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The Lamb and the 144,000
(Rev 14:1 NIV) Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
(Rev 14:2 NIV) And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
(Rev 14:3 NIV) And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
(Rev 14:4 NIV) These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
(Rev 14:5 NIV) No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
NOTE: Please bear with the poor English of the author. Also, be it known that this post was taken from the article: Revelation and it's Mysteries.
As the author understands it, there is no connection contextually between this vision and the immediate preceding one – the vision of the beast which has two horns like a lamb and which speaks like a dragon, nor of the vision of the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns.
Here, we will see the Lamb with the 144,000 Israelites that had already been sealed up with His name and His Father’s name on their foreheads. From what time setting this sealing was? It was on the Sixth Seal!
In verse 3, a new song was mentioned but its wordings are not written. Some people say this new song is the new song sung by the 4 Living Creatures and the 24 Elders in Revelation 5:9-10. What is the significance if we will accept that? Here is their song:
(Rev 5:9 NIV) And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
(Rev 5:10 NIV) You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Let’s envisage that this song is part of this vision. Look at the first part of verse 9 – the underlined one. It is giving us a hint that this subsection is a (re)opening of a seal by our Lord Yeshua. And, it could be the Sixth Seal.
(Rev 14:3 NIV) And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
No one could learn this song except the 144,000 and they could have learned this song from the 4 Living Creatures and the 24 Elders who are just in front of them.
In view of the above statements, the last sentence in this verse could be a visionally time related information. No one would be able to sing that song before the Sixth Seal except, of course, before the First Seal. That means, no seal of the scroll would be reopened except the seals that these 144,000 inhabit which are the sixth and the seventh seals.
The part of the book of Revelation this vision belongs to is a very vague section. It spans from the 1st verse of chapter 14 up to the last verse of chapter 16. If we will consider the Vision of the Song of the 144,000 to be an indication that it is a reopening of the 6th Seal (different perspective), then, the following visions after it could be part of the 6th or of the 7th Seal. Let’s study the other subsections of this part of the book (chapter 14 to chapter16) and compare them to the Seals and Trumpets.
The Messages of the Three Angels
The First Angel
(Rev 14:6 NIV) Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people.
(Rev 14:7 NIV) He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Notice verse 7 …Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” These are symbolic hints. Compare them with the “first part” of the Trumpets (Revelation 8:7-12), the events that followed the sealing of the 144,000 Israelites.
1st Trumpet: earth (Rev 8:7)
2nd Trumpet: sea (Rev 8:8-9)
3rd Trumpet: rivers, springs, or fountains of waters (Rev 8:10-11)
4th Trumpet: heaven (Rev 8:12)
Have you noticed that the correlation now has moved from the Sixth Seal to the Seventh Seal? All the Trumpets are what constitutes the 7th Seal.
The Second Angel
(Rev 14:8 NIV) A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
Who is responsible for the prostitute’s downfall?
(Rev 17:16 NIV) The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
That is clear. Now read this verse:
(Rev 17:12 KJV) And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
This verse tells that the ten kings (horns) together with the beast will have authority for one hour. This one hour could be the one hour mentioned in Rev 18:10, 17, and 19 about the judgment and destruction of Babylon the Great. The literal duration of this time is too short for those events. If one will expand this one hour using the 360-day prophetic year, 360 divided by 24, the result will be 15 days. That is still a very short time. Look at this passage:
(Rev 17:9 NIV) “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
(Rev 17:10 NIV) They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.
Aren’t these shortness of time a very strong indication that when the angel of Rev 14:8 announces “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great…” it also meant the beast has just come out recently? Notice here also that at this time of Babylon’s fall, the false prophet has not yet arrived because the ten horns of the beast are still ten (see Daniel 7:8, 20 and 24).
Let’s now find the location of the coming out of the beast from the Trumpets. We are now somewhere on the first part of the Trumpets (from the 1st to the 4th Trumpet). You will see no mention of the beast here and that is because the symbolism used here is different. The imagery (not image) of beasts in Daniel and here in Revelation is one kind of symbolism used to represent kingdoms or empires. The other imagery used to also represent kingdom or empire is “mountain.” And you will find that on the Second Trumpet:
(Rev 8:8 KJV) And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
The Third Angel
Rev 14:9-13 LITV
(9) And a third angel followed them, saying in a great voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or in his hand,
(10) he also shall drink of the wine of the anger of God having been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb.
(11) And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And those worshiping the beast and its image have no rest night and day, even if anyone receives the mark of its name.
(12) Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus.
(13) And I heard a voice out of Heaven saying to me, Write: Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Lord from now. Yes, says the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow with them.
