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A vision of 144 thousand glorified virgins singing a new song that no one understood (1–5). Vision of an Angel flying through the sky with the eternal Gospel and calling for repentance (6–7); the vision of two other Angels with the news of the fall of Babylon (8–11); comfort and encouragement to the righteous (12–13). A vision of one like the Son of Man, sitting on a cloud with a sickle in his hands. Harvest (14–16). An angel cutting grapes with a sickle for the winepress of God’s wrath (17–20). Rev.14:1. And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred and forty-four thousand, having the name of His Father written on their foreheads. Rev.14:2. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of great thunder; and I heard the voice of harpists playing their harps. In order to further shed consolation into the hearts of true Christians, John sees and describes a new, not earthly, but heavenly, joyful phenomenon. The gaze of Christians is raised to heaven, to the Divine Throne and the hosts of celestial beings surrounding it. On Mount Zion, which is the heavenly church where the Lord dwells among the Angels and glorified people, John sees the Lamb and with Him 144 thousand, who have His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. Who are these 144 thousand? They are not the ones mentioned in Rev. 7:9–17. They are different. First of all, they are glorified Christians, for they appear not on earth, but in heaven and together with the Lamb. The name of the Lamb and the name of His Father are written on their foreheads, as a reward for the previous exploits of earthly life. Their earthly life, their Christian deeds, their unswerving adherence and imitation of Jesus Christ - the Immaculate Lamb, so permeated their entire being that they seemed to be reflected on their foreheads and spoke of their belonging to God and the Lamb, and therefore of the deservingness of their bliss. Rev.14:3. They sing, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn this song except these hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. The heavenly bliss of the glorified consists in listening to and participating in the heavenly song, which was heard from heaven, that is, from the same Mount Zion, from the same heavenly throne. When singing, the voices merged into one wondrous harmony with the melodic and quiet sounds of the harp. In terms of content, the song is called new - new in the sense that it contains praise and gratitude to the 144 thousand for all the Divine blessings that they received in their time. Therefore, no one could learn this song (Rev. 2:17) and understand it, except those 144 thousand who themselves witnessed all this (1 Cor. 2:9) Rev.14:4. These are those who have not defiled themselves with their wives, for they are virgins; these are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are redeemed from among men, as the firstborn to God and to the Lamb, Rev.14:5. and in their mouth there is no guile; they are blameless before the throne of God. The praise and special dignity of the perfect is given to the fact that they were strict virgins. In recent times, these chosen and perfect ones, in order to remain faithful to Christianity, during the terrible persecution of the Antichrist in the midst of impossible conditions, had to completely abandon married life, which could connect them with unwanted ties to the anti-Christian world. Their virginity is virginity in the broad sense of the word, as the highest Christian virtue or as the sum of all Christian virtues with complete chastity. They are the chosen ones, because, having despised married life, all the blessings of family life, they have given themselves up to the complete service of God and in this sense follow the Lamb everywhere. They are the firstborn in the sense of the best and most chosen, they are completely free from lies and completely blameless. So, these 144 thousand, standing together with the Lamb on Mount Zion, are the most chosen and most perfect Christians and primarily Christians of the last anti-Christian time. There are 144 thousand of them, for a number was taken that expressed the completeness of all the chosen and perfect Christians who have achieved and will achieve perfection. Rev.14:6. And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, who had the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; From the sky, where the previous phenomenon took place, the gaze of the seer from Art. 6. turns to the ground. He sees another mysterious Angel, who was a real Angel for him, one of the many servants of the Divine disembodied messengers of the Divine will. He flies in the middle of the sky so that the whole world can hear what he proclaims, for this really has important meaning for him (the world). In the hands of the Angel is the eternal Gospel, that is, a certain scroll, a book (Rev. 10:2), containing a certain content. This Gospel is called eternal because it contains the word of God, which is incorruptible, living and abiding forever (1 Peter 1:23-25). The Angel held the Gospel as a sign that he was sent to preach the gospel to everyone living on earth, without exception or division, not only to sinners and pagans, but also to the righteous. Rev.14:7. and he said with a loud voice: Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, and the sea and the