Christians of all ages have cherished the book of Revelation for its pictures of heaven, the reward of the overcomer. They have naturally viewed the heavenly visions in terms of the future life with Jesus. And they have let the future irradiate the present. But there is an even stronger relationship between the heavenly visions and the earthly life of the believer. There is evidence that John intended these visions to portray the present life of the victorious Christian. In the midst of tribulation, assailed by the demonic hordes from the abyss, the believer even now stands with the great multitude before the throne, praising God for His great salvation. Just as the fourth gospel repeatedly describes eternal life as a present reality, the Apocalypse paints picture after picture of the saints experiencing the glories of heaven while they are still engaged in the conflicts of earth. 

The heavenly visions (see chap. 7; 11:1; 14:1-5; 15:2-4; 19:1-8, 14) have been  interpreted as proleptic views of the saints in glory after the second advent¹ or of  martyrs whose  souls  went 
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¹George E. Ladd in A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972) comments on 14:1-5 as follows: "This vision is not actually realized until chapters 20-22, but John gives his readers anticipatory visions of what is ahead" (pp. 188-9; see also 118). For similar views, see G. R. Beasley-Murray, The Book of Revelation, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974) pp. 222, 233; W. Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1967) pp. 185, 192; R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Revelation (Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub. House, 1963) pp. 252, 262, 420-1; Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971) pp. 115-9, 175; Robert H. Mounce, The Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977) pp. 171, 267, 286, 336-7; F. D. Nichol,ed., Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (hereafter called SDABC) 7:784-5, 825, 836, 871.) 

²The idea that the heavenly throng consists of martyrs who reached heaven by dying is propounded by G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper & Row, 1966)  pp. 95, 178-9, 198, 233-4; R. H. Charles, A critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1920) 1:202-203; Martin Kiddle The Revelation of St. John (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1963) pp. 139, 262-3, 266-7, 376, 388; Ray Summers, Worthy Is the Lamb (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951)  pp. 184-5. The Dispensationalist view is that the 144,000 are a Jewish remnant on earth who are protected from tribulation while the great multitude are martyrs from the Gentiles who reach heaven by their death; see John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966)  pp. 143-6, 149, 214-5, 227, 268; Ford C. Ottman, The Unfolding of the Ages (Fincastle: Scripture Truth Book Co., 1905)  pp. 185-8, 332, 358-9.

³This is seen in bits and pieces but not as a consistent system in some commentaries. Henry B.Swete in The Apocalypse of St. John (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1977) approaches a symbolic rather than literal view in his comment on 7:9: "life before the Throne of God" is "life wherever spent if it is dominated by a joyful consciousness of the Divine Presence and Glory." Serving day and night in the temple is the consecration of all life to the service of God, p. 100; see also 104, 177. By far the most consistent proponent of the spiritual view (realized eschatology) is Paul S. Minear, I Saw a New Earth: an Introduction to the Visions of the Apocalypse (Washington: Corpus Books, 1968). His views will be discussed later. 

In the book of Revelation John pictures a tripartite universe consisting of heaven, earth, and sea.⁴ These terms should not be understood in a 1iteral, geographic sense, but as ) symbolic of three realms of people. We will attempt to show that the sea with its inhabitants represents the vast heathen world, earth-dwellers represent pseudo-Christians, and heaven-dwellers the saints. While it is only the last category that illuminates the subject of realized eschatology, the other two are needed to complete the picture. 

The sea in the ancient world was considered the realm of the demonic. The dark waters of chaos (tehom) that covered the earth in Gen. 1:2 constitute the abyss (abyssos) which is the home of the dragon and the evil forces which menace earth and sky (Ps. 74:13-14; Isa. 27:1; Rev. 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1). The waters of the deep were thought to lie beneath the earth and encircle the habitable world in the form of a coiled serpent, threatening the earth.⁵ "The sea became the embodiment of the sphere of disaster. In the sea the power of water hostile to God and men opposes the people of Israel. The sea is the habitat of the Dragon who is God's enemy, and of the four demons in the form of beasts in Daniel's vision (Dan. 7; cf. Rev. 13:1)."⁶ The sea is not only the dragon's domain; it represents the vast hordes of people under his rule. Rev. 17:15 states, The 
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⁴See 5:13 – every creature in heaven, earth, under the earth, ana sea praises God; 10:6, God created heavens, earth, and sea and all in them, cf. 14:7; Rev 12:12, heavens rejoice while there is a woe to earth and sea; 21:1, God creates new heaven and earth with no more sea. Sometimes a fourth element is added--"under the earth" (5:13) , "fountains of waters," 14:7. 

⁵Foster R. McCurley, Ancient Myths and Biblical Faith (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983), p. 21; Othmar Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms {New York: Seabury Press, 1978) , p. 21. 

⁶ O. Bocher, "thalassa," New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Colin Brown, ed., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979) III:982-985). 

The sea and its creatures, however, are mentioned only incidentally in Revelation. The main body of the text deals with the two other realms, earth and heaven, which go together as a unit. In ancient Near Eastern thought, the heavens were the domain of the Deity, lighting the earth with their glory. The earth was thus the realm of light and life. Israel (along with every other nation) thought of itself as inhabiting the center of the earth, while other nations were at its edges (Ps. 22:27; 59:13). Each nation thought of its temple-mountain as the primeval hill that had emerged from chaos and was the foundation of heaven and earth (Ps. 24:1-3).⁸ Since John used the language of the tripartite universe, it would be natural to assume that he thought of earth as the realm of God's favored people, the place of light and goodness. But to John the earth was neither good, nor a mixture of good and evi1; he describes it almost uniformly as evil.⁹
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⁷The Old Testament frequently compares the heathen nations to the waters of the sea (Isa. 17:12-13; Jer. 51:36 (Babylon compared to the sea); Job 9:8). 

