The point at which we have arrived in these apocalyptic visions is a most sad one. Truth has fallen in the streets; the blood of God’s saints shed as water; open defiance of God and proud boasting are witnessed and heard; good is almost banished from the earth (Psa. 4:66There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. (Psalm 4:6)), and faith in God almost gone (Luke 18:88I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)). “The man of the earth,” or the Antichrist, ravages in Palestine amongst the saints, glorifies and deifies himself in Jerusalem and in the temple, deceives the world, and turns the whole prophetic scene into a playground for Satan. The Beast in pride, persecution, and blasphemy is equally busy as Satan’s powerful vicegerent in the wider sphere allotted him. Now is heard the oft-repeated cry to Jehovah of the Jewish remnant, suffering more than all others under an accumulated load of distress, “How long?” The touching appeal strikes a responsive chord in our hearts, as in spirit we take our part in the circumstances: “Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord, why hidest Thou in times of trouble?” (Psa. 10:11Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)). Revelation 14 is the answer to the cry of the remnant. It records God’s intervention in grace and judgment. We have had the marvelous activity of Satan and his seeming triumph—for are not Christendom and Judaism the spheres of his special operation?—so it might be supposed that God is indifferent, and had abandoned His people to the cruel mercy of the enemy. But it is not so, as the contents of this chapter conclusively show.
We have already remarked that Revelation 12, 13, and 14 form one connected prophecy. The hidden source of evil is shown to be the dragon; the Man of God’s purpose is the Child; Israel the mother of the Man-Child flees from the dragon’s vengeance; these are the three main subjects of Revelation 12, not, however, presented as history, but as seen in Heaven. Then, as the subjects of Revelation 13, we have the character, history, and doings of the two Beasts through whom Satan works out his evil plans on earth. We are next to be shown in a series of events the hand of God (Rev. 14). There are seven distinct subjects in the chapter: first, the spared remnant of Judah on Mount Zion (vss. 1-5); second, God’s closing testimony, or the Everlasting Gospel (vss. 6-7); third, the announcement of the fall of Babylon (vs. 8); fourth, the awful doom of those who worship the Beast (vss. 9-11); fifth, the immediate blessedness of those who die in the Lord (vs. 13); sixth, the harvest of the earth reaped, discriminating judgment (vss. 14-16); seventh, the vintage of wrath, unsparing vengeance (vss. 17-20). Thus, then, those three chapters form an episode of great interest. Their place between the Trumpets and the Vials explains much. It is shown who is the real author of earth’s horrible iniquity, the human instruments by whom it is practiced, and, lastly, the intervention of God in the scene. Moreover, as we have had the wickedness of the Beast, we are about to see its awful judgment under the Vials. Those chapters, too, serve as a necessary prelude to the yet severer chastisements inflicted in sharp and rapid succession, which sum up the providential judgments of God, and are followed by the vengeance of the Lamb in Person.
1. THE SPARED JEWISH REMNANT (REV. 14:1-51And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:1‑5))
MOUNT ZION, THE LAMB, AND THE JEWISH REMNANT
1. “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred (and) forty -four thousand, having His Name and the Name of His Father written upon their foreheads.” The Revised Testament reads “a Lamb,” and omits “having his Name.” Both blunders are corrected in the Revised Version.
Zion is only named once in the Apocalypse. “Out of about 110 times that Zion is mentioned, ninety are in terms of the Lord’s great love and affection for her, so that the place has great, very great significance, and Heaven knows it too.” The first mention of Zion when captured from the Jebusites by David (2 Sam. 5:77Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David. (2 Samuel 5:7)) is pregnant with interest, for, adds the sacred historian, “the same is the city of David.” Saul, the predecessor of David on the throne, was the man of the people’s choice, and typified “the king” who reigns in Jerusalem before the Lord comes. David, the true king of Israel, was Jehovah’s chosen, and Zion the seat of his government. He is thus the prototype of our Lord, Who will reign in Zion, “and before His ancients gloriously” (Isa. 24:2323Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. (Isaiah 24:23)). Zion is rich in sacred memories to the Jew. It is his goal of hope. It is, too, God’s chosen city. “For the Lord hath chosen Zion: He hath desired it for His habitation. This is my rest forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it” (Psa. 132:13-1413For the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. 14This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. (Psalm 132:13‑14)). “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psa. 48:22Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. (Psalm 48:2)). It is the seat of universal government for earth, and the center of interest to the millennial world (Isa. 2). It is where Jehovah has in purpose set His King (Psa. 2:66Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2:6)). There are three distinct thoughts connected with mount Zion: (1) It is the seat of royal power; (2) of God’s intervention in grace; (3) of Jehovah’s sovereignty, but all in respect to Israel.
The vision is a bright and gladdening one, a calm after a storm. Christ does not yet reign on Zion, but the time is near, and in the meantime He stands as the Lamb with His chosen ones. The vision is an anticipative one. Both the crowd of saved Gentiles (Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)) and the millennial kingdom (Rev. 11:15; 12:1015And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)
10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (Revelation 12:10)) are anticipative visions which have their actual fulfillment at the Advent in power.
