mountain, and yet easy to be entreated; he is to abhor evil, and yet to love with an ineffable love; he is to be courageous, and yet to have that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. Certain qualities, when they have served their purpose, must give place to opposite qualities. Afflictions, under the supervision of Divine Providence, are working out in those that are exercised thereby beneficent results; so that suffering, while it seems frequently to be wasting and destroying men, is only wasting and destroying that part of them which they are better without than with.
6. Suffering on earth seems to set men apart from their fellows. Sometimes it puts them into obscurity. It is an experience full of solitude, voluntary and yet inevitable. Every heart knows its own bitterness. There is a delicacy in grief often. And though sometimes it is clamorous and vocal, oftener it is silent. But there is a process quietly going on, though it may not be apparent, by which those who seem to be separated in the present shall in the future be gathered together by sorrow. Those that weep apart on earth shall joy together in heaven. Those who in their sorrows are cast out from the sympathies of their fellow-men shall be gathered into the fellowship and sympathy of the heavenly host. This separation and disintegration are only apparent. Really, it is a preparation for fellowship in the world to come. (H. W. Beecher.)
The memory of grief and wrong
Whether a race of finite and imperfect beings could have been trained for any worthy end, or have reached a state of conscious happiness, without the ministry of suffering, we are not competent to say. Whether this be the case or not, it is certain that very many of our happiest experiences, and of our best frames of mind and traits of character, are to be traced, if not to the direct agency, at least to the memory, of grief and wrong. I might remind you, in the first place, that the lowest degradation into which a human being can sink is a state in which there is no retentiveness, nay, hardly a transient consciousness, of painful emotion. Let a child, born in sin, be cast in very infancy upon the bleak world, without shelter, education, or guidance, exposed to the pelting of the elements, spurned and buffeted at every hands turn, that child becomes in his very infancy almost invulnerable to every outward influence, and incapable of feeling neglect or injury, but in this process he grows up an absolute brute. He is incapable of attachment and of gratitude. Gentleness cannot tame him, nor can severity awe him. As the frozen limb must be made sensitive to pain, before it is capable of healthy circulation or free motion, the first step towards making him happy will be to unseal the fountain of sorrow. He must weep before he can enjoy. Take next the ease of one who has fallen into loathsome degradation from a favoured and happy early lot. That fall was not without frequent and severe suffering, probably not without full as much wrong received as committed. But the degraded being has lost his sensibility. Rags, hunger, blows, the alms-house, the prison-cell, have become congenial; and the traces of every new hardship or infliction are like those of the arrow in the air. Nor yet can you excite penitence or remorse by any moral representation, however pungent or attractive, of the evil and misery of guilt or the loveliness of virtue. You must go back to the days of innocence–to the earliest steps in the evil path. You must awaken the remembrance of obsolete wrong and sorrow. You must recall the prodigals first wretched pilgrimage from the fathers house. Let us pass now to experiences that lie more within our own sphere of consciousness, and, first, to domestic happiness. We can hardly be aware how much of the joy, how much of the purity and tenderness, of our home relations springs from the very events which we most dread, or from the shadow or apprehension of them. Two young hearts are plighted to each other in the most fervent love, and enter on their united life under the most prosperous auspices and with the highest hopes. Let everything answer to their anticipations–let their life flow on without grief or fear, and their love is either suddenly exhaled, or gradually frittered away. They grow mutually intolerant of their necessary differences of taste, opinion, and feeling. If they remain without mutual discord or dislike, it is through the negative power of passive good nature, while the heart-ties are all the while growing weaker, so that their dissolution would be more and more slightly and transiently felt. But, with their first weighty cares or solicitudes, they are drawn into an intimacy of feeling closer than they had ever imagined before. A similar view presents itself with regard to our religious characters. Could those of us, who are endeavouring to live in the fear of God and the love of Christ, trace back the growth of the religious life in our hearts, we should find that, while the germ was there before care or sorrow had taken strong hold upon us, yet in many instances its first decided development and rapid increase were in connection with pain, perplexity, or grief. It was the clouding over of earthly prospects, that opened to us a clear and realising view of heaven. It was the failure of fond hopes that sealed our determination to lay up treasures where hope cannot fail. It was the falling away of objects of our most confident dependence, that cast us upon the Most High as our only enduring refuge and support. I have spoken of the sheltered scenes of home, and of the interior life of the soul. In the outward relations of society, we are equally indebted to the ministry of affliction. How many are the pure and virtuous friendships, now sources of unalloyed gladness and improvement, which had their commencement in a common grief, or in a burden of solicitude or sorrow, which one, whom previously we had not known how to prize, hastened to bear with us, or we with him! In old age we can also trace the genial influence of sorrow. As the cloud, that has flashed its angry lightnings and poured its desolating showers, retreats fringed with gold and crimson, and spanned with the glorious bow of Gods unchanging promise, so do the griefs that have been the heaviest and the most cheerless, when they lie in the remote horizon of the past, glow with celestial radiance and Divine beauty. As the aged Christian looks back on the conflicts and sorrows of earlier years, every cloud has its rainbow, every retreating storm dies away in whispers of peace. It is the softened, painless memory of trial and of grief that feeds the spirit of patient, cheerful resignation, reconciles the soul to dissolution as it draws near, and sustains the willingness to depart, the desire to be with Christ. I have spoken chiefly of the sorrows that come to us by the direct appointment of Providence. Are there any of us who can look back on wrong and injury done to us by our fellow-men? Even this, if we were wise, we would not wish to forget. Far more noble is it to remember in full and yet forgive, to retain our sensitiveness unimpaired, and yet to take the offending brother to our hearts as if he had done us no wrong. Thus only can we make the wounds of carelessness, unkindness, envy or malice, permitted, though not wrought by Providence, coincide in their blessed ministry with the griefs that flow from the hand of God. Thus do we turn our enemy into a benefactor, by making him the unconscious instrument of calling out in our hearts traits more elevated, Christlike, Godlike, than without his agency we could have put into exercise. Finally, the connection in which our text stands leads us to extend the benign ministry of sorrow to the world where sorrow is unknown. The frequent trials of the present state, its disappointed hopes, defeated plans, withered joys, may, far along in the heavenly life, supply the term of comparison, reveal the measure of our happiness, quicken the flow of adoring gratitude, and sustain a full consciousness of the felicity in which we are embosomed. (A. P. Peabody.)
Why the heavenly robes are white
I. What did these white robes mean?
1. The white robes show the immaculate purity of their character. White signifies perfection; it is not so much a colour as the harmonious union and blending of all the hues, colours, and beauties of light. In the characters of just men made perfect we have the combination of all virtues, the balancing of all excellences, a display of all the beauties of grace. Are they not like their Lord, and is He not all beauties in one?
2. By white robes we also understand the fitness of their souls for the service to which they are appointed; they were chosen before all worlds to be kings and priests unto God, but a priest might not stand before the Lord to minister until he had put on his appointed linen garments; and therefore the souls which have been taken up to heaven are represented in white robes to show that they are completely fitted for that Divine service to which they were ordained of old, to which the Spirit of God called them while they were here, and in which Jesus Christ leads the way, being a Priest for ever at their head.
3. White robes also signify victory. I should think that in almost every nation white has indicated the joy of triumph. True, the Romans adopted purple as their imperial colour, and well they might, for their victories and their rule were alike bloody and cruel; but the Christ of God sets forth His gentle and holy victories by white: it is on a white cloud that He shall come to judge the world, and His seat of judgment shall be the great white throne.
4. White is also the colour of rest. Well may the redeemed be thus arrayed, for they have finally put off the garments of toil and the armour of battle, and they rest from their labours in the rest of God.
5. Chiefly, white is the colour of joy. Almost all nations have adopted it as most suitable for bridal array, and so therefore these happy spirits have put on their bridal robes, and are ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
II. How did they come by those white garments?
1. Those characters were not so pure, or, in other words, those garments were not so white by nature. They are washed, you see, and therefore they must once have been stained. Original sin has stained the character of all the sons of Adam. Do not think of one saint who has gone to his reward above as being in any way different in nature from yourselves; they were all men of like passions with us, men who had within them the same tendencies to sin. But it might be suggested that perhaps they came to their rest by a cleaner way than that which now lies before us. Possibly there was something about their surroundings which helped them to keep their garments white. No, it was not so; they passed along the road of tribulation, and that tribulation was not of a less trying kind than ours. Their road was just as miry as ours, and perhaps even more so. How this ought to assist us to feel that albeit our pathway is one in which we meet with innumerable temptations, yet inasmuch as all the glorified have come up white and clean from it, by virtue of the atoning blood, even so shall we.
2. Their garments came to be white through a miracle of grace, because they came through the great tribulation, where everything tended to defile them. I do not think that the text refers to some one great persecution, but to the great conflict of the ages in which the seed of the serpent perpetually molests and oppresses the seed of the woman. The enmity takes all sorts of shapes, but from the beginning even until now it is in the world. Now the white robed ones had come out of that continuous and general conflict uninjured: like the three holy children who came out of the furnace with not so much as the smell of fire upon them. Some of them had been slandered: men of the world had thrown handfuls of the foulest mud upon them, but they washed their robes and made them white. Others of them had come out of remarkable temptations from men and devils; they were tried by the most defiling of temptations, but they overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and were delivered from every polluting trace of the temptation by the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice. It was by the operation of the blood of Christ, and by nothing else, that the glorified saints were made clean.
3. Some of the trials of the saints are evidently intended, by those who are the instruments of them, to make them sin. Tribulation has a tendency to create, even in good men, new sins: sins into which they have never fallen before. Brother, thou sayest, I shall never repine against God. How knowest thou that? Thou sayest, I have never done so unto this hour. Art thou not in health and strength? Why, then, shouldst thou murmur? But suppose the Lord were to strip thee of all these things, O man, I fear me thou mightest murmur as others have done. In some men tribulation works a very fierce temptation to distrust.
4. So, too, great trials are wonderfully apt to reveal the weakness of our graces and the number of our infirmities. Spiritual storms make a man discover what utter weakness he is, and then he is wise to fly to the blood of the Lamb. Oh, what a sweet restorative is found in the atoning sacrifice!
III. What lesson comes out of this?
1. I would say to you, first, meditate on it. A sight of Christ in His agony is a wondrous sure for our agonies.
2. But the chief thing is this–in all times of tribulation the great matter is to have the blood of Christ actually applied to the soul. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The sufferings of the redeemed
Gods Word does not conceal, but, on the contrary, rather forewarns, that the road to Heaven is one of trial. Christ prepared His people for the highway thither being hedged with tribulation. Beloved, says St. Peter, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice. These trials are the ladder-steps by which the immortal spirits in this vision attained their bliss. We can almost imagine ourselves listening to their varied testimony. God laid me, would be the experience and retrospect of one, on a bed of sickness. I was living a life of engrossing worldliness. I was taking my health as a thing of course. I had no thought of death. He who gave me the abused talent stretched me on a couch of pain. Year after year I was familiarised with the dim night-lamp–the sleepless vigils–the aching head. But He allured me into the wilderness that He might speak comfortably unto me. I now praise Him for it all. Through the chinks of the battered earthly tabernacle were admitted the first rays of the heavenly glory. In the solitary night-watches my lips were first tuned for the heavenly song. I was reposing in the sunshine of earthly prosperity, would be the testimony of another. The fabled horn of plenty exhausted its ample stores in my lap. Riches increased; ah! I set my heart upon them; my closet, my Bible, my family, were sacrificed in the demon scramble. At an unexpected moment the crash came–the whole fabric of a lifetime (the golden fabric) fell to the ground. Seated amid empty coffers, and dismantled walls, and blighted hopes, I was led to bring the perishable into emphatic contrast with the eternal. I too thank my God for it all. But for that simoom-blast which swept over ms, burying the hoarded treasures of a vain existence, I would have died the fool that I lived. I was an idolater of my family, another would tell. I was leaning too fondly and tenderly on some cherished prop–some gourd in the earth-bower of my happiness. The prop gave way–the gourd withered. But as some gentle spirit (be it that of husband, or wife, or child, or brother, or sister) winged its flight to the realms of glory, It brought me, as I was never before, into near and holy contact with the Unseen. The tie snapped on earth bound ms to the throne of God. These thorns inserted in the earthly nest drove me to the wing, and suffered me not to stay my flight until I had reached the golden eaves of the heavenly home! (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The richer flowerings of character caused by trial
It is said that gardeners sometimes, when they would bring a rose to richer flowerings, deprive it for the season of light and moisture. Silent and dark it stands, dropping one faded leaf alter another, and seeming to go down patiently to death. But when every leaf is dropped, and the plant stands stripped to the uttermost, a new life is even then working in the buds, from which shall spring a tender foliage and a brighter wealth of flowers. So, often in celestial gardenings, every leaf of earthly joy must drop before a new and divine bloom visits the soul.
Character formed by tribulation
I saw a beautiful vase, and asked its story. Once it was a lump of common day lying in the darkness. Then it was rudely dug out and crushed and ground in the mill, and then put upon the wheel and shaped, then polished and tinted and put into the furnace and burned. At last, after many processes, it stood upon the table, a gem of graceful beauty. In some way analogous to this every noble character is formed. Common clay at first, it passes through a thousand processes and experiences, many of them hard and painful, until at length it is presented before God, faultless in its beauty, bearing the features of Christ Himself. Spiritual beauty never can be reached without cost. The blessing is always hidden sway in the burden, and can be gotten only by lifting the burden. Michael Angelo used to say, as the chippings flew thick from the marble on the floor of his studio: While the marble wastes the image grows. (J. R. Miller, D. D.)
Tribulation ministers to manhood
You may in the conservatory rear the trailing vine or rear the tropical plant, but put into it hardy English oak, Or the tall Norwegian pine, and they, within the conservatory, would die–their life is exposure. Give them the heaven, the wind of heaven in their branches; give them the dew and the rain of heaven on their leaves: give them the great spacious earth beneath into which they can send their roots in search of moisture, and in search of strength; and they will live, and become things of beauty and joy for ever. So let man in the grace, and by the strength of God, face life; stand in front of it, with all its trouble, with all its tempest, with all its sorrow, with all its suffering! The tribulation will work patience, make the more of a man of him, make him the more able to stand in the presence of God as a servant approved. (A. M. Fairbairn, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 13. One of the elders answered] A Hebraism for spoke. The question is here asked, that the proposer may have the opportunity of answering it.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Not that he did not know, but to try whether John knew, or rather to set John upon inquiring.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. answerednamely, to mythoughts; spoke, asking the question which might have been expectedto arise in John’s mind from what has gone before. One of thetwenty-four elders, representing the Old and New Testament ministry,appropriately acts as interpreter of this vision of the glorifiedChurch.
