Bible Commentaries
Revelation 14

Verses 1-20

XIII

PROPHETIC FORECASTS OF CHURCH HISTORY (CONTINUED)

Revelation 14

The preceding chapter will be reviewed only this much:

1. Satan, considering the chaotic and disintegrated national material of the fallen pagan Roman Empire, reconstructed another Roman Empire, composed of many states, each with its own national government, but united in its religion. This was a union of church and state – sometimes the state exercising jurisdiction over the church, demanding universal conformity in religion as the ruler of the state understood it; and sometimes the church dominating the state with a tendency toward absolute church supremacy in both civil and ecclesiastical matters. Until the church pressed the state too far in local state affairs, they gave their power and authority to the church; but when the pressure became intolerable the state would rend the church.

As the states succeeded in their revolt against the assumption of the church authority over state matters, their maxim would yet be: "Whose is the government his is the religion" – i.e., the head of each state will become the head of the church in his own domain, proscribing all dissent from his own religion. This maxim was later maintained by Protestant states as well as by papal states; by Geneva and Henry VIII, as well as by Philip of Spain and Louis XIV of France.

2. This strange empire, called later "The Holy Roman Empire," is symbolized by the leopard beast of Revelation 13:1-2.

3. The ecclesiastical head, which ultimately assumed absolute Jurisdiction over all states and all religions – in other words, the papacy or succession of Popes – is symbolized by the earth beast that looked like a lamb but had the voice of the dragon (Revelation 13:11).

4. The counterfeit church as an institution of which the Pope was the head is symbolized by the harlot sitting on or riding the leopard beast (Revelation 17:6).

5. The scriptural passages governing this interpretation are Daniel 7:7-25, and Revelation 17:7-18.

6. This interpretation identifies the papal beast of Revelation 17:11, with "the little horn" of Daniel 7:8, and with the false prophet of Revelation 19:20.

7. The reader must understand that the transition from pagan Rome to "The Holy Roman Empire" was gradual, marked by successive changes, and that the papacy developed from small beginnings to its culmination at the Vatican Council in 1870 in the declaration of papal infallibility. And that the Roman Catholic hierarchy, imagined by the harlot of Revelation 17:1-6, was also a development of the centuries.

Having thus considered Satan’s new device for destroying Christ’s luminous institution, and for corrupting the ministry, and for perverting the gospel, we will in Revelation 14 consider the spiritual forces aligned on the other side.

Revelation 14 is divided into four parts:

Part I – The Lamb, his true church, the holy angels and his people – (Revelation 14:1-5).

Part II – The proclamation of the three angels – (Revelation 14:6-13).

Part III – The harvest of the good – (Revelation 14:14-16).

Part IV – The vintage of the evil – (Revelation 14:17-20).

The chief purpose of chapter 14 is to give a summary of Christ’s victory over Satan, and of the final and complete victory of the true church over the counterfeit. I say a summary – a bare outline – whose methods and details are set forth elaborately in all the rest of the section – i.e., from Revelation 15:1, to Revelation 19:10.

Then from another viewpoint other details of Revelation 14 outline will be given in the last synchronous view from Revelation 19:11-20:6, though in this case the view extends somewhat beyond anything clearly suggested in this outline. It is important to note this relation of Revelation 14 to subsequent chapters – a relation of outline to details.

PART I
(Revelation 14:1-5) "And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder; and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping on their harps: And they sing as it were a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth. These are they that were not defiled of women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no lie; they were without blemish."

As Revelation 13 gave us a view of Satan, his beasts, his seat of empire the counterfeit church, his counterfeit gospel, his worshipers and the character of their worship, this vision opens with a view of our Lord, as the "Lamb," his seat of power "Mount Zion" – i.e., the true church – his worshipers, their secure redemption, their character, and the nature of their worship.

It is of great importance that we interpret these symbols not literally, but according -to the law of symbols, what they represent. "The Lamb" is not a real sheep, but symbolizes our Lord as the expiating sacrifice for sin. Without expiation and atonement for sin Satan’s power over sinners cannot be broken, nor can these sinners otherwise be redeemed or made secure in their redemption, nor appear clean in God’s sight. "Mount Zion" here is not the real mountain in Jerusalem, nor the heavenly Jerusalem of Revelation 21-22, but the militant Mount Zion – that is, the true church on earth considered as an institution – in other words, the radiant woman of Revelation 12:1. So the hundred and forty-four thousand numbers his people symbolically, not literally, but representatively. It is a perfect multiple of the sacred 12, many times appearing in this book – twelve tribes, twelve stars, twelve apostles, twelve foundations, twenty-four elders – i.e., twice twelve. There is, however, this difference between the application of the hundred and forty-four thousand here (Revelation 14:1) and its appearance in Revelation 17:4-8. Here it represents the spiritual Israel without regard to nationality; there it represents the elect Jews as contradistinguished from the saved of other nations, as the context shows.