Here the Lamb stands on mount Zion, but the Vials have yet to be poured out. The 144,000 here witnessed are of Judah; a similarly numbered company of all Israel (Rev. 7:44And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (Revelation 7:4)) forms a separate vision. This company has the Name of the Lamb and His (not their) Father’s Name written upon their foreheads. The mark of the Beast is on each one of his worshippers. The Name of the Lamb and His Father’s Name as well on the forehead of each confessor of Christ. These witnesses are viewed as having come out of the fiery trial under the Beast. They are Jews who steadfastly maintained the rights of God and of the Lamb; now they are publicly owned of Him. Many of their brethren suffered even unto death, sealing their testimony with their blood. Those here were spared through the horrors of the Tribulation. We gather that the innumerable company of Gentiles (Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)) are identical with the sheep who go into everlasting life (Matt. 25:34,4634Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:34)
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. (Matthew 25:46)); further, the “third part,” refined as silver and tried as gold (Zech. 13:8-98And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:8‑9)), the same as are here spoken of as 144,000 Jewish saints who occupy the leading place in the earthly millennial kingdom. They stand with the Lamb on the seat of royalty. What an exchange! From the tyranny of the Beast to fellowship with the Lamb! From the place of suffering to the seat of glorious power!
HARPERS AND SINGERS
2-3. “And I heard a voice out of the Heaven, as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard (was) as of harp-singers harping with their harps; and they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living cera tures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred (and) forty-four thousand who were bought from the earth.” Heaven is stirred and breaks out into song. We have had the Babel sounds of earth, the mingled cry of the victor, and the wail of the vanquished. We have witnessed the Beast treading down the earth and breaking it in pieces (Dan. 7:2323Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. (Daniel 7:23))—an exhibition of insensate brute force—and his fellow in crime, the Antichrist, morally darkening and deceiving the world. But now other sights delight the eye, and other sounds and songs greet the ear. We meet with a new company in Heaven, distinct from either the living creatures or elders, for they harp and sing “before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders.” Harps are mentioned three times in the Apocalypse, in each instance associated with song (Rev. 5:8; 14:2; 15:28And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. (Revelation 5:8)
2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: (Revelation 14:2)
2And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Revelation 15:2)). Thus is set forth the choral praise of the redeemed and heavenly host. The elders, representatives of the redeemed of past and present ages, each celebrates with song and harp God’s intervention in mighty saving grace (Rev. 5:8-108And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. 9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:8‑10)). Then, again, the martyred company of Judah tell out their gladness and triumph similarly to those of the elders (chaps. 14:2-3; 15:2-3). We understand the harpists of our chapter and those on the sea of glass (Rev. 15:22And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Revelation 15:2)) as being one and the same class. The song and harp are so blended that they are spoken of as “a voice” majestic as “many waters,” and powerful as “great thunder.” Then this company of harpists sing a “new song” in contrast with the old song. The former has as its theme-redemption; the latter has as its subject creation (Job 38:77When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)). The Lamb and the new song are conjoined (Rev. 5:8; 14:28And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. (Revelation 5:8)
2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: (Revelation 14:2)). God and the old song are united. The song of Moses” and “the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15:33And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3)) link up in one God’s past ways of power toward Israel with His present grace to them and to us. The crowd of saved Gentiles who form the nucleus of earth’s millennial inhabitants is said to stand “before the throne” (Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)). So here the company sing “before the throne.” But as the former are on earth, while the latter are in Heaven, the position differs accordingly. The saved Gentiles have a standing morally before the throne, whereas the martyred Jewish company have an actual place in relation to the throne.
3. “No one could learn that song save the hundred (and) forty-four thousand.” The choristers in Heaven and those with the Lamb on Zion are evidently in closest sympathy. The two together formed one company on earth. Nationally they were Jews, spiritually fellow-saints. They had been companions in labor, in testimony, and in suffering under the oppression of the Beast and the Antichrist. Many sealed their testimony with their blood, others passed through the Tribulation, keeping themselves free from the corruptions of the wicked scene. The former class are the harp-singing company in Heaven; the latter are the preserved of Judah on mount Zion; thus the intimate connection between the two companies. How fitting, therefore, that the saved and delivered Jews on Zion should be those who alone on. earth enter into and learn the song of their brethren “before the throne” in Heaven. On earth they learn; in Heaven they know (1 Cor. 13:1212For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)).
As showing the ground of blessing even though victors over the Beast and occupying the place of royalty on Zion, the words are added, “who were bought from the earth,” not “redeemed” as in the Authorized Version, but “bought,” or purchased, as here and in verse four. All saints in Heaven and in earth are both purchased and redeemed. The former term applies to all men and all things on earth, the latter to believers only, and to things on earth at the Coming.
THE HUNDRED AND FORTY -FOUR THOUSAND ON MOUNT ZION
4-5. “These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes. These have been bought from men, firstfruits to God and to the Lamb: and in their mouths was no lie found; they are blameless.” In this first vision we have three companies of redeemed people: (1) The elders, the saints of past and present ages; (2) the praising company of martyred Judah in Heaven; (3) the victorious part of Judah who had emerged out of “the great Tribulation.” This latter company are associated with the Lamb in His triumph, standing on mount Zion, the seat of royalty and of sovereign grace. Amidst the grossest corruptions, open idolatry, proud boasting, daring blasphemy, and open wickedness, these saints had not defiled themselves. They had walked through a scene abandoned to Satan without defilement. They lived and walked in virgin purity (2 Cor. 11:22For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2)). They had “kept themselves unspotted from the world.” But not only is there virgin purity of life, but there is also virgin love, undivided heart affection for the Lamb. We have had their purity attested, now we witness their obedience, which is full and unqualified; they “follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes,” their discipleship is unquestionable.
4. “Bought from men” and “bought from the earth” (vs. 3) respectively signify the race and the place out of which God in His grace had taken them. Their purchase is regarded as a special act of sovereign grace.
“Firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” These are an earnest of earth’s coming blessing. God and the Lamb are to reap a rich and bountiful harvest, and these are a sample. Priority in time and blessing of a like character are indicated in the term “firstfruits” (see Rom. 8:2323And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:23); 1 Cor. 15:20-2320But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20‑23); James 1:1818Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:18); and more.).
