Revelation 7

CHAPTER 7THEME: God seals a remnant of Israel and saves a redeemed company of GentilesThe Book of Revelation has been labeled a book difficult to understand. Some folk say that it is just a mumbo jumbo of a great many visions which are out of this world and which no one can understand. It is my conviction that this book is very logical and is divided in a very simple manner which no one can miss. If we get bogged down in some passage and try to take symbols and juggle them to fit into any system that we might choose, then we are going to be in real trouble. Rather, we should just let John tell us where we are as we go along. We are now in a section that the Lord Jesus labeled the Great Tribulation.

This period takes place after the church leaves the earth, after the church concludes its mission and is taken to be with the Lord. I think that this is not only a reasonable conclusion, but I personally feel it is very clear, not only here, but elsewhere in Scripture. Peter said that “…no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation” (2Pe_1:20). In other words, you cannot lift out just one verse here or there or even consider only the Book of Revelation and expect to interpret accurately the whole of prophecy. It is essential to recognize that the Book of Revelation happens to be the last book of the Bible. When you are studying arithmetic in school, you begin with “two plus two equals four.” You do not start the little ones in first grade with atomic physics or with higher mathematics. Since this book is the last book of the Bible, the only requirement is to have a working knowledge of the sixty-five books which go before. Then you will find that this book makes a great deal of sense and is quite logical. John is going into detail now concerning the Great Tribulation period, a period that has not been elaborated upon in any other place in Scripture except in the Olivet Discourse which the Lord Jesus gave (see Matt. 24-25). John is merely widening that out and giving us additional information. What he says is based on what the Lord Jesus had to say. In chapter 6 we saw the opening of the seven seals; actually, we have had the opening of only six seals so far. These six seals revealed the four great tragedies that are coming upon the earth, the beginning of the judgments. The fifth seal let us look at a martyred company of people, a great throng. In the sixth seal we were introduced to some of the signs of the doom that is to come upon a godless world in the Great Tribulation period. In this period the church is never mentioned by name. The reason it is never mentioned by name is because John is recording things on earth, and at this particular time the church is not on earth. John was told to write the things he had seen, and he saw the vision of the glorified Christ. Then he was to write about “the things which are.” He was in the church period, and we are still in it today. Since the church is still in the world, we are in the period of “the things which are.” The church was the theme of chapters 2-3: the church in Ephesus, the church in Smyrna, the church in Pergamum, the church in Thyatira, etc. But in the chapter before us there is no talking to the church because the church is not here on earth.

We saw in chapters 4-5 that the church was in heaventhat is where the church will go at the time of the Rapture. I will deal later with the reason why the church cannot go through the Great Tribulation period. There is actually a moral and a theological problem if the church were to enter even one phase of the Tribulation period. The subject, therefore, has changed, and we are now talking about things other than the church. We have been introduced to a book with seven seals, and the seals are being removed. Six seals have been removed in the previous chapter. The four horsemen introduce the Great Tribulation period, and the seven seals give an overall picture of that seven-year period. The last of the seals bears down on the last three and one-half years of the Great Tribulation period. At this point, one-fourth of the population of the earth has been destroyed in judgment, destroyed in death.

I am sure that anyone reading Revelation senses the fact that it is going to be very difficult to make it through this periodespecially for those who turn to God, accept Christ, and stand for Him. The question is: Will believers be able to stand for Him during this period? John is now going to put down another principle which he will follow because he knows that you and I are going to have trouble with the Revelation. Therefore he has made it very simple for us. He introduces series of sevens, but the way that he deals with them is the important thing for us to see. A format is followed from the breaking of the seals to the bowls of wrath. Between the sixth and seventh of each, there is an interlude of seemingly extraneous matter, but it is explanatory matterit explains the action and answers certain questions. This is what chapter 7 will do for us.

