Q: You say: "It is upon our baptism that Jehovah forgives us our sins—which grants us a clean conscience—and we are then symbolically dressed in white robes, such as in the case of the "great crowd" in Revelation". But if I read Revelation 7, I understand that the great crowd receives the white robes after the great tribulation. In fact, I think that the great crowd appears after the great tribulation and does not exist now. Am I right?

Revelation 3:5 says: "The one who conquers will thus be dressed in white garments". Jesus used the future. (will be dressed) It does not appear to me that the brothers in Sardis had already been rewarded with a white garment, it seem something for the future. So, where is the Scripture that tells that we have been dressed with a white robe when we get baptized?

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A:  What do the Scriptures reveal about the great crowd that comes out of the "great tribulation"? Who is the great crowd? What is the great tribulation? Jesus said, "for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short." (Matt. 24:21,22) In Revelation 7:14, the great crowd is said to "come out of" (Greek: ερχόμενοι, "come safely through"—GNT; "come through"—PHILLIPS; "have survived"—NABRE; "have gone through"—CEV) the great tribulation. Therefore, the great crowd exists before the great tribulation breaks out, and they survive it. Who are they?

Please consider what the prophet Zephaniah writes: “The great day of Jehovah is near. It is near, and there is a hurrying [of it] very much. The sound of the day of Jehovah is bitter. There a mighty man is letting out a cry. 15 That day is a day of fury, a day of distress and of anguish, a day of storm and of desolation, a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick gloom, 16 a day of horn and of alarm signal, against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers. 17 And I will cause distress to mankind, and they will certainly walk like blind men; because it is against Jehovah that they have sinned. And their blood will actually be poured out like dust, and their bowels like the dung. 18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s fury; but by the fire of his zeal the whole earth will be devoured, because he will make an extermination, indeed a terrible one, of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zeph. 1:14-18)

Zephaniah is describing what is called "the day of Jehovah." (Isa. 13:6-13; Joel 2:1,2, 9-11; 3:12-16; Amos 5:18-20; Obadiah 15,16) Which is greater, the "great tribulation" spoken of by Jesus―"such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again"; or "the great day of Jehovah", where God makes an extermination of all the inhabitants of the earth? Are not Jesus and Zephaniah, and the other prophets, talking about the same event, which is also called in Revelation "the war of the great day of God the Almighty" at Armageddon? (Rev. 16:14, 16; 19:11-11-21; Isa. 34:1,2; Jer. 25:32,33; 2 Peter 3:7)

Zephaniah goes on to say: "Before [the] statute gives birth to [anything], [before the] day has passed by just like chaff, before there comes upon you people the burning anger of Jehovah, before there comes upon you the day of Jehovah’s anger, seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah’s anger." (Zeph. 2:2,3)

What must a person do in order to survive Jehovah's day? We must seek righteousness and meekness before his day of fury arrives, yes, before the "four winds of the earth" are unleashed upon the earth with all their destructive fury that results in the great tribulation. The "great crowd" that comes out of the great tribulation have done that―they were seeking righteousness and meekness before the great tribulation; for after would have been too late. They were rendering God "sacred service day and night" all along; unlike the majority of the congregation in Sardis who Jesus said were "dead" because he did not find their deeds fully performed before God. That is why Zephaniah says "probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger." (Rev. 3:1-5; 7:1-3, 9,10, 13-15; Heb. 9:14; 12:28; Rom. 12:1,2; Phil. 3:3)

Jesus likened the great tribulation to Noah's day, when he said: "For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; 39 and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be. . . Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (Matt. 24:37-42, 44; 25:13) Peter writes that God kept "Noah safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people." (2 Peter 2:5) Noah and his family survived the Flood; they came out alive. In the same way, God's people will be kept safe during the great tribulation. The prophet Daniel writes: "And there will certainly occur a time of distress such as has not been made to occur since there came to be a nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape, every one who is found written down in the book." (Dan. 12:1, 10)

Is it possible to survive the great tribulation without having sought Jehovah before it begins? Jesus said: "Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able." (Luke 13:24-28) The apostle Peter similarly says: "But the end of all things has drawn close. Be sound in mind, therefore, and be vigilant with a view to prayers. . . For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God. Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God? 'And if the righteous [man] is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly [man] and the sinner make a showing?'” (1 Peter 4:7, 17,18; 2 Thess. 1:7-10)

Jehovah is producing his "special property," his "sons and daughters," prior to the great tribulation. (2 Cor. 6:17,18; Psalms 37:34, 37-40) They have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" before the great tribulation begins. That is why Malachi says: "And you people will again certainly see the distinction between a righteous one and a wicked one, between one serving God and one who has not served him." (Mal. 3:16-18; Dan. 12:10) In order to "come out of the great tribulation," Jesus said that we must "pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36; Matt. 24:42, 44; 1 Thess. 5:4-6; Rev. 2:5, 16; 3:3)

