Death, Salvation, and Worship
Following Jesus is
9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and the testimony they had given. 10They cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, the one who is holy and true, how long until you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” 11So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.—Revelation 6:9-11
Not Following Jesus is
12Then I saw him open the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred; the sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair; the entire moon became like blood; 13the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind; 14the sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up; and every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17because the great day of their wrath has come! And who is able to stand?” —Revelation 6:12-17
God Keeps
After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. 2Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, 3“Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of the sealed:
144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites:
512,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
612,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
712,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
812,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.—Revelation 7:1-8
His Own Worship
9After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
Salvation belongs to our God,
who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!
11All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying,
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.—Revelation 7:9-12
It Is
13Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?”
14I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me: These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night in his temple.
The one seated on the throne will shelter them:
16They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any scorching heat.
17For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.—Revelation 7:13-17