This principle of an explanatory interval will be true of the seven trumpets, of the seven performers and of the seven bowls of wrath. You will find John following this principle all the way through this particular section of Revelation, so that we do not lose our way. We need now to deal with the question that any reasonable person would raise at this point: What about people turning to God and getting saved during this period? Second Thessalonians makes it clear that the Holy Spirit, the Restrainer, is removed from the earth (see 2Th_2:7). He has taken the church to present it to Christ. Since you cannot have any turning to God without the work of the Holy Spirit, will anybody get saved without the Holy Spirit being present on the earth? My friend, the Holy Spirit will be present. I did not say that the Holy Spirit will have left the world but that He no longer will restrain evil. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost to perform a specific ministry of calling out a body of believers in the church which is referred to as the body of Christ. When the church is removed from the earth, that peculiar ministry of the Holy Spirit will end. One of His ministries in this particular era has been that of restraining evil. It was absolutely essential that He be a restrainer in order for the gospel to penetrate a Satan-controlled and Satan-blinded world.

How could the Word go out unless the Spirit of God held back evil? Just think of the forces of evil that are working against the getting out of the Word of God today. In my own experience with our Bible-teaching radio ministry, we just sailed along like a breeze for a year or two. Then problems came along. I became ill, and all sorts of things took place. When we finally regained our equilibrium and began to look around, we saw what was happening: the enemy was busy.

Believe me, if the Restrainer had not been at work, I am sure that we would have been removed from the scene. How are people going to get saved during the period of the Great Tribulation if the Holy Spirit will not be restraining evil? The Great Tribulation is the Devil’s holiday. That is the day when he is going to have freedom to do as he pleases. We will see why God is going to grant that: it is a period of the judgment of God upon a Christ-rejecting world. Then, does anybody get saved in the Great Tribulation period? My friend, I believe that there will be a greater company saved in that period than in any other seven-year period in the history of the world.

Chapter 7 is going to tell us how that will take place. The Holy Spirit is in the world after the church is removed just as He was in the world before Pentecost. In reading the Old Testament, you will find the Spirit of God working in the hearts and lives of men and women. Many multitudes were brought to God, but He was not restraining evil in the world, and He was not baptizing believers into the body of the church in the Old Testament. That is what He is doing today, but that ministry will cease. However, He will still be in the business of getting men and women to Christ.

He will continue His ministry which has always been one of taking God’s creation and renovating it. We are told in the beginning, “…the spirit of God moved [brooded] upon the face of the waters” (Gen_1:2). The Spirit of God broods over this earth today and has from the very beginning and will continue doing so after the church is removed from the earth. He will have to have an unusual, special program during this period, and John is now going to tell us what that program is going to be.

Revelation 7:1

REASON FOR THE INTERLUDEThe reason for the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals is given to us in the first three verses of this chapter. I give my own translation simply in an attempt to give the literal words and try to say what John was saying: After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding firmly the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on the earth nor on the sea, nor on any tree. “After this” refers to the tremendous judgment of the previous chapter, the riding of the four horsemen. In the riding of the four horsemen I believe we have been given a bird’s-eye view of the Great Tribulation period, an overall picture, and now the details are going to be given to us. “After this I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth.” A smart-alecky young fellow got up at a meeting years ago where Dr. Harry Ironside was speaking and said: “I told you the Bible was unscientific! The Bible teaches that the earth is flat because it says ’the four corners of the earth.’” Dr. Ironside replied, “Young man, I am amazed that you didn’t know that the earth has four corners. They are North, East, South, and West.” Those are the four corners, and that is the direction of the four angels. There is one in the North, the East, the South, and the West. “Holding firmly the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.” These would be the winds of judgment. God uses wind in judgment, and He controls the wind. Psa_148:8 says, “Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word.” The winds of judgment are now to be held back. Nothing can move until God accomplishes His purpose. What is His purpose going to be? I do not think God would permit any period to continue on this earth in which there were not some of the human family turning to God, because that is His purpose. I do not think He would continue to keep this world running; I think He would shut it down, turn it off, and speak it out of existence if there were not folk turning to Him. Therefore, this will be a period when multitudes will turn to Him. A great company is going to be saved, and this reveals that these judgments will accomplish a purpose for God. It will cause multitudes to turn to Him in this period, and it will cause another multitude to turn against Him. It is just like the effect of the sun shining down on a piece of soft clay. What will the sun do to the clay? It will harden it. What would be the effect of that same sunlight upon wax?

