seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.[c]
a. Revelation 14:8 Isaiah 21:9
b. Revelation 14:14 See Daniel 7:13.
c. Revelation 14:20 That is, about 180 miles or about 300 kilometers
Back to the easy English site again.
Then John saw the Lamb standing on the hill called Zion. The 144 000 Jews were with the Lamb. These all believed in Jesus their Messiah. They were from all the 12 tribes of the Jews.
These Jews had the mark of God on them (Revelation 7:4). That mark was the name of the Lamb and of the Father. Since they had received the mark, the Lord had protected them. Not one of them had been lost.
The hill called Zion was the hill where the city called Jerusalem stood. But here the hill called Zion is not the one on the earth. It is the place of the city of God in heaven.
The Lord had selected these men for a task (Revelation 7:3). They would serve God on earth during the final years before Christ returns. In order to concentrate on that service they did not have sex.
During all the troubles of those times, they always spoke the truth. They lived good lives. Nobody could blame them for anything that was wrong.
John saw the first of three angels. The angel was flying in the sky above the earth. The angel came to tell people about the plans of God. God said that his people should have eternal life. This is good news to all who believe God’s words. And they will serve God. The angel made certain that all the peoples of the earth heard him. Every person had the opportunity to hear the good news.
The angel called all people to repent while there was time. This was their last chance. Soon it would be too late.
This is the message that the angel brought. All people must be afraid of God and everyone must give him honour. They must respect him as the Lord of all. They must know that he is the God of all power.
The people were surprised at the power of the beast. But God is so much more powerful than the beast. And God will be the judge of each person. The time had almost come when he would do this. Those who oppose God cannot expect a happy future.
Then the second angel declared that Babylon had fallen. Babylon was a great city in the ancient region called Mesopotamia. It had been the capital of the kingdom called Babylon. It was an evil place of luxury and sin. Worse than that, it was the great enemy of God’s people.
The name Babylon here means the centre (most important place) of all on earth that opposed the real God. It was the centre of all false beliefs. It was the centre of the world’s religion and commerce.
God destroyed the city called Babylon, because it was the centre of such evil practices. But all the nations of the world had become like Babylon. So, all the nations will suffer the same fate as Babylon. God is angry with them and he will destroy them.
Then a third angel came. And he spoke to those who had the mark of the beast.
The beast would try to kill those who had not received his mark. But those who had received the mark of the beast would have a worse fate. They will suffer the anger of God. He will punish them with pains that will never end. When God punished the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah, he burned them with sulphur (Genesis 19:28). The pains of those who have the mark of the beast will be like that. This will be the fate of those who denied Christ.
The fire and sulphur is a description of the place of punishment. God will send the Antichrist and the false prophet there. All who follow the beast (Antichrist) will go there as well.
The Lamb and his angels will see them suffer.
For those who refuse the love of God their punishment will never end. They chose evil ways rather than good ways. They will receive evil things and not good rewards. Their end is to be without God. That place is hell where the fire never stops (Mark 9:44).
Death is not the end. All who believe in God will rise again from death. God will raise them up to live in a place of rest and happiness. The Holy Spirit agrees that this is so. This is true about all God’s people. But verse 13 is mainly about people who die because of their faith in Jesus. God will make sure that they receive their reward. Their lives on this earth were hard. But God has prepared a place where they will be content.
After the three angels had gone, John saw a white cloud. A person sat on the cloud. He was like a son of man. The phrase ‘like a son of man’ means that this was Christ (Revelation 1:13; Daniel 7:13).
Christ wore a gold crown on his head. This showed that he had overcome his enemies. He had the power to do what he came to do. Like someone who harvests crops, he had a sharp tool in his hand. This means that Christ will be the judge of all people.
An angel came out from the temple in heaven. God sent him with a message to the Son of Man. The angel said with a loud voice, ‘The time has come. The harvest of the earth is ripe and ready. Go and gather it.’
This message meant that the time of the end had come. The Lord would rescue his own people. But he would punish the rest of the people.
The evil deeds of the people on the earth could not grow worse. The Lord had to deal with it. So, Christ gathered the wicked people as someone harvests a crop. The account of this event is in chapters 19 to 20.
God sent two more angels. They came from the temple and the altar. The first one had a sharp tool for the harvest. The other one had command over the fire.
The angel with his sharp tool harvested the grapes of the whole earth. He threw them into a large bucket. Then God squeezed the grapes as men step on natural grapes. But these grapes meant the people with whom God was angry. So, in fact, John was describing the deaths of these people. This is why John saw blood flow from the grapes instead of juice.
This was an awful thing. John tried to show us how terrible it was. A deep river of blood flowed from the people. It was about five feet deep and flowed for 200 miles. God was very angry. He punished and he killed all those wicked people.
