"The Lamb Who is Our Shepherd" from Revelation 7 (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast
- "The Lamb Who is Our Shepherd" from Revelation 7 (The KING is Coming)
- "Who Can Stand Under the Wrath of God?" from Revelation 6 (The KING is Coming)
- "Musings on Marriage, Missions, and My Walk with Christ" (Refresh & Restore)
- "Light Momentary Afflictions, Eternal Weight of Glory" (Refresh & Restore)
- "Worthy is the Lion, the Slain Lamb Who Lives" from Revelation 5 (The KING is Coming)
We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be in Revelation 7, where John sees what comes after the opening of the sixth seal. After the wrath and judgment of Revelation 6, this chapter gives us a picture of God’s people being sealed, saved, and gathered before the throne, where the Lamb who was slain is also the Shepherd who leads His people to living water. This week’s passage is Revelation 7:
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 “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 shelter them
with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[1]
Keith Harris:
Greetings, sojourners.
Here we are, back in our The KING Is Coming study, and today we’re in Revelation 7. Jamie, you got anything preliminary you want to say, or you just want to dive right in?
Jamie Harrison:
Let’s just dive right in.
Keith:
Let’s do it. So Revelation 7 is following—because, again, it’s been a minute since we recorded—Revelation 6. We see some wrath being poured out.
Jamie:
Well, I was sure wondering if Revelation 7 followed Revelation 6. I appreciate you really clarifying that for me.
Keith:
You may be joking, but part of what we’re—
Jamie:
That is a new development.
Keith:
But in looking at this, one of the things that we’re doing—and I said it that way as a sort of reminder—
Jamie:
Yes.
Keith:
Our point in this study isn’t to answer every question, because every one of our questions is not meant to be answered. The text wasn’t designed that way. We’re seeing what God showed John. And so, when we look at this, we’re looking at what John saw next. And I’ll let you take it from there.
Jamie:
Yeah, that’s really important. And I’m glad you went back to chapter 6 just to kind of point out that the last thing we saw was that sixth seal being opened, and this huge earthquake. The sun turns black. The moon becomes like blood. You know, all these different things happen. Stars are falling to the earth. All these things. And every single mountain and island is moved from its place.
So you’re talking about worldwide destruction going on when this sixth seal is busted open. And then the next thing he sees—now, again, it’s very important, just like Keith said—that’s not necessarily the next thing that happens. That’s the next thing he sees.
The next thing he sees are four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind can blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. So, in other words, right after this extremely destructive storm, the next thing he sees is calm. There’s no wind.
Keith:
And sees the supernatural reason for why the calm has come. Like, he can see these angels.
Jamie:
That’s right. And so what you get here is—you know, we always talk about the calm before the storm—and judgment is coming. And it’s about to come hot and heavy right after this.
And so you kind of get the idea here that everything is calm for a minute because the Lord is about to seal some people who are going to make it through the tribulation. And we can go back to Ezekiel chapter 9. We get the idea of that sealing, what it looks like. Ezekiel has a vision of a slaughter in Jerusalem. That’s going to be chapter 9, verses 4 through 7. I mean, you can read the whole chapter, but kind of where the seal starts is verse 4 there.
And they’re being sealed from judgment. They’re being sealed on their forehead by a mark. So you get the same kind of idea here. Same idea as the Passover, Exodus chapter 12, you know, where they’re sealed by the blood of a lamb from their firstborn being killed there.
And so, in Revelation 14:1, we find out this is the same group of people in Revelation 14. And it says:
Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.[2]
And so it looks like that seal is something to do with Jesus’s name and the Father’s name on their foreheads—some type of, what we’re going to learn, spiritual protection from the coming judgment.
Keith:
Yeah, and that symbol would have looked like what the Hebrew letter tav looked like at the time of Ezekiel, which some interpret as kind of a cross at an angle or an X. Either which way, it’s obviously pointing forward to Christ and the fact that He—I think it’s John 10, and I think it fits with the end of Revelation 7, not getting ahead—but Jesus being the Good Shepherd, and that He holds His people in His hand, and no one can pluck them from His hand.
The symbolic seal represents the spiritual reality that Jesus has them.
Jamie:
Yes and amen. And this group of people that we’re looking at here, they’re being sealed until the number would be completed. Look at chapter 6, verse 11 of Revelation. It says:
So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.
