요한계시록 Chapter 14

Translation: ESV

1

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.

Key Message

The 144,000 standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb are all the redeemed people of God who maintained faith even under persecution.

▸After the dark vision of the beast and 666 in chapter 13, chapter 14 presents a contrasting vision beginning with the Lamb and His 144,000.

After the dark vision of the beast and 666 in chapter 13, chapter 14 presents a contrasting vision beginning with the Lamb and His 144,000. Mount Zion is the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22), the center of God's eternal reign. The 144,000 are those sealed in chapter 7, symbolizing the complete number of all the redeemed. Having 'the Lamb's name and His Father's name' on their foreheads contrasts with the mark of the beast in chapter 13.

Related Verses

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! His holy mountain.But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering.
2

And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,

Key Message

Heavenly worship is perfect praise combining overwhelming majesty and beauty — the completion toward which present earthly worship strives.

▸The sound of heavenly worship is described with three images: the sound of many waters (majesty), the sound of loud thunder (power), and the sound of harps (beauty).

3

and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Key Message

The new song that only the redeemed can sing is the deepest and most genuine praise welling up from the experience of salvation.

▸The 'new song' also appears in 5:9 in praise of the Lamb's redemption.

4

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,

Key Message

The 144,000 are spiritually pure people who rejected idol worship and follow the Lamb — they represent the entirety of the redeemed people.

▸The expression 'have not defiled themselves with women' means spiritual purity, not literal celibacy.

5

and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Key Message

The perfection of the redeemed saints is not achieved through their own righteous life but through the Lamb's grace — blamelessness before God.

▸The final characteristic of the 144,000 is that there is 'no lie in their mouth' and 'they are blameless.

6

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.

Key Message

The eternal gospel is proclaimed to every person in all the world until immediately before judgment — God provides the opportunity for salvation until the last moment.

▸The first of three angels carries an 'eternal gospel' and proclaims it to the whole world.

7

And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."

Key Message

The heart of the final gospel is reverence and glory toward the Creator God, and a return to worshiping the Creator by turning from idols.

▸The first angel's gospel proclamation contains three exhortations: fear God, give glory to God, and worship the Creator.

8

Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."

Key Message

The fall of Babylon (the worldly system) is already certain in God's plan, and the saints must avoid this system's seduction.

▸The second angel proclaims the fall of Babylon.

9

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

Key Message

The third angel's warning clearly announces the consequences of beast worship — God's final warning to protect the saints from being deceived.

▸The third angel proclaims a warning against beast worship.

10

he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Key Message

Upon those who worship the beast falls God's complete and undiluted wrath in judgment.

▸The judgment that will fall on beast worshipers is specifically described.

11

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

Key Message

God's judgment does not have a time-limited result but has eternal consequences, and this is the basis for warning and endurance of the saints.

▸'The smoke of their torment going up forever and ever' is an image from Isaiah 34:10 ('the smoke of Edom's judgment will go up forever'), signifying continuous and eternal judgment.

12

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Key Message

The endurance of the saints is active perseverance in faith built upon obedience to God's commandments and faith in Jesus.

▸Following the warning of judgment comes an exhortation to the saints.

13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"

Key Message

Blessed are those who die in the Lord, for rest from earthly suffering awaits them.

▸This is the second beatitude in Revelation (2nd of the 7 beatitudes).

14

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Key Message

The returning Christ as Lord of the harvest directly superintends the final judgment.

▸'One like a son of man on a white cloud' is the image of the Son of Man from Daniel 7:13 — the returning Christ.

15

And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe."

Key Message

The time of harvest (judgment) is appointed by God, and when that time comes it is executed without delay.

▸An angel comes out of the temple (God's dwelling) and proclaims the time of harvest.

16

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Key Message

Christ reaps the earth at God's appointed time — this is the final climax of history.

▸Christ swings the sickle and completes the first harvest.

17

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

Key Message

The second harvest is the judgment harvest upon the wicked, commanded from God's temple.

▸Another angel for the second harvest (the grape vintage) appears.

18

And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe."

Key Message

In response to the saints' prayers God executes the harvest of judgment when evil is fully ripe.

▸'The angel who has authority over fire' connects with the angel holding the fire censer at the altar in 8:3–5.

19

So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Key Message

The winepress is the symbol of the final judgment where God's wrath is fully executed upon the wicked.

▸The grapes are thrown into 'the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20

And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Key Message

The winepress judgment covers the whole world on a vast scale, showing the extent to which God's final wrath in judgment reaches.

▸'Outside the city' means judgment is carried out outside Jerusalem.