End Game: The Lamb Wins; Earth is Judged. Revelation 14:1- 13
One more comment about chapter 13:16, 17. This is going to be a world-wide empire that is going to control all commerce, all buying and selling on the earth, and the primary way in which this is going to be done is through this identification that is some sort of visible mark that can be easily seen by someone so that they know that their allegiance has been given to the beast. They understand that the power of the beast comes from the dragon, Satan. Several things have to happen before that transpires. There has to be some sort of world-wide ability to control commerce. There is also the indication that there is going to be some world-wide currency, just as there is one empire. It is interesting that today (9 September, 2009) the London Telegraph had an article with the headline saying that the United Nations wants a new global currency to replace the dollar. This is not saying that this is the fulfillment of that prophecy but it shows how we are moving in that direction. The pressure in the cosmic system is to move to a one-world government, a one-world currency, move to a cashless society; this pressure is always there. It just gives another indication that that is the position of the United Nations and their goals and objectives.
Chapter 14 is really a survey chapter within the flow of events in Revelation. The writer now stops, pauses and gives an overview. This is a summary of what happens during the Tribulation and what it reveals is future events, not just to the time of John and of us but future in terms of flow of action. It is to bring us back to recognize that God is going to win. John is going to see three things in this chapter. This is marked by the initial phrase, "Then I looked." "Then I looked" is the same word in the Greek in all three verses but the translators translate the word a little differently. We see the second scene in verse 6, "And I saw another angel," and the third in verse 14, "Then I looked." Each of those are the same Greek word, the aorist tense "I saw" for looking at something. He is going to use these three distinct scenes to summarize the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ over the kingdom of the Antichrist. Then the next thing that is described to us is the fact that the Lamb is standing victorious on Mount Zion surrounded by the 144,000. That takes us to the end of the Tribulation period to the victorious establishment of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns at the second coming. It is important to get a time orientation here because we are used to seeing one chapter and one event follow another and it is easy to get lost here. This is just a summary of what is going to happen, and then as we get into chapters 16-19 we will see it unfold. This is typical of Hebrew writing.
John is now bringing us to show how things end. The readers are reminded that Jesus is ultimately victorious. The 144,000 with Him seem to be functioning as some sort of special honor guard with Him as they surround Him. In the second scene we see three angelic heralds, angels who have announcements that they are making. There are four announcements and the fourth one comes from an unidentified voice from heaven. The first announcement is covered in vv. 6, 7 as that angels flies through heaven proclaiming the gospel to the entire world. The second angel, v. 8, announces the doom of Babylon, the economic capital of the Antichrist's kingdom. The third, vv. 9-11, announces the certain judgment on those who worship the beast and it image and receive the mark. The fourth announcement, vv. 12, 13, is an unidentified voice that pronounces a blessing on those who are martyrs in the Tribulation and who follow the Lord and obey God during that period.
Verses 14-20 is the section which depicts the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who is overseeing the judgment upon the earth through these angels—three more angels who carry out and oversee these particular judgments. Remember, this is a whole series of judgments here that are not part of the chain of three—three seal judgments, three trumpet judgments, and we have yet to get into the three bowl judgments. These deal with judgments that are different from those. The seal and the trumpet judgments brings the first half to a close, and then there is the death of the two witnesses followed by a huge earthquake resulting in 7000 being killed and the rest are going to be giving glory to the God of heaven. This is when a majority of Jews in Jerusalem and Israel are saved and, in response to Jesus' warning that when they see the abomination of desolation in the Temple they flee to the wilderness. On the flip side we see the growth of the power of the Antichrist and false prophet during the last half of the Tribulation period. Then this chapter brings us back to a realization that Jesus Christ is going to bring about these final judgments on the kingdom of the Antichrist, on Satan, on evil, and then He will establish His kingdom on the earth.
Revelation 14:1 NASB "Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb {was} standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads." The perfect tense of the participle there, "standing," indicates that this is completed action. This is his focal point, he sees the Lamb of God surrounded by these 144,000 and they are standing on Mount Zion. The term "the Lamb" is the favorite term John uses in this book to identify the Lord Jesus Christ; it is used some 27 times in Revelation. It focuses our attention on the fact that Jesus is the one who died on the cross for our sins. Cf. John 1:29, NASB "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" The last time He was identified as the Lamb was back in chapters four and five when He comes forward to take up the scroll and begins to open the seals. Now the Lamb is standing on Mount Zion.
