Notes On Revelation 14 / Part 1

Text of Revelation 14 from KJV adapted

14 And 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.

1. A vision of spiritual reality - where Mount Zion in heaven and earth are one…which takes place outside time and eternity…in the mind and communion of the Word of God. This is the key to understanding this whole vision. This is what is meant by “heaven” in the context of these visions which begin in chapter 4. The 144,000 are not seen on earth, neither in time nor in eternity, but are seen always in visions in the heaven of heavens. This is the place of this revelation, the place where the Mashiach of Israel, sits at the right hand of God, the place where he has appeared as a Lamb standing before the Throne of God, and now appears standing on Mount Zion.  Though God is rightly called the Eternal One, God’s eternity has no beginning as well as no end. Now there is also an eternity that has a beginning, while it has, together with God, no end. This eternity is the eternity of time having been redeemed and transformed in Mashiach. So, eternity itself has now become something created in relation to time, and God, while his presence is in time and eternity, is himself outside of all that is created, either in This World of time or The World To Come, which is the world of eternity.  His Word is the power that forms eternity and is the Word of Eternity entered into Time.  In His Word is His Thought, the true spiritual reality.  And from that true spiritual reality we are shown this vision...

2. …where the 4 camps of Israel’s 12 tribes are camped with Mashiach on Mount Zion, which is seen, in the mind and communion of the Word of God, as in the case in Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple, which is also seen in the mind and communion of the Word of God. We will see that the Lamb and the 144,000 are on Mount Zion as a personal embodiment of the Temple of God.

3. It is not that Ezekiel’s vision is a vision in time or in eternity, but that it is the "blueprint", the print in holy light, for God’s Temple in time and in eternity.  In time the Temple is built according to the accommodations of God, which must be made for the sake of mercy and grace.  In eternity the Temple is built according to the rectifications of those accommodations, which are accomplished through the outworking of God’s Torah mercy and grace, in accordance with his Torah justice and righteousness. This "blueprint" is called the Torah of Mashiach, the Wisdom of God as spoken of in Proverbs 8.

4. In the foreheads of the 144,000 is the complete rectification of their knowledge that was damaged by the sin of Adam, this is the knowledge of God personally, that is, the true knowledge of his Name.

5. Having said this, we are left only with asking what the meaning and significance is of Mount Zion in the Torah of Mashiach.  And we then can ask what it is that is being revealed to us in this vision of Mashiach in the form of the Lamb on Mount Zion with the 144,000.

2 And 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:

1. The voice which Yochanan has already heard, which is the Divine Voice, but before always in context of revelations in time and eternity, now in a context outside time and eternity.  Therefore the Voice is itself at first the vision.  Each phase of this vision outside time and eternity is itself a vision revealing the mind and communion of the Word of God. 

2.  In this second phase the Voice of God is itself the vision and is therefore accompanied by the harps of the harpers of heaven, introducing the next phase of the vision.  All of the seven thunders of that voice are here in one great thunder. This vision shows that the vision of the seven thunders and the vision of the 144,000 are one vision.

3 And 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.

1. The harpers who harped in accompaniment with the Thunder of God’s Voice, now sing the song of Israel’s eternal redemption, the song of the salvation of the world, the song of the revelation of the true name of Israel’s Father and God. This is the whole revelation that is given through the revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach.  This singing of this song by the harpers of heaven is the third phase of this vision, which, while it is one phase of the vision of the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion, is also like a vision in itself.  

2. This song of Israel’s redemption and the world’s salvation is a version of the Song of the Lamb and of Moshe which is only heard outside time and eternity, here in this place where the Lamb and the 144,000 are together on Mount Zion.

3. What does this say about the nature of the 144,000, about the way in which they prophetically represent Israel?  And what does this say about the relationship between the Lamb and Israel?  Everything in time and in eternity hinges upon the relationship between the Lamb and Israel.  Here, at this point in the Revelation of Yehoshua HaMashiach, when the truth about the Beast and the works of the Beast have been revealed, the secret  of the relationship between the Lamb and Israel, which was concealed at the time of his death and resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, is being made known.

4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes. These were redeemed from among humans, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

1. The question has been raised, what does this vision say about the 144,000 and their representation of the relationship of Israel and the Lamb?  If in the mind of the Word of God the 144,000 are virgins, then in the mind of the Word of God it is Israel who is a virgin.

2. If the 144,000 follow the Lamb wherever he goes, then in the mind of the Word of God, Israel follows the Lamb wherever he goes.

3. If the 144,000 are the firstfruits to God and the Lamb redeemed from among the children of Adam, then, in the mind of the Word of God, Israel is the firstfruits to God and the Lamb redeemed from among the children of Adam.

4. Having said this, we are left only with a deeper question of why Israel is represented as the 144,000.  We began to see the answer to this question in chapter 7.  Now we will see the answer more fully.

5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

1. This is the final phase of this vision, which concerns the testimony of Israel, in accordance with the Scriptures, to the One God and His Torah's Good News.  Like the other phases of this vision, this phase is like a vision in its own right.  Before the 144,000 were described in terms of their attributes, revealing their identity in their prophetic representation of Israel.  In this phase their accomplishments are described.

