Revelation Chapter 7
Chapter 7 begins with "After this I saw..." So John's POV has NOT changed. He is in the same place he was before, observing events from heaven's perspective. We must also remember “where we are” in the chronology. So we should remember that we have interpreted the Sixth Seal to be the time of the rapture. So what John is seeing in Chapter 7 are events that will occur post-rapture. Further, we should note that John is looking at earth, but he is seeing spiritual activity. He sees the activity of angels directed towards the planet.
In 7:1 John observes four angels holding back the winds, so that no wind can blow from any direction. In the second verse we see a fifth angel rising up out the sunrise. He is carrying the seal of the living God, which would presumably not be entrusted to just any angel. It is no surprise then that this angel apparently has considerable authority in the angel hierarchy. He “commands” four other angels not to harm the earth until he has completed his own task of sealing 144,000 men of the nation of Israel. Here is the verse: 3 saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." [Rev 7:3 ESV]. So to whom, exactly, is this fifth angel speaking?
Look first at what he says. He does not say “stop what you’re doing”, he doesn’t say “hold up a sec until I get these guys sealed”. He says “Do not harm…” If we look at the Greek verb tense we see that “harm” is aorist active subjunctive. The aorist tense does not really designate a time as past, present, or future. Harm happens, but we don’t know when. Likewise, the subjunctive, to quote Blue Letter Bible, “…is the mood of possibility and potentiality”. A subjunctive action may or may not occur. It is conditional. In this case it is conditional upon the sealing of the 144,000. So…Is he telling the four horsemen to hold up on the deaths of ¼ of the earth’s population, is he telling the four corner angels to stop holding back the wind for a time, or, is he talking to someone else entirely?
Remember that we saw four angels on horseback in Chapter 6. We know that a lot of terrible things are occurring on earth, all linked to each other by various degrees of causality. But most of these things were caused by man and they affect mankind. Further, those four angels harm by sword, famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. None of those are really about harm to earth, sea, or trees. So it doesn’t seem that the fifth angel is talking to the four seal angels.
What about the “corner angels”? Are they harming earth, sea, and trees by holding back the wind? What effect would this have, physically? We might think of the primary effect of wind as a means of redistributing the heat from the sun. At the equator, the sun heats the air and water intensely. On a macro level, heated air rises at the equator, moves north and south, and cool air from one pole or the other moves into that void, "normalizing" the earth’s temperature. Of course, a lot of micro processes take place also…storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, trade winds, and so on. In Revelation 7, all of this air movement will cease. If no air moves, heat redistribution can only be through convection. I see that as a much slower, less efficient means of redistribution. However, we do not have a clue what micro processes might arise in such a situation. I think the equator will get much hotter. The heat will barely move to north and south. At the same time, with no warm air moving north, the poles will get significantly colder. We aren’t told how long this “windless” condition will last. If it goes on very long, the effect on crops is going to be devastating. The earth will bake or freeze solid, but not be permanently damaged. The oceans will get too hot to sustain life at the surface, but the ocean is deep. It may stop raining worldwide since there will be nothing to cool the hot, humid air over the oceans, so trees would go dormant…but would they die?
It stands to reason that all will recognize this as a supernatural situation. The wind cannot stop blowing worldwide unless something supernatural happens. This will be an unexplainable event. I would characterize this whole wind not blowing situation as solar energy storage on a massive scale. All that heat near the equator is like a big overcharged battery which increasingly needs to discharge. But I don’t see this as any kind of permanent harm to earth, sea, and trees. So I have a hard time concluding that the fifth angel is talking to the four corner angels either.
Who else could it be then? Let’s remember where we are. The church is gone. There isn’t a single saved person alive on earth. Remember the last verse of Chapter 6, after the Sixth Seal, after the rapture? It said this: 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" [Rev 6:17 ESV]. Wrath is about to start, but hasn’t started yet. Maybe the fifth angel is telling “wrath” not to start yet. In Chapter 8, we will see the first four trumpets sound. They will be sounded by four angels. In summary, at the first trumpet “…a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. [Rev 8:7 ESV]. At the second, “…a third of the sea became blood. [Rev 8:8 ESV], at the third trumpet, blown by an angel, “…A third of the waters became wormwood (poisonous), and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. [Rev 8:11 ESV], and finally, at the fourth, “…a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. [Rev 8:12 ESV]. No doubt these four angels will harm earth, sea, and trees. They say so specifically.