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Regarding the white robes or garments:
The Scripture you quote does not say that they will then, at that time, be given white garments after the great tribulation. Rather, Jesus said that the "few names in Sardis that did not defile their outer garments shall walk with me in white ones, because they are worthy. He that conquers will thus be arrayed in white outer garments." (Rev. 3:4,5) Note that Jesus said they "did not defile their outer garments." If they did not defile their garments, are they not clean; in contrast to those in Sardis who did defile their outer garments, which are therefore no longer white? To "conquer" means to hold on to our integrity and loyalty to God even under severe persecution, just as Jesus did. (John 16:1-4, 33; 1 Peter 2:20)

What do the white robes, or garments, signify, and when do they receive their white robes? God told his rebellious people, Israel: "Come, now, you people, and let us set matters straight between us,” says Jehovah. “Though the sins of you people should prove to be as scarlet, they will be made white just like snow; though they should be red like crimson cloth, they will become even like wool." And King David wrote in song: "May you purify me from sin with hyssop, that I may be clean; May you wash me, that I may become whiter even than snow." (Isa. 1:18; Psalms 51:7)

Baptism symbolizes our being cleansed―washed clean―of our sins, as Paul explains: "For if the blood of goats and of bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who have been defiled sanctifies to the extent of cleanness of the flesh, how much more will the blood of the Christ, who through an everlasting spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works that we may render sacred service to [the] living God?" (Heb. 9:13,14; Acts 2:38; Compare Num. 8:5-7; 19:2-9, 20,21) Our baptism, where we are completely immersed in water, means being completely cleansed of our sins by "the blood of the covenant" ("the blood of the Lamb"), which Jesus said is "poured out in behalf of many for forgiveness of sins." (Matt. 26:28) The blood of goats and bulls could not attain such complete purification of sins, thus they had to be repeated often; which was indicated by the spattering of the "sin-cleansing water." (Num. 8:7,8; 19:1-21) Not so with Jesus' blood, as Paul explains, by which we are cleansed once for all time. (Heb. 9:12, 25-28)

Our righteous standing before God is not something that we receive at some future time, but at the moment of our baptism. That is why Paul wrote "we have been declared righteous now by his blood," having "our bodies bathed with clean water." (Rom. 5:8,9; Heb. 10:22, 29) Also, to the brothers in Corinth, Paul wrote regarding unrighteous persons not inheriting the kingdom: "And yet that is what some of you were. But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:9-11) That is what the white robes symbolize, our having been washed clean and been sanctified. (Rev. 19:8) Upon his conversion, Paul himself was told: "And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized and wash your sins away by your calling upon his name." (Acts 22:16)

Although a person may be dressed in white outer garments after his baptism, he can still soil (defile) them if he fails to keep himself without spot from the world; or by returning to his former unclean life, like when "the dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was bathed to rolling in the mire." (James 1:27; 2 Peter 2:21,22; Compare Hebrews 6:4-8)

Jesus tells the "few names in Sardis" that "they shall walk with me in white robes, because they are worthy," for they have kept their white garments; not like the rest of the congregation in Sardis whom Jesus declared as being "dead." Jesus also adds that he "will by no means blot out his name from the book of life." When is a person's name entered into the "book of life"? When the person is reconciled to God and his sins are forgiven, which is at the time of his baptism. And as long as the person remains faithful, his name remains in the book of life. (Phil. 4:3; Rev. 20:15; 13:8) The same is true of a person's white outer garments. The faithful few in Sardis do not receive their white outer garments at some future time, for what would they be wearing until then? Jesus said: "Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness." (Rev. 16:15)

Not only is it possible for a person to defile his white outer garments, but he may also lose them, thus be seen as walking naked. That was the situation with the congregation members in Laodicea, to whom Jesus wrote that he was going to vomit them out of his mouth because they were "lukewarm," "miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked." Therefore he advised them to "buy from me... white outer garments that you may become dressed and that the shame of your nakedness may not become manifested." (Rev. 3:14-18) We need to be dressed in our "white outer garments" before the start of the great tribulation, for no one will "walk" with Jesus upon his return unless he is dressed in white robes. Is that not the intent of Jesus' warning: "Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming"? (Matt. 24:42; Rev. 7:9,10, 17; 22:14)

To sum it all up, the Scriptures are clear that no one will survive the great tribulation unless a person has a righteous standing with God before the great tribulation begins. A person receives his white robes (white outer garments) upon his baptism when his sins are forgiven, as the apostle John says, "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." That is what baptism symbolizes. This is not at some time in the future, for it is "now [God] is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent." (1 John 1:7; Acts 17:30,31)

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