Revelation 14 – The 144,000, Three Angels, and the Winepress of His Wrath

Revelation 14:1

(1) Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and (2) with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, (3) having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.

  1. The visions continue, and now John sees the Lamb on Mt. Zion.  This introduces another segment, and, as we will see, steps forward in time past 70 AD and past Domitian.
  2. These would be the same 144,000 as previously in chapter 7.
  3. This is borne out because of the seal that is on their foreheads, the names of God.

Revelation 14:2

(1) And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and (2) the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.

  1. John hears the voice of the Lord
  2. He also hears the voice of the multitude playing the harps of God.

Revelation 14:3

(1) And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.

  1. Again, this is a re-cap of the 144,000 of chapter 7, but for a new reason.

Revelation 14:4-5

(1) These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. (2) These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (3) These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.

  1. Whether they are literal virgins appears not to be the case, here.  They are virgins in the sense that they belong only to God, awaiting their heavenly bridegroom.  They have not defiled themselves, and so they are pure.
  2. They are disciples.  They have taken the call to follow Him, and, as Jesus said of those who follow Him, they are wherever He is.
  3. This phrase tends to limit this chapter to a first century fulfillment.  They are “first fruits”.  They are the first generation, coming out of Jerusalem, they were the first church built, and as this generation that saw Jesus, knew the apostles, and was the first fruit of the church of Christ, there is no similar comparison if these were “first fruits” yet some time in the future.  The futurist here must make up ground, because, in no real sense could a yet future church be made to be “first”.  Yet, this church, the one of “this generation” in Matthew 24:34, can and does.  Indeed, “this generation” was passing away, and they were the “first fruits” church.  That they passed this on to the next generation is living testimony of the “fruit that remains”.

Revelation 14:6-7

(1) And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, (2)”Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.

  1. Here, the Gospel begins to spread throughout all the world, more and more.  It has some, but with the destruction of Jerusalem, the spreading can be more rapid.  While the apostles stayed in Jerusalem for some time while the church was built, now its members, without Jerusalem as their focus, can spread throughout the whole world.
  2. The angel proclaims that men should fear God, for the hour of His judgment upon Babylon, which is Rome, is come.  These events should, too, help the spreading of the Good News.

Revelation 14:8

And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

  1. The second angel announces the fall of Babylon.  It is announced here, but portrayed in Revelation 17-19.

Revelation 14:9-11

(1) Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

  1. Further instruction against taking the mark of the beast is given.  Those who participate in Rome will suffer the same consequences as it.

Revelation 14:12

(1) Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

  1. Because of this, perseverence is required.

Revelation 14:13

(1) And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, (2) “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” (3) “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

  1. An unidentified voice.
  2. Whether something has changed here at this point is debatable.  Some suggest translations that indicate that the dead are always at rest, contrary to the surface reading of this text.  It could be a nuance of the language.
  3. The Spirit agrees.

Revelation 14:14

(1) Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and (3) a sharp sickle in His hand.

  1. This is Jesus, presumably.
  2. He is here to reap His harvest in the Earth.

Revelation 14:15

(1) And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” (2) Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

  1. The command to harvest comes forth from the temple to the one on the cloud.
  2. The earth is harvested with little detail.

Revelation 14:17

(1) And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

  1. This reaper is different from the first.

Revelation 14:18

(1) Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, (2) “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.”

  1. This command also comes from a different place, probably the fire on the incense altar.
  2. These harvest the vine of the Earth.  Israel is that vine, and this is not a harvest of the righteous.

Revelation 14:19

(1) So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and (2) threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

  1. Harvesting on command.
  2. They are gathered together into the winepress of wrath.  This is Betar in 135 AD, a short distance from Jerusalem, where over 500,000 Jews were slaughtered.

Revelation 14:20

(1) And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and (2) blood came out from the wine press, (3) up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of (4) two hundred miles.

  1. Again, Betar is a short distance from Jerusalem.  The second Jewish revolt took place 50 years after Jerusalem’s fall.
  2. The blood was from the slaughter of the hundreds of thousands.
  3. The rabbinical record shows this exact phrase, blood to the horse’s bridles, regarding the slain.
  4. The distance of the blood.  The Talmud records a different number.  This could well indicate many things, including blood in all directions, some sort of circumference or area, or, as it is nearly the size of Israel today, the wide-spread slaughter throughout the land.  In any case, the language of the fall of Betar regarding the flow of blood is nearly identical.  It is located outside the city, and represents the last wrath against the Jews.  After this, the city, already desolate, is made an absolute ruin, and Jews are banished from living there.  Thus ends the wrath of God against Israel, even already overthrown, but now, completely broken.