Yet again the heavens are revealed as destruction comes upon the earth. Revelation 13 talks of the ascendancy of the Beasts (AntiChrist and False Prophet). It would seem that destructive power on earth indicates that God is not as great or as good as he says he is. However, “then I looked …” gives us a contrast to 666 that is Zion. Although Zion is a symbol of earthly Israel and its capital, Jerusalem, there is a heavenly ideal of Zion which is far transcendent. In that location is a song of deliverance.
In our lives we see earthly circumstances building and we become overwhelmed. It is then that we must look heavenward until we see the reality of our faith.
Revelation 14:1-5
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Questions
- Where are those who follow the lamb marked?
- How does this contrast with 666?
- What shows that 144,000 did not follow other gods?
- What lifestyle choices mark those today who follow the lamb?
- How are we encouraged in the same ways as the first and second century recipients of this book?
Plymothian 