Revelation 7:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”

NIV: Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?'

NASB: Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, 'These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?'

CSB: Then one of the elders asked me, "Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from? "

NLT: Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, 'Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?'

KJV: And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

NKJV: Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”

In this verse one of the elders in heaven asks the apostle John the identity of the innumerable multitude. The elder refers to their white robes and asks specifically where they came from. This is yet another scriptural example of a figure asking a question when they, in fact, already know the answer. The question is being asked for effect, or to prompt a response, not because the person speaking needs to be informed. It seems the elder who asks John about the white-robed tribulation believers wanted him to focus on them as overcomers and thereby be encouraged to endure his trial of banishment to the island of Patmos.

John and many other believers were suffering persecution in the first century but the Lord assured them, through Paul, that they were more than conquerors through Christ, and not even death could separate them from God (Romans 8:37–39). Also, in his second letter to Timothy, Paul said that those who endure will reign with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12). John himself encouraged his readers that "he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

Revelation 7:9–17describes an innumerable multitude standing before the throne and the Lamb. They ascribe glory to God and the Lamb, affirming that salvation belongs to God and the Lamb. This sets off a crescendo of praise from all the angels, the elders, and the four living creatures, all of whom prostrate themselves before the throne and worship God. John is not able to identify the multitude or indicate where they came from, but an elder identifies them as saved survivors of the great tribulation, Further, he explains they are now safe in God's presence, and will never again hunger or thirst or be scorched by the sun. The Lamb, the elder says, will be their shepherd, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Revelation 7 occurs after the opening of the sixth seal, and before the seventh. John sees four angels standing at the four corners of the earth and another angel ascending from the rising sun with the seal of God. He seals 144,000 saved Jews on their foreheads. These 144,000 sealed servants of God are instrumental in leading a great number of people from all parts of the world to faith in Jesus Christ. This multitude of believers have passed through the tribulation and will serve God perpetually in the millennial temple. Their troubles and tears will be behind them.

The last and largest section of Revelation began in chapter 4, where John is shown events yet to come (Revelation 1:19). Chapters 4 and 5 describe what John saw in heaven, including a scroll of God's judgments. Chapter 6 focused on the events that transpire when Jesus opens six of the seven seals on that scroll, one at a time. Now, in chapter 7, an interlude occurs between the opening of the sixth seal and the seventh seal. In the interlude an angel seals 144,000 saved Jews as God's servants. Chapter 8 will describe the seventh seal, and the beginning of the ''trumpet'' judgments.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''