Revelation 14

The Lamb and the 144,000

1-5 John sees the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion with 144,000 who have his and the Father’s name written on their foreheads. He hears a voice from heaven that sounds like water, thunder, and harps playing, singing a new song before the four living creatures and the elders. The only ones who can learn the song are the 144,000, the redeemed, the pure, the blameless, who have followed the Lamb. Commentators disagree on whether this scene is a prophecy of heaven or not. In either case, it is a picture of victory, of Jesus standing with those who have stood with him. Christians are promised a life that helps them overcome whatever evils the beasts of chapter 13 may cause. The 144,000, sealed in Chapter 7, are the “church militant.”

Hailey: “The qualities of the voice which John heard indicate majesty, volume, and the melody of praise.” It’s not clear who is singing the song: possibly the innumerable hosts (7:9-17), singing a song that only the church militant will be able to learn.

The Messages of the Three Angels

6-7 First angel proclaims an eternal gospel to all who live on earth, telling them to fear, glorify, and worship God.

8 A second angel declares the fall of Babylon. From Vision of Victory, “Ancient Babylon was a source of corruption, sin, and bondage. Such an environment is represented in Revelation 14, 17, and 18. In John’s day, the latter part of the first century, Babylon obviously would symbolize Rome. The description in Chapter 17 graphically describes Rome.”

9-11 A third angel prophesies the fate of those who worship the beast and its image, the punishment they will receive because of God’s wrath.

12 This is a call for endurance of the saints.

13 John hears a voice from heaven blessing those who die in the Lord, for they will rest from their labors.

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14-16 John sees the Son of Man sitting on a white cloud with a crown on his head and a sickle in his hand. An angel comes out of the temple and tells him that it is time to use his sickle to reap, for the harvest is ripe, so the one on the cloud reaps the earth. Clouds often symbolize judgment (Isaiah 19:1; Jeremiah 4:13; Matthew 24:30, 26:64), The Son of Man wears a stephanos – a crown of victory. The Son of Man gathers in his harvest.

17-20 Another angel comes out of the temple. This one has a sharp sickle. An angel with authority over fire comes from the altar and tells the other angel to gather the ripe clusters of grapes. He does so, and throws them into the “winepress of the wrath of God.” Trampled outside the city, blood from the winepress flows for a distance of 200 miles. Hailey: “…as the Lord reaps His harvest through preaching the gospel, judgment falls on all who reject it.”