Revelation 7:17

 

At the end of Revelation Chapter 7, the Bible is continuing to tell us about good things that the Lord will do for us in heaven. Rev. 7:17 says,

 

"For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

 

In this verse we are told of two things that Jesus will do and one thing that God will do for the people who are in heaven. Jesus will feed them, and He will lead them to living fountains of waters. Of course, when the Bible says that Jesus will feed them, it’s talking about spiritual food. You are fed spiritual food when you are taught spiritual truth. Jesus is the greatest teacher of all. When Jesus was on the earth, apart from dying for our sins, the greatest thing that Jesus did was to teach. The teachings of Jesus Christ that we have recorded for us in the gospels are the greatest and the highest and the most noble of any teachings that have ever been given anywhere in the history of the human race. Many spoke of Jesus when He was on earth,

 

"Never a man spake like this man…"

 

Blessed are those who have heard and have read and have understood the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. When we get to heaven, there will be much more to learn and our principle teacher will be Jesus Himself. When we get to heaven, how happy we will be to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His wonderful words from His own mouth. There will be so much more to learn.

 

Jesus will feed us and lead us.

 

We know that one of the major characteristics of the Christian life is that a Christian is dependent upon Jesus. One of the first things that Jesus said to the disciples was,

 

"Follow me."

 

One of the favorite Psalms of believers over the centuries has been the 23^rd Psalm that says,

 

"He leads me beside the still waters."

 

There is a great, old hymn that captures the blessedness of being led by God that is entitled "He Leadeth Me," and the first verse says:

 

"He leadeth me, O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort raught! Whatever I do, wherever I be, Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me!"

 

If we were not led by God, our lives would be in vain. It’s because of the grace of God and His power that we are led by Him. There are no coincidences in the life of a Christian. Jeremiah 29: 11 states that God has a specific plan for our lives, Romans 8: 28 says all things work together for good, for those that love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose. The psalmist told us in Psalms 37, verse 23 that the "steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord."

 

The more that we understand and have faith in the fact that Jesus is leading us just as He promised through the power of His Holy Spirit and love for us, the more content we will be with this life and the more able we will be to deal with the occurrences in our lives.

 

God does not, and will not leave us to our own devices. Thank God that we are led by the Holy Spirit in this life, and we will be led by Him in eternity. Jesus left us with words of comfort in John 14 when He said He would send the comforter to walk along side us.

 

Notice that when Rev. 7:17 talks about our existence in heaven, it says that Jesus

 

"shall lead them unto living fountains of waters."

 

The emphasis should be placed upon the word "living." Jesus is the source of all life, physical and spiritual. When Jesus was on the earth, He told the woman at the well that He could give her living water so that she would never thirst again. When we all get to heaven, we will meet the woman at the well, but we will meet her at a different well than the one recorded in the gospel of John. We will meet her at the well that flows with living water.

 

The last part of Rev. 7:17 says that

 

"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

 

Everyone who is a Christian will have tears sometime in their life. Sometimes it’s not an easy road. Jesus told the disciples in John chapter 6,

 

"In the world you shall have tribulation, but to be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

The apostle Paul reminds of a similar thought, when he admonished us by saying,

 

"Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world."

 

Jesus Himself followed a road that led to the tortuous death on the cross of Calvary, and He reminded us that

 

"the servant is not greater than his Lord."

 

There are many situations in life that can start with hope yet end in tears. The American Indians know this all too well, and they called one of their final journeys "the trail of tears".

 

A young person might fall in love, and make plans and have great hopes for the future, thinking that the love will last for a lifetime. But sometimes a tragedy takes place, and the love goes unrequited and the young person is left with tears and a broken heart. Many young couples have children, and of course they always have hopes and dreams for the future concerning their children, and always think that they know just how their children need to be raised. But this is a dangerous world in which we live. There will be times when bad things happen to good people, and things don’t work out the way we had hoped, and instead of seeing the dreams for their children realized, they end up with tears and shattered dreams.

 

Some good people will learn the hard way that when children are young they will step on your toes, but when they are older, they will step on your heart. Many people who have followed God and who have tried to do the right thing have gone to bed at night with tears in their eyes.

 

In this life God has ways of wiping away tears from our eyes. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,

 

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."

 

In John 14:16 Jesus said,

 

"I will not leave you comfortless."

 

In John 16:33 after Jesus said,

 

"In the world you shall have tribulation,"

 

He also said,

 

"But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

 

God wipes away the tears from our eyes by the Holy Spirit who is within our hearts. The Holy Spirit reminds us of the promises of God and the promises of Jesus Christ His Son, as He comforts our hearts and spirits. When we are reminded that there is a purpose to all things because God is leading us, we are also comforted.

 

In Rev. 7:17 before we are told that God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, we are also told that Jesus will feed us and lead us. If you feed upon the Word of God, you can be comforted in any sorrow, because His teachings and promises will be real to you. If you allow Jesus to lead you, you will be comforted because you will be in a position to realize that God will only permit things to happen in your life for which there is a divine purpose. God can make good come out of bad, and He can make joy come out of sorrow. Remember the words of Joseph in Genesis 50: 20,

 

"What the enemy meant for harm, the Lord has turned to good!"

 

God has a wonderful future prepared for us. Because of Jesus, we are going to a place where God shall wipe all tears from our eyes.