It is the beast out of the sea that receives all the attention: everything is done on his behalf and for his benefit, for he is the spirit of the Antichrist.
Giving breath to the image of the beast is an attempt by Satan to copy God when he gave the breath of life to Adam (Gen. 2:7; and see Rev. 11:11).
God allows all this imitation and gives the beast permission to kill those who refuse to worship the image of the beast.
The mere fact of being a Christian is sufficient evidence for enforcing the death penalty. And the persecution of God’s people in today’s world testifies to this grim reality. The text does not say that all the followers of Christ will be killed, but that as many as failed to worship might be executed.
The second beast not only executes those who decline to worship the image of the first beast, but he also forces all classes of people to receive a distinguishing mark that sets them apart from Christians.
The mark of the beast is a counterfeit for the seal of God’s name on the saints (Rev. 7:2-8; 14:1; Ezek 9). The beast owns those who are marked and they are his slaves (Rev. 14:9; 19:20; 20:4). Speculation about a visible mark misses the point of the spiritual distinction between the two groups.
The symbol of the right hand means friendship and fellowship (Gal. 2:9); it is a sign of working together in a common cause, namely, to oppose God. The mark on the foreheadimplies that these people are influenced by the same philosophy and thought patterns. In their anti-Christian thinking, they glorify the beast and his achievements and attempt to destroy the work of Christ on earth.
The inability to buy or sell amounts to a boycott by which the food supply is cut off and starvation results for those who do not take the mark of the beast.
The number 666 could symbolize a trinity of imperfection or evil—each digit falling short of seven (the number for perfection or completion). The number may be meant to indicate not an individual, but a persistent falling short. All the more is this likely to be correct if we translate it as the number of man rather than a ‘a man’. John would then be saying that unregenerate man is persistently evil. He bears the mark of the beast in all he does. Civilization without Christ is under the dominion of the evil one.
Although the devil has tried to eliminate all of God’s people from the death of Abel to the present, he has never succeeded. In this age-old conflict God, not Satan, is in charge. In conclusion, the number 666 belongs to Satan and those held captive to do his will and not to one particular individual who did the devil’s work in history.
The Lamb On Mount Zion 14:1-5
From the forces of evil John turns to those who follow the Lamb. He sees in a vision the triumphThe Lamb (Jesus), standing on Mount Zion (head over the church). of the followers of the Lamb.
The 144,000 represents the church. This number of completeness stands for the whole church of Jesus Christ not some spiritual elite of any sort, such as martyrs. In contrast to those who have the mark of the beast on their right hand or forehead, these believers have Christ’s name and the Father’s name written on their foreheads.
They are marked with the mark of God. The 144,000 (the redeemed) sing a new song before the throne of God that only they can learn.
The church stands pure and blameless before the throne. Here the church is viewed as the bride of Christ. This reminds the reader of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
The 144,000 follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among men. The purchase price was the blood of the Lamb (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19). They are offered as the first-fruits to God, that is, the first part of the harvest and they were holy in a special sense.
Three Angels Proclaim Judgment 14:6-12
As three angels in succession proclaim judgment the saints are assured once more that the triumph of evil will be short-lived. God will certainly bring judgment upon evildoers, but in His own good time.
The first angel proclaims the everlasting gospel. This is the only place in this book where gospel occurs.At first glance there is not much good news in the gospel the angels bring.
The bad news must precede the good news and is in fact what makes the good news so good. He who covers his sin shall not prosper but he who confesses and forsakes his sin shall find mercy Proverbs 28:13. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.
Judgment is a necessary implication of the gospel (Romans 2:16). The message of the gospel constitutes a last appeal for repentance from those about to be judged. It also must be kept in mind that John is writing to Christians facing persecution. For them it was indeed good news that all men, their persecutors included would be called upon to give account of themselves.
The first angel speaks with a loud voice for his words go out to all mankind (every nation, tribe, language, and people). He calls on men to fear God. The wicked have much to fear. The angel’s message is not completely negative and he calls on men to give glory to God, and to worship Him.
God is characterized as Creator, and heaven, and earth, and sea, and the springs of water are singled out. Everything that exists comes from the hand of God. Those who oppose Him are in a hopeless position.
The worshippers of the beast had been impressed by his power. Now they are compelled to recognize real power. Here is the bitter irony of their lot; though they damn themselves eternally by their refusal to face the truth, one day they will be forced to face it. Sooner or later the glorywrath.Philippians 2:10-11 they refuse to give the Creator willingly will come forth from them at the sight of His
The second angel announces that Babylon is fallen. To those John is writing to, Babylon symbolized the wicked Roman Empire.
To the church in all ages, Babylon symbolically stands for the wicked, secular, World system that opposes God and His church. John combines two thoughts in his understanding of Babylon. First, that Babylon makes the nations drink the wine of her impurity, that is, she corrupts them with her evil ways, and second, that this impurity brings down upon it the wrath of God.
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever.
The Dead Which Die In The Lord14:13
This is one of seven beatitudes in Revelation. This beatitude deals with the blessedness of those who die in Christ. Man’s natural tendency is to think of blessedness in terms of this life. But in a persecution situation John wants it to be clear that there are more important things than life. God’s people may be grossly maltreated even up to the and including the infliction of the death penalty. But they and not their tormentors remain blessed.
The Reaper on The Cloud 14:14-16
John sees an angel with a sickle sitting on a cloud. The harvest of the earth is ripe and is reaped. This vivid way of speaking about the end of the world would come home with great force in an age when men were more familiar with farming than they are now. The harvest is the climax.
Three angels have already announced judgment. This builds up to the moment when the angel sitting on the cloud plunges his sickle into the earth’s harvest. Like a son of man is a normal way of referring to an angelic being.
Another angel comes out of the temple or sanctuary which means from the very presence of God. His words are addressed to one person alone, the angel sitting on the cloud, but he cries with a loud voice so that all can hear: Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. The time is ready for God’s judgment of the wicked; the separating the wheat from the tares; sheep from goat; righteous from unrighteous.
The Winepress of God’s Wrath 14:17-20
Reaping is now taken a stage further and we move on to grape harvest. The crushing of grapes is a very suitable figure of judgment.
There now appears another sickle-bearing angel, the sixth in the series. Like those before him he came out of the temple. And, as with the first reaper, it is specified that the sickle was sharp.
The seventh angel came out from the altar. The altar earlier has been associated with the prayers of the saints and with judgment. John sees the judgment as God’s final answer to the prayers of His suffering saints.
The angel obeyed. He reaped the earth’s vine and hurled what he gathered into the great winepress of the wrath of God. This is a vivid description of judgment on the wicked.
John does not say who did the trampling of the winepress nor where it took place, only that it took place outside the city, referring most likely to a place outside the place where the saints dwell. John’s major concern is to show that there will be a cataclysmic destruction of mankind at the end of the age.
The vast quantity of blood (blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia) points to the blotting out of all mankind. Blood stretching for 1,600 stadia (184 miles) is an exaggeration to highlight a complete judgment of the whole earth and destruction of all the wicked. The earth has come to a final end. John is doing no more than allude to this at this point. He develops the idea later.