5. “In their mouths was no lie found.” Truthfulness in word characterized them. Their confession of Christ as the real Messiah was a true one (1 John 2:21-2721I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:21‑27)), in contrast to the mass given over to believe a lie in the reception and acknowledgment of the false Messiah, the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:1111And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:11); 1 John 2:2222Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22)).
5. “They are blameless.” Thus ends the beautifully descriptive character of the 144,000 on mount Zion. The Authorized Version substitutes guile for “lie,” and adds “without fault before the throne of God.” This is a serious interpolation. The meaning and force of the simple statement, “they are blameless,” is that they were so in practical ways and conduct generally. They refused to conform to the persecuting and blaspheming edicts of the Beast, they neither wondered after the Beast nor worshipped him. The seductions, too, of Antichrist, by which the mass were deceived, were avoided with holy loathing. In these respects “they were blameless.” Were the absolute holiness of God, the claims of His throne and nature in question, none on earth could stand and say, “I am blameless in myself.” This the passage does not assert, but is simply God’s estimate of their practical conduct when under the Beast.
REVIEW
The opening vision is that of the Lamb standing on mount Zion immediately preparatory to His assumption of royal power as King of Israel. With Him is associated a defined number of Jews who have emerged out of the great Tribulation. They publicly bear the Name of the Lamb and His Father’s Name, and are thus, in light of the full blaze of millennial glory, openly owned of God. Then a voice is heard “out of,” or proceeding from, Heaven, grandly majestic and loud and powerful. It is one voice in which the harp and song of many are expressed. These singers and harpers are in Heaven. Who are they? They are as a company distinct from the elders, the raised dead and changed living of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-1715For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:15‑17). The harpist choir are the brethren of those on mount Zion. They had laid down their lives rather than succumb to the Beast and his minister who dominated the conscience of the mass. They are here seen as raised in vision only; actually the whole scene is an anticipative millennial one. Their brethren on earth, once their companions in confession and sorrow, alone can learn the song of Heaven. How near is Heaven to earth in those days! How interested and how real the fellowship of saints in Heaven with those on earth! It is the day of Hosea 2:21-2221And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. (Hosea 2:21‑22), and the day of John 1:5151And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. (John 1:51).
Then we get the ground (twice stated) on which these saved ones stood in holy and royal fellowship with the Lamb. They had been purchased at what a cost, even the blood of the Lamb. Then we have their practical conduct (not the inward state), which is equally true in principle of every child of God. (1) Separation, thorough and unqualified, from the wickedness and idolatry of their surroundings. They maintained virgin purity from evil and virgin affection for Christ. (2) Obedience and Discipleship are marked features. They followed the Lamb wheresoever He went at a time and in a crisis when all save the elect wandered after the Beast. Following the Lamb is a characteristic truth. They followed Him in His rejection; they equally follow Him in His glory. The word translated “follow” is in the present tense. (3) Truthfulness, in word and confession, is another feature of the practical character of these saints. When Christendom as a whole had been given over to believe the devil’s lie (2 Thess. 2:1111And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:11)) these godly Jewish saints clung to the truth of Holy Scripture in its teachings as to the true Messiah and Prophet. (4) Blamelessness in outward conduct and ways before men, not “before the throne of God” (an interpolation), is a fitting and condensed epitome of their practical character and life. They were the first-fruits of the harvest gathered out of Israel, a joy to God and to the Lamb.
2—PROCLAMATION OF THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL
6-7. “And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to announce to those settled on the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people, saying, with a loud 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 the sea, and fountains of waters.” The chapter from verse six to the end unfolds the order of events. The first vision anticipates the happy scene when, after the dark clouds of judgment have rolled aside, the bright dawn of the coming day fills the earth with gladness. The first and most joyous company in the scene delivered from the thraldom of Satan is the 144,000, the godly remnant of Judah standing in safety and in holy fellowship with the Lamb on mount Zion. The time and place of the vision itself (vss. 1-5), therefore, must be distinguished from its fulfillment. The sequence of events as the end is drawing to a close commences with verse six, the announcement to the world at large of the Everlasting Gospel.
6. “I saw another angel flying in the mid-heaven. “The word another angel does not connect itself with the seventh angel (Rev. 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)), nor with the militant host under Michael in Revelation 12, but with the eagle messenger flying in mid-heaven announcing woe (Rev. 8:1313And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:13)). It may be said that the connection does not hold good, inasmuch as one is an eagle and the other an angel, but the objection is more apparent than real. The term “angel” in itself does not denote nature, but office, and is used both of spiritual beings and of men. The context, and not the word merely, must determine its application to men or spirits. Angel literally signifies messenger. Both the eagle and the angel are messengers. Both are witnessed flying across the firmament so as to scan the earth, even to its remotest bounds, and aloud proclaim their message. The flying eagle is a herald of judgment, the flying angel is a messenger of mercy.
6. Will there be a literal announcement of the “Everlasting Gospel” by an angel? Will a spiritual being actually proclaim the glad tidings from mid-heaven in his rapid course? Angels will be largely employed in the providential and governmental economy both prior to and during the millennial kingdom. But the preaching of the Gospel, whether it be that of the kingdom, of the grace, or of the glory of God, is a task committed to men and not to angels, while the latter will, without a doubt, providentially expedite the work of declaring the good news in the closing days of the last prophetic week. But we apprehend that the preachers of the Everlasting Gospel will be converted Jews chiefly, and that the result of their mission will be an ingathering of a vast and countless throng of saved Gentiles for millennial blessing (Matt. 25:3434Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (Matthew 25:34); Rev. 7:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)). Isaiah 66:19-2119And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 21And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 66:19‑21) is by some applied to the same mission as we have here, but that is a mistake. The Isaiah mission has its place when the Lord comes in Person to plead with all flesh, as the previous part of the chapter conclusively demonstrates; whereas the Everlasting Gospel is announced to the nations before the Lord comes. The angel flying on his mission indicates that a widespread and rapid testimony to grace and a warning note of judgment are proclaimed on the eve of “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isa. 61:22To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (Isaiah 61:2)). It is only in vision that the angel announces the Everlasting Gospel.
