The End Time Bible Commentary

Chapter 14 continues the 'parenthetical section' of chapters 12 to 14. These three chapters fit between the seventh trumpet of chapter 11 and the seven bowls that start in chapter 15. It is as though the camera has zoomed out to give us a wider perspective of things happening during the Great Tribulation. In chapter 13, we saw the rise of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, portrayed metaphorically as two beasts arising out of the sea and out of the earth, respectively. One of the challenges in interpreting this section is to understand where the events it describes fit in relation to the chronological sections with the seven seals, trumpets and bowls.

Jesus with the 144,000 on Mount Zion (v1-5)
Here in chapter 14, the camera turns to give us another brief view of the 144,000. Verse 1 says, "Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads". These were introduced at the sixth seal, when an angel 'sealed' them for their protection before the start of the trumpet judgments (Revelation 7:3). We were told they are Israelites, twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes. This time we see them with the Lamb (Jesus) who is standing on Mount Zion (v1). This clearly aligns with what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 27:12-13, "At that time the LORD will shake the tree, from the Euphrates River to the Stream of Egypt. Then you will be gathered up one by one, O Israelites. At that time a large trumpet will be blown, and the ones lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as the refugees in the land of Egypt. They will worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem". This is one of many Old Testament passages that prophesy God's end-time restoration of all twelve tribes of Israel. The beginning of that chapter introduces a time when God will punish and kill Leviathan the great sea monster (an Old Testament portrayal of Satan), a time when Jacob's sin will be forgiven, and a time when Israel, his 'delightful vineyard' should sing a new song because God is going to protect and restore her. The trumpet that Isaiah mentions is presumably the same trumpet that is sounded at the rapture after Christ's second coming (Matthew 24:31). Our first view the 144,000 in chapter 7 is between the second coming and the rapture, so it fits Isaiah 27 perfectly. Although God has already been restoring the Jews (descendants of the southern kingdom of Judah) to the land for more than a century, it is Christ's second coming and the sealing of the 144,000 that marks the beginning of his restoration of the northern tribes, so that all twelve tribes can be restored and reunited together.

We know from Zechariah 14:4 that Jesus makes an appearance on the Mount of Olives when Jerusalem falls to the Antichrist. His primary mission at that point is to provide an escape route for Jerusalem's refugees, enabling them to get to their place of safety where they will spend the next 1,260 days (Zechariah 14:5, Revelation 12:6). It seems that his appearance on the ground is brief at that stage, with Satan attempting to ambush and assassinate him, and he is then caught up to the God's throne in the sky (Revelation 12:5). Our first view of the 144,000 was of them being marked with an angelic seal of protection (Revelation 7:3-8). This second view of the 144,000, with them standing and singing on Mount Zion to the accompaniment of heavenly background music, seems to be in a much more triumphant setting compared to Christ's initial appearance on the Mount of Olives after Jerusalem has just fallen and Jews are fleeing for their lives. After his coming at the sixth seal, and presumably after he has been snatched back up to God's throne, Jesus is visible to everyone in his exalted heavenly state as they look up at the sky (Revelation 6:14-17). Presumably, he remains in this exalted position for most of the next 1,260 days while the Jewish refugees remain in their safe-place (Revelation 12:6) and while Antichrist is permitted to exercise ruling authority for 42 months (Revelation 13:5). During the 1,260 days, while God is protecting the Jewish refugees in their safe-place he is also gathering the 144,000 to Jerusalem. Does this appearance of Jesus standing with them on Mount Zion represent him making landfall a second time to rally the troops, as it were?

After Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he appeared to his followers on various occasions (1 Corinthians 14:3-8) over the next 40 days up until his Ascension, and later to Saul on the road to Damascus. During those forty days, when he wasn't with his disciples, where was he? In heaven, or on earth? During his initial appearance to Mary Magdalene, he told her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father" (John 20:17), but in a later appearance to the eleven disciples he told Thomas, "Put your finger here, and examine my hands. Extend your hand and put it into my side" (John 20:27). This clearly implies that between these two appearances he had ascended to the Father, and come back again. So if he came back and forth between heaven and earth, at least to some extent during those 40 days, it is not unreasonable to assume that he may ascend and descend between earth and sky on one or more occasions during the 42 months that follow his second coming. My guess is that he descends and remains after the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15), in order to defeat Antichrist and take over the all earthly kingdoms, starting with his campaign in Edom (Isaiah 63:1-6, Habakkuk 3:1-15, Revelation 19:13) and later in Israel at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19:11-21).

