The Roar of the Redeemed Text: Revelation 7:9-17
Introduction: The Sound of Victory
The book of Revelation is a war manual. It is not, as some would have it, a crystal ball for decoding newspaper headlines about the European Union or speculating about microchips. It is a book about worship and warfare, and how the former drives the latter. What happens in the throne room of heaven determines what happens in the corridors of power on earth. And in our text today, after the symbolic sealing of the church militant on earth, the 144,000, John's perspective shifts. He heard the number of the sealed, a perfect number representing the completeness of God's people in the midst of trial. But when he turns to look, what he sees is something else entirely. He sees the result of their witness. He sees the fruit of the gospel.
He sees a crowd so vast it shatters all human accounting. This is a vision of the church triumphant. This is the end game of the Great Commission. This is a direct contradiction to the pinched, pessimistic eschatology that sees the church scurrying into the lifeboats as the ship of history goes down. No, the gospel is not a message of desperate evacuation. It is the announcement of an invasion, a victorious conquest. And here, John sees the victory parade before the throne of God.
This passage gives us a glimpse into the noisy, joyful, multi-ethnic, Christ-centered reality of heaven. It is a picture meant to encourage the saints on earth who are in the thick of the fight. It tells us where history is going. Despite what you see on the news, despite the apparent triumphs of secularism, despite the moral rot and the cultural chaos, this is the future. The future is not a boot stamping on a human face forever. The future is an uncountable number of redeemed sinners from every corner of the globe, with palm branches in their hands and a thunderous song on their lips. This is the goal, and because Christ is risen and reigning, it is an inevitability.
The Text
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These, clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?" And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and He who sits on the throne will dwell over them. THEY WILL HUNGER NO LONGER, NOR THIRST ANYMORE; NOR WILL THE SUN BEAT DOWN ON THEM, NOR ANY HEAT; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of the water of life. And God WILL WIPE EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES.
(Revelation 7:9-17 LSB)
The Innumerable Multitude (v. 9-10)
We begin with the breathtaking scope of John's vision.
"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;" (Revelation 7:9)
John hears the number 144,000, a symbolic number of the complete church militant, the army of God on earth. But when he looks, he sees a reality that explodes all neat categories. It is a multitude "which no one could count." This is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. This is not a picture of gospel failure, but of overwhelming, global success. The kingdom of God is not a tiny, beleaguered remnant; it is a world-conquering force.
And look at its composition: "from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues." The gospel is not a tribal religion. It shatters ethnic and national barriers. Pentecost was the great reversal of Babel. At Babel, languages were confused and nations scattered in judgment. At Pentecost, the gospel was proclaimed in every tongue, and here we see the final ingathering. This is a flat refutation of all racism, all ethnic vainglory. In Christ, there is one new man, drawn from every family of the earth. The gospel doesn't erase our ethnic distinctions; it sanctifies them and brings them all together in harmonious worship of the Lamb.
They are standing, which is a posture of service and readiness. And they are "before the throne and before the Lamb." Their entire existence is now oriented toward the worship of the Triune God. They are clothed in "white robes," which signify purity, righteousness, and justification. These are not self-earned garments; as we will see, they are a gift. And they hold "palm branches," a clear symbol of victory and celebration, harkening back to Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They are not defeated refugees; they are conquerors, celebrating the victory won by their King.
"and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7:10)
Heaven is not a quiet place. This is not the hushed reverence of a library. This is the roar of a stadium after the championship has been won. They cry out with a "loud voice." And what is their one, central, unifying message? It is the gospel in its simplest form. "Salvation belongs to our God." Salvation is not from us. It is not our achievement. It is not the result of our cleverness or moral effort. It is a divine accomplishment from start to finish, belonging to the Father on the throne and to the Lamb who was slain. This is the great anthem of the Reformation: Soli Deo Gloria, glory to God alone.
The Heavenly Amen Chorus (v. 11-12)
The praise of the redeemed immediately overflows and is joined by the entire host of heaven.
"And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen, the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.'" (Revelation 7:11-12)
The worship of the saints on earth and the saints in glory is not a solo performance. It is a symphony. The moment the redeemed shout their praise, all the angels, the twenty-four elders who represent the entire church of all ages, and the four living creatures who represent all of creation, fall on their faces. This is the proper response to the majesty of God. Prostration. Utter humility.
Their worship begins and ends with "Amen." So be it. It is an affirmation of the truth of what the redeemed have just declared. They then unleash a seven-fold doxology, ascribing every possible perfection to God: blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength. This is not flattery; it is a statement of fact. This is who God is. This is what He deserves. And it is His "forever and ever." God's glory is not a fleeting thing; it is the eternal bedrock of all reality.