Therefore, the best interpretation is that the fifth angel is speaking to four angels who have not yet begun their work. The fifth angel says not to pour out the wrath of God until the 144,000 are sealed. It will be easier, better, and more efficient for the fifth angel to seal the 144,000 BEFORE all the chaos of the destruction of earth, sea, and trees begins. This takes us through 7:3.
From 7:4 – 7:8 there is an “accounting” of the 144,000 sealed. What is revealed about these? Note that there are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel. We should look more closely though. While there are 12 sets of 12,000, note that the half tribe of Manasseh is here designated as a tribe, and there is also a tribe of Joseph. What we do not see are the half tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Dan. We might easily make the case that Joseph is the half tribe of Ephraim since Jacob blessed Ephraim with his right hand even though he was the younger, back in Gen 48:14. We know that Jacob removed the firstborn’s inheritance – which was always a double share – and named Ephraim and Manasseh as his direct descendants. Reuben, though firstborn, got only one share, while Joseph – via his two sons – got two shares.
But there is no mention at all of Dan. Why would this be? Perhaps there is a clue back in Genesis 49, where Jacob prophesies about each of his sons. Here is what he said about Dan: 16 "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horse's heels so that his rider falls backward. [Gen 49:16-17 ESV]. Hard to say what that really means, but it does not sound at all good for the tribe of Dan. Moses said this about Dan: 22 And of Dan he said, "Dan is a lion's cub that leaps from Bashan." [Deu 33:22 ESV]. One other thing we know about Dan is that they really never conquered their allotment in Canaan. They were allotted a coastal area on the Mediterranean south of the allotment to Ephraim. Ultimately, they abandoned that area and conquered a completely innocent and unsuspecting people in Laish. Laish is in the region of Bashan, an area NE of the Sea of Galilee. This is where Dan ultimately settled, fulfilling Moses’ prophecy. This story is in Judges 18.
We also see in that chapter that Dan “adopts” their own priest, they steal the family gods of the man to whom that priest had been ministering, and basically they set up their own pagan and entirely separate religion in Laish, well to the north of Galilee. We can see, then, that this complete turning away from God, this apostasy, might be the reason Dan is not mentioned in Revelation 7. We might also surmise, though the Bible does not say so, that the members of the tribe of Dan were disinherited by God, and those that had remained in Canaan, near Ephraim, were incorporated into the tribe of Ephraim. In that case, Ephraim would encompass parts of two tribes, and maybe that explains why the “half tribe” of Ephraim was bumped up to the full tribe of Joseph. This is entirely speculative, but it does make a kind of sense.
Then, there is the elephant in the room. Just who are these 144,000 anyway and why are they sealed? The first thing to note is that Chapter 7 tells us not one word about their purpose. A search for the term “144,000” reveals that it is used in three verses in Revelation, the verse that we are looking at here, 7:4, and then twice in Revelation 14. Here are the verses in Chapter 14: 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. [Rev 14:3-5 ESV].
So in Revelation 14, these 144.000 who were sealed in Chapter 7 are seen in heaven, assembled around the throne of God. When they were sealed, they were surely on the earth. Two ways to get to heaven from earth: you have to die and go to heaven as spirit, and then wait for the rapture, or you have to be alive when the rapture occurs. Now in both interpretations that we are considering, the rapture occurs BEFORE the sealing of the 144,000. So how are they in heaven in Revelation 14? Some believe these 144,000 are in view in Revelation Chapter 12. There, we find this verse: 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. [Rev 12:11 ESV]. Some books on Revelation apply this verse to the 144,000 and call them evangelists because they testify, or martyrs because some or all of them die – or at least they are willing to die.
Looking at the first possibility, what would these do as evangelists? Those who assign this title to them say that throughout wrath – or throughout the Great Tribulation period, it will be these who carry the gospel truth of Jesus Christ to all the Jews remaining on the earth. It is these who will bring Israel home to the Promised Land by their millions. These will be immune to the attempts of the MoL to destroy Israel during his reign, and they will be pretty much 100% effective in bringing the Jews home to Israel. It will be these who fulfil the prophecies in Isaiah and also other places where Jews from the whole world are coming home to Israel. The assumption is that you need evangelists to accomplish this. But the 144,000 didn’t have anyone to preach to them. Why then are they needed to convert the rest? I would suggest that God has put a new heart within them and they no longer need to ask their brothers, because God has put the answers in their hearts. I believe it more likely that God will deal directly with the nation of Israel at this time rather than bring them home through evangelism. And if we do call them evangelists, we still have the problem of how they got to the very throne of God where they are seen in Chapter 14.