What, &c.Greekorder, “These which are arrayed in white robes, WHOare they?”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,…. This elder was not the Apostle Peter, as some Popish interpreters have thought; and still less Pope Silvester, who lived in the times of Constantine; be is much more likely, according to others, to be Constantine himself, the first of the elders, or the chief magistrate when the church sprung out of its troubles, and enjoyed rest and peace; though some have thought of the prophet Isaiah, since many things said by this elder are to be found in his prophecy; compare Re 7:14; with Isa 1:18; but it is needless to inquire who the particular person was; it is enough to say, that he was one of the four and twenty elders about the throne, one that belonged to the church, perhaps the same as in Re 5:5; who, in a visionary way, is represented as accosting John upon the above sight. The word “answered” is a common Hebraism of the New Testament, which is often used when nothing goes before, to which a return is made; and only signifies here, that the elder opened his month, began to speak, and called to John, and said as follows:
what are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? This he said, not as being ignorant of them, or of the reason of their being clothed in this manner, nor of the place and state from whence they came, as appears by the account afterwards given of them by him; but to stir up John to take more notice of them, as being a body of men that were worthy of observation and contemplation, and were worth his while to consider well who they were, and from whence they came; and also to try him whether he knew them or not, and to bring him to a confession of his ignorance; and that he might have an opportunity of giving him some hints about them, which might be useful to him, and to the churches, and for the explanation of this vision, and other parts of this prophecy.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Honour and Happiness of the Saints. | A. D. 95. |
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, 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. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Here we have a description of the honour and happiness of those who have faithfully served the Lord Jesus Christ, and suffered for him. Observe,
I. A question asked by one of the elders, not for his own information, but for John’s instruction: ministers may learn from the people, especially from aged and experienced Christians; the lowest saint in heaven knows more than the greatest apostle in the world. Now the question has two parts:– 1. What are these that are arrayed in white robes? 2. Whence came they? It seems to be spoken by way of admiration, as Cant. iii. 6, Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness! Faithful Christians deserve our notice and respect; we should mark the upright.
II. The answer returned by the apostle, in which he tacitly acknowledges his own ignorance, and sues to this elder for information: Thou knowest. Those who would gain knowledge must not be ashamed to own their ignorance, nor to desire instruction from any that are able to give it.
III. The account given to the apostle concerning that noble army of martyrs who stood before the throne of God in white robes, with palms of victory in their hands: and notice is taken here of, 1. The low and desolate state they had formerly been in; they had been in great tribulation, persecuted by men, tempted by Satan, sometimes troubled in their own spirits; they had suffered the spoiling of their goods, the imprisonment of their persons, yea, the loss of life itself. The way to heaven lies through many tribulations; but tribulation, how great soever, shall not separate us from the love of God. Tribulation, when gone through well, will make heaven more welcome and more glorious. 2. The means by which they had been prepared for the great honour and happiness they now enjoyed: they had washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, v. 14. It is not the blood of the martyrs themselves, but the blood of the Lamb, that can wash away sin, and make the soul pure and clean in the sight of God. Other blood stains; this is the only blood that makes the robes of the saints white and clean. 3. The blessedness to which they are now advanced, being thus prepared for it. (1.) They are happy in their station, for they are before the throne of God night and day; and he dwells among them; they are in that presence where there is fulness of joy. (2.) They are happy in their employment, for they serve God continually, and that without weakness, drowsiness, or weariness. Heaven is a state of service, though not of suffering; it is a state of rest, but not of sloth; it is a praising delightful rest. (3.) They are happy in their freedom from all the inconveniences of this present life. [1.] From all want and sense of want: They hunger and thirst no more; all their wants are supplied, and all the uneasiness caused thereby is removed. [2.] From all sickness and pain: they shall never be scorched by the heat of the sun any more. (4.) They are happy in the love and guidance of the Lord Jesus: He shall feed them, he shall lead them to living fountains of waters, he shall put them into the possession of every thing that is pleasant and refreshing to their souls, and therefore they shall hunger and thirst no more. (5.) They are happy in being delivered from all sorrow or occasion of it: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. They have formerly had their sorrows, and shed many tears, both upon the account of sin and affliction; but God himself, with his own gentle and gracious hand, will wipe those tears away, and they shall return no more for ever; and they would not have been without those tears, when God comes to wipe them away. In this he deals with them as a tender father who finds his beloved child in tears, he comforts him, he wipes his eyes, and turns his sorrow into rejoicing. This should moderate the Christian’s sorrow in his present state, and support him under all the troubles of it; for those that sow in tears shall reap in joy; and those that now go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Answered (). First aorist passive (deponent) of with (saying), a common (only here in the Apocalypse) Hebrew redundancy in the Gospels (Mr 9:5). An elder intervenes, though no question has been asked to interpret the vision (Swete).
These (). Prophetic predicate nominative put before (who are they). Note article repeated with pointing to verse 9, and accusative also retained after as there. Both “who” and “whence” as in Jos 9:8.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Answered. In the sense of taking up speech in connection with some given occasion, as Mt 11:25. See also on Joh 2:18.
What are these, etc. The Rev., properly, follows the Greek order, which places first “These which are arrayed in the white robes, who are they?” emphatic and indicating the natural order of the thought as it presents itself to the inquirer. For what, render who, as Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And one of the elders answered,” (kai apekrithe eis ek ton presbuteron) “And one of the elders (one of the twenty four encircling the throne) responded, inquired of me, Rev 4:6-8; Rev 11:16.
2) “Saying unto me,” (legon moil “Saying, inquiring directly to me,” to John, who had wept bitterly when no man was found worthy to take the book out of the hand of God upon his throne, until one elder told him, “weep not,” Rev 5:5.
3) “Who are these,” (tines eisin) “Who are they (those)?” Among the redeemed of the ages before the throne repeatedly, like an anthem, like a mighty symphony, giving praise and honor and glory to the Father and the Son – who are they?
4) “Which are arrayed in white robes?” (houtoi hoi peribeblemenoi tas stolas tas leukas) “Who are these who have just been clothed (suited out) with white robes or uniforms?” What is their identity? Dan 11:32-35; Dan 12:10-11; They appear to be the church just raptured, as later described, Rev 19:7-9.
5) “And whence came they?” (kai pothen elthon) “And from whence (where) or what place came they?” The one elder from among the twenty four elders inquired. He did not ask John just for information – but for emphasis, pointing to the trials or tribulations that they, perhaps the church, had been “accounted” worthy to escape, Luk 21:34-36; Rev 7:3; Heb 9:28; Eph 3:21; Act 20:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Strauss Comments
SECTION 23
Text Rev. 7:13-17
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? 14 And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them nor any heat: 17 for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Initial Questions Rev. 7:13-17
1.
Who are those in white robes Rev. 7:13? (See chp. Rev. 6:11)
2.
What was the great tribulation Rev. 7:14?
3.
How were the robes made white, and what does this say concerning the atoning Blood of Christ and its relationship to the forgiveness of sins Rev. 7:1?
4.
How long does the service to the Lord last according to Rev. 7:15?
5.
Who is the shepherd in this scene Rev. 7:17?
Rev. 7:13
One of the elders identified the multitude. These having been clothed with white robes, who are they, and whence come they?
Rev. 7:14
And I have said to him: My Sir (kurie) usually means Lord, but here it refers to one of the elders and not God), you knowest. And he told me: these are (the ones coming erchomenoi present middle participle, continue to come) out of (ek) the great afflictionCharles says The martyrs are still arriving from the scene of the great tribulation. And washed (eplunan 1st aor. active ind. they were washed in a single act not a process) their robes and whitened them (see Isa. 1:18) in the blood of the Lamb. Who is the unnumberable multitude? They are the redeemed!
Rev. 7:15
Because of this fact of being washed (dia touto therefore) they are in front of the Throne of God, and serve (latreuousin present ind. continually, publicly serve. This is the word from which liturgy comes public worship) him day and night in his Temple, and the one sitting on the throne will spread (his) tent (skenosei word for tent or tabernacle) over them. The tabernacle was the special dwelling place of God. Now people from every nation are members of the body of the redeemed. Gods people are no longer limited to physical Israel. Where ever the Gospel is preached and men respond to Christ there is Gods dwelling place. Gods faithfulness is crystal clear. He will take care of His own. We may betray God, but God will never betray us!
Rev. 7:16
Gods own will never hunger nor thirst. Gods sovereignty will reign both in the universe and the hearts of the blood bought saints.
Rev. 7:17
All reason for human sorrow is gone. The Lamb is Victory and great Shepherd. Every single tear will be wiped away by the Living God. Such tender care! The picture is not that redeemed sinners are so happy that they wipe away their own tears, but God loves them so much that He wipes mortal eyes clear of every single tear.
Next comes the seventh seal, and then follows the seven trumpets, which retrace the same basic ground of the seven seals but this is not mere repetition. A greater sense of urgency, a better vantage point of the completeness of the divine purpose and a sharper focus on the fact of Gods complete control over the universe is revealed.
Review Questions for Seventh Chapter
1.
What is the basic change which takes place between chp. 6 and 7?
2.
From what direction is the other angel coming in Rev. 7:2?
3.
Read Zec. 6:1-8 and discuss its use in Rev. 7:3.
4.
Is the list of the 12 tribes of Israel correctly given in Rev. 7:5-8?
5.
What does Rev. 7:9 imply about our missionary efforts?
6.
What does the imagery of Rev. 7:14 tell us?
7.
Why are the redeemed before the throne is us. 15? What are they doing there?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13) And one of the elders answered, saying unto me.The seer had asked no question, but the elder answers the wondering thoughts and questionings which fill his mind. Perhaps this scene was in Dantes mind when he described himself in Paradise:
Silent was I, yet desire
Was painted in my looks; and thus I spake
My wish more earnestly than language could.
Paradiso, iv. 10-12.
The elder asks the question which he knows St. John would fain ask. These who are clothed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they? The question brings the white robes into prominence. Is it, as has been suggested, that the wonder of the seer is excited more by the emblem of holiness and innocence than anything else? He recognises the multitudes as men and women out of every nation and tribe of sinful humanity, and he sees them clothed in the garb of holiness. Who are these countless throngs of holy ones?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
d. ELDER’S explanation, and glorious picture of their HEAVENLY STATE, Rev 7:13-17 .
13. One of the elders It was fitting that one of the representatives of the Church should unfold the mysteries of the Church triumphant. Nor must we puzzle ourselves to know how one of the circle of elders, enveloped in the crowd of the great multitude, and that girt round with the circle of countless angels, could address an outsider, as John, who stands surveying the whole assemblage. Allow the freedom of a celestial vision. The inner circles within the outer circles can transparently be seen with the supernatural eye, for the outer circles are transparent, though visible to its glance. And in the spirit-land distance is no obstacle to utterance and hearing. Celestials (and John was now a pro tem. celestial) can converse without voice, by pure impartation of thought. See our note on 2Co 12:4.
Answered He answered the unuttered questionings expressed in John’s eyes. So in Act 3:12, Peter answered the “wondering” of the crowd in Solomon’s porch.
What The angel answers by first stating John’s mental question. The Greek is more elegant than our English. These, the arrayed in robes white, who are they, and whence came they? “In this,” says Bede, “he interrogates that he may teach.” Often the most skilful interrogator is the wisest teacher. Wetstein remarks that these questions occur in both Homer and Virgil as the ordinary queries put by ancient hospitality to strangers. Such was the early habit in America, as foreign travellers often tauntingly reported. Yet one English traveller justly remarked, that such questions had a different sound in our Western wilds from similar ones in the streets of London.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And one of the elders answered me saying, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and from where do they come?” And I say to him, “Sir (my lord), you know”.’
It is indicative of John’s state that it is not he who asks the question. He is struck dumb by what he is observing. Thus the elder is responding to his unspoken question as he asks his questions about those clothed in white robes. And to his question John can only say humbly, “Sir, you know”.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The bliss of the saints in white robes:
v. 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?
v. 14. And I said unto him, Sir, 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.
v. 15. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
v. 16. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat.
v. 17. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. An interesting conversation is now reported by John: And there answered one of the elders, saying to me, These that are clothed in white robes, who are they and whence came they? Undoubtedly the elder saw the interest and the curiosity of John depicted on his face, and intended to stimulate this interest and direct it into the right channels. Therefore he pointed to the great multitude of the white-robed saints, asking, not concerning their number, but regarding their origin and character.
John’s answer showed the eagerness of his heart: And I said to him, Sir, thou knowest. It was the respectful address of the inferior to one whom he regarded as his superior. See Eze 37:3. He received the information which he sought: And he said to me, These are they that have come out of the great distress, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The great distress was the period of persecution and martyrdom to which reference had been made in chap. 6:11. These people had overcome, they had conquered, they had been faithful unto death, and therefore the Lord had rescued them, had brought them to the haven of eternal safety. There was no merit on their part in this transaction, for all their righteousness were as filthy rags in the sight of God, Isa 64:6. But all the filth of their own garments had been washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which cleanses us from all sins, Isa 1:16; 1Jn 1:7. The white robes are the righteousness of Jesus Christ which they received through the means of grace, to which they clung unto the end.
The blessed state of the elect saints is further described: For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sits upon the throne shall overshadow them. For this reason, not for any merit on their part, but because they accepted the righteousness of Jesus Christ and the white garment of His perfect merit, the perfected saints occupy that place of glory and honor before the throne of God. They are not only new creatures, but they are priests before God, performing the work of their worship before Him in all eternity, without ceasing, since the difference between day and night will then be eliminated. And just as the Shechinah, the cloud of the covenant, hovered over the Tabernacle and over the mercy-seat in the Old Testament with intimate care, thus the presence of God will overshadow the elect in heaven, in order to be united with them in intimate fellowship and to satisfy them with the rich gifts of His house, Psa 36:9; Isa 49:10.
And still more will pertain to the bliss of heaven: They shall no more hunger or thirst, nor shall there strike them the sun or any heat, for the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, will be their Shepherd and will direct their way to fountains of living waters; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. These assertions are made with the greatest emphasis. For those that are gathered before the throne of the Lamb hunger and thirst, the time of distress and affliction, are past forever, Isa 49:10. He that has mercy on them shall lead them; even by the springs of water shall He guide them. Never again will the burning rays of the sun, never again will the scorching heat of affliction make their spirits weary. For Jehovah Himself, the Lamb that occupies with the Father the very midst of the heavenly throne, will be the Shepherd that will guide them to the rich pastures of the heavenly blessings; He Himself will lead them beside the still waters of eternal life. He Himself is the bread, the manna, and the water of life, Joh 4:14-15; Joh 6:35; Joh 7:38. He it is that satisfies all hunger and thirst forever. What they have received here on earth in the means of grace, Isa 55:1, they now obtain in richest, endless measure as they see God face to face, as they are partakers of the glory which the Savior gained for them by His redeeming work. Never again will there be a cause for tears in the heavenly home. The last tear that may have remained on their eyelashes, due to the pains of death or martyrdom, will be wiped away, without a trace to show their former misery, Isa 25:8. That is the wonderful, the certain future that awaits the persecuted Church of God when the doors of eternity open. Oh, that this glorious comfort were living in the heart of every believer!
Summary
In the sealing of the servants of God, whose typical number is given, in the scene presenting the countless multitude praising the Lord, in the chorus of the angels, and in the description of the bliss of the saints in heaven the prophet offers the best and most lasting comfort to all believers in all afflictions of this life.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 7:13. What are these which are arrayed, &c. “Who, think you, are these excellent persons that appear so gloriously apparelled with glittering spotless robes; and from what condition, and how is it that they attained to all this glory?”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 7:13-17 . The second half of the vision contains an express interpretation of the first half, Rev 7:9 sqq.
