In Chapter 13 of Revelation I wrote about the beast from the
sea and the beast from the earth; two evil entities who influence Mankind to
love and worship themselves as their own god. When satan gets men and women to
forsake the One True God, he has them in his hand. It matters not to our enemy
whom we worship, for as long as it is not God the Creator, he wins his battles.
In Chapter 14 we see that satan does not win every battle. God has a people who remain faithful to Him. We see Our Savior, the Lamb of God, standing with 144,000 servants of God who have His mark in their foreheads. 144,000 represents 12 X 12, or the 12 fathers of the Jewish faith times the 12 apostles of the Christian faith. This symbolically represents all of God’s people from all of time who have faithfully worshipped Him. The number 1,000 represents a full count, or completion, and indicates the fulfillment of God’s purposes for bringing men into salvation. It is a symbolic number and means the sum total of all who are God’s people.
God has always purposed to have a people for Himself to love and to fellowship with. He chose to embody His good in His people, who are a living testimony against satan’s lies. This testimony overcomes satan’s lies (Rev 12:11). Like a light on a hill top, God’s people shine for all the world to see. Our testimony is unlike the people who worship the beast, whose doubt and sin grow insidiously inside them. Quite the opposite, God’s people walk in the light so that all can see that their works are from God. (Jn 3:21)
Those who have God’s mark in their foreheads follow Jesus wherever He goes. They are submissive to the Holy Spirit, unlike those who “run ahead” (2 Jn 1:9). They are pure, keeping their faith unspotted from the world. Jesus is speaking of spiritual purity in Revelation 13, using the symbolism of not being deviled with women (verse 4) to represent spiritual fidelity towards God. Paul writes that he is “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.” (2 Cor 11:2) His fear was that “just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (verse 3).
God’s people have no lies in them. It is more than being honest; they do not have satan’s lies in them, because they have overcome all his lies. They are blameless, and believe they are blameless, having washed their robes in the same blood by which they were bought: the blood of the Lamb (Rev 5:9). They have fellowship with the elders and the four living creatures before the throne of God, and have the privilege of learning the new song. How fitting that God’s people should be brought into heavenly worship because of their purity, when Lucifer was discharged from leading heavenly worship because of his sin.
Then we see three of God’s angels and hear their messages. The first angel has the eternal gospel, “Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Those who fear and honor God will have a special place with Him in the day of judgment, for He will spare them, and give His discernment to them so that they will overcome all deception (Mal 3:16-18).
The second angel speaks judgment against Babylon, a symbolic city inhabited by insincere Christians. We will read more about Babylon in Revelation 17. The name of this city is also called the great prostitute, a woman who commits adultery with the world. She is the opposite of those who follow Jesus in purity.
The third angel brings condemnation against the worshippers of the beast. It is made plain that anyone who compromises with the spirit of the world, the beast, and worships this life, seeking to be a god unto himself, will lose his eternal life and suffer the punishment of hell. So severe will be the trials on the earth and the oppression of satan on God’s saints that the angel calls for the “patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” Indeed, the angels are instructed to write “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” Those who die in the Lord will be more blessed than those who continue on the earth for the trials will be severe and the temptations to compromise will be tempting. Indeed, if it were for this life alone we lived we would be the most despised of all men.
In Chapter 14 we see that satan does not win every battle. God has a people who remain faithful to Him. We see Our Savior, the Lamb of God, standing with 144,000 servants of God who have His mark in their foreheads. 144,000 represents 12 X 12, or the 12 fathers of the Jewish faith times the 12 apostles of the Christian faith. This symbolically represents all of God’s people from all of time who have faithfully worshipped Him. The number 1,000 represents a full count, or completion, and indicates the fulfillment of God’s purposes for bringing men into salvation. It is a symbolic number and means the sum total of all who are God’s people.
God has always purposed to have a people for Himself to love and to fellowship with. He chose to embody His good in His people, who are a living testimony against satan’s lies. This testimony overcomes satan’s lies (Rev 12:11). Like a light on a hill top, God’s people shine for all the world to see. Our testimony is unlike the people who worship the beast, whose doubt and sin grow insidiously inside them. Quite the opposite, God’s people walk in the light so that all can see that their works are from God. (Jn 3:21)
Those who have God’s mark in their foreheads follow Jesus wherever He goes. They are submissive to the Holy Spirit, unlike those who “run ahead” (2 Jn 1:9). They are pure, keeping their faith unspotted from the world. Jesus is speaking of spiritual purity in Revelation 13, using the symbolism of not being deviled with women (verse 4) to represent spiritual fidelity towards God. Paul writes that he is “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.” (2 Cor 11:2) His fear was that “just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (verse 3).
God’s people have no lies in them. It is more than being honest; they do not have satan’s lies in them, because they have overcome all his lies. They are blameless, and believe they are blameless, having washed their robes in the same blood by which they were bought: the blood of the Lamb (Rev 5:9). They have fellowship with the elders and the four living creatures before the throne of God, and have the privilege of learning the new song. How fitting that God’s people should be brought into heavenly worship because of their purity, when Lucifer was discharged from leading heavenly worship because of his sin.
Then we see three of God’s angels and hear their messages. The first angel has the eternal gospel, “Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” Those who fear and honor God will have a special place with Him in the day of judgment, for He will spare them, and give His discernment to them so that they will overcome all deception (Mal 3:16-18).
The second angel speaks judgment against Babylon, a symbolic city inhabited by insincere Christians. We will read more about Babylon in Revelation 17. The name of this city is also called the great prostitute, a woman who commits adultery with the world. She is the opposite of those who follow Jesus in purity.
The third angel brings condemnation against the worshippers of the beast. It is made plain that anyone who compromises with the spirit of the world, the beast, and worships this life, seeking to be a god unto himself, will lose his eternal life and suffer the punishment of hell. So severe will be the trials on the earth and the oppression of satan on God’s saints that the angel calls for the “patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” Indeed, the angels are instructed to write “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” Those who die in the Lord will be more blessed than those who continue on the earth for the trials will be severe and the temptations to compromise will be tempting. Indeed, if it were for this life alone we lived we would be the most despised of all men.
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