Now, you ask, why do we connect those together? Great question. Because in chapter 7, where Keith just read, in verse 14—well, right above, in verse 13—he says, “Hey, who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?” And he says, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me these were the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
So each of those connect together to show us that these are the people that are going to be sealed, that are going to be saved, that are going to be persecuted for their faith during the great tribulation, that are going to reach other people for Christ. And when that number is completed, then the Lord’s judgment will be completed directly after.
I hope all that makes sense.
I do want to point out that this is the exact opposite of the mark that we’re going to learn about in Revelation 13, verses 16 through 17, where it says:
16 And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.
And, of course, it’s commonly referred to as the mark of the beast. And so this is the exact opposite. That mark is going to bring judgment.
Keith:
Well, and I mean, when you look in the context of Ezekiel 9 to get the understanding there, it’s those who are faithful to God. And the faithfulness to God—in Ezekiel chapters 4 through 7 preceding that—the faithfulness to God is very important in the context of Revelation.
Your mark shows to whom you’re faithful. And so nobody who is faithful to Christ is at risk of being hoodwinked into getting this other one. Your mark shows your allegiance. I think that’s a very important thing there.
Jamie:
Absolutely. No doubt about it.
So now we get into the real controversial part, right? What is this 144,000 number? Is there only 144,000 people going to heaven?
And let’s just go ahead and hit that one right off the bat: no. That’s dumb. I don’t know any other way to say it. And I don’t joke anymore. That’s a very serious statement. That’s dumb. There’s way more than 144,000 people going to heaven, and the Bible is going to tell us that here in just a minute.
Keith:
And the danger—and really where the idea of only 144,000 people are going to heaven comes from—the fact that different cults, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have gained ground, and people are believing what they’ve heard or what they’ve seen on social media, or some random jake-leg—I’m using my quotey fingers—preacher says.
What the Bible says matters. And so when anybody says anything—us, your pastor, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses and jake-leg internet TV preachers—check it with the Bible. That doesn’t pass the test.
Jamie:
Yeah, just a lot of people believe whatever’s on social media is true. If it made it on social media, it’s got to be true, right? And that’s also very dumb. I can attest to that personally.
Keith:
I mean, last week I saw a picture of a cloud that was shaped like a soldier, including kneeling at his gun. And no cloud ever was that clear. And people are like, “Oh my gosh, look at this sign from God!” And under it was the city of Jackson that did not resemble the city of Jackson, and nobody noticed because they were looking at the soldier in the sky.
Jamie:
Wow.
Keith:
Don’t get your theology from social media.
Jamie:
Correct.
Keith:
Or look for truth there at all.
Jamie:
Yeah. Just that. Period. The end.
So with the 144,000, there’s two main approaches to that number. One is that it’s a literal number. One is that it’s a figurative number. And so I think the best way to go about it is, let’s look at both. Let’s talk about the—I don’t want to use the word justification—but I’ll use the verses that people use for each. Okay?
And then read the Bible on your own, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and He will guide you into truth.
So the literal number—we’ll start there—and it comes from, you go all the way back to Numbers, where there was a military census performed at different times. And what they would do, Israel would do, is they would count the military-aged males to see how many people they had that were of age and eligible to fight in a war. Okay?
And in Revelation 14:4—remember, Revelation 14 is also talking about this same group of people—it says:
These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
So this is talking about males from the tribes of Israel, and they have been counted as a military census would have been counted.
Keith:
Yeah, and I think Numbers 31 is the reference there. In that case, just to clarify, it wasn’t 144,000 in the book of Numbers, right? But the book of Numbers obviously contains a lot of numbers and censuses, and they weren’t always clear, round numbers.
Numbers 31:4-5:
4 You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” 5 So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
It’s not always so clear-cut a number.
Jamie:
That’s right. And so, again, same thing. Numbers chapter 2, you know, it talks about—it goes through how they camped in the military formation. And this tribe camps here on the east side. This tribe camps on the north side. This tribe on that—the Levites in the middle, where the Ark of the Covenant would have been, the temple would have been—the tabernacle would have been.
And so this, you kind of can go back again to Revelation chapter 14, verse 4, where it says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Because as the Spirit—as the glory of God moved, the cloud moved, so the Israelites followed.