That it is one of the elders, who gives this interpretation, [2338] corresponds with the idea of these elders as the representatives of the Church, [2339] whose innumerable multitude appears here in glory. [2340]
designates, like , [2341] the speech uttered when an occasion is given, [2342] which, however, cannot be limited to a definite question. Here the may be referred [2343] to the (unexpressed) desire of John to learn something further concerning the multitude beheld in Rev 7:9 ; but even without accepting any such unexpressed question of John, the simple reference of the fact of the vision, Rev 7:9 sqq., as the occasion for the declaration of the elders, is sufficient. The form of a dialogue, [2344] with its dramatic vividness, serves to emphasize the point under consideration; for, by asking what he intends to explain, [2345] the elder brings John to the answer which comprises the acknowledgment of his own ignorance, and the expression of the wish for an explanation. Thus, then the explanation, awaited with expectancy, follows in Rev 7:14 sqq.
. The elder presents the two points concerning which one unacquainted would naturally ask first. [2346] Both questions also have their answer in Rev 7:14 , of course not in an external sense as though they had to do with names, station, country, etc., but so that the inner nature of the appearance is explained.
The address , which everywhere expresses real homage, even where the , which makes the reference still more earnest, is lacking, [2347] has in John’s mouth complete justification, because he stands before a heavenly being, whose superiority he acknowledges in the matter immediately under consideration by the . By this John does not say, “I, indeed, know it too, but you know it better,” [2348] but, “I do not know it, yet it may be heard from you, as you know it.” [2349]
-G0- -G0- . Incorrectly, Ew. i.: “who have just come hither;” Ebrard, etc., “those having come.” The present is to be retained, [2350] as it alone corresponds to the idea of the entire vision; [2351] for it is not individuals, as possibly martyrs, [2352] who are introduced, but to the seer there is given in anticipation a view of all faithful believers, as they are thus shown to him as those who, after the great tribulation of the last day shall be finished, shall stand before the throne of God and of the Lamb, Rev 7:9 sqq. The explanation of the elder (in which the present , the aor. , (Rev 7:14 ), again the present , , and, finally, the future (Rev 7:15-17 ), must, in like manner, be observed) is intelligible in its form of expression only by regarding the reality as not yet coinciding with what has been beheld. The vision displays that host as they are already before God’s throne, and are serving him ( , , Rev 7:15 , pres.); they are those who (in their earthly life) have washed ( , , Rev 7:14 , aor.) their robes in the blood of the Lamb. From the same standpoint, the pres. yields the idea, that they come before the eyes of the gazing prophet, and assemble before the throne of God. For it appears more suitable to one contemplating the standpoint of the vision in all the other points up to Rev 7:15 a ( . . . ), to hold fast, also, to the pres. , than [2353] to regard this in the sense of a future, and to find the allusion in the fact that that multitude was actually still upon earth, and is only still to come. Particularly opposed to this is the combination with the aor. . . But from Rev 7:15 b ( ., . . .), the elder speaks not from the standpoint of the vision, but of reality. To that entire multitude, which is already presented to John in the vision as in final glory, there yet belongs first, since they are, in reality, still upon earth, the great hope of which the elder speaks: . . . ., , . . . It is throughout sufficient that the explanatory address maintains in the beginning the standpoint of the vision, and that it is not until the close that the proper situation of affairs is opened.
. Not only because of the definite article, and the discriminating predicate . , but also because of the reference of the entire vision from Rev 7:9 , it is impossible to understand “the great tribulation” very generally “of all trouble and labor on earth:” [2354] on the contrary, the eschatological reference is necessary whereby the , announced by the Lord in Mat 24:21 , and also prophesied by John, which is to be expected after Rev 6:17 , and therefore in the seventh seal, the immediate preparatory signs of which, also, are described already in Rev 6:12-17 , is meant. [2355] The entire vision (ver 9 sqq.) thus places before the eyes the fact, that, like the sealed of Israel (Rev 7:1 sqq.), the innumerable multitude of all believers out of all nations shall nevertheless remain faithful in that great tribulation, and therefore shall attain to heavenly glory.
. Concerning the relation expressed by the aor., see on . On the subject itself, Beda remarks, “He does not speak of the martyrs alone: they are washed in their own blood.” Thus he has already [2356] correctly recognized the idea at once obvious, which elsewhere is marked by the expression . , [2357] that the whiteness of the robes has been produced by the (atoning and redeeming) blood of Christ as the Lamb of God. [2358] But the idea recognized, in general, by Beda, of the cleansing power of martyrdom, has been introduced into the text not only by expositors like N. de Lyra, who regards the blood of the Lamb as the blood of martyrs, “because it is the blood of his members,” but even by Ew. i., manifestly because of his erroneous reference of Rev 7:9 sqq. to martyrs, as he remarks, “by the blood of Christ, i.e., the death which they endured because of Christ’s doctrine, and having followed in this the example of Christ,” etc. It is, in other respects, contrary to the nature of the figures, when Hengstenb. tries to distinguish the washing from the making white , and refers the former to the forgiveness of sins, and the latter to sanctification; such a washing, however, is designated whereby the robes are made white. The delicate feature of correct ethics is also here to be noted, which lies in the fact that they who (in their earthly life) have washed their garments white in the blood of the Lamb appear in the future life attired in white clothing. [2359] What follows also Rev 7:15 , in its connection with , depends upon the fundamental view which has been explained: those hosts could not stand before God’s throne, beneath the protection of his shadow, if, through the temptation of the great tribulation, they had not carried unsoiled the garments which had been made white in the blood of the Lamb.
Concerning the tenses, the present ( , , Rev 7:15 a ) and the future ( , . . ., Rev 7:15-17Rev 7:15-17Rev 7:15-17 ), see on (Rev 7:14 ). To refer the entire discourse (Rev 7:15-17 ) to earthly circumstances, [2360] is so manifestly contrary to the tenor of the words, that the entire conception of ch. 7, which introduces such absurdities, contradicts itself.
. . Already, the fact that they are there is blessedness. Cf. Rev 4:4 , Rev 21:3 , Rev 22:4 ; Joh 17:24 ; 1Jn 3:2 ; Php 1:23 ; 1Co 13:12 . , . . . Cf. Rev 4:8 sqq., Rev 5:8 sqq., Rev 22:3 . It is the glory of the priestly service in heaven; hence, . [2361]
. “Speaking after our custom, eternity is nevertheless meant.” [2362]
. In accord with Lev 26:11 , Isa 4:5 , Eze 37:27 , [2363] here [2364] the eternal, immediate, personal presence of God enthroned in his glory, and the holiness and blessedness of believers perfected therein, are described, viz., the shechinah of God over them, but no more, as in an earthly covering, by pillars of smoke and fire, but in its heavenly immediateness, so that the of the enthroned One harmonizes with the . . of the blessed. The further description also of heavenly freedom from pain (Rev 7:16 ), and eternal refreshment and consolation (Rev 7:17 ; cf. Rev 21:4 ), is given with the old prophetic features. [2365]
, after the special , is general; no kind of heat, whatever it may be, e.g., that of scorching wind. [2366]
, . . . Isa 49:10 , declares the reason: “for [2367] he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, [2368] even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” [2369] By writing instead of this, [2370] , . . . , John designates the mediatorship of Christ, the Lamb, through whose blood especially, [2371] believers have come where they now stand, and who also feeds his own people there, [2372] and leads them unto living fountains of waters. An allusion to the position of the Lamb as mediator lies, besides, in the designation . This formula is impossible with the entirely synonymous , Rev 7:5-6 , as De Wette wishes, because there the position of the Lamb is not “in the midst of the throne,” but “in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders; [2373] but here the position of the Lamb is described entirely apart from the circle of the four beasts and the elders, and alone with reference to the throne. Only the present statement dare not stand in opposition to Rev 5:6 . Ewald’s explanation: “towards the midst of the throne, i.e., near the throne, placed by the Divine throne,” is too vague, and ignores the peculiar significance of the ; although the translation, “towards the midst of the throne,” is perfectly correct. [2374] The difficulty of the idea lies in the fact that, while in other places the refers [2375] to a mass, [2376] or at least to two parts, in whose midst something is arranged, [2377] here is attached to the single conception , so that the simple “between,” which necessarily corresponds with the , Rev 5:6 , is here entirely inadmissible. But the solution lies in the way indicated by Ewald: the Lamb is so placed as to be turned towards the midst of the throne; it therefore stands directly before the throne, [2378] a statement perfectly harmonizing with the description of Rev 5:6 . If, however, the Lamb be beheld directly before the throne of God, or in the midst of the circle of representatives of believers who surround God’s throne, it always has the same position between Him who sits on the throne, and the four beings and twenty-four elders who stand around; i.e., the form of the Lamb in itself, as well as this position, designates Christ as the atoning mediator. Hence it is just as little liable to exception, that there is ascribed here to the Lamb both a and a , [2379] as comprising the Lamb’s entire activity. [2380]
. The emphatic prefixing of is precisely like that of , 1Pe 3:21 . [2381] On the subject itself, cf. Rev 22:1 .
, . . . Cf. Rev 21:4 ; Isa 25:8 . It is not without many tears that they come out of great tribulation (Rev 7:14 ); but when they have overcome, God himself shall dry their tears, and change their weeping into joy. [2382] [See Note LV., p. 258.]
[2338] Cf. Rev 5:4 .
[2339] Cf. Rev 4:4 .
[2340] Cf. Ebrard.
[2341] Son 2:10 . Ew.
[2342] Mat 11:25 . Cf., on this, Meyer.
[2343] Beng., Hengstenb.
[2344] De Wette. Cf. Jer 1:11 sqq.; Zec 4:1 sqq.
[2345] “He asks in order to teach.” Beda, C. a Lap., Aret., etc.
[2346] Cf. Jon 1:8 . Virg., Aen. , viii. Revelation 14 : “Qui genus? unde domo? “More examples of the kind in Wetst.
[2347] Zec 1:9 ; Zec 4:4-5 ; Zec 4:13 ; Gen 23:6 ; Gen 23:11 ; Gen 31:35 ; Num 12:11 ; Joh 12:21 ; Joh 20:15 .
[2348] Ebrard.
[2349] Beng., Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb.
[2350] Beng., Zll., De Wette, Hengstenb.; also Ew. ii.
[2351] Cf. the preliminary remarks on ch. 7.
[2352] Cf. the . . . . and the , . . .
[2353] Zll., Hengstenb.
[2354] Gen 5:20 ; Gen 3:16 sqq. Beng.
[2355] Cf. Ewald, De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[2356] Cf. Beng., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard, Bleek; also Ew. ii.
[2357] Cf. Rev 5:6 .
[2358] Cf. Rev 1:5 ; Eph 5:25 sqq.; 1Jn 1:7 .
[2359] Cf. Rev 3:4 , Rev 19:8 .
[2360] Grot., on Rev 7:15 : “Here at Pella, God kept them safe from all the very great evils which await the contumacious Jews;” on Rev 7:16 , “They shall have whence they may live.”
[2361] Cf. the (Rev 1:6 , Rev 5:10 ), which pertains already to the earthly life of believers.
[2362] Beda.
[2363] De Wette, Hengstenb., etc.
[2364] Cf. Rev 21:3 .
[2365] Cf. Isa 49:10 ; Isa 25:8 .
[2366] De Wette.
[2367] Incorrectly, LXX.: .
[2368] Incorrectly, LXX.: .
[2369] Inaccurately, LXX.: .
[2370] Cf. De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[2371] Cf. Rev 5:9 .
[2372] Cf. Rev 14:1 sqq.
[2373] See on the passage.
[2374] Against Hengstenb., who defends the superficial translation “between, in the midst.”
[2375] Exo 11:7 ; Eze 22:16 ; 1Ki 5:12 ; Jdg 15:4 ; LXX.; also 1Co 6:5 . Cf., on this, Meyer.
[2376] Mat 13:25 ; Mar 7:31 ; Isa 57:5 .
[2377] Cf. Winer, p. 372.
[2378] Ew. ii.: “ an der Mitte des Stuhles .”
[2379] It is, nevertheless, the proper person Christ who is understood as the Shepherd of his people. Cf. Psa 23:1 ; 1Pe 2:12 ; Joh 10:12 .
[2380] Rev 5:7 sq.
[2381] Beng.
[2382] Cf. Psa 126:5 sq.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LV. Rev 7:14-17
Gebhardt: “The heavenly promises add nothing new to those already available for the earthly Christian life. It is evident that the promise of deliverance from tribulation, rest from labor, cessation from suffering, as well as perpetual joy after trial overcome, belong only to heaven. But, otherwise, the contents of future blessedness are distinguished from those in the promises only in particular symbolic features, and they are still, in nature, the same. The Christian has this blessedness at the moment of his becoming a Christian; but what he possesses and does and is here, in conflict and growth, amidst the discrepancy of his real nature with its manifestation in his life, and still more with the conduct of the world, he possesses and does and is there, in rest and realization.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(13) And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? (14) And I said unto him, Sir, 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. (15) Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. (16) They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. (17) For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
This is as beautiful and interesting a part as any, of the whole vision. We may suppose, that the mind of John was wrapt up in the most profound meditation, as he looked on, and heard, and stood, like one amazed, at what he saw. One of the Elders, therefore, interpreting by John’s looks, that he longed to enter into a perfect apprehension of the whole, put the question to him, which John perhaps would himself, had he presumed, have ventured to ask: What are these things which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they? And the Elder, answering his own question, for John and the Church’s information, is most gracious. And is, if I mistake not, in direct reference to the Church of God in the Last particularly at the time now coming on And though I do not presume to suppose, yea, I think the contrary, but that the Church in all ages may be referred to; yet, as this vision was given in a very particular manner, for the comfort of the Church then, when the seventh seal should open, I do conceive, that those here mentioned, as coming out of great tribulation, were those gathered more especially froth the Eastern part of the world, from among the dominions under Mahometan delusion, and had a primary respect to them.
And, I will venture to go further, under an humble hope, that I do not err in the relation, and say, that now in the day in which I am writing these observations, even in the day and year of our Lord God April 1, 1816, I do well remember the return of a godly man from the Turkish dominions, during the late war, who had formerly been a member of the Church of God to which I belong, and having been called into Egypt, there, found other godly persons, sent upon a similar occasion of war, with himself; and who, having formed meetings together for sacred worship, had the pleasure to find some from among the inhabitants of that city, who came and joined their services. A plain proof, that God’s people are scattered; and, that Jesus hath his people, whom he is calling from the East as well as the West, and the North, and the South. And, oh! what a multitude will arise, from all those different corners of the earth, at the last day, when Jesus shall send his angels to call them. home! Though they are now separated by distant seas and climes, though diversified by customs and manners; yet Christ, the desire of his people in all nations, hath in all nations a people that serve him: and of all these it will be found, that as the Father hath given them to his Son, so all shall come to him; and nothing shall separate the members from the glorious Head of his body the Church, who filleth all in all.