As Satan’s followers bore on their forehead and hand a symbolic brand, so here on the forehead of Christ’s people are symbolically written the names of the Lamb and of his Father. In both cases the marks are symbols not of character, as many commentators would have it, but of ownership. One class the devil owns – the other class belongs to God. West Texans will understand, for they, in riding the range, recognize that the different brands on cattle do not refer to the quality of the cattle – i.e., whether Longhorns, Shorthorns, Durhams, Jerseys, Holsteins, or Herefords – but indicate the owner.

The singers and harpers of the new song, in Revelation 14:2-3 seem to be the ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy angels of Revelation 5:11. They are in that chapter, and here, distinguished from the throne, the Cherubim, and the Elders, because they sing before them, and they are distinguished from the saints on earth, for the saints learn the song after these sing it. The idea is that high up and far away, around the throne of God, the angels, with harp and voice, are praising the Lamb for his work of redemption, as in Revelation 5:12 – "Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing." You read a similar song at the birth of our Lord by the same singers, in Luke 2:13-14 – "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased." Had it been a hymn of creation or providence, as when all these angelic "sons shouted for joy," or as Psalm 104, it would not have been a new song. But as it relates to the Redeemer and to redemption only, it is new.

Again, had it been a song of creation, any deist like Tom Paine, admiring Addison’s paraphrase of Psalm 19, or any admirer of Pope’s "Universal Prayer" addressed to "Jehovah, Jove, or Lord," might learn it. But, being a song of redemption, only the redeemed on earth – blood-washed – would have their hearts attuned to its harmony. They could learn it.

Again, the idea is that praise, all the time, in loudest melody is filling the courts of heaven and echoing through the universe, but on earth only those whose spiritual ears have been opened can hear the music, and only hearts purified by the cleansing blood can take up the response, and thus constitute a grand antiphony – earthly choirs responding to heavenly choirs in one blended sublime symphony. Bunyan’s man with the muckrake, eyes downcast, never saw or heard the angel above him offering an eternal crown.

We need particularly to understand the characteristics of the hundred and forty-four thousand in Revelation 14:4-5:

1. "They were not defiled with women; for they are virgins." The word "virgins" is common gender, i.e., may apply, and does here apply, to both sexes. But it is a gross perversion of the interpretation of symbolic language to make this characteristic apply to celibacy and thereby commend monks and nuns. Spiritual incontinence was the worship of idols. The symbolic "virgins" here means that these saints had not worshiped Satan, nor his leopard beast, nor his lamb dragon beast, nor the image of the beast.

2. "They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." This is the characteristic of obedience. As our Lord had said: "If any man would be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me," and when he said: "If ye love me, keep my commandments," and yet again: "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." The emphasis on the "withersoever" implies that we should not merely follow in the days of loaves and fishes, nor merely as the "hosanna" crowd on his entrance into Jerusalem, but follow him to the cross. His leadership should be paramount even when to follow means prisons, chains, confiscation or death.

3. They were "purchased" men, bought with his own precious blood of redemption, and hence a property "peculiar" to him. His ownership was absolute.

4. "Firstfruits" – The idea again is one of ownership. Under the law firstfruits were not for common use, but belonged to God only and must be offered to him alone. This applies to the first-born of families and all cattle. The thought differs from ownership by purchase. It affirms an original ownership, as the first-born son or the first-born male of cattle or other stock, and the firstfruits of all harvests belonged to God. This is the thought in Hebrews 12:23 – "Church of the firstborn."

5. "In their mouth was found no lie." Here again the veracity commended was a spiritual quality, meaning that they neither preached, taught, nor testified to a doctrinal lie. Theirs was no dragon, no beast message; but the real gospel of Jesus Christ. They perverted not his ordinances; they deluded not by pointing to a false hope. There is no reference to lying in general. Of course, Christianity condemns that.

6. "They are without blemish." Here again the reference is not to a freedom from faults or infirmities, physical or mental, and I say not even – or at least not exclusively – to a freedom from immorality in the ordinary sense. A comparison of all the parallel passages shows: (a) There is no blemish in their external righteousness before the law, for it is in Christ’s perfect imputed righteousness, (b) There is no blemish on their internal righteousness, for it is a holiness commenced in regeneration and carried on and consummated in sanctification. (See Ephesians 5:27.)

The logical, not the chronological order of these six characteristics expressed in plain English is this:

1. They are Christ’s because he created them.

2. They are Christ’s because when sold into bondage to Satan through sin he bought them back with his own precious blood.

