Revelation 7: 9-17

The second part of chapter 7 tells us that after hearing the 144,000, John then looked and saw a Great Multitude standing before the Father and the Son. It appears, surface-wise, that John is writing about two different groups. He’s not! John’s writing technique and style of first hearing and then seeing something points to the same thing.*

Both the hearing of the 144,000 and the seeing of the Great Multitude revolve around the great tribulation. The 144,000 and the Great Multitude are sealed before the great tribulation starts on earth. 

But when John sees them, they are in another location. They are in heaven, and because they cannot be actually numbered, they are called the Great Multitude who have come through and out of the great tribulation. 

Chap. 7 answers the question at the end of chap. 6: “Who is able to stand?” We learn that it is the sealed saints, the Great Multitude that is protected as God pours out His wrath against the wicked. 

Moreover, Chap. 7 is an exhortation to get ready. That’s why God is holding back the winds of destruction. He is giving us time to prepare for the final conflict. He is telling us ahead of His mercy running out, that we, as end-time people, can be part of the sealed Great Multitude that includes the 144, 000. 

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* Details of commonality between the heard and seen groups are described in Who Are the 144,000? Click here.