It would melt it. The sun has the opposite effect upon clay and wax. The judgments of God are the same. In our lives as believers, when trouble comes to usI’ve discovered this in my own lifeit will either draw us to God or drive us from Him. We need to be drawn to Him, and that is the reason the Lord lets some of us have sicknesses. He wants to draw us closer to Himself, and this is His way of doing it. We cannot explain every little detail here in this chapterat least, I cannot. I get a little irritated and provoked that I do not know as much as some of these so-called prophetic teachers claim to know today. They seem to have a private line in to the Lord. They now know the date when the Lord is coming again, and not only that, they can actually interpret some of these passages in the most amazing fashion. Where the Scriptures say that the blood during the War of Armageddon will be up to the bridle bits, some of these fellows can tell you the type of blood it is! They irritate me because I don’t seem to be able to get that kind of informationand then I wonder what the value of it is when you get it.

To begin with, the church ought to understand clearly that we have been delivered from going through this period. The Lord Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath [right now] everlasting [eternal] life, and shall not come into condemnation [judgment]; but is passed from death unto life” (Joh_5:24). The Great Tribulation is a judgment, and the church is not coming into it. He made it clear to the church of Philadelphia that He was going to deliver them from that hour. What hour? The hour that John is talking about right now.

We need to let Scripture speak for itself.

Revelation 7:2

Again, this is my translation: And I saw another angel ascending from (the) sunrising, having (the) seal of (the) Living God, and he cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it had been given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, until we shall have sealed the servants (bond slaves) of our God, in their foreheads. “Another angel” means this is a fifth angel. He is apparently of a higher rank than the other four because he gives them orders. As we see in the Book of Daniel and also in the Epistle to the Ephesians, there are gradations of orders of angels, both good and bad. Satan has the demon world well organized; he probably has generals, lieutenant colonels, majors, lieutenants, sergeants, and then a great many privates. On the other side, God also has His angels arranged. This angel gives orders to the other four. “He cried with a great voice.” In the Greek this is phone megale. If you turn phone megale around, you can see where we get our English word megaphone. Megal means “great”; phone “noise or voice.” This is an indication that frightful and fearful judgment is getting ready to break upon the earth, and it is therefore necessary to secure the servants of God. If He does not seal them, they are not going to make it through. However, they are going to be preserved in this day of wrath that is coming on the earth. The Lord Jesus Himself mentioned this in Mat_24:21-22: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” For the sake of these who have been sealed, this terrible time will be shortened. What is the mark that is put upon their foreheads? Now here is a place where I must confess (I sure hope you won’t let this get out) that I do not know the answer, and I can only make suggestions. There are many who know what the mark is, but the interesting thing is that you cannot get any two of them to agree as to what it is. I have come to the conclusion that they are all wrong. We are not told what it is, and I do not think it is important for the church to know what the mark is. We are simply told that they are going to be marked.