What is Mount Zion? This is a term that is somewhat fluid. There is some debate over this. Some think that this is heaven symbolically and that Jesus is standing in heaven. But that doesn't really fit how the word is used in Scripture. The term "Zion" is used 162 times in the Bible and in nearly every single one of them it refers to some feature of the city of Jerusalem or literally the kingdom of Judah or Israel. It is used in a way that is somewhat fluid. Sometimes Zion refers to the temple mount, sometimes to the next mount to the west of where the temple is today which is currently called Mount Zion. Sometimes, because it is the focal point of the nation, it refers to the kingdom of Judah or to the nation as a whole. The point here is that He is on this specific location and this is distinct from the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is at the end of the battle of Armageddon and bringing the Jews back to Jerusalem after His final confrontation with the Antichrist, and we read in Zechariah 14:4 NASB "In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. [5] You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD, my God, will come, {and} all the holy ones with Him!" What this shows is a time when Jesus returns as the Messiah at end of the Tribulation period. The Jews had been trapped within the city and when Jesus returns He is going to split the Mount of Olives to give them an escape route. They will come out through the east side and escape through that valley, and then the Lord is going to march victoriously into Jerusalem through the eastern gate—the original site of the gate—and establish His kingdom, judge the Antichrist and false prophet, send them to the lake of fire, confine Satan in chains to the bottomless pit. The centerpiece of His government will be from Mount Zion, and that is what is being talked about here. This is a view that looks forward to the victorious establishment of the kingdom at the end of the Tribulation period with the Lord Jesus Christ being surrounded by these 144,000.
Who are the 144,000? These must be considered the same as those mentioned in 7:3-8. Unfortunately there are some who try to make a distinction. John is very clear when he talks about something different, he says "another," and we see this several times in chapter fourteen. He doesn't say he saw another 144,000. It is such an unusual number that we must conclude that this takes us to view the 144,000 that are first mentioned back in chapter seven.
There are several questions that we ought to address here.
- When are these 144,000 saved? There are different ideas that are presented on this. One is that they are saved in the second half of the Tribulation. (These are all views that are presented by solid, respected dispensational scholars) The primary area of their ministry is in the second half of the Tribulation period. Others say that they are saved after the Rapture before the Tribulation itself begins; others say they are saved immediately after the Rapture, and that is probably true.
- Who are they? Is this a symbolic number, a sort of an deal representation of Jews? They are Christians but not church age believers. In the Tribulation there will still be followers of Christ; they will be called Christians but the term "Christian" is not necessarily a church age term, it is anyone after the cross who has trusted Christ as savior.
- What is their purpose? This is something that we have to deduce from the text because nothing really states their purpose. We think of them as evangelists and leaders in Israel and this is probably true, but nothing actually states that.
- What is their sealing? What is the purpose of the sealing? What is the extent of the sealing? Are they sealed from all threat so that 144,000 survive through the seven years of the Tribulation and come out the other end alive? Are they being pictured here in their physical, mortal bodies? Or were they martyred through the Tribulation period and are now standing on Mount Zion is resurrection bodies with the Lord Jesus Christ?
Answers: They are probably saved very close to the beginning of the Tribulation. It could be saved after the Rapture, between the Rapture and the Tribulation, but they are not saved later than the very beginning of the Tribulation period. One evidence of that is that chapter six which describes the six seal judgments focuses on what the judgments are doing on the earth and then chapter seven takes us back to the same point of origin and explains what is happening from God's perspective, what God is doing in providing for the nation Israel in terms of His grace during the Tribulation period. One way in which that is substantiated by this particular text and description here is at the end of verse 4: "These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb." We don't know how the saving of these 144,000 is the middle of the Tribulation or the second half could cause them to be firstfruits. Firstfruits indicates the very beginning, the very first. So they would be the first Jews saved, we would think, after the Rapture. This puts their salvation very early and they have a very special mission, which is why they are described in such distinct terms. A further support for this is that the verbs that are used to describe them indicate that they are no longer through temptation: "These are the ones who have not been defiled with women…" The fact that it is used in the past tense would indicate that this could no longer be changed. Their characteristics are given in v. 4: they are morally pure male virgins; they are spiritually pure and that is the emphasis in the words that they are not defiled. This does not mean or indicate that there is something defiling about sexual intimacy; it is only defiling when it is outside of marriage. Cf. Hebrews 12:4. The unique word for being defiled here has a religious connotation and so this would be sexual immorality within the context of such as the fertility religions or some sort of perverted worship. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, a statement that indicates their loyalty and perseverance in sticking with the Lord throughout the Tribulation period. It is a summary statement indicated by a present tense or a characteristic habitual use of the present tense verb there. Then we see that they were redeemed from among men, and v.5 states, "And no lie was found in their mouth." So they are truthful and truth speakers; and they are without fault before the throne of God. They fulfill their mission and there is no criticism from heaven for their life and ministry. As a result they are given a new song that only they can sing. Revelation 14:3 NASB "And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth."
