Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #12 of Revelation, chapter 7, and we are going to be reading Revelation 7:13-15:

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. 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.

We have been looking at these verses in the last couple of studies.  In our last study we saw that this great multitude which is said to have come “out of great tribulation” can only identify with one period of time in history, and that is the time of the end during the “little season” that comes right before the end of the world.  The Great Tribulation began the process of the end of the world, as judgment began at the house of God.  God’s judgment upon the churches and congregations began the final judgment of mankind and we have already gone through that 23-year Great Tribulation period.  It ended on May 21, 2011 and, therefore, the “great multitude” came “out of great tribulation,” and they were saved – that is what is meant here, as Revelation 7:14 says: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

We have become very accustomed to looking for the spiritual meaning and identifying the Bible’s language, so that when we read this, we are very quick to understand what God means when He says they “have washed their robes.”  That is figurative or parabolic language.  Of course, the “great multitude” did not literally have white robes on which they had washed and their robes were not literally made “white in the blood of the Lamb,” but it is all parabolic language indicating that the “covering” of their nakedness has been cleansed, purified and “made white” and, therefore, they are righteous in God’s sight; and this has been done through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.”  We quickly understand this because God has granted us understanding to make these sorts of identifications.  So, the “great multitude” became saved (this is basically what that is saying) and they came “out of great tribulation.”  

All of God’s people that are now living upon the earth during this time have come “out of great tribulation,” because, once again, the Great Tribulation ended on May 21, 2011 and we are living in a post-Great Tribulation period, “in those days after that tribulation,” which Matthew 24:29 speaks of; and Mark 13:24 tells us there is a period of “days” after the Great Tribulation.  This is where we find ourselves and these “days” are the Day of Judgment.  They are the time of God’s judgment upon the unsaved people of the world and, so, we are the ones (God’s elect, the great multitude) tens, upon tens of millions of us all over the earth, from every nation and tribe and tongue.  We are the ones in view here, in Revelation 7; we are the ones that have come “out of great tribulation” and are “before the throne of God.”

“Well, hold on,” someone might say, “and look at this language.  It cannot apply to God’s people now; these people are in heaven.”  Let us read Revelation 7:15:

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.

Someone might argue that once the Great Tribulation ends, then comes the rapture and God’s people are taken into heaven and that is the picture that is before us: that great multitude in heaven, before the throne of God, in His temple, as He is seated upon the throne.  It is a glorious picture of heaven.

Well, we have to admit, this is what we had previously thought.  We had understood that the picture in these verses was describing God’s elect in heaven, while time unfolds upon the earth.  But, now, we have to make correction to that understanding and realize that this is speaking of our present time period and of God’s people as they live through this time period of Judgment Day when God is pouring out His wrath upon the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.

There are a couple of things that led us in this direction, to understand these verses this way.  It says back in Revelation 7:15: “Therefore are they before the throne of God.”  That is language that sort of causes us to think that this is taking place in heaven – if you are before God’s throne, then you must be in heaven, but that is not necessarily the case.  It says in Isaiah 66:1:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

Let us consider what God is saying here.  Heaven is his throne.  He dwells in heaven and He is seated and reigning supremely from His glorious throne, as He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the earth is His “footstool.” 

Now if we take an earthly illustration of a King seated upon a throne and a footstool before the throne, we can see the exalted seat of a King, the throne and the simple footstool that lies before the throne.  Likewise, God is upon His throne in heaven and the earth (the entire world) is before that throne, as God likens it to His “footstool.”  Therefore, those that are upon the earth are also before His throne.

I am just going to go to one other verse and I am sure that many are familiar with this verse in Hebrews 4:16:

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

This is one of those wonderful verses in the Bible.  If anyone was unsaved during the time period when it was the day of salvation, what a wonderful blessing it was for them to hear (and for God to say), “Come boldly unto the throne of grace.”  And they could approach God’s throne boldly.  Well, how did they do that?  Did they transport themselves (somehow) into heaven?  No – a man or woman could simply kneel down anywhere on earth, or they could close their eyes at any point while they lived their lives upon earth and pray to God in heaven and, therefore, they came “boldly unto the throne” of God, the throne that was granting grace to sinners at that time.

It is the case whenever anyone prays to God, that they are coming to the King of kings and Lord of lords and to the Sovereign Ruler of all; and they are approaching His throne, making requests: “Oh, Father, help me with this,” and we could ask that He bless this person or bless this situation, or whatever it is.  We are coming to the throne of God and, yet, we have not left the earth; we have not been transported out of this world and we remain upon the earth.  Likewise, this is the situation with the “great multitude” that we see gathered in heaven.  Of course, they would all be gathered in the sense that God had saved them all; each individual who is saved is seated in “heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” so we are all in heaven in that sense.

But, as each saved person comes to God to praise him or as they are brought near before Him through the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, they are “before the throne of God.”