We do know that there are those who will not be able to trade during this period when the Antichrist comes to power unless they have the mark of the Beast. This mark of God’s is in contrast to the mark of the Beast. My feeling is that it is a spiritual mark that will be in their lives: “…by their fruits ye shall know them” (Mat_7:20)by their lives. I believe that is going to be the mark of God’s own during this period because the godless are really going to be godless in this period. I personally don’t see how they can be any more godless than the godless in the world today, but the Word of God says they can go much farther than they have gone even in our day. We now have this interlude before the seventh seal is opened. This angel is apparently more than a sergeant; he is probably a lieutenant colonel or a general. He says, “Hold everything! Hold back the winds of judgment, the winds of the Great Tribulation period, because we have to seal these folk so they can make it through.” There will be two great companies sealed, one out of the nation Israel and the other out of the Gentiles. Where is the church? The church is not here; they are with Christ in, I believe, the New Jerusalem. He said that He was going to prepare a place for those who were His, and now that He has taken them off the earth, they are with Him. That city will come down from God a little later on in the Revelation, and we will get a look at it. The reason, therefore, for the interlude between the sixth and seventh seals is to make sure that these sealed ones are going to make it through the Great Tribulation period. The Lord Jesus made it very clear that they are going to make it through.

Revelation 7:4

REMNANT OF ISRAEL SEALEDWhen God deals with Israel, I have always noticed that He deals with dates and He deals with numbers. When He is dealing with the church, He does not deal with either dates or numbers. Paul never turned in a report to anybody as to how many were saved. Even when we get to the great company of Gentiles who are saved in the Great Tribulation period, the number is not given. When God deals with Israel, however, He deals with numbers and He deals with dates. The insistence of some Bible teachers to set dates for these prophetic events has hurt the study of prophecy and has brought it down to a low level, whereas this aspect ought to be kept on as high a level as any other subject of prophecy. And I heard the number of those sealed, a hundred and forty and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel. One hundred forty-four thousand is the number sealed from the nation Israel, but we will see that out of the earth there will be a multitude of Gentiles savedtoo numerous to count. I notice that all the evangelists and preachers today are able to give you a count of the number saved in their meetings. In fact, some may give you a count that is a little bit larger than it really is. But here is one company of saved that they couldn’t count. Apparently, in the Great Tribulation there is going to be a great company who are to be saved. How are they going to be saved? They are going to be sealed. The Holy Spirit is going to be here, not only to regenerate them, but He will also have a special ministry of sealing in this period. The seal guarantees that they are going to be delivered. When you go down to the post office to register a letter, a postal clerk puts a stamp on it and puts a seal on it, and you pay a little extra for that.

That seal means that the entire postal department is going to get behind that letter and see that it is delivered. They may be a little late in delivering it, but they guarantee that they are going to deliver it. That is what “sealed” means here. The Holy Spirit guarantees that they will make it through the Great Tribulation. If it weren’t for the seal, they wouldn’t make it through. If you really want to know the truth, Vernon McGee would not make it through today if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit. I wonder if you and I really realize how weak we are? I would deny Him before the sun went down if it wasn’t for His work in me by the Spirit of God. We all have that nature which is in rebellion against God. This company of the 144,000 can be identified without any speculation whatsoever. To me it is almost nonsense for any group to claim that they are the 144,000. Two cults did that in their beginnings, but then they passed 144,000 in membership. Apparently, they were not very optimistic when they started out. They say they take it literally, but they have a problem, now that they have passed that number. They should have gone out of business when they got to 144,000, but they didn’t. This number does not refer to any group in existence today, nor does it refer to the church. During the Great Tribulation, 144,000 are going to be saved “out of every tribe of the children of Israel.” If you think that you are in the 144,000, you are not only saying that you belong to Israel, but you also had better know your tribe because the tribes are going to be identified. It is very clear that God will have a remnant of His people who are going to be saved. This may seem to you like a big number, but actually, it is very small. There are over fourteen million Jews today in the world, and in comparison to that number, you can see that the remnant of the children of Israel is really going to be very small. There is no use speculating here or trying to draw on symbols. Some even say that the number144,000is a symbol of another number. Cannot God say what He wants to say? Cannot He count? Certainly He can. If He says 144,000, I do not think He means 145,000. I think He means exactly 144,000. “Out of every tribe of the children of Israel.” From the day God called Abraham, there has always been a remnant that is true to God. There is a remnant today. I know many wonderful Christian Jews. I don’t know why I say “Christian Jews” since I don’t say Christian Americans or Christian Germans. But we do say this of Israel because of the fact that there is the remnant that trusts Christ in our day. It is not a large remnant, but there is not a very large remnant of Gentiles either. I suppose that the great minority group is that of real believers in Christ. Paul says in Rom_9:8: “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” That is true today. Again Paul writes in Rom_11:4-5: “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” Paul said that in his day there was a remnant in the church. There is a remnant in our day in the church. During the Great Tribulation there will be a remnant, and the number Isaiah 144,000. These are the ones who are going to witness of Christ in the Great Tribulation period. In Mat_24:14, speaking of this period, the Lord Jesus said: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Some will say that the gospel of the Kingdom is a different gospel. Of course, it is not. God has never had but one way to save sinners, and that is through the death of Christ. If you had asked Abel when he brought that little lamb to God, “Abel, do you think that little lamb will save you?” he would have said, “No, this little lamb is representing the One who God told my mother was coming from a woman to be the Savior of the world. This little lamb typifies Him.” John the Baptist almost stepped out of character when he said, “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Joh_1:29). The gospel of the kingdom is the gospel of the death and burial and resurrection of Christ, which is going to alert the nation Israel, and many will turn to Christ.

