Revelation #24 Revelation 14:1 End Times Final Warning
Revelation #24 Revelation 14:1 End Times Final Warning
We’ve made some significant headway in
making sense of the figurative language John is using giving us another
understanding of who Jesus is. We identified the Dragon as Satan, the Beast
from the Sea as the Roman Empire as personified in the Roman Emperor, and the
Beast from the Earth as the religious system that supports the Beast from the
Sea, the system of Emperor and Empire worship.
We also explained the Mark of the Beast, the 666. We suggested that since 7 is the number for
completion and perfection, 6 isn’t a 7, a 6 is symbolic of the incomplete and
the imperfect. Six hundred sixty-six is
a number of complete and utter failure.
The Dragon’s war against believers will not be successful, the Beasts
will come to ruin and defeat.
Chapter 11 ended with a song of victory
after the 7th trumpet sounded.
If John was writing another series of 7, chapter 12 would have been the
start of the sequence. Chapter 14 can be likened to the 6th event or
perspective. John’s vision starts with a
look into heaven, some good news, and then the intense time happening on the
earth. A new character comes into play
named Babylon. This is all followed by
what we can understand as the 7th event which gives us a glimpse of
the culmination of God’s plan.
Revelation 14:1-5 (MSG)
I saw—it took my breath away!—the Lamb
standing on Mount Zion, One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand standing there with
him, his Name and the Name of his Father inscribed on their foreheads. 2 And I
heard a voice out of Heaven, the sound like a cataract, like the crash of
thunder.
The Beast from the Earth, religious
authority, has marked all the inhabitants of the world, all those that worship
the Beast from the Sea, civil authority, who receive all its power from Satan.
For those who worship the Beast, the mark is a sign of triumph, but 666
ironically is the brand that signifies failure. So again, John’s symmetry comes
into play. One group is the Beast with
all its branded followers. The other
group is the Lamb with all His sealed followers.
The Lamb is standing on Mount Zion. In the Old Testament Mount Zion is often a
simile for Jerusalem. Jerusalem was built upon Zion. Today a Zionist is a
person who adheres to Jewish customs.
Zionists can take on all kinds of political agendas but what we need to
see is that Zion refers to Jerusalem.
That the Lamb stands upon Mount Zion informs us that John is not writing
about the physical city of Jerusalem.
Later in his vision, John sees a new Jerusalem. This new Jerusalem is the counterbalance to
Babylon introduced in this chapter. The Lamb is standing victorious. 12 is the number that stands for the people
of God, how many stand with the Lamb? 12 times 12 and that a thousand times
over, a multitude too large to count. The seal of God is on their
foreheads. Now you certainly can
understand literally that there is some sort of seal signifying ownership and
the protection of God imprinted on foreheads. We are much better off understanding
this seal as yet another metaphor that speaks of one’s spiritual transformation
and allegiance to God that comes when a person bends their knee to the Lordship
of Christ. Or better still, this seal
could also be understood as the indwelling Holy Spirit. In the letter to the
Ephesians, Paul wrote that when you bend the knee to Jesus, you are sealed with
the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The loud voice, is the unified voice of the
redeemed shouting their praise to the Lamb just before they burst into song.
Revelation 14:2b-5
And then I heard music, harp music and the
harpists singing a new song before the Throne and the Four Animals and the
Elders. Only the Hundred and Forty-four Thousand could learn to sing the song.
They were bought from earth, lived without compromise, virgin-fresh before God.
Wherever the Lamb went, they followed. They were bought from humankind, first
fruits of the harvest for God and the Lamb. Not a false word in their mouths. A
perfect offering.
Harp music is always the music of praise.
The voices of the multitude sync up and begin to sing a new song. The old song may have dealt with the
persecution and suffering endured while waiting for Jesus' return. This new
song is about His triumph and deliverance, redemption, and salvation of the
believers. From the earth, every race, every language, every time that has
lived righteously, that has lived without compromise, without giving into the
demands of the Beasts, are here. When we read the Revelation, we must realize
that once we get to chapter 4 time is not sequential, that what we read does
not necessarily move from time A to time B, events building upon one another,
John’s vision is very fluid, moving through time back and forth as well as from
heaven to earth and back again. This being the case, we are safe with the conclusion
that the 144,000 singers represent all believers from all times. That they are brought from the earth may well
mean that they accepted God’s invitation in Christ and have been brought out of
unbelief into a right relationship with God.
Virgin-fresh has caused a lot of excitement
through the centuries as folks have offered explanations. The New International Version translates
verse 4 as “These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they
kept themselves pure.” Well, then, only
men are saved, and only celibate men are saved. Makes you wonder if 144,000 might
be a bit inflated. You box yourself into
conundrums when you decide to understand Revelation literally. The better
understanding of virgin-fresh comes from the Old Testament where idolatry and
adultery are tied together. A person is
committed to God but commits spiritual adultery if they worship some idol. No gender is involved, it’s all about
spiritual fidelity.
Things have moved from rough times to
intense times and now before the catastrophic times, God orchestrates one more
call to enter into a right relationship with Him.
