Great Multitude

Revelation 7 discusses the different groups of believers, Revelation 7:3-4.

³Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. ⁴And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

There are those that will tell you that the 144,000 are physical Jews.  However, it can be known for certainty that these are not just physical Jews.  Revelation 7:5-8 list 12 tribes, the tribes are:

Judah, Reuben, Gad, Ahser, Nepthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph, Benjamin.

Yet in Genesis 49:3-27, the tribes are:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin.

The difference is that in Revelation 7, Dan is missing and Manasseh is listed.  Manasseh was a son of Joseph, Manasseh is part of Joseph.  Manasseh is not a separate tribe.

Additionally, is the tribe of Dan gone forever?  Jeremiah 31:35-36

³⁵Thus saith Yehovah, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; Yehovah of hosts is his name: ³⁶If those ordinances depart from before me, saith Yehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Before a seed of Israel is eliminated, God declares that the sun, moon and stars would cease to exist.  Since the sun, moon and stars are to exist today and into the future, Dan is still a part of Israel.  Yet, in Revelation 7, Dan is gone and Manasseh is listed.  Why would this be?

First of all, one needs to come to grips with the fact that the Book of Revelation is written in symbols and is not a literal book.  Refer to Symbols (LF) for further discussion on this subject.  Once this is understood, the meaning can be discovered.

Further, the issue of Revelation 7 is similar to the issue in James 1:1.

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Yeshua Messiah, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

There are those that believe James is writing to the physical tribes of Israel.  However for the most part, Israel had rejected the Messiah, James 2:1.

¹My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Yeshua Messiah, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

James would not be writing this to nonbelievers.  In the New Testament, brethren is used to refer to believers as in Hebrew 2:11.

¹¹ For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

In scriptures, there is physical Israel and spiritual Israel.  James and Revelation 7 are referring to spiritual Israel.

In Revelation 7, a change has occurred, but not in the tribes.  The names of the tribes have meaning and it is in the meaning that is the significance.  Dan means judgment; whereas, Manasseh means causing to forget.  Yeshua tells us in John 5:24:

²⁴ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

As believers, we have passed from judgment.  God has forgotten our sins.

Revelation 7:5-8 lists 12 tribes each with 12,000.  Total number would then be 144,000.  These represent a subset of spiritual Israel, Revelation 7:9-10.

⁹After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;  ¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

This speaks of another group called the great multitude.  These are separate from the 144,000 previously discussed.  The Great Multitude are not great because of some particular quality.  They are great, because there are so many people in this group.

Revelation 7:13-14

¹³And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? ¹⁴And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These are the people who washed their robes, obviously these are believers.

Revelation 7:15

¹⁵Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

The Great Multitude are before the throne.  They serve Him day and night.  Never does it state about the great multitude that they rule and reign.  The great multitude serves.  However, as for the 144,000, they are quite different.

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