3. They are not idolaters – not guilty of spiritual fornication.

4. They obey Christ, not Satan nor his beasts, nor the harlot, nor the world.

5. They preach and teach the gospel, not the "doctrines of demons."

6. They are without blemish because justified, regenerated, sanctified. These are the righteousnesses which are spotless.

Having now considered part one of our chapter, describing our Lord, his church, his holy angels, his people, we turn to –

PART II

The proclamations of the three angels: Revelation 14:6-13).

First angel: "And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having eternal good tidings to proclaim unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people; and he saith with a great voice: Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made the heaven and the earth and the sea and fountains of waters."

Under the imagery of this flying angel is set forth the means by which the saints on earth win their victory over Satan, his "Holy Roman Empire," its papal head and counterfeit church. That means the worldwide diffusion of the true gospel. Wheresoever that gospel is preached in its purity and accepted by faith, there God is feared and not the Pope: there the glory is given to the Lamb and not to the virgin Mary. Kings and secular governments, offended at papal usurpation, may and do resort to carnal means for the suppression of this unholy power. They may and do, by legal enactment, abolish monasteries and nunneries, banish the Jesuits, sever the connection between their state religions and the papal. They may and do both prescribe and proscribe by way of restraint. But as the kingdom of our Lord is not of this world, his servants fight with different weapons. Their offensive weapon is the Word of God – the Sword of the Spirit. They preach the Word; placard the skies with it; fill the earth with it; translate it into every tongue, tell its saving story by preacher and layman to all nations, relying on the Spirit’s convicting, regenerating, and sanctifying power.

It is Revelation 14:6 that gave rise to the missionary hymn "Fly Abroad, Thou Mighty Gospel." It is called an everlasting because it will never become obsolete. An atheistic president of a great university may vainly try to supersede it with "a new religion." It is everlasting and confers life everlasting upon its loving recipients. What a pity when Christians lay aside this tempered, two-edged, sharp-pointed New Jerusalem blade for a carnal weapon.

Second angel: "And another, a second angel, followed, saying: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

This is God’s preannouncement of the doom of the counterfeit church, with the indictment that she had made all nations participate in her spiritual fornication – that is, substitution of worship of the creature for the worship of the Creator and Redeemer. The verdict of history sustains the indictment. They have made a man the head of the church instead of our Lord, and called him "My Lord God the Pope." They have vested him with infallibility, when speaking "ex-cathedra." They have made him Christ’s vicar instead of the Holy Spirit, and have vested him with the two keys and the two swords, usurping Christ’s authority to open and shut, both ecclesiastical and secular authority to punish the whole world. They have made a woman "the queen of heaven," declared her "the fountain of all grace," and interposed her as mediator between the saint and his Saviour – the only mediator between God and man. This is not Mariology, but Mariolatry. They confer on the consecrating priest the authority to "create God," and when the wafer is consecrated it is worshiped as God, thus multiplying the passion of our Lord, who "suffered once for all." They have caused the world to adore images and relics, attributing to them many lying miracles. They have claimed jurisdiction over the Spirit world, and lengthened probation beyond the grave. In imitation of the heathen demigods, they have filled the calendar with saints whose help is invoked in prayer. They have changed ordinances, added to them, and attributed to them saving power. No wonder this device of Satan is said to be "full of the names of blasphemies" and her cup "full of fornications."

Third angel: "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice: If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed [that is, undiluted] in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in t he presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name."

The simple meaning of this paragraph is that those who incorrigibly persist in drinking from the harlot’s cup of mixed abominations, shall be made to drink of the cup of God’s unmixed wrath, i.e., undiluted wrath. As a later detail (Revelation 18:4) distinctly shows, it does not mean that God has no real children among the papists. It would be an outrage on common sense and history to make such a sweeping accusation.

This part two closes with two verses somewhat difficult to expound with confidence: "Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them." I give you my best judgment of the meaning both negatively and positively: Your attention has already been called to the difference in meaning between "Here is the patience of the saints" as expressed in Revelation 13:10, and as expressed here Revelation 14:12. You notice in Revelation 13:10, the phrase is modified by "and the faith," but not so modified here, which as I think means that in the first case the saints in their endurance are consoled only by faith that God will ultimately vindicate them. In the latter case the fruition of faith is at hand. They are vindicated; there is no delay any longer, which suggests the clue to the meaning of Revelation 14:13. Which does not mean that those who die at another time are not blessed. But it does mean that there is a sense in which those dying in the Lord after the fall of the papal Rome are blessed, which martyrs who died in the Lord in the hour of papal triumph did not share. And the precise sense is defined in the concluding clause: "For their works do follow them." It was a long time before the works of the martyrs followed them into glory, i.e., until the wisdom and righteousness of their course was demonstrated. In the eyes of their companions their bloody death seemed to be a failure. But now, when the persecuting power is destroyed and popular sentiment is with the saints, his death is not regarded as a tragedy but a glorious consummation of a happy life. Paul, in a measure, expresses the thought when he charges Timothy not to be hasty in ordaining men, because while in some men their character is evident at first sight, in others it is not evident. As he expresses it: "Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins . . . Some men’s sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some men also they follow after. In like manner also there are good works that are evident; and such as are cannot be hid."