We see here in verse 1b that each of the 144,000 have the names of the Father and the Son written on their foreheads. This is the seal that the angel gave them in chapter 7. It contrasts with Antichrist's followers who have the mark of the beast, which includes the name of Allah, on their foreheads (see my commentary on the mark of the beast in Revelation 13:18). John says in 1 John 2:22, "Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son". The core doctrine of Islam is 'tawhid', a strict form of monotheism that portrays Allah as distant and transcendent, and which categorically denies God as Father, or Jesus as the Son of God. So the mark of the beast ('In the name of Allah') on the foreheads of Antichrist's followers is the polar opposite of the names on the foreheads of the 144,000.

How the 144,000 are present on Mount Zion at this stage is not explained, and it is somewhat confusing not knowing where exactly this scene fits chronologically. Perhaps those from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are among Jerusalem's refugees. Perhaps those from the other Israelite tribes come to Jerusalem as soldiers in Antichrist's invasion force (Ezekiel 38) but Jesus reveals himself to them and calls them out, like he did to Saul on the road to Damascus. According to 2 Kings 17:5-6 and 1 Chronicles 5:26, when the ten northern tribes were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC, they were settled along the River Habor, and among the cities of the Medes. The River Habor is known today as the Al-Khabour River and is a tributary of the River Euphrates, in north-eastern Syria. The Medes were an ancient Iranian people group located on the east side of the River Tigris. So today, the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel are most likely concentrated around Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, and most of them are probably Muslims. But Jesus is able to reveal himself to Muslims. Angels are also involved in their salvation process and give each of them a seal of protection. Isaiah 11:11-16 prophesies the end-time restoration and unification of the twelve tribes of Israel, including the northern tribes, and describes God reclaiming the remnant of his people from Assyria (northern Iraq and eastern Turkey), Egypt, Pathros (Upper Egypt), Cush (Sudan), Elam (southern Iran), Shinar (southern Iraq), Hamath (Syria), and the seacoasts (Mediterranean nations or perhaps a way of referring to the whole rest of the world). Isaiah 11:14 says of these reunited tribes, "They will swoop down on the Philistine hills to the west; together they will loot the people of the east. They will take over Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be their subjects". So it may be that Christ's appearance here on Mount Zion with the 144,000 is literally a view of him visiting the troops as they prepare to take part in his military campaigns at the end of the 42 months.

Verse 4 tells us that the 144,000 are redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. In verses 6 and 7 we see that God plans also to save many more, with an angel proclaiming the eternal gospel to 'every nation, tribe, language and people'. Calling the 144,000 the 'firstfruits' follows the pattern proclaimed by Paul, that the Gospel is for the Jews first, and then for the Gentiles (Romans 1:16, 2:9-10).

Verse 4 also reveals that the 144,000 are young people, literally 'virgins'. Jesus reveals himself to these young people of Israelite descent, and they follow him wherever he goes. Verse 5 tells us no lie was found on their lips and they are blameless. Is this just how God sees them after they have been 'redeemed from the earth' (v3)? In verse 5 we see that these young people become like God's choir on earth. They sing a song that only they can learn. In verse 2, John hears a sound coming from heaven like the sound of many waters and loud thunder. This is like the voice of Jesus in Revelation 1:15, and of Almighty God in Ezekiel 1:24. Next he hears a sound like that of harpists playing their harps and a new song being sung before the four living creatures and the elders. We know from Revelation 5:8 that the twenty four elders each have a harp, but these harpists and singers are in addition to the elders, as they sing 'before the four living creatures and the elders' (v3). The song that the 144,000 learn comes directly from the throne room of heaven. The 144,000 are still on earth at this point. They act as prophetic worship leaders, receiving prophetic downloads directly from the throne room of heaven. In 2 Chronicles 20, when Israel was under enemy attack, Jehoshaphat appointed musicians and singers to march ahead of Israel's warriors and to proclaim God's praise. As they began to shout and praise, God suddenly attacked the enemy armies, causing them to turn on each other, and destroy each other. Also Isaiah 42:8-17 portrays God's people singing a new song, after which Messiah appears like a warrior and defeats Israel's enemies.

Three Angels and Three Messages (v6-20)

First Angel (v6-7)
In chapter 7 John first introduced us to the 144,000 who are Israelites, and then to an enormous crowd from 'every nation, tribe, language and people' standing before the throne of God and of the Lamb'. It became apparent that this latter group was of believing Christians who had been taken out of the Great Tribulation and caught up to God's throne in the sky (Revelation 7:14). Likewise, here in chapter 14, after giving us a second view of the 144,000 Israelites, John gives us a second view of people from every nation, tribe, language and people. A notable difference is that this latter group are still on the earth, and an angel flying overhead proclaims the eternal gospel to them saying, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!” So it would appear that this time, this latter group is of non-Christians from every nation, tribe, language and people, those who are left behind on earth after the rapture. In God's mercy, having raptured believing Christians, God does not leave those who are left behind without a witness. Before the release of his bowl judgments which begin in the next chapter, God sends an angel to preach the gospel to those who remain on earth. Even at this late stage after the rapture, God gives people the opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus.