Now let us go on to read the next part of the verse in Revelation 7:15:

…and serve him day and night in his temple…

Again, we have a phrase that really forces us to understand that this must be happening now because it is speaking of the great multitude doing service to God “day and night in his temple.”  Now, the fact that they are serving God does not mean that it is speaking of the present time, because the elect of God will continue to serve Him into eternity future – that is not what convinces us – but it is the fact that they are serving him “day and night in his temple.”  The language of “day and night” ought not to be there if this word is describing eternity future – if it were describing the elect in heaven gathered together after this world is gone.  Then there would be no further “day and night,” because “day and night” is a time reference.  We read back in Genesis 1:5:

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

And since that time, “day and night” continued from that point all through the history of this world: twenty four hours would pass (one day would pass and then night would pass) and the next “day and night” would come.  It says in Genesis 8:22:

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

“While the earth remaineth,” there will be “day and night,” and the implication is that when the earth ceases to remain – when the earth is no more – then there will no longer be “day and night.”  But while “day and night” continue, the earth will still be functioning.  It will still be operating.  We read in Job 26:10:

He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

That is the duration of time in this world: “day and night” occur while there is “time,” and while there are the literal sun, moon and stars.  What do we know about the end of the world and what God will do at that time?  He will destroy the earth and the universe; the sun, moon and stars (the timekeepers) will be annihilated.  This whole creation will be destroyed, including the unsaved, and all will be gone for evermore.  Along with it, “day and night” will perish.  The “time” that God created, along with this world, will also be destroyed forever.  Eternity is outside of time and God inhabits eternity; He dwells in the whole spectrum of existence.  Once this world is done and once God creates a new heaven and new earth and completes the salvation of His people by equipping each child of God with a new resurrected body; and once we turn our attention to “eternity future,” then there will be no keeping track of “time.”  Time is for this world. 

I do not know what God has in store for keeping track…(pause)...we cannot even imagine something “beyond time” and not related to “time.”  We are creatures of “time” and we really cannot think outside of the boundaries which God has established within “time.”  Yet, “time” is an element of this creation and there will be no “time” in eternity.  We read in Revelation 12:10:

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

Now this verse is significant because it is referring to Satan as “the accuser of our brethren.”  Prior to the Lord Jesus going to the cross in 33 A.D., Satan had access to heaven and he would use that access to accuse the saints of God.  We see an example of this in the Book of Job, as Satan accused Job before God: “Doth Job fear God for nought?”  He accused Job of fearing God because God had set hedges around him to protect him.  So Satan was able to accuse our brethren, but once Christ went to the cross, “the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”  Satan was able to go to heaven.  He is a spirit being and he was able to do that somehow – it is mysterious to us.  But God does tell us this.  Satan was accusing the brethren “day and night” and the reference to “day and night” is because there was an earth and time was passing upon the earth.  Therefore, this reference to “day and night” can be made because the earth still existed and the accusations that Satan was making had to do with the inhabitants of the earth – with God’s people that were on the earth and living in “time.”

We had previously thought that on May 21, 2011, God would rapture His people out of this world (the great multitude) and that is how they would “come out of great tribulation.” God would take them into heaven and there they would be “before the throne of God,” serving Him in His temple, day and night.  Therefore, a time reference of “day and night” could be used because we had previously thought there would still be five months of time left on the earth.  We thought God would take His people out of the world so they would not have to go through Judgment Day, that awful “five month” period of torment.

We were wrong.  We were wrong about the rapture occurring on May 21, 2011.  We were wrong about that because we were incorrect about the idea that God would remove His people before bringing judgment on the world.  It is a very similar error that many made in time past when thinking of the Great Tribulation.  It was also taught by many theologians and commentators that the “church of God” would be raptured before the Great Tribulation, so that God’s people would not be on the earth to go through that time. 

But we learned that is not the case at all.  We did go through the Great Tribulation.  God gave us a verse in Revelation, chapter 13, where He speaks of the “beast,” and that is name given to Satan specifically to describe his rule during the period of the Great Tribulation.  God said in Revelation 13:8-10:

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

We now know what God is saying there – He will leave His people upon the earth and they will go through the Great Tribulation period.  Of course, they must, because as we read in Revelation, chapter 7, a “great multitude” is saved during that period of history – that “little season” of Great Tribulation; and they could only be saved as God’s people carried the Gospel and trumpeted it and proclaimed it to all the people of the world.  And, yet, it was an instance where it could be said, during this Great Tribulation: “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”  It will demonstrate and it will “make manifest” their patience and faith, as they endure and go through that severe period of testing – that severe trial that will come upon the world. 

In the very next chapter, in Revelation 14, God is describing the Day of Judgment, just as Revelation 13 was giving information concerning the beginning of the judgment upon the house of God during the Great Tribulation, Revelation 14 follows with the “final judgment,” when the whole world will drink of the wrath of God, and it says in Revelation 14:11:

And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And that is a strikingly similar statement to that which we find in Revelation 13 and for exactly the same reason.  With the statement in Revelation 13, God was confirming that His people were not going anywhere in this Great Tribulation; they will remain and show forth the wonderful fruit of “patience and the faith of the saints.”  Likewise, in Revelation 14, God is declaring that His people are not going anywhere in the Day of Judgment, but they will remain here and, again, they will demonstrate “patience” and “the faith of Jesus.”  It is a statement to assure us that it was never God’s plan to remove His people out of the world – not during the Great Tribulation period (and we know that because we have already gone through it), nor during the Day of Judgment for this world, which we are presently going through.

So, we were incorrect in thinking there would be a rapture of the believers out of this world to avoid this Judgment Day.  How else could it be said that we have come “before the judgment seat of Christ”?   The Bible does declare this, in 2nd Corinthians 5:9-10:

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

The word “appear” is a word that is (often) translated as “manifest.”  We must be “manifested” before the judgment seat of Christ.  This is the same word that was used in referring to Jesus who died as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, yet, He had to appear in time to “make manifest” what He had already done.

Likewise, God’s people were judged in the Person of Christ from the foundation of the world and, yet, at this time of the end (and in these days after that tribulation) in these days of judgment upon this world, we are “appearing” or being made “manifest” before that throne of judgment in order to demonstrate (since no harm comes to us and no punishment is meted out to us) that we have already stood before the judgment throne of Christ.  Our endurance in coming through the fire that God has kindled in His anger at this time will be a demonstration of that fact.