Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #8 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:9-10:
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
We were looking in our last study at the 12,000 that were sealed from each of twelve tribes of Israel and we saw how they are a spiritual picture of all those God had saved during the church age. God had indicated at the beginning of this chapter that there were four angels, or four messengers, that were “standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree” until “the servants of our God” were sealed in their foreheads.
This statement has application to both the completion of the sealing of the elect that were saved throughout the church age (then at the end of the church age, God brought judgment upon the churches and congregations) and also to the “great multitude” in Revelation 7:9: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude;” that is, after the 144,000 had been sealed (which were the firstfruits unto God and completely identified with the Feast of Pentecost and, therefore, with the church age), there is another group of people that are not said to come of the tribes of Israel (and that is one thing we notice, as we read verse 9), but they are found “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.” God is not saying they are of the tribe of Dan or Judah or Levi; He is not saying they are “of Israel,” even though they are, likewise, saved, as were the 144,000, and, therefore, they are also “spiritual Jews.” Yet God is not using that figure to represent the “great multitude.” Why not? It is because the tribes of Israel, or Israel itself, as God uses them as a type or figure in the Old Testament, “picture” the New Testament churches and congregations, so it is very natural to carry that figure over as He is describing the fruit that would be saved during the church age and to identify them with the twelve tribes of Israel.
But, what is God to do when He has ended the church age and, yet, He has a plan to complete His harvest, as we saw in Exodus 23:16 and Exodus 34:22? The harvest is two-part: there are the “firstfruits” and then the fruits that come in during the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end and Ingathering is held simultaneously with the Feast of Tabernacles. So God cannot continue to speak of those He has saved as being “of the tribes of Israel,” as that could cause some confusion. So He differentiates them and He says that the “great multitude” is “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” in order to let us know that these are coming out of Great Tribulation, the time when the church age was over. He did not use the churches to bring about their salvation, but He sent forth His Word to these people located outside of the churches and congregations of the world – they are the precious fruit of the earth at the final harvest at the “end of the year,” which points to the end of time during the little season of the Great Tribulation, when God would pour out the “latter rain” to bring in the end of the year harvest. So we need to recognize this.
Also, God is not using the language of “sealing” of the “great multitude.” He uses different language, more than likely, to make a distinction between the two groups, but we also must realize that everyone that is saved is “sealed” by the Holy Spirit of God; the 144,000 are explicitly said to be “sealed,” so we might miss the fact the “great multitude” is also “sealed” by the Spirit of God, because it is not directly stated. When God says in Revelation 7:3, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads,” this would have application to the completion of God’s salvation program up until He saves the last of the elect which took place during the Great Tribulation when the Gospel was going forth into the world outside of the churches to save the “great multitude.” In other words, when the last individual whose name was recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life during the time of the Great Tribulation (it could have been May 20th or May 21st of 2011, right up until God shut the door of heaven), then all of God’s servants were “sealed in their foreheads,” and then the “hurting” of the earth and the sea and the trees – figures to represent the unsaved people of the earth – could begin. And that is what God did, as May 21, 2011, was the beginning of Judgment Day for this world.
Well, let us read, again, Revelation 7:9:
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number…
The Greek words for “after this” are “meta” and “tauta.” “Meta” is Strong’s #3326 and the Greek word “meta” is a preposition for which the meaning changes according to the “case.” When using the genitive case, as we find it in Matthew 1:23 where we read, “God with us,” it is translated as “with.” That is when it is used with the genitive case. But when it is used with the “accusative case,” it means “after.” An example of this is found in Matthew 24:29:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days…
Now the word “tribulation” is in the accusative case and, so, it is properly translated as “after.” Sometimes, people get this confused and they just look up the Greek word “meta,” (Strong’s #3326) and they see that it is translated most often as “with,” and they think, “Alright, we can substitute the word ‘with.’” For instance, in reference to Matthew 24:29, instead of saying, “Immediately after the tribulation,” they try to make that substitution, “Immediately with the tribulation,” and that changes the meaning of the verse; it is not permissible to do that. This is a rule that God establishes; when we search the Bible and we find that these “cases,” it determines whether it should be translated as “with” or “after.”
Another thing that we notice is that whenever “time” is in view (or a proper order of things that involve time), the word “meta” is translated as “after.” For instance, it says in Revelation 11:11:
And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them…
The word “after” is “meta,” because it involves “time.” Please feel free to look up every time you find a time reference with the Greek word “meta” and it will never be translated as “with,” but is always translated as “after.” So, when we have this word in Revelation 7:9, it is properly translated as “after” because it is a sequence of events and, it really involves time: the 144,000 are saved first, and then “after” this, or following this, there is a great multitude and this great multitude makes up the total harvest: there are the firstfruits that make up the 144,000 and then there are the final fruits that are taken up at the year’s end. And it is significant that God has the questioned asked in Revelation 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.
Now that identifies the “great multitude,” because the question specifically dealt with them; they were the ones clothed in white robes, and the question was, “Where did they come from.” The answer was that they “came out of great tribulation.”
Now the two Greek words for “great tribulation” (“megas” and “thlipsis”) are only found a few times in the New Testament and in every case they deal with the period of time that comes at the end of the world. We read in Matthew 24:21:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Remember, Jesus is speaking of “great tribulation” in response to the disciples’ question at the beginning of the chapter: “What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?” And, in that context, we read of “great tribulation.”