The warnings of the third angel in verses 9 give us a hint that the false prophet has already arrived at the world scene. Compare it with the Seals/Trumpets:
Rev 8:10-12 KJV
(10) And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
(11) And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
(12) And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Doesn’t a star denote a saint or a prophet (Dan 12:3)? Isn’t our Lord Yeshua the Light or the Lamp of the world? Aren’t the truths of God and His Gospels the Living Water that runs through these rivers and springs of water (see John 4:14, 7:38)? Doesn’t Rev 8:10 says there will be a saint or a prophet who will act like our Messiah and will strongly influence the world’s religious teachings? This prophet is a false one or will become one. Isn’t this the False Prophet we are referring to that has already arrived in the Message of the 3rd Angel? He will twist the teachings and the truths of our Lord God and he will cause a religious persecution (Rev 14:12-13). This persecution is also mentioned in Rev 13:10 and 15.
Now here’s a question that must be considered carefully. It is the reason why the 4th Trumpet is included in the correlation. Where does the “final” persecution belong?
1) In the 3rd Trumpet where there’s a phrase that says “many people died” or
2) In the 4th Trumpet where the symbolic darkening of the sun, the moon, and the stars by a third occurs.
This question, together with the fact that the receiving of the mark of the beast was mentioned in Rev 14 verses 9 and 11 are the reasons why we are not going to limit the timeframe of this “Message of the Third Angel” to the 3rd Trumpet only. As for me, this particular question can be answered by understanding other parts of Revelation as well. And some of these parts are discussed in the article from where this post was taken: Revelation and Its Mysteries. Let’s continue with the other visions.
The Two Harvests
(Rev 14:20 ESV) 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.
1600 stadia represents the symbolic quantity of blood of those slain at the winepress of the wrath of God. Let’s do some “experimental” computations with this number. A verse (Revelation 9:15) from the Sixth Trumpet says that a third of men were to be killed. So, let’s multiply the number 1600 by 3 and we’ll get 4800. Divide 4800 by 4 (the number of the angels of Revelation 9:15) and we’ll have 1200 stadia. If these 4 angels are the same angels mentioned in the Sixth Seal, then each of them will have 1200 stadia. Does that make sense in view of the symbolic numbers used in the sealing of the 12000 times 12 people of God? As for the author, it does make sense. I believe that the treading of the winepress of the wrath of God here (Revelation 14:20) and the killing of a third of men in the 6th Trumpet (Revelation 9:15) depict the same event with different perspectives. This is corroborated by the explanation of the topic The Myriads of Myriads Troops in the said article.
Notice that a verse in our timeline reference (Seals/Trumpets), Rev 9:18, says that this one third of men were to be killed by the plagues fire, smoke, and brimstone. Are these the FIRST three plagues?
The Seven Last Plague
Some say that these seven last plagues belong to the Seventh Trumpet. The following verse from the Sixth Plague (itself) will prove that wrong.
(Rev 16:15 LITV) Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one watching and keeping his garments, that he does not walk naked, and they may see his shame.
Our Lord Yeshua has not yet arrived at this point in time! Let’s have this verse as our marker which we will call “Marker-A”. According to 1 Thess 4:16 – 17 and 1 Cor 15:51 – 52, the Lord’s coming will be AFTER the 7th Trumpet. So, this means that all the preceding plagues including this 6th Plague up to Marker-A are all BEFORE the 7th Trumpet. And the 7th Trumpet is part of our timeline reference.
Maybe, a question similar to the following will arise. If that is the case, can the plagues and events before Marker-A be referenced from any trumpet earlier than the 7th one? Read this verse from the Sixth Trumpet about the two witnesses.
(Rev 11:6 LITV) These have the authority to shut up the heaven, that no rain may rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
Now, read and compare these verses:
(Rev 16:3 LITV) And the second angel poured out his bowl onto the sea. And it became blood, as of a dead one, and every soul of life died in the sea.
(Rev 16:4 LITV) And the third angel poured out his bowl onto the rivers, and onto the springs of the waters; and it became blood.
…to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. This could mean to include other plagues other than the Last Plagues and/or the frequency of a particular plague or plagues to be inflicted.
Here’s another hint that the Two Witnesses will be used by God in pouring out some of the Seven Last Plagues if not all.
(Rev 15:5 ISV) After these things I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was open!
(Rev 15:6 ISV) The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple wearing clean, shining linen with gold belts around their waists.
Remember the three plagues of the 2 myriads of myriads troops? These are not part of the Seven Last Plagues. If there are last plagues, there must be first plague(s).
The Song of the 144,000 is a very great song – it is a key to a part of a secret knowledge of the structure of the book of Revelation – the hardest to understand book of the Bible. The reader can know more of the structure of Revelation by visiting the link below. There are also other deep mysteries of Revelation that can be known in the article.
Revelation and its Mysteries
(Rev 14:1 NIV) Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
(Rev 14:2 NIV) And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
(Rev 14:3 NIV) And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
(Rev 14:4 NIV) These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.
