After
the worship scene in heaven where “the
Lamb”
of God received the “scroll” in God's right hand, the beginning
of the tribulation to come upon the earth began and John the apostle
saw the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and the sixth seals were
opened and great troubles came upon the earth with each of them. He
wrote, “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, and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our
God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, and
all the angels stood round about the throne, and
about
the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their
faces, and worshiped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be
unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me,
What
are these which are arrayed in white robes? and from where did they
come?” In
chapter seven and verse thirteen John saw “those
who came out of great tribulation” where
we read:
And
I said unto him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The
verse reads, “And
I said unto him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation, ...”
John
began with the words, “and I
said unto him”
which means “and John the apostle uttered, declared, proclaimed and
answered the elder” “Sir”
which
means “master or lord”, “you
know” or
“the elder has the knowledge, perceives, notices, discerns,
discovers and understands”. “And
he said to me” which
means “and the elder uttered, declared and proclaimed to John”,
“these are they”
which means “these people are the ones” “which
came out of”
or “who appeared, arose, were established and became known from”
“great tribulation”
which refers to “massive, huge and abundant pressure, oppression,
affliction, distress and straits”. After John recognized the
“elder”
knew the answer to his own question, the “elder”
shared how these were the people who had arisen from “great
tribulation”
upon the earth.
The
verse continues, “... and
have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.” John
added the words, “and
have washed”
which means “and have by faith appropriated the results of Christ's
expiation as to be regarded by God as pure and sinless” “their
robes”
which means “their outer garments and gowns”, “and
made them white”
or “and have whitened their outer garments and gowns” “in
the blood”
which means “within the violent bloodshed” “of
the Lamb”
or “of God's little lamb or Jesus”. John shared how these people
who were “clothed in brilliant, shining and bright white robes”
“washed”
them in the sacrificial bloodshed of Jesus Christ.
When
we think through John's words in this verse, we see exactly who these
“white robed” people were who were worshiping God before
His throne. These were people who received Jesus Christ's sacrificial
offering of His blood on the cross for their sins during the “great
tribulation” period upon the earth. Though they were exposed to
the judgment of God, these people realized their only eternal
salvation was by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal “Savior
and Lord”, and now they were before the throne of God worshiping
Him for it. The time for “salvation” is now, but should one be
reading these words after the tribulation period has begun upon the
earth, repent, receive Jesus as “Savior and Lord” and you shall
be among those dressed in “white robes” worshiping before
God's throne.
Next
time
John shares how the “white
robed” people,
“serve”
God
”day and night in his temple”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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