The Gospel preached now is that of God’s rich and sovereign grace to guilty sinners (1 Cor. 15:1-41Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1‑4); Rom. 1:1616For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)); and of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)). The Gospel of the kingdom was preached prior to the death and resurrection of Christ (Matt. 10:77And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 10:7)), and will be preached again after the removal of the Church (Matt. 24:1414And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)). We gather that the Everlasting Gospel is in substance that of the kingdom, here termed everlasting, because it is an ever-abiding truth that the Creator and not the creature is the only object of worship. This, too, is the only instance of the word “everlasting” applied to the Gospel. The earliest mention of the good news is contained in Genesis 3:1515And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15), and on through the dark and ever-changing ages of man’s history this Gospel remains unchanged in character, for God is everlastingly merciful, and from the entrance of sin into the world till its judgment at the Coming God alone is the hope of His creatures.
Those to whom the Gospel is announced are stated under five terms: (1) “To those settled on the earth.” We have had the same moral class of persons brought before us on several occasions (Rev. 3:10; 6:10; 11:1010Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:10)
10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. (Revelation 11:10); and more.). They are Christian apostates who had rejected God’s call to Heaven (Heb. 3:11Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1)), and deliberately chose the earth and its interests instead. They have been described as those that “dwell on the earth,” but here a somewhat stronger expression is used, “settled on the earth.” (2) “To every nation.” (3) “And tribe,” or a part, a division of a nation or people. (4) “And tongue,” signifying the numerous languages and dialects spoken. (5) “And people,” whether organized or not; the masses of mankind. These last four terms really embrace the race, and express as a formula universality (Rev. 7:9; 11:99After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; (Revelation 7:9)
9And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. (Revelation 11:9)). Those then are the persons to whom this Gospel is preached.
As to its reception by some and its rejection by others we are not here informed; that must be learned elsewhere.
7. What is so publicly and widely announced is next declared. “Fear God, and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come.” The first duty of the creature is to “fear God,” which is indeed the “beginning of wisdom”—twice repeated (Psa. 111:1010The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. (Psalm 111:10); Prov. 9:1010The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)). It is, too, a call to turn from the Beast to God; from the creature to the Creator. The mass were glorifying a man whom Satan had deified. Him they worshipped. God alone was, is, and ever shall be glorified both in His character and in His works and ways. The world is here recalled to this grand and fundamental truth, almost entirely forgotten, “Give Him glory.” The solemn ground on which this call is based is next stated, “For the hour of His judgment has come.” What an awful moment in human history! God is about to intervene in judgment, and no power can arrest the stroke. It is about to fall on the ungodly world and apostate peoples, Christian and Jewish. “And worship Him that made the Heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and fountains of waters.” The primary truth that God is the Creator of all, the visible and the invisible (Col. 1:1616For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)), has been lost sight of. Man has usurped the place of God, and the claim of the Creator to the homage of the creature is wellnigh effaced from the minds of men. The truth of creation is the first and fundamental subject of divine revelation (Gen. 1). Here it is recalled and enforced in light of immediate judgment. The worship of the Creator is a necessary law for men and angels. As we have had the race under a fourfold designation—nation, tribe, tongue, and people—so here creation is stated in four terms equally universal with the other: Heaven, earth, sea, and fountains.
How good, how gracious in God, ere His righteous vengeance search out the guilty of earth, to send to the race at large this final message couched in terms forcible and solemn! The moment is opportune, for every true thought of the Creator has been almost banished from the earth. All worship the Beast save the elect, then in a weak and feeble minority.
3. THE FALL OF BABYLON
8. “And another, a second angel, followed, saying, Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, which of the wine of the fury of her fornication has made all nations drink.” It will be observed that there are three specific angelic announcements (vss. 6,8-9). The first and the third are proclaimed with a “loud voice.” Not so the second. Babylon, civil and religious, figures largely in Bible history. Whether viewed as a city (Jer. 51), or as a religious system (Rev. 14:8; 17; 188And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Revelation 14:8)
8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8)
8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. (Revelation 18:8)), it is a vast consolidated system and the enslaver of God’s people. Babylon of old was the first and only Gentile power on which God directly conferred governmental authority (Dan. 2:3737Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. (Daniel 2:37)). Its doom, and the deliverance of Judah from the seventy years’ captivity were associated events. It will be so at the end. The Beast of the Apocalypse, which inherits the civil and political power of ancient Babylon, perishes at the Coming (Rev. 19), and God’s people are delivered. But what is before us now is the mystic Babylon, that huge system of spiritual adultery and corruption which holds sway over the whole prophetic scene. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a huge system of wickedness eagerly embraced by the nations once called christian. It will nevertheless be so. Babylon here is the full development of the state of things under the Thyatiran condition of the Church (Rev. 2:18-2318And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 19I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. 20Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:18‑23)). Protestantism as a system is destroyed at the Coming (Rev. 3:33Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (Revelation 3:3)). Babylon falls before the Coming (Rev. 17).
