Welcome back! During this week’s fellowship time, we’ll continue our study of Revelation.
Revelation Chapter 14
This week we will investigate chapter 14 in our journey of the end times.
Our
previous chapter was informational about events that happen on earth
when Satan is cast out of heaven. Chapter 14 however, gives us
information about the great
harvest of souls that takes place as a result of the Great Tribulation
period. This chapter begins with the Lamb standing on Mount Zion and the 144,000 standing with Him – having His name
and the Name of His Father written on their foreheads:
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads – Revelation 14:1
Some
scholars believe that this 144,000 are a different group of people than
the 144,000 in chapter seven. However, that view is not
founded on any scripture and is not logical. This is the same 144,000
that were sealed on the earth in chapter seven. They have the name of
the Father and the Son written on their foreheads because they descended
from Israel and are disciples of Jesus Christ.
The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 brothers who walk in His
footsteps. Jesus Christ is seated in the Holy City called Mt Zion:
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King – Psalm 48:2
There is indeed a Mt Zion on earth. However, the next passage makes it clear that they are in the Holy City –
Heaven. These brethren may have been physically killed or God may
have supernaturally removed them from the earth. Scripture gives no
answer as to the fate of their mortal bodies.
Among other sounds, John hears the voice of Jesus Christ as the sound of “many
waters” from heaven as well as heavenly background music for the song that the 144,000 will sing before all the host of heaven:
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 with 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 – Revelation 14:2-3
The voice of great thunder is most likely the Father’s voice pronouncing judgment on the earth. This “thunder”
could perhaps contain the seven thunders that we were described earlier
in chapter 10. However, what the thunders contain is sealed until the
appointed time. As for the “new
song”
that John hears, only the 144,000 sealed Jewish brethren who have been
redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ can learn this new song. These men
have followed in
the footsteps of Jesus Christ for the 3 ½ years of Tribulation ministry
on earth. They have proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom as a witness
to the whole world.
These men are called “first fruits”
unto God the Father and the Lamb. These men arrive in the Holy City and
the rewards are then given to the faithful, redeemed Church as the
Marriage Supper of the Lamb begins in heaven:
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb – Revelation 14:4
These
men have never married nor engaged in sexual intercourse and therefore
God holds them as being spiritually pure. These brethren
also go with Jesus Christ wherever He goes, so they are most likely the
same ones standing with Jesus Christ when He gathers the nations before
Him at the “sheep”
and “goat” judgment described in Matthew chapter 25:
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left… Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…’ – Matthew 25:31-33, 41
The “sheep”
will go into the 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom on earth and the “goats” will
be gathered to be crushed in the “great winepress” of God’s wrath.
Before the final judgments of Father God proceed, He will dispatch
three angels to fly throughout the world proclaiming the everlasting Gospel – the
Good News of Jesus Christ – to all that dwell on the earth.
No one on the earth will have any excuse for not hearing the message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone:
And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, 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 said with a great voice, Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come: and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters – Revelation 14:6-7
This angel has a “great voice”
and he will be heard! The message of this first angel will be that the hour of God’s judgment has come. In other words, it is time to pick sides:
Either fear
God and worship the Creator of the heavens and the earth…
OR…
Fear and worship the
Beast on earth who claims to be God...
After the message of salvation is given by the
first angel, a second angel will appear to
inform the world that Babylon (the Beast’s counterfeit Kingdom of God)
has been judged by God and is now about to experience God’s wrath:
And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, that has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication – Revelation 14:8
Much
more will be told about the fall of Babylon later in chapter 18. This
is only the announcement of her coming judgment. Babylon is
not actually destroyed at this pronouncement; which will become more
obvious when we read the balance of the chapter.
Following the
second angel will be a third. This angel will explain to the world
how their choice will be made:
And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worships the beast and his image, and receives 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 in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and who so receives the mark of his name – Revelation 14:9-11
Again, there will be no excuses for anyone claiming that they were naive.
It is quite clear – anyone who worships the Beast, his image or takes his mark have made their choice
against the God of heaven. Those who fear the Beast of the earth
more than the God of Heaven will have a very bleak future
indeed! The smoke of their torment goes up forever. Their final destiny
is the Lake of Fire – which is where all people who side with the Beast
by taking his “666 mark” of loyalty will suffer
for all eternity. Those who by fear or loyalty seek to save their lives
in the flesh by making the Beast their god – will lose their eternal
soul in the process.
