Revelation 14

Revelation 14 is a chapter in the latter part of the Book of Revelation. After Revelation 13 describes people receiving the mark of the beast, this chapter presents the company that bears the name of the Lamb and depicts the coming judgment. The following chapters, 15–16, describe the plagues of the seven bowls.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 The Lamb stands on Mount Zion, and the 144,000 stand with him. They have the name of the Lamb and of his Father written on their foreheads. They sing a new song before the throne and are called "the firstfruits."
• Verses 6–7 The first angel, bearing the everlasting gospel, calls on every nation to worship God.
• Verse 8 The second angel proclaims that Babylon, the great city, is fallen.
• Verses 9–12 The third angel warns that whoever worships the beast and his image and receives his mark shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. The passage then speaks of the patience of the saints.
• Verse 13 A voice from heaven declares, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."
• Verses 14–16 One like unto the Son of man sits on a white cloud and reaps the harvest of the earth with a sickle.
• Verses 17–20 Another angel gathers the vine of the earth and casts it into the winepress of the wrath of God. Blood flows from the winepress up to the horse bridles and spreads over 1,600 stadia (KJV "furlongs").

Key Verses

• Revelation 14:6, "having the everlasting gospel," is taken as grounds for the view that the gospel is proclaimed to all peoples even on the eve of judgment.
• Revelation 14:12, "Here is the patience of the saints," summarizes the book's theme of keeping the faith amid persecution.
• Revelation 14:13, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord," speaks of the death of the saints as rest.

Figures and Places

• The Lamb: a name for Christ in Revelation.
• The 144,000: the company that bears the name on their foreheads. Many interpreters regard them as the same group as those sealed in Revelation 7.
• Angels: several angels appear, including the three angels.
• One like unto the Son of man: the expression echoes Daniel 7:13. Many interpreters identify this figure as Christ, though some regard him as an angel. See the article Son of Man for further discussion.
• Zion: the holy mountain where God dwells.
• Babylon: a symbol of the powers opposed to God. A widely known interpretation holds that it refers to the Roman Empire of the time; it is treated in detail in chapters 17–18.

Interpretive Considerations

• The 144,000: Amillennial interpreters in the Reformed tradition regard this number as symbolic of the whole people of God. Dispensationalists tend to see them as Jewish believers during the Tribulation. The phrase "not defiled with women" (v. 4) is likewise commonly read not as literal celibacy but as spiritual faithfulness that shuns idolatry.
• Jehovah's Witnesses teach that this number is a literal count of those who will rule in heaven. Shincheonji claims that its own members are the 144,000. The general assemblies of several denominations, including Korean Presbyterian bodies, have declared Shincheonji heretical.
• The three angels' messages: The Seventh-day Adventist Church regards verses 6–12 as describing its own mission and interprets "the commandments of God" in verse 12 as including observance of the Saturday Sabbath. Other Protestant denominations do not accept this interpretation.
• The two harvests: Some read the grain harvest as the gathering of the redeemed and the grape harvest as judgment, while others regard both harvests as judgment. The scene draws on the winepress imagery of Joel 3:13 and Isaiah 63:3. The 1,600 stadia, roughly 300 km (about 185 miles), is sometimes regarded as a symbolic number derived from 4×4×100.

In the Korean Church

Verse 13 is frequently read at funeral services and memorial services. Because of concerns over Shincheonji, the interpretation of the 144,000 in this chapter is often addressed in counseling for those involved with heretical groups and in doctrinal instruction.