Babylon, the city of old, was the oppressor of the nations, and the center and stronghold of the world’s pride and idolatry. Satan stamped his own character upon it. But Israel and her renowned capital, Jerusalem, should have been the people and city from whence the knowledge of Jehovah and power over the nations emanated. But Israel, having falsified her position as set on earth to administer righteous government in headship over the nations, and also having proved unfaithful to her mission in making known the character of the true and only God, is set aside. Babylon is the contrast to what Israel should have been, and, in fact, to what she will be when under the new covenant (Jer. 31). The Church should have been a witness to God’s character as light and love, instead of which she has shown herself an unfaithful steward of the truth, and has failed as a witness to God and to Christ. Then, consequent on the moral ruin of the Church, the ground is prepared for Satan to introduce the mystic Babylon, the corruptress of the earth, and the spiritual enslaver of the nations who are madly intoxicated with her adulteries and corruptions. Her meretricious charms are guilded chains; her cup is full. The nations have yielded to her seductions, and have eagerly drunk out of her golden cup. Here her downfall is intimated, and that with intensity of utterance. The repetition of the word “fallen” must not be regarded as a mere Hebraism.
The fall of the literal, as of the mystic, Babylon is similarly announced (Isa. 21:99And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. (Isaiah 21:9); Rev. 18:22And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (Revelation 18:2)).
In the passage before us we have merely the fact announced that Babylon has fallen. It is regarded as an accomplished judgment. Particulars are reserved. The character, doom, and human instruments of her destruction are specified in Revelation 17 and 18, while her utter and everlasting ruin is grandly celebrated in Heaven in the first three verses of Revelation 19, and that as preliminary to the marriage of the Lamb. The whore is destroyed, and then the bride is displayed.
8. “The wine of the fury (or wrath) of her fornication” drunk by all nations is a singular expression, and exceeds what is said of the Euphratean city (Jer. 51:77Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. (Jeremiah 51:7)). The Babylon of the Apocalypse has by her seductions, unholy allurements, and incitements to evil enthralled the nations. Their passions have been fearfully roused, and they are not only mad (morally, of course), but her illicit intercourse with them has wrought them up to frenzy. In the height of the ungodliness and folly of the unholy union between the corrupt Church and the equally corrupt nations, the welcome message falls upon our ears, “Babylon has fallen, has fallen.” In every respect the Babylon of the Apocalypse may be termed “great” in contrast to the city of old.
Delete the word “city,” erroneously inserted in the text of the Authorized Version (vs. 8). It is almost unanimously rejected by the authorities.
4. THE AWFUL DOOM OF THE WORSHIPPERS OF THE BEAST, AND ENDURANCE OF THE SAINTS
9-12. “And another, a third angel, followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any one worshippeth the Beast and his image, and receive a mark upon his forehead or upon his hand. He also shall drink of the wine of the fury of God prepared unmixed in the cup of His wrath, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up to the ages of ages, and they have no rest day and night that worship the Beast and his image, and if any one receive the mark of his name. Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” We have had the fall of Babylon proclaimed in the previous announcement. The empire, in its full and consolidated strength of will and power, is the human destroyer of Babylon (Rev. 17:16-1716And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 17For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. (Revelation 17:16‑17)). Read “The ten horns which thou sawest and the Beast.” These, the horns and Beast, work together in united purpose to destroy the woman, or Babylon. This leaves the Beast unchecked in his career of wickedness and blasphemy. He had previously carried the woman, that is, supported her. But now, utter hatred and disgust take the place of a former admiration for her spiritual pretensions. He must reign without a rival, be the sole possessor of power. A system of brute force is established, and its decrees unrelentingly enforced. After the destruction of Babylon the Beast assumes its worst character. The full development of evil, in the absence of the harlot, is rapidly consummated, and a stern and inflexible policy is pursued with the determination that all-rich and poor, great and small-must bow down and worship the Beast. Absolute subjection to the Beast is the law in the coming crisis. It is under these appalling circumstances that the loud note of warning is sounded to the Beast worshippers. The awful doom here announced, unequaled in its severity, is proportioned to the guilt and horrible iniquity then openly practiced.
The Beast and his image must both be worshipped, and his mark received either in the hand or forehead, and that under the dread penalty of death. There is no escape. The alternative to the worship of the Beast is death, probably in its severest forms, and all commerce, trade, and barter are sternly prohibited to those who refuse to recognize his claims (Rev. 13:1717And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:17)).
The devotees of the Beast are here warned and threatened with punishments of so terrible a character that the very mention of them is enough to make one’s flesh creep. But what of those who will have to endure them? The “third angel” says “with a loud voice “—so that all may hear, and thus be without excuse—”he,” who has worshipped the Beast and received his mark, “also shall drink of the wine of the fury of God.” The nations had drunk out of the harlot ‘s cup (vs. 8); now in retributive justice they shall drink out of God’s cup (vs. 10). In this cup there are no palliative ingredients (Psa. 75:88For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. (Psalm 75:8)). It is pure, unmixed wrath. “He shall be tormented in fire and brimstone.” The awful torment is individual. Each one shall suffer eternal misery in his own person. “Fire and brimstone” (Isa. 30:3333For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. (Isaiah 30:33); Rev. 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)) are symbols of unutterable anguish. Another awful feature of the agony inflicted upon each adherent of the Beast is that the torment has to be endured “before (or in the presence of) the holy angels and before the Lamb.” The holy angels had been witnesses from their place on high of the horrible wickedness of the Beast and his abettors; now they will witness God’s vengeance, and each tormented one will know that the angels are looking down upon the scene of indescribable anguish, and also “before the Lamb,” Whom they had openly defied, and Whose blood had been wantonly trampled upon. This will, of course, add greatly to the horror of the situation.