The following passage then depicts a reaping on the earth of grain and a gathering of the grapes to be crushed in the winepress:
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw One sitting like unto a Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a 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 upon the earth; and the earth was reaped– Revelation 14:14-16
This passage speaks about the reaping done by the Son of Man – Jesus Christ. This “reaping”
is what Jesus Christ was referring to when He instructed to allow the
wheat and tares to grow together until the end of the age:
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” – Matthew 13:30
The “tares”
(unbelievers) are those who grow among the “wheat” (believers) and from all
appearances – look like wheat. Tares are weeds that take nourishment from the soil and stunt the growth of the true wheat. These “tares”
are the sons of Satan masquerading as sons of light. This reaping and threshing is the time of the
Great Tribulation.
Jesus Christ indicates that the time of the burning of the tares put in “bundles”
(locations) on the earth comes first. This appears to happen when the Beast “burns”
the harlot woman – all false religions – at the beginning of the Great
Tribulation of 3 ½ years found later in Revelation chapter 17. The
threshing that occurs immediately after the Great Tribulation removes
all but the wheat kernels before they are placed
into God’s barn. The threshing of the wheat occurs when the Beast
persecutes all that hold to the testimony of Jesus Christ and keep His
commandments.
This “harvest”
is so great that John tells us that the number of the redeemed is
greater than any man could number! Those living in this period will be
threshed and many believers will be willing to die in the flesh rather
than take the mark of the Beast. Many souls will
be saved in the Great Tribulation period! However, a bit of the wheat
will still be in the field after the harvest of the earth. These are the
gleanings that by mosaic law are required to be left in the fields
after the general harvest. These “kernels” are
left to repopulate the earth during the 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom.
The final verses of chapter 14 describe a completely different “harvest”
of an entirely different crop than the reaping of the “tares” and “wheat”:
Then 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, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs– Revelation 14:17-20
This reaping is not about wheat or tares, it is the harvesting of fermenting sour “grapes”
– This judgment comes after the “wheat” is harvested and threshed during
the Great Tribulation. Those in this gathering make no secret that they are
enemies of the God of heaven! The “tares”
were already gathered in bundles (different locations on earth) and burned. However, these “grapes”
are gathered from the length of Israel “thousand six hundred furlongs” – approximately
185 miles – to be crushed in God’s wrath.
What
actually appears to occur here is that Satan and his fallen angels –
demons – will gather all the enemies of the God of heaven into
the valley of Jezreel, also known as the Valley of Megiddo or Armageddon…
Most people have heard of the infamous valley of
Armageddon and will readily recognize it as a type of
synonym for the final conflict of the ages between good and evil. The
word Armageddon however is a corruption of the Hebrew term
Har Megiddo and means literally “the mount of Megiddo.”
Whereas Armageddon is actually a mountaintop, most references relative
to it are concerned with the valley that lies below it. During the past
4000 years at least 34 bloody conflicts have
been fought at the ancient hilltop site of Megiddo and the adjacent
areas below in the vast Jezreel Valley. Throughout history Megiddo and
the Jezreel Valley have been Ground Zero for battles that determined the
very course of civilization.
Megiddo
is a fascinating site of twenty cities built directly on top of one
another and inhabited continuously from 3000 to 300 BC. Megiddo
lies at an ancient strategic junction of roads running north-south and
east-west. Whoever held control of Megiddo held absolute control of one
of the major trade routes of antiquity: the Via Maris –
the “Way of the Sea.” Winding its way directly through Israel,
right past Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley, this strategically placed road
ran between Egypt in the south and Mesopotamia –
modern day Iran/Iraq or Anatolia – modern day Turkey –
in the north.
Virtually
every invading army that came through this region during the past 4000
years fought battles for control of Megiddo and the
Jezreel Valley…
Jesus Christ alone will then destroy His enemies and their “blood”
will flow like streams in the desert. In this carnage, their blood may
be mingled with river water, rain or the still melting hailstones of the
Seventh Vial Judgment of
chapter 16 as this terrifying passage declares the blood of these “grapes”
will flow through the valley to the “height of a horses' bridles” –
Incredible!
We will read more about these disturbing events in future
Revelation studies…
With this information as a foundation for your studies, please read
through Chapter 14 of Revelation.
Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s edition as we investigate chapter 15 of Revelation…
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"Lighthouse Publications <><
