Revelation 7 Footnotes

7:13-14 The robes of the “vast multitude” (v. 9) being washed white in the blood of the Lamb could speak of martyrdom but probably refers to the redemptive blood of Christ (1:5; 5:9). If that is the case, the “vast multitude” being removed in relation to the great tribulation (referred to in Dn 12:1 and Mt 24:21, and what is meant by the hour of trial in Rv 3:10) could refer to the rapture of the church, even before the great tribulation, if that period does not begin until the events in the scroll are released by the lifting of the seventh seal (8:1).