11. “The smoke of their torment goes up to the ages of ages.” In the previous clauses of this deeply solemn passage we have had the individual before us, as indicated in the use of the personal pronouns. Now, however, that the company is made up, the aggregate is spoken of—”the smoke of their torment.” What a lurid picture of complete and overwhelming judgment! (Gen. 19:2828And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. (Genesis 19:28); Isa. 34:1010It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. (Isaiah 34:10)). The harlot is similarly judged and punished (compare with Rev. 19:33And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. (Revelation 19:3)).
The expression “forever and ever” is translated “the ages of ages” in all its eleven occurrences in the Apocalpyse in the margin of the Revised Version. It is used to express: The eternal existence of God (Rev. 4:9-10; 5:14; 10:6; 15:79And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, (Revelation 4:9‑10)
14And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:14)
6And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: (Revelation 10:6)
7And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. (Revelation 15:7)).
The eternal glory of the Lamb (Rev. 5:1313And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:13)).
The torment of the lost and of the devil is eternal. “No rest day and night” is the solemn pronouncement in Revelation 14:1111And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:11), and “tormented day and night” is the equally emphatic declaration of Revelation 20:1010And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)—no cessation, no alleviation; the agony is ceaseless. The endless horror of the Beast worshippers is beyond human conception. The eternal punishment of the lost is graven on the imperishable records of revelation. Sin and its punishment are measured by the greatness, the glory, and the eternity of God. He alone can reveal who and what He is. Sin against an infinite Being must necessarily entail infinite and eternal consequences.
“Here is the endurance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” In this state of things, unequaled in the history of the race, the saints can only hold fast and hold on. They are forbidden to resist with the sword, even if they could (Rev. 13:1010He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10)). But faith and patience at length, however sorely tried, win the day. Death is before them, but better to be killed by the Beast than to be tormented with the Beast. The afflicted saints cling to the clear commands of God and the faith of Jesus. In the apocalyptic record the martyrs are the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:66And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Revelation 17:6)). The name of sweetest sound is but rarely introduced in the book, but the connections in which it appears are full of interest (Rev. 14:12; 17:6; 22:1612Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12)
6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Revelation 17:6)
16I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)).
5. THE BLESSED DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD
13. “And I heard a voice out of the Heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in (the) Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.” The voice, but not the name, of the speaker falls upon the ear of the Christian Seer. The Authorized Version interpolates unto me. The message was not addressed to John, although he heard it, but it is one for all saints, while it has its own special application to saints in that critical hour preceding the Coming of the Lord in judgment. It is ever true that those who die in the Lord are blessed, but why is the statement reserved for this awful juncture in human history? and why is it added, “from henceforth?” Why from that particular moment? The answer to these questions is a simple and satisfactory one. The word “henceforth” intimates the near end, and that the blessing is just about to be entered upon.
In Revelation 20:44And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4) we have the complement of the heavenly saints who reign with Christ a thousand years. There are three classes of such: (1) A recognized and well-known company sitting upon thrones. These are the raised dead and changed living at the Coming into the air (1 Thess. 4:16-1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17); 1 Cor. 15: 51-54). When caught up they are spoken of as “elders” throughout the prophetic part of the Apocalypse. (2) “The souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the Word of God.” This company forms a class of martyrs by themselves, who were slain before the Beast was in existence as a persecuting power. They are witnesses under the fifth Seal (Rev. 6:9-119And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9‑11)). (3) “Those who had not worshipped the Beast, neither his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand.” There is an interval of some time, probably years, between the martyrdom of the two latter companies. If, therefore, the whole company of reigning saints is embraced in the three classes referred to (Rev. 20:44And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)), in which of them are we to place those who “die in the Lord from henceforth?” Undoubtedly amongst those martyred under the Beast.
Another and helpful consideration follows. If the two martyred companies named comprehend all who die after the Rapture, then it is evident that no saint during the “crisis week” of seven years dies a natural death. Those who “die in the Lord” are slain; hence the inapplicability of our text engraved on stone and monument in memory of our precious dead. Those who “die in the Lord from henceforth” do so as martyrs. They are about to share in the blessedness of “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:66Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)). Their blessing in character and fullness greatly exceeds those who survive the Tribulation. The former take a distinguished place in heavenly glory, the latter are accorded the highest place on earth; the former reign with Christ, the latter are reigned over; the former are kings, the latter are subjects.
The Spirit responds to the voice from Heaven, “Yea,” and adds a word of rich consolation, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.” Probably none amongst “the cloud of witnesses” had so walked in the vigor of faith as these; none so served and suffered under the most appalling circumstances. But now these witnesses of whom “the world was not worthy” are about to enter on their everlasting rest-toil and suffering forever past. God is not unrighteous to forget their work and labor of love. When these saints are raised and taken up, their works accompany them, not come after them, but “with them.” Their works will be appraised at their true value by the righteous Judge, Who will reward every man according to his work. Rest and reward are the immediate portion of those then dying in the Lord.
6. THE HARVEST OF THE EARTH REAPED
14-15. “And I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like (the) Son of Man, having upon His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send Thy sickle and reap; for the hour of reaping is come, for the harvest of the earth is dried. And He that sat on the cloud put His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Judicial judgment is about to sweep the guilty earth with the besom of destruction and clear it of evil. The harvest and the vintage are the familiar figures employed to express God’s closing dealings. The former is discriminating judgment, the latter unsparing wrath. In the harvest the wheat is separated from the tares. In the vintage these latter, that is, the tares, are alone in the prophetic scene, and form the subjects of the Lord’s righteous vengeance.