⁸Keel, pp. 30, 55, 113. 

⁹The only good thing the earth does is to help the woman by swallowing the flood from the serpent's mouth (12:16). The "trees and grass of the earth" apparently refer to good people, the sealed (7:1,3; 8:7; 9:4). The "kings of the earth" who bring 

Furthermore, John consistently refers to "those who dwell upon earth" in a pejorative sense. The expression oi katoikountes epi tys gys literally means those who are housed on earth, or as Charles suggests, those who are at home in an evil world (1:90). The earth-dwellers  are not  protected during the "hour of trial" (3:10),  they  shed  the  blood  of martyrs (6:10), they  are  recipients  of  the  trumpet  woes  (8:13), they rejoice at the death of the two witnesses (11:10), they worship  the  beast and marvel at it (13:8, 12, 17:8), they are deceived by the false 
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their glory to the New Jerusalem must be good, but this is after the destruction of evil (21:24).

Exegetes are divided on whether "the harvest of the earth" (14:15) is good or evil. Kiddle (pp. 285, 289) sees both the harvest and vintage in vv. 14-20 as a judgment of wrath because of the source in Joel 3:13; the elect are already gathered in Rev. 14:1-5 (pp. 285, 289). Caird (189-191) believes both the harvest and vintage refer to the righteous: the NT consistently refers to the harvest as the ingathering of the righteous (Matt. 9:37f.; Mark 4:29; Luke 10:2; John 4:35-38, while Matt. 13:24-43 includes both righteous and wicked). The vintage of blood is a reference to the blood of martyrs. Swete (pp. 189-192) sees the harvest as applying to the righteous and the vintage to the wicked.

¹⁰Minear has an excellent analysis of earth in Revelation, as primarily that realm which has been corrupted and destroyed by false loyalties – the dominion of the beasts (6:8; 13:11) , filled with their abominations (17:5), embracing peoples and nations who are deceived into worshiping the devil – the realm on which God inflicts his punishments (I Saw a Nev Earth, pp. 264-5}.

However, earth-dwellers may be identified more specifically as false Christians. The book of Revelation describes a pseudo-religious system personified as the beast, false prophet, harlot, and Babylon, to which the earth-dwellers are loyal (13:3, 8, 12; 17:2, 5). These powers are a parody of genuine Christianity. The beast, slain and revived and adored (13:3) , mimics the Lamb who was slain, resurrected, and adored (5:9, 11). The false prophet with lamb-like features, performs charismatic miracles (13:11, 13) in imitation of true prophets (11:5). The harlot (17:4) is a parody of the Church (12:1) Babylon is a parody of Jerusalem (17:3-5; 21:10). John's concern is not with Christians vs. heathen, but with faithful vs. non-faithful Christians.¹²

The third realm, heaven, is dominated by the throne upon which God and the Lamb sit, surrounded by elders, living creatures, and myriads of angels (chapters 4 and 5). These hosts of heaven praise the Lamb for redeeming a kingdom of priests from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (5:9). These saints appear in heaven repeatedly throughout the chapters that follow. It is our contention that they are identified as "those who tabernacle in heaven" (12:12, 13:6),  and  that  they  make  up  the  third group  of   humanity,   in   contrast   to   the   sea-   and 
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¹¹Mounce, 260. It is "the technical term for unredeemed mankind in Revelation," Kiddle, 119. The term describes "only the inhabitants of earth, those earthbound sons of the old Adam whose spiritual home is the great city," Caird, 167. "It refers to antichristic forces, as in the Qumran Thanksgiving Hymn in which 'dwellers on earth' are opposed to the 'army of the holy ones, the congregation of the sons of heaven,'" M. Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls (8:19-36)  p. 404f, quoted in Minear 261-2. See also Beasley-Murray 101, Charles 1:90, Ladd 105, SDA BC 7:759.

¹²John's cutting description of false professors brings him within the succession of the great prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, whose vocation was to make God's people aware of their own apostasy (Minear, p. 211).

The expression ouranoi kai oi en autois skynountes (12:12) uses the verb form of skyny, a tent or tabernacle.¹³ Tents in Scripture apply to human dwellings rather than angelic.¹⁴ More significant for this study is the tabernacle imagery where God dwelt with humanity. The Hebrew word for tent, 'ahel, was used to describe the place where God met with His people (Ex. 36:26). God condescended to inhabit a human dwelling. 

The verb skynoo (to dwell, tent, or tabernacle) is found only in the Johannine corpus. Outside of the texts in question it uniformly means either God dwelling in humanity or humanity dwelling in God – a favorite theme of the fourth gospel (e.g., John 15:4; 17:21). The first occurrence of skynoo is John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and tabernacled in us." God personally inhabited human skin, as the OT Shekinah dwelt in a tent of skins. In a broader sense God dwells with His people (Rev. 21:2-3). John first saw the holy city descending and then heard the meaning: "The tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them." The city – the Bride, symbol of the people of God – becomes His tabernacle. Thus when God is said to skynoun it means He dwells in His people. Rev. 7:15 reverses the figure – "The one sitting upon the throne will spread his tent over them."  Instead  of  God  dwelling  in  His  people, the  people dwell  in  God. Their  temple  is  God  and  the  Lamb (21:22; cf. John 2:19-22 
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¹³For a summary of the use of skyny and skynoo in Scripture, see Colin Brown, ed., Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Zondervan, 1978, s.v. "Tent, tabernacle," 3:811-815).

