A Great Multitude

Listen. Thousands upon thousands of voices, in every language on earth, all shouting the same joyful words. And every hand is waving a green palm branch.

The book of Revelation is full of hard and frightening pictures, because the churches John wrote to were facing hard and frightening times. In the chapters just before this, John sees troubles shaking the earth. Then, in chapter seven, everything is still. Four angels hold back the winds. God's servants are marked as his own. And then John looks up, and sees something that must have made his heart leap.

After this I beheld, John writes, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number. A crowd so huge that no one could ever count it. And look at who is in it. People of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues. Every country. Every tribe. Every language. Not one group of people, but all of them, together. They are standing before the throne and before the Lamb, which is John's name for Jesus. They are dressed in white robes, and they are holding palm branches in their hands. And they cry out with a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Then all the angels standing around the throne, and the elders, and the four living creatures, fall on their faces before the throne, and worship God. Amen, they say. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. Seven words of praise, piled one on another, as if no single word is big enough. Then one of the elders turns to John and asks him a question. These people dressed in white, who are they, and where have they come from? And John, perhaps a little overwhelmed, says, Sir, you know.

So the elder tells him. These are they which came out of great tribulation. They have been through terrible hardship. And they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. It is a surprising picture. Robes washed white in blood. It means they are made clean, forgiven, through Jesus' death for them. That is why they stand before God's throne, and serve him day and night. And then the elder describes their future, and it is one of the gentlest passages in the whole Bible. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the middle of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Think of a parent kneeling down, and gently wiping the tears from a child's face. That is what God will do, for every one of them.

Palm branches meant celebration. The law of Moses told the people to take palm branches and rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles. The first book of Maccabees describes a Jewish leader entering Jerusalem in victory with palm branches and songs. And the Gospel of John tells how crowds waved palm branches when Jesus rode into Jerusalem. John's first readers would have recognised the great multitude's palms as a sign of victory and joy.

A great multitude. You'll find them in Revelation chapter seven, verses nine to seventeen. People from every nation and language, singing together, with the Lamb as their shepherd and no more tears. So here is a question to carry with you. Who from a different country or language could you pray for today, knowing God wants them in that great crowd too?