These will preach the gospel, but they will have something to add that we have no right to say today. They will say, “And then shall the end come.” In other words, it is not going to be long until He will be back. We have no right to say that Christ will be returning soon, because we know neither the day nor the hour when He shall come.

Revelation 7:5

Here is my translation: Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand; of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand; of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand. Twelve thousand are sealed out of each tribe. The 144,000 are divided by twelve, and one-twelfth is in each tribe, so that we know that John is talking about the children of Israel. I do not see how anyone can spiritualize this and attempt to appropriate it either to themselves or to some group other than the children of Israel. God promised, as we see again and again in the Old Testament, that He would come and establish His Kingdom, which we will see is first a thousand-year kingdom, a time of testing, and then moves right into eternity. We are given here the twelve tribes of Israel. One writer says that there are thirteen times in the Bible that the twelve tribes are listed, and another writer says that they are given eighteen times. I do not know which is accurate, but in every case where the twelve tribes are named, it is always twelve tribes. Sometimes changes are made, and I cannot always determine the reason for the changes, but I know that God had something in mind when He did it. There are certain peculiarities in this list which I will call to your attention, but I don’t think it is essential to go into detail concerning these twelve tribes. First of all, you will notice that Judah heads the list. The tribe of Reuben should come first, for Reuben was the oldest, but because of his very gross immorality, he lost the first placebut he is still included. The question often arises: When a Christian sins, does he lose his salvation? No, but he may lose his reward. Very frankly, there will be many Christians who are saved but who indulged in sin and will lose their reward.

