Are the Great Crowd in heaven or earth?, Revelation 19:1

Revelation 19:1" After this I heard what seemed to be a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven........."

The only way the Great crowd who make it out the Tribulation can be in heaven, is if we assume that Revelation 19:1 is talking about them. For the following scriptural reasons, I will show why the great crowd in heaven, are angels who already inhabit heaven. 


What is A great crowd? 

The words used for great crowd is ὄχλου(crowd) 
πολλοῦ (great). This phrase is used in places other than Revelation.
Matthew 4:25"Consequently, large crowds followed him from Gal′i·lee and De·cap′o·lis....."

Matthew 8:1"After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him."

Matthew 13:2"And such large crowds gathered to him that he went aboard a boat and sat down,"

Matthew 14:14"When he came ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he felt pity for them,"

So simply put, great/large  crowd/multitude means exactly what it says, a large group.


Are they in Heaven or Earth?

First let's take a look at a scene of Armageddon.

Revelation 16:14"and they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty."

Revelation 16:16"And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Armageddon."

Now let's pay closer attention to Revelation 19:19-21

"And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the one seated on the horse and against his army. 20  And the wild beast was caught, and along with it the false prophet that performed in front of it the signs with which he misled those who received the mark of the wild beast and those who worship its image. ......21  But the rest were killed off with the long sword that proceeded out of the mouth of the one seated on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.


That's right. The Kings of the Earth are going to wage war against God's people. Think of the situation with Pharoah and the Israelites, Pharoah didn't only try to wage war against the Israelites, he was also waging War against God. He knew fully well that God was with them. But he still thought that he stood a chance at defeating them. Until he was swept away in the flood along with his army. See Exodus 5:2, Exodus 14:9, Exodus 14:28, Exodus 15:4



Standing before God's throne?

Revelation 7:15,17".......they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them.  17  because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and .... guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”"

Some like to assert that because they are before God's throne and serving in God's temple, then this must mean they are in heaven. This is a reasonable assumption, but not true. The fact that they are before God, only means they are within sight of him. They are within his range. 
ἐνώπιον means "before the face of, in the presence of, in the eyes of" and here's some uses of it.

Luke 1:15"for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born."

Luke 1:74,75"to grant us, after we have been rescued from the hands of enemies, the privilege of fearlessly rendering sacred service to him 75  with loyalty and righteousness before him all our days. "

John 20:30 " To be sure, Jesus also performed many other signs before the disciples, which are not written down in this scroll."

The scriptures also show  that the angels are before God.

Revelation 8:2"And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them."

Luke 1:19"The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news."

So far, I've seen 1 person assert that because angels are before God and are in heaven, then this is proof that the great crowd are in heaven since they are before God. This could only be true due to lack of knowledge of the word ἐνώπιον. Which has already been shown to mean in the sight/presense of. Just as Luke 1:75 shows, Zechariah was before God while still on Earth. So if angels are before God, that only means they are within his presense. Which is something that should be obvious. Hebrews 1:7, Rev. 5:11


Rendering Sacred Service in his temple?

Revelation 7:15" they are before the throne of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night in his temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread his tent over them."

The word temple(ναὸς) can mean 2 different things in the scriptures. It can either mean an actual building (Luke 23:45) or it could just mean your body.

 1 Corinthians 3:16,17" Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that the spirit of God dwells in you? 17  If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple."


Now let's take a look at some scriptures the follow the Armageddon.

Revelation 21:2-4"I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God and........... 3  ......... a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them.4  And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.......”"



So New Jerusalem has now came down from heaven, and God will reside with mankind. Continuation....

Revelation 21:22  I did not see a temple in it, for The LORD God the Almighty is its temple, also the Lamb is.

Revelation 3:12 "“‘The one who conquers—I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will by no means go out from it anymore,"

At first I never really understood what "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God". But eventually it hit me that Jesus will literally make those who conquer apart of God's holy temple. Auton stulon(him [a] pillar) both end in the same case endings, meaning they are being equivocated. So since there will be no literal temple, we will be apart of God's spiritual temple. So those rendering sacred service in the temple are literally just rendering Sacred service in general. There will be no need for an actual temple to render sacred service.

1Corinth. 6:19,20"Do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit within you, which you have from God? Also, you do not belong to yourselves,20  for you were bought with a price. By all means, glorify God in your body."

1 Peter 2:5" you yourselves as living stones are being built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, in order to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

John 4:24" God is a Spirit, and those worshipping him must worship with spirit and truth.”"

Where is the tent spread?

Revelation 7:15""For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them."

Revelation 21:3"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them."


Now let's look at a parallel verse in Leviticus to understand the meaning of "Spreading God's Tent"

Leviticus 26:11,12"And I will set my tabernacle among you[The Israelites]: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people."