Farewell to Tears

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; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 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.

How many tears have been shed over the past six millennium because of grief, pain and sorrow? Only God knows!

Most are convinced that tears are not shed in heaven. That is a partial truth. Here, saints saved in the tribulation and martyred for the name of Jesus, stand before the throne of God worshiping the Lamb on His throne. At some point, the heavenly Kleenex box is passed around, the tears are dried and God banishes those salty drops from the cheeks of the saints. We find this happening again in Revelation 21 once the Great White Throne judgment is completed.

To recap, the martyred saints cry during the tribulation until the Lord wipes away their tears. The sainted millions cry after the Millennium when death and hell are banished to the lake of fire. Again, the Lord ministers to His children by drying their tears.

In a sense, I am glad that a good range of emotions will be operable in heaven. Joy is desirable, but it is enhanced by the capacity for sorrow. Confidence can be appreciated when trepidation has been experienced. For instance, there is going to be one more coup attempt by the devil, followed by his final ouster from the heavenly realm. We might experience some fear and anxiety for a time before we exult in the total victory of the overcoming Lamb of God. The apostle weeps much because no one is found to open the 7 sealed book. But his weeping quickly turns to rejoicing when the Lamb prevails to open the book. The 4 great "Hallelujahs!" of heaven come on the heels of God's absolute annihilation of evil on the earth.

It will not be until, at the least, 1007 years from now that time shall be no more, a new heaven and earth will be formed, Satan is made a crispy critter in the Lake of Fire, the former things will be passed away, all things will be made new, and THEN the last salty drop will have stained the last cheek and eternity can proceed without another tear.