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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-half-year, 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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