Secondly, there is the description of them in Revelation 14, quoted above. I would note especially that in 14:4b they are called “the firstfruits for God and the Lamb”. Looked at this way, we might say these are the first people saved during Great Tribulation. Note that this is the only place in Revelation where the word firstfruits is used. But here are some others in the New Testament:
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ... 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [1Co 15:20, 23 ESV]
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. [2Th 2:13 ESV]
18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [Jas 1:18 ESV].
In these verses, firstfruits is used of Jesus as the very first ever to rise from the dead, and we are promised that same sort of rising. Then in the second two verses the saved in the early church – that first generation of those saved under the New Covenant – are in view. So from this, we might make the case that the 144,000 are the very first Jews saved in the 70th week. The first Jews saved as part of God’s fulfilment of his promises to Abraham in this last time, which will culminate with Jesus on the throne on planet earth. From this, it might well be implied that they will spread the word of their conversion to all Jews everywhere during those last days, and so this would tie us back to the first possibility above.
There is a third possibility. It could be that the 144,000 are the ONLY survivors of Israel left on the earth at this future time, and so they in fact comprise ALL Israel, and as such will be supernaturally protected through the last days in order to enter the Millennial with Christ at his second coming and rule all nations. They are sealed, therefore, as immunity from Satan’s attempts to kill them every one. And wouldn’t this also explain why ONLY the 144,000 can learn that song? Why not all those saved during the last days, after the rapture? These will be scattered all over the world. Otherwise the fifth angel could just seal them all at once, but he needs a pause so that he can find and seal them all. Angels operate in “time”, and so such a task will naturally take more than a few minutes. We know that all Israel will be saved at the end, but we do not know how many will BE Israel at the end.
There is one more passage that I think may be relevant. I think the verses are connected because they both talk about the seal of God. We saw in verses 2 and 3 and the fifth angel is carrying the seal of the living God, but we do not know what being sealed is actually about. The first and most obvious possibility is that they are to be saved. I believe they are, but I don’t think that is what the sealing of the 144,000 is really about. Look at this verse: 27 …For on him God the Father has set his seal." [Jhn 6:27b ESV]. Jesus was also sealed with the seal of God. It seems a real stretch that this is Jesus saying that he is saved. He is God. He never sins. He is not the seed of Adam, because his Father is God. So the sealing means something besides just being saved.
This verse comes very soon after Jesus says he is sealed in John 6: 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [Jhn 6:37 ESV]. Almost immediately after saying he carries the seal of the Father, Jesus says he is the “way” for many to be saved. He says he has both the responsibility for these, and that he is sent specifically for these. HE is the one who is to take the gospel to these whom God has chosen. Perhaps the Father has given the Jews in the last days to the 144,000 in this same way? Looked at this way, we can show a basis for saying that the 144,000 are the evangelists to the Jews between the rapture and the second coming. We might also note that Jesus was sealed, and he ascended to the Father. Perhaps that is also how the 144,000 will get there.
Still, we don’t really have any direct information about the purpose of the 144,000 that seems to fulfill what is said about them in the few specific references we have. We aren’t given any “firm” information about how it is that in Revelation 14, they are singing around the throne we saw in Revelation 4, which was clearly in heaven. I “like” the idea that they are evangelists, turning the hearts of the unsaved Jews still on earth to their Messiah, and I consider the quotes above from John 6 to be a decent argument that this might be who they are. For now, I am going with evangelism as their purpose, and we will deal with Chapter 14 when we get there!
Moving on from the sealing of the 144,000, beginning in Rev 7:9, we have this description of what John sees:
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" [Rev 7:9-10 ESV]
Verse 9 starts with “After this”, so we are talking about what John sees after the sealing of the 144,000. As we have shown, this sealing will have taken some time, and those sealed are on the earth. I think events in heaven also continued during the time it took to seal the 144,000. I think what John sees “After this…” is the aftermath of the events going on in heaven while the 144,000 were being sealed on earth.
So the obvious question is that if this is the aftermath of some event, what exactly was that event? We are given a number of clues – characteristics – that we can use in narrowing down what may have happened. First, we see that the numbers around the throne are uncountable. Vast, huge numbers of people are gathered here. We know they are people because we are told they are from all nations, tribes, peoples, and languages. I think this description applies very well to Gentiles, and not so well to Jews. If these were all Jews, I believe John would have said so. Therefore, I think we are looking at uncountable Gentiles in heaven. And where ar they exactly? They are “before the throne AND before the Lamb”. I think the wording here is purposeful. This is confirmed in the last sentence of the verse, which says God is on this throne before which so many are standing, and the Lamb is also present – but not on that throne. This arrangement, as we will see, is definitive. Next, we see that all are wearing white robes, all have palm branches, and all are crying out in worship. Frankly, that is a LOT of clues as to what is in progress here. Let’s explore them systematically.
