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Revelation 14

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The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion 1–5

1
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. ​
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:
3
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4
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 firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. ​
5
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. ​

The Three Angels and the Blessing of the Faithful Dead 6–13

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, ​
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. ​
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. ​
9
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, ​
10
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: ​
11
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.
12
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. ​
13
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. ​

The Harvest and the Winepress of God’s Wrath 14–20

14
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. ​
15
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. ​
16
And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
17
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18
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. ​
19
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.
20
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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 14

Verse 1

a Lamb stood on the mount Sion — The 144,000 were numbered and sealed in 7:4, ‘of all the tribes of the children of Israel’. The ‘Father’s name written in their foreheads’ answers the mark of the beast on the forehead (v.9; 13:16) and anticipates 22:4, ‘his name shall be in their foreheads’. Mount Sion is where God set his king (Ps 2:6) and ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ (Heb 12:22).

Verse 4

virgins — Parthenos. Paul uses the figure of believers as ‘a chaste virgin to Christ’ (2 Cor 11:2), and the purity here stands against the ‘fornication’ of Babylon in v.8. ‘Follow’ (akoloutheo) is the verb of Christ’s ‘let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be’ (John 12:26). ‘Firstfruits’ (aparche) is used of believers in Jas 1:18.

Verse 5

no guile — Dolos, deceit, the word used of Christ: ‘neither was guile found in his mouth’ (1 Pet 2:22). Zeph 3:13 promises the remnant of Israel that ‘a deceitful tongue’ will not be found in their mouth. ‘Without fault’ is amomos, unblemished, the word of Eph 5:27 and Jude 24, ‘faultless before the presence of his glory’.

Verse 6

the everlasting gospel — Euangelion aionion, a phrase found only here. ‘Midst of heaven’ (mesouranema) occurs only in 8:13, here and 19:17. The fourfold ‘nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people’ is the extent of the redeemed in 5:9 and 7:9, and of the beast’s reach in 13:7; the message goes to all of them.

Verse 7

Fear God, and give glory to him — The one who ‘made heaven, and earth, and the sea’ is the Creator named in the fourth commandment (Ex 20:11), and the ‘fountains of waters’ are added. ‘Worship’ is proskuneo, the verb used of the dragon and the beast in 13:4 and in vv.9, 11 below: the choice is between whom to worship.

Verse 8

Babylon is fallen, is fallen — The cry of Isa 21:9, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen’, repeated by another angel in 18:2. ‘Wrath’ (thumos) is the word used of God’s wine in v.10, so the cup of Babylon’s fornication (18:3) is answered by the cup of God’s. ‘That great city’ matches the name on her forehead in 17:5, ‘BABYLON THE GREAT’.

Verse 9

worship the beast and his image — The third angel’s warning is the longest of the three and answers 13:15–17, where the image is made and the mark is given ‘in their right hand, or in their foreheads’. ‘Mark’ is charagma. The two foreheads of this chapter are set side by side: the Father’s name (v.1) and the beast’s mark.

Verse 10

without mixture — Akratos, undiluted, found only here in the New Testament; with the verb kerannumi, to mix, the phrase is literally ‘mixed unmixed’. The cup of the LORD’s fury is in Isa 51:17 and Jer 25:15, and in Ps 75:8 ‘the wine is red; it is full of mixture’. The ‘fire and brimstone’ recall Sodom (Gen 19:24).

Verse 12

the patience of the saints — Hypomone, endurance, the word of 13:10, ‘Here is the patience and the faith of the saints’, said after the beast’s rise. The two marks are ‘the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus’; 12:17 words the same pair as the commandments of God and ‘the testimony of Jesus Christ’.

Verse 13

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord — The second of the seven beatitudes of Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). ‘From henceforth’ (aparti) occurs only here. ‘Rest’ is anapauo, the word of Christ’s ‘I will give you rest’ (Matt 11:28), and ‘their works do follow them’ uses the verb of v.4.

Verse 14

one sat like unto the Son of man — The words of Dan 7:13, ‘one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven’, and of Rev 1:13. Here he has ‘a golden crown’ (stephanos, the wreath, not the diadem of 12:3) and ‘a sharp sickle’, the tool of the harvest. Christ speaks of coming ‘in the clouds of heaven’ in Matt 24:30.

Verse 15

the harvest of the earth is ripe — The call ‘Thrust in thy sickle, and reap’ echoes Joel 3:13, ‘Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe’. ‘Thrust in’ is literally ‘send’ (pempo). ‘Ripe’ is xeraino, dried. In Matt 13:39 Christ says ‘the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels’. The word for reaping is therizo.

Verse 18

the clusters of the vine of the earth — A second harvest, of grapes, with a different verb: trugao, to gather fruit, and ‘fully ripe’ is akmazo, found only here. The angel ‘which had power over fire’ comes from the altar, as at 8:5. Joel 3:13 pairs the sickle with the winepress: ‘the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great’.

Verse 20

the winepress was trodden without the city — The treading follows Isa 63:3, ‘I have trodden the winepress alone’, and the one who ‘treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God’ in 19:15 is Christ. ‘Bridles’ is chalinos, a word found otherwise only in Jas 3:3. The distance is ‘a thousand and six hundred furlongs’ (stadion).