Q. In Revelation 7:14 the group of people are said to be those who came out of the “great tribulation” yet the 2nd half of the seven years hasn’t started. That is the same word Jesus used in Mt. 24:21 in the Greek when referring to the 2nd half of that seven year period. What do you make of that?
A. The Greek word translated “out of” in Rev. 7:14 means to be out of both the place and time of the event being referenced, in this case the Great Tribulation. What it means is that the large group dressed in white that John saw will arrive in Heaven after the church gets there, but before the Great Tribulation begins. Some try to say this group is the Church, but they can’t be because they don’t arrive in Heaven til Rev. 7, and their destiny is to serve God day and night in His Temple (Rev. 7:15). The church is the Bride of Christ who is seen in heaven in Rev. 5 and whose destiny is to reign with Him. (Rev. 5:10)
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/the-great-multitude-of-rev-7/
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More On Tribulation Martyrs
Q. I know you said the great multitude in heaven in Rev 7 are the martyrs taken out of the Great Tribulation (so they do not go through it). I can agree with that, but then what happens to the martyrs after that? Many will still die in the Great Tribulation. I know the Sheep and the Goats Judgment is for the survivors of the entire 70th week, so what happens to those who die in the Lord during the last half, the Great Tribulation?
A. In Rev. 20:4 John wrote, “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
These are the martyrs of the Great Tribulation. They will be resurrected at the time of the 2nd Coming and will reign with the Lord in some unspecified way during the Millennium. Notice that while they will reign with Christ they are not called kings. This is similar to the group from Rev. 7:9-17 who serve God in His Temple but are not called Priests.
Neither of these groups belong to the Church who alone are referred to as Kings and Priests. The tribulation martyrs will most likely assist the church in a subordinate role like the Levites of Old Testament times assisted the Priests.
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/more-on-tribulation-martyrs-2/
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Still More On The Martyrs
Q. I read your response to “More on Tribulation Martyrs” and I think your statement “notice that while they will reign with Christ they are not called kings” is a stretch. Rev 5:10 says (speaking of the church) “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Is the word “reign” used in Rev 20:4 and Rev 5:10 the same in Greek? If so, to say they are not kings because of omission is a weak argument.
A. The tribulation martyrs of Rev. 20:4 can’t be part of the Church, because the Church Age ends at the rapture, seven years earlier. And they can’t be Kings or Priests because only the Church is described that way. The word reign appears 162 times in the New Testament and refers to everyone who rules, whether men, raptured saints, or the Lord Himself.
Think of it like this. One of the dictionary meanings of the verb to reign is to exert dominating power or influence over an entity. Mayors reign over their cities, but they are not the same as governors. Governors reign over their states, but they are not the same as the President, who reigns over the nation. They all reign but they’re all different. The use of the same word to describe the role of each does not make them equivalent.
http://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/still-more-on-the-martyrs/
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