We have uncountable numbers of Gentiles here. When John described this scene in heaven back in Revelation 4 there were no crowds described. We had a throne where God sat, we had seven torches, twenty four elders on their own thrones, and four creatures. The Lamb had not yet appeared, and there were certainly no crowds. What has happened since that original scene that might account for so many Gentiles? I propose that the rapture has happened, and that all the saved of the church age have been given their perfect physical bodies, and they now stand before the throne.
What of the white robes? We have seen those before as it turns out, in these two references:
5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. [Rev 3:5 ESV].
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. [Rev 6:11 ESV].
Those who conquer have white robes, and martyrs have white robes. I did not include the reference, but it is also true that the 24 elders have white robes. These robes are a sign of honor, of achievement, of status. I believe they are given to all those raptured – which means all the Christians of the church age. We should also note in Rev 3:5 that Jesus will confess these wearing white before His Father. Since we know already that in this scene in Rev 7 the Father is on the throne and the Son is standing by, we might say this is the event anticipated back in Rev 3:5.
Then come the palm branches. We ought to remember these from Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. These are laid before the King, to honor him. In this case
And last, they worship God saying that salvation belongs to Him and to the Lamb. One might suggest that this salvation they talk about is something they have just received, and so they are immediately thanking and praising God as the source of what they have received. It this is the rapture, these have just been saved from further great tribulation. They have been saved from the wrath that is about to be unleashed on the earth and all those left behind at the rapture.
I believe this scene, and all the characteristics that we see here, ought to be interpreted as the aftermath of a judgment. I interpret this scene as the aftermath of the Bema Seat Judgment, or the Judgement Seat of God, as described by Paul here: 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; [Rom 14:10 ESV]. There is also this verse, which is worded differently but interpreted by many to describe the same judgment: 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. [2Co 5:10 ESV]. (I don’t think they are the same, but that is another discussion.)
We talk a lot about the Bema Seat Judgment, but it turns out that most of what we say is speculation. The Bible tells us very very little about this judgment. Even so, let’s look at the reasons we have to believe this might be the Bema.
The first step in this process is to eliminate the possibility that this is one of the other two end time judgments described in Revelation. This is a pretty straightforward process as we are given some pretty specific timestamps as to when the other two take place.
Let’s talk first about the judgment that comes last. It is very clearly described here: 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [Rev 20:11-12 ESV]. Note first that the GWT judgment is a judgment exclusively of the dead. It says so twice. The bema is a judgment of the resurrected, changed, and now ALIVE forever in perfect physical bodies. Therefore, if Revelation 7 shows us the aftermath of a judgment, it is NOT after the GWT judgment. Secondly, note also that the one on the throne is not specifically identified. Even so I think it is God the Father because this is THE FINAL JUDGMENT spoken of in the Bible. We know that imperfection cannot exist in the presence of God, and we know that even the earth and sky are corrupted by the sins of mankind. Therefore, in the presence of God on the throne, on earth, the earth and sky msut flee. We also know from an earlier verse in Chapter 20 that this judgment takes place at the end of the 1000 years. The Great White Throne Judgment is a post-Millennial judgment. We would have a hard time showing that the Millennial has occurred before Revelation 7:9-17. So the large gathering before the throne in Rev 7 is clearly not the aftermath of the Great White Throne Judgment.
Then, there is the pre-Millennial judgment, described here: 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…
41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [Mat 25:31-34, 41 ESV]. That first phrase “when the Son of Man comes” tells us this is about the second coming of Christ to the earth. He comes with his angels. Here is a description of his coming: 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. ... 14 And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ... 16 And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. [Rev 19:11, 14, 16 KJV]. The armies of heaven are ALWAYS angels, and they will be coming with him. So we see that this is the actual arrival of Christ on earth to assume Kingship of his earthly kingdom. First, most obviously, and sufficient proof for our purposes that this judgment is not the one described in Rev 7 is that Christ will be seated on the throne at this judgment. In Rev 7, the Father is on the throne. Looking further, we see that only those who have survived the 70th week and are still alive will be judged. So no matter where we might think the rapture occurs, we can be sure it occurs before this pre-Millennial judgment. The judge will say "Come, you who are blessed of my Father..." AND he will also say “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire…” At the Bema judgment, none will be condemned to hell. We get this from the following passage: 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. [1Co 3:13-15 ESV]. Even those who suffer loss at this judgment will be saved. That clearly is not the case at the Pre-Millennial judgment. So this scene in Revelation 7 is not the Pre-Millennial judgment with Christ as Judge.