14. “I saw, and behold.” This expression is only employed in the introduction of subjects of unusual interest. There are two matters of weighty import selected out of the seven series of events contained in our chapter, to which special attention is called by this word “behold” (see vss. 1, 14).
14. “A white cloud” is peculiar to this action, so also is the white throne in the judgment of the dead (Rev. 20:1111And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. (Revelation 20:11)). The cloud symbolizes the divine presence (Rev. 10:11And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1); Matt. 17:55While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5); Ezek. 10:44Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. (Ezekiel 10:4)), “white” the purity and absolute righteousness characterizing and governing the action.
14. “On the cloud one sitting like (the) Son of Man.” Christ is said to come in a cloud (Luke 21:2727And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (Luke 21:27)), but He is also said to come on the clouds (Matt. 24:3030And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30), RN.). In the former His Person is veiled; in the latter He is publicly displayed. He sits on the cloud. It is a calm, deliberative judgment; no hurry, no haste. “Like (the) Son of Man.” It is under this title that Christ deals with the state of things on the earth, and judges the ungodly (Matt. 25:3131When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: (Matthew 25:31); John 5:2727And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:27)). As Son of God He quickens now the spiritually dead (John 5:2525Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. (John 5:25)), as in the future the physically dead (vs. 28). We have before called attention to the absence of the definite article in this title as used in the Apocalypse and in Daniel 7:1313I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (Daniel 7:13). As Son of Man He comes and claims universal dominion. His connection with the race and with the world in general is intimated in the title Son of Man, but in that very character He bears the attributes and moral glories of the Ancient of Days (compare Dan. 7:1313I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (Daniel 7:13) with verse 14 of our chapter, also with Rev. 1:13-1413And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (Revelation 1:13‑14)). Without doubt the Seer beheld in vision the Son of Man, but in the absence of the article it is what morally characterizes Him that is prominent. The article would make it definite and personal. The attributes of the Son of Man are called into exercise, and to these we are directed—to what is characteristic of such a One, rather than to the Person Himself.
15. “Another angel came out of the temple.” Another, as distinct from those previously numbered in the chapter (vss. 6, 8, 9). The throne and the temple, both in “the Heaven,” are the respective sources of judgment on earth. The throne judgments are characteristic of the first great portion of the book, closing with Revelation 11:1818And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18). The temple chastisements are in question from Revelation 11:1919And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19), and on to the pouring out of the Vials (Rev. 16). In the seventh Vial, which brings the wrath of God to a conclusion, the temple and throne are united in action (vs. 17). For the throne see Revelation 4:55And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5); for the temple see Revelation 11:1919And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19). The throne sets forth the exercise of divine government; the temple refers to the immediate presence of God. In the second main part of the Apocalypse, from Revelation 11:1919And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19), the judgments are of a severer character than the preceding ones, as the evil to be dealt with is of a more acute kind, more open, daring, blasphemous, and of a religious-secular character. Hence judgment comes out from the very presence of God, that is, the temple—the nature of God as light is roused to action.
15. The angel from the temple cries “with a loud voice.” It is a call for immediate action on the part of the divine Reaper. “Send Thy sickle and reap; for the hour of reaping is come, for the harvest of the earth is dried up,” or “overripe” (R.V.). There are two reasons assigned why the Son of Man should at once proceed to gather in the harvest. First, the appointed hour of final dealing has come; second, the harvest was fully ripe, yea, “dried up” (see Rev. 16:1212And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)). The hour of judgment (vs. 7) and the hour of harvest (vs. 15, R.V.) are both said to have come, and both refer substantially to the same character of action.
15. “Send Thy sickle and reap.” The Son of Man does not Himself personally reap. He superintends. Instrumentally He reaps. The actual reapers are the angels (Matt. 13:3939The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. (Matthew 13:39)).
15. “The harvest of the earth” is both political (Joel 3:9-149Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. 12Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. (Joel 3:9‑14)) and religious in character (Matt. 13:24-3024Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:24‑30)). The former is directly connected with Israel, and has its sphere of operation in the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:1212Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. (Joel 3:12)); the latter is of much wider extent, embracing within its range the whole scene of Christendom (Matt. 13:3838The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; (Matthew 13:38)).
16. “He that sat on the cloud put His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” The result is instantaneous, but that is in vision only. We must not regard these actions as signifying a momentary exercise of divine power. Events are regarded in the various visions—which may extend over a considerable time and employ many agencies—as completed in a single act. In the visions the completed results are briefly and tersely summed up. But in other portions of Scripture the details, equally important to know, are unfolded. But how gracious in God to afford us the certainty that His purposes shall be fulfilled; that these apocalyptic visions affirm.
We have already observed that the harvest discriminates and separates the wheat from the tares. “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into My barn” (Matt. 13:3030Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)). This, then, is harvest work. It is the same character of separating work in which the good fish are gathered into vessels and the bad cast away (vs. 48). This severing process is at the end of the age. There is no actual execution of judgment in the harvest. That is accomplished in the vintage; nor is the harvest here the completion of the firstfruits of the company of virgins of verse 4. That harvest is one of blessing, and is reaped when the millennial kingdom is set up. The harvest here is one of discriminating judgment prior to the kingdom being established. Reaping is in view of judgment.
7. THE VINE OF THE EARTH AND ITS JUDGMENT
17-20. “And another angel came out of the temple which (is) in the Heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the altar, having power over fire, and called with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send thy sharp sickle, and gather the bunches of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripened. And the angel put his sickle to the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast (the bunches) into the great winepress of the fury of God; and the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood went out of the winepress to the bits of the horses for a thousand six hundred stadia.”
