THE REWARD OF
THE RIGHTEOUS
As the Sixth Seal
enters the third and final phase, John is once more transported from the earthly and
historical scene to that in heaven; and he records that:
"After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds of 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 sitteth 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 worshipped God. Saying Amen: Blessing and glory and wisdom, and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be unto our God forever and ever, Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence come they? And I said unto him, Sir thou knowest. 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. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them into living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." - (REVELATION 7:9-17)
This scene equates with that depicted in Revelation chapter 21, of the New Heaven and Earth in which the righteous shall receive their ultimate reward. In both passages we find that:-
GOD WILL DWELL IN THE MIDST OF HIS
PEOPLE
(REVELATION 7:15; REVELATION 21:3)
GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS FROM
THEIR EYES
(REVELATION 7:17; REVELATION 21: 4)
NO MORE HUNGER OR THIRST
(REVELATION 7:16 and 17; REVELATION 21:6)
It is no wonder that
with this wonderful prospect in view for all eternity, that they are found rejoicing
around the throne and singing the praises of the Lamb, for once again we are reminded that
the purity of these tribulation saints and martyrs is not their own but it is imputed to
them by the Crucified and Risen Saviour in whose precious atoning blood they have
symbolically washed their robes, or had their sins and their sinful natures taken away.
We now come to the final vision in this section of the Apocalypse.