It was outside the city where Jesus died. God punished this vast crowd of people outside the city. That city was Jerusalem.
This is from enduringword.com.
To every nation, tribe, tongue, and people: This can be a valid fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in Matthew 24:14 that the gospel would be preached to all the world before His second coming. But this can never be a valid excuse for neglecting the urgency of missions. God has not given the responsibility for spreading the Gospel to angels, but unto His people.
However, this is the only place in the New Testament where we see angels preaching the Gospel. In God’s sublime wisdom, He has chosen to give that responsibility to people alone, apart from the rarest of exceptions.
For the harvest of the earth is ripe: This ancient Greek word for ripe has a negative sense, “to become dry or withered.” The idea is of something that is over-ripe. This means that God will judge the earth only when it is over-ripe for judgment. He doesn’t rush into judgment.
“It must be remembered that evil has its harvest as well as good. There is a harvest of misery and woe, – a harvest for the gathering, binding, and burning of the tares, – as well as for the gathering of the wheat into the garner of heaven.” (Seiss)
Well... John's enjoying [or surviving] another vision. John is on a deserted rocky island. He's had a vision of Jesus, John's close friend and Messiah..... glowing as John had seen Him glow at the Transfiguration. Then John saw a door open in Heaven... and John watched while Jesus took a scroll that the strong angel had been trying to open.... and the seals on the scroll started to pop right open for Jesus. He had been a human... He knew how to deal with humans.... He understood humans... and this scroll was the apparently filled with the instructions on the proper demise of useless humans that refuse to Believe that Jesus is the Messiah and God is in Charge. So it was fitting that Jesus should pop open the seals.At this point.... six of the seven seals have been popped open..... the four horses have been released.... per the instructions, six of seven trumpets have been blown..... an angel has warned of three horrific events that correspond with the last three blasts of the trumpet. Two of those last three trumpets have blown..... there have been horrific earthquakes that moved mountains and islands.... there have been plagues, famine, war, and even bugs whose bite will make a human wish they could die.... and horses with tails that will make a human die. A third of earth's population was taken out when the four horses were released. Another third are gone after the blast of a trumpet. A third of the earths trees and all of the grass is gone. So the air is not clean.... it's almost impossible to breath..... a third of the oceans have been destroyed... the stench must be horrific... it's a thick bloody brew of dead fish...... and the fresh water, our drinking water, has been poisoned by wormwood. There are three groups of humans who have already been taken up to Heaven. There are the 144,000 descendants of Jacob [Israel], the humans who were martyred like the disciple Stephen and that little girl who was shot at school after the shooter asked her if she loved Jesus and she responded yes, and there was a multitude too numerous to count of those who Believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
According to John..... Now he's seeing a vision of the final preparations for the seventh trumpet and the seventh seal. This is like the clean up of.... the final battle preparation before the real poop hits the fan.
Here we learn that the 144,000 descendants of Jacob [Israel] were virgins who never lied.... apparently they worshiped God.... and they are indeed Messianic... they loved Jesus... they believed that Jesus is the Messiah. They have all been stamped by God..... no one anywhere can find any issue with these 144,000.
Now... John has answered how God is going to get the final warning out without electric or the internet. God doesn't have to use Fox, CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, BBC News, or facebook or twitter..... God doesn't need the internet.... and after all the destruction the first six seals and six trumpets have caused... there is no electricity or internet available.... but God doesn't need any of that manmade poop. God will send three angels.
The first angel will spread the gospel one more time. I wonder... but I really don't want to know.... how it will feel to see an angel flying above the humans.... and retelling the Gospel. What will those unsaved humans... the ones who are worshiping the beast [Anti-Christ]... do when they see that angel? My guess is... they will throw rocks at the angel while they blame everything on God instead of Satan.
The second angel will report that Babylon.... wicked horrible Babylon.... has fallen. In other words... they might as well give up.... the end is already written.... all those who refuse to believe are now stuck.... they may have chosen the beast but their butts belong to God... and choosing the beast was a horrible mistake. The second angel is a warning.
The third angel.... has a sickle.... it's time..... actually, according to the commentary "it's become dry or withered". God has been patient enough, in other words.
That third angel... the one with the sickle.... the bloody battle.... a slaughter.... is the "grapes of wrath" everyone is so familiar with. Fact is... it'll be so bad... no one really has a clue how horrific it will be... and there won't be any news networks to spread the word.... so it's one of those "I don't want to do that" sort of things that sometimes keeps me off of roller coasters. Fear..... blood.... death.... stench.... judgement....
So this chapter is about the virginity of the 144,000, the warnings of the three angels, and the slaughter of Babylon..... Virgins, Angels, and Slaughter.