17. “Another angel.” In these visions there is mention made of six angels (vss. 6, 8-9, 15, 17, 18). The ordinal numbers, second and third (vss. 8-9, R.V.), are evidently meant to form a group of three angels as distinct from those which follow and are not numbered. The numbered angels announce specific events which are closely related. The fourth and the fifth come out of the temple (vss. 15, 17), from whence all the Vials are poured out (Rev. 16:11And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. (Revelation 16:1)). The sixth angel comes out of the altar (vs. 18).
17. “Having a sharp sickle.” There is a certain minuteness in the previous description not observable in this one. There “in His hand a sharp sickle” (vs. 14); here it is simply “having a sharp sickle.” In the one “a loud voice” (vs. 15); in the other a “loud cry” (vs. 18). These and other minute distinctions are to be noticed if full profit is to be gained. There are, of course, certain things in common, as “harvest” and “vintage” would necessarily suggest.
Then “another angel” is seen coming “out of the altar, having power over fire.” This is the brazen altar, the altar of judgment. The loud and urgent cry of the souls of the martyrs under the altar for righteous vengeance (Rev. 6:9-119And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Revelation 6:9‑11)) was but partially answered. Now the full measure of judgment is to be inflicted on their enemies.
The brazen altar speaks of acceptance (Lev. 1), and, with the blood upon its horns, of forgiveness (Rev. 4). But it is a holy altar, and hence it demands the judgment of sin; it is also the ground of divine forgiveness. Here the thought is one of pure, unmingled judgment—divine judgment on the vine of the earth (compare with Ezek. 9:22And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. (Ezekiel 9:2)).
The altar angel “called with a loud cry.” It was a loud, peremptory, urgent call, and one which could brook no delay.
18. “Gather the bunches of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripened.” Israel of old was the vine brought out of Egypt (Psa. 80:88Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. (Psalm 80:8))—Jehovah’s fruit-bearing system on earth. After centuries of cultivation and care the vine only produced “wild grapes” (Isa. 5:2-42And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? (Isaiah 5:2‑4)). The noble vine planted by the Lord God of hosts had in the days of the weeping prophet “turned into a degenerate plant of a strange vine” (Jer. 2:2121Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? (Jeremiah 2:21)). Israel therefore was set aside, to be morally replaced by Christ the true Vine, Who alone could and did bear fruit (John 15). The mark of a true disciple is not simply to be a branch in the vine (Judas was that), but to be a fruit-bearing branch. The expression “the vine of the earth” contemplates the whole religious system in the coming crisis, not Judaism only. The grapes are ripe for judgment. They are gathered in bunches and cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The great religious apostasy of earth is now to be unsparingly dealt with in judgment. “The winepress was trodden without the city.” The tares are now cast into the fire (Matt. 13:40-4240As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:40‑42))—”a furnace of fire.” It is, too, the consuming of the fruitless branches (John 15:66If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:6)). There is no mercy, no separating judgment, but absolute vengeance. The winepress signifies this. It is the day of vengeance of our God. It is the time of Isaiah 63: “Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like Him that treadeth in the winefat?” asks the prophet. The Messiah answers, “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was none with Me; for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come” (vss. 2-4). The vine of the earth is a far-reaching expression, embracing apostate Jews and apostate Gentiles (Psa. 85:5; 835Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? (Psalm 85:5)
5For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: (Psalm 83:5); Isa. 34; Jer. 25:15-1615For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. 16And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them. (Jeremiah 25:15‑16); Joel 3).
20. “The winepress was trodden without the city.” Jerusalem is the city here referred to. The valley of Jehoshaphat was outside Jerusalem, and it is there that the fullest vengeance of God shall be poured out, “the press is full” (Joel 3:1313Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. (Joel 3:13)). In fact, both the harvest and the vintage are directly grounded on the prophecy of Joel (chap. 3), with, of course, a wider application. Outside the city, or “without,” signifies Palestine as a whole.
20. “Blood went out of the winepress to the bits of the horses for a thousand six hundred stadia.” Blood, not wine or the juice of the grape, but that which it signified, poured out of the winepress to the depth of the horses’ bits; the length of the stream of blood nearly two hundred miles. There may be certain measurements of the Holy Land to which these would apply, but nothing certain can be affirmed. What is signified is a vast destruction of human life over a circumscribed area. Certainly what is stated of the vast slaughter is beyond anything ever known. We gather that the scene of the vintage in its worst form is that referred to by Joel (chap. 3:9-14), as also where the battle of Armageddon is to be fought (Rev. 16:14-1614For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (Revelation 16:14‑16)); the scene, too, of Revelation 19:1919And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. (Revelation 19:19). All these have their center in Palestine. It is there that the wickedness of earth will be concentrated. The Beast and the Antichrist both fall there, and their followers as well. Gog, too, and his subordinate, the king of the north-the political oppressors of Israel-meet their doom in Palestine (Ezek. 38; 39, for Gog and his allies; Isa. 14:2525That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. (Isaiah 14:25); Dan. 11:4545And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. (Daniel 11:45), for the Assyrian or king of the north). The final dealings of God at the end of the age as expressed in the harvest and vintage are centered in Palestine, but are not confined in their effects to Israel, then the most guilty of all peoples, but extend to the utmost bounds of Christendom. We do not, of course, hold that the actual valley of Jehoshaphat and Armageddon are literally meant, as both are utterly inadequate to serve as a gathering place or center for the nations who will assemble in close proximity to Jerusalem, and thus Judea becomes the battlefield of the nations. May God graciously preserve His beloved people from the unholy principles and spirit so characteristic of the day in which our lot is cast!