I must not trespass too largely, but otherwise the subject is as extensive as it is great, and as interesting as it is beautiful. The Elder that put the question to John, answered it himself. He gives an account of their persons, their former state, their present felicity, with the source of all their happiness in Christ, and the everlasting home of blessedness, to which they are brought, in the service of God and the Lamb, forever. If the Reader will indulge me with few outlines, I hope the Lord may make them profitable.
First. They are said to have come out of great tribulation. Though it may be safely said, that the Church of Christ, in all ages, more or less, come out of great tribulation; for Christ himself hath made it a mark of Sonship, that in the world his disciples shall have tribulation; while in him they have peace; Joh 16:33 . yet those times which followed the sealing, between the sixth and seventh seals, were eminently marked with persecutions. The history of the Church, which relates to us the dreadful ravages made by the sword of the false prophet and his followers at that time, Most plainly prove it. And indeed, what was the sealing of the hundred and forty and four thousand intended for, but as the Lord’s token of love to his Church, before the coming on of those persecutions? Reader! mark then, this first feature in the Latin’s people. They have come, out of great tribulation Every child of God knows somewhat of this, if not from the open persecution of the world, yet, from the plague of his own heart. It is blessed to know the tribulation from this quarter, in order to endear Christ. Till we know somewhat of our own wretchedness, we think lightly of his righteousness.
Secondly. They are said to have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Reader! I pray you, mark well what is here said. They come out of great tribulation. But, that was no cause of their acceptance before God. They had white robes, and palms in their hands. But the former were not made White by their washing, nor the latter put into their hands for their victory. No washing of their’s, no sacrifice, no blood of bulls, or of goats; no merits, no works of their’s, which they had done; not an atom of their’s contributed to it: but it was the blood of the Lamb, the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, in which their robes were washed; and therefore that is, for that very cause, and that alone, they were before the throne of God, and served him in his temple day and night.
And under this particular, I beseech the Reader to remark yet further, that it is their robes which they are said to have washed. Not their sins only, but their robes, that is, their very best things, or a man’s robes are his best things. And what may we suppose is implied in their best things, but their best prayers, their best deeds, their most holy services, their Lord’s day robes, their ordinance robes, their sacramental robes their holy conversation robes. All need washing. All must be washed and made white, in the blood of the Lamb, or all become offensive before God. Nothing but the blood of the Lamb, can make holy before God, neither any but the Person and righteousness of the Lord Jesus justify in God’s sight. It is in Him and Him only, the Church of God find access here in grace or hereafter in glory. He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, Eph 1:6 .
Thirdly. Let our next view of this sweet subject be, to contemplate the blessed consequences which follow. Having looked at them in their Persons, being washed, being sanctified, being justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God; let us hear the Elders account to John of the blessedness of their station, 1Co 6:11 . They are before the throne of God. They have the immediate enjoyment of God and the Lamb. Here it is in grace. Above it is in glory. Here, they enjoy that presence by faith. There, in sight. Here, in part. There, in a fulness of joy at God’s right hand forevermore.
Moreover, they are described in their service of God before his throne night and day. We know not what the blessedness of such services consist in. We must be endowed with the faculties of the redeemed in glory, to speak of their employments. But we can, in some measure, conceive, what glory must continually pour in upon the soul, when no fleshly corruptions, any longer arise to interrupt spiritual pleasure. We can, and do now at times, for a short moment, when grace is in lively exercise, feel ourselves as in the suburbs of heaven, in contemplating God and the Lord. Sweet and precious, though rare and short, those holy seasons are. But what must it be, when the disembodied spirit of a redeemed regenerated child of God, shall join the spirits of just men made perfect, and is fully some not by faith, but by sight, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to God the judge of the Judge of all?
Fourthly. The Elder added another information, by way of heightening to John ‘s view the unspeakable blessedness of the redeemed; namely, that He that sitteth on, the throne, shall dwell among them. God’s presence among his people is the superlative degree of all happiness and glory. Even here on earth, it is the sweetner of all blessings. Where Jesus is there is blessedness. No blessing void of him can be called a blessing. Hence, for the want of Christ it is, that so many aching hearts are in fine houses while on the contrary, where Jesus is, however poor and humble, the Lord brings all blessedness with him. And what then must it be in heaven, where the immediate presence of God and the Lamb, forms the very heaven to the soul When John heard a great voice out of heaven, speaking of peculiar blessedness to the Church, it was to say, behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, and be their God! Rev 21:3 .
Fifthly. The blessedness of their state is further described, in their being forever exempt from hunger and thirst, and a complete freedom from sickness, or the pressure of the sun’s heat. They are brought into that happy climate, where none of the inhabitants shall any longer say I am sick, for the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity, Isa 33:24 . It is blessed here upon earth, to have tasted the heavenly manna, even Christ’s body the bread of life, spiritual hunger is then satisfied with Christ. And when the Lord Jesus gives of the water of life freely, this becomes in the spirit, a well of water springing up to everlasting life. The child of God which daily feeds upon Jesus, will hunger no more after the empty, unsatisfying husks of this world. But in heaven, what unspeakable felicity must it be, to have Christ for our portion, and to live upon him forever!
Sixthly. There is somewhat peculiarly sweet and endearing in this whole account, in calling the Lord Jesus the Lamb. There can be no doubt, but that the personal glory of the Lord Jesus, is intended by it. The Holy Ghost delights in holding up to the Church the Person of her Lord. The inherent holiness of Christ, and the personal purity of Christ, in that pure portion of our nature, taken into union with the Godhead; underived as it was from all created power, possesseth in itself an holiness infinitely beyond the holiness of Angels. For though the Angels which are Elect Angels, are kept from sinning, yet this is by election. Their nature, without that electing and preserving grace, being in itself necessarily changeable, as all created excellence must be, would be necessarily subject to fall. And that they do not fall, is wholly to be ascribed to election. For those Angels which were not Elect, have fallen. And hence it is said, God putteth no trust in his servants, and even his Angels he chargeth with folly; that is, with a weakness capable of sinning, Job 4:18 . But Christ in that holy portion of human nature, he took into union with himself, is said to be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; that is, higher than Angels, being the uncreated Word, Heb 7:26 ; Joh 1:1 .
It is on this account, if I do not greatly mistake, that the Holy Ghost so often dwells in this Book on this expression, when speaking of Christ in calling him the Lamb. And there are numberless beauties in the name, as it concerns the Lord’s Church and People. To mention only a few. First. It hath a sweet and sacred allusion to God the Father’s decree, when Christ in our nature, was set up from everlasting. Hence he is called in this Book, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Rev 13:8 . And hence also in reference to the same, the names of his people are said to be written, in the Lamb’s book of life, Rev 21:27 .
Secondly. Through all the old Testament scripture, when the Holy Ghost speaks of the Lord Jesus, under the meekness and gentleness of his character, it is as the Lamb. Hence by the Prophet, he is said to have been led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth, Isa 53:7 . And no less in the New Testament dispensation, God the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of his servant John the Baptist, calls upon the Church to behold him, under this endearedness of character. For looking upon Jesus as he passed, he said; Behold; the Lamb of God! which taketh away the sins of the world, Joh 1:29-36 .
Thirdly. God the Holy Ghost never loseth sight of the same, by way of holding up to the Church’s view, the personal holiness of the Lord, for when Jesus returned to his exalted state, still it is the Lamb. He, who was, and is the Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world; was, and is the Lamb as had been slain, which John saw, in the midst of the throne, Rev 5:6 . And now again in this vision, as in the midst of the throne, feeding the Church, leading them to living fountains of waters, and wiping away all tears from their eyes.
Reader! do not too hastily pass away from those views. The subject is too precious, too blessed to be so treated. Methinks I should like to dwell upon it forever. Lord the Spirit! I would say, give me grace to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. Let my soul gaze upon him by faith, and feed on him in spirit, as my passover sacrificed for my sins. That while Jesus Seeds my soul, my soul may feast upon his blood and righteousness, and as Jesus hath said, he that eateth me, shall live by me, Joh 6:57 .
One view of Christ, as the Lamb in the midst of the throne, is so blessed, so gracious, and so delightful, for the faithful to meditate upon, that I would very earnestly, and very affectionately recommend it to every true follower of the Lord, as an effectual antidote against the poisonous breath of those men, who think lightly of our Lord, in this present Christ-despising generation. I mean, in that his being in the midst of the throne, must imply his Godhead. What can Christ be in the midst of the throne, and yet not God? Is there a hardened mind upon earth, so desperately bent to allow the one, and yet deny the other. Oh! how will such men turn into everlasting paleness, and an horrible dread overwhelm them, when they shall see our Jesus in the midst of the throne, where he now is, and the heavens passing away before his presence with a great noise, and the earths and all that is in it, burnt up.
Oh! the blessedness to God’s people. Your God, your Jesus, is in the midst of the throne. And to you it is a throne of grace, where you are sure to obtain mercy and grace, to help in all time of need. It is to you a throne of justice also, where the Lamb is in the midst. For he hath satisfied justice, answered all the demands of the law, silenced all the accusations of Satan against his people, and reigns and rules: in his throne of righteousness, to see: all the merits of his blood, completely answered in blessings to his Church and people. And to you it is a throne of glory, for the Lord that gives grace, will give glory; and it is Christ’s own glory which is concerned: to see, that the travail of his soul shall be satisfied, for in bringing many sons to glory, it behoved Jesus, as the Captain of our salvation, to be made perfect through suffering: Reader! shall you and I go to this throne, now Jesus is in the midst of it? Every way, and in every direction, it is open to poor sinners, behind and before, for Christ the Lamb slain is in the midst of the throne.
And how he feeds his people, here in grace, and there in glory; surely, every regenerated child of God cannot but know. Himself is the whole of our food. By faith, at his house, at his table, in ordinances and means of grace, all spiritual partakers truly eat of his flesh, and drink of his blood. And they find, by soul experience, what the Lord hath said, that his flesh is meat indeed, and his blood drink indeed. Joh 6:55 . And wherefore should it be questioned? If animal life is supported day by day, from the sustenance received in the bread which perisheth with using, shall it be thought incredible, that spiritual life is kept up and maintained, in constant supplies of grace and strength, from the bread of life which is Jesus himself, in the continued communications the Lord makes of himself to his people. Precious Lamb of God, that art in the midst of the throne! do thou, while giving out glory to thy redeemed above, feed with grace thy Church below. For surely, Lord, they are equally dear to thee, by every tye which can make them so, by thy Father’s gift, thine own purchase, the conquest of thy Spirit over them in regeneration, and their surrender of themselves to thee, as thine, since thou hast made them willing in the day of thy power!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
Ver. 13. And one of the elders ] See Trapp on “ Rev 5:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 17 .] Explanation of the vision . And one of the elders answered (on this use of , see reff.) saying to me (the elders symbolizing the Church, one of them fitly stands out as the interpreter of this vision in which the glorified Church is represented), These that are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they (‘ad hoc interrogat, ut doceat,’ Bede [100] The questions are those ordinarily put when we seek for information respecting strangers. Wetst. compares the ; ; of Homer; and the “Qui genus? unde domo?” of Virgil. Both enquiries are answered in Rev 7:14 )? And I said to him, My Lord (the address is one of deep reverence as to a heavenly being. See the limits of this reverence in ch. Rev 19:10 , Rev 22:8-9 ), thou knowest (see ref. Ezek., from which the form of expression comes. The must not with Ebrard be forced to mean, “I know well, but thou knowest better:” but must be taken in its simple acceptation, “I know not, but thou dost.” And this again need not mean that the Apostle had no thought on the subject, but that he regarded himself as ignorant in comparison with his heavenly interlocutor). And he said to me, These are they that come (not, as E. V., “that came :” nor again must the present be put prominently forward, that are coming , as if the number in the vision were not yet complete: still less is it to be taken as a quasi-future, “that shall come ,” cf. and below; but as in the expression , the present is merely one of designation . Their description, generically, is, that “they are they that come ,” &c.) out of the great tribulation (the definite art. ought not to be omitted as in E. V. It is most emphatic: “out of the tribulation, the great one.” And in consequence some, e. g. Dsterd., have explained the words of that last great time of trial which is to try the saints before the coming of the Lord. But to limit it to this only, is manifestly out of keeping with the spirit of the vision. I would rather understand it of the whole sum of the trials of the saints of God, viewed by the Elder as now complete, and designated by this emphatic and general name: q. d. “all that tribulation”), and they washed their robes (the aor. is that so often used of the course of this life when looked back upon from its yonder side: they did this in that life on earth which is now (in the vision) past and gone by) and made them white (the reff. are full of interest) in the blood of the Lamb (i. e. by that faith in the atoning blood of Christ of which it is said, , Act 15:9 ; and 1Jn 1:7 , . . See also Eph 5:25-27 . Several of the ancient Commentators have misunderstood this: e. g. Areth [101] , . : and, though differently, Joachim: “sed cum sancti martyres in sanguine suo baptizati sint, quomodo sanguini Christi ascribitur quod abluti sunt, et non potius proprio sanguini quem pro Christo fuderunt? sed sciendum est, quod postquam empti sumus sanguine Christi, et ejus sacratissimo cruori communicare concessi, etiam sanguis noster sanguis ejus effectus est.” Similarly Lyra: “merito dicitur sanguis Agni, quia est sanguis membrorum ejus, in quibus dicit se persecutionem pati.” Ansbert ambiguously, “eas in sanguine agni candificant, subaudis, in Christi passionibus habitum mentis exornant.” And Ewald has fallen into the same mistake: “sanguine Christi, i. e. cde quam ob Christi doctrinam, Christi et in hac re exemplar secuti, passi sunt.” Observe, we must not separate the two acts, washing and making white, as Hengstb., interpreting the former of the forgiveness of sins, the latter of sanctification: the latter is only the result of the former: they washed them, and by so doing made them white. The act was a life-long one, the continued purification of the man, body, soul, and spirit, by the application of the blood of Christ in its cleansing power). On this account ( because they washed their robes white in Christ’s atoning and purifying blood: for nothing that has spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, can stand where they are standing: cf. again Eph 5:27 ; none will be there who are not thus washed) they are before the throne of God (in the presence of His throne: seeing Him (Mat 5:8 ; 1Co 13:12 ) as He sees them), and they serve Him by day (gen. sing.) and by night (“more nostro loquens ternitatem significat,” Bed [102] ) in His temple (as His priests, conducting the sweet praises of that heavenly choir, Rev 7:10 , and doing what other high and blessed service He may delight to employ them in): and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His habitation over them (it is exceedingly difficult to express the sense of these glorious words, in which the fulfilment of the O. T. promises, such as Lev 26:11 ; Isa 4:5-6 ; Eze 37:27 , is announced. They give the fact of the dwelling of God among them, united with the fact of His protection being over them, and assuring to them the exemptions next to be mentioned. In the word are contained a multitude of recollections: of the pillar in the wilderness, of the Shechinah in the holy place, of the tabernacle of witness with all its symbolism. These will all now be realized and superseded by the overshadowing presence of God Himself). They shall not hunger any more, nor yet (the repeated is exclusive, and carries a climax in each clause) thirst any more, neither shall the sun ever light upon them, no, nor any (reff.) heat (as, e. g., , the sirocco, which word is used in Isa 49:10 , from whence this whole sentence is taken): because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne (the is somewhat difficult to express in its strict meaning. In ref. Matt., it has the sense of among : in ref. Mark, that of through the midst of : in ref. Isa., of between . It seems to imply at least two things, between or in the midst of which any thing passes, or is situate. And in order to apply this here, we must remember the text and note at ch. Rev 5:6 , where we found reason to believe that , . . ., imported in the middle point in front of the throne. If so, the two points required for would be the two extreme ends of the throne to the right and to the left. See, besides reff., Exo 11:7 ; Lev 27:12 ; Lev 27:14 ; Jdg 15:4 ; Jdg 3 Kings Rev 5:12 ; Eze 22:26 ) shall tend them (as a shepherd his flock), and shall guide them to the fountains of the waters of life (cf. ch. Rev 22:1 . is prefixed for emphasis, as in 1Pe 3:21 , . It is not found in the place of Isaiah, which runs thus: , . See Psa 23:2 ): and God shall wipe away (see reff.) every tear out of their eyes .
