White Robes and Palm Branches

This multitude in “white robes” should look a little familiar to us at this point in the Revelation, because we have seen them before.  If you recall back in chapter 6 when Jesus spoke forth the fifth seal, we saw this martyred multitude at the base of the altar in heaven, asking the Lord to avenge their blood. They were given "white robes" to wear, and they were told to wait patiently until all of God’s martyrs had come in.
 
Well, here in chapter 7 that has finally happened, and now we see those in “white robes” again, only this time they are giddy with anticipation for what is about to come.  For the first time in the Revelation, the theme of salvation takes center stage, because salvation will be near for all who long for His coming. The “palm branches” tell the tale.

To Israel, palm branches are a symbol of God’s provision and grace, and of God’s promise of the land. In addition, they were used in making ‘booths’ for the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a foreshadowing of the wedding supper of the Lamb, when God will literally ‘tabernacle’ or live with man once again.

With that in mind, palm branches were used ceremonially for two reasons in ancient Israel. The first was for the inauguration of a new king, where Israelites would line the king's procession on each side, throwing palm branches at this feet as he passed by. This is why a small group of believers lined the road for Jesus on Palm Sunday, throwing palm branches at His feet.  They were merely acknowledging his kingship over Israel;

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”  (John 12:12-13)

The other application of this tradition was for a newly married couple, who were considered a king and queen for one week after their marriage. At the wedding site guests would throw palm branches on the floor before them as they passed by, in order to acknowledge their ‘royalty’ for the upcoming week.

So, one might wonder if our multitude in “white robes” is holding their palm branches in anticipation of just such an event? After all, palms were already used by a small minority to celebrate his ‘kingship’ when he entered Jerusalem back in the first century. And while they may use the palm branches to signify the same thing upon Christ's return, it equally possible that they hold them in anticipation of the wedding that it yet to come. Either way, the event that these saints are awaiting is still in the future at this point in the Revelation.


The Heavenly Hierarchy?

This passage also gives us a little bit of insight into the hierarchy around the throne of God in heaven, if we can make a few assumptions about what we’ve just read.

First, note that the four living creatures always surround the throne in biblical descriptions. After them we have the “24 elders” seated on thrones as described in chapter 4 of the Revelation, and they are described as wearing white robes and golden crowns. This sounds remarkably like a representation of the glorified saints in heaven.

Next we have the angels, who were standing around the elders and the four living creatures, and while the text is not specific about this, it would seem as though they are the third tier around the throne, after the elders.

From this it would seem that we can deduce the hierarchy around God’s throne, and if correct, it suggests that the glorified saints rank just a rung higher on that hierarchy, meriting closer proximity to God. This would be consistent with other statements in the Bible like that of Paul in 1Corinthians 6:3, where he confirms that the glorified saints will "judge angels", or that of Paul in Hebrews 1:14 where he states that angels will serve those who "inherit salvation". Both of these verses suggest that we indeed will be higher in that aforementioned hierarchy, so this presumed order around the throne would seem to make sense. 


Salvation Belongs To Our God

In the passage above, we find the multitude that came out of the great tribulation crying out “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,” and it’s the word “salvation” that I’d like to focus on for the moment. In our English translations we lost sight of a subtle word game that God is playing here, which in a manner of thinking would suggest that not only does salvation BELONG to the lamb, but salvation IS the lamb.

The word for ‘salvation’ in Hebrew is ‘yeshuah’, and if that sounds familiar to you, it should, because in Hebrew, the name for Jesus is ‘Yeshua’, which is spelled exactly the same as the word for salvation, only without the Hebrew letter ‘hey’ on the end. In essence, salvation and Jesus are cognate terms, coming from the same root;

= Yeshua = Yud-Shin-Vav-Ayin = Jesus

= Yeshuah = Yud-Shin-Vav-Ayin-Hey = Salvation

If you refer to the ‘Yeshua Pictographs’ in the Hebrew Studies portion of this site, you’ll find that one of the pictographic meanings of the name Yeshua/Jesus is “He who creates, destroys, secures, and reveals.”  There, it explains how the letter ’vav’ represents security, which is the idea behind salvation. However, Yeshua also ends with the Hebrew letter ‘ayin’, where the idea of revealing comes from, since things are revealed when seen by the eye. In addition to the concept of revealing, the ‘ayin’ also conveys the ideas of watching or knowing or shading. So His name could also mean “He who creates, destroys, secures, and knows”. 