14The patriarchs and children of Israel dwelt in tents (Gen. 12:8; Num. 19:14) and celebrated the feast of tabernacles every year (Lev. 25:1; 2 Pet. 1:13). Peter wanted to build three tabernacles for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah (Luke 9:33).

The meaning of the first ambiguous text – "Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein!" (ouranoi kai oi en autois skynountes) 12:12 – now becomes clear. This should be understood in the sense of 7:15 – God spreads his tent over His people, therefore they are the ones tenting in heaven. Skyny andskynoo are used of God and his people, not of angels. That the saints dwell in heaven is implied in verse 1 of the same chapter where the woman, representing the church, is seen in heaven. Even though she is on earth giving birth to the Messiah and fleeing from the dragon into the wilderness, she still belongs to the heavenly realm. 

Rev. 13:6 also becomes clear: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, blaspheming his name and his tabernacle, those tabernacling in heaven (tyn skynyn 'autou, tous 'en to ourano skynountas). God's tabernacle is His people, as in 21:2-3 God dwells in the city-tabernacle which symbolizes His people.¹⁵ The passage, then, pictures the beast attacking God and His people. This harmonizes with its Danielic source which describes the little horn exalting itself to the host of heaven and the Prince of the host (Dan. 8:10-11). "The  host  of  heaven" is interpreted  in v. 24 as "the people of the saints." Even in Daniel the saints belong to the heavenly realm. More evidence to support 
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¹⁵Caird asserts that when John uses skyny or skynoo "it is God dwelling with men that he means (7: 15; 21: 3)" (p. 167). Swete sees tous skynountous as possibly "the Church viewed as ideally installed in the epourania  (p.166; cf. Mounce p. 255). Ladd sees the connection between Rev. 13:6 and Dan. 8:10 – an attack of Antichrist on "the host of heaven," hence "those who dwell in heaven" are those whose citizenship is in heaven (p. 180). Minear describes the "opposing community" to the earth-dwellers as the heaven-dwellers, those who in this life "dwell in heaven before the throne of God, shepherded by their King (Rev. 5:9-13; 12:12; 13:6) where they present their songs and prayers (5:9; 14:3)" (p. 263).

Another text confirms that John thinks of the saints as heaven- dwellers, just as the wicked are earth-dwellers. In Rev. 18:20 the defeated allies of Babylon chant the following dirge: "Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, (ourane, kai oi agioi kai oi apostoloi kai oi prophytai) for God has given judgment for you against her." While it is possible to translate the passage, "O heaven, and the saints and apostles and prophets," it makes better sense for saints to be in apposition to heaven – "O heaven, that is, the saints, apostles, and prophets." This is because all the nouns are grouped together in the one word, you – "God has given judgment for you against [Babylon]," There are not two groups here--heavenly beings on one hand and saints, apostles and prophets on the other. God has given judgment for all of them together – you – as opposed to Babylon. In whose favor does God give judgment? Angels? The OT source states clearly, "judgment was given for the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:22). God is not here vindicating angels, but saints. Hence it seems best to interpret heaven here as the saints.¹⁶ 
It thus seems that John is consistent in dividing the world into three spheres, sea and earth

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16Lenski comments that since ourane is singular and the three nouns that follow are plural, and since they are lumped together in the one word you, it follows that "heaven" refers to the three groups, "the saints," etc. "The voice does not call upon the angels to celebrate, for they have never been attacked by this. . . whore. In 12:12 'those tabernacling in the heavens' are the ones now called, 'the saints'" (p. 529).

Horizontally, John visualizes two hosts or armies confronting each other, one in the holy city and one outside. At times one host invades the other. What makes this possible is that the holy city, New Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven (tys kainys' Ierousalym y katabainousa ek tou ouranou, 3:12), making it vulnerable to attack by the heathen. 

In chapter 11 John is told to measure the temple (ton naon) and those who are worshiping there (the saints as seen in chapter 7:15). But the court and the holy city are given over to the heathen who trample them for forty-two months. In this astonishing picture the hosts of evil trample the city and the temple precincts clear up to the naos, the sacred shrine. The holy city in coming down to earth (3:12) has become subject to invasion by enemy forces. The imagery here is from Daniel's little horn which tramples the sanctuary and people of God (Dan. 8:13). The explanation for these words is given in the succeeding verses – God's witnesses are persecuted for a period of 1260 days after which they are slain and lie unburied in the streets of the city which is Sodom, Egypt, and old Jerusalem put together.

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¹⁷This way of classifying humanity is also found in Ethiopic Enoch where the wicked are called 'the sons of earth" and the righteous "the sons of heaven" (1 Enoch 100:6; 101:1; 102:3). 

It is in chapters 12 to 14 that heaven and earth are superimposed most obviously over the landscape of Palestine. The wilderness where the woman flees from the dragon on eagles' wings to be nourished by God (12:14) is a clear allusion to the wilderness where Israel fled from Pharaoh on eagles' wings to be nourished by God (Ex. 19:4; ch. 16)--the Sinai desert. It is here that Elijah fled from Jezebel to be fed by angels (1 Kings 19:6), and where God promised to comfort His people (Hos. 2:14). 