And I do think it’s very interesting that Judah is the first tribe listed, and that in Numbers chapter 2, Judah is the first tribe listed. And so there is a connection to who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and that would be Jesus. So that is a pretty cool correlation there, where you look at it and go, “Hey, regardless of whether this is an exact number or a figurative number, they’re following the Lion of the tribe of Judah.”
And we’re going to come back to that thought in just a minute. A lot of people also look at Ezekiel chapter 37, where the dry bones become an army. The Lord puts His Spirit in them. That would be the thought of salvation. And so the idea is that this 144,000 number gets saved.
Keith:
Well, and I think we need to pause there, because so much conversation—again, a lot of it from these random social media snippets that people put pictures up there and stuff—there is nobody, no matter what their ethnicity, who is going to heaven unless they’ve been saved.
Jamie:
Correct.
Keith:
In the Old Testament, it was still by grace through faith. Jesus, God in flesh, had not yet become incarnate. But think about Abraham. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Everyone who trusted and called upon the name of the Lord showed faith in Him. And every Israelite who’s ever walked the earth hadn’t got saved.
Jamie:
Right.
Keith:
Every son of Adam, daughter of Eve, as C. S. Lewis says it—they’re not in heaven. Those who have faith—You look in the book of Numbers. The ground opened up and swallowed thousands. It didn’t catapult them up to heaven. They were in open rebellion.
I think the reading we’re currently looking at, Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, in our Bible reading plans—yesterday, they were—it was where Phinehas, the Priest came up and literally skewered people who were taking their cult prostitutes and trying to go into the tabernacle with them. And Phinehas is like, “That’s enough.”
And then when people are like, “Dude, why are you acting like this?” God audibly spoke from heaven. He’s like, “Hey, y’all need to be glad he killed those two, because he’s jealous with My jealousy.”
You have God’s people, generically talking about Israel, but you have God’s people—those who, by grace through faith, are saved and, I guess in the context, we say sealed to Him. They belong to Him by grace through faith. No other way.
And so, in any understanding of the 144,000, there’s nobody getting in because they descended from Abraham.
Jamie:
Correct.
Keith:
Not a one. Zero.
Jamie:
Only by the blood of the Lamb.
Keith:
Amen.
Jamie:
So, just to really briefly, I guess, quickly finish the Ezekiel thought: you know, God puts His Spirit in them to salvation. And then, in Ezekiel 36:24 through 28, Ezekiel 37:24 through 28, you have the Jewish people coming under the new covenant, which would be salvation. But it very distinctly says they will be under one King, and that’s a reference directly to Jesus.
And so, the idea of witnesses—how do we, what makes us think that they’re witnesses? Because this just looks like a list of 144,000 people.
Well, in Revelation chapter 14, again, what we get is that—let’s start in verse 4:
4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
So you have this proclamation of the gospel, and right before it, we’re told that these 144,000—this number—are the ones redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits. Okay? Firstfruits infers that there’s more fruit.
Keith:
Or at least last fruits.
Jamie:
That’s right. And so that’s where the idea that they’re witnesses comes from, is that they will be sent forth as a quote-unquote army of witnesses to reach people for the name of Christ.
Keith:
And that makes sense because you were talking about—I just found the verse I was looking for—you were talking about until the number has been completed. Matthew 24:14:
And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
And that’s red letters. That’s Jesus.
Jamie:
Yes. So then, let’s talk for a second about, all right, is this a symbolic number? Is it just a number? We know that 12 is the number of completion in the Bible: 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples, on and on and on.
Revelation 21:12 through 14, you have that same number 12 come back around with the foundations and things. And so you get the idea that number 12 is just the perfect unity of God’s kingdom.
And I think that Revelation 21 is really important there, because in verses 12 through 14, this is talking about the New Jerusalem:
12 The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.
And so the idea there being is that the church is unified. It is one in heaven. There is no distinction of male or Greek, Jew or male or female. Do you agree?
Keith:
Yeah.
Jamie:
Wow. Okay. There’s that. And so, again, is this a symbolic number? Is it a literal number? You know, you walk through it and you look and you go, “All right, 12 is the number of completion. That makes sense to me. I get that.”
