Revelation 7:
9 After this, I looked; and there before me was a huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands; 10 and they shouted,
“Victory to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders and the four living beings; they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God, saying,
12 “Amen!
“Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks,
honor and power and strength
belong to our God forever and ever!
“Amen!”
13 One of the elders asked me, “These people dressed in white robes — who are they, and where are they from?” 14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” Then he told me, “These are the people who have come out of the Great Persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb. 15 That is why they are before God’s throne.
“Day and night they serve him in his Temple;
and the One who sits on the throne
will put his Sh’khinah upon them.
16 “They will never again be hungry,
they will never again be thirsty,
the sun will not beat down on them,
nor will any burning heat.[Revelation 7:16 Isaiah 49:10]
17 “For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will shepherd them, will lead them
to springs of living water,[Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 49:10; Jeremiah 2:13; Ezekiel 34:23; Psalm 23:1–2]
and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”[
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Revelation 7:17 Isaiah 25:8]
(Complete Jewish Bible)To live this life is to be in the midst of struggle. It is to know hunger and thirst and pain. It is to endure the repercussions of our actions and to make difficult decisions without clarity. It is to search for hope and promise of redemption and, even if it is unseen, to trust that God is still at work. Struggle indeed.
But like so many sinner-saints who have gone before us, this is our hope: that as we pass through the "great ordeal" that is this life, we are held and sustained by God. We are and will be washed and made clean in Christ. We are and will be sheltered by this God. We are and will be gathered around God's throne where we will continue to praise with unending gratitude for the ways God has brought us through.
Somewhere in this chaos, your Spirit moves, O God. Keep this vision of peace, wholeness and rejoicing before me, that I may have hope for myself and my dear loved ones. Amen.
Amanda Kempthorne, '09
Pastor,Lord of Life Lutheran Church,North Pole, Alaska
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.
10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood 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 singing, "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, robed in white, and where have they come from?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (New Revised Standard Version)
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The Luther Seminary
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