At the end of the wilderness period, the dragon stations himself on the seashore, the Judean coastline. As he stands there, a beast rises from the [Great] sea while another rises from the earth to join him (13:12, 14). These three powers exercise control over all the earth-dwel1ers (vv. 7-8, 12, 14). Together they attack God and His tabernacle, the heaven-dwellers (vv. 6-7). Chapter 14 indicates that these are headquartered on Mount zion with the Lamb (14:1).¹⁸ Their numbers, 144,000, enumerated by tribes (7:4-8) suggest a military census (1 Chron. 4-7) of soldiers abstaining from 
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¹⁸Mt. Zion, though originally outside the temple precincts, came to be identified with the temple, as in the Psalms where Yahweh is said to dwell on the mountain of Zion (Pss. 48:2; 74:2; 84:7) (see IDB 4:959). 

Some commentators see two locations in this passage – an earthly Mt. Zion with the 144,000 on it, and the heavenly temple from which comes singing which only the 144,000 can learn (Charles 2:7; Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Invitation to the Book of Revelation (Garden City: Image Books, 1981)  p. 138; Swete, p. 177; Ladd, p. 190). They think that the voice from heaven, must be beyond Mount Zion. However, Mount Zion and heaven could both be beyond John's location; from his perspective they could both be the same place). They also think the harpers are in heaven, singing a song which the 144,000 imitate. However, the harpers are identified in 15:2-3 as the 144,000 themselves. Hence it seems more likely that the passage points to one location and one group of singers. Mounce points out that it is unlikely that heavenly beings would sing about salvation since they have never been redeemed (p. 176). 

The eschatological battle is traditionally described as occurring outside Jerusalem (Joel 3:2, 12; Zech. 14:1-5). This scene of the final conflict – the beast and his armies attacking the saints on Mount Zion – is the same as Daniel's – "He [the king of the north] shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain (i.e., the Mediterranean and Mount Zion, Dan. 11:45). Whether Mt. Zion is in heaven or on earth is a moot question, since the Antichrist powers invade heaven (Dan. 8:10-11; Rev. 12:3; 13:6) and the holy city descends to earth (3:12). In any case the two opposing communities are pictured as inside the city and outside the city.²¹

Chapter 20 expands the battle symbolism of chapter 14 by describing the forces of evil as they surround the camp or barracks of the saints, which is the holy city. The heathen from the four corners 
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¹⁹Caird , pp. 178-9.

²⁰There is some debate as to what city is meant here, Babylon or Jerusalem. Riddle (pp. 294-5) favors "Babylon the great" which was just mentioned in v. 8 of the chapter. It is more likely Jerusalem, however, since the judgment of the wicked traditionally takes place in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat" outside Jerusalem (Joel 3:2, 12-13, the source of Rev. 14:14-20; see also Zech 14:2). See Charles, 1125; Swete, 192. 

²¹There is also a reverse symbolism – the city of Babylon--to which the people of God are outsiders. Thus Caird writes: 

In John's figurative language [Christians] are not among those whom he calls inhabitants of earth, nor do they have their home in the city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt. They have obeyed the call to come out from her so as not to participate in her sins (18:4). Their home is in the wilderness, where they live under God's care" (12:6, 14) (p. 98). 

John's concept of two communities – insiders and outsiders – comes to light again in the epilogue of his book. 

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood (22:14-15).

Minear demonstrates clearly that the dividing line between insiders and outsiders is not the church vs. the world or Christian vs. non-Christian--it is between faithful and faithless Christians. The sins listed in 21:8 and 22:15 (cowardice, faithlessness, pollution, murder, fornication, idolatry, lying) mark the boundary between the two communities, and these sins are all found within the seven churches. These verses clearly speak to those who have made a confession of loyalty to Christ. Adultery presupposes an earlier wedding covenant; cowardice and infidelity assume the requirement of courage and faith; blasphemy and idolatry indicate a revulsion from former loyalty to God. In the congregations to which John wrote were Christians whose true name was Balaam and Jezebel; idolatry and adultery were inside the church. Some had robes washed white in the Lamb's blood; others wore the scarlet robes of the harlot. Some had no deceit in their mouths; others believed the lie that they were rich but were poor. That is why John emphasized the terrible reality of the wrath of God against His professed people.²²  If they did not maintain loyalty to God, they were His enemies – not heaven-dwellers, but earth-dwellers. 
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²²Minear, pp. 218-221.

How do human beings become heaven-dwellers? Swete, in commenting on 7:9, notes that the presence-chamber of God is crowded with a vast assemblage of people who by some unexplained process were transported to heaven (p. 100). What is the unexplained process? There appear to be five ways by which mortals reach heaven.

1. By translation, without seeing death, as Enoch and Elijah.

2. By bodily assumption after death, in what might be called "special resurrection," as in the traditions regarding Moses and the Virgin Mary,²³ and Jesus Himself. Rev. 11:11-12 fits this model: the two witnesses, after lying dead for three and a half days, were revived by a breath of life from God and went up to heaven in a cloud. 