We know that the Lion of the tribe of Judah will be leading this group of people. And I want to point out something very important here. And, and, and hopefully this makes sense. If it doesn’t, you can leave Keith a comment and let him know, because I will not be looking at the comments, but Keith will.
Revelation chapter 5—chapter 6. Excuse me. I don’t know what I’m talking about. It is chapter 5. I’m just—wow. Maybe we need to hit the pause button and take a break.
Keith:
No, you got it.
Jamie:
Okay. So Revelation 5:5, same place it’s always been. This is one of mine and Keith’s favorite Scriptures. It says:
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Now, who leads the 144,000?
Keith:
Jesus.
Jamie:
Jesus, the Lion from the tribe of Judah.
Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Okay, so this is what John hears the elder say. He hears him say, “Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And we know that the 144,000 is led by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
And then he looks, and in verse 6 it says:
Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.
And it goes on. He takes the scroll, and He unseals the scroll, and then they have this awesome praise moment there together.
And so the “he hears, and then he looks and sees” connects right together with chapter 7, because watch this: in verse 4 he says, “I heard the number of the sealed.” But watch this in verse 9: “After this, I looked.” So he hears the number, just like he heard, “Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah,” but he saw one like a slaughtered Lamb. So he looks—or, excuse me, he hears—144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. But he looks, and there’s a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language—which no one could number—standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
So first off, there goes your 144,000 people are going to be saved, and that’s all.
Keith:
Well, and also, this numberless multitude—if it’s all tribes and peoples and languages—there are obviously Jews in there.
Jamie:
That is correct. And so the last part of this is, we look and we go, okay, he sees this number. He sees—or sees this group of people that nobody can number standing before the throne. They’re clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.
And in verse 14—again, back to the same verse we talked about earlier—he asks, you know, “Who are these people?” And he says they’re the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They’ve washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
So this innumerable number of people are people that come out of the great tribulation, who are persecuted for their faith, most likely killed for their faith—not necessarily all of them, but most likely killed for their faith—persecuted for their faith. They came out of the great tribulation.
In other words, there’s a seal placed on their forehead, and once that number is completed, the Lord’s judgment will come. And so I think we, when you put all these things together—
Keith:
Well, I think there’s one more Scripture that goes with that before you put it all together. Romans 11, which talks about the remnant of Israel coming to Christ. Romans 11:25. And I think—and I think the wording of this is particularly helpful for when we put this all together:
Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
So we’re seeing all these places—Old Testament, New Testament, with future vision for John—talking about till the number has become complete. Now we see the number, and then we see the numberless. Like, it does seem that when we put all this together—again, this isn’t like, there are way more popular theories—
Jamie:
Right.
Keith:
But sticking with what the Bible says, it seems to reason, “lest you be wise in your own sight,” that where there is a lot of clear evidence in Scripture—a good rule of Bible interpretation is the clear things are important, and the important things are clear. Or, as Alistair Begg says, “The main things are the plain things.” So when Jamie puts all this together, this is coming out of a volume of Scripture.
Jamie:
For sure. And again, I go back—I guess the word is, I guess, to say, to put all this together—we have this group of people. And again, it says these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.
And in verses 15 through 17, you get all these things that they’re going to be protected from. But in verse 15, it says, “For this reason, they are before the throne of God.” For what reason? For the reason they were persecuted for their faith, and they came out of the great tribulation.
So we know this is an innumerable group of people that was persecuted for their faith, and for that reason, they’re before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.
Which, first off, that’s just—that’s an incredible thought. You know, I was listening to a song—maybe it was yesterday—a song came on, and one of the lyrics were—I can’t remember the exact wording now that I brought it up—but it’s basically that we get to join a song they’re already singing when we get to heaven.
Like, just think about that for a minute. There’s these awesome worship sessions going on in heaven right now as we speak, and one day we’ll be part of the choir.
Keith:
And I think we lose sight of that sometimes. And again, the reason for us doing this—we’re not trying to be relevant, not trying to be cool, not trying to be any such thing.
It’s so easy to try to have religion outside of relationship with Jesus. And none of these people who are standing around the throne are there for some religious experience. Religion does not withstand persecution. Right now, around the world—and I was looking at something else Jesus said in Matthew 24:21:
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
Y’all, persecution has been increasing and been going on since Jesus ascended into heaven. You’ve got Stephen, the first martyr, all the way up through—you go through the Roman Empire where they were killing Christians.
