POST OVERVIEW. A detailed study of Revelation 14:1-5 where the 144,000 are with the Lamb on Mount Zion. This study explores the details of this scene and discerns the timing of these events.

This article will be included in a future larger work called “Studies in Revelation.”

See also Post #692 (2/8/2024) which addresses Rev. 7:1-8.

CONCLUSIONS FROM STUDY OF REV. 7:1-8

In the previous part of this study in Rev. 7:1-8 we made two important conclusions.

First, “the 144,000” represents all the elect, all the redeemed of all time. The 144,000 represents all those who will ever be justified by faith, all those who will ever be born again, all those who will ever pass from death to life (John 5:24), all those who will ever be called and justified and glorified (Romans 8:30). The 144,000 represents all old covenant saints (twelve tribes) together with all new covenant saints (twelve apostles), “a great multitude which no one could count.”

Second, we concluded that this picture of “sealing” in Rev. 7:2-4 is giving us a picture of God choosing His elect “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4) and then giving them an invisible “seal” identifying them as chosen by Him.

So, the sealing of the 144,000 is the figurative identification, in eternity past, of all the bond-servants of God of all time, the setting apart of those who will be purchased by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 5:9; 14:3), who will be called and justified (Rom. 8:30) and who will be glorified (Rom. 8:30; Rev. 7:9).

OBSERVATIONS FROM REVELATION 14:1-5

We will keep in mind that the 144,000 we see here in Rev. 14:1-5 are the identical group that we saw in 7:1-8 but at a different point in time. That means that the crucial interpretive task for this passage is to determine when this takes place.

14:1. In this vision, the Lamb (the glorified Jesus Christ) is “standing on Mount Zion” (Mount Zion represents heaven) with the 144,000.

THE LAMB IS STANDING. Notice that the Lamb is standing. Psalm 110 describes the reign of the Messiah on the last day and, according to Psalm 110:1, the Lord (Adonai, Jesus) was to sit at the LORD’s right hand until His enemies were made a footstool. Since in this scene the Lamb is no longer sitting at the LORD’s right hand but is now standing, we conclude that He is getting ready “to rule in the midst of His enemies” (Psalm 110:2). The Lamb is standing on Mount Zion as He prepares to mount His white horse (Rev. 19:11) and to come from heaven to judge the nations.

THE NAME HAS REPLACED THE SEAL. Remember that previously the 144,000 had the seal of the living God on their foreheads (7:3), but now, instead of a seal, that same group has the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. What is the meaning of the seal being replaced by the name?

Our study of Rev. 7:1-8 revealed that the invisible “seal of the living God” was given to identify those who had been chosen before the foundation of the world for salvation (Eph. 1:4). This seal, invisible to man but visible to God, remained on each individual believer to identify them as those who were predestined for glorification (Rom. 8:29-30) until their glorification was realized. So, when the elect person was “dead in their trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), they were identified by the seal of the living God. When by grace he was saved through faith (Eph. 2:8), he was still marked with the seal. When he physically died and departed to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23), the seal continued to identify him. But at the resurrection, this elect person received his eternal glorified body and the intended end of his sealing had finally been realized. With his glorification, the final state of salvation had been reached and there was no longer any need for an identifying seal. Thus, where once there had been a seal, there was now “His name and the name of His Father” on the saint’s forehead. What we see, then, in Rev. 14:1 is the Lamb, the glorified Lord Jesus, standing in heaven amidst all His glorified saints.

There is other evidence in this passage that confirms that “the 144,000” represents all the elect and that, in this scene, the 144,000 have been glorified.

ALL THE REDEEMED. We observe that in Rev. 14:3, “the 144,000 had been purchased from the earth.” But we also see that in Rev. 5:9, they sang a new song to the Lamb, “You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Then in Rev. 14:4 we read again of the 144,000, that “these have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” The point is that, in each occurrence, those who have been purchased represent all the redeemed.

GLORIFIED SAINTS. Since the 144,000 are in heaven with the glorified Lamb, they, too, must be glorified (for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” 1 Cor. 15:50).

So, again, in Rev. 14:1, we can see that this scene pictures the Lamb, the glorified Lord Jesus, standing in heaven amidst all His glorified saints.

WHEN DOES THIS SCENE TAKE PLACE?

We have identified what the various elements of this scene represent and now we are in a position to determine when this scene takes place. The fact that we see glorified saints means that the resurrection has taken place when the saints received their glorified bodies. In Revelation, glorified saints appear either on the last day or in eternity in the new heaven and the new earth. We know that this scene does not take place in the new heaven and the new earth because the Lamb (Jesus) is standing on Mount Zion (14:1) as He prepares to complete His work of judgment on the unrighteous (see “THE LAMB IS STANDING” above). Therefore, this scene must take place on the last day. In fact, this scene figuratively presents the glorified saints after they have been “caught up together to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17) in the resurrection. The Lamb is acting as the glorious warrior-King, marshalling His army of saints around Him (Psalm 110:3; see also Psalm 149:5-9) as He waits for heaven to open. And when heaven opens and the Rider on the white horse appears (Rev. 19:11), He will be followed by the glorified 144,000 because “these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rev. 14:4). That will be the time when Jesus comes with all His saints (1 Thess. 3:13), when “God will bring with Him (Jesus) those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:14). The glorified saints will be “the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following Him on white horses” (Rev. 19:14). What we see, therefore, is that this scene in Rev. 14:1-5 takes place just after the resurrection and just before the coming of the Lord Jesus in judgment.

CONCLUSION

Our study has revealed that the 144,000 represents all the elect, all the redeemed, all those chosen by God for salvation. There are two appearances of the 144,000 in Revelation. The first appearance, in Rev. 7:1-8, pictures the setting apart (“sealing”) of all of God’s people for salvation in eternity past (see also Eph. 1:4, “chosen”), while the second appearance, in Rev. 14:1-5, represents all the saints, all the redeemed, now glorified in heaven after the resurrection and just before they follow the Lord Jesus as He comes to judge the earth (Rev. 19:11-21).

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 2/8/2024                     #693