(Rev 14:5 NIV) No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
NOTE: Please bear with the poor English of the author. Also, be it known that this post was taken from the article: Revelation and it's Mysteries.
As the author understands it, there is no connection contextually between this vision and the immediate preceding one – the vision of the beast which has two horns like a lamb and which speaks like a dragon, nor of the vision of the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns.
Here, we will see the Lamb with the 144,000 Israelites that had already been sealed up with His name and His Father’s name on their foreheads. From what time setting this sealing was? It was on the Sixth Seal!
In verse 3, a new song was mentioned but its wordings are not written. Some people say this new song is the new song sung by the 4 Living Creatures and the 24 Elders in Revelation 5:9-10. What is the significance if we will accept that? Here is their song:
(Rev 5:9 NIV) And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
(Rev 5:10 NIV) You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Let’s envisage that this song is part of this vision. Look at the first part of verse 9 – the underlined one. It is giving us a hint that this subsection is a (re)opening of a seal by our Lord Yeshua. And, it could be the Sixth Seal.
(Rev 14:3 NIV) And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
No one could learn this song except the 144,000 and they could have learned this song from the 4 Living Creatures and the 24 Elders who are just in front of them.
In view of the above statements, the last sentence in this verse could be a visionally time related information. No one would be able to sing that song before the Sixth Seal except, of course, before the First Seal. That means, no seal of the scroll would be reopened except the seals that these 144,000 inhabit which are the sixth and the seventh seals.
The part of the book of Revelation this vision belongs to is a very vague section. It spans from the 1st verse of chapter 14 up to the last verse of chapter 16. If we will consider the Vision of the Song of the 144,000 to be an indication that it is a reopening of the 6th Seal (different perspective), then, the following visions after it could be part of the 6th or of the 7th Seal. Let’s study the other subsections of this part of the book (chapter 14 to chapter16) and compare them to the Seals and Trumpets.
The Messages of the Three Angels
The First Angel
(Rev 14:6 NIV) Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people.
(Rev 14:7 NIV) He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Notice verse 7 …Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” These are symbolic hints. Compare them with the “first part” of the Trumpets (Revelation 8:7-12), the events that followed the sealing of the 144,000 Israelites.
1st Trumpet: earth (Rev 8:7)
2nd Trumpet: sea (Rev 8:8-9)
3rd Trumpet: rivers, springs, or fountains of waters (Rev 8:10-11)
4th Trumpet: heaven (Rev 8:12)
Have you noticed that the correlation now has moved from the Sixth Seal to the Seventh Seal? All the Trumpets are what constitutes the 7th Seal.
The Second Angel
(Rev 14:8 NIV) A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
Who is responsible for the prostitute’s downfall?
(Rev 17:16 NIV) The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
That is clear. Now read this verse:
(Rev 17:12 KJV) And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
This verse tells that the ten kings (horns) together with the beast will have authority for one hour. This one hour could be the one hour mentioned in Rev 18:10, 17, and 19 about the judgment and destruction of Babylon the Great. The literal duration of this time is too short for those events. If one will expand this one hour using the 360-day prophetic year, 360 divided by 24, the result will be 15 days. That is still a very short time. Look at this passage:
(Rev 17:9 NIV) “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.
(Rev 17:10 NIV) They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.
Aren’t these shortness of time a very strong indication that when the angel of Rev 14:8 announces “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great…” it also meant the beast has just come out recently? Notice here also that at this time of Babylon’s fall, the false prophet has not yet arrived because the ten horns of the beast are still ten (see Daniel 7:8, 20 and 24).
Let’s now find the location of the coming out of the beast from the Trumpets. We are now somewhere on the first part of the Trumpets (from the 1st to the 4th Trumpet). You will see no mention of the beast here and that is because the symbolism used here is different. The imagery (not image) of beasts in Daniel and here in Revelation is one kind of symbolism used to represent kingdoms or empires. The other imagery used to also represent kingdom or empire is “mountain.” And you will find that on the Second Trumpet:
(Rev 8:8 KJV) And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
The Third Angel
Rev 14:9-13 LITV
(9) And a third angel followed them, saying in a great voice, If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or in his hand,
(10) he also shall drink of the wine of the anger of God having been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented by fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb.
(11) And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And those worshiping the beast and its image have no rest night and day, even if anyone receives the mark of its name.
(12) Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus.
(13) And I heard a voice out of Heaven saying to me, Write: Blessed are the dead, the ones dying in the Lord from now. Yes, says the Spirit, they shall rest from their labors, and their works follow with them.
