Revelation 14
14
The Lamb’s Companions.#Now follows a tender and consoling vision of the Lamb and his companions. 1Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion,#Mount Zion: in Jerusalem, the traditional place where the true remnant, the Israel of faith, is to be gathered in the messianic reign; cf. 2 Kgs 19:30–31; Jl 3:5; Ob 17; Mi 4:6–8; Zep 3:12–20. A hundred and forty-four thousand: see note on Rev 7:4–9. His Father’s name…foreheads: in contrast to the pagans who were marked with the name or number of the beast (Rev 13:16–17). and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.#Jl 3:5; Ob 17; Acts 2:21. 2I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3They were singing [what seemed to be] a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth.#Ps 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; Is 42:10. 4These are they who were not defiled with women; they are virgins#Virgins: metaphorically, because they never indulged in any idolatrous practices, which are considered in the Old Testament to be adultery and fornication (Rev 2:14–15, 20–22; 17:1–6; cf. Ez 16:1–58; 23:1–49). The parallel passages (Rev 7:3; 22:4) indicate that the 144,000 whose foreheads are sealed represent all Christian people. and these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb.#Jer 2:2; Jas 1:18. 5On their lips no deceit#No deceit: because they did not deny Christ or do homage to the beast. Lying is characteristic of the opponents of Christ (Jn 8:44), but the Suffering Servant spoke no falsehood (Is 53:9; 1 Pt 2:22). Unblemished: a cultic term taken from the vocabulary of sacrificial ritual. has been found; they are unblemished.#Zep 3:13.
The Three Angels.#Three angels proclaim imminent judgment on the pagan world, calling all peoples to worship God the creator. Babylon (Rome) will fall, and its supporters will be tormented forever. 6Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with everlasting good news#Everlasting good news: that God’s eternal reign is about to begin; see note on Rev 10:7. to announce to those who dwell on earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. 7He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for his time has come to sit in judgment. Worship him who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of water.”#2:10; Mt 10:28.
8A second angel followed, saying:
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,#18:2–3; Is 21:9; Jer 51:8 / Is 51:17; Jer 25:15–17.
that made all the nations drink
the wine of her licentious passion.”#This verse anticipates the lengthy dirge over Babylon (Rome) in Rev 18:1–19:4. The oracle of Is 21:9 to Babylon is applied here.
9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, “Anyone who worships the beast or its image, or accepts its mark on forehead or hand, 10will also drink the wine of God’s fury,#The wine of God’s fury: image taken from Is 51:17; Jer 25:15–16; 49:12; 51:7; Ez 23:31–34. Eternal punishment in the fiery pool of burning sulfur (or “fire and brimstone”; cf. Gn 19:24) is also reserved for the Devil, the beast, and the false prophet (Rev 19:20; 20:10; 21:8). poured full strength into the cup of his wrath, and will be tormented in burning sulfur before the holy angels and before the Lamb. 11The smoke of the fire that torments them will rise forever and ever, and there will be no relief day or night for those who worship the beast or its image or accept the mark of its name.”#19:3. 12Here is what sustains the holy ones who keep God’s commandments#12:17. and their faith in Jesus.#In addition to faith in Jesus, the seer insists upon the necessity and value of works, as in Rev 2:23; 20:12–13; 22:12; cf. Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6.
13#Mt 11:28–29; 2 Thes 1:7; Heb 4:10. I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” said the Spirit, “let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them.”#See note on Rev 1:3. According to Jewish thought, people’s actions followed them as witnesses before the court of God.
The Harvest of the Earth.#The reaping of the harvest symbolizes the gathering of the elect in the final judgment, while the reaping and treading of the grapes symbolizes the doom of the ungodly (cf. Jl 4:12–13; Is 63:1–6) that will come in Rev 19:11–21. 14Then I looked and there was a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud one who looked like a son of man, with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.#1:7; Dn 7:13. 15Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap the harvest, for the time to reap has come, because the earth’s harvest is fully ripe.”#Jl 4:13; Mt 13:36–43. 16So the one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven who also had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel [came] from the altar,#Altar: there was only one altar in the heavenly temple; see notes above on Rev 6:9; 8:3; 11:1. [who] was in charge of the fire, and cried out in a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and cut the clusters from the earth’s vines, for its grapes are ripe.” 19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and cut the earth’s vintage. He threw it into the great wine press of God’s fury.#19:15; Is 63:1–6. 20The wine press was trodden outside the city and blood poured out of the wine press to the height of a horse’s bridle for two hundred miles.#Two hundred miles: literally sixteen hundred stades. The stadion, a Greek unit of measurement, was about 607 feet in length, approximately the length of a furlong.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Revelation 14
14
1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb was standing above mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of a great thunder. And the voice that I heard was like that of singers, while playing on their stringed instruments.
3 And they were singing what seemed like a new canticle before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to recite the canticle, except those one hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth.
4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are Virgins. These follow the Lamb wherever he will go. These were redeemed from men as the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth, no lie was found, for they are without flaw before the throne of God.
6 And I saw another Angel, flying through the midst of heaven, holding the eternal Gospel, so as to evangelize those sitting upon the earth and those of every nation and tribe and language and people,
7 saying with a loud voice: "Fear the Lord, and give honor to him, for the hour of his judgment has arrived. And worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the sources of water."
8 And another Angel followed, saying: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who inebriated all nations with the wine of her wrath and of fornication."
9 And the third Angel followed them, saying with a great voice: "If anyone has worshiped the beast, or his image, or has received his character on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he shall drink also from the wine of the wrath of God, which has been mixed with strong wine in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tortured with fire and sulphur in the sight of the holy Angels and before the sight of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torments shall ascend forever and ever. And they shall have no rest, day or night, those who have worshiped the beast or his image, or who have received the character of his name."
12 Here is the patient endurance of the Saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me: "Write: Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord, now and hereafter, says the Spirit, so that they may find rest from their labors. For their works follow them."
14 And I saw, and behold, a white cloud. And upon the cloud was one sitting, resembling a son of man, having a crown of gold on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 And another Angel went forth from the temple, crying out in a great voice to the one sitting upon the cloud: "Send out your sickle and reap! For the hour of reaping has arrived, because the harvest of the earth has ripened."
16 And the one who was sitting upon the cloud sent out his sickle to the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 And another Angel went forth from the temple that is in heaven; he also had a sharp sickle.
18 And another Angel went forth from the altar, who held power over fire. And he cried out in a great voice to him who held the sharp sickle, saying: "Send out your sharp sickle, and harvest the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have matured."
19 And the Angel sent out his sharp sickle to the earth, and he harvested the vineyard of the earth, and he cast it into the great basin of the wrath of God.
20 And the basin was trodden beyond the city, and blood went forth from the basin, even as high as the harnesses of horses, out to one thousand six hundred stadia.
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