01.14. CHAPTER 14.
CHAPTER 14.
Revelation 14:1. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with Him a hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads.” In striking contrast with that anarchy, confusion, and evil, the subject of the preceding chapter, John now contemplates a far different scene.
“I looked, and, lo.” Here is another of those N.B.’s which point out subjects of peculiar interest and importance.
“A Lamb,” that is, “a young lamb” [arnion]. This is not the word for “lamb” employed by John the Baptist, which is “amnos,” when he says, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29; John 1:36). He is indeed the same person, but in a different character and position. Not the Lamb for a burnt-offering, not Jesus come to suffer, and to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself; but as a Lamb in the resurrection power of an endless life, the same as in Revelation 5:6, the Lamb in everlasting glory; not as He is seen in type or shadow in Genesis 22:6, as the Isaac going to Mount Moriah for sacrifice; not as seen on earth setting His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, but as the risen One in the vigour of immortal youth.
“Stood,” perfect participle, that is, “having stood and standing,” the same designation and same position as in Revelation 5:6. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain.” In Revelation 5:1-14 : He is seen surrounded by those who share in the triumphs of the skies (a heavenly scene), but in Revelation 14:1-20 : He is in the midst of those who are engaged in the fierce conflict that is going on below (an earthly scene).
“On the Mount Sion.” There are two mountains in Jerusalem which are often confounded: Mount Moriah and Mount Zion. Mount Moriah was the place where Abraham offered up his son Isaac; the mount on which the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite was situated; where David built an altar, and offered sacrifice unto Jehovah, when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it (2 Samuel 24:1-25); the mount on which Solomon’s Temple was erected (2 Chronicles 3:1).
Zion, on the other hand, was the stronghold of David, and between the two mounts was that chasm, the Tyrophean valley, which was spanned by the ascent which the Queen of Sheba so wondered at.
It was probably on Mount Zion that Solomon erected his royal residence. In this verse Mount Sion is symbolical. As Mount Sinai is typical of the demands and penalties of law, so Mount Sion is the emblem of the sovereignty of grace. Hebrews 12:18-24 contrasts the two: “Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched,” that is, Mount Sinai, with its demands and penalties, but to Mount Sion, Avhere grace triumphant reigns. Grace has brought us there, as it will hereafter bring those mentioned in this first verse.
“And with Him a hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name written in their foreheads.”
Here it is not the sacrificial Lamb on His way to Calvary, with His twelve disciples around Him, who afterwards forsook Him; but the Lamb in resurrection vigour, surrounded by the twelve times twelve thousand who follow Him whithersoever He goeth.
We must not confound this company with the hundred and forty- four thousand mentioned in the seventh chapter, though in some respects they are similar. Those of the seventh chapter were sealed to secure them against coming judgments, God putting His mark upon them, that the executors of His righteous judgments might pass them over (Psalms 91:7), and they are of all the tribes of the children of Israel, they are exclusively Israelites.
Here, in the fourteenth chapter, the hundred forty and four thousand have His Father’s name written on their foreheads. That is, manifestly declared to be children of God, “known and read of all men;” and they are “redeemed from among men” (Revelation 14:4), not from Israel exclusively, but from mankind generally.
Revelation 14:2. “And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” The hundred forty and four thousand standing on the ground of sovereign grace, and having the presence of the Lord of Glory with them, are on earth, but the voice of melody which John hears comes from heaven. “The voice of many waters,” that is, from the innumerable company of angels which surround the throne.
“The voice of a great thunder.” That is, the voice of praise from the surrounding universe. The music of heaven’s orchestra comes wafted down to earth, like the melody of a military band provided to animate the warriors in the conflict, and to urge them on to deeds of valour. It is God’s own provision to cheer His faithful combatants in this last struggle against the combined powers of earth and hell.
“And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.”
Revelation 15:2 explains to us who these harpers are. They are those who, having been faithful unto death, have gained the victory over the beast, and in heaven join their harpings with the harmony of the skies.
Revelation 14:3. “And they sung, as it were, a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts [living ones] and the elders; and no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” The old song is the song of creation, which angels sang when God laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:7). The new song is the song of redemption (see Psalms 96:1-2), “Sing unto Jehovah a new song... show forth His salvation from day to day.” This new song is sung in the presence of God, and before the four living ones, symbolic of the Church, and before the four and twenty elders, which represent the saints of a former dispensation. In heaven
“The whole creation join in one,
To bless the sacred Name Of Him who sits upon the throne,
And to adore the Lamb.” On earth only the redeemed from among men have fellowship with the heavenly harmony; none but these can learn and sing the song of salvation, which is sung around the throne.
