What is the largest crowd you have ever been a part of? Have you been to a sporting event with several thousand? Have you been to a concert with several thousand? How large is the city you live in? Are there thousands living there? How many do you think are in heaven?
Being in large crowds can cause anxiety for some folks, but I’m not one of them. I have been the NFL Football games with approximately seventy-five thousand people. I was at the very first stadium show done by Garth Brooks and there were approximately eighty thousand people at it.
However, I have never been in a crowd of thousands of thousands. Think about the number of people that is. Just one thousand times one thousand is one million. Therefore, a crowd of thousands of thousands would be millions. John tells us that in his revelation there were myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Myriad can mean countless. Imagine countless upon countless people!
Why is this important to us? That is the number of people, according to John’s revelation given to him by Jesus Himself, who will be with us in heaven and for all eternity. If we for some reason think there will be a select few who are accepted by God, we are grossly mistaken. There will be countless people with whom we will spend eternity. Only God knows how many that will be.
So, rather than judging others and thinking there is no way they are getting to heaven, perhaps we should instead look at them as one who just might be there with us. Maybe if we look at them as though we might spend eternity together, we will look at them a little differently. Maybe we will begin to treat one another with love, just as Jesus treated people with love.
I pray we all realize there will be countless people with us in heaven and eternity. I pray we see others as people we may spend eternity with. I pray each one of us will love others as Jesus loves us. You will spend eternity with myriads of people. Love others as Jesus loves.
Revelation 5:11-12a Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
Marty Pressey 