“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 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. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Rev 14:1-5 ( NKJV )

We have gone through so much to get to this point! The Bridegroom and the Best Men are standing at the altar, and the band is playing “Here comes the Bride”! The Father & the Best Men are not quietly standing by - they are singing too! A special song, written just for this momentous occasion!

You may well ask - What are you talking about ? ..... the answer is to be found by reminding ourself of where we are in the book, and what we are going to see happen in the rest of Chapter 14. ( Suggest reading the whole chapter before reading on ) First the recap....

We have seen Christ’s ascension to Heaven kicking off the expulsion of Satan, and the opening of the Scroll sealed with Seven Seals. We saw the first 5 seals being broken, unleashing general judgements ( false doctrine, war, famine, death, and martyrdom ) on the earth throughout the Age of Grace. We then saw (in the prophecy-not yet in world history) the sixth seal signal the beginning of the end with astronomical signs. The seventh seal introduced a pregnant pause before the unleashing of the calamitous Trumpet judgements.

We saw 4 Trumpets rain down destruction on a third of the earth and heaven in terms of Hail ( trees and earth ), volcano ( sea ), asteroid ( rivers made bitter ) , and a third of the sun and moon struck. An angel announced that 3 woes greater than these were to be unleashed by the last 3 trumpets... and they were.

The first woe unleashed demonic forces to torment unbelievers in the form of locusts. The second woe killed a third of humanity through a global war, instituted a global peace under the antichrist, rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, and introduced two witnesses that tormented the earth with their witness for three and a half years. The third and last trumpet kicked off the final woe/phase in history, where the antichrist was revealed for what he is, setup the false prophet, and a final three and a half year of persecution of people that would not worship him. It also set a time limit for that persecution - 3.5 years - so that the persecuted would know their redemption was almost here!

Now to Chapter 14. The 3.5 years are ended. The Great Tribulation of Gods people is over! Small wonder that there is such song and rejoicing before all the heavenly throne room figures we saw at the very beginning of the vision- the beasts and the elders! In this weeks text we see the Lamb on Mount Zion - standing there with the 144000 that were sealed back when the 6th seal was opened - when this period of the end-time Tribulation started... not one of them has been lost, hurt or harmed! They were protected from the demonic forces ( Rev 9:4 - we see them mentioned at the time of the 5th trumpet ), all the natural calamities, and the truly Great Tribulation of the persecution of the beast! ( Christ links the Great Tribulation to the last 3.5 years - after the beast has installed an idol in the temple - Matt 24:15-21 ).Their work is done.

If you have ever been to a modern rock concert, what we are hearing now is similar to the very first power chords being strummed - blasting a stadium of people to their feet, whooping and cheering, fist waving and head banging to the beat of the opening anthem. Think Deep Purple opening with “Smoke on the Water” , or Aerosmith with “Welcome to the Jungle” or Metallica with “ Enter Sandman” .... you get the picture. Think this is far fetched and irreverent? Look at the text again... we have a thunderous voice, a choir of 144,000 and harpers ( unnumbered ) playing their harps ( guitars :-) ). The rock concert pales in comparison!!!!! We realize not everyone is going to identify with that analogy, so we opened this week with “ Here Comes the Bride “!!!

That is indeed what happens.... in the rest of Chap 14, we see 3 final warnings delivered, for the first time in history, by Angels directly...the first delivers the Gospel, the second announces that this system of the enemy ( Babylon ) is over, and the third delivers a final warning not to worship the beast. (Rev 14:6-11)

Warnings delivered, now we see Christ on a cloud, getting ready to reap the Harvest of the Earth. Is it a coincidence that this verse is Rev 14:14? 4 Sevens... complete completeness. Here is where we find the Rapture or catching up friends! Post-Trib, but before the Wrath of the Seven bowls. The ones that go through the Great Tribulation are all caught up - we see them mentioned prior to it’s unleashing in Chap 16. (Revelation 15:2–3 (AV): “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had — gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, —- stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.)

Our Lord has collected every last saint from the earth. Those that remain behind are the ones that have rejected Him. His Bride is with Him in Heaven, and there will be a Marriage Supper there, while the wicked receive the righteous Wrath of God poured out without dilution as judgement for their sins!

One last thing to consider about the 144,000 humans. The fact that they live through the period from the 6th Seal to the 7th trumpet is a pointer that this time period is not hundreds of years but less than - say - fifty...( to be on the safe side ) Some commentators think this is a different group of 144000 people - as the text makes a clear distinction between those sealed earlier ( of the tribes of Israel ) and these ( celibate men that follow the Lamb wherever He goes - which is why they are with Him on Mt Zion). This does not however affect our argument significantly as we are 100% sure the 144000 are still on earth at the time of the 5th trumpet ( as noted earlier in Rev 9:4).

It has been difficult for us to persist in teaching this book week after week because so much of it talks about us enduring the tyranny and warfare of the enemy, and is not the most cheerful reading. But this is what we have been waiting for all this time and our joy is overflowing!!!!! Let us pray that we be counted worthy to escape this period, but if not, let us hold fast to our faith in the face of opposition because - our Lord will come as He has promised! Thank you for persisting with us and your likes and comments,

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,Hallelujah!!!