2. If in the mouths of the 144,000 there was found no imperfection before God and the Lamb, then in the mind of the Word of God there is found, by the Judge who sits upon His Throne, no imperfection in Israel’s testimony given on the witness stand before the nations and before the angels of heaven, concerning the truth of God and his Anointed One.

3. We will see that it is the significance of this very thing (Israel's perfect testimony, as conceived in the Mind of God), that is being revealed to us in the full volume of The Book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ \ Yehoshua HaMashiach.

6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

1. Having left the vision of the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion in the place of spiritual reality beyond time and eternity, in the mind of the Word of God, with the fulfillment of the Scripture that Israel is Hashem’s witness, we come immediately to a new vision of an angel, coming from eternity into time with the everlasting Good News of God to announce to the world.  For this is the testimony given by Israel in the mind of the Word of God.

2. We see that this Good News is preached to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people".  This is the designation of those to whom it was said Yochanan would again preach, having eaten the Little Scroll. We see a direct connection, therefore, between the vision of this angel and the vision of Revelation chapter 10.

3. We now will consider what that means.

7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

1. When Mashiach rose from the dead, by the power of the judgment of God, after that he made a corporate atonement for Israel, the new creation of eternity was born in time and began to grow in time. It would grow until "the hour of [God's] judgment", when that which is eternal working in time would become dominate in the domain of time.  This hour which is coming is the hour when judgment of the nations is come, the time of the sounding of the seventh shofar.  From this point on in the Revelation, to the coming of Mashiach, we will see the revelation of that judgment.  And therefore from here there is nothing left but for the world to repent and to hear the testimony of the 144,000, which brings — from beyond time and eternity — the witness of Israel’s redemption in the Lamb of God from among the nations, and makes that testimony known in this hour of judgment in all the earth.

2. The purpose of this testimony of Israel, given from heaven by the 144,000, is that the whole of creation should repent and turn again, as in one Adam, to the fear of Hashem Elohim and to his praise.

8 And 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.

1. How can this happen, even before Jerusalem is fully united with her Mashiach upon the earth?  It can happen because, invisible to the world, Jerusalem has already, at this point in the revelation, turned to embrace him in her heart, as recorded in Revelation 11:13, and because now, with the ascent of the Beast, the truth of the evil one in the world is out in the open, so that Babylon has lost her power, which is the power of the lie. For she was given this power to chastise Israel, to help the work of the Spirit of God in bringing Jerusalem to repentance toward her Mashiach.  But she "helped too much", Zechariah 1:15; Isaiah 47:6. And now Hashem's work of correcting Israel is accomplished.  Therefore Babylon’s power is taken away from her.

2. And because Babylon’s power, which she used through the deceptions of secrecy, is taken away from her she is now to be held openly accountable for seducing all nations into her service against God and against the Jews.

9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

1. The dethroning of Babylon leaves only the Beast in power on the earth, and now all people will be held to be accountable without excuse in turning away from God to serve the god of this world.

2. At the very time of the fall of Babylon, which comes through the destruction of the system holding Israel in captivity in blindness to her redemption in Mashiach, the evil one will shift his control of the world to the mark of the beast, through the image of the beast, as has been discussed.

10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

1. As has been said, because at this time there will no longer be any room for confusion or pretense but every person on earth will stand either openly against the God of the Bible or in repentance toward Him, a final judgment upon the nations will come upon the whole earth.

2. The aftermath of the judgement upon the nations, when Israel has openly been redeemed from her sins and from captivity among the nations, is that there will be no place anymore for repentance for those who, even like Esau seek it with tears, once they see Israel’s glory, if they have chosen under the leadership of the Lying Messiah to graduate from replacement theology to full blown outright enmity toward the testimony of God’s Two Witnesses, which converted the heart of Jerusalem.

11 And 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.

1. Once bottomless pit of foolishness and embarrassment for having worshiped the Beast is revealed throughout all the universe, those who are guilty of this choice will torment themselves with their own shame, so that there will be no help for them.

2. Just as the Nazis sent the Jews up in smoke to the heavens, so they and all who follow in their spirit to worship the Beast, so shall Mashiach, seated at the right hand of God, smell the scent of the torment with which they torment themselves without relief.

3. We have read that all the world, that is, a majority of people in all the nations of the world, will worship the beast, taking the mark and number of the beast.  In this ‘apocalyptic’ context worship is to be understood as a comprehensive concept.  Whatever one gives their loyalty to and whatever one gives one’s heart and mind to, whatever one believes, whatever one commits one’s life to and invests one’s industry in, that is the act of worshiping something or someone. Projecting from today’s society forward to that time, we could say, anyone who chooses to be in the consumer society of the Beast, where the Beast and all the Beast stands for is the ‘product’ that is consumed, worships the Beast.  Likewise, we can project the devices of our science and technology today forward to that time to create a near future picture that can explain why those who take the mark of the Beast will not be able to repent.  By a possible picture of the mark of the Beast as being a computer-human interface, joining all human minds directly to the Image of the Beast as a global A.I. hub robotically embodied, we can see how the human being could in this way be dehumanized beyond redemption. It was through just such an organic interface with fallen angels that the human being was dehumanized beyond redemption at the time of the great flood, when only eight souls were saved.