This establishes that IF this is the aftermath of a judgment in heaven, then it is the aftermath of Bema and not of either the Pre-Millennial Judgment or the Great White Throne Judgment. We might think of our arguments so far as “negative” arguments. Do we have any “positive” arguments that this is the Bema?
I believe this same scene described in Revelation was previously described in Daniel 7. Let me go ahead and put some verses together from that chapter and then we will walk through a possible correlation with Revelation 7. If we can establish that these are the same judgment, then we can learn quite a lot more ABOUT the Bema judgment, and our case that Revelation 7 is the aftermath of the Bema judgment gets much stronger. Here are the relevant verses from Daniel 7:
9 "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. ...
So here in Daniel’s vision what do we have? First, thrones were placed. More than one. I suggest that there was the Throne of God, and the thrones of the 24 Elders. We see that it is the Ancient of Days, God the Father, who sits on the primary throne. Remember that in Rev 7: 9, and previously in Rev 4 we established that is God the Father on the throne in Revelation.
The throne itself is described in Daniel. It looks like fire with burning fiery “wheels”. In addition to that, a stream of fire issues/sprays/engulfs the area before the throne. We take special note of this because of the previously quoted verses from 1Cor 3:13-15, where works will be tried by fire at the Bema judgment.
Present at the throne in Daniel are a thousand thousands that serve God, along with ten thousand times ten thousand before him. This phrasing indicates that there were uncountable numbers before the throne. Compare this to the description in Revelation 7, where John sees “a multitude that no one could number”. The language in both passages is quite comparable.
And in Daniel, what is about to happen? The court “sits down” to begin judging. They court will render judgment according to what they find in “the books”. NOTE that the Book of Life, where the names of all the saved are written, is not mentioned. This is what you would expect if the salvation of those judged was not at issue. That is to me a very strong indication that this is the Bema judgment of the raptured church.
Therefore, based on the arguments above, I believe the scene in Daniel 7 occurs just before the scene in Revelation 7. The multitudes gather, judgment is rendered, why robes are distributed, and God is praised. So in Revelation 7, we are seeing the aftermath of the Bema seat judgment. John, at the end of Revelation 7, is describing the celebratory aftermath of the bema seat judgment. The sealing and the bema both come to an end at about the same time, and then we see that in heaven, there is much worship. Note that in vs 12, all the angels say "Amen". So be it, agreeing with the "song" of this celebration following the bema. Note that at the end of vs 10, it is GOD sitting, and the Lamb is also present. The Lamb is standing, not judging. The judge is seated.
(Before going on, I have to confess something. I am not entirely convinced that there will be a Bema judgment. I believe that the “rewards” of the saved, that the “status” of the saved for all eternity will be determined by an accounting of the works done in our lives that were done to the glory of God. What I don’t really know is whether that will be a completely separate judgment from the Pre-Millennial judgment at Christs’ return and the Great White Throne Judgment. Many many problems arise from trying to make the Bema a separate judgment. So. I went through all the above to show that IF there is a Bema Judgment, this scene in Revelation and in Daniel is the best candidate for it. But it might just be that this innumerable crowd is just celebrating their resurrection, as promised by Jesus.)
Now, having established the possibility that the bema judgment has just been completed, we ought to look very closely at Rev 7:14-17. These verses are important because in them one of the 24 elders seated around the throne of God explains to John what he is seeing. We should expect a corroboration of our interpretation of this scene – or at least a lack of any contradiction – given that this elder will have direct knowledge of the scene.
Here are those verses: 14 …he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 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 shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." [Rev 7:14b-17 ESV].
First, all these have come “out of the great tribulation”. The use of this term by an elder at the throne of God at the end of time DOES NOT refer to our modern man-made definition of Tribulation and Great Tribulation. The term as used here is, I believe, the same as Jesus used in Matthew 24: 21 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. [Matt 24:21 ESV]. We spent a lot of time previously showing that Jesus’ use of this term refers to the time between recognition of the Abomination of Desolation and the rapture, which takes place in Matt 24:31…AFTER much tribulation. These in heaven around the throne were “removed” from great tribulation. They did NOT go through it all the way to the end of the 70th week. Let’s take a closer look at the Greek words used here to make this point.
