Chapter 14 The 144,000 and the Victorious Judgment of the Lamb

"1 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."

It must be remembered that the Spirit of Prophecy (19:10) that inspired the Apostle John to write the Apocalypse, intended the imagery of the Revelation to be understood in a conversational manner, "face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus 33:11). But, in the narrative of Chapter 14, like our own conversations, not every event described is in a rigidly chronological order. Thus, this chapter depicts a heavenly scene with the "hundred forty and four thousand"(14:1) "before the throne of God" (14:5) after the Pre-Wrath Rapture (about 9 days prior to the End of the Tribulation Week). It then speaks of three angels preaching to the Earth (14:6-13). A statement follows, that "Blessed are the dead which die in the LORD from henceforth" (14:13), which this commentator believes to be a retrospective statement of the blessedness of the death of Saints prior to the Pre-Wrath Rapture (11:15). Concluding the chapter, another three angels act in concert with the Son of Man, Who is judging the Earth (14:14-20), finishing the Tribulation Week.

The Lamb (14:1) of God "which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), is Jesus. In this vision, John sees the LORD Jesus Christ on "mount Sion" (14:1), which in this instance, refers to a heavenly scene. "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels" (Hebrews 12:22). It has become more apparent that much of what God has directed man to do, i.e., "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in Heaven, so in Earth" (Luke 11:2), and build upon Earth, has been modeled upon what exists in Heaven, i.e., earthly Jerusalem was based upon heavenly Jerusalem. "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount" (Hebrews 8:5).

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