Blood Washed Multitude

The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy addressed to people who will be involved in the events written in the book. John, the writer, identifies the entire book as prophecy from beginning to end. From Revelation 1:3 where John identifies his message as "the words of this prophecy" to Revelation 22:18-19 where John refers to all that is written in the book, which he calls the "prophecy of this book and the book of this prophecy, all of it is prophecy.

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Prophecy, in the bible, is always focused on Israel. The old testament prophets prophesied to Israel, for Israel and about Israel. They never prophesied about the church, the body of Christ, and when you see Gentiles involved in the prophecies, they are always involved because of their involvement with Israel. In other words in prophecy you find Gentiles blessing Israel and other Gentiles cursing Israel. The fate of Gentiles, in prophecy, is always dependent upon how they treat the seed of Abraham.

So Revelation is a book of PROPHECY from beginning to end, and there are repetitive themes in the book. But John sees and writes a vision and then sees and writes another vision. In one of those visions, John describes something he has seen: The first eight verses of Revelation chapter seven deals with the sealing of 144,000 Jews. There are 12 thousand from each of twelve tribes that are named.

Revelation 7:9 After 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;

Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Revelation 7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,

Revelation 7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Revelation 7:14 And 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.

This is where the popular saying and the song comes from, "Washed in the Blood of the Lamb." So it is obviously a figure of speech and it is a reference to the blood of the LAMB of God that John the Baptist referred to:

John 1:25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

John 1:27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

John 1:28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And John 1: 29 is the FULFILLMENT of what Abraham said:

Genesis 22:7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Genesis 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Note that Abraham's answer was that God would provide HIMSELF a lamb, it does not say "for himself." And, of course the lamb referred to in both Revelation and Genesis is none other than Jesus Christ. Now Abraham is the forefather of the nation of Israel. In his earthly ministry Jesus Christ was a minister to Israel. So the connection of these people in the book of Revelation to the PROMISE people is unmistakable. Notice what Paul wrote:

Romans 15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Romans 15:9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

Romans 15:10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

Romans 15:11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

Romans 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

Notice Paul says "as it is written" and he quotes from several old testament prophecies. All of that has to do with the ministry and the message of Jesus Christ, and of the FUTURE salvation of Gentiles associated with Israel. It was the message of Israel's FUTURE...the second coming of Christ and the restoring of the Kingdom to Israel. James referred to it when he quoted from the book of Amos in Acts 15:14-18.

Acts 15:14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Acts 15:15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,

Acts 15:16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:

Acts 15:17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.

Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

So the passage from Amos quoted by James shows that the tabernacle of David, in other words the kingdom, is going to be restored and set up. You can see that Gentiles have a part in that, but you can also see in the passage we are looking at in Revelation that the CIRCUMCISION, which is ISRAEL, is set in contrast to the GENTILES. When you have a DIFFERENCE, like this, then you are not seeing the church, the body of Christ.These people in Revelation are Gentiles, and they are set in CONTRAST to the 144,000. They are Gentiles and they are saved Gentiles. But their salvation comes about in a DIFFERENT manner than your salvation today in the dispensation of grace.

Revelation 7:14 And 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.

The reference to the people themselves washing their robes is a figure of speech. But the figure must hold true to the truth it represents. It is also clear here that this is a standing of WORKS. In other words THEY WASHED their OWN robes. It is not our standing in grace in this present dispensation of grace which was committed SOLELY to the Apostle Paul. As in:

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We today did not do any work at all in order to be saved. We are not like those in Revelation who must endure, that is endure the tribulation unto the end, in order to be saved. Instead we trusted the finished work of Christ at the cross. Christ died for our sins. He was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. God reconciled us unto himself by not imputing our sins to us, but instead imputing them to Jesus Christ. God made him to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So we don't rely on our own righteousness...but on his. Our salvation came about by trusting Jesus Christ alone as our Saviour, and it came about by grace alone with no works involved.

Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

But this message of God's grace has an ending. When the church, the body of Christ is filled, the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the body of Christ will leave this world, be caught up and caught out of this world, before any of the events in the book of Revelation begins. Paul refers to that event numerous times. In 1 Corinthians 15, Galatians 1, 1 Thessalonians 4 and other places. So the grace message committed to Paul for the church, the body of Christ, does not continue on over into either the seven churches or to the events of the Tribulation we see in the book of Revelation. Everything in the entire book of Revelation has to do with God's PROPHETIC program to and through the nation of Israel. So THAT "blood washed multitude" cannot be the church, the body of Christ. Now in our case we are "washed." But we are also sanctified and justified, not by washing our own robes but BY THE SPIRIT:

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

This great blood washed multitude here in Revelation have washed THEIR OWN robes, and made THEIR OWN robes white. In other words, it is plainly a standing in WORKS and not in GRACE. We, in the body of Christ do not have our own "white robes." Instead we have the righteousness of God imputed to us. As in:

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

These people in Revelation DID SOMETHING to get where they are and they are very similar to another Gentile. That is the very Gentile which prompted James to say what he did when he quoted from Amos above. Notice Cornelius here:

Acts 10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

Acts 10:2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Look at what Peter said to the man:

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

And that matches what James said in the book of James:

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

The entire book of James is written in a tribulation context and it is addressed to the "twelve tribes." We see those twelve tribes in this very chapter in Revelation. But here we are seeing Gentiles. So these people themselves have WORKED RIGHTEOUSNESS and this is the consequence:

Revelation 7:15 Therefore 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.

Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

The marriage of the Lamb ( "his wife" has made herself ready, wearing white linen which is the righteousness of the saints") seems to have already come, which puts this at least to the time of Revelation 19 and beyond. So God is in his temple and these people, of all nations, serve him. And that matches other Old Testament passages:

Leviticus 26:11 And I set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.

In Leviticus we see the "tabernacle in the wilderness" which Moses built according to the pattern shown to him by the Lord. But notice in Ezekiel there is the Lord's tabernacle which "shall be."

Ezekiel 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ezekiel 37:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Notice that this multitude will perform service day and night. In other words they fulfill the duties of SERVANTS for they "serve before the throne." So these people are standing and not seated. They are called servants and not sons. Notice the reference to the TRIALS they have undergone:

Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

These people have gone THROUGH the great tribulation. So not only will Israel go through it but this multitude from all the Gentile nations will also go through it. The kings and priests of Revelation 5:9-10 are Jews which were scattered and they are redeemed OUT OF every nation:

Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

 All of the references in the bible to "kings and priests" is always in association with Israel. So these have come OUT OF every nation...where Israel had been scattered. But this is a multitude of Gentiles which is made up OF ALL NATIONS. This is what you see here. They came OUT OF great tribulation. This is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham:

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

These people are in a position of blessing because they have blessed Israel. God's blessings come to them. Constantly, in Old Testament prophecy we see GENTILE blessing but it always follows Israel's blessing. And the two are always different. It is NOT likely that what John sees here with this blood washed multitude could be a foreview of the new city.

Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Revelation 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

Revelation 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

But what else does the new city not have? It has no need of a temple:

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

In the context of this multitude we are reading about in Revelation chapter seven, the TEMPLE is referred to, and this multitude stands before the THRONE and serve in his TEMPLE:

Revelation 7:15 Therefore 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.

Some have suggested that there must be an "end of the tribulation rapture, or catching out" which would account for this multitude and that they are in heaven. However, the only "catching up" you find in the book of Revelation is after the two witnesses, probably Moses and Elijah, ASCEND UP in Revelation eleven. Their ascending up is VISIBLE:

Revelation 11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

That event seems to be very similar to the scene on the Mount of Olives in Acts chapter one when the Lord ASCENDED up...and "while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight." (Acts 1:9) Now in Revelation chapter twelve the "man child" of the "woman" is "CAUGHT UP unto God, and to his throne." The phrase "caught up" in Revelation 12:5 is exactly the same word that Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 to describe the event which is called "The Rapture" which takes place for the church, the body of Christ BEFORE any and all of the prophecy contained in Revelation....all 22 chapters.

By comparing this "catching up" in Revelation chapter 12 with Revelation chapter 14 it turns out that the "man child" who is "caught up" is the 144,000 sealed JEWS from the very chapter we are studying, Revelation chapter seven. Revelation 14 says that they are the FIRSTFRUITS "unto God and to the Lamb" and that they were "redeemed FROM AMONG men." So their being "caught up" then could be properly called a "rapture event."

