Revelation 7:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

NIV: Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,' nor any scorching heat.

NASB: They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat;

CSB: They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat.

NLT: They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.

KJV: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

NKJV: They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat;

During the tribulation, a powerful false prophet will arise in Israel (Revelation 13:11–12). He will honor the head of the Revived Roman Empire who is called "a beast" (Revelation 13:1). The false prophet will control the economic trade and will try to force everyone to worship the head of the new and controlling government. He causes everyone to receive the mark of the beast on the right hand and forehead. If a person refuses to worship the beast, he will be executed. Further, no one can buy or sell unless he has received the mark of the beast.

Obviously, tribulation believers will refuse the mark and they will not worship the beast. Consequently, many believers will be executed, and many will go hungry and thirsty. Further, many of God's judgments during the tribulation will include extreme environmental effects for all inhabitants of earth. Revelation 8:7 mentions hail and fire, mixed with blood, that burns up one third of the earth and one third of the vegetation. It will be extremely hard to survive such difficult days. Nevertheless, when these believers enter Messiah's kingdom, their hunger and thirst will end, and they will no longer experience sunburn or scorching heat.

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.''