Wiping Away Our Tears

Q. When the Bible states that God will wipe away every tear, does that mean, despite dying or being raptured, we will feel sadness and cry until the very end when God does this?

A. There are two places in the Revelation where God wipes away the tears of His people. One is in Rev. 7:17 and pertains to Tribulation Martyrs newly arrived in Heaven, and the other is in Rev. 21:4 speaking of believers in the New Jerusalem at the beginning of the Millennium. In both cases the idea is that once a child of God arrives at his/her eternal home the old order of things passes away and eternal bliss characterizes the future. Once we leave Earth there are no more tears.