Now the only other similar event described in Revelation is what John calls the FIRST RESURRECTION:

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

So we see that the people involved in that event are associated with thrones, and they sat upon them. They live and REIGN with Christ a thousand years. Neither of those things are said about our "blood washed multitude" in Revelation chapter seven.

The vision of the 144,000 sealed ones of ISRAEL looks back to the beginning of the tribulation and the vision of the blood washed multitude looks all the way forward into the Kingdom. It is true that they share the salvation and the benefit of the shed blood of Christ but these have a different position from that of Israel. They are not the ones sitting on the 12 thrones of Matthew 19 or Revelation 20:4. They are saved...but it is because they have "endured unto the end." They are not seen until they come OUT OF the great Tribulation. So not only will the elect remnant of Israel be saved through the tribulation...but a multitude from all the Gentile nations will be saved OUT OF IT.

None of this or none of the events in Revelation pertain to the body of Christ. The definite number of Israelites in Revelation 7:1-8 stands in direct contrast to this unnumbered multitude of GENTILES:

Revelation 7:2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Revelation 7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Revelation 7:4 And 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.

You have each of 12 different tribes of Israel named and 12,000 Jews from each tribe. There is Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Nepthalim, Manessah, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph and Benjamin. 12,000 from each tribe. The sealing by the angel takes place at the beginning of the tribulation, but then verse nine says AFTER THIS I BEHELD....and what John sees next is separate from the 144,000. The Gentiles are set in contrast to the Jews.

Revelation 7:9 After 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;

The vision of the sealing of the 144,000 carries us back to the beginning of the tribulation and this vision of the blood washed multitude carries us right on beyond the time of Matthew 24, which is about the tribulation, and beyond Matthew 25, which is about the Lord's second coming. In Matthew 24, the Lord taught the Apostles about the coming tribulation...and then he just skipped right over the time in which we live, the dispensation of the grace of God, as if it didn't even exist, because at that time it was still a mystery...and in Matthew 25 he taught them about his second coming, the throne of His glory and the judgment of the nations, the sheep and the goats you see in the passage. And notice what he says:

Matthew 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

The ones that are BLESSED there are set in contrast to another group, which he identifies as THESE MY BRETHREN:

Matthew 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

So you see two separate groups there. The ones who are blessed and the ones called MY BRETHREN. Gentiles are blessed, the Jews are the brethren. A third group is also seen in Matthew 25. They are the "goats" and not the "sheep." They are the ones who did not bless Israel so they do not get the kingdom. Instead they go away to everlasting punishment.

Matthew 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

We do not see the unsaved Gentiles in our passage in Revelation 7, but two distinct groups of the SAVED are named here in Revelation 7. First Jews and then Gentiles.

That marks them off and shows that they are different than the church the body of Christ...which is not in the passage. Because the body of Christ is composed of BOTH Jews and Gentiles and in the body of Christ Paul constantly says that there is NEITHER:

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Notice again that these people in Revelation are STANDING, they are not seated. In other words they are standing in the position of servants. They are standing before the throne. That is in contrast to what Paul said about the body of Christ:

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Notice also the PALMS in their hands. Palms grow in the earth. In Exodus there is a reference to the seventy palms of Elim and the Israelites encamped there by the waters, the twelve fountains of waters. In Deuteronomy and Judges there is the city of palm trees. It turns out to be Jericho. In Judges there is the palm tree of Deborah who judged Israel. In 1 Kings there are numerous references to Solomon's temple:

1 Kings 6:29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

In the book of Ezekiel you see the design of the millennial temple, and in numerous places in Ezekiel 40 and 41 there are references to palm trees:

Ezekiel 41:18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;

Ezekiel 41:19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.

But there is not a single reference in the bible to PALMS growing in Heaven. That is not to say that palms cannot grow in heaven, but ALL references to palms in the bible are in an earthly setting. The palms seem to be associated with the Feast of Tabernacles:

Leviticus 23:39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

Leviticus 23:40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

Now the Feast of Tabernacles was not a feast for the wilderness but was to be kept when they were COME INTO the land. It was kept after they had gathered the fruit of the land. When the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon the feast was observed, but at the second coming of Christ it will be kept again in ALL it's fulness.

Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Now the closing verses in Revelation chapter seven:

Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Notice that the Lamb shall "lead them unto....the waters" and compare the description in Ezekiel. It begins in Ezekiel 47:1 where waters issued out from under the threshhold of the house and ends in verse 12:

Ezekiel 47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

There is no indication anywhere in Paul's epistles that the body of Christ comes back to the earth to stand in a position like we see here. Notice what they are crying with a loud voice:

Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

Salvation to OUR GOD. That would be in contrast to the gods of the Gentiles which Israel always got involved with in old testament history. As a matter of fact the worst kind of idolatry, which includes sacrificing to idols and fornication, results in a strong warning to the seven churches back in chapters two and three. What happened in Israel's past will happen in the future, to the extent that the "man of sin," the antichrist will be worshipped. But when these people refer to OUR GOD it is not the same as what Paul wrote about the church the body of Christ:

Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Ephesians 1:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The church which is Christ's body has the privilege of calling God "our Father" and we pray to "our Father" but the angel who had the seal of the living God sealed the "servants of our God." (the 144,000) This blood washed multitude cries "salvation to our God..." What is totally missing from the entire book of Revelation is a reference to "our Father" by any of the people in it. In order to have the privilege of being called a son of God they must be the overcomers of Revelation 21:7.

Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Notice that John doesn't know WHO these people are in the book of Revelation. He evidently knew exactly who the 144,000 Jews were but when one of the elders asks him "what are" this blood washed multitude John doesn't know.

Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

Revelation 7:14 And 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.

Now at the time of Acts 15 the Lord revealed to Paul that he should go up to Jerusalem for the purpose of communicating unto them "that gospel that I preach among the Gentiles." He did that and notice the conclusion of that meeting:

Galatians 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

So John, the writer of the book of Revelation, along with Peter (Cephas) and James, all agreed that they would continue their ministry to the circumcision only, in other words to Israel. The message they preached was a different message than the message Paul preached. Their preaching concerned the salvation of Israel at the second coming of Christ while Paul preached justification by faith alone in the finished work of Christ. Israel's atonement is at the second coming, after the tribulation, while we in the body of Christ look back to the cross, trust Christ alone for salvation, and have now received the atonement. Because of our position in Christ we are also assured that we will be saved from the wrath of the future tribulation:

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

The atonement which Paul says that we already have received is what the people in the book of Revelation look forward to, and endure to the end for, at the second coming of Christ. That makes it clear that John was not an Apostle to the church, the body of Christ and never had a ministry to the body of Christ, since the body of Christ became predominately Gentile in Paul's lifetime. So there would be no way that this group could be the body of Christ, as some think, and John not be aware of it, if he was supposed to be preaching to or about the body of Christ. This was John's attitude about Gentiles:

3 John 1:5 Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;

3 John 1:6 Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well:

3 John 1:7 Because that for his name's sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

So with the attitude you see in 3 John and with the clear distinction being made between the brethren and the Gentiles in Matthew 25 and the difference like you see in Revelation chapter 7 where there is a plain contrast between the 144,000 Jews and the great multitude of Gentiles then you know that it cannot be the church, the body of Christ...nor can it pertain to the dispensation of the grace of God. It is contrary to:

2 Corinthians 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

And it is contrary to Paul's constant use of the word NEITHER when he describes the body of Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile. Instead of standing before the throne with palms in our hands, this is the way Paul describes the body of Christ:

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Now that is the position of every person in the body of Christ who has trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour, believing that his work on the cross is all sufficient to save us and keep us. Rather than us washing ourselves or our own robes we are washed, sanctified and justified by the Spirit. Ours is the "washing of water by the word." Positionally the body of Christ is seated with Christ in heavenly places. Now before the events of Revelation the event we call the Rapture will take place and the body of Christ will be BODILY caught up and delivered from this present evil world.

Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Philippians 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

So the conclusion has to be that all of the churches and all of the salvation you see in the book of Revelation is related to Israel as a nation and to Gentiles out of every nation and not to the body of Christ. It is all in a future tribulation setting. The book of Revelation does not contain the body of Christ nor the salvation doctrine to the body of Christ. You find our salvation, our doctrine and our destination in Paul's epistles, Romans through Philemon. There we find that Christ died for our sins and he was raised for our justification and that we are complete in him. Nothing lacking or to be added. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.