Revelation-Part 29

By: Dr. Robert Thomas; ©2001

This month Dr. Thomas considers the victory scene in Revelation 14:1-5, paying particular attention to the victorious Lamb, the heavenly singers, and the redeemed 144,000.

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THE SEVENTH TRUMPET: THE SEVEN BOWLS PENDING—VICTORIOUS FOLLOWERS OF THE LAMB

In Revelation 14:1-5, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 seems at first to be a strange climax to the episode of the woman and the dragon in Revelation 12 and the beasts from the sea and the land in Revelation 13. Yet it is not so strange if these 144,000 servants of the Lord are the same as the 144,000 in Revelation 7 and the same as “the rest of her [i.e., the woman’s] seed” against whom the dragon waged war in Revelation 12:17. They are the victims of the beast’s persecution in 13:7, 15. As victims of the dragon and his beasts, they become martyrs for the cause of Christ, but the beginning of Revela­tion 14 projects the account forward to the return of the Lamb when these victims become victors. All this is more background information to increase the readers’ appreciation for the events of the seventh trumpet, when those events begin to unfold in Revelation 16.

As we ponder the victory scene in Revelation 14:1-5, let us pay particular attention to the victorious Lamb, the heavenly singers, and the redeemed 144,000.

The Victorious Lamb

After the temporary setbacks for the Lamb’s followers in Revelation 13, Revelation 14:1- 5 presents a great contrast. Those five verses feature the Lamb instead of the beast as preeminent, the Lamb’s followers with His and the Father’s seal instead of the beast’s followers with the mark of the beast, and the divinely controlled Mount Zion instead of a pagan-controlled earth. Here in these verses is a summary preview of conditions in the future millennial kingdom (see Rev. 20:4-6). The Lamb, who began the whole revelatory process in Revelation 5:6 by breaking the seals of the scroll, has now returned and de­feated the beast. The figure of a lamb recalls not only His meekness and sacrificial death, but also His resurrection and ultimate victory. His blood shed at Calvary provides the means for the final triumph of Himself and His redeemed ones (see 5:9; 7:14; 12:11).

The Lamb’s characteristics contrast with the ferocity of the dragon and the beasts. He is their direct opposite. The beasts arise from the sea and the earth (13:1, 11), but His feet are firmly planted, as “standing” in 14:1 indicates. The dragon “stood” on the unstable sands of the sea (12:18), but the Lamb stands on the rock of Mount Zion. He is no longer a slain Lamb, but has now become a militant victor with His feet solidly fixed on the Mount of Olives.

The mention of Mount Zion in 14:1 recalls the vision that began at 11:1. The temple of the future mentioned there will be built on that Mount. Mount Zion also brings Psalm 2:6 to mind. Psalm 2 tells of God’s victory over the nations, a victory that John has alluded to several times in the middle portion of Revelation (see 11:18; 12:5). Despite commentators’ efforts to find another meaning for “Mount Zion,” the best meaning is its dominant meaning throughout the Bible. The Old Testament speaks of a faithful remnant of the end times rallying at Mount Zion, which is none other than Jerusalem (Ps. 48:1-2; Isa. 11:9-12; 24:23; Joel 2:32). Whether it is the hilly area of southeast Jerusalem, the temple mount, the whole city of Jerusalem, or the whole land of Judea and the whole nation of Israel, the title depicts an earthly location well-known throughout Scripture. This rallying will come after difficulties of the latter days when the Warrior-King of Revelation 19:11-16 returns to earth, bringing with Him that select number who have suffered martyrdom at the hand of the beast. That will be victory-time for the Lamb and for those with Him.

The Heavenly Singers

After seeing the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion, John heard “a voice from heaven like a voice of many waters and like a sound of great thunder” (14:2a). The voice resembled “harpers playing on their harps” (14:2b). The voice’s description is impressive, likening it to the voices from heaven at 10:4, 8; 14:13; 18:4, but it also had characteristics of the voice of Christ in 1:10, 15. A comparison to “many waters” occurs also at 1:15 and 19:6. In Ezekiel 1:24 and 43:2 the same simile describes the voice of God, and in Daniel 10:6 it describes the voice of an angel. A comparison to thunder appears at Revelation 6:1 when one of the living beings speaks, and in 19:6 the comparison likens a voice to that of a great multitude and to “strong thunder.” Harps appear in 5:8 and 15:2 also. Harps were the traditional instruments of Psalmody (for example, see Pss. 33:2; 92:3). The voice of 14:2 was not only full and loud; it also had a harp-like, melodious strain to it.