The expression 'every nation, tribe, language and people' appears five times in Revelation (5:9, 7:9, 11:9, 13:7 and 14:6) and is a repeated reminder of the breadth of God's end-time plan of salvation. Jesus is coming back to deliver Israel and to establish his earthly kingdom, but in the process he wants to save as many people as possible 'from every nation, tribe, language and people'.

Second Angel (v8)
John says that the second angel followed the first. So these angelic proclamations occur in chronological sequence. He declares, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral passion.” Chapters 17 and 18 deal with the fall of 'Mystery Babylon' in much greater detail, and this declaration "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great" is repeated in Revelation 18:2. It comes originally from Isaiah 21:9, in an oracle against Arabia. Isaiah 21 prophesies an invasion of the Arabian Peninsula by the Medes and Elamites (parts of modern-day Iran). This results in an Arabian refugee crisis, with people being displaced towards Dedan and Tema in northern Saudi Arabia. According to Isaiah 21:16, this Arabian crisis will last for one calendar year before 'the splendour of Kedar' comes to an end. This destruction of Kedar likely equates to the sudden destruction of Mystery Babylon when she is burned with fire (Revelation 18:8).

The second part of the proclamation, "She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral passion", relates to Saudi Arabia's export of Islam. Not only did Islam arise out of Arabia in the 7th century AD, but since the 1970's, Saudi Arabia has used billions of its oil dollars to build mosques around the world and to export its fundamentalist form of Islam known as Wahhabism, or Salafism. Saudi Arabia's immoral passion is for Allah, the false god of Islam. Biblically, worship of a false god is seen as a kind of spiritual immorality, like adultery or prostitution. By exporting Islam around the world, Saudi Arabia makes the nations drink the wine of her immorality. It is possible that Saudi Arabia's export of oil is also in view here. The nations' interest in Saudi Arabia's oil and in her trade causes them to overlook her oppression and human rights abuses. And so, in a sense, they commit economic immorality with her.


Third Angel (v9-13)
In verse 9, John tells us that the third angel follows the first two, again emphasising the chronological sequence of these proclamations. The third proclamation is a long one, warning that if anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark of the beast (see Revelation 13), they will drink the undiluted wine of God's anger from the cup of his wrath, and be eternally tortured with fire and sulphur before the holy angels and the Lamb (v9-11). Not only does Mystery Babylon hold up a cup of wine and make the nations drink it (Revelation 14:8, 17:2 and 18:3), but so does God.

This wine of God's anger and cup of his wrath refers us back to Jeremiah 25. It symbolises God's coming judgment against all who sin, a judgment that will come first by the warfare of the Antichrist, and then by the fierce anger of the Lord himself (Jeremiah 25:38). The Lord appears from heaven like a roaring lion and shouts in triumph over all who live on earth, like one stomping juice from grapes (Jeremiah 25:30). Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would be the first to drink the wine of God's wrath (Jeremiah 25:18), and it would come through Israel's invasion by the 'King of Babylon'. Then various Arab and Iranian nations would drink it (Jeremiah 25:19-25), and finally all nations would drink it as the whole world would be engulfed in war. Last of all, the King of Sheshach (the Antichrist) would drink it (see my commentary on Jeremiah 25). Although Jeremiah 25 had a degree of fulfilment in the 6th century BC, it is ultimately a prophecy about the end times.

Verse 12 tells us that this warning about the mark of the beast requires the steadfast endurance of the saints - those who obey God's commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus. We know that the 144,000 receive a seal on their foreheads that somehow gives them supernatural protection (Revelation 7:3). But those those from every nation, tribe, language and people, who become believing Christians after the rapture, must endure steadfastly until Antichrist is finally defeated. In verse 13, a voice assures them, "Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on! “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them"". According to Daniel 12:7, "It is for a time, times, and half a time. Then, when the power of the one who shatters the holy people has been exhausted, all these things will be finished". And Daniel 12:11-12 says, "From the time that the daily sacrifice is removed and the abomination that causes desolation is set in place, there are 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits and attains to the 1,335 days". Christians are martyred during the fifth seal (Revelation 6:9-11), but those who survive are raptured after Christ's coming at the sixth seal (Revelation 7:9-17). And then it appears that some of those who become Christians after the rapture are also martyred (Revelation 12:17, as well as here in 14:12-13). Revelation 20:4-6 identifies Christian martyrs as those who will especially reign with Jesus during the Millennium.