springs of water. If people, through the action of the devil, out of fear of his violence and under the influence of his wiles, worshiped the beast-Antichrist (Rev. 13:7), now, in contrast to this, they are called, out of fear of God, to give Him glory as the real Ruler of the World. The last hour of opportunity for repentance has come for people, for the last hour of judgment has arrived, after which this opportunity will no longer exist 73 . This vision of the Angel serves as a complement to the appearance of two witnesses (Rev. 11:3–12) in the second order, it may even be that these are the witnesses here; but in any case these are persons similar to them; these are the preachers-apostles of the last time, as they were in the first days of Christianity. Rev.14:8. And another angel followed him, saying: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, the great city, because she made all nations drink of the wrathful wine of her fornication. The second call to repentance through another Angel is an indication of the real life of the anti-Christian world. This plague is the fall of Babylon. Although it is said here that Babylon has fallen, it appears to have fallen only in a vision, and only in a vision is this indicated to the people of anti-Christian times. This fall of Babylon will be the beginning of judgment, the first stone thrown into the world in its condemnation by God (Rev. 18:21). In accordance with this, the very name of Babylon must be explained. Babylon is an excellent example for any city hostile to God. And since even in the last anti-Christian time, the kingdom of anti-Christ sets the goal of replacing everything holy and divine with human and anti-Christian things, then the main city of this kingdom will most closely resemble ancient Babylon. Therefore, by the fall of Babylon it is most natural to understand the fall of the future Babylon, the main city of the future anti-Christian kingdom, if not with the same proper name, then with the same character of its inhabitants and with the same properties and tasks of the power of its ruler. The cause of the fall of the future Babylon is put forward as idolatry, called fornication. This fornication is called furious wine in the sense of its power to ignite the human body, human passions. The concept of fornication itself and fornicators from St. Scripture is very often used in relation to cities (Isaiah 1:21; Nahum 3:4) and usually points to all the corrupting influence that certain cities have on nations with their trade, their morals and their idolatry. As if to enhance the impression of the fall of Babylon, the third Angel, in a loud voice, addresses all those who worship the beast and accept his mark with a loud voice. The threat is obviously addressed to the very people who, according to the image of Art. 8. they drank and enjoyed the furious wine of Babylonian fornication, that is, the luxurious anti-Christian life. Now, in contrast to this, they are threatened with the impending necessity of drinking the cups of the wrath of God. They will drink undiluted wine, which signifies the wrath of God, in no way softened by divine mercy. Sinners who worshiped the beast will be tormented in fire and brimstone, which is part of the torment of hell. The expression that torment will take place before the Lamb and before the holy Angels, that is, as if in view of them, indicates the special power of torment, the bitterness of which will increase even more from the fact that those tormented will compare their torment with the bliss of the saints and constantly think about those for whose enmity they have become worthy of eternal punishment. Rev.14:9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice: Whoever worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, Rev. 14:10. he will drink the wine of the wrath of God, the whole wine prepared in the cup of His wrath, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb; Rev.14:11. and the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever, and they who worship the beast and his image and who receive the mark of his name will have no rest, day or night. The torment of sinners will be constant; there will be no break for them, and the sinner who worshiped the beast, tormented day after day, will not have a single minute of peace, not the slightest time free from this torment. Rev.14:12. Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus. In threatening sinners with terrible punishments, saints must draw consolation and encouragement for themselves, overcome cowardice in their constant confession of the Christian faith in the midst of anti-Christian persecution, and nourish the firm hope that these persecutions will soon end. Rev.14:13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying to me: Write: From now on blessed are the dead who die in the Lord; to her, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labors, and their works will follow them. Another consolation to the saints is announced by a new heavenly voice, which commands John to write: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” The command says that the truth of this revelation must occupy a prominent place and significant significance among other truths that have already been proclaimed to it and that will be proclaimed. Here the dying are understood to mean all Christians who die in true faith and in firm hope of