The “firstfruits” began to be gathered all the way back to 33 A.D. at the beginning of Pentecost. They were not associated with “great tribulation.” Oh, they would have association with “tribulation,” as Jesus said to His disciples and, really, to all believers: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” So “tribulation” is normative for the child of God in this world – we will experience tribulation for the sake of the Gospel. But “great tribulation” is anything but normal, as Matthew 24 indicated. Let me read Matthew 24:21:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
It is not the typical “tribulation” that God’s people have experienced throughout time, but it is something “reserved” for a certain time – it has increased to become “megas – thlipsis,” or “great tribulation.” That identifies with the twenty three year period that we just went through, from May 21, 1988 through May 21, 2011. Therefore, the “great multitude” identifies with the time of the end of the world, just as the 144,000 identify with the church age. They are two distinct groups, both saved, that are in view in Revelation, chapter 7, and the word “after this” really emphasizes this distinction between the 144,000 and the “great multitude.”
Let us continue reading in Revelation 7:9:
… a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…
Here, God is making reference to four different people groupings: nations, kindreds, people and tongues. But it is really all referring to the same thing – there are “four” in number because it has reference to the four points of the compass; that is, these people come from the North and they come from the South and they come from the East and they come from the West. They come from all over the world – the “great multitude” is not just in America and it is not just in Canada, but it is in every nation. They do not just speak English. They speak all languages, as God has saved His elect from the four corners of the earth and these people have various backgrounds, kindreds and tongues, and so forth. It is language that is indicating that this is universal and they are those that are saved outside of the churches. We know that God sent forth the Gospel in a mighty way (as we were privileged to witness) in the days leading up to May 21, 2011, as the Gospel was carried to the far reaches of the earth. It really was a wonderful thing that testified to the glory of God – that He was faithful to bring the warning of Judgment Day to all the earth. And we knew it in advance because the Bible told us that everyone would hear, as it says in Matthew 24:14:
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
And that is exactly what God did. He orchestrated events and controlled circumstances to bring this about. First of all, He ended the church age and you would have thought, “Well, now, it is just impossible to get the message to all the world, as those in the churches numbered nearly two billion, and, maybe, if they had all been on the “same page” and if they could have all gotten together and warned their flocks; and then they had their flocks go out and warn the rest of mankind outside of the churches; then maybe you could get the message to all the inhabitants of the earth.”
And, yet, that is not how it worked. God distanced Himself; He cut off the churches and congregations. They no longer were His representatives. Their testimony was finished and He did not use them at all. As a matter of fact, they fought against the news that was coming forth from the Bible, at just about every turn. They denied that you could know “the day or hour” and they gave people false encouragement and they rejected the proofs of the Bible. God did not use them; He testified against them.
Instead God used the electronic medium that He had opened up for this time. He had kept this in reserve; that is the only thing we can say, because the world has been around for thousands of years, but only recently (in the last 150 years or so) have the scientists and brilliant minds of men been able to understand many of the possibilities that could come forth with technology in the electronic medium. And why was that? Are men smarter today? Well, no, I think the actual evidence today, as we look at tests that students take, is that man is not as smart (individually) as they used to be. When we look at some of the people that lived centuries ago, many of them would know several languages. They would not be distracted with all of the “things” that we have to distract us today. They could spend their time concentrating on study and they felt that having an education was extremely important. Some of these men were the most brilliant men you could find, yet God hid certain secrets regarding light waves and radio waves and internet; all these things were kept from them because it was not “the time.” Again, it was only about 150 years ago that God began to build the structure that would finally produce an electronic medium that could reach masses of people (just incredibly large numbers) quickly, in an instant.
Just read the Book of Acts and read of the struggles and trials of the Apostle Paul and the other missionaries, as they took ships to carry the news of the Gospel. They would be gone for months and, sometimes, years, and they would only be able to reach a few cities in the same region of the world. And now any individual today can get on the internet and he can post a teaching from the Word of God and, potentially, reach tens of thousands of people, or more, and those people could be in any village, town, city or nation of the world. What an incredible thing that we can speak over the phone, or that we have radio signals and television and internet.
All of these things began to be developed where they could be used in this tremendous way to get out the Gospel at precisely the time the world’s population was reaching nearly seven billion people; and at precisely the time the church age was ending; and at precisely the time of the Great Tribulation; at precisely the time of the end of the world was beginning; and at the time that the “latter rain” was to be poured out. What an incredibly brilliant plan God had, in His great wisdom, where He could set aside a corporate body that had been established in every nation and say, “I am not going to use you at all. I am going to use my people – my elect – the few. And even though there are not many of them compared to the numbers in the churches and even though they lack the funds, I have going to be with them and they will be able to reach out into all the areas of this world and the world will hear.” That is exactly what God did, as He blessed a ministry like Family Radio in those days, more and more, as they were able to spread the true Gospel, up until the point of God shutting the door of Heaven.
God stirred up within His people a great desire to “will and to do of His good pleasure” to get that Word out, as the Lord’s people heard the voice of Christ and they knew (without question) that this was it – this was Judgment Day. The Bible guaranteed it, as the Scriptures locked into place. There just was no doubt and, so, God’s people went forth in missions like “Project Jonah” or the caravans or individuals going about their own neighborhoods, handing out as many tracts to as many people as they could. They were wearing Judgment Day t-shirts and hats and jackets and handing out cards and talking to people. Billboards proclaimed it. Buses proclaimed it and all kinds of advertising proclaimed the approaching Day of Judgment, until the entire world could not ignore what they certainly longed to ignore – that there was a proclaimed date that they would have to take seriously (or, at least, take note of) and it was coming forth from the Bible.
So a great anxiety came upon the world at that time. God made sure that His people – this great multitude that was out there in all nations and tongues and tribes – heard this news and He saved them through the hearing of His Word.
This is a wonderful verse to encourage us in the fact that we are not alone. That is what some people would have us think, “Oh, there are very few true believers.” That is far from the truth; there is a “great multitude, which no man could number.”