Jesus seated on a white clouds
Verse 14 says, "Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man! He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand." This refers us back to Daniel's vision of the second coming, where one like a son of man approaches the Ancient of Days to receive ruling authority, honor and sovereignty over an eternal kingdom, and to be worshipped by all peoples, nations and language groups (Daniel 7:13-14). Jesus referenced this prophecy during his trial, when he said to the high priest, "But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64). Chronologically speaking, it seems this prophecy is fulfilled in Christ's coming at the sixth seal, such that people on earth look up at the sky and see God seated on his throne, together with Jesus, and are aware that the day of their wrath has come. After that John saw an enormous crowd from every nation, tribe, people and language, who had been taken out of the Great Tribulation, worshipping Jesus (Revelation 7:9-17). It seems that after briefly setting foot on the Mount of Olives to provide an escape route for Jerusalem's refugees (Zechariah 14:4-5), Jesus is caught up to this exalted position in the clouds, and that he remains there in view of people on earth for the next 1,260 days / 42 months (Revelation 12:5-6). During that period of time, Antichrist is allowed to rule on the earth (Revelation 13:5).

Verses 15-16 say, "Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth's harvest is ripe!” So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped". It is not entirely clear what kind of harvest Jesus is reaping here, but it is reasonable to assume this is a harvest of righteous believers, as opposed to the harvest reaped by the next angel that is clearly a harvest of the wicked. Is this simply a replay of the rapture that has already been portrayed in Revelation 7:14? Alternatively, Christian Widener, in his YouTube video, "Looking for the Rapture", makes the novel suggestion that there could be more than one rapture. Israel had three annual harvests:- 1) the barley harvest at the feast of first fruits; 2) the wheat harvest at the feast of weeks; and 3) the harvest of fruits, olives and grapes at the feast of trumpets. If we recognise Christ's Ascension as a rapture corresponding to the feast of first fruits, and the main rapture of the Church after his coming as corresponding to the feast of weeks harvest, then there might be a later rapture of Tribulation believers corresponding to the feast of trumpets. These would be people who are converted by the angelic proclamation of the Gospel (v6-7). Even though the rapture seems to take place after the sixth seal (Revelation 7:9-17), it is clear that there are believers present on earth later than that in the Great Tribulation (Revelation 9:4, 13:7 -10, 14:12, 17:6, 20:4).

Verses 17-20 say, "Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 Then the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses' bridles for a distance of almost two hundred miles". Clearly this harvest is a reaping of the wicked, as they are stomped in the winepress of God's wrath. This points us back to the prophecies of Isaiah 34:5-6 and 63:1-6, and Habakkuk 3:3-15, in which we see Jesus stomping the winepress as he fights his enemies in Edom (northern Arabia), on his way to the final battle of Armageddon in Israel. The winepress being stomped outside the city would seem to be a reference to Jerusalem and hence to the battle of Armageddon. And so the whole of Christ's military campaign is in view here, starting with his battles in Edom and ending with Armageddon in Israel. Chronologically, this is at the end of the 42 months. The main purpose of his Edom campaign is to rescue the Jewish refugees from their safe place, figuratively called Bozrah which means a sheepfold (Micah 2:12-13, Isaiah 34:6, Revelation 12:6), and to lead them back to Jerusalem. The blood is poured out to the height of the horses' bridles for a distance of 200 miles (v20). Rather than interpreting this as a sea of blood several feet deep, I understand this to mean that the blood of those who are slaughtered in this campaign splatters the horses as high as their bridles, and that the distance of about 200 miles reflects the length of Christ's cavalry charge from Bozrah in Edom to Armageddon in Israel. When Jesus arrives on his white horse at Armageddon in Revelation 19:11-13, we see that his clothing is splattered with the blood of those he has already slaughtered in his Edom campaign. It is perhaps also significant that 200 miles is the approximate distance between Jerusalem and Jebal al-Lawz (most likely the true Mount Sinai, located in north-western Saudi Arabia which is part of biblical Edom). Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "The LORD came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones". It is likely that this should be understood as a prophecy of Christ's second coming, not just as a description of God's historic appearance to the people of Israel during the Exodus. Psalm 68:17 also says, "God has countless chariots; they number in the thousands. The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor".

At his first coming, Jesus proclaimed the 'year of the Lord's favour' (Luke 4:19) in fulfilment of Isaiah 61:2a, and offered an amnesty to every sinner who would repent and believe in him. At his second coming, he will proclaim the 'day of vengeance of our God' in fulfilment of Isaiah 61:2b, and execute judgment upon everyone who rejects and opposes him.