[100] Bede, the Venerable , 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. “E,” mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
[101] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Cent y . X. 2
[102] Bede, the Venerable , 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. “E,” mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
All is now ready for the final disclosure by the Lamb of the book of God’s eternal purposes. The coming of the Lord has passed, and the elect are gathered in. Accordingly, THE LAST SEAL IS NOW OPENED, which lets loose the roll.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 7:13 . “And one of the elders addressed me, saying”; for similar openings of a dialogue, see Jer 1:11 , Zec 4:2 . Perhaps, like Dante ( Parad. iv. 10 12), John although silent showed desire painted on his face. The form of inquiry resembles Homer’s ; or Vergil’s qui genus? unde domo?, more closely still the similar sentences which recur in Hermas. See throughout, Zec 4:1 ; Zec 4:6 , and Asc. Isa. ix. 25, 26 (and I said to the angel “For whom are these robes and thrones and crowns reserved?” And he said to me: “They shall be missed by many who believe the words of him of whom I told thee [ i.e. , Antichrist]”; also 11:40, uos autem uigilate in sancto spiritu ut recipiatis stolam uestram et thronos et coronas gloriae in caelo iacentes). It is the origin and character, not the number, of the company which interests the prophet.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 7:13-17
13Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Rev 7:14 “I said to him, ‘My Lord, you know'” This is a common human response to angelic messengers (cf. Zec 4:5; Zec 4:13; Dan 10:16), which reinforces the identification of the elders with a group of angelic beings.
Apocalyptic literature is characterized by angelic mediation and interpretation. These interpretations become crucial (as are the choir’s songs) in defining and understanding the symbolic language.
“these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation” This is a present participle and is an allusion to the persecuted churches in John’s day (cf. Rev 1:9; Rev 2:9-10; Rev 2:22). However, it is obvious that the historical allusions in the Revelation address the persecution of the saints in every age and also point to an end-time intensification of persecution (cf. Dan 12:1). This is related to
1. the persecution of God’s children (cf. Mat 24:21-22; Mar 13:19; 2Th 2:3 ff; Rev 2:10; Dan 12:1)
2. God’s coming wrath on unbelievers (cf. 2Th 1:6-9; Rev 3:10; Rev 6:17; Rev 8:2 ff; Rev 16:1 ff)
These problems, to some degree, have been associated with every age. Christians have often suffered in Jesus’ name (cf. Joh 16:33; Act 14:22; Rom 5:3; 1Pe 4:12-16). Both of these events are often called the birth pangs of the new age of righteousness (cf. Mar 13:8 and the apocryphal book of II Baruch, chapters 25-30).
The Greek term thlipsis (tribulation) in Revelation is always used of believers’ suffering persecution at the hands of unbelievers (cf. Rev 1:9; Rev 2:9-10; Rev 2:22; Rev 7:14). The Greek terms thumos (cf. Rev 12:12; Rev 14:8; Rev 14:10; Rev 14:19; Rev 15:1; Rev 15:7; Rev 16:1; Rev 18:3; Rev 19:15) and org (cf. Rev 6:16-17; Rev 11:18; Rev 14:10; Rev 16:19; Rev 19:15) are always used of the Father’s or the Son’s wrath on rebellious, stubborn unbelievers.
As a theological aside, if the book was written to encourage believers going through tribulations, why do some interpreters insist on a secret rapture to spare some future generation of believers persecution? Persecution was the lot of most of the Church’s first leaders, and every generation of believers. Why then should one future group be spared?
“they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” This apparently refers to martyrs who die for their faith in Christ during the Great Tribulation. What a striking metaphor of redemption (cf. Rev 22:14)! This idea of cleansing by means of the sacrificial death of Christ can be seen in Rom 3:25; Rom 5:9; 2Co 5:21; Eph 1:7; Col 1:20; Heb 9:14; 1Pe 1:19; and 1Jn 1:7. The truth of the cross is often alluded to in Revelation (cf. Rev 1:5; Rev 5:12; Rev 7:14; Rev 12:11; Rev 13:8; Rev 14:4; Rev 15:3; Rev 19:7; Rev 21:9; Rev 21:23; Rev 22:3).
Notice the combination of Christ’s provision and mankind’s need to respond to God’s invitation. The covenantal aspect of both Testaments asserts God’s initiation and provision, but the sovereign God has also chosen that fallen mankind must respond (cf. Joh 1:12; Mar 1:15; Act 3:16; Act 3:19; Act 20:21; Rom 10:9-13).
Rev 7:15-16 A future time of bliss and heavenly peace is described in OT terms. This is an allusion to the wilderness wandering period and the Tabernacle (cf. Exo 40:34-38; Num 9:15-23). It is an additional allusion to the Shekinah cloud of glory, which symbolized God’s presence with the people (cf. Isa 49:10; Mat 5:6; Joh 4:14; Joh 6:35; Joh 7:37). This period of Israel’s history was in reality a period of judgment. However, YHWH was never closer and more attentive than during this period of judgment. It is often referred to by the rabbis as YHWH and Israel’s honeymoon.
Rev 7:15 “they serve Him day and night” In the OT this referred to Levitical priests (cf. Psa 134:1; 1Ch 9:33). The access to God and the service of God has been expanded to (1) persecuted believers and (2) all believers. There is no longer a Jewish elite priesthood! All believers are priests (cf. 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6).
The phrase “day and night” is a metaphor for continuance. It is found several times in Revelation (cf. Rev 4:8; Rev 7:15; Rev 12:10; Rev 14:11; Rev 20:10).
“in His temple” It is somewhat difficult to relate this passage (and Ezekiel 40-48) to Rev 21:22 which says there will be no temple in heaven. Some try to make a distinction between a temporal millennial reign and the eternal reign. Obviously, the metaphors and time frame in this book are fluid. This may refer to the spiritual Tabernacle in heaven (cf. Heb 9:23).
“will spread His tabernacle over them” This is a verbal metaphor of God’s dwelling intimately with His people. God’s tent represents His permanent presence with His new people from every kindred and tribe. The initial purpose of the Garden of Eden is restored. Humanity is redeemed (cf. Gen 3:15). Intimate fellowship with God is again possible (i.e., Gen 3:8).
Rev 7:16-17 These are blessings (from the OT) for all believers, not just martyrs.
Rev 7:16 “they will hunger no more, nor thirst anymore” Rev 7:16 is an allusion to Isa 49:10-13. God’s physical provisions are used as a symbol of God’s spiritual provisions (cf. Mat 5:6; Joh 4:14; Joh 6:35; Joh 7:37).
“nor will the sun beat down on them; nor any heat” This is an allusion to the shade provided by the Shekinah cloud of glory during the 38 year Wilderness Wandering Period (cf. Psa 121:5-7).
Rev 7:17 “for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd” This is an OT allusion to Eze 34:23. Notice that the slain but risen Redeemer is the focal point of God’s redemptive activity. The Good Shepherd of Joh 10:11 is now the Shepherd of all the sheep (cf. Joh 10:16).
“and will guide them to springs of the water of life” For desert people water has always been a symbol of abundance and life. This is an allusion to Isa 49:10 (cf. Psa 23:2), which is repeated at the close of the book in Rev 21:6; Rev 22:1.
“and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” This allusion is to the Messianic banquet and new city of God in Isa 25:6-9 (cf. Rev 21:4). What a comfort this must have been to the persecuted believers of John’s day and every age!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
answered = masked. Figure of speech Idioma. App-6.
What = Who.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
13-17.] Explanation of the vision. And one of the elders answered (on this use of , see reff.) saying to me (the elders symbolizing the Church, one of them fitly stands out as the interpreter of this vision in which the glorified Church is represented), These that are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they (ad hoc interrogat, ut doceat, Bede[100] The questions are those ordinarily put when we seek for information respecting strangers. Wetst. compares the ; ; of Homer; and the Qui genus? unde domo? of Virgil. Both enquiries are answered in Rev 7:14)? And I said to him, My Lord (the address is one of deep reverence as to a heavenly being. See the limits of this reverence in ch. Rev 19:10, Rev 22:8-9), thou knowest (see ref. Ezek., from which the form of expression comes. The must not with Ebrard be forced to mean, I know well, but thou knowest better: but must be taken in its simple acceptation, I know not, but thou dost. And this again need not mean that the Apostle had no thought on the subject, but that he regarded himself as ignorant in comparison with his heavenly interlocutor). And he said to me, These are they that come (not, as E. V., that came: nor again must the present be put prominently forward, that are coming, as if the number in the vision were not yet complete: still less is it to be taken as a quasi-future, that shall come, cf. and below;-but as in the expression , the present is merely one of designation. Their description, generically, is, that they are they that come, &c.) out of the great tribulation (the definite art. ought not to be omitted as in E. V. It is most emphatic: out of the tribulation, the great one. And in consequence some, e. g. Dsterd., have explained the words of that last great time of trial which is to try the saints before the coming of the Lord. But to limit it to this only, is manifestly out of keeping with the spirit of the vision. I would rather understand it of the whole sum of the trials of the saints of God, viewed by the Elder as now complete, and designated by this emphatic and general name: q. d. all that tribulation), and they washed their robes (the aor. is that so often used of the course of this life when looked back upon from its yonder side: they did this in that life on earth which is now (in the vision) past and gone by) and made them white (the reff. are full of interest) in the blood of the Lamb (i. e. by that faith in the atoning blood of Christ of which it is said, , Act 15:9; and 1Jn 1:7, . . See also Eph 5:25-27. Several of the ancient Commentators have misunderstood this: e. g. Areth[101],- . : and, though differently, Joachim:-sed cum sancti martyres in sanguine suo baptizati sint, quomodo sanguini Christi ascribitur quod abluti sunt, et non potius proprio sanguini quem pro Christo fuderunt? sed sciendum est, quod postquam empti sumus sanguine Christi, et ejus sacratissimo cruori communicare concessi, etiam sanguis noster sanguis ejus effectus est. Similarly Lyra: merito dicitur sanguis Agni, quia est sanguis membrorum ejus, in quibus dicit se persecutionem pati. Ansbert ambiguously, eas in sanguine agni candificant, subaudis, in Christi passionibus habitum mentis exornant. And Ewald has fallen into the same mistake: sanguine Christi, i. e. cde quam ob Christi doctrinam, Christi et in hac re exemplar secuti, passi sunt. Observe, we must not separate the two acts, washing and making white, as Hengstb., interpreting the former of the forgiveness of sins, the latter of sanctification: the latter is only the result of the former: they washed them, and by so doing made them white. The act was a life-long one,-the continued purification of the man, body, soul, and spirit, by the application of the blood of Christ in its cleansing power). On this account (because they washed their robes white in Christs atoning and purifying blood: for nothing that has spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, can stand where they are standing: cf. again Eph 5:27; none will be there who are not thus washed) they are before the throne of God (in the presence of His throne: seeing Him (Mat 5:8; 1Co 13:12) as He sees them), and they serve Him by day (gen. sing.) and by night (more nostro loquens ternitatem significat, Bed[102]) in His temple (as His priests, conducting the sweet praises of that heavenly choir, Rev 7:10, and doing what other high and blessed service He may delight to employ them in): and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His habitation over them (it is exceedingly difficult to express the sense of these glorious words, in which the fulfilment of the O. T. promises, such as Lev 26:11; Isa 4:5-6; Eze 37:27, is announced. They give the fact of the dwelling of God among them, united with the fact of His protection being over them, and assuring to them the exemptions next to be mentioned. In the word are contained a multitude of recollections: of the pillar in the wilderness, of the Shechinah in the holy place, of the tabernacle of witness with all its symbolism. These will all now be realized and superseded by the overshadowing presence of God Himself). They shall not hunger any more, nor yet (the repeated is exclusive, and carries a climax in each clause) thirst any more, neither shall the sun ever light upon them, no, nor any (reff.) heat (as, e. g., , the sirocco, which word is used in Isa 49:10, from whence this whole sentence is taken): because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne (the is somewhat difficult to express in its strict meaning. In ref. Matt., it has the sense of among: in ref. Mark, that of through the midst of: in ref. Isa., of between. It seems to imply at least two things, between or in the midst of which any thing passes, or is situate. And in order to apply this here, we must remember the text and note at ch. Rev 5:6, where we found reason to believe that , …, imported in the middle point in front of the throne. If so, the two points required for would be the two extreme ends of the throne to the right and to the left. See, besides reff., Exo 11:7; Lev 27:12; Lev 27:14; Jdg 15:4; Judges 3 Kings Rev 5:12; Eze 22:26) shall tend them (as a shepherd his flock), and shall guide them to the fountains of the waters of life (cf. ch. Rev 22:1. is prefixed for emphasis, as in 1Pe 3:21, . It is not found in the place of Isaiah, which runs thus: , . See Psa 23:2): and God shall wipe away (see reff.) every tear out of their eyes.
[100] Bede, the Venerable, 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. E, mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
[101] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Centy. X.2
[102] Bede, the Venerable, 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. E, mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
All is now ready for the final disclosure by the Lamb of the book of Gods eternal purposes. The coming of the Lord has passed, and the elect are gathered in. Accordingly, THE LAST SEAL IS NOW OPENED, which lets loose the roll.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 7:13-17
5. THE MEANS OF SALVATION EXPLAINED
Rev 7:13-17
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they?–The text says one of the elders “answered,” which probably means that he was explaining an inquiry that was in John’s mind, but not expressed. The elder did not ask the question to be answered by John, but to give the occasion for explaining why the white-robed multitude were in God’s presence. Telling how they happened to be before God in the symbolic picture would show how they would finally be in his presence in heaven. That would settle the questions, Who will be saved? and how will they be saved?
