Revelation 7 ends in a song of worship. This devotional reading looks at what worship in Heaven teaches us.
Nuggets
- Worship – which is worship perfected – happens 24/7/365/eternity before the throne of God.
- Our main duty in Heaven will be to serve God continuously.
- If we’ve read the last chapter of Revelation, this section of verse 15 may lead to a little confusion.
- God’s presence shelters us in Heaven from the lasting effects of the tribulation.
- Even if we don’t have a description of what Heaven is like, we have a description of what Heaven isn’t.
- The Lamb will be in our midst to be our guide while God comforts us.
I have no idea what to call the last three verses in Revelation 7. I am sure someone does, but I couldn’t find them referred to as anything.
It reminds me of how Isaiah is written. In fact, some of the wording is reminiscent of Isaiah.
I’m calling them songs, but I don’t think that is right. I know it is worship.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Opening the Seals series
Focus on God
“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” (Rev. 7: 15 ESV)
Therefore
We’ve talk before about the significance of the word therefore. As Pastor Steve says, it is there for a reason.
In this case, the word is tying what comes in the next verses back to what we just discussed in the last devotion. Revelation 7: 13-14 talk about the purity of the multitude.
John continued talking about the multitude. He may have several reasons that he felt he had to address.
The multitude is worthy to stand before the throne because their sins have been washed by the blood of the lamb. It is nothing of their doing that made them worthy. It is all because of the Lamb and their acceptance of Him as their Savior.
Access to the throne is given as a reward for faithful submission to a sacrificial life. We become a living sacrifice to God when we deny ourselves. We set our wills aside to follow God’s Will.
Before the Throne of God
Worship – which is worship perfected – happens 24/7/365/eternity before the throne of God.
The multitude showed up before the throne earlier in Revelation 7. “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” (Rev. 7: 9 ESV).
John made it clear that the multitude were in this elevated position because of the Lamb. It is only through the cleansing of His blood that we can access the throne of God.
Before the throne means we had access to God. We will talk to God as Moses did. “Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent” (Ex. 33: 11 ESV).
God is on His throne because He is the Sovereign Ruler. He deserves the worship we offer Him.
This communion with God will bring disciples much happiness when we get to Heaven. Worshiping Him will bring us much satisfaction and joy.
Serve Him Day and Night
Our main duty in Heaven will be to serve God continuously.
Some may question what we are going to do in Heaven for eternity. I don’t know – sitting around, doing nothing, sounds relaxing – for a while.
Verse 15 tells us that won’t be the case. We will be serving God day and night.
Look what Greenhough said. He wrote, “The reward which God confers upon His faithful ones is ability and permission to serve, and when He calls them from the lower to the higher places, the higher [honor] is that they are enabled and privileged to serve more. In God’s view rank is determined by the measure of service.”
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An eternal worship service will be going on.
We’ve talked a couple of times about various songs groups sing to worship God. Let’s take a minute to analyze those services to see what perfected worship looks like. Bradley and Allon helped us.
- Services are constant and unending. There is no rest.
- While worship is always occurring, it changes from type to type.
- Worship is immediate. The transitions are seamless.
- Worshipers do not become weary or distracted.
- Since the multitude is pure, worship is also pure.
- The worship is sincere and passionate.
- Worship is offered in joy.
- The worship is unified — truly one body, Spirit, Lord, faith, baptism, God, and Father (Eph. 4: 4-6 ESV).
- Worship offered to God is offered humbly.
Resources
Getting to Heaven isn’t automatically going to up our worship game from mediocre to perfect. Our heavenly bodies aren’t going to make something out of nothing.
Our spiritual condition here must be pleasing to God, or we won’t get it perfect in Heaven.
Allon described it this way. He wrote, “It was not the locality merely — not the mere presence of God — not the employment, the robe, the palm, the harp, the worship: it was the perfect moral sympathy of their spirits with holiness, the holiness of God.”
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If we don’t have God’s spiritual character and holiness, we won’t have perfect worship. Yes, God is interested in our actions. He is more interested in our hearts.
Let’s go back to those of worship. We’ve seen different types of worship already.
- The elders and living creatures praised the Creator in Revelation 4: 8 and 11.
- They then sang a new song in Revelation 5: 9-10.
- The angels’ song in Revelation 5: 12 and the creatures’ song in Revelation 5: 13 are songs of worship.
- This song in Revelation 7: 15-17, while it is a praise, could be seen as more of a song of desire.
Will there be other types of service? I would think there probably will be. He is not going to let our hands become idle.
Greenhough gave us a good idea of what that service could entail. He wrote, “And all the service, of whatever kind it is, all the work, all the ministry of love there is emphatically temple service, not necessarily singing, praising, preaching, or anything of that kind, but temple service, because the atmosphere, the thought, the motives, the emotions are sacred, holy, and divine; because everything is done in view of Him who sits upon the throne.”
Resource
Service is to be performed because of gratitude and devotion. We must serve God because of a thankful, willing heart.
In His Temple
If we’ve read the last two chapters of Revelation, this section of verse 15 may lead to a little confusion.
“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb” (Rev. 21: 22 ESV). How do we reconcile in His temple with no temple?
Let’s think this through. John would have been used the idea of the temple. By the time of his writing, the temple in Jerusalem would have been destroyed in 70 AD.
Earthly temples are patterned after the heavenly temple. I don’t think God had the Jews construct an exact replica – I’m not sure that is possible.
But John would have known a temple when he saw it.
