Apocalipsis 7:14

John did not know the identity of these individuals, so the elder told him who they were. They are "those who are coming out from the great tribulation." Jesus coined the term "the Great Tribulation" (Matthew 24:15; Matthew 24:21) and identified it as the second half of Daniel’s seventieth week (Matthew 24:15-22; Mark 13:14-20; cf. Daniel 9:27). Positioned as this vision is just before the midpoint of the Tribulation, before the Great Tribulation begins, the elder must have meant that this multitude came out of the Great Tribulation before it began. The Greek preposition ek ("out of") permits such an interpretation. Another possibility is that the elder meant that these saints came out during the Great Tribulation, which the Greek preposition allows but the placement of this vision between the sixth and seventh seals does not favor. A third view is that they departed after the Great Tribulation was complete. [Note: Rosenthal, p. 185.] This is unacceptable for two reasons. First, the Greek verb erchomenoi ("are coming") is a present participle indicating an ongoing departure. Second, this view makes an unwarranted distinction between the Great Tribulation and the outpouring of God’s wrath. God promised to keep Christians completely out of the Tribulation (Revelation 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; et al.), but these Tribulation saints come out of the first part of it while it is in progress. [Note: Smith, A Revelation . . ., p. 135.]

Washing their robes in the Lamb’s blood is a figure of speech for salvation (Revelation 22:14; cf. Zechariah 3:4-5). Another interpretation is that "washed their robes" is a figurative expression picturing that they had purified their deeds (Revelation 22:14; cf. Revelation 19:8). This would make the entire passage (Revelation 7:14-17) a description of faithful Tribulation saints instead of all Tribulation saints. The issue hinges on whether "robe" represents the believer’s garment of salvation or his good works here. Scripture uses "robe" both ways elsewhere. Since all the redeemed will eventually go into God’s presence, it seems unwarranted to limit this innumerable multitude to faithful saints. The fact that they died during the first half of the Tribulation does not necessarily mean that they were all martyrs who died for their testimony as believers. An amillennial interpretation is that this as a picture of all Christians who suffer in various ways for their faith. [Note: Beale, p. 433. See Richard Shalom Yates, "Studies on the Tribulation Saints," Bibliotheca Sacra 163:649 (January-March 2006)79-93; 163:650 (April-June 2006):215-33; 163:651 (July-September 2006):322-34, for a thorough study of Tribulation saints.]

"In modern thought, making anything white by washing it in blood is paradoxical and even shocking, but it was not so with John and those with an OT background. To them such washing denoted spiritual purity. Not just any blood would accomplish the cleansing. The blood of martyrs shed for the Lamb’s sake would not even do it. It had to be the blood of the Lamb’s great sacrifice to produce the whiteness (Revelation 1:5; Revelation 5:9; cf. Romans 3:25; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7) . . ." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 498.]

The en ("in") has instrumental force here; Christ’s blood is what made their robes white. Contrast Revelation 12:11 where dia ("because of") expresses the means of victory, namely, His blood and their faithfulness. Blood is a metaphor for violent death.