Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Sunday Bible study.  Today is study #2 in our review of Revelation 7, and we will read Revelation 7:9-15:

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. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 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.

I will stop reading there.  Last time we were going through the earlier verses of Revelation 7, and we saw God’s plan to save His people through the two major outpourings of His Spirit: one during the church age, and the other during the second part of the Great Tribulation.  This was when the two rains fell, the early rain and the Latter Rain.  It was stated in Revelation 7:3:

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Then the 144,000 were sealed of the twelve tribes of Israel, with 12,000 from each tribe.  We know these were the first fruits because it was declared regarding the 144,000 in Revelation 14:4: “These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God…” Therefore they identify with the Pentecostal harvest as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost which started the church age in 33 A. D.

Then when we get to verse 9, it says, “after this,” which means after the 144,000 had been sealed.   And this can only be after the early rain had fallen and the salvation of God for the firstfruits had been completed.  Again, there was that principle: “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”  And the implication is that once they were sealed, then they could “hurt” the rest.  So God saved everyone that was to be saved over the course of the church age, and once the last individual became saved that was chosen to be saved through the ministry of the churches which ended on May 21, 1988, then God began the judgment process on the churches.  There were 2,300 days of famine during the first part (of the Great Tribulation), followed by the official judgment on the corporate church in September 1994.

After this, the judgment began.  The rain had ceased to fall, and there was a spacing of famine between the two.  We know that God intersperses periods of rains and famines in His time table for the various seasons.  So when we read in Revelation 7:9, “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,” it is telling us about second group of elect that the Lord intended to save.  At the end of our last study, we looked at a few different things regarding this.  We read in Revelation 6:9-11:

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

The “little season” is the Great Tribulation, and it is just a little time period.  So we have the souls that were under the altar (the 144,000) and their fellow servants (the great multitude) that would be “killed” as they that “were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.”  So there were two groups.

In Revelation 20 we see the same setup, in Revelation 20:4-5:

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Regarding the “thousand years,” if we look at verse 7, it says, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”  And what do we know about that?  He was bound over the course of the church age, so when the “thousand years” are expired, it was the end of the church age and the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  That is when “the rest of the dead” would live again, as it says, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”  That means they would live once the thousand years were finished, or in the Great Tribulation.  It matches with the two groups in Revelation 7 where we see the 144,000 that were followed afterwards by the great multitude.

The same thing is true of the two fishing expedition in the Gospels.  In the first one, the net broke.  In the second one, the net did not break, and there was a great catch of fish.  So we do understand that in God’s plan there would be the great multitude.

You know, there are people who only trust and believe what they see with their eyes, and because they have not seen a great multitude of elect…and would they think that they would need to see them?  How foolish!  Do they think that God cannot save souls (which are invisible) and accomplish the salvation of the great multitude?  God is fully aware of the great multitude, and their salvation is accomplished, but they have not been called to go to a place like a church, as was the case with those saved over the course of the church age, and you could “see” people going into the various churches.  But where are you going to see people go that are part of the great multitude that were saved over the course of the second part of the Great Tribulation?  They were receiving the Gospel over the air waves and the electronic medium, and most of them are in very poor countries that do not have any church presence.  And in any case, they were not called to go anywhere except to God, by going to the Bible.  That is what everyone has been told. 

Today in the Day of Judgment we are feeding the sheep, but are we telling anyone to go somewhere to congregate?   No.  We are not doing that.  We are not telling people to come to our fellowship or to our Day in the Word, but we desire for them to hear the Word and go to God.  They are to go to the mountains because the mountains identify with the kingdom of God.  Just as the mountains were round about Jerusalem, JEHOVAH is round about His people, so we direct people to God.  And God is the one that will care and provide for them.

