A Multitude from the Great Tribulation – Revelation 7

Joy: You’re listening to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Episode #245.  Today we’ll read Revelation chapter 7 together: John speaks of the sealed of Israel – the 144,000 – and a multitude from the Great Tribulation.

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me as we simply read God’s word together.  Some things require discipline and sometimes that’s just not easy to muster by yourself, no matter how badly you want to do it or how much you know you should.  It’s just easier to do it with a friend.  So refill your coffee or tea, get comfortable in your favorite chair and follow along as I read aloud.  I’m so glad you’re here!

Welcome

My friend, Suzette, is doing these wonderful Wednesday night lessons for the kids on Jesus as King.  She found a poem written by James Montgomery in 1800’s and thought it would be great to have the kids recite it as part of our Christmas season.  I thought it was a great idea because I just love it when the kids are up in front of our church family.

I finally got some quiet time to read the poem and I have to admit, I panicked a little.  It was written in Old English and I thought, “Uh oh.”  The kids are gonna have a tough time memorizing this.  Heck, adults would have a hard time memorizing this.  BUT!  God is good.  I also immediately recognized it as the hymn, Angels from the Realms of Glory, a beautiful Christmas song that you too would probably recognize right away.  The first stanza goes like this:

Angels from the realms of glory,
 Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
 Ye who sang creation’s story
 Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

·         Refrain:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Now, we’re talkin’!  My co-teacher, Jo-Ellen and I sang and practiced it with our little class on Sunday morning.  They picked right up on it.  Whew!

How about you?  Do you love it when the kids are up in front?  Share a memory at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Revelation Chapter 7

The Sealed of Israel

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, “Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed:

144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:

12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,

12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,

12,000 from the tribe of Gad,

12,000 from the tribe of Asher,

12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,

12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,

12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,

12,000 from the tribe of Levi,

12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,

12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,

12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,

12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,

who is seated on the throne,

and to the Lamb!

All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, saying,

Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honor

and power and strength

be to our God forever and ever. Amen.

Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”

I said to him, “Sir, you know.”

Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God,

and they serve him day and night in his temple.

The one seated on the throne will shelter them:

They will no longer hunger;

they will no longer thirst;

the sun will no longer strike them,

nor will any scorching heat.

For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne

will shepherd them;

he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Closing Thoughts

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the 144,000 who are sealed from every tribe of the Israelites.  Some believe that this should be read literally…that is, there will be 12,000 people from each of the 12 tribes of Israel who are “sealed” which is a way of saying that God has claimed them and they have the promise of everlasting life.

But if this is literal, it begs the question of whether these are Christian Jews, or if they are Jews who have been saved as a result of a separate covenant.  Of course, this defies what Christ himself said in John 14:6 – “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Verse 9 tells us that John looks and sees “…a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language, which no one could number…”  So, it is possible the 144,000 presented to us is imagery that describes the whole people of God.  I will leave you to decide this one for yourself.

John witnesses the angels, the elders and the four living creatures falling face-down before the throne of God and worshipping Him.  One of the elders asks John to consider who  all these people are, but he does not know.  The elder explains to him that these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  

The Great Tribulation

If you look up “tribulation” in the dictionary, you will find that it is a time of great distress or suffering.  Here is it referred to as “The Great Tribulation”, and even first described by Christ when discussing the end times in Matthew 24:21: For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again.

This multitude, whose robes have been washed white in the blood of the lamb, endured the Great Tribulation with their faith intact.  Some believe they are martyrs who died for their faith.  And now their suffering is over, and they will spend eternity with God.  What an example for us to follow in this time of great uncertainty!  Let’s pray.

Prayer

Gracious Father, thank you for the example of the multitude who are willing to sacrifice their lives for their faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ.  I pray that You would grant each of us the same measure of strength, that we will be faithful witnesses for Christ no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.  Help us to endure to the end.  In your precious name we pray, Amen.  

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray God will grow in you what has been planted and watered here.  In this time of unprecedented struggle worldwide, we can look to God for guidance and comfort.  Be sensitive to those in your circle of influence who need a word of encouragement and invite them to join us.  If you like this show, it would be great if you give it a five-star review.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you right here tomorrow.  Be well!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.