12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

1. It is first that the people who God has made holy have waited for this day of truth, which the world will experience as a day of open rebellion and great tribulation.  It is second that when that day comes the people who God has made holy will overcome the world and the evil one by faith in the promise of Mashiach, whom they know and whom they await to come from heaven.

2. These ones who God has made holy are, in the vision, represented in heaven by the 144,000, and in the unfolding days and years they are all Torah observant Jews who attach themselves to the True Tzaddik, the True Righteous One, that is to say, to Mashiach; and it is all those children of the nations also, who attach themselves to the tzitzit of the Jews, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you! (Zechariah 8:23).

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on: Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works follow them.

1. Martyrdom has always brought the greatest blessing.  Now it will bring its greatest blessing, because the truth is out in the open in all ways.

2. To live in the Spirit of Mashiach is also to be a martyr, and not only to die in testimony to the faith.  This has always been true, but at the time of the judgment, it will be true even more than before.  The evil one, dwelling in the hearts and minds of all who take the mark of the Beast, not being able to destroy the Woman or her anointed Child, will pull whatever of her children apart limb from limb on a scale far greater than has happened at any time except in the Nazi Holocaust.

14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

1. The vision of the Lamb has become a vision of the Son of Adam.  For now, while he is yet in the place of the vision of the mind of the Word of God that is beyond time and eternity, he is acting not in the capacity of redeemer of Israel from her sins but of redeemer of Israel from the bondage of the nations, that is, as judge of the nations.

2. Yochanan describes him as one like unto the Son of Adam because, at first, he is not fully certain in viewing the vision whether this, indeed, is the Son of Adam.  And this occurs because he is not yet revealed on earth in his glory, coming openly from Heaven.  Yochanan is hindered slightly in suddenly seeing the Mashiach in his role and form as the Son of Adam, when he has become accustomed in the vision to seeing him in the visions of the Revelation as the Lamb that was slain.  Nevertheless, the very vision of the Lamb with the 144,000 on Mount Zion has come to show us that the time is come for Mashiach to begin to take on the role of Judge.

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

1. Because of this, “the time is come”.

2. The harvest of the Gentiles, leading to the turning to Moshe of corproate Jerusalem, and the removal of the veil…leading to the vision of the seven vials…. All of these things and more will be heard by those able to hear what the seven thunders said, due to their communion proceeding underground through the ages with the apostle Yochanan.

3. The earth is ripe because it has been cultivated by the Word of God through all the generations of history and the seed, of the Torah's Good News of Israel and Her Messiah, has in many places sprouted and taken root.

16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

1. …as we will see when this vision comes from beyond time and eternity into the domain of eternity and into time.

2. And as it was first envisioned beyond time and eternity in the mind of the Word of God, so it shall be on earth.

17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

1. ...the angel over those who will come with the vials…

2. The series of angels come one after the other as if it is all one vision, but again, each one is in content like a vision in its own right.

3. Here the angle appearing with a sharp sickle confirms that God, who gave this Revelation, would have us know that nothing remains to prevent His judgment coming in full upon the nations.

18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

1. …this angel has the office of mitigating the judgment for the sake of the children of the Woman…

2. Now that the time of judgment between Israel and the nations is come, “the grapes are fully ripe”.  Looking at the same picture through another window, the “wheat” will be harvested, and the “tares” will be gathered up to be cast into fire.

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

1. So it will be…  All the chief angels for the time of judgment have announced their readiness to perform their assignments.  We therefore now see the vision of the harvesting of the earth that will take place in the hour of the judgment of the nations and the redemption of Israel from the Egypt of its own Adamic nature and the Egypt of the the Adamic nature of all nations.

2. The wrath of God is not against Adam, but against the rebellion of Adam. Were it against Adam, no soul would be saved; not even "the elect”, the Chosen People, Israel, would be saved.  But because God turns His wrath against the rebellion of Adam and not Adam, Adam is corporately saved in the salvation of the nation of Israel, and all who bless themselves by coming under the wings of Jerusalem and of the Mashiach of Zion are saved from that wrath which is to come.

20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

1. …this is to describe the coming judgment as being the full measure of judgement…

2. The winepress of wrath is trodden everywhere on the globe, but not in the city of Jerusalem, so far as that city has repented and turned to God and to His Lamb.

3. In this vision taking place in the heaven of heavens a poetic picture is portrayed of all the armies of the nations surrounding Jerusalem on horseback.  This is to represent the war of rebellion that has been waged against God and against the revelation of His Mashiach from the beginning.  As soon as the sickle of the Son of Adam is swung, the trampling out of the winepress of the wrath of God against that rebellion is immediately shown as being accomplished in terms of all the armies of the nations which have, in every way, come up against Jerusalem, being turned into a lake or sea of blood, extending for about 200 miles all around the city.  This red sea of blood is so deep as to drown not only the last Pharaoh’s armies but also his horses as well.