It is a ridiculous expectation on the part of men to say, “Well, I have not seen any increase.”  Even if they saw a great multitude of people drive up somewhere, how would they know what was going on in their hearts?  There would be no way to tell, so we do not base our understanding of biblical truth on what we can see or confirm with our eyes.  “Now I believe it because I see it.”  No.  That is what doubting Thomas did, and then  Christ came to him.  Let us read that because it is always a good time to read this Scripture.  It says in John 20:25-29:

Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

It is by faith. Faith  is “the evidence of things not seen.”  I think I quoted that right. God states in Hebrews 11:1:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

They are not seen.  They are not visible.  There are visible things, and they are all part of the world.  And there are invisible things, and God is the Creator of both the visible and the invisible.  His kingdom is invisible.  It is a spiritual kingdom, and God is a Spirit.  Satan is a spirit.  Have you ever seen Satan?  Do you believe he exists?  Yes, because the Bible tells us.  And of course you believe in God, and if you do believe in God, have you ever seen God.  “No man hath seen God at any time.”  But God’s elect know that He is, and He sits upon the throne of His glory.  We know that He exists.   He is a reality, although invisible. 

And we could go on and on, as we go through the Bible regarding things we believe but cannot see.  We believe that God judged the churches, but we never saw Christ come in that judgment; we never saw Christ depart from the churches; we never saw Satan come into the churches and take his seat to rule.  And we believe we are saved, and before that, we believe we had a dead spirit, and one’s spirit is invisible.  We have never seen our soul.  We could not see it when it was dead, and we cannot see it alive.  We do not trust our eyes.  How does God put in in Proverbs 3:5?   “Trust in JEHOVAH with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him…”  That is how we come to the Bible.

It is natural-minded to say, “I have not seen any great multitude.”  It is like saying, “I do not see any God.”  That is what atheists do.  It would be operating along the same kind of thinking: “I must see before I believe.”  God will not accommodate people in that regard because it is carnal and unbelieving, so He simply tells us.

Again, it said in Revelation 7:12:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…

There are four groups describing these individuals, pointing to universality.  And it is, indeed, what God did.  They were people from all the nations, all the kindreds, all the people, and all the tongues.  These are the great multitude, and the question is asked in Revelation 7:13:

What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

And the answer was given in Revelation 7:14:

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.

That is who they are.  They are the great multitude that God saved out of the Great Tribulation.  And that only identifies with one time period.  It is not everyone who was saved over the history of the world.  It specifies exactly when they became saved.  It was during the Great Tribulation, which was the time of the judgment on the churches.  And we even have the time frame – it was 23 years of Great Tribulation, but they were saved during the Latter Rain, the last (about) 17 years of that Great Tribulation.

Let us look at the last part of verse 9 regarding this great multitude of people from all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, and it says in Revelation 7:9:

… stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Some would conclude that since they are standing before the throne of God, they must be in heaven – they are in heaven after they have died, or the world has ended, and they are in heaven, and that is where they are appearing; and that is why they came out of Great Tribulation because the Great Tribulation is the end of the world.  No.  That is not correct because the Great Tribulation is not the end of the world.  Remember that the Lord said in Matthew 25:24:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven…

In the parallel passage in Mark 13, we read a statement that lets us know there is a period of days (time) after the Tribulation.  It says in Mark 13:24-26:

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

The way God has written the Bible it is never easy to see the truth because He has written the Bible in parables, and parables serve “to hide truth.”  And there is a hidden truth in Mark 13:24.  Look carefully at “those days,” and what is said about them: “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light…”  It is telling us that the period of “those days” comes after the Tribulation.  That is, the Tribulation ends, and then there is a period of time in “those days” when the sun is darkened, and so forth.  To show you what I mean, eliminate the phrase “those days,” and set it aside for the moment, and it would read, “But after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light…”  Then we might think, “OK, there is no more time.  It is the end of the world and the destruction of the universe.”  However, the phrase “in those days” is there, and it indicates “those days, after that tribulation.” 

So God is letting us know that there is a period of time after the Great Tribulation ends.  And we understand that this period of time referred to as “those days” is a second tribulation.  The first tribulation was judgment on the churches, and that was the Great Tribulation.  And the phrase “those days”  is a figure of speech that represents “tribulation,” whether it be the first tribulation of judgment on the churches for 23 years, or the second tribulation at the end of the world, the judgment on the entire world, and the biblical evidence indicates it will be 22 actual years or 23 inclusive years.