The Identity of the Saints (v. 13-14)
An elder then engages John in a bit of Socratic dialogue to make the central point crystal clear.
"Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'These, clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?' And I said to him, 'My lord, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" (Revelation 7:13-14)
The elder asks a question to which he already knows the answer. This is for John's benefit, and for ours. "Who are these people, and what's their story?" John wisely defers, "Sir, you know." The answer is the heart of the passage.
First, they are those "who come out of the great tribulation." Now, we must be careful here. Our modern newspaper eschatologies have trained us to think of this as some future seven-year period of chaos. But the original audience would have understood this differently. The "great tribulation" was the period of intense suffering and persecution that Jesus predicted would fall upon that generation, culminating in the destruction of the Temple and the old covenant order in A.D. 70. These are the martyrs and saints who remained faithful through that foundational conflict. But it doesn't stop there. The principle extends to the entire church age. The church is always in tribulation. We are always at war. These are the saints who have finished their course, who have fought the good fight, who have kept the faith through all the trials and temptations of this life.
Second, how did they get their white robes? Here is the glorious paradox of the gospel. They "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Think about that. How do you wash something and make it white using blood? In the material world, blood stains. But in the spiritual economy of God, the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, is the only cleansing agent in the universe. This is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Their righteousness is not their own. They did not bleach their own robes through moral effort. They were stained, filthy, and deserving of wrath. But they were washed. They were cleansed. Their righteousness is an alien righteousness, the perfect righteousness of Christ Himself, imputed to them by grace through faith. Their white robes are red with the blood of the Lamb.
The Blessed State of the Redeemed (v. 15-17)
The final verses describe the eternal reward and rest for those who have been washed in the blood.
"For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary; and He who sits on the throne will dwell over them." (Revelation 7:15)
Because they are justified, they have access. "For this reason," because their robes are white in the blood of the Lamb, they are granted immediate and unhindered presence before the throne. And what do they do there? They serve Him day and night. Heaven is not a state of idle retirement. It is a place of joyful, unceasing, energetic service and worship. And the ultimate blessing is this: "He who sits on the throne will dwell over them." The Greek is literally "he will tabernacle over them." This is the fulfillment of the promise of the incarnation. Emmanuel, God with us. In heaven, we will experience the full, unmediated, glorious presence of God forever.
The description of their eternal state continues with a series of beautiful negations, quoting from the prophet Isaiah.
"THEY WILL HUNGER NO LONGER, NOR THIRST ANYMORE; NOR WILL THE SUN BEAT DOWN ON THEM, NOR ANY HEAT; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of the water of life. And God WILL WIPE EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES." (Revelation 7:16-17)
All the pains and sorrows of this fallen world, which were experienced during their tribulation, are now gone forever. No more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat of persecution or trial. Why? Because their protector and provider is now the Lamb Himself. Notice the beautiful reversal of imagery. The Lamb, the one who was slain, is now the Shepherd. The one who was led to the slaughter now leads His people. He guides them to "springs of the water of life," an image of eternal satisfaction and joy.
And the final, tender promise is that "God WILL WIPE EVERY TEAR FROM THEIR EYES." Every sorrow, every grief, every loss, every pain that brought tears in this life will be personally and tenderly removed by the hand of God Himself. This is not just the absence of sorrow, but the active, personal comfort of our loving Father. This is the final state of the redeemed. Perfect safety, perfect satisfaction, perfect service, and perfect comfort in the presence of the God who saved them.
Conclusion: The Unstoppable Gospel
This vision is not just a sneak peek into the future for our own private encouragement. It is a declaration of the nature of Christ's kingdom and the power of His gospel. This is where history is headed. The gates of Hell will not prevail against the church, because the church is destined to become an innumerable multitude from every nation on earth.
This means our work here and now has ultimate significance. Every gospel sermon preached, every neighbor evangelized, every child raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, every act of faithful obedience is contributing to the swelling of that mighty crowd. We are recruiters for that heavenly choir. Our historical optimism is not based on human potential, but on the certainty of Christ's victory. He was slain, and by His blood He has ransomed a people for God from every tribe and tongue and nation.
Therefore, we should not be discouraged by the tribulations of our time. They are real, but they are temporary. We must see them as the context in which we are to be faithful, the context out of which God is calling His people. And we must remember how to keep our robes white. It is not by avoiding the muck of this world, but by continually returning to the fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. We must wash our robes daily in the blood of the Lamb, confessing our sins and trusting in His finished work. For it is only through that blood that any of us will ever stand in that great multitude and join the thunderous, eternal roar of the redeemed.