Revelation 14:4-5. “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
These are they, who, by faith and patience, inherit the promises, and, by these exceeding great and precious promises, become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). Our Lord speaks of those who made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake (Matthew 19:12); and in Isaiah 56:1-8, there is a wondrous and beautiful prophecy of these godly ones of the latter day, not only from among the children of Israel, but from the Gentiles, the strangers who join themselves with them, who keep God’s commandments, and take hold of His covenant, and in whom the promises of the new covenant will be fulfilled. God will write His law in their hearts, He will put a new spirit within them, and cause them to walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:25-27). When on the one hand the transgressors are come to the full, and iniquity abounds such as it never did before, on the other hand the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up His standard, and work mightily in the hearts of the faithful. God’s saints then will be refined, but not with silver, they are chosen in the furnace of affliction. As the three Hebrew youths passing through the furnace heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated, came forth with every bond burnt, these, as the result of the fiery trials through ‘which they will pass, and the sanctifying afflictions which they have endured, will come forth pre-eminent in holiness, purity, and truth, to follow the Lamb whithersoever He leadeth. They will be the work of God’s hands that He may be glorified, in whom God will show that He has not done in vain all that He hath done (Ezekiel 14:22-23).
These are redeemed from the earth and its defilement, “and from among men” and their iniquity; being a first-fruit unto God and to the Lamb, these will be a specimen beforehand of what all Israel will become under the new covenant in the Millennial kingdom, a holy nation, a peculiar people, and to these, when Israel is brought into the fulness of blessing, God will give in His house, and within His walls, a place and a name better than of sons and daughters, an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. For even them will He bring to His holy mountain, and make them joyful in His house of prayer (Isaiah 56:4-7). These are Israelites indeed in whose spirit there is no guile (Zephaniah 3:13). In the Book of Psalms we have the varied experience of these godly and tried ones in their onward progress through conviction, temptation, and conflict onward to their ultimate triumph, thanksgiving, and praise.
Revelation 14:6. “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
“Another angel.” This angel follows the angel which had the seventh trumpet, who ushers in the great crisis of this world’s history. Angels are the agents of God’s providential actings on the earth, and are emblems of God’s providential rule. This angel flying in mid- heaven is a sign, setting forth that God, by His providence, will open up in a remarkable manner, and above all barriers, human or earthly, a way for the universal spread of the Gospel. As upon the persecution which arose about Stephen, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word, so God will over-rule the persecution of the faithful remnant symbolised by the man child, and the remnant of the woman’s seed, for the universal dissemination of the truth. The everlasting gospel is the same old, old story, which is true from the beginning, redemption through the blood of the Lamb, the serpent’s head crushed beneath the bruised heel of the woman’s seed. As there is none other name under heaven given amongst men for salvation, so there is no other gospel but the gospel of the grace of God through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
“When the energy of Satan is put forth to the full through his strong delusions, that men might believe his lie, the counteracting energy of the Spirit of God will be brought in to resist it, so that “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” will have the gospel proclaimed to them. As the result of this world-wide diffusion of the gospel, the multitude which no man can number out of every nation will come forth, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, to wave their palms of victory and celebrate the triumphs of redeeming grace and love.
Revelation 14:7. “Saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.’” The proclamation of grace will be accompanied by urgent admonition to fear God and give Him the glory, rather than fear Antichrist, or give the glory to Satan; for though this will be the time of Antichrist’s triumph and Satan’s power, it will also be the hour of God’s judgment, for the Lord Jesus is about to be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel. Similar in effect to the words of the Lord Jesus: “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which, after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear Him” (Luke 12:4-5).
Instead of worshipping the beast, or his image, and receiving his mark on the forehead or in their hands, that they should worship the Creator of all things, the invisible things of whom are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made (Romans 1:20). He will put down the worship of every strange god by His almighty power; for “the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens” (Jeremiah 10:11).