Whose voice is it? Some have mistakenly taken it to be the voice of the 144,000, but this cannot be. The 144,000 are those learning the song in 14:3, not the original singers of the song. In this instance the singers are probably an angelic chorus such as the one that sings “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” in Revelation 5:11. In this instance, however, they sing a new song that no one can learn except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth (14:3).

The Redeemed 144,000

The 144,000 are clearly a select group from among a larger body of the redeemed because of a number of distinguishing moral qualities assigned to them in 14:4. The fact that they are redeemed does not require that they be identical with the whole body of redeemed humanity. In 5:9 and in 7:9 we have already learned about large groups of redeemed people whose num­bers are too large to designate, but this crowd is specifically limited to 144,000. In 7:1-8 we have met this same group before, at the time when they were receiving a seal to protect them from the ill effects of the seven trumpet judgments. We learned then that they were a group from among national Israel, that is, physical descendants of Abraham. The same identification is confirmed here through the placement of the scene in Jerusalem (that is, Mount Zion) and through the relationship of this group to the woman who is a representation of national Israel in Revelation 12. This group must be the same.

Our earlier meeting with the 144,000 in Revelation 7 came before their three-and-a-half­year, worldwide ministry of witness for the Lamb, before their warfare with the beast, and before their martyrdom. As we see them in Revelation 14:1-5, that is all past. They are now enjoying the kingdom blessings in the personal presence of the Lamb. The earlier sealing they received protects them from the wrath of God, but it does not shield them from the wrath of the beast. That sealing does not grant them physical protection from what the dragon and his helpers will want to do to them, but during a period when good news is scarce, the sealing will enable the witnesses to circulate throughout the earth and carry good news about redemption through the Lamb. They will compose the vanguard who bears the brunt of the struggle against the beast and will pay the price of their own lives. In Revelation 14, they have returned to earth with the Lamb to share in His millennial reign.

Their spiritual achievement reflects spiritual growth, which is the measure of their spiri­tual ability to appreciate and learn the new song that the heavenly singers will sing. In 15:2, those who have overcome the beast sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. This appar­ently will be a larger group that includes the 144,000 who learn the new song here (14:3). The latter have now been redeemed from the earth and liberated from the tyranny of the beast and the earth-dwellers.

Revelation 14:4-5 furnishes a few added features regarding the 144,000. They will be unmarried men, and thus free to render undistracted service for the Lord, the kind of ser­vice Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 7:26. The future Great Tribulation when they func­tion as witnesses will be an unusual time in history, one requiring an especially high degree of dedication. Virginity will be required for this special group during this special time. An­other characteristic in verse 4 is their persistence in following the Lamb. They will follow Him wherever His leading takes them, even to the point of giving up their lives as He did. A third characteristic in verse 4 is their redemption as a “contribution” to God. The word rendered “firstfruits” in most English versions has in this verse the sense of a one-time “contribution,” as it does in most of its occurrences in the Greek Old Testament. It has a sacrificial connotation in referring to their willingness to give their lives as a sacrifice. In other words, they will be martyrs.

Verse 5 emphasizes their truthfulness—in contrast to the lies of the beast—and their blamelessness. This special group will have no insincerity or duplicity.

What can we say in comparing ourselves to this select company of the Lamb’s follow­ers? We live in a day when duplicity and self-serving are the rule rather than the exception. Trust in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is, of course, the only way to have eternal life, but we can follow Him in the same way as the 144,000 if we pursue our active faith to its logical end. We will have been caught up to heaven to be with Him before the Great Tribulation, but that does not hinder us from rendering the same undistracted service to the Lamb as we await the day of His return.

Note: For more details about the Lamb and the 144,000, see my discussion in Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995), pages 188-201. To order this volume, you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.

 

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