3. By the ascent of the soul to heaven after the body dies. since the great multitude came out of great tribulation and then are seen in heaven, it is assumed that they got there by martyrdom. This is the basis for the widespread view that the saints in heaven are martyrs, even when not so identified in the text.²⁴

4. By the second coming of Christ, when the faithful dead are raised and the living translated to heaven (1 Thess. 4:16-17). The presence of the righteous in heaven assumes that the coming of Christ has occurred or is being viewed proleptically.²⁵ The problem here is that many of the visions in

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23Assumption of the Virgin attributed to Melito of Sardis, bull issued Nov. 1, 1950 by Pope Pius XII, cited in IDB 3:293.

24See Caird, pp. 94-5; Charles, 1:202-3; Riddle, pp. 139, 262-3; 266-7; Ladd, pp. 117, 204; Summers, pp. 184-5; Walvoord, pp. 214, 268.

25Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation (Mountain View: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1912) , p. 470; Desmond Ford, Crisis! A Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Newcastle: Desmond Ford Publications, 1982) p. 393; Ladd, pp. 188-9. 

5. By a figurative experience with God. In this view the saints make a spiritual ascent to heaven while still engaged in the tribulations of earthly life.26 The idea that the saints reign spiritually with Christ during the tribulations of earth is suggested by four lines of evidence: 

a. John's classification of people as earth-dwellers (opponents of God) and heaven-dwellers (worshipers of God) . 

b. His distinction between righteous and wicked as those inside the city and those outside the city. 

c. The contexts of the heavenly visions, which indicate that the struggle with Antichrist is still in progress and the second coming of Christ has not occurred. 

d.  A series of present participles which describe the saints as "those who are coming out of great tribulation" (not have come, 7:14), "those who are worshiping in the temple" during the 42 months of trampling by the heathen (11:1-2); those who "are following the Lamb" while the rest of the world worships the beast (14:4, cf. 13:8); those who "are conquering" the beast and its image (not have conquered) (15:2-3) .If the present participles are to be taken seriously, it appears that the saints are very much engaged in the conflicts of earth while they appear to be in heaven.

With this overview of the two communities dwelling in heaven and on earth, in the city and outside, it is possible to trace John's picture of the reign of the saints during the great tribulation. 
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26Minear interprets the whole book of Rev. in terms of  realized eschatology, even in the eschatological section (chaps. 19-22) .  He sees the two communities of christic and antichristic forces always co-existing in this world. The decisive battle in which Satan was vanquished was at the cross. Since that time the followers of the Lamb have lived in the "new heaven and new earth" while the beast-worshipers dwell in the old. Other interpreters have seen only in bits and pieces what appears to be a consistent system in the Apocalypse.

I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 1:9). 

The "heaven-dweller" motif begins with Jesus' promise to the church of Philadelphia – a church which bears a strong resemblance to the 144,000 ²⁷ – "1 will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth" (3:10) .How does He keep them? He says, "Behold, I have set before you an open door" (v. 8) – which is described in 4:1-2 as the open door into the throne-room of heaven. They triumph over tribulation through their access to the throne.

John's vision of the throne-room introduces "one seated on the throne," surrounded by four living creatures, 24 elders, and myriads of angels (chaps. 4 & 5) celebrating the victory apparently just 
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27The similarities between the church of Philadelphia and the 144,000 are as follows: 
 

Philadelphia Saved from "hour of trial" Never go out of God's temple  3:12  "1 will write on him the name of my God: 3:12

144,000 and Great Multitude Come out of great tribulation 7:14  Serve day and night in temple 7:15  Have the Father's name written on their foreheads 14:1

Rev. 7, introducing the great tribulation, is in two sections, vv. 1-8, which describe the 144,000, and vv. 9-17, which describe the great multitude. A key to understanding this chapter is to determine the relationship between the groups. Some think the 144,000 are Christian Jews preserved through the tribulation, while the great multitude are Gentiles who will be martyred.²⁸ This view runs into difficulty because of its literalness.²⁹ Others take the position that the 144,000 are Christians who experience the final tribulation while the great multitude constitute the faithful of all ages.³⁰ This is not true to the text, however, since it is the great multitude (those clothed in white robes) who go through the great tribulation (vv. 9, 13-14). A number of scholars believe that the two groups are the same, the first being the church militant on earth facing tribulation, and the second being the church triumphant after it has come through the tribulation.³¹ This has merit, but is not totally faithful to the text, as we shall see. 
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28This is the Dispensationalist view as in Walvoord, 142-5; Ottman, 176; 186-8. 

29The number is arbitrary and too small to be realistic. Israel in the New Testament is no longer literal, but symbolic of the church (Matt. 21:43; Gal. 3:29; Rom. 2:28-29). The tribes are listed in a very irregular manner, and are non-existent today. 

30SDA BC 7:785; Smith,  pp. 471-3; Mounce,  p. 164. 

31See Beasley-Murray, 140-1; Caird, 94-5; Charles, 1:199-201; Riddle, 138-9; Ladd, 116-7; Lenski, 245, 251-252, 255; Swete, 99. To this partial list Charles adds many names of earlier scholars, including Wellhausen and Moffatt (1:189-90) . 

 Although the two passages seem in violent contrast to each other, it soon becomes apparent that the seven elements are equivalent. The destructive winds about to blow could well be symbolic of the great tribulation. What John heard and what he saw can refer to the same thing. (He heard a voice like a trumpet but saw a son of man [1:10, 12]; he heard about a Lion but saw a Lamb [5:5-6] – both the same, but described in contradictory terms.32) John heard the number of the sealed – 144,000 – but when he looked he found that it was actually a great multitude which no one could number. "Israel" really means the faithful from all nations. Twelve tribes could represent "all tribes and peoples and tongues." "Sealed" could well be explained by the white robes. It appears that John, with a striking literary device, is giving two views of the same people: Israel in all its perfect symmetry is actually a vast multitude from all peoples of the earth. 