This is mentioned because the ‘hey’ on the end of Yeshua’s name can often mean ‘is revealed’.  If applied in this manner, then the pictographic meaning for the word ‘yeshuah’ (salvation) actually makes a direct reference to Jesus, by suggesting the following;

“He who creates, destroys, secures, and knows is revealed”

In other words, 'Yeshua' (Jesus) is revealed in ‘yeshuah’ (salvation).  It’s a tremendous word play that was set in the pages of the Bible more than a thousand years before Jesus was revealed to man. So with this in mind, notice how this word play can be applied in scripture by replacing the word ‘salvation’ with the name ‘Jesus’. For instance, consider Isaiah 12:2-3;

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

In this verse, if we substitute the name of Jesus (Yeshua) in place of salvation (yeshuah) in the last sentence, it would read “With joy you will draw water from the wells of Jesus.” And that would ultimately be a correct thought, particularly when you consider that our text in the Revelation states that Jesus will “lead them to springs of living water.” The living water is the truth of the word of God that cleanses us, and Jesus is indeed the “well” source of this water.


The Real “Great Tribulation”

One of the numerous misconceptions about biblical end-times is found in the way that the term 'great tribulation' has been defined in western commentaries, and we need to focus on what the Bible truly says about this topic.

If you’ve studied the end times, you’ve probably noticed that the 7-year period known as Daniel’s 70th Seven is typically divided into two halves, with the first 3 1/2 years being called simply the ‘Tribulation’ and the second 3 1/2 years the ‘Great Tribulation’. This is how it is represented by most authors today, who tend to believe that the Tribulation of the first half contains the seven seals and seven trumpets, while the Great Tribulation of the second half contains the seven bowls of God's wrath.

While I completely disagree with almost every aspect of that overall assessment, what I'd like to point out in this instance is the proper use of the term 'great tribulation' as it is represented in the bible. And it's not difficult to do that, because this term is used only once, right here in the Revelation. 

In chapter 6 of the Revelation, in the fifth seal, we see martyrs standing at the base of the altar in heaven. They are given “white robes” and told to wait a little longer until the rest of their fellow martyrs come in. And we discover in the fifth seal that these martyrs are killed for the word of God and their testimony that they maintained. And due to their faith, they are later accorded the highest honor in heaven, which we discover in chapter 7. There, God describes these martyrs by telling us that they have “come out of the great tribulation”;

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 blood of the Lamb. 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 spread his tent over them.”  (Rev 7:13-15)

Again, this is the only point in the Bible where this term is used, and it is used before the Seven Trumpets have sounded, and the Seven Bowls of God’s wrath have been poured out. And yet, the Revelation makes it clear that the ‘great tribulation‘ is already underway in the form of the seven seals. It does not, in fact, represent the second half of Daniel's 70th seven, as popularly held. So why do scholars insist on using this term in this manner, contrary to what the Revelation teaches? Probably because so many others have done so before them.

Instead, we need to recognize that the real great tribulation is just what the Revelation describes, which is the time of the seven seals when the Four Horsemen are running amok on the earth, and Death and Hades are martyring the Christians that we later find in these “white robes.” They will kill them because of their refusal to deny the name of Jesus Christ or their faith in God. In the days of the great tribulation, or great distress as the gospels call it, that will constitute a death sentence in certain parts of the world. 

In my post on the fourth seal, it was noted that this killing would take place over one-quarter of the geography of the world, and I don’t think we have to make any great stretch in addressing which quarter of the world this will take place in. The adjacent map clearly designates Islam as dominate in approximately a quarter of the earth. And since Islam is identified in so many other ways in the Revelation, it seems most likely that this killing will take place in their regions of influence.

In fact, we can already see the shadow of this coming distress in those parts of the world today, where Christians are being martyred in ever-increasing numbers due to their minority status. Nowhere is this more profound than in northern and central Africa, where militant Islamic regimes have been slaughtering black populations for years. And in the nations where the ’Arab Spring’ occurred over a year ago, Christian populations are also experiencing increasing persecution. This is why I’ve linked to ’Voice of the Martyrs’ on this website. It’s my hope that we will all keep these Christians in our prayers during these trying times - and the times yet to come.


White Robes and Covenant

To wrap up this post, there is one more thought regarding those in the "white robes" that is worth mentioning. The robes themselves represent a covenant or covering from God, and the fact that they are white reveals that these saints have progressed through the blood, salt, and sandal covenants mentioned earlier in this series.

If you recall the tree of life or master menorah from those posts, you may remember that each of these covenants are represented by one of the primary or secondary colors of the rainbow, which in the light spectrum combine to form white light, the color of the Lamb - and the color of these robes. So in essence, each of these martyrs in white robes are wearing the "wedding clothes" that are required to inherit the kingdom of God. Without these wedding clothes, there is no inheritance in the kingdom, as illustrated in the following parable;

“So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:10-14)

The bride and the guests all wore white at Jewish weddings in 1st century Israel, so this is reflected in this parable told by Jesus. And the parable discloses that without these "wedding clothes" or white robes, we will be in darkness and will NOT inherit the coming kingdom of God. Instead, we will be thrown "outside, into the darkness" at the Sheep and Goat Judgment at the end of the age.


NEXT TIME:

In the next post we’ll begin our analysis of the seven trumpets, which is one of my favorite studies in the Revelation.