Articles
Who Is Able To Stand
Who Is Able To Stand
Because of the persecution against the Christians by Rome, God was ready to unleash His wrath against Rome. Chapter 6 thus ends with the question: “who is able to stand?”
As you continue in chapter 7 you find the answer: the servants of God (cp. vs. 3). These are the people whom God has sealed - put His mark of approval upon. The number is given as ‘the 144,000’. Numbers throughout the book of Revelation are not ‘numbers’, but they signify things. Here it signifies the total number of God’s servants that are upon the earth and must go through the tribulation that had come.
We then are given the picture of those who had already died and are now standing before the throne and before the Lamb (7:9). They were clothed in white robes. We have already seen that the ‘souls of those who had been slain for the word of God’ were under the altar and had been given white robes (6:9-11). We see these that have come out of the tribulation and now are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. For them there is no more tears, hunger, or thirst. God shelters them with His very presence.
As for the 144,000 they were not ‘sealed from tribulation’, but were marked as the people of God. They WERE persecuted but God would sustain and strengthen them THROUGH such.
Later we will again see these servants of God (ch. 14) only they all will then be before the throne of God just as the great multitude before them. If WE are faithful through whatever tribulation and trials we face, we too will join them. When we face the wrath of God, we will cry for the mountains to cover us OR will we be welcomed into His presence with joy and praise?
Hugh DeLong