In Revelation 11, after we read that Christ has come – and this would be after the Great Tribulation – it is Judgment Day, our present time.  The second “woe” or second “trumpet” is past, and the third “woe” and the third and final trumpet sounds, which is also the seventh trumpet (as these trumpets sound simultaneously).  It says in Revelation 11:15-18:

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged…

There is a time to judge the dead, and it is called “the time of the dead.”  That is our present period of time, as we are in Judgment Day.  It is “those days after that tribulation,” and there is time.  “ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: … A time to be born, and a time to die,” according to Ecclesiastes 3:1-2.    Or we can understand that as a “time to be saved,” the day of salvation, and a “time to be judged,” the time to take life away from sinners that never became saved.  And that is the period of time referred to as “those days,” and it will be ongoing for several more years over the course of this present Judgment Day period.  And this is the time when the great multitude is standing before the throne: “…stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

Regarding the throne…and this is interesting, and I never put the two together until the last few years when the Lord opened my understanding that it is Judgment Day.  And as we just read in Revelation 11:15: “…The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign,” and He is reigning on the earth right now.  And a King who reigns will take His seat upon the throne.  We also read in Revelation 19 of that glorious exclamation, “Alleluia,” and it is exclaimed at the time of the fall of Babylon (the world).  It says in Revelation 19:3-6:

And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

The “great multitude” are the same two words used in Revelation 7:9.  Christ is seated on the throne in Judgment Day.  We saw that in verse 4: “…worshipped God that sat on the throne.”  Then it says, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”  And who are proclaiming this?  It is the voice of the “great multitude,” which, again, is the same two words in our verse in Revelation 7:9.  And in Revelation 7, after we read that the great multitude “ stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hand,” we read that in Revelation 7:10:

And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

This is the same theme that Revelation 19 is laying out.  Babylon represents the world, and the world has fallen.  The world fell on May 21, 2011, and it will not rise again, so it will remain fallen.  And from that point, it is as though a voice of a great multitude is rising up their voice to God, proclaiming, “Alleluia,” because He is seated on the throne.  That is why it is so important for us to share this truth with everyone: Jesus is now King of the earth.  He is LORD and God, and King over this world.  He is King of all kings because this was the remaining “province,” we could say, in all the vast and glorious kingdom of heaven where there was rebellion against God, having their own king, Satan.  And Satan was trying to show himself to be like God as he took over the churches and congregations as well as the world, and he ruled over all for a short period as king of kings in this world.  But when Christ took the kingdom (on May 21, 2011), He sat upon the throne as His Royal Highness and King of all. 

And that throne is the judgment throne, and that is the thing I never really understood before, and that is why the Bible speaks of a “judgment throne.”  It is called a “throne” because it coincides with Christ’s rule as King of the earth.  The Premillennialists had that idea correct, although they were wrong about a great many things concerning the Jews and a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on earth.  Christ has not come visibly to reign on earth, but He reigns through His Word in a spiritual way, and Christ is now reigning.  He is ruling the earth with a rod of iron to destroy and punish it over the course of “those days,” the “time of the dead,” which is the Judgment Day tribulation for the world.

And the elect stood before the throne, and before the Lamb.  The Lord makes a point to stress that latter phrase.  If we look in the previous chapter in Revelation 6, we see it is Judgment Day.  It says in Revelation 6:12-13:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth…

We recognize that language.  Although it is slightly different language than Matthew 24, it is describing the same time frame as Matthew 24:29 and Mark 13:24, and so on.  It says in Revelation 6:13-17:

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Well, the answer to that question is found in our study passage: “…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.”  You see, the great multitude is on the earth, and they are before the judgment throne of God.  And that is something else we recently learned from 2Corinthians 5:10, where all the elect are referred to as “we,” and this plural pronoun is used repeatedly in this chapter, and in every case it can only refer to the elect. It says in 2Corinthians 5:10:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…

And that word “appear” is the word “manifest,” and it is used of Christ concerning his “manifestation” and demonstration in going to the cross in 33 A. D.  Again, it says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,” and that is the “bema,”  specifically referring to the fact that He will judge.  The word translated as “seat” is translated one time as “throne,” but it is typically translated as “seat.”