Do they survive the Tribulation? There are good scholars who take different views. Some take the view that they survive and that this seal protects them from everything during the Tribulation period. Then there are others who believe that they are martyred. The best argument we've seen for their survival is just from the idea of the sealing, that the sealing means that they are completely protected by God's power. However, the best argument we could use for their martyrdom is that at the end of verse 3 we read that these were "the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased [past tense] from the earth." All of the past tense verbs indicate that by the time they are on Mount Zion the threat of being defiled or failing is past and that they were redeemed from the earth, using the preposition apo [a)po] in the Greek, which indicates separation, that they are saved away from the earth and removed from the earth, supports that. apo can also indicate origin but that wouldn't mean anything in this passage. So that verse would indicate that they realized their salvation and deliverance from the earth in the midst of persecution. The sealing of God protects them from the judgments of God that come upon the earth during the Tribulation period, but it does not protect them from the martyrdom. In fact when we go back and look at chapter seven the fist half of the chapter deals with the sealing of the 144,000 and the second half deals with the martyrs. The same thing happens in chapter fourteen in the second part of the vision (v. 12) there is a conclusion: "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." This is in reference to the 144,000. Then John says, And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." This obviously takes place before the end of the Tribulation period but it is, again, an indication of the fact that these will not survive in their physical bodies and so are with the Lord in their resurrection bodies. As He has returned glorified at the end of the Tribulation period they will be among those who return with Him. The church will return with Him and these Tribulation martyrs will return with Him.
Revelation 14:2 NASB "And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard {was} like {the sound} of harpists playing on their harps." Standing right next to a waterfall, like Niagara Falls, you can't hear anything else; it is like a steady roar of water. So the voice John is describing is an enormous sound, a roar, and cannot be missed. Jesus' voice is described this way in Revelation 1:15; 19:6. it is the same in Old Testament passages like Ezekiel 1:24; 43:2. Then John hears music, the sound of harpists. These are not church age believers sitting on a cloud strumming on a harp. [3] "And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth." We know that the four living creatures are angels similar to the cherubs and seraphs. The elders are the church age believers. So those singing a new song are different from either the seraphs or cherubs and different from the resurrected, rewarded, raptured church age believers. No one could learn that song, so apparently this is a group of angels, an angelic choir, who now sings this and it is a song that relates to the experience of the 144,000 on the earth. We run into this phrase several times in Scripture. Unfortunately people who haven't studied the use of the phrase too much use this to try to defend contemporary Christian music and contemporary Christian worship. They come along and say: Well the Bible says we need to sing a new song; that's new music; every generation has new music. But that is not what this phrase means. When we go through the Scriptures, especially in the Psalms, and read how this phrase is used it always refers to a response after a new manifestation of God's grace and His deliverance. So because there are new circumstances and a new act of God in providing deliverance or salvation there is now something new to write about, not a new kind of music but a new song, new content to express what God has done in history once again in delivering His people. It is used in passages such as Psalm 33:3; 40:3; 96:1. That is what happens here. This song expresses the gratitude of the 144,000 for the way God has worked in their life, protected them in their experiences on the earth. So no one can sing the song, no one understands it except the 144,000 because of what they went through on the earth.
Revelation 14:4 NASB "These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These {are} the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb." They have never had any sort of sexual involvement. This doesn't mean or imply that somehow sexual relations are defiling but it is a certain kind of sexual relationship that is defiling, and that is one that is outside of marriage, two people of the same sex, etc., because it is outside of the boundaries of God's Word. These are morally and spiritually pure, they are devoted completely and loyal to the Lamb. [5] "And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless."