His mercy. In their very lives they prove that they are worthy of bliss as a gift of God’s love, for they themselves loved the Lord, proving this by fulfilling His commandments, by their entire Christian life, which is unceasing labor, unceasing work and unceasing bearing of the cross. Rev.14:14. And I looked, and behold a bright cloud, and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man; on his head is a golden crown, and in his hand is a sharp sickle. The measure of God's long-suffering has been exhausted; the hour of reward has come for both the righteous and sinners. In a new vision, John sees among the bright clouds someone like the Son of Man, who has a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. A bright or white cloud constitutes, so to speak, an essential feature of the future second coming of the Lord (Matthew 24:30; Luke 21:27). Therefore, Jesus Christ Himself obviously appeared, the Messiah in His image as the Son of Man, who is about to come to judge the world. – The sickle in His hands is an instrument of harvest and speaks of judgment on the world. Rev. 14:15. And another angel came out of the church and exclaimed with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud: put out your sickle and reap, because the time of harvest has come, for the harvest on earth is ripe. An angel coming out of the church addresses the one sitting with a sickle, addressing him as a messenger of the Divine command, predetermined from the ages. Therefore, here we are not talking about a command from an Angel, but about a command through an Angel. The command comes from God Himself; but Jesus Christ Himself repeatedly testified that His activity as the Son was always consistent with the will of the Heavenly Father. The harvest, and according to the word of the Savior, is the end of the world (Matthew 13:39), and, consequently, the apocalyptic harvest is the gathering of all the faithful (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and their separation from the wicked before the pronouncement of the final verdict after the Last Judgment. It will be at a time when the world in its development of both good and evil will reach the limit predetermined by God. Rev. 14:16. And he who sat on the cloud cast his sickle into the earth, and the earth was reaped. Rev. 14:17. And another Angel came out of the church in heaven, also with a sharp sickle. Rev. 14:18. And another angel, who had power over the fire, came out from the altar and cried with a great cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying: Let out your sharp sickle and prune the bunches of grapes on the ground, because the berries are ripe on it. Next, John sees another new Angel coming out of the church. This is obviously one of the simple Angels, servants of God and executors of His will. Following this Angel, another new Angel appears. But he no longer comes out of the church itself (Rev. 11:19), not from the sanctuary, but from the altar and is called having power over the fire. Consequently, this Angel belongs to the number of those Angels, the servants of God, who control certain elements in the world. He comes out from the altar of burnt offering (Rev. 6:9), from which the prayer of the murdered righteous was offered for vengeance on the wicked, that is, for judgment on the world. Now, as if in answer to these prayers, an Angel comes out from that altar with a command from God to carry out judgment on the wicked. Rev. 14:19. And the angel cast his sickle on the ground, and cut off the grapes on the ground, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Rev. 14:20. And the berries were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress even to the horse's bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. Undoubtedly, the pruning of grapes with the Angel's sickle must mean God's judgment on sinners. They, separated from the righteous, are subject to the retribution of God's wrath. And the grapes thrown into the winepress were trampled, that is, the sinful world was executed. The degree of punishment and the multitude of those punished are explained by comparison with the abundance of grape juice (here directly called blood), which, unable to fit in the prepared winepress, flows through its edges. This is what the words of the text mean: “blood flowed from the winepress even to the horse’s bridles for one thousand six hundred furlongs.” The winepress, the place of punishment, appears to be outside the city and serves as an indication of the place of judgment of sinners. This trial will take place outside the city. By city here we mean those who live in the city, that is, the saints of God, who, having been gathered by the Lord from the four winds of the earth (Matthew 24:31), will form the city of the living God. This is their gathering into a single whole after their final separation from the wicked, doomed to punishment and condemnation. The extent of this punishment is explained by the abundance of the blood of the punished, which will reach in its depth to the bridles of horses and will flow for 1600 stages. The comparison is obviously taken from ordinary wars, when the horses of the combatants walk on bloody ground. The number 1600 (40x40) speaks of both the highest degree of punishment and the universality (4 countries of the world x 4 and x 100) of this punishment (cf. Rev. 14:10). You might be interested in: