Numbered!

Numbered!

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9‭-‬10 NIV

Context:

Just before today's extract, we see a focus on the coming judgement of the world, as well as a focus on Israel, the people chosen by God as his own people. It is clear that judgement is coming; the day is not certain but there is no doubt as to the certainty of it happening. Men live these days as if there is no reckoning; no account to be rendered. As I think of this, I encourage you to also think: If I do not really know how my life started, how do I know how it will end? If then I do not know how it will end, should I not seek the view of the One who owns my life, so I can please him and truly secure that life?

Israel was a nation loved by God, but as several books of the Bible make it clear, it was a nation that did not fully embrace Christ and his mission, maybe due to familiarity. A lot of the events in Revelation revolve around the nation of Israel, and we see a small sample of it in the sealing of the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of Israel. We can choose to focus on the symbolic meaning of that number, or we can choose to focus on that which comes next, which is a view into God's heart and plan for man.

Message and Response:

Immediately after the sealing of the 144,000 from Israel, we see a great multitude. Even in the face of the most terrible times we live in, where sin has lost its ability to shock, and men engage in rebellion against God without any fear, today's extract makes it clear that God has a substantial remnant. How he does it in the midst of the rot we see beats me; when I remember Elijah, I recall God telling him that even at the height of Jezebel's evil, there were over 7,000 men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. When sin around me becomes pervasive and it appears that more and more people are carried away by its allure and the highs it brings, I must remember that nothing sin gives or brings lasts forever. In fact, sin is the only thing that can cause a permanent separation between God and man; how then can sin give you anything good? How do you imagine that what God hates and paid such a high price to correct will release to you all that God is? Today is the day to weigh my life again, and ask: is there sin in my life?

Check out the number: a multitude, which no one could count. If the number is not spelt out, who says you and I are not qualified to be part of that number? Check out the source: from every nation, tribe, people and language. The Jews may have been the first recipient of the message of salvation preached by Christ when he walked on earth, but even before he died on the cross, non-Jews, such as the Syro-Phoenician woman and the Centurion whose servant was sick, all personally encountered this Jesus. In Acts of the Apostles, as the message of Christ spread around the world, helped by men like Paul, Phillip and Barnabas, we see more non-Jews encounter this Jesus. I say again: at the end of it all, it would not matter what you bank account balance was, or the value of your stocks and bonds, or the strength of your circle of influence; all that will matter will be if I am able to stand before the throne and the Lamb. My focus should then be on the things that will qualify me to stand before the throne and the Lamb. 

The appearance of these people give you an insight into how I can get to stand before the throne: they were wearing white robes. John, who received this vision, asked about these white robes, and the response he got is: These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Everything in that description presents warnings and admonitions to us all. If I will appear before the throne and the Lamb, nothing else will make it possible except by the blood of the same Lamb before whom this multitude now stood. There will be pressure, trials and tough times, but when I stand before the throne and the Lamb, it would all be worth it. It is a bit of a strange one that it is blood that cleanses, but it is the blood that washes clean; nothing else, not even fervent church membership, active ministry or the best of titles will do the work only the blood of the Lamb can do.  

In the hands of the multitude are palm branches, which are tokens of joy and victory. Can anyone speak of victory without a fight? Can anyone lay claim to a territory without first dislodging the authority of that territory? Picture the value of the joy you get from knowing that you are at rest forever and ever. Holding palm branches, just as it happened when Jesus made that triumphant entry into Jerusalem, symbolises victory. For us today, we are called to the victory sealed by the Lamb through the cross. No matter what the devil brings our way, let it be known that these are the threats of a defeated foe, who will fight and thrash around until he is tied up and thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. 

The song is a window into the identity of God, what he has made available for all who will come to him, and what I need to do to access it all. Salvation is the free gift of God to all men, but it is unfortunate that not all men will take advantage of this free gift. It is only in God that anyone is truly safe and saved; nothing the world offers can beat or replicate that. I could imagine the relief of these people as they stood before the throne and the Lamb by which their salvation was sealed, and they could not help but shout. For me, I must deal with that eternal question of salvation too. What is my present song? Does it in any way resemble the songs of these people before the throne and the Lamb? Am I in any way preparing to stand before the throne? The work of salvation by God has already been completed, and he invites all men everywhere to take advantage of this gift. He has enough room for all men on earth, and he will gladly take all who come. If you have not yet been saved, what are you waiting for? A fire is coming before which nothing of this earth can withstand. Be sure that what you hold on to can stand that coming fire. His time of favour is here.