It is God’s will that no one should choose
to perish (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16, Ezekiel 18:32). That everyone lives in the
light and love of His presence.
Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV)
'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign
Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn
from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!
A person decides to turn when they bend the
knee to the Lordship of Christ. The choice
to make is a commitment to forsake sinful dysfunction and align themselves with
Kingdom values found through obedience to God’s commands and the teachings of
Christ.
God gives the final call before the door of
grace is closed. God’s angelic
messengers bring the final call to repentance, proclaim the fall of Babylon, and the coming of judgment based on
people’s personal decisions.
Rev 14:6-11 (MSG)
I saw another Angel soaring in Middle Heaven.
He had an Eternal Message to preach to all who were still on earth, every
nation and tribe, every tongue and people. He preached in a loud voice,
"Fear God and give him glory! His hour of judgment has come! Worship the
Maker of Heaven and earth, salt sea and freshwater!"
Worship is giving God His due. Worship is recognizing who God is, Creator,
Maker, Redeemer, Sovereign, the One who will complete His plan for
humanity. This is the final call for
repentance, the last chance to turn from the Beast and run to the Lamb.
8 A second Angel followed, calling out,
"Ruined, ruined, Great Babylon ruined! She made all the nations drunk on
the wine of her whoring!"
We will read more about Babylon the Great in
chapters 17 and 18. It will be made
clear then, for now, we need to understand that Babylon is another city
reference. Jesus stands upon New Jerusalem;
the Beast stands upon Babylon. Babylon
represents wealth, power, and moral corruption, all culture that is in
opposition to God (Daniel 4:28-31). It
is spiritually the place of humanity’s captivity. John uses the name as a cover for Rome. John
calls the city Babylon the Great; the Great part is a bit of sarcasm because
the culture, the society, may think it is great but it is a cesspool of
spiritual corruption.
9 A third Angel followed, shouting, warning,
"If anyone worships the Beast and its image and takes the mark on forehead
or hand, that person will drink the wine of God's wrath, prepared unmixed in
his chalice of anger, and suffer torment from fire and brimstone in the
presence of Holy Angels, in the presence of the Lamb. Smoke from their torment
will rise age after age. No respite for those who worship the Beast and its
image, who take the mark of its name."
This third angel foretells the fate awaiting
all those who worship the Beast. If you failed to worship the Beast you were
prohibited from buying and selling and be put to physical death. Here is a reversal, the warning is if you
worship the Beast, it is you who will suffer death, a spiritual death.
Three is a God number. What we can surmise from three angels is that
it is God’s message to the world to repent, realize the mess they are in as
symbolized by living in Babylon, and what will happen if they don’t repent. This is God’s fair warning, yet another
expression of His love for His creation, His love for you. The message of the angels is God’s attempt to
urge people to get right with Him before it’s too late.
Revelation 14:12-13 (MSG)
12 Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately
patient, keeping God's commands, staying faithful to Jesus.
John again reiterates his message to
believers. The Beast whom we can call
the anti-Christ, for John the Roman Empire and its Emperor, and the second
Beast, for John the demand of Empire and Emperor worship, and Babylon, for John
the city of Rome itself have conspired together to make a commitment to Christ
very costly. If we pluck John's vision
out of time and we see the Beast, the anti-Christ as civil authority, the
ruling elite, the government, that is opposed to God’s rule, and the second
beast as religious authority that supports civil authority and understand
Babylon to represent any culture or society that has rejected God as a whole,
this message becomes timeless. It speaks
to every generation that reads it. The pressure exerted by the Dragon through
the Beasts and the society driven by egoism is immense. Give in, compromise,
worship your God, but also the Beast, and indulge in all the activities of a
godless society, it’s your right, it’s your choice. Come on in the water is
fine, everybody is doing it.
John’s word is the same for every
generation. Meanwhile, while all hell is
breaking loose in the world around us, stand passionately in your faith.
Passion is such a powerful force, passion is what you are emotionally invested
in, and it stirs your inner world, an integral part of who you are. Faith is
trust in God that moves you to action, so much more than just believing, faith
is the way of living your life. In the rough, intense, and catastrophic times,
it is faith that keeps you on the right path.
Job in a catastrophic time said: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in
him… Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance…” (Job 13:15-16).
The hard times mean you must be
patient. Things always move too slowly
when you are in hard times. While you
are forced to be patient, you are to keep God’s commands. Temptation’s question is “If this is what
happens when I am obedient to God, why bother?” Those who are patient, long-suffering,
and continue to obey are demonstrating their loyalty to Jesus. As we will read
for those who remain loyal there is an ultimate victory coming.
We will pick up on verse 13 next time as we
consider the great harvest.
The biggest takeaway from what we have
explored today is to live a life of no compromise. Because of the subtleties of the enemy, this
requires you to partner with the Holy Spirit to discern in all your
interactions with the world and its systems what is in accord with God’s values
from what are anti-Christ values.
Victory belongs to those who obey God’s
commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
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