Supporting evidence that the 144,000 are the same as the great multitude is found in the fact that John describes them interchangeably throughout the book.³³
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32Caird observes that what John hears is the symbol, whereas what he sees is the reality (p. 96). 
33The song of the elders (5:9) assumes their identity – the ransomed ones (144,000 in 14:1) are from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (the great multitude of 7:9). The promises to Philadelphia (3:12) are fulfilled to both groups – they never go out of the temple (the great multitude in 7:15) and they have the name of God written on their foreheads (the 144,000 in 14:1). Both groups follow the Lamb (the great multitude in 7:17; the 144,000 in 14:4); both attest that God's ways are true and just (the 144,000 in 15:3; the great multitude in 19:2); both have a voice "like the sound of many waters" and like thunder (the 144,000 in 14:2; the great multitude in 19:6). Both stand before the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures (the great multitude in 7:9, 11; the 144,000 in 14:1, 3). (This is based upon the assumption that the victors on the sea of glass in 15:2-3 are the 144,000 of 14:1-5 [they play harps and sing a special song], and that the great multitude [oxlou pollou] of 19:1, 6 is the same as the great multitude in 7:9-17 [they sing the song of salvation before the throne].)

34Several commentators have struggled with the present participle, oi erxomenoi. Lenski says it simply gives character without reference to time (p. 260). Charles takes it as an imperfect (incomplete, linear?) participle, indicating that the martyrs are in process of arriving in heaven from persecution (1:213). Mounce thinks it should be understood in a general sense to mean "such as come" or more vividly, "they that have just come" (p. 173). Caird thinks it gives the impression that the great ordeal is a prolonged process (p. 102). All of these explanations miss the point of the parallel present participles in the subsequent passages and of John's general scheme of depicting the saints as reigning in heaven during the tribulations of earth. 

35Because the great multitude are seen in heaven, the assumption is that they were martyred and reached heaven by dying. "Martyrdom is a sure gate to salvation" (Kiddle,  p. 376). See

If the saints are still in tribulation (under a death decree as will be seen in chapter 13:15), then their loud crying – "Salvation belongs to our God!" – becomes a plea for deliverance (7:10) .But there is nothing frantic about their cry – it is a hymn of praise. And the song of the angels reminds them that God has the "power and might" to deliver them (v. 10). 

For the heaven-dwellers tribulation is robbed of its terrors. They stand "before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple" (verse 15). Temple (naos) here is the innermost shrine – the Holy and Most Holy Places – where only the priests may enter. The saints are indeed priests (1:6; 5:10), clothed in priestly white robes (7:13-14).  They "serve Him" by their constant praise "day and night" during the tribulation. ³⁶

The passage yields further comfort for saints in tribulation: "He who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence" (v. 15). While winds of destruction are battering the world, the Father shelters His people or literally tabernacles or spreads His tent over them. The words
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Ladd, p. 119.

36Swete comments that "the Israelite who was not a priest or Levite did not proceed beyond the ieron, one tribe alone having access to the naos. But in the Eternal Temple the Seer sees the whole 'Israel of God' admitted to the naos, all being priests and all serving in the Presence of God The temple here is the Divine Presence realized and enjoyed' (p. 104). 

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of his tent (Ps. 27:5). 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more;The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (vv. 16-17). 

The next view of the heaven-dwellers is in chapter 11.

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months (vv. 1-2) . 

Chapter 13 explains the nature of the final tribulation by introducing the persecuting power with its economic sanctions and death decree (vv. 15-17). John then looks for the heaven-dwellers and sees them on Mount Zion before the throne.³⁹ 

Then I looked, and 10, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the

37SDA BC 7:972. 

38 See Mounce,  p. 219. 

39Some dispute that this scene is in heaven before the throne, taking Mount Zion to be the place of divine protection on earth (Isa. 28:16;  see Swete,  p. 177; Fiorenza,  p. 138). Swete suggests that the singing is not that of the 144,000, but of the 'company of heaven.' Mounce believes the sound is not that of an angelic choir, but the anthem of redemption sung by the 144,000 themselves. He adds that it is not likely that angels would teach a song of redemption to humans, since they have not been redeemed (p. 268) .Chapter 15:2 gives further information about the harpers who sing a new song--they are the conquerors, and their song is the Song of Moses and the Lamb. The setting of chapter 14 is not only Mount Zion, but heaven. The figure is the same throughout Revelation--the saints are heaven-dwellers.

sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; ...and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless (Rev. 14:1-5). 

Next the scene changes to the final outpouring of God's wrath. 

"Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended" (15:1). 

And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with 
fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their song of the Lamb...(15:2-3). 

40Caird, p. 197. 

A glimpse of the heaven-dwellers occurs again in chapter 17, where John gives a brief preview of the final battle: 

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful (vv. 13-14) . 

After the falling of the plagues the whole kingdom of Satan, under the symbolism of "Babylon," collapses. Ironically, the world in its lament over Babylon calls upon the saints to rejoice: 

"Rejoice over her, 0 heaven, 
0 saints and apostles and prophets, 
for God has given judgment for you against her!" (18:20) . 