Finally get to the point where they realize, “We’ve got to burn this book that they’re preaching from, because killing the folks ain’t stopping it.” And then God puts an end to that persecution.
They meet together. You get the canon of Scripture going. And then every so often, all over the world—like even right now—there are countries in the world where you will be imprisoned for the rest of your life for the preaching of the gospel, be shunned and never be a part of your family again because of the preaching of the gospel.
There are places right now on the continent of Africa where they are killing Christians by the hundreds and thousands. And none of these people are sitting there begging for their life. They’re being witnesses.
Literally, the word that we see for witness in the New Testament—that Greek word is martyrion, where we get our word for martyr. They gave their life to point to the eternal life that comes from the life of Jesus Christ.
They’re not resentful that when they see Him in glory, after they lose their life for Him on earth, they see fulfillment. They see not personal achievement, but their personal Savior.
And y’all, I think we lose that when we spend too much time trying to figure out what exactly is the 144,000. I’m fine if it’s literal. I’m fine if it’s figurative, because I’m going to be standing before Jesus. And I might have a lot of questions when I get up there, but I don’t think they’re going to come to mind as readily.
Jamie:
Nope.
Keith:
Like, yeah, I don’t—you know, it’s going to be eternity, but I think I’m going to have better things to do.
Jamie:
Yeah, I think verse 11 there says:
All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God….
I think that’s—I think that’s going to be what we’re doing.
Keith:
It does say, “forever and ever, amen.” That’s good enough for Randy Travis. That’s good enough for me.
Jamie:
Amen. I was going to go into some other things here, but I think, instead, just to close this out, I think to look at—it says back in verse 15:
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night in his temple.
The one seated on the throne will shelter them:
16 They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Now, there’s all kinds of correlations to the Old Testament and Israelites and Greeks being brought together. But I think here’s what I want to point out, is that all of these things that it just listed are judgments that are going to happen. And some of them will affect these people to an extent.
I mean, they’ll no longer hunger—they’re going to be hungry, right? They’re going to be thirsty. The sun’s still going to be hot while they’re here on earth. But all of these protections, all of these things that will no longer happen, happen after they have died for their faith.
Keith:
Yeah, the division between the sixth seal and the seventh—that, I mean, you think about—and just as reference for the fact there were those sealed who didn’t go into exile, but that doesn’t mean that no one who went into exile had faith in God.
Look at Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael. Like, but when God’s ultimate wrath is poured out, God’s not unjust. If Jesus has borne the wrath, there’s no need for His people to bear the wrath. It’s been borne.
And so I think it’s important, as we close out, to kind of just look at the paradox here. Because the beauty of this—more beautiful than a symmetry of numbers. I know, to some people, numbers and understanding and clarity, it just resonates with their soul. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. He will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” When you look at all this language, it’s Revelation 21. The beauty of eternity being outside of time—you skip, you skip things.
And I think that paradox right there, that thing that doesn’t make sense from an earthly perspective: lambs aren’t shepherds; shepherds are. But Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, will be their Shepherd. He’ll be the Shepherd of all who, by grace through faith in Him, are saved by Him from the wrath of God.
And I think the beautiful thing here is what you need to be asking yourself, more so than anything about a number, more so than anything about anything else, is: Who is your shepherd? Who is your Savior? Is your hope in the Lamb?
If thinking about heaven being forever and ever, amen—standing around the throne, around the Lamb, waving palm branches, singing hosanna—if that bores you, you’ve got eternal problems. In fact, as we record this today, the next day is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, when we’re supposed to gather. If the thought of gathering in worship of Jesus tomorrow bores you, you might want to look at the eternal forecast. If you are bored gathering around the Lamb now, maybe you need to analyze, more than you need to theorize, whether you are covered by the blood of the Lamb. And I don’t mean a momentary lapse, or you’ve got something else to do. I mean, you really need to look and see if practicing for heaven here on earth is something that you just can’t stand.
You’re either with Him or you’re not—sealed and saved, or you ain’t.
Thank you. God bless, and we’ll see you next time with Revelation 8.
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 7:1–17.
[2] When Jamie quotes from Scripture, he uses the Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Re 14:1.
Just Keith Harris 