14 And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.–John recognized the fact that the elder did not ask the question to be answered, and so he said “thou knowest.” Two things are expressed as the reasons why they were in God’s presence–faithfulness in tribulation and having their robes washed in Christ’s blood. The logical order is here reversed; being washed in the blood of the Lamb comes first and then meeting tribulation in following him. “Washing” is clearly used figuratively, for washing in the blood of Christ does not occur, if it means his literal blood and literal washing. This is only a figurative expression that means one’s sins are forgiven through Christ’s blood. The word “washing” is used figuratively and the word “blood” is used literally. Another proof that symbolic expressions or sentences may contain words used in both meanings. “Great tribulation” shows that only those will be saved who are faithful “unto death” (2:10) in spite of all difficulties and persecutions. Paul expressed the same thought in Act 14:22.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them.–For the two reasons given in the preceding verse they are before the throne in the vision John was viewing. That, however, was a guarantee of God’s approval, and the assurance that they would serve him day and night (continually) in his temple. Since the Jews served God in the temple, and Christians serve him in the church (called the temple of God, 1Co 3:16), it is perfectly appropriate that the saved in heaven finally should be said to serve him continuously in his temple. God’s spreading his tabernacle over them implies that he would approve of their service by dwelling among them. Their appearance in the symbolic picture was proof that they would dwell in that eternal temple.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat:–This pictures the final blessings for the faithful, and is the same as expressed in Rev 21:3-5. The troubles, pain, worry, and burdens incident to living in the flesh here will all be gone when the redeemed dwell with God.
17 for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. –The Lamb that stood before the throne in the vision, and was able to break the seals and reveal the future, would, like a shepherd guides his sheep, bring them to fountains of joy. Omitting the figurative language, it means that through his redemptive work they would enjoy all the blessings of heaven. God’s wiping away every tear means that he will enable us to forget all the sadness that wrings our hearts in this sin-troubled world. What a joyous anticipation!
No one who properly appreciates the blessings of sins forgiven, to say nothing about the inexpressible happiness that awaits in heaven, will fail in trying to meet the obligations which the Christian life imposes. The terms upon which pardon is secured are too plain and easy to obey to allow any excuse for disobedience. Tribulations, naturally, are not pleasant experiences, but the reward of eternal life is too important to be lost. Great favors do not come without cost. Christians should be the last to complain or try to justify neglect.
Additional Note: The purpose of the visions in this chapter must have been for the encouragement of the seven churches to whom the letters were sent. The hope of such glorious rewards would stimulate them in the struggles against persecutions, suffering, and death that had been pictured in the seals. In the same way such promises should encourage all saints to meet faithfully any trials they are called to face. So used, the lessons in Revelation are of great value to Christians in all ages.
Commentary on Rev 7:13-17 by Foy E. Wallace
The white-robed throng-Rev 7:13-14.
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, 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.
The interrogative of Rev 7:13 brought the answer of verse 14 and identified the multitude as the survivors of tribulation. It was an advance scene and corresponded to the hour of trial, chapter 3:10; the tribulation of Rev 2:10; and to the Lords language in Mat 24:21, after which he would gather his elect from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other-Mat 24:31. The preservation of the true seed of Israel, the success of the cause of Christ, the victory of the church, and the universal sway, of Christianity in the expansion of the gospel, were the parallels in all of the visions; and they covered in each instance the same events, and alike defined the period of these afflictions. The apocalypse belonged to that time.
The company which emerged from tribulation were described as having washed their robes in blood. This was not the washing away of sins in baptism, of Act 22:16; nor the washing of water by the word of Eph 5:26; nor having our bodies washed with pure water of Heb 10:22. It was the washing of their robes–it was the blood bath of tribulation, symbolically in the blood of the Lamb who Himself shed his blood for the cause for which they also suffered
The reward of the redeemed-Rev 7:15-16.
These who were before the throne of God and in his temple, renewed the dual kingdom-priesthood character of the church, it is said of both in Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10. The demolition of the old temple only gave place to the new (Act 7:47-49); and his priests then would serve in his temple day and night, and would be always before his throne, continually with none to make them afraid; and their God would dwell there. (2Co 6:16)
In this new temple-state, having emerged from tribulation, they should hunger and thirst no more; neither sun nor heat would light on them (afflict them)–figures of speech to denote the calamities during the period of persecution as symbolized in the seals. The famine, pestilence and plagues, which prevailed during the period of persecution would all cease. The absence of all of these signified a state of victory over persecution.
The living fountains of water-Rev 7:17.
These figures of speech signified that their tribulations were over. They were avenged by the overthrow of their persecutors. Henceforth the Lamb would feed them; the opposite to the symbols of want in tribulation. He would lead them unto living fountains of waters–no longer amid the dangers of the persecuting powers, but where provender, peace, refreshment and satisfaction were unrestrained. It is the apocalyptic version of the twenty-third psalm.
Finally, the ultimate in the symbols of victory: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes–the persecutions had ended, the tribulations were over. Here the visions and scenes all merge into one company, the victorious church of Christ.
Commentary on Rev 7:13-17 by Walter Scott
THE ELDERS QUESTION AND ANSWER.
Rev 7:13-17. – And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And I said to him, My Lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they who come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sits upon the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at all fall on them, nor any burning heat; because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life, and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Seer stood in silent wonder. He heard the exulting cry of the redeemed host and beheld their joy, but he did not personally participate in either. One of the elders answered, not the spoken, but the unspoken inquiry of the heart of the Seer. The elders are characterized by the most elevated character of worship and intelligence in the mind and ways of God. They themselves were redeemed from earth, and hence it was fitting that one of them, and not a sinless celestial being, should be the interpreter to John, and through him to us, of the origin and history of this remarkable company for the first time beheld by the Seer. John was not unacquainted with the heavenly service of the elders. In a previous vision (Rev 5:4-5) one of them had comforted and instructed him. Hence the two questions put to John exactly expressed what he wanted to know: These who are clothed with white robes, who are they? and whence came they?
It is not without significance that attention is called three times to their white robes (Rev 7:9; Rev 7:13-14). Their public acceptance by God, their recognition by Him in perfect purity of character and ways, are witnessed in those robes of purest white. (An old Scotch divine remarks on this passage: The word translated robes properly signifies a marriage robe; and as both this word and the one translated white have the article prefixed it gives a peculiar force and beauty to the expression The allusion is to a marriage garment of the richest and most splendid appearance. To take in the full idiom of the expression it would require to be rendered thus: Who are these clothed in the richest marriage robes, in robes of the purest white?)
THE GREAT TRIBULATION.
Rev 7:14. – These are they who come out of the great tribulation. Our venerable Authorized Version is at fault here. It reads: These are they which came out of great tribulation. But the Revised Version and other versions give undoubtedly the Spirits meaning, come, not came, and the tribulation, not tribulation simply. It is not the record of a past act, but they come out. It is regarded as a characteristically present action. The tribulation points to a definite prophetic period, and not simply to tribulation in general in which all saints share. The great tribulation (Out of the tribulation, the great one. – Alford.) cannot be the general troubles which afflict Gods people in all ages. The insertion of the definite article marks its speciality. The Neronian (The Early Days of Christianity. p. 448. – Dean Farrar.) and other pagan and papal persecutions have been variously referred to as the great tribulation by the historical school of expositors. More frequently still the expression is thought to refer to the general troubles of life. But every interpretation of the Apocalypse which has history and not Gods Word as its basis is necessarily confusing and uncertain. The force and import of the term must be sought for in Scripture and not in the records of human history. The interpretation of the Word, as also its application to the conscience, is the sole prerogative of the Holy Ghost Who inspired it.
The great tribulation is yet future. It pre-supposes the Jewish nation restored to Palestine in unbelief to serve Gentile political ends, and brought there by the active intervention of a great maritime power (Isa 18:1-7). The duration of the coming hour of trial, which in its intensity will exceed all past and subsequent sorrows endured on earth (Mar 13:19), is limited to the second half of Daniels prophetic week of seven years (Dan 9:27 with Mat 24:15), or, speaking more correctly, to 1260 days, i.e., 42 months of 30 days each(*The tribulation ends before the coming of Christ to reign (Mat 24:29); and I believe it will virtually close by the pouring out of the vials (Rev 16:1-21). Writhing under these inflictions, neither the beast nor his myrmidons will be in a condition to persecute any longer. So it seems to me.) (Rev 11:3; Rev 13:5). Satan cast out of Heaven into the earth is the instigator of this unparalleled outburst of fury and hatred against Gods witnesses, Jewish and Gentile (Rev 12:7-17). Satans chief persecuting ministers will be the beast, i.e., the revived imperial power of Rome in the person of its head, the little horn (Dan 7:7; Dan 7:21; Rev 13:1-18. l-8); the Anti-Christ, only so termed in Johns epistles, the ally and confederate of the beast (Rev 13:11-17); and the king of the north, or the Assyrian (Dan 8:1-27; Dan 11:1-45; Isa 10:24-34). (See article The Chief Actors in the Coming Crisis.) The two former will be the active agents in persecuting the saints; the latter will be politically hostile to the restored Jewish commonwealth, but Jewish saints will also have to suffer as part and parcel of the nation.
The great tribulation, then, embraces Gentiles as well as Jews. Apostate Christendom is the wide sphere which will come under the direct judgment of Christ in the coming day, nor will the sword be sheathed till the heathen, too, feel the stroke (1Pe 4:17). But while the tribulation will embrace Jews and Gentiles, the former will suffer most severely (Jer 30:7). The Gentile company of our text comes out of the great tribulation. They have been preserved while Christendom, and Judea especially, have been bathed in the blood of Gods saints. (The location of the saved Gentile company, when the testimony of God reached their consciences, must not be confined to the territorial limits of Christendom. The largeness of the scene in verse 9 intimates a breadth which probably covers the whole Gentile world. Rejecters of Gods grace – grace now fully and freely preached – are in the time of the tribulation given up to judicial dealing (2Th 2:10-12), and are punished with everlasting destruction at the Appearing of Christ (2Th 1:6-9). Hence these apostates are precluded from any share in the work of grace – widely and rapidly carried out (length of time uncertain) between the Translation and the Appearing.)
The 1260 days of persecution (Rev 11:3), or 42 months, counting 30 days to a month, will end before the three and a half years are concluded. They fall short of this last period by 17 days, or more exactly 17 days. Till the 42 months end the beasts power is unchallengeable (Rev 13:5). The seventh trumpet sounds, and the mystery of God is then finished. He will henceforth deal directly with the apostates, as the vials describe. It will be mystery as to that no longer.
The days will be shortened, as the duration of the beasts power will be curtailed by the above mentioned days that will remain of the three and a half years of the week (Dan 9:27). Shortening or lengthening of days, not a day, refers to a period of time, and not to a natural day of twenty-four hours.
The clue to me of a deal of all this is the difference between 1260 days and three and a half years. The former can by no possibility be made to equal the latter. At the end of the latter the Lord comes to reign. At the end of the former the trumpet sounds; and the balance of days between the 1260 days and the three and a half years leaves room for the outpouring of the vials. – Truth for the Last Days, No. 4, p. 163, C.E.S. See also article, The Celebrated Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
Their mystical robes derive their whiteness solely from the blood of Christ.
Next we have the standing or position of the Gentile throng. Therefore are they before the throne of God. It is the shed blood of Christ which alone entitles anyone to stand before the throne. This grace wherein we stand (Rom 5:2) is ground common to all saints. The demonstrative pronoun points not to grace in general, but to that special grace of God witnessed in the death and resurrection of the Lord.
Rev 7:14. – Have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God. Washing robes is one of those expressions peculiar to the Apocalypse. Whatever may have been the special testimony addressed to these Gentiles,(*We do not read of any testimony borne by them.) evidently the blood of the Lamb was its grand and distinguishing feature. Their mystic robes could alone be made white in the blood. The ground on which they stood before the throne of God is one common to all saints in time and eternity. The blood of the Lamb, shed in divine purpose from the foundation of the world, is the only but adequate basis of appearing before the throne of God. Therefore, or on this account, are they before the throne, i.e., because of the blood. The blood constituted these sinners saints; the tribulation made them sufferers.
Rev 7:15. – Serve Him day and night in His temple. We have had the historical origin of this innumerable redeemed company (v. 9); victorious too, and ascribing salvation to God and to the Lamb (vv. 9, 10). Then attention is called to the fact that they emerge out of the great tribulation, while, not their sufferings, but the blood of the Lamb gives them divine fitness to appear before the throne of God. Next we have their unceasing service, they serve Him day and night in His temple. Another proof is here furnished that these saints are on earth, not in Heaven, for, says the Seer in a subsequent vision, I saw no temple therein. Jerusalem on earth will have its temple, one of vast proportions, in which Jews and Gentiles will worship and serve in millennial days (Eze 40:1-49; Eze 41:1-26; Eze 42:1-20; Eze 43:1-27; Eze 44:1-31; Isa 56:5-7). They are here viewed as a vast worshipping company, priests to God.(*They are not only as Israel in the courts, or the nations in the world; they have a priests place in the worlds temple. The millennial multitudes are worshippers – these priests. As Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, even in the temple itself they have always access to the throne. – Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, vol. 5, p. 603, Morrish ed.)
Rev 7:15. – He that sits upon the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. The Authorized Version reads, shall dwell among them; a poor and utterly inadequate rendering of the divine thought here expressed. God spread His tabernacle over the tent of meeting of old, which thus became the center and rest of the thousands of Israel. It covered them in the desert. Two millions and a half of people, the typically redeemed host of Jehovah, were sheltered from scorching suns and winters blasts by the huge canopy which God spread over them. It was the nations glory and defense. The marginal reference in the Authorized Version, rightly so, directs us to Isa 4:5-6 : Jehovah will create over every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flame of fire by night; for over all the glory (shall be) a canopy. And there shall be a booth (or tabernacle) for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and for a refuge and for a covert from storm and from rain. In the eternal state the tabernacle of God is with men (Rev 21:3); in millennial times Gods tabernacle will be over them (Rev 7:15, R.V.). What a sense of security the white-robed multitude will enjoy as they bask under the glorious overspread canopy, each member of the countless throng equally sheltered, equally protected! Gods tabernacle spread over them, and the throne in all its strength and majesty for them!
The special millennial blessings of the redeemed Gentiles are next presented, negatively and positively, and suited exactly to the new order of things under the personal sway of Christ. In the enumeration of these earthly blessings one cannot fail to see how transcendently superior are those enjoyed by the saints in Heaven. Glory with Christ in the heavens, and blessing under Christ on the millennial earth define the difference. They shall not hunger any more, neither shall they thirst any more, nor shall the sun at all fall on them, nor any burning heat. The reference to millennial days is undoubted (see Isa 49:10). In these emphatic negatives (No more, or never, is a mode of negation so often repeated in the Apocalypse (cp. Rev 18:22-23) that it is somewhat peculiar to this book in respect to frequency. – A Commentary on the Apocalypse, p. 561. – Moses Stuart.) the saved Gentile multitude is assured that the privations of life, hunger and thirst, and persecution and tribulation, sun and burning heat, shall never again be their sad lot. There shall be no recurrence of past evils.
Rev 7:16
No Commentary on vs. 16
Rev 7:17. – Because the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them, and shall lead them to fountains of waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Lamb in the midst of the throne,(*See remarks on Rev 5:6.) exercising its power and expressing in Himself its majesty, will graciously provide for every need. Not angelic and providential care as now (Heb 1:14), but the shepherd grace of the Lamb will then be in exercise – tending, caring, preserving, and guiding each and all of the redeemed Gentile multitude. He shall lead them to fountains of waters of life, not to channels or springs merely, but to the sources of life. The fulness and joy of earthly blessing shall be theirs, the Lamb Himself being their guide to these fountains or sources of unalloyed delight (see Isa 12:3).