Reuben is a very good example of how God deals, and this principle is set down here. Reuben lost first place, he lost the place of honor, but he did not lose out altogether. He is mentioned here, but he is number two; he should have been number one. Judah was the tribe given preeminence (see Gen_49:8-10) and was the tribe from which the Lord Jesus came. We also find that the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are omitted from this list. Both of these tribes were guilty of leading the nation into idolatry. In history you will find that Dan was the first tribe that fell into idolatry (see Jdg_18:30). The tribe of Dan later on became the headquarters for calf worship whereby “Jeroboam made Israel to sin” (see 1Ki_12:28-30). That Dan is given top priority in the Millennium (see Ezek. 48) reveals that the grace of God can reach down and meet the needs of any sinner. The tribe of Dan is in the Millennium, but they are not sealed for the purpose of witnessing during the time of the Great Tribulation. I think that this tribe lost out a great deal. Ephraim was also guilty of idolatry. In Hos_4:17 we read, “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” That has reference to the entire northern kingdom of Israel, but remember that Ephraim was the leader there. Also, Ephraim was the tribe which led in the division of the kingdom (see 1Ki_11:26). In the list of the 144,000 who will be sealed, Joseph takes the place of Ephraim, and to take the place of Dan is Levi. Levi was the priestly tribe, and they are going to be witnesses in the Great Tribulation period, which is quite proper. I trust that we can understand and see that God has now turned again to the nation of Israel. He has not given them up. He said, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? …” (Hos_11:8). In other words God said, “I can’t do it,” and God didn’t give them up. They are going to make it through the Great Tribulation period even though they will lose out as witness for God during that period. The Old Testament is filled with prophecy that God has given to these people that they are to be a nation forever and that they are to be in the land of Israel forever. If you come to the New Testament and write Israel off as having disappeared and that God is through with them, you have to contradict the whole tenor and tone of the Old Testament. I have said that the Book of Revelation is like a great union station or an airport where trains or planes come in from everywhere: all the major themes of prophecy come in to Revelation. Therefore, you would certainly expect Israel to be here in the Book of Revelationand, lo and behold, here it is. “Israel” means Israel. If God had wanted to call Israel the church, I think He would have just said “church” because He was able to say “church” when the time came. But now the church is not mentioned anymore, and He is talking about Israel and the 144,000 who are sealed to witness for Him. The 144,000 are sealed, especially because they are going to witness during this period, and it is going to cost them a great deal. If they were not sealed, they sure wouldn’t be able to make it through. God never leaves Himself without a witness upon this earth.

Revelation 7:9

REDEEMED MULTITUDE OF GENTILES After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, out of every nation and out of tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb arrayed (clothed) in white robes and palm branches in their hands; and they cry with a great voice saying, The salvation to our God, who sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb. “After these things I saw.” John is seeing as well as hearing these things. “And behold, a great multitude which no man could number.” Someone will say, “You mean to tell me that men couldn’t count that crowd?” What it says is that no one man could number theseand it doesn’t say anything about a computer. It says that no one man could number this crowd because it is such a large crowd. I wouldn’t dare to venture any guess whatsoever, but the size of this multitude is obviously stupendous. It is not a one-man job to number them. “Out of every nation and out of tribes, and peoples, and tongues.” These are Gentiles, people from every tribe and nation under the sun. This means that in the Great Tribulation the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached through the world. I want to repeat this: the 144,000 witnesses in the Great Tribulation period are going to do in seven years what the church up to the present has not done in over nineteen hundred years. Do not boast about your missionary program. None of us are reaching very many. But, during the Great Tribulation, there will be a great company of people who will be saved. It is my own judgmentI don’t think that Scripture says this anywhere, because nothing has yet to be fulfilled before the Lord removes the churchbut it looks to me now as if He is going to let the world hear the gospel before the Rapture of the church. I believe that radio is one of the media that will be used. I think there are other media that will be used: the tape ministry, the printed page, and evangelism. Many evangelists are reaching multitudes of people today. Other radio programs are doing a much bigger job than we are doing, but if you put us all together, we are making quite an impact on this world in which we live. “Standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Here is a great company who have come out of the Great Tribulation period and are rejoicing in their salvation. They are redeemed and have made it through the Great Tribulation period. Again may I say, the greatest days of God’s salvation are in the future. It is possible that most of this company were martyred during the Great Tribulation period, but they were faithful to the end. The Lord Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, speaking of this same period, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mat_24:13). Did they endure to the end because they gritted their teeth, clenched their fists, and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps? No, they didn’t do that at allthey were sealed by the Holy Spirit. The “white robes” set before us the righteousness of Christ in which they are clothed. We cannot stand before God in our own righteousness because our own righteousness is as filthy rags, and I do not think you are going to wear filthy rags in the presence of God. “Palm branches” is literally in the Greek “palm trees.” They are the sign of victory, victory in Christ. This multitude is part of the great triumphal entry that will occur when Christ returns to the earth. The triumphal entry has really never taken place yet. That was actually more like a triumphal exit when He rode into Jerusalem on that little donkey, for He was getting ready to leave the earth, and He was on the way to the cross at that time. Since then, there has been a great company who have come to Him, and in the Great Tribulation there will be another great company. When He returns to the earth, the great company, martyred for Him in the Great Tribulation, will be included in the first resurrection, and they are going to be there. This is a wonderful, glorious picture that is given to us.

