Revelation 14
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Important messages
Chapter 14
1. Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion
stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name
written on their foreheads.
2. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar
of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like
the sound of harpists playing on their harps,
3. and they were singing a new song before the
throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could
learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4. It is these who have not defiled themselves
with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he
goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the
Lamb,
5. and in their mouth no lie was found, for they
are blameless.
The Lamb and 144,000
Now, we will learn of several things which will occur
during the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation and I will simply bring them to
your attention. The tribes of Israel, the number of apostles and the 24 elders
in heaven, all have to do with the number 12. Of course 144,000 is also a
multiple of 12. This chapter begins with a picture of the Lamb on Mount Zion,
accompanied by 144,000 disciples. They are in sharp contrast to those in 13:16,
who receive the number and name of the beast. We have a great number of
faithful, loyal followers of the Lamb, who hung in shame on Golgotha, but now stands
triumphant with the choicest people on earth in the eyes of God. They may not
be among the governmental rulers, the high ranking military officials, the
intellectual giants, or the greatest examples of physical strength, but before
heaven’s throne these are the finest of creation, the prime product of the
earth.
I have already stated that the contents of this chapter
seem to unfold during the Great Tribulation, which is evident by the fall of
Babylon in verse 8 and the mark of the beast in verse 9. The Lamb and the
144,000 are positioned on Mount Zion (v.1), but the context seems to indicate
that this is not literal Zion on earth, but heavenly Zion. Verse 3 shows that
only the 144,000 could sing a new song and that song was sung before the
throne, the living creatures and the elders. Zion is the southern hill in the
city of Jerusalem and the seat of divine worship on earth. It became emblematic
of the dwelling place of God in heaven.
Commentators think that these are the same as the 144,000
Jews in chapter 7, although there are some complications to overcome, in order
to reach that conclusion. The 12 tribes of Jews are sealed upon earth (7:1 and
3), and these in chapter 14, as already stated, appear to be before the throne
in heaven. They are not called Jews, but simply those who have been redeemed
from the earth. I have to end this first detail with a question: Are they Jews
on earth going through the Tribulation or members of the redeemed and raptured
church in heaven? Or does this section
give us a scene that takes us beyond the Tribulation?
There are more questions to consider. As in chapter 7, is
this number literal or symbolic of the thousands of disciples of the Lamb? As first fruits, do they stand out in their
purity and devotion to Christ in comparison to the citizenry of the world or
are they kind of an elite royal guard of outstanding saints? Do we take it
literally that they are unmarried virgins, who devote themselves singularly to
the Lamb? Commentators do not give us a conclusive answer and I am forced to
leave this scene in question.
6. Then I saw another angel flying directly
overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to
every nation and tribe and language and people.
7. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and
give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who
made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8. Another angel, a second, followed saying,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine
of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
9. And another angel, a third, followed them,
saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and
receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10. he also will
drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger,
and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11. And the smoke
of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night,
these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of
its name.”
12. Here is a call
for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and
their faith in Jesus.
The loud voices of three angels
Many angels have appeared to John already, and yet
another comes flying in the sky directly overhead. He is the first of three in
this second section of chapter 14. On the eve, when Christ was born, an angel
appeared to shepherds, announcing the gospel to them: “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people” (Lk.2:10). The shepherds became the ones who proclaimed the gospel
after that: “They made known the saying
that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at
what the shepherds told them” (Lk.2:17-18), The angel in Revelation 14 has
the “eternal gospel to proclaim to those
who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people” (v.6).
The angel announces a special Great Tribulation
dispensation of the gospel. The gospel is unchanging; it is the eternal gospel,
the only gospel, according to Apostle Paul. “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel
contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal.1:8).
John the Baptist came as a forerunner to the gospel preached by Christ and his
ministry called people to repentance and baptized them with the baptism of
repentance. Then Jesus began His ministry saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.4:17).
The introduction to the gospel, given by the angel is “Fear God and give him glory, because the
hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the
sea and the springs of water” (v.7). He proclaims the knowledge that
mankind needs to know in order to show the proper reaction that is required of
them, when faced with the eternal gospel. 1) They must have a fear of God as
the primary step towards the wisdom needed to receive it. 2) All of God’s good
gifts to men have one aim… to bring glory to God. 3) Judgment lies just ahead
as the alternative to those who ignore or shun the gospel. 4) The gospel
inspires men to worship their Creator, who is the cause and reason for their
existence.
