F. The Lamb On Mount Zion (14:1-5)
F. THE LAMB ON MOUNT ZION (14:1-5)
From the forces of evil John turns to those of good, to the triumph of the Lamb. Some see seven short oracles here, but it is perhaps better to see the sevenfoldness in the seven angels of verses 6-20.
1. The scene is vivid (I looked, and there before me ...). John sees on Mount Zion the Lamb, and with him 144,000 with his name and that of his Father written on their foreheads. These marked with the mark of God form a contrast with the followers of the beast who bore his name on their foreheads or right hand (13:16). Mount Zion is sometimes associated with deliverance (Joel 2:32) and this is in mind here. God’s people are finally triumphant. Some take the words to refer to the earthly Zion in which case we must interpret them of the millenial reign. But this seems unlikely. In the first place, the Lamb would have made the transition from heaven to earth without any comment being made on it. And in the second, John appears to be referring to the final triumph and not an intermediate victory. We should not overlook the fact that the Lamb is standing on the mountain, whereas the beast stood only on sand (13:1).
For the number 144,000 see the note on 7:4. Here, as there, it is unlikely to stand for a spiritual elite of any sort, such as the martyrs. This number of completeness stands for the whole church of Jesus Christ. We should not miss the note of fulfilment. ‘A hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed, a hundred and forty-four thousand were saved’ (Kiddle). There they were on earth confronted by enemies. Now they are in heaven and not one of them has been lost.
2. As often, John hears an unidentified voice from heaven. He is fond of this device. It indicates in a general manner that the voice is of divine origin, but leaves it open whether it comes from God himself or from one of his angels or from some other source. This voice seems to have impressed John, for he describes it with a threefold simile. It is like the roar of rushing waters (cf. 1:15), i.e. like the voice of Christ. It is like a loud peal of thunder (cf. 6:1), i.e. very loud indeed. And it is like harpists playing their harps. The voice was not only loud, but melodious and attracneeded. tive. The voice is probably that of the 144,000.
3. For a new song see note on 5:9. The name of God is not mentioned but the song is sung before the throne, so that it is sung in his very presence. The use of the term throne may be a way of emphasizing God’s sovereignty. It is not explicitly said why only the 144,000 could learn the song. But since John immediately refers to them as redeemed from the earth, it is a fair inference that the song is connected with this fact. Without the experience of redemption no-one could sing the song. Redeemed from the earth indicates redemption from worldly things and worldly people. They are God’s.
4. The triple these (NIV alters the last two to they) draws attention to three distinguishing marks of this group. The first is that they did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure (better is AV, ‘they are virgins’). This is surprising, in the first instance because the 144,000 stands for the whole church and it is not easy to apply the first part of the saying to women members nor the second part to men, and in the second instance because the New Testament does not regard sexual relations as defiling. This idea was found in the ancient world and in time became prominent in the church. But in the New Testament marriage is a state to be commended and sexual relations are a necessary part of the married state (1 Cor. 7:3ff.). The most the New Testament writers say is that there are some pieces of Christian service that can be better carried out by the unmarried (1 Cor. 7:32-34). Some suggest that defile means improper sexual relations (so BAGD). But our passage seems to mean that the 144,000 had no sexual relations at all (‘they are virgins’).
The answer to the difficulties seems to be that here, as so often, John is using symbolism. Virginity is ascribed to the people of God in the Old Testament (e.g. 2 Ki. 19:21; Je. 18:13; La. 2:13; etc.), and unfaithfulness to God is likened to improper sexual relations (Ezk. 16; Ho. 5:4; etc.). So also Paul sees the church as the bride of Christ. He says, ‘I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him’ (2 Cor. 11:2). Later John sees ’the bride, the wife of the Lamb’ (21:9). But the marriage is at this point future; the bride must be chaste. So she is described as having no sexual relations at all. John is saying that the 144,000 were not unfaithful to their Lord. They glorified God in their bodies (1 Cor. 6:20).
This is reinforced by the term ‘virgins’. If did not defile themselves with woman is a strange expression to use of women, this is an unusual one for men. A few passages are cited where it is used of men, but none appears to be as early as this. This is the only one of fifteen New Testament occurrences where it refers to males. We should see the term as symbolical. The people in question have kept themselves completely free from intercourse with the pagan world system. They have lived up to what is implied in their betrothal to Christ. We thus have one expression which strictly applies to men balanced by another which (as far as our knowledge goes) was used of women only right up to this time. In each case John is concerned with spiritual truth.
The second point about the redeemed is that they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They do not and cannot lay down the place where their service will take them. He leads; they follow. The third point is that they were purchased from among men as firstfruits (the Greek does not have offered). For purchased see note on 5:9. From among men means that they no longer belong to the world. Firstfruits were the first part of the harvest and were holy in a special sense. They could not be put to ordinary secular use for they belonged to God (Ex. 23:19; Ne. 10:35; Pr. 3:9). Even when the word did not refer to the harvest in the strict sense it usually meant a gift made to a deity (see MM). The thought of belonging to God is the primary idea. James sees the church as ‘a kind of firstfruits of all he created’ (Jas. 1:18) and it is something like this that John has in mind. The church belongs to God. Her calling is to be consecrated to him. There is a close connection between God and the Lamb as often (see note on 5:13).
5. Complete truthfulness is a further characteristic of believers (cf. Zp. 3:13); no lie is found with them. The world of the day does not seem to have been exactly overburdened with people who had a strict regard for truth, and Christians must have stood out (cf. Ecclus. 20:24). Especially did they reject the lie, the lie of the antichrist. They are summed up as blameless. This adjective is sometimes used of sacrificial victims, so there may be a hint that Christian service is sacrificial.