VERSE 1 “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.”
AND I LOOKED: Here, again, John uses his reliable focus changer. Since Rev 13:11 we have been concentrating on the history and effects of the 2-horned beast and its interaction with the fortunes of the 10-horned beast. Now we look at the class who refused to receive the mark.
AND BEHOLD: This “Behold” is all important as a lesson to the saints. The way of faithfulness — separate from beasts, image, and their markings — is clearly laid out along with the glorious results.
THE LAMB: the one to whom we were introduced in Chapter 4, and the one who (in Rev 13:8) is not interested (for now) in “those who dwell on the earth.”
STANDING ON MOUNT ZION: Standing is a position of action. Zion is the spiritual seat of the Kingdom (Psa. 50:2; Psa. 128:5; Isa. 2:3.) The kingdom is, in this picture, ready to begin in its fullest sense. (See Obad. 21.)
AND WITH HIM: in glory; the Harvest is ended when this verse applies.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND: The literal number of the body of Christ.
(See “How to study the book of Revelation”, Part 15 on the significance of “numbers” as used in Revelation)
HAVING HIS NAME AND THE NAME OF HIS FATHER: The KJV, unfortunately, leaves out “his name.” Note that these saints don’t just have a “mark;” they have NAMES.
It is notable that it is NOT Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! It is also possible that the saints have BOTH of these names because (as represented in Chapters 4 and 5, 12:1, etc.) they have had their characters developed NOT just by the New Testament writings alone, but also by the Old Testament writings which center around the Father more than they do the Son.
WRITTEN ON THEIR FOREHEADS: To summarize this as “intellectual appreciation” falls far short of the intent of this passage. First of all, these saints have the NAMES (characters) of Father and Son written on them. This is not intellectual (although it INCLUDES what their minds know.) The forehead symbolizes the total being — the soul. It is out front where all can see it. And what is seen imprinted on these saints is the characters they have emulated. Note also that while the beasts were not particular whether marks were in hand or forehead, God IS particular. A mark on the hand is insignificant, insufficient, even inconsequential. The NEEDED mark is a NAME (a completed character.) And THAT mark can be only one place: the total being, the soul, the “forehead” of the individual.
VERSE 2 “And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.”
AND I HEARD: Once again John re-focuses our attention:
A VOICE FROM HEAVEN: Beginning here and progressing through Verse 3, there are many difficulties of interpretation. For instance:
(1) How many voices are there?
The Greek seems to show only one in Verse 2 — the one which is LIKE three things: water, thunder, and harpists. Unfortunately, Verse 3 says, “they” (plural) sang.
Is it the harpists?
Are “they” (the harpists) collectively the ONE VOICE of Verse 2?
Of course, voice can legitimately be translated SOUND; therefore, John may have heard a SOUND from heaven.
(2) Harps were earlier in (Rev 5:8) connected with the 24 Elders. This is NOT the case here since (Rev 14:3) THESE harpists play BEFORE the Elders.
(3) Only the 144,000 can LEARN this song.
Who, then, is teaching them?
Clearly, it cannot be anyone who has “learned” it.
The two possibilities seem to be:
(a) Either the voice IS that of the 144,000 who have learned the song and who are singing it,
OR
(b) The voice is God’s Who is teaching it to the 144,000 who learn it. This second option does NOT seem possible since God would not sing it “before the throne.”
The conclusion, then, seems inescapable that the voice IS the collective voice of the 144,000.
The following interpretation is based on this reasoning.
AND I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN: When John says, “And I heard,” he is re-focusing our attention to something. That something is apparently the 144,000 just mentioned in Verse 1 who are on Zion with the Lamb. The point here is to show WHO it is who has overcome the beast and image influences. FROM HEAVEN (See Item #74c) seems to refer literally to the spirit realm since it is here where the glorified saints are (Verse 1)
The VOICE is now likened to three things which apparently represent three periods in the experience of the Church. This is difficult of interpretation. Waters, thunder, and harps are hardly symbols which belong together! It is for this reason that we feel the three symbols reflect THREE DIFFERENT TIMES in the Church’s experience.
When the Church reaches MOUNT ZION, but before the peaceable kingdom comes, it can look back to its ORIGINS (the sea class, hence waters); it can look at its then- current RESPONSIBILITIES (the noisy - hence thunderous - destruction of the old order); and it can look forward to its KINGDOM WORK (the happy harmony of a new world — hence the harps.)
Thus:
WATERS: Where the Church came from — from many peoples (waters). Compare Rev 5:9.
THUNDER: What the Church does upon glorification at the Harvest’s end — participating in the thunderous whirlwind with which the age ends. See Rev. 2:26, 27 with Jer 25:30, 31 with a combination of Psa 77:18 and Job 38:1.
HARPISTS: What the Church will do once the trouble is over — harmonize God for the people. See Isa 14:7 and Psa 30:5 (margin = singing.)
We will move on to Verse 3 in our next post.