Revelation 7:11

And all the angels were standing around the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto your God for ever and ever. Amen. This is a fabulous, fantastic scene of universal worship of God by His creatures. The church is here, the Old Testament saints are here, and the Tribulation saints are here. And now the angels join in on it. There are just one or two things I would like to say about the angels. I do not want to labor the point, and I would not contend with anyone about it, but nowhere in Scripture does it say that angels sing. They are saying this here. However, the important thing to note is that the other companies thank God for their redemption, “Salvation to our God,” but the angels do not mention it. They praise God for His attributes and goodness, but not for salvation. Why? They are sinless creatures, not redeemed sinners. I do not think the angels will be able to sing, but I do believe that Vernon McGee will be able to sing in that day. I cannot do it now, but I sure will be able to sing with that great company. I hope that this will begin to broaden your vision and your comprehension as to what heaven is going to be. A great many people think that the only ones to be in heaven are their little group, their little church, or their little denomination. Well, my friend, there will be other redeemed people there besides even the church. I think that it will surprise a lot of the saints to discover this when they get to heaven. I wish that we could discover it down here because it would give us a greater love for God and lead us to worship Him more in a very real way, to worship Him in spirit and truth. One of the elders now wants to bring John up to date on what is taking place:

Revelation 7:13

And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These which are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is a very enlightening passage of Scripture. One of the elders went over to John and said, “John, who are these believers here arrayed in the white robes?” And John said, “My lord, thou knowest.” This is an idiomatic expression, and I think we have one like it in our day. When someone asks us a question and we don’t know the answer, we just sort of lift up our hands and say, “Search me!” which means, “I don’t know!” This is exactly what John is saying here: “You know that I don’t know. You tell me because I don’t know.” “And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation.” If these people gathered here were the church, John would have known it. John wrote to the believers in his day. He knew about the church, he knew about the body of believers, and he wrote to them about love, that great unifying cement that holds them together. But John doesn’t know who this company is. The elder, who is a representative of the church now in heaven, knows that this company is not the church. It is an altogether different company. It is those who came out of the Great Tribulation. Doesn’t that tell you that the church is not going through the Great Tribulation? This is a special company, out of all tribes and tongues and nations, who have come out of the Great Tribulation. We live in a day when God makes a division in the human family. One division is between the saved and the lost, of coursethat is the great bifurcation of the human family. But if you want a racial division or a group division of the human family, the Word of God has something to say about it: “Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God” (1Co_10:32). Paul says to the Corinthians that there are three groupsthe Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of Godand they are not to give offense to any one of these groups. This is one of the divisions that the Scripture makes of the human family. The Jews, Gentiles, and the church of God comprise the division that runs right down through the human family today.

In the Great Tribulation, we come to a period when there are but two groups: Jews and Gentiles. Where is the church of God? It went to be with Him. The Lord Jesus said, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself …” (Joh_14:2-3). The church is with Him in heaven as we move through the Revelation.