Revelation 14:6 NASB "And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people." This is the second viewing and starting in v. 6 we see three angels who are going to make announcements to the human race. These announcements are confirmations of judgment, what is about to take place. It is stated as if it has already happened (but it hasn't, we are still in the early part of the second half of the Tribulation ) but it is confirmation of what will happen. "Everlasting gospel" always relates to the fact that God provides a solution for sin. In the Old Testament believers looked forward to God's provision; in the New Testament in the church age they look back to God's provision, but the gospel is always the same: faith alone in the specific content of the promise, and that specific content of the promise will differ whether before or after the cross. This gospel is proclaimed to all who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe and tongue. This is directly in contrast in context with Revelation 13:7 which states that the Antichrist is given authority over every nation, tribe, tongue and people. So here we have God in His grace once again proclaiming the gospel to those who are going to refuse it. He continues to make the gospel clear, demonstrating His grace to everyone. The content of what he says relates to this judgment that is coming.
Revelation 14:8 NASB "And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.'" This is talking about the fact that the city of Babylon itself, literal Babylon, will be rebuilt. Everywhere we find mention of Babylon in the Bible it always refers to the literal city. The prophecy in Isaiah 13 that Babylon would be destroyed has never been fulfilled, thus Babylon as a power base will be rebuilt in the Tribulation period and then finally destroyed. Babylon was the source of the Nimrod revolt against God and the source of much of false religion, mythology and all kinds of polytheistic religions, along with various mystical religions. That is the background for understanding the statement that she made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication [spiritual adultery]. Spiritual adultery refers to disobedience to God and seeking other gods and not being faithful or loyal to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who created the heavens and the earth. This announcement is that Babylon is judged because she is the source of all of this false religion and she is going to have a special judgment in the Tribulation period.
Then we have a third angel who announces the certain judgment on anyone who worships the beast and his image. We believe that these three announcements of judgment occur early in the second half of the Tribulation period, early enough so that once the Antichrist and the false prophet begin to put the mark of the beast on people this will inform the world that taking that mark is a sign of allegiance to Satan and is irreversible against God, bringing about a judgment. It is a religious decision to reject God and to worship Satan. Religion in the end times is certain to be occultic and demonic. Revelation 14:9 NASB "Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, [10] he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." When they are sent to the lake of fire they are guarded by a group of angels who will overseer their judgment for eternity.
Revelation 14:11 NASB "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." In recent years there has been a lot of discussion as to whether everlasting punishment is eternal or just for a short time and then there is the annihilation of their soul. But that is clearly not the case in this verse, it is a judgment that goes on forever and ever with no rest day or night. No believer in Jesus Christ will receive the mark of the beast, and those who receive the mark of the beast are equivalent to the earth dwellers who reject God, reject the gospel and will never respond to it.
The last two verses in this second section talk about the life of these believers and how they must endure through the Tribulation. Revelation 14:12 NASB "Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
Starting in verse 14 we see the overview of the divine judgment as it is being carried out by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is pictured in v. 14 as the one who is sitting above the earth on a cloud. Revelation 14:14 NASB "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud {was} one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand." The picture of the crown indicates that he is ready to assume His position as the King of kings, Lord of lords and establish His kingdom. The sharp sickle indicates that He is bringing about the end of judgment on the earth and upon the human race. The phrase "son of man" is an important phrase to pat attention to here because it emphasizes the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here His humanity is a humanity of judgment. He is able to judge human beings because He Himself is fully human. The interesting thing about this phrase in the Greek is that it doesn't have an article. In the English it says "the son of man." It is a good translation in English. In Greek many times there is a phrase or a title that is given without the article but the absence of the article and the nature of the phrase emphasizes its uniqueness, its distinctiveness, and that it is definite. In several places in the New Testament the phrase "son of man" is used without the article because it is stressing the uniqueness of this particular individual. Cf. Revelation 1:13—"one like son of man." No article there either, but it is clearly definite in an English sense in the way we use the article. John 5:27 is another important passage. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees about His role in judgment and he says that God is the one who has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is "son of man"—no article in the Greek. John 5 is an extremely important passage for understanding the delegation of judgment to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Illustrations