But there is a parallel passage in Romans 14 where we read of the judgment of God.  It says in Romans 14:10:

But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Let us try to get an idea of what it means “to stand.”  At the end of that passage in Revelation 6, it said in verse 17: “…and who shall be able to stand?”   And we know from Psalm 1 that the ungodly will not stand in the judgment.  Think of standing with the idea of “abiding” or “continuing.”  Who shall abide the Judgment Day of God, and continue through it to its completion, and remain living once it is completed?  And of course none of the wicked will be able to do so: “…the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment…”   And that applies to a great many people.  However, the elect of God will stand.

The same word translated as “stand” in Romans 14:10 is also used in Romans 14:4:

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Do you see the two options?  He either stands or he falls, and we are living in the day of Babylon’s fall.  The world is fallen because all the sinful people of the world are fallen before God’s judgment throne.  They cannot even begin to “stand.”  How can they?  They have so many sins that they are guilty of, and there is condemnation for their sins because they have no Saviour.  They have no atonement that was paid on their behalf, as Christ has not forgiven them.  So as soon as Judgment Day began, God saw their sins, and they “fall.”  They cannot stand in the judgment.

But God is able to make certain ones to “stand,” His elect children whose sins were paid for by Christ.  They can stand before Him in judgment.  We have looked at this before, but remember in Ephesians 6 where God speaks of the armour of God?  It says in Ephesians 6:13:

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The word “withstand” is the same word translated as “stand,” but in saying it that way, it does present an accurate idea because there is powerful wrath that is coming against each individual person.  There are spiritual flames, as the whole earth has been lit on fire.  And this wrath of God is searching the earth for those that have offended but have no protection against it, just as when the Lord sent the Destroyer into Egypt touching the various houses in the streets.  Only those houses that had the “blood” covering them were passed over, but the for the rest, the first born were slain.  There was no protection against that for the Egyptians.

So, again, God is saying here, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  That is, you will continue and abide, and we see exactly how that is, day by day.  “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” especially during the “evil day” of judgment itself.  So by God’s grace, and through His power, strength, and armour, we stand.  Each piece of armour relates to the fact that Christ has saved us, and Jesus is our shield.  He is our helmet.  He is everything that will enable us to stand, and to continue to live in God’s sight while He executes the judgment on the nations of the world.

It goes on to say in Ephesians 6:14-17:

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

So that is the picture of “standing” before the judgment seat of Christ.  We are before the Lamb, before the throne of God as He sits to judge.  And if we are truly saved, we are part of that great multitude whose voice is crying out, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

You see, we alone of all the people will be rejoicing.  We will be singing God’s praise.  Alleluia!  Praise God!  And of course we will have an entirely different perspective of the circumstances that are taking place than all the other people of the world.  So this is actually our great privilege to do.

One other thing I would like to mention concerning being before the throne is what we read in Mathew 5:34:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

Christ is seated upon the throne.  Yes, He is in heaven.  It is a spiritual judgment, and He is  very capable of reigning on the earth from the position of heaven.  It goes on to say in Matthew 5:35:

Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

So the earth is the footstool, and God is upon the throne in heaven, and He is resting His feet upon the earth, as it were.  And that would mean that the footstool would be before the throne, so we are presently on the earth (God’s footstool) before His throne.  Going back to Revelation 7, it says in Revelation 7:9:

…stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes…

We have also looked at a few verses regarding how the white robes represent the righteousness of saints.  I will just go to one place referring to that great multitude, in Revelation 19:6-8:

…Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

If you did not think that these things are complicated enough with God’s judgment plan and the time of the revelation of His righteous judgment program, there is an added complication in that Judgment Day is also likened by God to the “marriage feast of the Lamb,” and the time that the bride (the saints) and the bridegroom (the Lord Jesus) finally come together, and at the last day it is as if they will share tremendous intimacy into eternity future.