In 1Co_12:13 Paul says: “For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” God today is calling out of the two divisions, both Jews and Gentiles, a people for His name that are differentthe churchand that church will be taken out of the world. I do not like the impression given today by someit is a pessimistic viewpointthat somehow or another God is failing. My friend, God is doing exactly what He said He was going to do: that in this age He would call a people out of this world to Himself. He is doing a much better job at that than you and I think He is. When I was a pastor of a church, I did not think He was doing very much, but I have discovered as our radio ministry has reached out across this land and around the world that there are multitudes who are turning to Christ everywhere. And others are reporting the same thing. God is calling a people out of this world to Himself. John makes it clear that this group he sees in heaven is different from the church. They came through the Great Tribulation. Let me remind you that it was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who gave us the term, “great tribulation.” Some may think that some rank, wildhaired fundamentalist thought of this term, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who thought of it and designated this period as the Great Tribulation. In Mat_24:21 He says: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Both in Matthew and in Revelation, it is expressed in the Greek in a way we cannot express in English. There is an article with the adjective great and an article with tribulation; it is “the tribulation, the great one.” It is given to us like that for emphasis. In other words, this is something that is different; this is something that is indeed unique. Let me repeat that when John is quizzed by one of the elders, he is unable to identify this great company. John would have known them if this were the church; or if they were Old Testament saints or Israelites, I think John would have known it. This company he does not recognize at all. They are identified as redeemed Gentiles who have come out of the Great Tribulation. Their robes were white, which speaks of the righteousness of Christ. How did they get that righteousness? It is because Christ shed His blood. The only reason that you and I will be able to stand before God is because Christ paid the penalty for our sins. He died that you and I might live, and that is true of this group here also. It has always been true that God has only one way of saving mankind, and it is by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1Co_15:1-4). “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received.” Paul says that this is not new with him. He did not originate it. It was given to him when the Lord Jesus taught him for two years out yonder in the Arabian desert. Now this is the gospel: “How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures [according to the Old Testament]; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” The gospel is not God asking you to do something; it is God telling you that He has done something for you. The gospel is not your giving something to God; the gospel is God’s giving something to you. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. How do you get it? By faith. That is the only way you can receive a gift.

Suppose it is Christmastime and you come to me and say, “Dr. McGee, here is a gift for you.” Now what do I have to do to receive it? I could say to you, “I’ll come and mow your lawn for you.” But you would say, “I don’t want you to mow my lawn. This is a gift.” I would insult you if I tried to pay you for your gift. Suppose I offered you the few cents in my pocket in exchange for your giftthat would be an insult. My friend, the thing has gotten all mixed up today.

The gospel is what God has done for us. It is His gift. Again Paul writes in Eph_1:7: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” God has plenty of grace. It does not matter who you are, He can save you. You may think you are a dirty, mean sinner. Well, that is the only kind He saveswe are all that. We have therefore this great company of Gentiles who are not part of the church. We need to enlarge our conception of the redeemed to the extent that it goes beyond the borders of the church and certainly beyond the borders of your little group or denomination or my little group.

Revelation 7:15

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple (sanctuary); and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His tabernacle (tent) over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat (scorching wind): for the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them into fountains of waters of life; and God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.” We now know for sure that this is not the church, for the church is never identified with the temple. At the end of this book, when the church is in the New Jerusalem, there is no temple there. The church will never have a temple. There is going to be one here on the earth, but there is not one in heaven where the church is. Therefore, this could not be the church. “And He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His tabernacle (tent) over them.” This is for their protection, you see. This company has had it; they have been through the Great Tribulation. Most of them, I believe, were martyrs and laid down their lives for Christ. Although we are not specifically told that, they are presented to us as being before the throne of God in heaven. The things that are mentioned now are things they have endured. They are not going to hunger or thirstthey apparently did. They have been out in the burning heat of the sun. They have also been thirsty for spiritual things which they did not have. And they wept, but now God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. They made it through the Great Tribulation because of the blood of the Lamb. This is a wonderful company of folk that is presented to us here. My friend, the Lord Jesus has other sheep. He told His disciples, and it was hard for them to understand: “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold” …(Joh_10:16). He could say the same thing to the church today, “I have other sheep that you do not know anything about.” This company of Gentiles are some of the other sheep who will be redeemed but are not a part of the church.