A Taste of Heaven: Daily Thoughts from Revelation (Revelation 7:9-17)

How many sermons have you heard on heaven? I haven’t heard very many. I’ve read a tremendous book about heaven by Randy Alcorn, called, appropriately, Heaven. Revelation 7 gives us a little sermon on heaven. Savor it.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his  presence.  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17 ESV)

After sealing 144,000 Israelites for protection, we are given a vision of an innumerable multitude who have become followers of Jesus Christ during the Tribulation.  The intent of this connection could be that the 144,000 were evangelists who spread the gospel around the world.  The throng of rescued ones have, upon death, gone to heaven and as they stand around God’s throne they cannot help but give praise to God for their salvation. And the angels and others in heaven cannot help but amen that.

This is the second mention of God’s temple in this book (Rev 3:12; 7:15; 11:1,2,19; 14:15,17; 15:5,6,8; 16:1,17; 21:22). But in 21:22 the heavenly Jerusalem that comes down to earth is said to have no temple in it, for God and the Lamb are the temple. In this view of heaven in chapter 7, before it comes down to earth, there is mention of a temple, but maybe it is best to say that the whole of heaven is God’s temple, and so the heavenly Jerusalem does not have a temple “in” it because the whole thing is God’s temple.

The identification of these saved ones gives a picture of heaven to long for.  We will serve God day and night (nothing brings more joy).  We will be sheltered and protected by Him forever.  We will never again hunger or suffer any distress.  We will drink from the springs of living water and see all tears removed from our eyes.  Most of all, we shall be in the presence of God and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.