Revelation 7:9-17 After this I beheld, and, see, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds… I. WHO ARE THERE? 1. "A multitude." The region is not solitary. Once it was. The period was when God was all in all. There was the throne, and the great I AM sat upon that throne. But there was no world beneath it, and no multitude before it. And even after the sons of God were made, it was long before any of our race was there. When Abel found himself before the throne, he found no human comrade there. But thus it is not now. There is "a multitude" — so many, as to give the region a friendly look of terrestrial brotherhood — so many, that the affinities and tastes which still survive will find their counterparts — so many, that every service will be sublimed, and every enjoyment heightened, by the countless throng who share it. 2. A mighty multitude. "A great multitude, which no man could number." Not a stinted few — not a scanty and reluctant remnant; but a mighty host-like God's own perfections, an affluent and exuberant throng — like Immanuel's merits, which brought them there, something very vast, and merging into infinity. 3. A miscellaneous multitude. "Of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues." For many ages one nation supplied most of the inhabitants. But Jesus broke down the partition wall; and since His gospel went into all the world, all the world has contributed its citizens to the New Jerusalem. All kindreds and people are there — men of all aptitudes and all instincts — men of all grades and conditions. And there, suffused with sanctity, and softened into perfect subjection, we may recognise the temperament or the talent which gave each on earth his identity and his peculiar interest. Blended and overborne by the prevailing likeness to the Elder Brother, each may retain his mental attributes and moral features; and in the dimensions of their disc, and the tinting of their rays, the stars of glory may differ from one another. 4. A multitude who once were mourners. "These are they which came out of great tribulation." To live in a world like this was itself a tribulation — a world of distance from God — a world of faith without sight — a world of wicked men; but they have come out of that tribulation. To have had to do with sin was a terrible tribulation — from the time that they were first convinced of it, all along through the great life-battle, contending with manifold temptations — contending with their own carnality and sloth, their pride and worldly-mindedness, their unruly passions and sinful tempers: but they have come out of that tribulation also. 5. And they are a multitude who shall form an eternal monument of the Redeemer's grace and power. Such are the human inhabitants of heaven. II. BUT WHAT IS IT THAT THEY DO THERE? 1. They celebrate a victory. They have "palms in their hands." They are "overcomers." 2. They serve God. Adoration at the throne, activity in the temple — the worship of the heart, the worship of the voice, the worshiper the hands — the whole being consecrated to God — these are the service of the upper sanctuary. Here a week will often see us weary in well-doing; there they are drawn on by its own deliciousness to larger and larger fulfilments of Jehovah's will. Here we must lure ourselves to work by the prospect of rest hereafter: there the toil is luxury, and the labour recreation — and nothing but jubilees of praise, and holidays of higher service, are wanted to diversify the long and industrious "Sabbath of the skies." 3. They see God. "He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them;" or, as in Revelation 22:4, "They see His face." 4. They follow the Lamb. "The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters." Even in heaven something of the mediatorial economy survives. Even where they see God, they follow the Lamb, and a close and conspicuous relation continues to subsist betwixt the Redeemer and His ransomed. He remains the Leader of His blood-bought company; and whilst He prescribes their occupation, He is the immediate source of their blessedness. 5. And — just to complete the glance — there are some things which there they never do. They do not want, they do not weary, and they do not weep. (James Hamilton.) Parallel Verses KJV: After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; |
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