Revelation 7:9-17 – A Great Multitude from every Nation
Read: Revelation 7:9-12.
John said that ‘after this…’ he saw an innumerable multitude from all tribes. After what? After the sealing of the 144,000 and restoration of the throne of David, in fact after the kingdom of God was properly restored and Jerusalem fit to become the prayer house of all nations. The chief question before us is ‘who are these innumerable multitude?’ This multitude is another group of people without number that is definitely different from the numbered 144,000 representatives of the immortalised saints. I believe with the scriptures; we can find out who they are.
See comments on the 24 elders in Revelation 4 and 5.
Feast of Booths/Tents/Tabernacles
One of the remarkable things we noticed about this great multitude is that they all had palm branches in their hands! This means that they had all gone to pick these branches and assembled for a special purpose. Why palm branches? The answer is ‘The Feast of Tents!’ also known as Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles.
In Leviticus 23:39-41, we read the following instruction with regards to the Feast of Tents: ““On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.”
The first thing that comes to my mind is that what is described here is not just a spontaneous event that will happen in Jerusalem but very likely a well-planned Feast of Tents or Tabernacles that will be celebrated in Jerusalem by Jews and people of all nations after the sealing of the brothers and sisters in Christ of all ages. This is strengthened by the passage in Zechariah 14 which specifically pointed out that the feast of Tents will be celebrated in the kingdom when Jesus sits as king in Zion. Zechariah 14 is very similar to Revelation 7 both in chronology and in the language of the description of this great multitude from all tribes.
“Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.” Zechariah 14:16-19.
Little wonder Revelation 7 said they were innumerable multitude. Both Revelation 7 and Zechariah 14 agree that these great multitude comes from all nations and all tribes of the earth to worship Christ the king in Jerusalem! Both accounts are set in the same time when after Christ has immortalised his saints, he comes to rule over the whole from Jerusalem during the apocalyptic millennium! This has been the understanding of the apostles and early Christians that Christ will establish the reign of God here on earth after his second coming.
But who are these people? The answer is hinted at by the angel as we shall now see.
The Great Tribulation
When John inquired of who these great multitude were, he was told: “I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. “Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.” Revelation 7:14,15.
The major key here in identifying this great multitude is that the are just coming out of the great tribulation. What is this great tribulation? In the Mount Olives Prophecy, Jesus speaks of the great tribulation as the calamity and burden that will befall Jerusalem before he comes again. “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:24-26. But Mark connects that Tribulation to the description of Daniel’s Abomination of Desolation of Jerusalem verse 14. Comparing Mark and Luke’s reports of the same event, we read:
| Mark 13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Mark 13:15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, | Luke 21:20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Luke 21:21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, |
Luke therefore interprets Mark’s Abomination of Desolation to be the presence of Gentile armies from all nations ready to cause desolation in Jerusalem. This All nations invasion of Jerusalem in the last days is what will result in the birth pangs or great tribulation for the fleeing people of Israel! What was described in the Mount of Olives prophecy of Christ had its first fulfilment in the 70AD destruction of the second temple by the Romans but will be fulfilled again before Jesus comes to deliver Jerusalem on the last day. This last day fulfilment is the great Tribulation of Revelation 7:14,15.
Interestingly, the same Zechariah 14 that told us about the great multitude celebrating the Feast of Booths with palms also clearly outlined this end time all nation invasion of Israel which will lead to the great tribulation. “Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.”Zechariah 14:1-9.
Today, even as I write, antisemitism is on the rise and many people, Africans, Europeans, Arabs, Asians and indeed all people are increasingly seeing the Jews as the problem of the world. Many nations wish Israel nothing but death and obliteration from the face of the earth. The armies of the nations are warming up to unite and invade Israel as God’s servants the prophets spoke of a long time ago. But on that day, The LORD will destroy these armies and deliver Israel.
As the great multitude celebrated, we read “crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:10. The word salvation in the Greek and Hebrew equivalent means deliverance. This song of Deliverance is a summary of Psalm 118, when the Jews realize that the Messiah who just delivered them from the great tribulation is none other but Jesus, the same person they crucified!
“I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.” Psalm 118:21-26. Cf. Matt 21:42; 23:39; Luke 19:38.
Who then are these great multitudes of Revelation 7? They are first and foremost the Jews restored from all corners of the world only to face a great tribulation that would have annihilated them if it were not for the deliverance from Jesus. To the Jews belong this feast of Tents. As we also read in Zechariah 14, the survivors of the nations from all families of the earth that came to attack Jerusalem on that day will also come to Jerusalem to join the Jews who they earlier sought to destroy, to celebrate the Feast of Booths and worship Jesus the king! This is why the multitude is innumerable. So, the 144,000 is the symbolic number of Jews who believe in Jesus together with the gentile nations who believe in Jesus and joined the Jews to make the one spiritual House of Israel. On the other hand, the Great Multitude are the Jews who survived the great Tribulation and end time invasion of Jerusalem, together with repentant Gentiles who also survived God’s last day judgement, now in Jerusalem to join the Jews to celebrate the Feast of booths and worship Christ the king. They did not just repent from their evil, but they also accepted that Jesus Christ is the king of the whole earth!
Jesus himself has forgiven these gentiles and cleansed them. Jesus also at this time has forgiven the Jews from their sin of unbelief in Jesus and also cleansed them. Together, the Great Multitude are described as “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:14.
The Great Multitude are the mortal subjects of the Millennial reign of Christ
Unlike the 144,000 who are described as the ‘first fruits’, a term that describes the one who lives forever after resurrecting from death (1Corinthians 15:20), the great multitude must then be the mortal subjects of the kingdom age made up of Jews and gentiles. The rest of the description of the Great Multitude supports this for in 7:17, we read that: “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The 144,000 who now lives forever do not need to be guided to the springs of living water anymore! They do not need anyone to provide such guidance to them anymore because they already live forevermore and can be said to reflect the same living waters to the rest of the great multitudes. Jesus already promised them: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.
Under the divine reign of Christ on earth, the rest of mankind will dwell in prosperity, safety and peace like the world has never seen before. “Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:15-17.
This is also echoed in the prophets. For example, in this prophecy of Isaiah, note that although the promises to the great multitude and the nations are glorious, the language still betrays the fact that they are still mortals for the saints will not have need of building houses and planting vineyards. In other words, what God has promised to us if we believe now and keep his word before its late, is even far more glorious than this great blessing on the great multitude. Even so come Lord Jesus, amen.
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.” Isaiah 65:17-25.
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