The warnings of the third angel in verses 9 give us a hint that the false prophet has already arrived at the world scene. Compare it with the Seals/Trumpets:
Rev 8:10-12 KJV
(10) And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
(11) And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
(12) And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Doesn’t a star denote a saint or a prophet (Dan 12:3)? Isn’t our Lord Yeshua the Light or the Lamp of the world? Aren’t the truths of God and His Gospels the Living Water that runs through these rivers and springs of water (see John 4:14, 7:38)? Doesn’t Rev 8:10 says there will be a saint or a prophet who will act like our Messiah and will strongly influence the world’s religious teachings? This prophet is a false one or will become one. Isn’t this the False Prophet we are referring to that has already arrived in the Message of the 3rd Angel? He will twist the teachings and the truths of our Lord God and he will cause a religious persecution (Rev 14:12-13). This persecution is also mentioned in Rev 13:10 and 15.
Now here’s a question that must be considered carefully. It is the reason why the 4th Trumpet is included in the correlation. Where does the “final” persecution belong?
1) In the 3rd Trumpet where there’s a phrase that says “many people died” or
2) In the 4th Trumpet where the symbolic darkening of the sun, the moon, and the stars by a third occurs.
This question, together with the fact that the receiving of the mark of the beast was mentioned in Rev 14 verses 9 and 11 are the reasons why we are not going to limit the timeframe of this “Message of the Third Angel” to the 3rd Trumpet only. As for me, this particular question can be answered by understanding other parts of Revelation as well. And some of these parts are discussed in the article from where this post was taken: Revelation and Its Mysteries. Let’s continue with the other visions.
The Two Harvests
(Rev 14:20 ESV) 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.
1600 stadia represents the symbolic quantity of blood of those slain at the winepress of the wrath of God. Let’s do some “experimental” computations with this number. A verse (Revelation 9:15) from the Sixth Trumpet says that a third of men were to be killed. So, let’s multiply the number 1600 by 3 and we’ll get 4800. Divide 4800 by 4 (the number of the angels of Revelation 9:15) and we’ll have 1200 stadia. If these 4 angels are the same angels mentioned in the Sixth Seal, then each of them will have 1200 stadia. Does that make sense in view of the symbolic numbers used in the sealing of the 12000 times 12 people of God? As for the author, it does make sense. I believe that the treading of the winepress of the wrath of God here (Revelation 14:20) and the killing of a third of men in the 6th Trumpet (Revelation 9:15) depict the same event with different perspectives. This is corroborated by the explanation of the topic The Myriads of Myriads Troops in the said article.
Notice that a verse in our timeline reference (Seals/Trumpets), Rev 9:18, says that this one third of men were to be killed by the plagues fire, smoke, and brimstone. Are these the FIRST three plagues?
The Seven Last Plague
Some say that these seven last plagues belong to the Seventh Trumpet. The following verse from the Sixth Plague (itself) will prove that wrong.
(Rev 16:15 LITV) Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is the one watching and keeping his garments, that he does not walk naked, and they may see his shame.
Our Lord Yeshua has not yet arrived at this point in time! Let’s have this verse as our marker which we will call “Marker-A”. According to 1 Thess 4:16 – 17 and 1 Cor 15:51 – 52, the Lord’s coming will be AFTER the 7th Trumpet. So, this means that all the preceding plagues including this 6th Plague up to Marker-A are all BEFORE the 7th Trumpet. And the 7th Trumpet is part of our timeline reference.
Maybe, a question similar to the following will arise. If that is the case, can the plagues and events before Marker-A be referenced from any trumpet earlier than the 7th one? Read this verse from the Sixth Trumpet about the two witnesses.
(Rev 11:6 LITV) These have the authority to shut up the heaven, that no rain may rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
Now, read and compare these verses:
(Rev 16:3 LITV) And the second angel poured out his bowl onto the sea. And it became blood, as of a dead one, and every soul of life died in the sea.
(Rev 16:4 LITV) And the third angel poured out his bowl onto the rivers, and onto the springs of the waters; and it became blood.
…to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. This could mean to include other plagues other than the Last Plagues and/or the frequency of a particular plague or plagues to be inflicted.
Here’s another hint that the Two Witnesses will be used by God in pouring out some of the Seven Last Plagues if not all.
(Rev 15:5 ISV) After these things I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was open!
(Rev 15:6 ISV) The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple wearing clean, shining linen with gold belts around their waists.
Remember the three plagues of the 2 myriads of myriads troops? These are not part of the Seven Last Plagues. If there are last plagues, there must be first plague(s).
The Song of the 144,000 is a very great song – it is a key to a part of a secret knowledge of the structure of the book of Revelation – the hardest to understand book of the Bible. The reader can know more of the structure of Revelation by visiting the link below. There are also other deep mysteries of Revelation that can be known in the article.
Revelation and its Mysteries
WISDOM AND PRAISE BELONG TO GOD AND TO THE LORD YESHUA
