Who is in heaven right now? Well God is. The Father is seated on the throne. The Son, or the Lamb is there. There are also angels in heaven. They worship God singing, “holy, holy, holy” to God our Creator in chapter 4. Then in chapter 5, they worship the Lamb and sing “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.” The Lamb opens the seals and horses ride out to bring judgment on the earth in chapter 6. But where are the people?
In this chapter, John sees 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. This is the perfect number, 12x12x1000 of God’s servants. Then he sees a great multitude from every nation. Heaven is not about exalting a particular country, ethnicity, or language from Earth. All are represented. They wear white robes. One of the elders asked John who they were. We might have answered as John did, “You tell me.” This great crowd has come out of a period of terrible tribulation. They have suffered greatly but they are safe in the presence of the Father.
This picture gives us a glimpse of what it is like now for our loved ones in heaven. Think about our Christian friends who suffered greatly in this life. Paul tells us that they are absent from the body and present with the Lord. What are they doing? They are worshiping God. God is sheltering them with his presence. They are not hungry. They are not thirsty. They don’t get sunburns. As we approach another Houston summer, it is nice to think that we will not be hot in heaven! Heat is reserved for another place. You don’t want to go there! Jesus is the center of heaven. He is our Shepherd. Our good Shepherd leads his people to springs of living water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. John will say the same thing in Revelation 21. When we all live with God in the New Jerusalem that has come down to the New Earth, we will never be sad again. This is good news. Hold on to hope. The worst things in this world are not the last things. The best is yet to come.