41Some exegetes miss the significance of the great multitude assuming them to be angels (Kiddle, pp. 375-6; Ladd, p. 244; Morris, p. 224) .They should be identified with the oxlos polys of 7:9 (Lenski, pp 535-6; Mounce, pp. 336-7; Walvoord, p. 268). There is ample evidence that they are saints. The cries of 19:1-4 are the response to the challenge of the earth-dwellers, 

In a sudden shift of imagery the scene changes from a marriage supper to a battle (vv. 9 and 11) .The Bridegroom becomes a warrior on a white horse and the Bride an army on white horses. The only vestige of the wedding is the "fine linen bright and pure" (19:14) which the Bride is still wearing. The "armies of heaven" can be identified as saints (not angels) for the following reasons: first, we have noted that they are dressed in the same clothing as the Lamb's Bride (Byssinos, 19:8) rather than angels' clothing (linon, 15:6). Secondly, in the battle described in this passage (vv. 11-21) there are only two armies – the armies of heaven under the King of kings, and the armies of earth under the beast and the kings of the earth. As heaven-dwellers the saints must be with the King of kings, while the earth-dwellers are with the beast. Thirdly, in a preview of this battle (see 17:14), John has mentioned that those with the Lord of lords and King of kings are "called and chosen and faithful" – all terms for people and not angels.⁴² It 
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"Rejoice over her, O heaven--O saints and apostles and prophets" (18:20) (seen as early as Matthew Henry in the 16th century in his vol. 6,  p. 1176) .It is the saints who respond to that challenge. Their voice like the sound of many waters and of mighty thunderpeals (v. 6) corresponds to the voice of the 144,000 which is described in the same terms (14:2). 
Their song (19:1) is a lengthened form of their cry in 7:10. All the terms used to describe them apply to people, not angels .The word multitude (oxlos) in the New Testament always indicates people (as in 7:9) ; angels are called myriads (myriades) (5:11) .Similarly servants (douloi, 19:5) are the saints (1:1; 2:20; 7:3; 10:7; 11:18; 15:3; 19:2; 22:3, 6) ; the angel calls himself a fellow servant (syndoulos, 19:10; 22:9). Those who fear God (19:5) are always people (1:17; 14:7; 15:4) as are the small and great, which is a. comprehensive designation for people (11:18; 13:16; 19:18; 10:12) . 

42Commentators who believe the armies of heaven are angels generally cite external texts as evidence--Christ comes with angels as in 1 Thess. 4:16 (Lenski, 554-5) ; the armies of heaven correspond to the host of heaven in the Old Testament (Beasley-Murray, p. 281)--but the "host of heaven" in Dan. 8:10-11, 24 is saints--or follow Swete's judgment that as Lamb 

The final view of the heaven-dwellers occurs in 20:4. Here the time frame has changed from the tribulation period to the millennium, which is post-second advent, as demonstrated by the sequence of 19:11-21 to 20:5. 

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life, and reigned with Christ a thousand years (20:4) . 

Christ is followed by the saints (17:14) but as Warrior he is followed by angels (pp. 253-4; see Ladd, p. 255). Caird (p. 244), Charles (II:l35), Riddle (p. 386),  and Mounce (p. 346) see them as martyrs, Herman Hoeksema as saints resurrected and transformed immediately before the coming of Christ, Behold, He Cometh! An Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids: Reformed Free Pub. Assn. , 1969; p. 633) . 

43Caird notices a problem with the view that "for the martyrs, entry into heaven follows immediately on physical death "which he sees supported in 7:9-1l, 6:11, and 11:12, when compared with 20:4 where "we are told that at the first resurrection the martyrs 'came to life and reigned with Christ."' He concludes, "Either John is culpably inconsistent," or as a Semitic could live with ambiguity (pp. 102-3) . 

At this point it is important to review the question of martyrs in the Apocalypse, since so many commentators assume that the way humans become "heaven-dwellers" is to go to heaven at death. It is true that martyrdom is a prominent theme in the Apocalypse, as seen with regard to the church of Smyrna (2:10), the souls under the altar (6:9; 20:4), the two witnesses (11:7), those who love not their lives (12:11), the blessed dead (14:13) , and the blood of the martyrs (16:4; 17:6; 18:24; 19:2). A death decree is also mentioned in 13:15, possibly carried out in the case of the blessed dead of 14:13. However, there is strong evidence that the "heaven-dwellers" are not martyrs. 

1. Nowhere in the visions cited in this article are the saints called martyrs.44 They are only assumed to be martyrs because they are in heaven, and death is the supposed route to heaven. 
2. The martyrs are described as "souls' "under the altar" (6:10, cf. 20:4) .The 144,000 and great multitude are never described in this way. 
3. Dan. 12:1, the source text for the "great tribulation," states clearly that God's people will be delivered. Deliverance in Daniel means salvation from martyrdom (3:28-29; 6:27). 
4. The descriptions of the heaven-dwellers show them to be live saints who are coming out of great tribulation 

44Morris concurs that there is no evidence in chap. 7 that the white-clad throng are martyrs as there is in 6:9 and 22:4. "Moreover it was not their death but Christ's that won the triumph" (pp. 116, 175). 