But notice that the bride is clothed in fine  white linen which is the righteousness of saints.  Christ comes with ten thousands of His saints, and “ten thousands” points to all the saints.  He saved everyone who was to become saved, and the overwhelming majority of them remain on the earth before the throne, and they are clothed with white robes.  It is the fine linen, clean and white, which is the marriage gown.  So we can look at the great multitude as part of the bride.  You can look at them as part of the “ten thousands” that come with God to judge the world, and they are also the group that were saved out of Great Tribulation.

Now let us look at the last part of Revelation 7:9:

… and palms in their hands;

This is curious that God mentions this.  The word translated as “palms” is only found twice in the New Testament.  It is found here and in one other place.  The idea of palms or palm branches does relate to the feast of Tabernacles, as we see in Leviticus 23:40:

And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before JEHOVAH your God seven days.

In Nehemiah 8 it is described a little bit later.  It says in Nehemiah 8:14-15:

And they found written in the law which JEHOVAH had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month: And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

So palm branches are mentioned in both places in relationship to the booths that the Israelites made to observe the “feast of booths” or the feast of Tabernacles.  We also know that the feast of Tabernacles is being fulfilled spiritually at the time of the end, but there seems to not be much evidence here concerning the great multitude having palms in their hands and their being engaged in fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles because it only mentions palms.  And as we saw, there were myrtle branches and pine branches and other types of branches that were used, so it does not seem likely that it is a reference to the feast of Tabernacles because God could have added the other types of branches to make it more clear.

But there is another place where this word “palm” is used in the New Testament, and only palms are in view, and that is in John 12 where the Lord is entering Jerusalem.  It is the time of the triumphant entry, as theologians call it.  It is the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and He was really announcing Himself to be the Lamb of God.  He is the Lamb of God that would go to the cross in just a few days, and we read in John 12:12:

On the next day much people that were come to the feast…

It should be pointed out the words translated as “much people” are the identical words that are translated as “great multitude” in Revelation 7:9.  I am not saying that this represents the great multitude, but I am just making that observation.  Again, it says in John 12:12-13:

On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The cry of “Hosanna,” could be put a couple of different ways.  It could be, “I pray thee to save,” or “I praise thee to deliver,” or “Save, I pray thee!”  That is basically what “Hosanna” means. 

So, again in Revelation 7, the great multitude was before the throne, and before the Lamb, and with palms in their hands, and they cried with a loud voice, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.”  So salvation is being declared, and the word “Hosanna” is related to that, but we know they are already saved because they have white robes, which means they have the fine linen, the righteousness of saints that is only given to those that have become saved.  Again, “Hosanna” means, “I pray thee to save.”  We can see that at the first coming of Christ, it was the beginning of the New Testament church age and the New Testament era of salvation.  Tremendous numbers would be saved over the course of the New Testament era. 

But what about Judgment Day when they are before the throne of God?  What “salvation” is yet to come?  The salvation that is in view is the salvation of our bodies.  It is the salvation yet to be completed because God’s salvation of the sinner is two-fold.  First, there is the resurrection of the soul, and the second resurrection is of the body on the last day.  So that could be in view.

Also, it says in John 12:13:

and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

We see they are identifying the Lord Jesus as King of Israel who had come, and that would be a similarity, and a reason why God is expressing that they had palms in their hands.  As we learn from the Bible the truth of what is transpiring over the course of these days after that Tribulation, we realize that Christ is King.  But now He is not just King of Israel, but He is the King of the earth and the great King of kings of heaven.  The King has come, and the palms would identify with the recognition that the time has come concerning the things the Bible has spoken in John 12 concerning the first coming of Christ, and now in Revelation 7 concerning the second coming of Christ.  The people of God are laying down their palm branches once more, so to speak, in this time period as we sing, “Alleluia!” to the Lord God who is currently reigning on the earth.