washed and made white

⁹ After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ They cried out with a loud voice: “Victory belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” ¹¹ All the angels stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, ¹² saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and always. Amen.” ¹³ Then one of the elders said to me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” ¹⁴ I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he said to me, “These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. ¹⁵ This is the reason they are before God’s throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. ¹⁶ They won’t hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, ¹⁷ because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:9-17, CEB)

I have always been intrigued by the statement, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.” If you have ever gotten anything stained by blood, it is not easy to get clean, let alone white again. And as I type that I think, wow I sound like I have had a lot of blood on white clothes, and I haven’t but the few times I have, it has not been easy to get clean. But here they wash their clothes in The Lamb’s blood and they are made white.

That is because the Lamb here is the messiah, the one who makes all things new.

We are made new in the Lamb.

Trust in the promise and know that no matter what you are going through here, in the fulfillment of the kingdom all will be made right.

Loving People. Loving God.