Revelation 14:8. “And there followed another angel, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’”
There is another form of evil to be guarded against—not only the denying of God, but the corruption of Christian truth, “the apostasy” or “falling away” mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Babylon is the emblem of apostate Christianity. At the beginning of the seven years—the last week—Babylon will represent the outward form of Christianity from whence the genuine salt and light has been taken out by the removal of true believers. This is the apostasy. Babylon’s fall, here spoken of, is when, instead of being even professedly the bride of the true Christ, she becomes the harlot of Antichrist. Her final fall is her utter destruction by the united fury of the ten kingdoms of the beast.
Revelation 14:9-11. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.’” A word of most solemn warning. The choice must now be made between God and Satan, between Christ and Antichrist, between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error; and that choice, once made, is final and irrevocable, the results eternal and unalterable; the mark of the beast, once received, is the seal of eternal perdition. The righteous language of the godly on the earth will then be: “Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors” (Psalms 59:5). “Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate Thee? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies” (Psalms 139:21-22)—language only applicable in full to these times.
“When man’s transgressions shall have come to the full, the mingled cup of God’s indignation will be full to overflowing. The result of the righteous judgment of God that will come upon these wicked transgressors, in whom God will show His wrath and His power to punish, will be an everlasting monument of the evil of sin, a beacon light of solemn import to all the universe and throughout eternity, for “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.” The “everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41) will be shared by Antichrist and his associates, for “Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it” (Isaiah 30:33). The fire is the righteous judgment of God, the wood is the transgression and sin which furnish the fuel for the burning, and the breath of the indignation of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, gives intensity to the flame.
Revelation 14:12-13. “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, ‘Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.’ ‘Yea,’ saith the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.’” As in the case of the three Hebrew youths (Daniel 3:19-20) the furnace was heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated, so it will be in this time of the great tribulation: the trial to which faith and patience will be put, will be fiercer than any hitherto known. This fiery trial will make manifest, without a doubt, those who “keep the commandments of God,” and who have “the faith of Jesus.” This voice from heaven, borne witness to by the Spirit of God, pronouncing a blessing on those who “loved not their lives unto the death,” is a word of strong consolation which will be specially needed and welcome in those times.
“From henceforth” marks a definite period—from the commencement of these last three and a half years of unparalleled trial; for, while there is no rest for the wicked (Revelation 14:11), there remaineth a rest for the people of God; and “verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily He is a God that judgeth in the earth” (Psalms 58:11).
Revelation 14:14-16. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Thy sickle and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe [dried].’ And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”
“The harvest is the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39), and this harvest is twofold. At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, the wheat is gathered into His garner; but the tares left on the field, when fully dried, are cast into the fire (Matthew 13:1-58). The scene before us is the harvest of the earth’s ripened iniquity. Instead of the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven with His many diadems, and the sword, to receive His kingdom (Revelation 19:1-21), He is here seen seated on a white cloud—the emblem of strict, impartial justice—and with the victor’s crown and sickle, for it is the execution of righteous judgment on man’s iniquity, fully ripe. Our Lord refers to this in Mark 4:26-29. The sower commits his seed to the earth, then goes to sleep, and lets the earth do her part, bringing “forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” So it is with good and evil: left to the responsibility of man, whether it is the good seed or the tares of the wicked one, it reaches maturity in due time. “But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, He putteth in the sickle, and gathers the wheat into His garner, and, when iniquity is ripe or dried, He thrusts in His sickle on the earth. This is judgment on political and moral evil headed up in Antichrist, when lawlessness comes out in bold antagonism against God.
Revelation 14:17-20. “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.’ And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” This is the vintage of the earth, the judgment of God executed on religious evil, headed up in Babylon the Great: apostasy fully consummated. The angel (the emblem of God’s providential agency) having the sharp sickle is symbolic of the fact that God in His providence will employ the agency of man for the accomplishment of His purposes (Revelation 17:16-17). The ten kings in their hatred and wrath cast the vine into the winepress. In point of time the vintage precedes the harvest; that is, the judgment of Babylon precedes the judgment of Antichrist; but the judgment of Babylon will be finally consummated by the Son of Man at His appearing, for He it is that treads the winepress (Revelation 19:15), when not only the beast, but the false prophet, come under the wrath of God to the uttermost” (Revelation 19:20). The judgment will be deep, in accordance with the enormity of the evil, and co-extensive with the spread of false religion.