The closing words are unequalled in their combined depth and tenderness: And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, not the Lamb, be it observed, but God, against Whom they and we have sinned, shall Himself remove the causes and occasions of sorrow. If He wipes away every tear they shall never weep again. Everlasting consolation is the happy and assured portion of all His people, heavenly and earthly. The words in our text are verbally repeated in Rev 21:4. There the eternal state is in view; here the millennial condition is in question. Both passages apply to saved people on earth, not to those in Heaven.
Commentary on Rev 7:13-17 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 7:13. The elder put his statement in the form of a question to gain the attention of John. The ones arrayed in white robes were those in Rev 6:11 and those of the twelve tribes in this chapter.
Rev 7:14. John understood that such was the purpose of the question, for he replied thou knowest. The elder then gave the answer which confirms the idea that they were the persecuted servants of God already referred to. Came out of great tribulation denotes their triumph over their persecutors. Not that they escaped death, for John had seen their souls outside of their bodies. But if a servant of God is faithful even in the midst of persecution then death cannot rob him of victory. Washed their robes is a figurative reference to their being cleaned by the blood of Christ.
Rev 7:15. All of the statements in this verse are figurative, for the purified saints had lost their lives for testifying on behalf of the word of God. But they were being held in honored remembrance and were destined to be always “welcome callers” in the intimacies of the Father.
Rev 7:16. Shall not hunger nor thirst because those are wants that pertain to this life, and they have become citizens of a region where physical wants are unknown. The light and heat of the sun are things of the past for the same reasons.
Rev 7:17. Lamb shall feed them with delicacies that are unknown to men living in the flesh. Living fountains of ‘waters are among the blissful objects to be enjoyed by those who overcome by faith in the Lamb. Wipe away all tears by preventing anything that could cause tears.
Commentary on Rev 7:13-17 by Burton Coffman
Rev 7:13
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they?
One of the elders … This was one of the four and twenty elders mentioned in Rev 4:4.
These in white robes … With such an appearance, these could hardly have been unrecognized by John as the saved of earth; but he did not offer his own opinion on the question, as evidenced in the next verse.
Rev 7:14
And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they that came out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Lord, thou knowest … The very fact of the elder’s asking John of their identity suggests that John probably understood who they were and whence they came; but, as being appropriate for one still under probation, the apostle refrained from saying so, his response, “Lord, thou knowest,” being noncommittal. It is a gross misunderstanding to make John’s respectful reply here the basis of denying that one of the Twelve is the author through whom this prophecy came.
These are they that came out of the great tribulation … This verse is the principal proof-text for sponsors of the Great Tribulation theory; but the words “they that came are translated from the present middle participle, meaning they continue to come.”[52] Bruce translated this, “These are the comers.[53] This positively identifies the “coming” of these white-robed saints w dispensation. “The whole history of the church is a time of tribulation.[54] “The Great Ordeal (tribulation) is a prolonged process, which from John’s temporal standpoint was partly past and partly future.”[55] Right here is the key to Rev 1:19. Many of the scenes in Revelation mingle visions of things past, present, and future simultaneously. Any neat little scheme of making one section of Revelation past, another present, and yet another future, collapses in a careful understanding of the text. We agree with Beckwith that, “There is nothing here which points to any one particular distress.”[56]
And they washed their robes … The undeniable reference in this is to the conversion of the saints at the time of their residence upon the earth. Thompson stated that, “The understanding of this passage derives from such Scriptures as Act 22:16; Rom 6:3-5; Gal 3:27; and Tit 3:5,[57] all of which refer to primary obedience to the gospel, the unique manner by which anyone since Pentecost was ever able, in any sense, to “wash” his robes in the blood of Christ. This is a metaphor, but it surely stresses the part which sinners themselves have in their own salvation. They must obey the gospel. Note that it is said, “They washed,” a reference to what one must do to be saved. Christ provides the means of our redemption, but he requires of people that they appropriate the blessings of it through obedience. All of the apostles taught this same truth. Peter, on Pentecost, commanded those who wished to be saved to “Repent and have yourselves baptized … save yourselves from this crooked generation” (Act 2:38; Act 2:40). “Save yourselves … wash your robes,” etc., all such passages stress the human response in salvation.
Again, note the doxology of Rev 7:12, which was being spoken by this white-robed throng. When they praised the Lord for salvation, they spoke not of what they had done (though they could not have been saved without it), but of the blood of the Lamb.
“The great tribulation of this passage is the persecution of the followers of Christ which broke in such intense malignity in John’s day and continues until the ultimate triumph of Christ.[58] The following verses, designed to comfort and encourage the suffering church, must be understood with reference to the dark background of persecutions.
[52] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 126.
[53] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 646.
[54] James William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 631.
[55] G. B. Caird, op. cit., p. 102.
[56] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 545.
[57] W. S. Thompson, Comments on Revelation (Memphis, Tennessee: Southern Church Publications, 1957), p. 85.
[58] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 646.
Rev 7:15
Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them.
Suffering Christians who overcome the sorrows and tribulations of life will ultimately be with God, in his very presence, and shall participate in the joys of heaven forever. “Only the blood-washed throng can stand before the throne of God and enjoy his presence forever.”[59]
Spread his tabernacle over them … This is a reference to the special love and care which God spreads like a mantle over his beloved children. This great love and protection is not withheld until we reach heaven, but it belongs to God’s people now, and is instantly available for all who truly seek to know God and to follow him “in Christ.”
ENDNOTE:
[59] Ralph Earle, Beacon Bible Commentary, Vol. 10 (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1967), p. 550.
Rev 7:16
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat:
The background of this verse is the hunger and privation suffered by the apostolic church. The savage hatred of the whole pagan world motivated ten great persecutions against the Christians. Not only were the Christians often cold, and tired, and hungry, and naked, they were also murdered for sport in the Roman Coliseum, and some of them were drenched in flammables and elevated as torches to illuminate the night time games and orgies of the emperor’s gardens in Rome. Saints suffering such indignities and terrors needed such comforting words as those provided in this verse.
Neither shall the sun strike on them, nor any heat … This continues in the same line of thought. During the persecutions, the church often found that its members did not have even the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter; and from this we should learn that, “The church should never expect to be preserved from the basic ills of mankind.”[60]
ENDNOTE:
[60] Michael Wilcock, op. cit., p. 84.
Rev 7:17
for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life: and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. “Lamb in the midst of the throne …
Here is the great consolation. “As long as this earth endures, Christ is still at the center of things; and his people are indestructible.”[61] Furthermore, as seen above (Rev 7:1-4), the mighty angels of God preserve the earth itself until God’s great purpose is fully accomplished.
Shall be their shepherd … This is strongly suggestive of John 10, where Jesus revealed himself as the “Good Shepherd.” One does not ordinarily think of a lamb as a shepherd, but with this Lamb it is true. Pack pointed out that all of the language of these final two verses draws upon the language of Isa 49:10;[62] and Bruce found an echo of Isa 26:8, making the whole passage applicable to the new age, “when God will swallow up death forever.”[63] Only then shall the redeemed find the fountains of living waters and have all tears wiped away. Even more obvious is the fact of these sentiments being fully in harmony with the great description of the final abode of the saints in the last two chapters of this prophecy. Rist’s suggestion that, “John is here indoctrinating prospective martyrs by quoting a hymn”[64] cannot be correct, nor can Moffatt’s notion that, “The Apocalypse confines Christ’s shepherding to the future life.”[65] As a matter of fact, it is only because Christ shepherds his people in the present life that John envisioned his also doing so eternally.
Shall wipe away every tear … The repetition of this precious promise in Rev 21:4, where it concerns the eternal state, makes it mandatory to see these verses as a description of the same state in heaven. This final heavenly vision describing the eternal bliss of the redeemed is most appropriate as a sequel to the terrors of the wicked in the final judgment at the end of Revelation 6, strongly indicating that it is the final judgment depicted here, but with the destiny of the righteous in focus, instead of the destiny of the wicked.
It will be noticed that the heavenly scene here follows the scene of the overthrow of the wicked in the final judgment at the end of Revelation 6; and this is exactly the order in which John will give the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20, followed by the heavenly scene greatly elaborated in the final two chapters of the prophecy. Ezell was correct in connecting Rev 8:1 with this paragraph,[66] and understanding the half hour of silence which follows the opening of the seventh seal “as the full content of that seal.”[67] Thus, this whole chapter is intimately related to the sixth seal; and the seventh seal merely shows that God has not revealed anything at all of what will happen after the final judgment. That half hour of silence really rings down the curtain and draws a dramatic line under all that is written through Rev 7:17, effecting a complete separation of it from what is afterwards written in the prophecy, and compelling us to look for a new beginning in Rev 8:2.
[61] Ibid.
[62] Frank Pack, Revelation (Austin, Texas: The R. B. Sweet Company, 1965), Part 1, p. 72.
[63] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 646.
[64] Martin Rist, op. cit., p. 424.
[65] James Moffatt, op. cit., p. 401.
[66] Douglas Ezell, Revelations on Revelation (Waco: Word Books, Inc., 1977), p. 45.
[67] Ibid.
Commentary on Rev 7:13-17 by Manly Luscombe
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? 14 And I said to him, Sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. John is not willing to risk a wrong guess. You know. The answer is given: These are the ones who have washed their robes, white in the blood of the Lamb. These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. NOTE: This is not some great event at the end of time. These Christians had already come out of this tribulation. See the notes at the introduction to this chapter on the great tribulation. Our tribulation is our bondage (enslavement) in sin. When we believe and obey the gospel, we come out of that tribulation. We are washed (declared righteous) and sealed (marked and identified) as belonging to God.
Discussion: Great tribulation–Some believe this verse speaks of a time after the rapture that a world leader, anti-Christ, will persecute the world. They believe that this will be a 7-year period of time. When do we make our robes white in the blood of the Lamb? We are to put on the robes of righteousness (Rev 19:8). If our robes are not white, we are living in a state of sin and following the devil. Act 22:16 gives instruction to Paul to be baptized washing away his sins. When we obey the gospel in baptism, our sins are washed away; we put on the white robe. We are in a state of righteousness. There were some at Sardis that had defiled their garments (Rev 3:4). They had gone back to the way of the world. Anyone who leaves the world of sin behind has come out of great tribulation. The great tribulation is the difficult decision we make to leave the world, family, friends, sin and evil and begin a new loyalty to Christ. There is a parallel with Moses leading Israel out of physical tribulation by crossing the Red Sea. Christ leads us out of spiritual tribulation by baptism. Those outside of Christ are in the bondage of sin (Rom 6:13-16). They are slaves to the devil and sin. As people continue to obey the gospel, confess their faith in Jesus, and be baptized into Christ, they are coming out of great tribulation, washing their robes, and added to the church.
15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. We have left the kingdom of sin and Satan. We are before the throne of God. We are fully dedicated to him, day and night. God dwells among us, in His temple. You are the Temple of God (1Co 3:16; 2Co 6:16). God dwells in his Holy temple. We are under the perfect law of liberty (Jas 1:25).
16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; In heaven some things we endured here on earth have ended. The former things have passed away. (Rev 21:4). Hunger no more – We are fed by the Word, the bread of life. Thirst no more – We have full access to the living water (Joh 4:13-14). Sun not burn them or make them hot – God is our light. The church is a place of refuge, a protection from the physical things of life.
17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Lamb of God will Feed the hungry and lead them to fresh water. He will wipe away all tears – not only in this world, but in the world to come
NOTE: These symbols apply to heaven and to our relationship in the church. There is nothing wrong with applying these things to heaven. But we must make sure we do not miss out on the message directed to the church in persecuted world. Right now, in the middle of your distress, persecution, life-threatening situation, you can have the Bread of Life, Living Water, Tears wiped away. You do not have to wait until you get to heaven. These are not future promises. They are available as present realities. That is the GOOD NEWS of the gospel!
Sermon on Rev 7:9-17
Washed
Brent Kercheville
In our last lesson we saw the image of the 144,000. We are told that the 144,000 are the servants of God (Rev 7:3). They are sealed in spiritual protection from the tribulation events. The sealing also pictures that they are owned by God because they are faithful to him. After seeing the 144,000 John turns to see a new image of a great multitude.
The Unnumbered Multitude (Rev 7:9-10)
John sees a great multitude, so great that no one can number them. They come from every nation, peoples, and languages and they are standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Further, the great multitude is clothed in white and have palm branches in their hands. We have seen the imagery of the white robes many times in this book. In Rev 6:11 we see the servants of God who have been slain for the word of God are each given a white robe. We observed in Revelation 6 that the white robes picture conquering and victory (6:2). Just as we saw with the servants of God who had been killed, the picture is victory because they have remained pure and faithful to God.
In a similar way, palm branches were also a symbol of victory. In Joh 12:13 we read about Jesus and his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people are crying out, Hosanna! Blessed in he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel! Remember that the people who are crying out these words are holding palm branches. In John 12 the palm branches denote the victory of Christ as the ruling king. In Revelation it is the great multitude that is pictured victorious. They are wearing white robes and holding palm branches signifying the victory this unnumbered multitude has obtained.
This victory and deliverance is not because of themselves or because of who they are. Rev 7:10 tells us why this unnumbered multitude has victory. The multitude is crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! The multitude recognizes that their victory is really Gods victory. Salvation belongs to our God and because of this truth we experience salvation and deliverance.
Calling this large group, a great multitude that no one could number is the picture of God fulfilling his promise to Abraham. Recall the promises God gave to Abraham. When Abraham questioned if he would have any offspring, notice Gods response.
And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. (Gen 15:5 ESV)
Then when Jacob fears for his life because Esau is going to kill him, Jacob prays to God and counts the promise that was made to his grandfather Abraham.
But you said, I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ (Gen 32:12 ESV)
Revelation 7 is picturing this innumerable multitude. We will see this further explained in Rev 7:14-17.
Worship God (Rev 7:11-12)
Rev 7:11 brings back the scene revealed to us in chapter 4. All the angels around the throne of God fall on their faces before the throne and worship God. They worship God declaring that God is worthy of worship. Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to God forever and ever. Rev 7:12 is a statement about who has the power God has the power. Nations do not have the power, even though they are killing the people of God. God brings salvation and deliverance. God has power and is in control.
Who Is The Unnumbered Multitude? (Rev 7:13-17)
Rev 7:13 draws the question to the forefront that we have wondered while reading this text. Who are these that are clothed in white robes and where have they come from? One of the 24 elders asks John this question. It is not that the elder does not know because is going to give an answer in a moment. Rather, the elder is wanting John to consider this question. Who are this people? John reveals that he does not know but that the elder does.
The first thing we are told is that these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. This is a very important statement and gives a picture about who is the object of Gods wrath. We noted in chapter 5 that the scroll whose seals are being opened is the same scroll that is sealed in Daniel 12. We have also noted that the contents of the scroll are the same. Notice the similar language about this tribulation in Dan 12:1.
