As I began to meditate on the picture
of the great multitude, “standing
before the throne and before the Lamb,”[1] I wondered how this fit
in with the rest of the picture John has drawn for us. The great multitude is
an addition to the figures already presented to us in earlier chapters. Considering
how they fit in and relate to the rest helps us understand more of what the picture
communicates for our encouragement and perseverance in Christ.
I only got as far as considering the
great multitude’s position in relation to the throne, and to the Lamb of God.
However, there is much encouragement in this, so I will share it now, and add
their relationship to the angels, the 24 elders, and the 4 living creatures in
later posts.
1. The great multitude is standing before the
throne and before the Lamb.
As we picture the throne as the center
of the picture,[2]
with the Lamb standing before the throne of God,[3]
and then we see this multitude standing “before”
the throne and the Lamb, we are to see the church as positioned with Christ. This
is a picture of our standing in Christ.
As the book of Revelation requires
diligence to let Scripture interpret Scripture, I found it very helpful to
think of this through some descriptions Paul gave us in the book of Ephesians.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the
coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2)
Let us go through this passage phrase-by-phrase
in order to see the connections between Paul’s description of doctrine, and God’s
gift of the word-picture in Revelation 7, to help us understand how we are to
see the church in these last days.
“But God, being rich in mercy,” (vs 4)
What this great multitude shows the
suffering church is that God is “rich in
mercy.” These people are standing there as evidence that our God is rich in
mercy. There is no shortage of mercy in our God. The people cry out in praise
of their salvation because it is the gift of mercy. It is all credited to God
because there is nothing deserving in the people. We are not saved by any works
whatsoever, but because of the richness of God’s mercy. He has withheld our
judgment by pouring it out upon his Son.
This imagery of the great multitude
before the throne of God, and before the Lamb who is standing before the
throne, is that God is so rich in mercy that there are hundreds, and thousands,
and millions, of people before the throne. It is a numberless multitude. It is
huge. It is a testimony to the richness of God’s mercy that he would show such
kindness to so many people, people from every nation, tribe, people, and
language. When we are shown this great multitude, those who fulfill the perfect
number of God’s chosen ones as expressed in the 144,000,[4]
we see how merciful God is to save them, and to save us.
“because of the great love with which he
loved us,” (vs 4)
This great multitude shows us a
picture of “the great love with which he
loved us.” These people are not there by their own goodness. They are not
there because God found good people in the world. The world is full of evil.
When God looked over the world for people to have in his own image and
likeness, the only people he could choose from were sinners!!! The reason there
are any people in heaven at all, let alone a great multitude no one can number,
is because “God so loved the world, that
he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have
eternal life.”[5]
“even when we were dead in our trespasses,” (vs 5)
The people standing before the throne,
and before the Lamb, were once dead in their trespasses. These were not good
people, but sinners. The message of the throne-room is that sinners stand
before God. Those who are dead in their sins are made alive. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners,”[6]
and the great numberless multitude shows how many sinners he saves.
“made us alive together with Christ” (vs 5)
These are people who were “made alive.” There are millions of
people there, all made alive through this glorious salvation that belongs to
God, and to the Lamb, and to no one else. There is no place for us to honor
false religions designed by demons and sinners. There is one salvation, and it
is a salvation that has made a numberless multitude alive in the Son of God,
alive “together with” the Son of God.
“by grace you have been saved” (vs 5)
The great multitude is singing God’s
praises because they are in the heavenly throne room by the grace of God that
saved them out of their sin. They praise the God who sits on the throne, and
the Lamb of God who stands before the throne, because they alone have this
salvation that saves people by grace, granting them this rich salvation they do
not deserve.
Every religion in the world promises
people something as the result of their own achievement. Even the apostasizing
of Christianity into a religion makes it something man does to contribute to
his own salvation. This is not salvation. There is nothing that man adds to his
own salvation. When we are in heaven, our praise will be to God and the Lamb
because they saved us by their grace, not by any works on our own.[7]
“and raised us up with him” (vs 6)
The Lamb is before the throne of his
Father, and this great multitude is before the throne and before the Lamb,
picturing for us the way the church is raised up “with him.” The church is before the throne where Jesus is before
the throne. Jesus was raised from the dead after dying for our sins, and so the
great multitude has been raised from the deadness of our own sins, but only “with him.”
This is the wonder of this so great
salvation. We do not live because of a dead Savior. We live because of a living
Savior who both satisfied the demands of God’s justice in his death, but also
conquered death through his resurrection. We are not a religion that follows
the tenets of a dead man. We are in a living relationship with God that follows
the living Shepherd of our souls, our Lord Jesus Christ. The great multitude
celebrates this, that we are raised up from our dead condition by the same
power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead.
“and seated us with him in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus,” (vs
6)
When we think of this as a statement
of our position in Christ, we can then consider that we, the church, the whole
body of Christ, the whole people of God, are already securely seated with
Christ. Our true identity is not found here on earth, but in our standing
before God. We are not seated, or resting, in earthly things, but in the divine
things of heaven.
We can also see ourselves as standing
before the throne of God in this great multitude to illustrate that we are free
to stand in God’s presence, not as those who are humiliated with their sin, but
those who rejoice in the righteousness we have in Jesus Christ.
So, both seating and standing
illustrate different aspects of our secure position in Christ, something we
enjoy now, although like strangers in a foreign land waiting to receive the
full benefits of our forever home.
“so that in the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (vs 7)
Every generation of the church has
been given this glorious picture of the great multitude in heaven in order to
reveal to us what things will be like in the coming ages. This numberless
multitude will sing the praises of God and the Lamb because the redemptive work
they have fulfilled in their church eternally shows “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
This is what the great multitude freely and joyfully declares. We press on
knowing that this is waiting for us.
The simplicity of
pictures
I contend that the pictures in
Revelation are not designed for prophecy-hounds to dissect in their
going-beyond-what-is-written digressions. Rather, they are simple pictures that
are easy to remember when life gets too difficult to recall statements of
doctrine.
In times of persecution, the trials
can become so intense that the mind cannot hold on to statements of belief, or
doctrinal passages of Scripture.[8]
At such times, the church can remind themselves that there is a great and
victorious multitude standing before the throne of God, and standing before the
Lamb of God, rejoicing in the salvation that is from them, and them alone. When
tempted to deny Christ to spare themselves earthly trouble, or to “convert” to
another religion in order to save their earthly lives, God’s true children can
recall that “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and
to the Lamb!”[9]
And, even if there are times when that
is the only thing we can remember, it will keep us from renouncing the one
thing that saves, and the only God who gives salvation. Those who endure until
the end will one day find themselves in that great numberless multitude,
singing the songs of the Redeemed.[10]
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Revelation 7:9
[2]
Revelation 4:1-3
[3]
Revelation 5:6
[4]
Revelation 7:1-8
[5]
John 3:16
[6]
I Timothy 1:15
[7]
Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this abundantly clear.
[8]
I often think of Richard Wurmbrand’s testimony of how his experiences of
relentless torture made it impossible for him to recall complex doctrines. At
times he could only recite the simplest statements of faith in his Savior.
These pictures in Revelation are God’s gracious gift to his church, sometimes
much easier to remember than passages of doctrine.
[9]
Revelation 7:10
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