That tells us there have been temples in Heaven.
We can’t forget that Revelation 21 talks about a new Heaven as well as a new earth. Heaven is set to change, also.
Where there is a need to have a temple now, in the new Heaven, there won’t be. God won’t have to have martyrs under the altar or stuck other places.
Greenhough gave us a clear answer to the question of whether there is a temple. He wrote, “There is no temple, because it is all temple. “
Resource
We will have unlimited access to God. We won’t need to go to the temple for seek Him.
God will be right there in front of us.
Sheltered with His Presence
God’s presence shelters us in Heaven from the lasting effects of the tribulation.
When we think about someone sheltering us, we usually think either a defense or a sanctuary.
Heaven will be our sanctuary from sin. We won’t have the temptations to ensure us into sin.
Yes, we have to go through tribulation. It does not defeat us.
Our enduring the tribulations that try to take away our salvation will be rewarded in Heaven by God’s sheltering us for eternity.
God will also shelter us in Heaven as He will provide our needs and wants. Think about it this way.
The Levites did not inherit any of the Promised Land. They were taken care of because they worked in the Temple.
It will be the same concept. We will be taken care of because we will be serving God throughout eternity.
Because we will have this access to God in Heaven, we will see His moral perfections displayed. We will see His holiness, goodness, mercy – all of His attributes.
We will see the glory of God. When we talked about God’s throne in Revelation 4, we talked about the rainbow symbolizing His glory. It was a pledge of His covenant.
This access to God will be available to all equally. No, I have no clue as to how God is going to work that out. That is above my pay grade.
I just know God will have it worked it out, so we all have equal access to Him.
God’s presence will always be with us. It won’t be like it was with Moses when He came and left the tent. God will always be there.
Description of Heaven
“They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat” (Rev. 7: 16 ESV)
Even if we don’t have a description of what Heaven is like, we have a description of what Heaven isn’t.
John would have recognized this wording as that from Isaiah.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Appear.” They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them’” (Isa. 49: 8-10 ESV).
If John had trouble describing what Heaven was, he had less trouble describing what wasn’t. What won’t happen in Heaven?
- We won’t hunger any more.
- We won’t get thirsty.
- We won’t get sunburned.
- We won’t have extremes in temperature.
Spurgeon equated the sun with every overpowering influence and the heat with injurious influences. We may fall prey to them here in this life, but we won’t with God in Heaven.
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We can loosely lump that together to say there will be no more pain – no painful want or infliction.
In other words, evil won’t be in Heaven.
We know from further on in Revelation why the sun is not needed in Heaven. “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22: 5 ESV).
Greenhough made an interesting connection. There are many things that we hunger for besides food – wealth, status, power, things.
Resource
We are to be satisfied in what we have and working because of love for doing, not what we are getting. In Heaven, all our needs will be supplied.
Spurgeon brought up an interesting thought. This may mean we won’t hunger or thirst because we will no longer need food and water. Those are nourishment for a physical body.
We will no longer have a physical body but will have a spiritual body.
Spurgeon believed that God will satisfy our souls to the point we no longer have longings. He will fill us.
Life in Heaven will be a good life with God supplying our needs.
Focus on the Lamb
“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” (Rev. 7: 17 ESV)
The Lamb will be in our midst to be our guide while God comforts us.
John would have remembered how Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (Jn. 10: 11 ESV).
First-century Jews would have been well acquainted with the profession of shepherd. They would know that the shepherd provided for all the needs of the sheep, protected them, nursed their injuries – took care of all their needs.
So, too, will Jesus take care of our needs. We are to look to Him for everything.
Jesus is our Shepherd because we have been given to Him. “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word” (Jn. 17: 6 ESV).
Because of this, Jesus has authority and rule over us in Heaven.
Jesus is our Shepherd because He was our Sacrifice. The One Who was laid on the altar is now seated upon the throne.
We will remember this sacrifice made for us throughout eternity.
A lamb is also used to describe Jesus’ character. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth” (Isa. 53: 7 ESV).
Jesus will lead us to living water because He is the living water. “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4: 14 ESV).
I think we are going to table the discussion on no more tears until we get to Revelation 21: 4.
Making the Connections
I remember Pastor Chad preaching about some dislikes with what disciples are called to do.
- We are called to read God’s Word – but not everyone likes to do that.
- We are called to sing praises to God – but not everyone likes to do that.
- We are called to pray – but not everyone likes that.
What do they think Heaven is about? We aren’t just going to do it – we are going to live it.
Bradley had a real good reminder. He wrote,
“Death will make no material alteration in our tastes and desires. What we love in time we shall love in eternity. What is hateful to us now, will be hateful to us then. We must have a relish for the happiness of angels now, or we shall be utterly incapable of enjoying it hereafter.”
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Sometimes, I think we want us to remain us in our personality, but God should change us to make us like what He wants us to be.
In other words, we don’t want to be like God in this life. We don’t want to be sanctified to be like Him in this life.
We want a major change to happen when we get to Heaven.
Do we really think that is what God wants – and will put up with?
How Do We Apply This?
- Live a life completing the tasks God assigns us in the same spirit, whether they be the least or the greatest.
- Perform our assigned tasks in the same spirit as we do our worship.
- Perform our tasks because of our love for God as well as for others.
- Learn to delight in worship now.
Resources
Father God. We want to be more like You. Put in us an increased desire to read Your Word, sing praises to You, and talk with You. Sanctify us so that we are prepared for Heaven. Amen.
What do you think?
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