Neither thirst any more.—“The waters of Truth shall no longer be brackish with error, being healed at the very spring by a clearer understanding of the Word of God.”—B. 266.
Neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.—During the Harvest time the Lord’s people, illuminated with the light of Present Truth, have been shining forth, not with any brilliancy of their own, but with much of the coming splendor of the “Sun of Righteousness.” Coming in contact with them, it has been inevitable that the Great Company class should frequently be singed, unable to answer the Truth, and should feel considerable heat. Their condition has been aptly described by the Prophet, “It shall be a vexation only to understand the report.” (Isa. 28:19.) “As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.”—Amos 5:19.
7:17. For the Lamb.—Jesus Christ, their eternal Friend—“The same yesterday, today, and forever.”—Heb. 13:8.
Which is in the midst of the Throne.—Authority, rulership.—A. 92; Rev. 5:6.
Shall feed them.—Be their shepherd. (John 10:1‐28; 21:16.) They will not have immortality. Their lives will always require to be sustained, as in the case of the angels.
And shall lead them unto [living] fountains of waters OF LIFE.—They will not have within them the “well of water springing up unto everlasting life,” as will the Bride class, but may freely take of the “Water of life” which flows forth from the united well‐springs of the Fountain and its 144,000 associates.—John 4:14; Rev. 22:1, 17; Ezekiel 47:1‐5.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.—There will be tears at first that will require wiping away, when they see all they have missed. Nevertheless, “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought into the King’s Palace.” (Psa. 45:15.) And it is a good place; there we leave them, to bask in the sunlight of His presence forevermore. We shall _know_ them all, then, even as we shall be known by them.—1 Cor. 13:12.
Revelation 8—Four Preliminary Reformations
8:1. And when He.—The Lord Jesus, whose privilege it is to open them all.—Rev. 6:1.
Had opened the seventh seal.—“The seal of the living God.” (Rev. 7:2.) The opening of the seventh seal is _progressive_. The opening and unfolding of the Truth goes on as the saints are sealed. By the time the saints are all sealed in their hearts and minds with the Present Truth, the deepest features of the Truth itself will have been disclosed. “The time will undoubtedly come in the near future when the number of the Elect will be complete. Then only such vacancies as might still occur by some falling out would remain.” (Z. ’14‐68.) “God’s people down through this Gospel age have been privileged to know something of the ‘Secret of the Lord’—the Divine Plan. But not until the last seal is broken, does the scroll fly wide open, permitting the ‘Mystery of God’ to be fully disclosed; as it is written: ‘In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the Prophets.’ (Rev. 5:1; 10:7.)”—Z. ’97‐257.