This verse reminds me of the people commended by Jehovah God in the Age of Law, such as Noah, Abraham, and Job. The people in Noah’s day were deeply sinful and promiscuous paying no thought to repentance. Nobody listened to the word of God. Their rigidity and evil aroused God’s anger and in the end, they were swallowed up by the disaster of the great flood. Only Noah was a just man in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Noah and his family of eight listened to God’s word and were able to survive in the end. Back to Abraham’s day, God gave Abraham a son and then asked him to offer his son Isaac to God. Although Abraham loved his son Isaac, he was genuinely going to return Isaac, whom God had granted him, to God. In Abraham, God saw his true obedience and that his heart toward God was true and sincere. Not only did God not allow Abraham to offer Isaac, but He also blessed him. God especially treasures such people.

Another one we are familiar is Job. The first assessment of Job in the Bible is “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Jehovah God’s assessment of Job is “there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil” (Job 1:8). That Job gained such assessment is because his practical experience was approved of by God. Job lost all his property and his children overnight, but he did not exhibit any pain or regret at the loss of his possessions. On the contrary, he said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah,” which was really admirable. He could come to the knowledge that all this was given by God, and that the deeds of rewarding man and taking from man all come from God, and that as created being, man should praise God. We can see that Job was really a perfect and upright man in God’s eyes.

From these biblical characters, we can see that God treasures those who can listen to and obey Him. God blesses such kind of person. Today, God also hopes to gain people like Noah, Abraham, and Job. Just as the Bible said, “And I looked, and, see, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand” (Revelation 14:1). “And I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). “For the Lamb which is in the middle of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them to living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Revelation 7:17).

From these prophecies in the book of Revelation, we can see that God will gain 144,000 overcomers who will come out of great tribulation and be shepherded by the Lamb in the middle of the throne. If they have the reality of the truth and have washed their robes—being cleansed by God, they will live in the holy city of God and enjoy special favor from God. During the last days, mankind has undergone extreme corruption, just like those in Noah’s day. They worship evil, indulge in gluttony and pleasure-seeking without a heart that fears God and shuns evil. If we still do not pursue the truth, we will lose the chance of being saved by God. May we pursue the truth, seek the footprints of God, learn to hear God, accept His salvation, and live by His word.