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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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. 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. 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. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Revelation 14:1-5
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we read through Revelation, chapter 13, we are left with a terrifying image of the two main antagonists who will be used by Satan to deceive and mislead the people of the world into false and misguided worship. It is a chapter immersed in a theme of foreboding darkness and evil that will dominate the Great Tribulation period of three and a half years.
Thankfully, as we turn the page to chapter 14, we find imagery that reminds us that while Satan will seek to have His way, Jesus, the Lamb, will still be reigning supreme. Indeed, He is the hope of the world, the only One through which a person can come to God the Father (John 14:6). Look at these verses as Jesus is joined by the 144,000 who we first met in Revelation, chapter 7. Look again at these first five verses here:
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. 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. 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. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Going back to chapter 7, here’s what we know about the 144,000 who are with Jesus, the Lamb, on “Mount Zion”.
1. The number 144,000 comes from the fact that there will be 12,000 descendants from each of the twelve tribes of Israel who will make up this body of believers. Easy math: 12 times 12,000 equals 144,000.
2. Everyone of the 144,000 members of this special group were servants of God.
3. Each one of the 144,000 was marked with a seal on their foreheads that would serve to protect therm. We saw this in action when the scorpion-like locusts were released by the sounding of the fifth trumpet and allowed to torment and torture, but not kill, every person on earth for five months except for those who had “the seal of God on their foreheads” (Revelation 9:1-11). Of course, those sealed were none other than the 144,000.
As we return to our passage today, we learn more about this special group which includes:
1. They formed a wonderful choir and “sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders”. They were distinguished in this as the scriptures tell us that “no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth”.
2. Everyone of the 144,000 was virgins and had not defiled themselves with women.
3. This entire group of 144,000 followed Jesus, the Lamb, wherever He went. Of interest, Jesus was not only the Lamb but the Good Shepherd who referred to His disciples as His flock (John 10:1-18).
4. The 144,000 people were blameless and had no deceit “found in their mouths”. Compare this to Satan and his minions, the father of lies and those he uses to mislead others.
5. Finally, we read where the 144,000 were “purchased from among mankind” and “offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb”. In other words, there would be more who would come to Christ in the run up to His final return to be the righteous Judge of the heavens and the earth.
The imagery of this scene is a stark contrast to what we witnessed in chapter 13 as the song sung by the 144,000 was accompanied by “a sound from Heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder but to John’s ears was more “like that of harpists playing their harps”. It was yet one more glorious worship scene, this time from Mount Zion and in tomorrow’s message, we’ll see how three angels follow, each with an important message to proclaim to the earth.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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