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31. Great Throne Multitude
Revelation 7.9-14
"After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.' All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. They fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, 'Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!' Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?' I answered, 'Sir, you know.' And he said, 'These are they who have come out of the Great Tribulation, they have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb's blood.'" (Revelation 7.9-14) ✞
Great Multitude
Who is this "great throne multitude?" John sees every "nation, tribe, people, and language." They wear "white robes" and wave "palm branches" in the Lamb's honor. All the angels, the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures sing God's praises. This vast heavenly gathering includes the faithful of every generation. Heaven's "great throne multitude" praises God that salvation comes only from the "Lamb," the Lord Jesus Christ. ✞
Jerusalem's Golden Gate
John of Patmos would undoubtedly be reminded of another occasion during Jesus' earthly life when the crowds gathered by the roadside into Jerusalem's Golden Gate. The people took up "palm branches" to welcome Jesus in his Holy City's triumphant entry. The people at the Golden Gate cry out in praise to welcome the prince, Jesus, into the Lord's presence as heaven's multitudes do now. The Temple Mount's Golden Gate on the city wall's eastern side is possibly the oldest Jerusalem gate. Emperor Justinian I (483-565 AD), also called Justinian the Great, probably built the present gate in c520 AD as part of his Jerusalem building program. ✞
Builder Justinian
Emperor Justinian was a prolific builder of churches, dams, bridges, and fortifications throughout the Empire. He had a solid Christian belief and legislated against paganism. According to Jewish tradition, the "Shekinah" or "Divine Presence" moved through the eastern gate and will appear again when the Anointed One or Messiah comes. The two separate doors in the entrance are called the "Gate of Mercy" and the "Gate of Repentance." Another Arabic name is "the Gate of Eternal Life." Many Jewish people prayed in medieval times for mercy at the former gate. During the Crusader period, they were not allowed into the city through the Western Wall. Hence the name "Gate of Mercy." ✞
Closed Golden Gate
The Ottoman Turks transformed the walled-up Golden Gate into a watchtower. A vaulted hall was divided by four columns into two aisles on the ground floor level, leading to the Mercy Door and the Repentance Door, an upper floor room with a two-roof domed ceiling. The Muslims built a cemetery outside the Golden Gate wall because they believed it was a holy place and Temple Courts entrance. They bricked the gate up to deter any Jewish Messiah from going through it to inaugurate the New Kingdom! Closed by the Muslims in 810 AD, the Crusaders reopened it in 1102 AD, but Saladin walled it up again after regaining Jerusalem in 1187 AD. ✞
Suleiman the Magnificent
Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566 AD) rebuilt the gate but walled it up in 1541 AD, and it stayed that way to the present. Suleiman broke with tradition and married a converted Orthodox Christian woman from his harem. Her name was Roxelana due to her red hair. Suleiman ruled over at least 25 million people. Ezekiel 44.1-3 prophesied about the Golden Gate, "Then the man brought me back to the closed sanctuary's outer gate, the one facing east. The Lord said to me, 'This gate is to remain shut and not opened; no one may enter through it. It is to remain shut because the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered through it. The prince himself is the only one who may sit inside the gateway to eat in the Lord's presence. He is to enter by way of the gateway entrance and go out the same way." Christians believe that "the Prince" could refer to Jesus himself. ✞
Jerusalem's Beautiful Gate
Interestingly, the Golden Gate may be identical to the "Beautiful Gate," where Peter healed a lame beggar. Acts 3.2-6 reads, "Now a man lame from birth was being carried to the Beautiful Temple Gate, where he sat every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John entering, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, 'Look at us!' So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, 'I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.'" This Golden Gate sacred place also became a healing place, for the man stood up there, leaped, and joyfully danced! ✞
Clothes Washed in Blood!
The saints wear white clothes washed in the Lamb's blood. "How can the saint's white clothes be washed "in the blood of God's Lamb?" Usually, blood is a challenging stain to remove from a shirt or a dress, but here Christ's blood is the world's most efficient detergent! It removes even sin's mark from the saint's robes. White symbolizes sinless perfection and holiness, which only the Lamb of God's death can bestow upon a person. The gowns represent human souls, which generally bear dark sin stains, but here the blood of Jesus bleaches clothes a glowing, dazzling white! "Glory" describes God's brightness and his shining light's presence. ✞
Great Tribulation
One of the twenty-four elders turns to John of Patmos as he gazes in awe at this scene. The angel asks about the origin of those in "white clothes." When John confesses his ignorance, the elder explains. They originate, he says, from "the Great Tribulation," from believers who suffered through the ages. These Christians remained loyal to God, were martyred, and now serve day and night before his throne. Hunger, thirst, and scorching heat are now not even a memory. As prophesied in Isaiah 49.10, "They will not hunger, thirst nor will the desert heat or sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them besides water springs." They are forever under the Lamb of God's protection. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. ✞
"Great Throne Multitude"
by Ron Meacock © 2021
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