A second angel announced the fall of Babylon. He declares
that the world’s system is temporary and will fall; it is a bad choice to
follow the system, and the consequence will be eternal loss. Failure and doom
are the alternatives, when men reject the gospel. They will go down with the
system.
The third angel proclaims judgment upon Babylon’s
faithful followers. Egypt was the first great symbol of the world and represented
slavery to sin. Babylon is a similar symbol, but it’s evil and perverse system
is formed in the last-day, It captures mankind and holds him enslaved. The
gospel calls people out of Babylon. We can see now, why the first angel called
for a fear of God, for godly worship that will bring glory to Him. There is no
middle ground; men worship God or they worship the beast and his image. They
are marked and owned by God or they are branded and possessed by the beast.
Verse 10 is a last-day warning and one of the most
fearful portions of Holy Scripture. Where the blood of the cross has not been
applied, the wrath of God still applies. If the sinner exists outside the
cross, there is no refuge from the heat of His anger. The Author of the
Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, could not make it any more vivid: God’s wrath is “poured full strength”. Try to imagine
the full strength of the fury of the Almighty! There is fire and sulfur torment
ahead and the smoke from it rises forever and ever; if you don’t know what that
means, don’t wait to find out! Run from it!! There is no relief, no reprieve,
no escape, and no hope for all eternity. If you think that I may be trying to
frighten you, you can stop wondering, because that is exactly what I would like
to do, if I can! The stakes are too high for me not to try to apply all the
weight of Scripture to press down upon the unsaved soul.
The holiness of God will be glorified in judgment.
Throughout the Bible, we learn that when God’s grace is not applied in mercy
and salvation, He is exalted in His judgment. Holy angels and the Lamb Himself
will presence the suffering of the damned. This is as much the revelation of
the character of the Lord, as is John 3:16 and 1 John 4:8. It is the final
consequence of divine love rejected. We are coming perilously close to the end
of the inspired Word and the Holy Spirit is pulling out all the stops. In the light of the consequences, the Spirit
gives this frightening alternative as an incentive to endurance against the
mark of the beast and in favor of faithfulness and obedience to the Lord. There
must be full trust in the person and work of Christ. The whole being must be
bound to the cross and in love to the Savior.
13. And I heard a
voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord
from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their
labors, for their deeds follow them!”
14. Then I looked,
and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with
a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15. And another
angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the
cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest
of the earth is fully ripe.”
16. So he who sat
on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17. Then another
angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18. And another
angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and
he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your
sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are
ripe.”
19. So the angel
swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20. And the
winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as
high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
A harvest and a vintage
Martyrdom is a final blessing upon a Christian life, especially in the extreme evil
and persecution of the Tribulation. The Psalmist declares, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps.116:15).
Their deeds follow them and live on; they will be rewarded for them. Matthew
Henry makes an important point: “Their
works follow them; they do not go before them as their title, or price of
purchase, but follow them as their evidence of having lived and died in the
Lord.” Works will never buy a ticket to heaven, but they are the natural
output of the new nature and the product of faith.
The Son of Man is the Lord of the harvest and He rides on
a cloud (Ps.104:3; Is.19:1) Because this immediately follows the blessing upon those who
die, particularly in the Tribulation time frame, it seems to me that the Lord
is the harvester, who gathers a great host to Himself through martyrdom, after
the church has been raptured. The church has been spared this Great
Tribulation. Still another angel proclaims that the Father’s will has come to
fruition… “the harvest of the earth is
fully ripe”. In John 4, Jesus speaks of harvest as the culmination of the
purpose of God (Jn.4:34-38), when He was reaping a great harvest in Sicar.
There are a total of six angels in this chapter, along
with the depiction of the Son of Man. The fifth angel appears with a sharp
sickle and he is followed by a sixth angel, who is called the angel with
authority over fire. He calls on the fifth angel to use his sickle to gather
the grapes and throw them into the wine press. This is a vintage, differing
from the harvest before it. The vintage of grapes signifies judgment and this
final swipe of a sickle is definitely a work resulting from the wrath of God.
Blood is spilled in abundance and seems to be a foretelling of the Battle of Armageddon.
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