Revelation 7:9-17
Now that the 144,000 Jewish evangelists have invaded the earth with the testimony of Jesus Christ and the Word of God in their mouths we see a massive harvest of souls show up in Heaven!
Verse 9 depicts so many souls from every part of the Globe that they are innumerable. It is exciting to know that even in the Tribulation Period a great harvest of souls will be reaped!
Luke 15:7 and 10 says, ‘all Heaven rejoices over one sinner coming to God.’ What a party we are going to have when this vast multitude shows up.
Verses 10-12 are all about this “praise party” and take note where the worship is being directed; not to the work of the evangelists, but to God. We should always remember never to take any of God’s glory to ourselves. That is what satan did and we know how he ended up.
In verse 13 an elder asked John the question; ‘who are these people that just showed up and where did they come from?’ John responds ‘he does not know but the elder knows.’ Before we proceed with the elder’s answer, let’s examine what is believed about this multitude.
There are three main theories regarding the Tribulation. They are addressed as, Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib and Post Trib. There is an ongoing discussion of the timing of the Lords return. Post Trib has never made sense to me and many others as Jesus said His return will be as a “thief in the night!” If He were to return after the Tribulation it would not be “as a thief” or unexpected since it is clearly stated in the Bible the Tribulation is seven years long.
There are those who believe the Mid-Trib theory and the passage we are discussing today lends to that belief. To these, what else could be this great Global harvest but the Rapture about mid way into the Tribulation Period?
However, let’s examine another understanding of this harvest. We cannot ignore many Bible admonishments of how a Believer is to prepare for the Rapture. There is a difference between those that are ready to go when Jesus returns and those that are not.
For instance: In Mathew 25, Jesus taught a parable of ten virgins, all are virgins, so all are on equal footing. They are all excited about waiting for the bridegroom to come. If we were to venture into a study of the ancient Jewish Wedding Ceremony, we would see this parable unfold accurately and one of the features of this is that the awaiting betrothed (bride) is very excited along with her bridesmaids.
Each virgin is equipped with a lamp and oil to light it. They are all awaiting the return of the bridegroom and become weary in waiting for the time of his return is taking much longer than they had anticipated.
An outline of this scenario could look like this; we have ten Born Again Believers, excited about the Rapture and all filled with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God which is represented by the oil and the lamps. However after much time of waiting for the bridegrooms return, five of them failed to have a reserve of oil. If we do not keep ourselves stirred up spiritually, we risk sliding back into darkness and our lamp will go out.
In the Bible, this is called “backsliding.” There is no place of standing still spiritually, we either proceed forward or we regress back. Those that do not have enough oil represent sliding backwards. They will have to go back to where they slid off and replenish the oil. Unfortunately, they will miss the Bridegroom showing up and will have to wait for what many call, the “next bus.”
The Brides that are ready keep themselves stirred up in the Holy Spirit and the Word and have intimate fellowship with the Bridegroom. They enter into the bridal chamber with Him and when the others return from replenishing their oil, they find the door to the bridal chamber closed and the Bridegroom states, “I never knew you.” What Jesus means by this is He did not have intimate fellowship with them.
However, if you find yourself reading this after the Rapture, take heart, God is merciful. If you recognize you have missed the “first bus” all you have to do is replenish the oil and get ready for the “second bus.” You will experience part of the Tribulation and it will not be a pleasant time to be on the Earth before your bus departs. After arriving you will join in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and enjoy Heaven.
Now back to the elders’ response to John’s question in verse 13; “who are these?” In verse 14 the elder tells John that ‘this multitude came out of the Great Tribulation.’ That is what is called the Mid-Trib Rapture or ‘the second bus.’
