Revelation 7:9–17 (ESV)
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 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, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and
thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed
me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 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.
15 “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.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 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.”
John gives a glimpse of the glory that is Christ’s. How incredible to be part of that blessedness! Drawn onward and upward by the magnificence of this hope in Christ, God’s people
join in the heavenly chorus even now.
I pray: By Your grace, Lord, keep me among the faithful, so that I may forever sing Your praises in the glory of heaven. Amen.
Edward A. Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2211.