Never Again

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 spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:15-17)

My Musings – In Heaven, the multitude will enjoy the presence of God where they will hunger or thirst no more. No longer subject to death (Revelation 21:4), they will drink of the water of life.  They will no longer experience the oppressive heat of the sun. They will have every tear wiped from their eyes. Having refused the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16–17), they held to the testimony of Jesus.

Despite persecution from the evil one, they turned to Christ and now enjoy the promised deliverance.  Note that the 144,000 survive the tribulation, while multitudes of believing Gentiles (and Jews) will give their lives during this awful time. These are the souls under the altar previously encountered in Revelation 6:9–11. God will reward these believers and will give them glory for their suffering.

Some Bible students believe that the promises of Revelation 7:15–17 will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom rather than in Heaven. Revelation 20:4 indicates a special resurrection for these tribulation martyrs and promises that they will live and reign during the Kingdom age.

My Advice – Despite the horrific descriptions what these saints will have endured, we really have no idea. But we can be pretty sure, based on the descriptions in this passage, that great will be their reward.

But what about us? What about us? “Peter said to him, ‘We have left everything to follow you!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.'” (Mark 10:28–30, NIV 1984). We do not know what we will be asked to leave behind, or how many persecutions we will have to endure. Whatever they are, and no matter how severe, they “are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18, NIV 1984). So hang in there. His “grace is sufficient” to get you through.

Resources:

Sloan, R. B. (1998). The Revelation. In D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman concise Bible commentary (p. 673). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the New Testament (p. 817). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.