- Redeemed out of Every Tribe...

7. Redeemed out of Every Tribe and Tongue and People and Nation

Consider Apostle John’s description of the vast company of the redeemed elect gathered in heaven in Revelation 5:9, “… And have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” This obviously includes individuals from every tribe and tongue and people and nation that has ever existed, many of which are mentioned in the early chapters of Genesis. In Gen 10 we read, “Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood… From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations… These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations… These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations… These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.” In Genesis 18, many diverse tribes are mentioned, i.e., the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

The language indicates that there were some (not all) that came from every classification that was mentioned. Thus there were some redeemed out of every kindred (tribe or family), some out of every tongue (or language spoken), some out of every people, and some out of every nation. The very fact that these different groups are specified is a prime indication that not any group would be left out. This would also include nations or groups that no longer exist and disappeared long ago before the gospel is ever brought to them. The language shows that God does have a people within all of these groups. Then it would seem that the Lord would be a “dwelling place in all generations” for those “out of every” different group in every generation also, just as the psalmist declares, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” Ps 90:1.

The Scriptures declare that God has redeemed individuals by the blood of Christ out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This is undeniable divine revelation. It is also a historical fact that many of those ancient tribes and ethnic nations had perished long before the gospel age ever dawned. What about those tribes that were wiped out at the great flood? Were Noah and his family the only elect when the flood brought the destruction? Were all of Noah’s sons among the elect because they were saved from the water? What about Ham? Is perishing in the flood the same as perishing in hell? Was being saved in the flood the same as being saved from eternal hell? There are also tribes that have since disappeared in the gospel age before the gospel was brought to them. To conveniently dismiss that there were elect amongst such tribes or people because the gospel never reached them is to dismiss these plain declarations in Rev 5:9; 7:9; as if they didn’t exist in Scripture. Shall we accept the Scriptural description of the extent of the redeemed elect or our own, framed to conveniently fit our deficient and inconsistent concept of the application of salvation, i.e., no gospel preached, no elect there.

How then did the individuals from those tribes and nations ever find themselves in the vast company of God’s redeemed in heaven? They were redeemed and are found among that vast multitude in heaven. Did they have the gospel preached to them? By persevering in faith and holiness to the end? How many ways are there for God’s elect to get into heaven? There is ONE and ONLY, exactly the same for each and every elect. And it is this: “Those whom God hath predestined unto life, He is pleased in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh: renewing their wills, and by His almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by His grace.” [1689.10]. It is by God’s sovereign and free-grace act of effectually calling each elect unto eternal life in Christ Jesus.

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father” John 6:44-45. This passage speaks of ‘all’ and ‘everyone’ being effectually drawn to Jesus Christ by the Father, to eternal life in Christ Jesus at effectual call. It is those whom God has effectually called to union with Christ that have life to answer to the gospel call. But the gospel call does not come to every one effectually called of God. The effectual call unto life in Jesus Christ is independent of the gospel call. Citizenship in heaven does not depend on the enjoyment of the gospel call and conversion. That explains why there are individual redeemed out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation even though the gospel did not reach every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

God does not depend on the gospel call to effectually call His elect to eternal salvation. He said of His elect, “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” He Himself shall teach. This happens at effectual call unto life. The gospel call to faith in Christ serves to bring to light what God has done. That’s the divine purpose for the preaching of the gospel – to announce the wonderful things God HAS ALREADY DONE in His elect, calling them to belief in the truth of their salvation. The gospel must be preached. God has ordained it for a specific purpose – that His redeemed may know what He has done for them and believe the truth of their salvation.

No nappies and baby’s clothes and food are needed in the conception and birth of a child. But let no misguided man conclude that nappies and clothes and food are then not necessary for the child that has been born! That’s foolish! These things are not necessary to conceive life but necessary to give him comfort and nourishment. So also the urgency and the necessity of preaching the gospel message to sinners among whom are found the elect people of God.