1After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. 2I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, 3saying, “Don’t harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads!” 4I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
5of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed,
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand,
7of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?”
14I told him, “My lord, you know.”
He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering. They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. 15Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. 16They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; 17for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
John says that these are those who “came out” of the great tribulation. These are the believers who specifically came out of the tribulation. I believe this is all those who will come to Christ during the Tribulation. This is probably those who will come out of the Tribulation as believers because of the ministry of the 144,000 that we read about in the prior verses. This makes sense because this whole description follows the citing of the 144,000 being sealed. Author Tim Lahaye presents this in his series “Left Behind.” We’ve all seen some of these Jewish Evangelists (described in verses 5-8) at present, and they are amazingly powerful in their testimony. None of these existed when I was a child in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. God is up to something, and it is clearly seen in the rise of Jewish evangelists. I’m thinking of people like Jonathan Cahn and the guest speaker, Rabbi Daniel Schnaider, who frequented our church in the early days of my ministry there.
John paints a picture of a multitude of believers from every tribe, people, and language. We will all stand before the throne, and we will worship together. God loves diversity and differences. This is seen in creation. Not all trees are alike. Not all vegetables are alike. Not all clouds are alike. Not all mountains are alike. Not all people are alike. And yet, they are all fundamentally the same. What do I mean by that? Well, generally, all plant life grows and thrives in a similar way. God created photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert light energy into food. All mammals have a system of DNA within them that is the building block for all tissues. All people have systems of organs within them that operate in the same way. All humans procreate in the same way, and yet we are beautifully different in appearance. When God made the world and all that it contains, he made a bouquet more beautiful than the most beautiful bouquet of flowers that has ever been comprised. There is only one race. That is the human race.
The picture John shows us is a thing of beauty. Every ethnic group will be included. Every language will be spoken. Every people group will be there. And what will we be doing? We will be worshiping the Lamb who sits upon the throne. This is important to remember as we go through life. The passage doesn’t discount national identity or national borders. It speaks of a day when all of that will disappear, and we will be one beautiful, diverse Body of Christ. The Church will be His bride, and we will be like the facets of a radiant, bright, beaming diamond displaying His glory and His creation. Don’t ever get caught up in racism. Don’t ever think the color of your skin or the origin of your family is of some significant, supreme importance. It isn’t. As a believer, you will be arm in arm with millions who don’t look like you or talk like you. What we will have in common is a love for Jesus and a desire to worship Him for all of eternity. I have no idea what that will all look like, but Paul tells us that eye has not seen nor has ear heard nor has it entered into the heart of man what awaits us in glory. Let us all take comfort in that. This is not all that there is. Something awaits us beyond our imaginations.