Revelation 7:9 Devotion

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands" (Revelation 7:9)

"After these things", means that this is the next vision John saw, not that the events depicted therein will necessarily occur immediately after those of the previous vision. In fact, the vision records events following the depiction of the final judgment in (Rev. 6:12-17). The group here pictured is the same as in (Rev. 5:9), the end-time people of God from every tongue and nation prophesied in (Dan. 7:14, 22, and 27). These saints are those of God's people already glorified, for this scene takes place in heaven, "before the throne" of God. Having earned their reward through faithful perseverance in tribulation, they are now enjoying the presence of the Lord in eternity. The "great multitude, which no one could count" is the promise seed of Abraham, the "multitude of nations" (Gen. 17:5), which were "too many to count" (Gen. 32:12 and 16:10). The descendants or the "seed" who would become so numerous according to these Abrahamic promises refer not to the nations in general but specifically to the future multiplication of Israel in Egypt, and thereafter in the Promised Land. The "great multitude" in v. 9 is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise and thus yet another way in which Revelation refers to Christians throughout the world as the true Israel. The palm branches allude to the Feast of Tabernacles, in which palm branches were used to build the booths in which the Jews live during the feast (Lev. 23:40-43). The Feast celebrates God's protection of the Israelites during their wanderings in the desert, and in the same way God seals His faithful ones during the present age. The imagery originally applied to Israel is now applied by John to people from all nations, who rejoice in their latter-day exodus redemption, in their victory over their persecutors and in the fact that God has protected them subsequently during their wilderness pilgrimage (Rev. 12:6,14) through the "great tribulation" (Rev. 7:13-14). 

(G.K. Beale)