In Rev 7:14, we find the phrase “the ones coming out of the great tribulation”. The Greek words translated “the ones coming” are the Greek words transliterated “ohi erchomenoi”. “ohi” is just a definite article telling us we are being specific about this particular group. “erchomenoi” is the interesting word here. It means “to come from one place to another”. Here is another verse that uses the same word: 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." [Mat 2:2 ESV], this time translated “have come”. It is clear that the wise men came from somewhere else – another country and culture in this case – and are now before Herod in Jerusalem. The next word back in 7:14, which is translated “out of” is the tiny little Greek word “ek”. This word shows up 921 times in the KJV, and is translated “out of” only 162 of those times. It is translated “of” 366 times, and “from” 181 times. So paraphrasing a bit, I would read vs 14 as “These are the people who came from the time of great tribulation”. I think this elder is saying these were on earth as the great tribulation of which Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 was in progress – and now, because of the rapture, they are here at the throne. They were on earth and are now in heaven. These are ones who were “saved from wrath”.
There is another very prevalent interpretation about who these wearing the white robes might be. Those who hold to this other interpretation generally also hold to the pre-trib rapture, meaning rapture before even the First Seal is opened. In this interpretation, the ones seen in heaven around the throne, these uncountable numbers, are NOT all those raptured out as the church. Instead, they are those who are saved, martyred, and arrived in heaven DURING Tribulation and Great tribulation, as defined in our modern eschatology. I think this causes a lot of problems with the chronology of the end times.
Remember where we are in Revelation. The Sixth Seal has just been opened. Still to come are the Seventh seal, the seven trumpets, the seven thunders and the seven bowls. Yet all the souls who will be martyred during the entire period of trib and great trib are already in heaven before the Seventh Seal is even opened? Things make much more sense, to me at least, if we look back to Mt 24:21 where it talks about tribulation never before seen and never to be seen again and place that period BEFORE the rapture.
Here is another short but I think compelling point. Many, including me, believe that the opening of the Sixth Seal marks the boundary between our modern terms of Tribulation and Great Tribulation. John MacArthur, to name a big name, also believes the boundary is about here. So if we say that back in Matt 24:21 when Jesus said great tribulation was coming, he was using that term to designate the last half of the 70th week, AND that occurs AFTER the Sixth Seal was opened, how can this elder say that all these millions came FROM great tribulation? According to this interpretation of Jesus words, Great Tribulation hasn’t even started yet!
Lastly, look at verse 17. If the Bema judgment has not happened before we get to this verse, then how can 17 be true at this time? At the Bema judgment, we will be called to account for all the failures to perform as we ought to have performed from the time of our salvation until our deaths – or the rapture. How will anyone stand at that judgment, hear those failures read out loud for all to hear, and not shed tears both of sorrow and regret for our personal failures? No. These who stand at the throne at the end of Revelation 7 will never face judgment again. Therefore, they are praising God for his mercy and for his grace.
This is a good place to summarize what has happened in Revelation Chapters 4-7 according to our interpretation. John is given the privilege of previewing end times events as seen from heaven. The events are orchestrated from a throne room located in heaven itself. God, determining that the time of the end has arrived, gives a scroll sealed with seven seals to the only worthy one, Christ, who appears as a lamb slain. Jesus begins opening the seals one by one, and things begin to fall apart on the earth. Wars become the order of the day, the rule of law breaks down, the world economy collapses, and hunger spreads everywhere. At some point during all these disturbances, the Man of Lawlessness will appear and be recognized by the Christians on earth. He will begin to try and wipe the church out completely and name himself god of the universe. The church will go into hiding as people try to survive the most intense persecution of the church the world has ever seen. Just when it seems the MoL will wipe out all mankind in his zeal to destroy the church, the Sixth Seal is opened, and the earth is rocked by earthquakes, signs in the heavens, and stars falling to earth. Then Jesus appears in the clouds and raptures out the dead in Christ first, followed by those who have survived the great tribulation to this point. That is, Jesus “removes” the church from further great tribulation at the hand of the Man of Lawlessness. The martyrs have asked “How long”, and the sixth seal, the rapture, and the beginning of God’s wrath against the earth is His answer. But first, the 144,000 must be sealed, and while that is in progress, those just raptured are judged at the bema judgement, never to be judged again. They will live in heaven forevermore. That is where we are now, at the end of Revelation Chapter 7.