What presumption it is for those who are novices to presume to know about all sorts of matters which they have only just begun to study. There is an unhappy self-confidence in youth sometimes, and every one feels that his opinion is worth expressing. Elihu, the son of Barachel, wisely waited till those older than him had finished speaking, though his own understanding was later shown to be superior to theirs. John would rather listen to the elder than hazard his own estimate of what he sees.
What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? It is something which is so amazing that it demands an answer. How did these who were once dead in sin come to be standing before the throne of God. It is far more wonderful than any journey ever made by any explorer, though they may have crossed great oceans or climbed to the highest peaks or navigated mighty rivers. They may by such journeys have changed their location dramatically, but they have not changed themselves. They may take a journey of escape as refugees, fleeing to freedom in another country, but there has never been such a journey such as that made by these who John now sees. They have escaped from a tyranny from which all escape was impossible. None can ever come out of that kingdom because the ruler of that kingdom has an absolute power over his subjects. He holds them captive in their minds so that they do not want to escape; they despise all thought of heaven, all mention of God. He takes advantage of the sentence of the law to hold them subject to death. Yet they have travelled from the pit of hell back to life. They have risen from the hopelessness of the grave to the realm of the living. They have ascended with Christ to the very throne of God.
Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil and to set the captive free. He purchased a people with his own blood. The phrase ‘washed in blood’ is a deliberately jarring one. Who would ever choose blood as an agent of cleansing? Its stain is proverbially hard to remove. But his blood has power to remove stains which nothing else can remove. It removes the stain of sin which otherwise is indelible. Only what satisfies the justice of God can remove this stain. Christ came into the world to make an atonement for the sins of all who trust in him. Having forgiven them, Christ does not remove them from the world immediately. He leads them safely through many trials until they cross over into eternity at the end of life. This is the great tribulation which the great multitude has come out of.