At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. (Dan 12:1 ESV)
There are a couple key pictures to keep in mind. It is called a time of trouble. Some other translations read, Time of anguish or time of distress. However, this is a unique event because it unequaled somehow. We are not told how this time of tribulation will be different. The prophecy is simply that it is such that never has been since there was a nation till that time. Jesus spoke about the same event and used the same language that we are looking at in Dan 12:1 and Rev 7:14. In speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem Jesus said,
Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. (Mat 24:20-21 ESV)
Outside of the book of Revelation there is only one place in the New Testament where the phrase, The great tribulation is used. It is right here in Mat 24:21. Notice how Jesus speaks of it the same way that the angel spoke of it in the prophecy of Daniel. This event is one that never has been from the beginning of the world. The people of God are pictured coming through and enduring the tribulation. We know that these are the servants of God because they are described as having their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
So how do we explain the image of the 144,000 in Rev 7:1-8 and the image of the great multitude in Rev 7:9-17? Havent I just shown that the 144,000 represents the complete number of Gods servants and now shown the great multitude to also be the complete number of Gods servants? How can these two images be the same group of people? When we put this chapter back into its context I think we can see the point of both of these images. Chapter 7 began by declaring that these sweeping judgments cannot begin until the servants of God are sealed. The first eight verses of chapter 7 show the servants of God are sealed. They are spiritually protected from these judgments. Further, every servant of God is sealed, hence the numbering of 12,000 from each tribe. The second image of the great multitude that cannot be numbered is showing what happens to the 144,000. Rev 7:9-17 reveals that what was promised to the sealed people of God came about. The first half of the chapter show the promise of them being sealed. The second half of the chapter shows the promise being kept. They are protected and they are before the throne of God. They are wearing white robes and holding palm branches. The promise has been kept. They have remained faithful and they are victorious in Christ.
Victory In Christ (Rev 7:15-17)
Notice that this is the point of the rest of the chapter. One of the 24 elders is explaining the outcome of the people of God. They have come through the tribulation. Piecing the images together in this book the implication is that these are Christians who have died for their faithfulness to Christ. Rev 6:11 revealed that more of the servants of God must die. Now the servants of God are pictured in heaven around the throne of God. Why are they there? They are there because they lost their lives for the cause of Christ. This is the point of saying that their robes were made white in the blood of the Lamb. How do you make robes white in the blood of the Lamb? Remember that the white stands for victory. These are victorious for their faithfulness to Christ. Why say the robes were washed in the blood of the Lamb? The reason is that Christians have died for the Lamb. Just as Christ was killed in faithfulness to the Father so also these Christians have died in faithfulness to the Lamb.
Rev 7:15-17 are showing the victory these slain servants of God have received. Look at what these have been given. (1) They are before the throne of God day and night. This is a priestly picture of serving in the temple before the Lord. These servants are before Gods throne continually because of their faithfulness. (2) He who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Nothing else is going to happen to these Christians. God is with them and sheltering them. They have nothing more to worry about. (3) They are no longer suffering, but are comforted. They cannot be afflicted by the world anymore. They are safe in the hands of the Father.(4) The Lamb is their shepherd who is shielding them and comforting them. This picture will be amplified in Revelation 21 when we see the Lord in the midst of New Jerusalem. (5) The Lamb will act as a shepherd and guide them to living waters. Living waters is use consistently by Jesus to refer to eternal life (Joh 4:14; Joh 7:38)
Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (Joh 4:13-14 ESV)
This is the life of eternal fellowship with God and Christ. Notice that this fellowship is offered to those who maintain their faith in Christ, even though experiencing physical suffering and death. These are the ones who remain faithful to the Lord no matter the circumstances. It is important to also observe that these images refer to a prophecy in Isaiah. Isaiah spoke about the restoration of Gods people.
Come out, to those who are in darkness, Appear. They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. (Isa 49:9-10 ESV)
Revelation shows us that it is the Lamb who is guiding and protecting his people. The Lord comforts his people as he wipes away the tears from their eyes. While the book of Revelation is speaking to those early century Christians who were going to suffer persecution for the cause of Christ. But their reward is no different from the reward given to all Christians. What a blessing to know what lies ahead for us if we will remain faithful and steadfast to the Lord!
LESSON 13.
THE VISION OF THE REDEEMED COMPANIES
Read Revelation 7
1. Between the opening of what two seals does the vision of this chapter appear? Ans. Rev 6:12; Rev 8:1.
2. How many redeemed companies did John see? Ans. Rev 7:4; Rev 7:9.
3, Tell of the four angels that John saw. Ans. Rev 7:1.
4. From where did another angel ascend? Ans. Rev 7:2.
5. What did this angel say to the four angels? Ans. Rev 7:2-3.
6. Where were the servants of God to be sealed? Ans. Rev 7:3.
7. What was the total number that were sealed? Ans. Rev 7:4.
8. Name the tribes of Israel and tell how many were sealed from each tribe. Ans. Rev 7:5-8.
9. From whom did these tribes derive their names? Ans. Exo 1:1-5.
10. How many were in the second company that John saw? Ans. Rev 7:9.
11. From what nations and tribes had this company come? Ans. Rev 7:9.
12. Describe them. Ans. Rev 7:9.
13. What was their song? Ans. Rev 7:10
14. Then what did all the angels do? Ans. Rev 7:11-12.
15. What question did one of the elders ask John and what was John’s reply? Ans. Rev 7:13-14.
16. Who did the elder say they were? Ans. Rev 7:14.
17. Describe the great white-robed multitude:
State the position they occupy, Ans. Rev 7:15-17.
State the work they do, Ans. Rev 7:15-17.
Describe how and from what they were protected. Ans. Rev 7:15-17.
Tell how they were shepherded and guided. Ans. Rev 7:15-17.
FOR CLASS DISCUSSION
I. Discuss the eternal rewards of the redeemed.
E.M. Zerr
Questions on Revelation
Revelation Chapter Seven
1. Whom did John see after this?
2. Where were they standing?
3. Tell what they were holding.
4. For what purpose were they holding them?
5. Whom did John see next?
6. From where was he coming?
7. Tell what he had.
B. How did he cry?
9. To whom did he cry?
10. What had been give to these?
11. Tell what they were told not to do.
12. For how long should they hold back?
13. State what John heard then.
14. From whom were the numbers reckoned?
15. State the number all told.
16. How were they distributed?
17. Which tribe was named instead of Dan?
lB. How large mnltitude did John see next?
19. From what peQple were they?
20. Where did they stand?
21. How were they clothed?
22. What were in their hands?
23. How did they cry?
24. What did they ascribe to God?
25. Tell where He was sitting.
26. WhQm did they associate with him?
27. Where did all the angels stand?
28. What posture of body did they take?
29. Tell what they did.
30. What conclusive word did they pronounce?
31. State what they ascribed to their God.
32. For how long should it be so?
33. Who then spoke to John?
34. State the question he asked.
35. Repeat John’s answer.
36. Who answered the questioing?
37. Out of what had these persons come?
38. What had been done to their robes?
39. In what had this been done?
40. How did it leave them as to condition?
41. For this reason they are where?
42. They are doing what?
43. At what time are they here?
44. Who shall dwell among them?
45. How about thier hunger?
46. And their thirst?
47. What will not light on them?
48. By whom shall they be fed?
49. Unto what will he lead them?
50. Tell what shall be wiped away.
Revelation Chapter Seven
Ralph Starling
After these things 4 angels appear
With an announcement to be made.
and the opening of the 7th seal,
God said would be delayed.
Stop all activities for God had a plan to reveal.
Before the next seal his faithful were to be sealed.
For the 12 tribes o Israel and multitudes of others,
There would be no hunger or tears and white robes for cover.
With this announcement all nations salvation to God
and the Lamb cried that had died.
For God was faithful and true to his orders,
And the Lamb would lead them to the fountain of living waters.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
one: Rev 4:4, Rev 4:10, Rev 5:5, Rev 5:11
arrayed: Rev 7:9
whence: Gen 16:8, Jdg 13:6, Joh 7:28
Reciprocal: Lev 6:10 – linen garment Psa 51:7 – whiter Ecc 9:8 – thy garments Isa 64:6 – all our Dan 7:16 – one Dan 12:10 – shall be Zec 1:9 – what Zec 1:19 – What Zec 3:3 – General Zec 4:4 – What Zec 13:1 – a fountain Luk 15:22 – the best Rom 6:22 – become Rev 3:4 – walk Rev 3:18 – white Rev 19:8 – the fine Rev 22:11 – and he that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 7:13. The elder put his statement in the form of a question to gain the attention of John. The ones arrayed in white robes were those in chapter 6:11 and those of the twelve tribes in this chapter.
Rev 7:14. John understood that such was the purpose of the question, for he replied thou knowest. The elder then gave the answer which confirms the idea that they were the persecuted servants of God already referred to. Came out of!treat tribulation denotes their triumph over their persecutors. Not that they escaped death, for John had seen their souls outside of their bodies. But if a servant of God is faithful even in the midst of persecution then death cannot rob him of victory. Washed their robes is a figurative reference to their being cleaned by the blood of Christ.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 13-14.
The white-robed throng–Rev 7:13-14.
“And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, 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.”
The interrogative of verse 13 brought the answer of verse 14 and identified the multitude as the survivors of tribulation. It was an advance scene and corresponded to “the hour of trial,” Rev 3:10; the “tribulation” of Rev 2:10; and to the Lord’s language in Mat 24:21, after which he would gather his elect “from the four winds, and from one end of heaven to the other”–verse 31. The preservation of the true seed of Israel, the success of the cause of Christ, the victory of the church, and the universal sway, of Christianity in the expansion of the gospel, were the parallels in all of the visions; and they covered in each instance the same events, and alike defined the period of these afflictions. The apocalypse belonged to that time.
The company which emerged from tribulation were described as having washed their robes in blood. This was not the washing away of sins in baptism, of Act 22:16; nor the washing of water by the word of Eph 5:26; nor having our bodies washed with pure water of Heb 10:22. It was the washing of their robes–it was the blood bath of tribulation, symbolically in the blood of the Lamb who Himself shed his blood for the cause for which they also suffered.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 7:13. These which are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they? The question is not asked by the Seer. It is Addressed to him in order that his attention may be drawn to it with greater force, and one of the elders is the speaker. In chap, vi the four living creatures spoke, because they represented creation, and were the instruments of vengeance. Now one of the elders speaks, because the elders represent the triumphant Church.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
As if John had said, One of the elders, not out of ignorance as to himself, but out of desire to inform me, asked me, Whether, I knew what these were that stood arrayed in white? And I told him I did not know, but desired him to imform me. He replied, They were such as had suffered great tribulation for Christ, and were now accepted of him, and dignified by him; not for their own worthiness, but for the sake of his sufferings.
Note here, 1. The present state and condition of the church of God, and members of Christ in this world, they are in tribulation, yea, in great tribulation here; as long as there is a devil in hell, and wicked men upon earth, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer tribulation.
Note here, 2. The future state which they shall be advanced to, they shall come out of great tribulation; the saints’ sharp sufferings and persecutions shall have a joyful issue and glorious end.
Yet note, 3. That though the cross was the way to the crown, yet the cross did not merit the crown; their sufferings would not, could not, bring them to heaven, without having their souls washed in the blood of the Lamb, much less could their sufferings merit and purchase heaven; but it pleased God of his free grace thus to reward their sufferings. They were washed in the blood of the Lamb, whose blood paid the price of their salvation.
Note, 4. The description which is here given of heaven; it is called a temple, in allusion to the Jewish temple, in which God dwelt of old; as God by his gracious presence dwelt in his temple in heaven; and accordingly the glorified saints in heaven do temple-service, they worship God continually, and serve him day and night.
In allusion, this is probably spoken to the priests standing in the material temple, and serving in their courses night and day, Psa 134:1.
Heaven is a place of employment and service, as well as of pleasure and joy; and the greatest joy results from the greatest service.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The question here asked by one of the elders is apparently for John’s sake and to call attention to the means of their salvation.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 7:13-17. And one of the elders, &c. What is here related, to Rev 7:17, might have immediately followed the tenth verse; but that the praise of the angels, which was given at the same time with that of the great multitude, came in between: answered That is, he answered St. Johns desire to know, not to any words the apostle spoke. Or, in order to give him a more exact information concerning the persons who were clothed in the white robes of purity, honour, and dignity, one of the elders led him on by a question to ask of him a fuller account of them. What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And make such a splendid appearance; and whence came, or come, they? And, believing the question to be asked in order to quicken my attention to what he had to tell me concerning them, I said, Sir, thou knowest Though I do not. And he said, &c. These persons, whom you behold appearing in their state of honour and happiness, are they which came Or come, as rather signifies; out of great tribulation They were very lately in a state of great affliction and suffering, for the sake of their faith and constancy; but, having kept the faith, they have received the blessings which Christ obtained by his blood for his church and faithful people. Yet these could not be all martyrs, for the martyrs could not be such a multitude as no man could number. But as all the angels appear here, so probably did all the souls of the righteous, who had lived from the beginning of the world. All these may be said, more or less, to come out of great tribulation,, of various kinds, wisely and graciously allotted by God to all his children; and have washed their robes From all guilt; and made them white In all purity and holiness; in, or by, the blood of the Lamb Through which alone we obtain remission of sins, and the influences of the sanctifying Spirit, so that they are advanced to the state of glory and happiness in which you see them. Therefore Because they came out of great affliction, and have washed their robes in Christs blood; are they before the throne of God It seems even nearer than the angels; and serve him, day and night Speaking after the manner of men; that is, continually; in his temple In heaven; and he that sitteth on the throve shall dwell among them , shall have his tent over them: shall spread his glory over them as a covering. They shall hunger no more They shall be no more subject to any of their former infirmities, wants, or afflictions; neither shall the sun light on them, &c. None of the natural or common evils of the world below shall reach them any more. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them With eternal peace and joy, so that they shall hunger no more; and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters The comforts of the Holy Spirit, so that they shall thirst no more; neither shall they grieve any more, for God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes Every sorrow, with every cause of sorrow, shall be fully taken away for ever.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
13-17. Here we have a clear definition of the qualifications for the bridehood. The Holy Ghost says unequivocally they come out of great tribulations, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Hence, entire sanctification is the solitary and inalienable qualification for membership in the bridehood.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 13
This dialogue is simply to be understood as a solemn and emphatic mode of introducing the great declaration made by the angel in his reply.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
7:13 {10} And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
(10) A passage over to the explanation of the vision, which the angel enquires of John to stir him up in this verse and John in the form of speech, both acknowledges his own ignorance, attributing knowledge to the angel, and also in a humble manner requests the explanation of the vision.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Occasionally in prophetic visions a dialogue takes place involving one of the characters in the vision and the person receiving it (cf. Jer 1:11; Jer 1:13; Amo 7:8; Amo 8:2; Zec 4:2; Zec 4:5). Here one of the elders asked John a question anticipating the question that was in John’s mind. This led to a clarification of the identity of the multitude in this vision (cf. Rev 5:5; Jos 9:8; Jon 1:8).