Now that the persecuting power is destroyed, Write: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth, for their works do follow them."

PART III The Great Harvest

Revelation 14:14: "And I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud I saw one sitting, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple crying with great voice to him that sat on the cloud: Send forth thy sickle and reap; for the hour to reap is come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped."

Now, that is the harvest of the good.

PART IV The Great Vintage

Revelation 14:17: "And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying: Send forth thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vines of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel cast his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridle of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs."

That is the harvest of the bad. The director of both the harvest and the vintage is our Lord himself. The agents employed are the angels. The general import of these two parts of the chapter is much the same as that of the parable of the tares as expounded by our Lord himself: "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one and the enemy that sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and them that do iniquity and shall cast them into the flames of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear." And much the same is that of the parable of the dragnet: "And again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and gathered every kind; which when it was filled they drew up on the beach, and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away. So shall it be in the end of the world; the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The only difference in the exact import lies in this: That the parables of the tares and dragnet represent the final judgment scene, whereas the harvest and the vintage here represent that era of judgments which precedes even the millennium and introduces it. There is a triumph of the true church, more elaborately set forth later, and the downfall of the counterfeit church, also set forth later with elaborate details. There is a complete reversal of the relative positions of the two institutions. In Revelation 12:6, the true church is in the obscurity of the wilderness for 1,260 years. In Revelation 17:3, the counterfeit church is in the wilderness, about to receive her final doom. Particularly the vintage will reappear in the great war of Harmageddon (Revelation 16:16) and in the winepress of the wrath (Revelation 19:15), as it had already been forecast by Isaiah (Isaiah 63:1-6).

QUESTIONS REVIEW of PRECEDING CHAPTER

1. What is the symbol of the "Holy Roman Empire" which succeeded to pagan Rome?

2. What is the symbol of its ecclesiastical head?

3. What is the symbol of the counterfeit church?

4, What are the scriptures which govern the interpretation?

5. With what expression in Daniel, and a later one in this book, is the lamb dragon beast identified?

6. Were the "Holy Roman Empire," and the papacy, and the Romanish hierarchy instantaneous products, or all gradual developments from email beginnings?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

7. What are the four parts of this chapter?

8. What is its general purpose and relation to succeeding chapters?

9. What caution in interpreting the symbolism of this chapter? Part One – Revelation 14:1-5

10. Under what symbol does our Lord appear, and its meaning?

11. Under what symbol does the church appear, and its meaning negatively and positively?

12. Who are symbolized by the 144,000, and what distinction in meaning between that symbolic number here and in Revelation 17:4-8?

13. Illustrate in a way familiar to West Texans that the Satan brand on forehead and hand, and the divine inscription on the foreheads of the saints, do not represent character or quality, but ownership.

14. Who were the singers and harpers of Revelation 14:2?

15. Explain the "new song" they sing, and cite two similar preceding songs.

16. Cite instances of an "Old Song," and who could learn to sing that; and why only the redeemed can learn the new song.

17. Explain negatively where necessary, and positively, each one of the six characteristics of the saints.

18. Repeat in logical order, and without symbols, these six characteristics.

THE PROCLAMATIONS OF THE THREE ANGELS

19. State briefly the meaning of the "flying angel."

20. Distinguish between the means of victory over the counterfeit church employed by the saints and by secular governments, and why?

21. Why is this gospel called "everlasting," and how does it rebuke a certain president emeritus of a great university?

22. What hymn suggested by this verse?

23. What is the meaning of the second proclamation; and what is the indictment of the counterfeit church?

24. Show how history sustains the indictment.

25. Meaning of the third angelic proclamation. Prove from subsequent passage that this destruction does not overtake all Romanists.

26. What is the difference between the "patience of the saints" in Revelation 13:10, and Revelation 14:12?

27. Explain the "henceforth" in Revelation 14:13.

28. In general terms what is the meaning of the harvest and what is the vintage of Revelation 14:14-20?

29. In general terms wherein is this paragraph like two parables of our Lord, but wherein does it differ from those parables?

30. In what subsequent passages of this book does the vintage reappear in more details, and what prophet forecasts this vintage?