That’s not the whole picture as well.
Yes.
First Thess. 4:16,17 does not give us "the whole picture."
Later apostle John saw the great multitude all dressed in that white robe praising God, so you have to determine whether that represents the entirety of all Christians.
In this post I will not touch the nature of robes too much yet.
Chapter 7 consists of two visions inserted inbetween the opening of the sixth and seventh seals.
Its purpose is to assure us of two mighty divine preservations before the visions of world judgment are seen.
Verses 1 through 8 show the preservation of 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel through the 3.5 year time.
That is through the winds of God's judgments are unleashed during that period.
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After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree.
And I saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom authority was given to harm the earth and the sea,
Saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads. (Rev. 7:1-3)
Verses 9 through 17 is the second inserted vision about preservation. And here is where we come to the determination about
who it talks about.
"After these things I saw, and behold a great multitude . . . ".
We are told who they are by the questioning elder in verses 13-17.
And one of the elders answered, saying to me, These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?(v.13)
And I said to him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are those who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (v.14)
Whereas for a long time I thought
"the great tribulation" in verse14 should be the 3.5 years, I had a change of understanding.
Here
"the great tribulation" I would teach is the entire history of the nations on earth through
all ages from the fall of Adam.
It is through much tribulation ALL the Gentiles must enter into the kingdom of God.
Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)
The whole of human history through which all the nations pass is here called
"the great tribulation."
The number is enumerable -
After these things I saw, . . . a great multitude which no one could number, out of every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, . . . (v.9a) is of the totality of earth's history since Adam.
Compare:
Revelation 5:9 - And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain and have purchased for God by Your blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
Romans 11:25 - For I do not want you, brothers, to be ignorant of this mystery (lest you be wise in yourselves), that hardness has come upon Israel in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in;
Acts 15:14,19- Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take out from them a people for His name. (v.14)
Therefore I judge that we do not harass those from the Gentiles who are turning to God,
Whereas the preservation of the sealed Israelites pertains to the time of the 3.5 years -
Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the slaves of our God upon their foreheads (v.3)
the number "
which no one could number out of every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches in their hands." (v.9)
is of the totality of earth's history since Adam.
They are seen as raptured "standing before the Lamb" proving that through the total tribulation of human history
an gigantic number which no one could number enjoy an eternal feast of tabernacles. Palms branches in their hands
signify victory over tribulation they have undergone for the Lord's sake.
The second inserted vision also strongly implies that the rapture of the believers should begin to transpire before or at the sixth seal.
Chapter 7 assures us prior to the seven trumpet blasts:
1.) God will preserve a remnant of Israelites from the twelve tribes in the 3.5 years.
2.) Generally God will preserve through all of human history's great tribulation a crowd from all nations to enjoy
an eternal feast of tabernacles.
This white robe of righteousness is the priestly garment washed white as snow with the blood of Christ, it’s prophesized in Is. 1:18, also mentioned in the parable of the king’s feast, you gotta be dressed in the right way to attend the wedding.
There is no question that the white robes washed in the blood of the Lamb would mean Justification of their living through Christ's redemption.
But here is the problem with thinking robes cannot mean different things.
The marriage supper of the Lamb takes place in Heaven according to
Revelation 19.
After these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the power are of our God. (Rev. 19:1)
Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. (v.7)
If in the parable of the expelled guest means an unredeemed unbeliever is dismissed from the celebration because he arrives
presumptiously and naively ill-dressed
(Matt. 22:10) that would mean that an unbeliever was raptured to heaven. (?!?)
And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining at table.
But when the king came in to look at those reclining at table, he saw there a man who was not clothed with a wedding garment,
And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. (Matt. 22:10-12)
Do you beleive that both Christians and unbelievers will BOTH be raptured to heaven and THEN the Lord would expel those
unbelievers? I do not believe this. So before we talk more about how robes could have different meanings in the Bible, see
that the dismissed
"friend" of the King in the parable of
Matt. 22:1-13 should not be an unredeemed unbeliever taken to heaven.
Though he is dealt with harshly for arriving presumptiously unprepared, it does not say he goes to the eternal punishment.
It says he is sent to
"outer darkness." This is temporary unpleasant suffering of "loss" along the same concept of some
being saved yet so as through fire in First Corinthians 3:15b - ". . . he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
Let me speak to different meanings of robes in another post.