(Rev. 7:14) , who are following the Lamb wherever He goes (14:4) , and who are conquering the beast and its image (15:2) . The present participles of the Greek indicate that they are not dead. 
5. The promise, "I will keep you from the hour of trial" (3:10) and the sealing of the 144,000 (7:2-4) are often seen as assurances of protection from death, harmonizing with Dan. 12:1. 
6. John's careful distinction between the martyrs and those who did not worship the beast in 20:4 (see discussion above) indicates that he did not view all the saints as martyrs.

A problem with the spiritual interpretation of the heavenly visions is that it may lead to a denial of the reality of heaven. Is heaven a state of mind? A facile answer to this question is to state that the final visions of chapter 21 and 22 revert to literal language. However, there is a view that the final vision is only a continuation of the earlier ones, that earth-dwellers and heaven-dwellers always coexist, that the new creation was introduced at the crops and coexists with the old creation.⁴⁵ Thus heaven is indeed a state of mind. 
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45In his interpretation of the Apocalypse, Minear fuses eschatology and history, heavenly and earthly realities. since there are so many correlations between the final vision (chaps. 21-22) and the previous ones, he asserts that these chapters cannot be isolated from the rest of the book, but must describe the on-going conflict between good and evil (New Testament Apocalyptic [Nashville; Abingdon, 1982], pp. 132-3) .The new creation is the experience of living in the presence of God where death no longer rules; hence there can be no suffering and mourning (p. 124) .The New Jerusalem has nothing to do with the future life of believers; it is a symbol of the present life of the community – God's dwelling with His people and their awareness of His presence (p. 135). Two creations coexist--the first heaven and its earth, and the new heaven and its earth. In one creation all creatures worship God, in the other all worship the dragon. The transition from the first to the new occurs at the death and enthronement of Jesus described in Rev. 5 (I Saw a New Earth, pp. 273-5) . 
Though Minear's analysis is brilliant, I think it 

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the' city by the gates. outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood (22:15). 

Another problem for a literal futuristic eschatology in the final vision is that John spiritualizes the river of life (22:1, 17) ; also the heavy symbolism of the holy city clearly suggests the church. In John's thinking does everything relate to present spiritual experience? Does he envision no future reality? A solution may be found in John's gospel which contains both a realized and futuristic eschatology. One example is the formula "the hour is coming and now is" of John 
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overlooks the fact that there is not just one focus to the book of Revelation – the cross/enthronement of chapter 5, but a second one as well – the parousia/judgment of 19-20. The new heaven/new earth is not introduced after the cross, but after the parousia/judgment. As I see it, the main body of the book does not show a new heaven/earth co-existing with an old heaven/earth, but heaven-dwellers contrasted with earth-dwellers. The new heaven/earth is not introduced until after the last judgment. 

John describes the righteous as "those who dwell in heaven," and the wicked as "those who dwell on earth." In a series of visions he depicts the tribulation saints as follows: 
 

Reference 7:1-8  7:9-21 11:1  14:1-5  15:2-4  17:14  19:1-8  19:14  20:4

Designation 144,000 of 12 tribes of Israel  a great unnumbered multitude those who worship  the 144,000  the beast-conquerors  the called, chosen, and faithful  a great multitude  armies of heaven  beheaded souls  non-beast worshipers

Location not specified  before throne & Lamb within his temple  the temple of God  on Mount Zion before the throne on the sea of glass (temple, v. 5) with the Lamb  before the throne  heaven opened  thrones  thrones

What is the purpose of this vivid imagery? What does it mean to be a heaven-dweller? It means, first of all, living one's life in the presence of God – entering the open door to the throne-room (3:8; 4:1; 7:9-10). It means wearing white garments, washed in the blood of the Lamb – standing before God fully accepted (v. 14) .It means following the Lamb to streams of living water, being fed and nourished by Him (vv. 16-17). It means viewing the overwhelming evils of earth from the perspective of the Throne and the sovereignty of God – transcending troubles instead of being crushed by them. It means overcoming despair through actively praising God (vv. 10-12). It means cherishing faith and hope and courage, no matter what horrors ascend from the abyss, because God descends with greater power to defeat them. 

John describes the saints as priests (Rev. 1:6; 5:10; cf. Ex. 19:5-6). Their priestly role is to serve God day and night in His temple in (priestly) white robes, praying and praising. John also states that the saints reign as kings over a kingdom (1:6; 5:10). To reign is to stand triumphant with the Lamb on Mount Zion, to sing the song of Moses on the sea of glass, to ride white horses to victory – an army of kings following the King of kings, and to judge the enemies of God. It means sharing tribulation and a kingdom in one's own private Patmos (1:9). It means that with the Lamb God's people are invincible. 

7After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of
the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying “Do not harm thc earth or the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads." 4And I heard the number of the sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, out of every tribe of the sons of Israel, 5twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand of the tribe of Gad," twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand of the tribe of Naph’tali, twelve thousand of the tribe of Manas’seh, 7twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand of the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand of the tribe of Is’sachar, 8twelve thousand of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, twelve thousand of the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand sealed out of the tribe of Benjamin 

THE GREAT MULTITUDE, Cont 
11  Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months. 3And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 

14Then I looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty- 
four thousand who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunders; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste;" it is these who follow the Lamb 11wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and 
in their mouth no lie was found, for ; they are spotless.

THE 144,000, Cont.

15. Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. 
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their  hands.3And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the 
song of the Lamb, saying, 
"Great and wonderful are thy 
deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! 
Just and true are thy ways, 0 King of the ages! 
4 Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? 
For thou alone art holy. 
All nations shall come and worship thee, 
for thy judgments have been revealed."