Revelation 14

Ch 12: Satan cast down with great wrath...knows he has but a short time!

Ch 13: the Beast from the sea (the world system in rebellion against God) and the Beast from the earth (false religion)...

Ch 14: the Lamb and the 144,000 in heaven

Revelation 14...begins in Heaven...ends with Hell...

The Lamb and the 144,000

1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 

The HEAVENLY Mount Zion (Hebrews 12:22-23) 

-Zion is an Old Testament name for Jerusalem— read Psalm 2 v 6. It became the name for the end-time city of God— read Isaiah 35 v 10 (Explore)

and Christ stands in heaven with the redeemed (144,000) (a number standing for completeness: 12X12X1000)...see Rev 7:4ff, those sealed and marked on their foreheads...

Satan marks his also: Rev 13:16ff

****Last time (Rev 7:4) they were on the earth...now in heaven...not ONE is lost! In spite of all the efforts of the dragon and the beasts who wield his power...

2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

The 144,000 are praising God with a new song: new songs are always in response to God’s victories...His victory over the dragon and the beasts and the Harlot Babylon...

Psalm 33:3; 40:3

This 144,000: not defiled themselves with women: that is, purity of commitment to God as His soldiers, His army...and keeping themselves for Him alone...they are spiritual virgins, not adulterers (James 4:4)

Deut 23:9-19; 1 Samuel 21:5 and 2 Corinthians 11:2-3...

Follow the Lamb wherever He goes: complete obedience and commitment

Been redeemed from mankind as first fruits: that is, those who belong to God out of all mankind...

No lie in mouth

Blameless

The Messages of the Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

First Angel

Angel with an eternal gospel: church sharing the gospel to the lost (those who dwell on the earth) all the time the dragon and beasts are warring against the church and gaining allegiance of the world...a warning: fear God and give Him glory...the hour of His judgment has come

-an evangelistic appeal before the final judgment? See 2 Peter 3:9-11

Second Angel...v8

Fallen is Babylon the great: Rome and all the earthly systems raised in opposition to God...the Beast from the Sea...also Isaiah 21:9

-world system that is in rebellion against God, and has infected the entire world...so that they will not believe the gospel of the first angel...

-WE LIVE in this Babylon and are those who are pure to Him and follow Him wherever He goes...

Third Angel...vv9ff

Announcement of final judgement...see Jesus’ words of Mk 9:44-48

-patient endurance needed...v12 (see Rev 13:10,18)

-blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on...

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Final judgment...much like sixth seal and sixth bowl

-harvest is the end of the age, Matthew 13:30,39

-this one on the cloud coming to judge is Jesus (like a son of man, Daniel 7:13; golden crown on His head, sickle in his hand)

-v15: command comes to put in sickle and reap (see Matthew 24:36)...for the hour to reap has come...the harvest is fully ripe

-16: swings sickle and reaps...the righteous are harvested

-Read John 4 v 35-36. What is reaping a picture of here?

This vision pictures the harvest of salvation at the end of time, when the Son of Man gathers “his wheat into the barn” (Matthew 3:12), “gather[ing] his elect from the four winds” (Matthew 24:31).

17ff: the wicked are reaped for judgment...thrown into the wine press of God’s wrath, 19

-the vast measurement = worldwide judgment