Rev. 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
Some Christians seemingly believe that this verse supports holding that God approves of the use of all kinds of instrumental music in worship because it speaks of people from “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” standing before the throne of God. To evaluate the validity of this interpretation, it is important to consider carefully what this verse does not say varies among all these diverse peoples before the throne.
First, all the redeemed people are dressed in the same garments (robes); they are not seen as dressed in all the distinctive attire of their various people groups.
Second, all of their robes are the same color–white. There is no diversity seen in the peoples being clothed in vastly varying colors and color combinations.
Third, the passage says that they are all holding the same thing in their hands–palms. We do not see any diversity in what they are holding in their hands.1
Understood properly, this passage actually reveals a noteworthy lack of diversity among all the redeemed peoples in several ways. Given what the passage reveals about the marked homogeneity of all the peoples, it is puzzling that some believers think that the passage supports divine acceptance of all the diverse sounds and musical “styles” or “genres” of all the redeemed peoples.
When presented with this evidence of the lack of diversity in Revelation 7:9, some assert that these facets of sameness are only figurative language and do not actually signify sameness in these respects among all the diverse peoples standing before the throne.2 Does Scripture support this claim of these markers of sameness as being only figurative language that does not actually signify no diversity in these specified ways?
Comparing Scripture with Scripture provides a conclusive answer to this question.
Evidence from Solomon’s Temple
In the passages that reveal details about Solomon’s Temple, palm trees are the only trees that are mentioned3 as being carved, graved, or set on any part of the Temple:
1 Ki. 6:29 And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.
1 Ki. 6:32 The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.
1 Ki. 6:35 And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.
1 Ki. 7:36 For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.
2 Chr. 3:5 And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.
Note that the first four of these five passages mention both cherubims and palm trees being carved or graved on certain parts of the Temple. There is no basis to understand that cherubims signify anything other than cherubims in these verses.
To take cherubims as literal cherubims in these verses, but palm trees as figurative language would be an indefensibly inconsistent handling of the passages. Unquestionably, therefore, “palm trees” in Solomon’s Temple signified palm trees and were not symbolic of all kinds of trees being of equal importance and suitability for use in God’s house.
Evidence from the Millennial Temple
Divine revelation about the Millennial Temple strongly supports the evidence seen from only palm trees being seen in Solomon’s Temple. The Spirit highlights the importance of palm trees in God’s house by explicitly speaking thirteen times of palm trees being seen in the Millennial Temple and not mentioning any other trees being seen in that manner:
Ezek. 40:16 And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.
Ezek. 40:22 And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.
Ezek. 40:26 And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.
Ezek. 40:31 And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.
Ezek. 40:34 And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.
Ezek. 40:37 And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.
Ezek. 41:18 And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
Ezek. 41:19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.
Ezek. 41:20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.
Ezek. 41:25 And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
Ezek. 41:26 And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.
This abundant, explicit mention of palm trees in the Millennial Temple clearly emphasizes the importance of palm trees in the Millennial Temple, just as they were distinctively important in Solomon’s Temple.
“Palms” in Revelation 7:9
The evidence from both Solomon’s Temple and the Millennial Temple shows convincingly that God has placed special importance on palm trees signifying palm trees in His house. Neither passage supports holding that palm trees somehow signified all trees.
In keeping with that explicit evidence from prior divine revelation, we rightly understand that “palms” mean the branches of palm trees in Revelation 7:9 and further show the distinctive importance that God has placed on palm trees.
Application to the Worship Music Debates
In connection with the significance of the other markers of homogeneity discussed above, the right interpretation of Revelation 7:9 that “palms” mean the branches of palm trees conclusively shows that God has not placed equal importance on all the trees of all the redeemed peoples of the world.
We rightly understand therefore that the passage does not provide any support for holding that the explicit mention in the passage of the presence of all the diverse people of the world before the throne supports holding that God approves of the use of all the kinds of instrumental music of all peoples of the world.4
Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash
Footnotes
- The first two observations and possibly even the third are not original with me–Scott Aniol has mentioned them in his works. ↩︎
- A friend on Facebook said, “The white robes and palms symbolize our shared redemption in Christ, not the flattening of cultural identity. The consistent garments and palms point us to what unites us, the blood of the Lamb and the salvation He has won!” ↩︎
- These passages do say that wood from olive trees and fir trees were used to make certain parts of the Temple, but they do not say that any part of the Temple had actual olive or fir trees on them. ↩︎
- See my post Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM for more information about what Scripture teaches that pertains to numerous issues concerning acceptable music for corporate worship. ↩︎
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