The great multitude in Revelation 7:9-17 consists of the redeemed ones from the nations throughout all generations, who are innumerable and who constitute the church. That they are standing before the throne indicates that they have been raptured to the heavens, to the presence of God. Thus, the record in these verses describes in a general way the scene from the time of the rapture of the believers to their enjoyment in eternity.
Verse 14 says, “These are those who come out of the great tribulation.” The great tribulation here is different from the great tribulation mentioned in Matthew 24:21. The great tribulation here is tribulation in a general sense. All of God’s redeemed people have passed through certain tribulations, sufferings, persecutions, and afflictions. No Christian can avoid these things. In our spirit, we Christians are a people of enjoyment, but on the physical side, we are a suffering people. However, one day we shall come triumphantly out of the great tribulation and stand before the Lamb. The palm branches in the hands of the saints signify their victory over tribulation, which they have undergone for the Lord’s sake, and they are also a sign of satisfaction gained through being watered (Exo. 15:27). In eternity, the One who sits on the throne will tabernacle over them, overshadowing them with Himself as the One who is embodied in Christ (John 1:14). Moreover, they will not hunger or thirst any more, for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life.
As we have seen, Revelation 12 speaks of a wonderful woman who delivers a man-child. She is universal and full of light. A lampstand needs to shine, but this woman has no need of shining; she is altogether in the light. Every kind of light bearer—the sun, the moon, and the stars—is around her. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is underneath her feet, and on her head is a crown of twelve stars. With her there is no day and night, because both the light bearer of the day and the light bearers of the night are with her, just as in the New Jerusalem there is no day or night because God’s glory constantly shines within it (21:23). With this woman there is not one bit of darkness. I have seen the church in this kind of condition. The church is the shining lampstand, but in some places the church eventually becomes like this wonderful woman. How we thank the Lord that in these days the church is shining in this way.
If we have the spiritual eyes, we can see the situation of the church today. The church is a wonderful “woman” in our locality who will deliver a man-child to bring in the kingdom age and rule over all the nations. This picture is better than a thousand words. If we see this wonderful woman, we can understand where the church is and what the church is. This woman is universal. Likewise, we are in our locality, but we are universal. We are practical in order to be real in our city, but our nature is not of our city. Therefore, we do not use rock music, dramas, dancing, or anything else of this evil age. We use only that which is universal, bright, and full of light. This is the nature of the church as the testimony of Jesus today. The church is not only a shining lampstand. It also has the shining of the sun, the moon, and the stars. If we need light, we can come to the church. Many of us can testify that when we came to the church, it was as if the stars were over us, the moon was underneath our feet, and we were clothed, wrapped up, with the sun. Therefore, we could not escape. In this aspect, the church is not merely a lampstand, a light bearer; it is clothed with the universal light bearers. The light is concentrated in the church; outside the church there is no light.
For this reason, this is the place that the dragon hates. Before this universal woman is the great dragon ready to devour the man-child she brings forth (12:3-4). This indicates a spiritual battle. A dragon is greater than a serpent. This shows that Satan hates this woman with her man-child and will do everything he can to damage, swallow, and devour them. However, he cannot do it. Instead, he is cast down from the heaven to the earth by the very man-child who is delivered by the woman. We have the assurance that the man-child will be produced in the proper churches. We cannot expect Catholicism or the denominations to produce the man-child. Only a wonderful woman in light can deliver the man-child who will cast Satan down from the heavens to the earth. Eventually, the kingdom, the authority, of Christ will be ushered in by the man-child delivered by this bright woman. This is the testimony of Jesus.
The church is also a farm to grow Christ (1 Cor. 3:9). I was in Christianity for many years, but I had no growth there, because I had no life. A person can sit in the pews of certain denominations for many years, but year after year he will remain the same. However, if we attend the church meetings for only a few weeks, something within us will begin to grow and sprout. If we were all here according to our condition in the past, we would be a room full of locusts, scorpions, frogs, snakes, and beasts, but instead, many are here today as glowing and shining persons. It is the life within us that makes us this way. Something within us is growing, because the church is God’s farm. Some on this farm will be the firstfruits. They will ripen first because they are growing more quickly. They are not defiled, and they follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:4). The condition for growing quickly is to follow the Lamb. Wherever He goes, we follow Him, and by following Him we grow more quickly. Then we will be the firstfruits. Nevertheless, even those who grow more slowly will still ripen to be the harvest.
The function of a farm is to produce food. The church is the place that God needs to produce food. When many of us were in the denominations, we received no food. In the church, however, there is much food. In the local churches today there is no dearth or famine. Rather, every local church is full of food. Recently, in a certain locality the sisters fed some of us up to five meals a day. Every meal was full of the riches of America, and I was fully nourished. The churches today are like this. Because message after message is one “dish” after another, we all need a large capacity and a strong digestion. This illustrates the aspect of the church as the farm to produce every kind of proper food.