A Biblical Perspective on Race (part 5)

Revelation 7:9-17

Up to this point we have looked at the origin of the "races" and the role of "race" in our salvation. Genesis shows that we have a common ancestry in Adam and Noah. The division came due to the confusion of the languages at Babel. From there, it was a matter of genetics under God's sovereign guidance that led certain cultures to have traditional complexions; but what about our complexions in Heaven?

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After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 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 dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 7:9-17

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For clarity, this passage is not speaking about all the people in Heaven. It is actually only speaking about a small segment of the people in Heaven. These, according to verse 14, are the ones who were martyred during the tribulation period by the Antichrist. For their willingness to stand faithful, even to the point of dying, they received white robes (v. 9, 13). Also, because of the suffering they endured, there was the assurance that they would never hunger or suffer from exposure (v. 16).

As John looks at the crowd, he notices that they are a great multitude. We do not know what this number might be, but it is a lot. This crowd is made up of people from every nation, tribe, people group, and language. You might wonder, "So what? Why is this significant?" That would be a great question. Why did God chose to include this in the scriptures? Is it simply to let us know that a lot of people are going to be saved?

I believe that is part of the answer, but I also think there is something else we can learn about our glorified bodies in Heaven from this passage. As John looked at these saints, he recognized that they came from every possible division of people on Earth. He saw the Africans as Africans. He saw the Romans as Romans. He saw the Europeans as Europeans. He saw the Jews as Jews. He probably saw people that he had never seen before. Apparently we will look very similar to how we look now.

If earth is filled with the creativity of God in the complexions and physical features of humanity, why would Heaven demonstrate any less of this creativity? If anything, it should be more perfectly displayed. What John saw is that Heaven was not segregated by any way in which people segregate in this world. Every possible people group was seen standing before the throne of God in worship.

Those things that were once important to us will be forgotten. Those things that once divided us will be forgotten. They will seem insignificant when we stand in the presence of our Savior. There will be worship, gratitude, and unity that this world could only dream of. And, as we stated before, this is only a sample of the people that will be in Heaven in Eternity.

Father, Babel forced us to segregate based on language. Since then, we have found all kinds of ways to further segregate ourselves. We thank You that in Heaven there will no longer be any kind of segregation. There will be perfect unity in You. We are also grateful that Your creativity and variety will still be on full display in Your people in Heaven. May we see people like You see people.