Chapter 14

Chapter 14 starts off where chapter 11 ends and is set in a time period that will be when the abomination is set up and ready to bring on the mark of the beast and after two Raptures have taken place: the dead have risen, those who were alive and remained were taken up. The ones left are a remnant and are the ones who will ultimately have to reject the mark of the beast, which will lead them to their deaths by Satan's people.

It starts off by letting us know that Jesus has returned to earth and he has the 144,000 with him. He is prepared to do battle against Satan and the rulers of the world.

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads. Rev 14:1

The next couple of verses describe the 144,000 and how they came to be selected for the position they have.

14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

14:3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

14:5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

They are virgin men, who held their hearts close to God while they were alive. They were also the ones resurrected shortly after Jesus was resurrected and have been alive ever since. Where they have been is anyone's guess, but most likely they have been here on earth for quite a long time. It's not known if all of the 144,000 were all resurrected 2000 years ago, since some of them could have been resurrected along the way, but it's more likely they were.

Mat 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

Mat 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

Mat 27:53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

This is important information because it confirms that the resurrection will be one that brings us back into a human flesh body just as we have now. Like Jesus, who was raised from his grave back into his body, these 144,000 have been resurrected back into their bodies as well. These two resurrection stages are numbers 1 (Jesus), and 2 (the 144,000). The dead are number 3, and number 4 are those who are alive and remain. Number 5 are those who will reject the Mark of the Beast and will be raised (or resurrected) in time for the millennium.

Rev 15:2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

The sea of Glass shows their salvation. When combining other verses it goes like this, when Jesus returns, the dead are called first, then those who are alive and remain, then those who are killed for rejecting the Mark of the Beast. Three resurrection stages will take place when Jesus is seen coming with the clouds. Surely it will be motivation for those who will see this take place.

14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth-to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people

14:7 saying 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, the sea and springs of water."

As a rule, we don't typically hear angels when they talk, therefore, it is unlikely the angel flying and spreading the gospel will be talking where we can hear it. Most likely, like the Holy Spirit, this will be done through a silent thought given to mankind and it will spread throughout the world that the end of the age is very near. This will happen like it does today, but the difference between now and then is Jesus will be back on earth when the last big push to save mankind will happen. Like it says, the hour of judgment has come at that point in time.

It is possible that most of the population left at that time will change their minds and elect to leave everything and face the fate of death in order to escape the mark of the beast. In other words, all the preaching, books, and sermons, along with the wrath that just took place, will have an impact on those who don't believe in Jesus or the bible and they will then go through change of heart and mind. Just because Satan is claiming to be God, doesn't mean he will convince the whole world to take his mark at that time. Many will reject it.

In verse 8 we see where Babylon has fallen. The reason for this statement is because Babylon will no longer be a part of the economy, leadership, or daily living any more. Jesus is back and his kingdom will take over and/or destroy or replace them as needed when the millennium begins.

And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev 14:8

The way she has made all the nations drink the wine of the wrath in store for her is because she has deceived them into doing things that had Jesus been here, or had God not chosen to remain silent, these nations would not have done them. What exactly these things are we don't know because there is no list anywhere that reflects what God demands out of a nation.

The next verse shows us what the people who are left by this time should fear the most, the Mark of the Beast. What this verse also does is tell us when the mark of the beast will take place, and if you take notice, it doesn't happen until after Jesus has returned and is actually back on earth. Satan's throne is set up in Jerusalem before all of this takes place. But the time for the mark comes after Jesus has returned. Satan's reign will likely start with the 1260 day period of the last two witnesses, but when Jesus returns it will be the 30-45 day period after they were taken up. So I don't see how or where the mark itself will ever happen until this time period.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. Rev 14:9-10

Keep in mind that the world has just went through a very hard time. The heavens were shaken, hundreds of millions of people have died, and Satan has just tried to convince the world that he is God. Food may be scarce and so will other necessity's of life. Property value's will change, along with ownership. Things may even appear to be going smooth before all this happens. Like it says in chapter 13, the beast with two horns like a lamb will cause all to receive a mark, with exception to those who believe otherwise and reject it.

The system of this mark may be like today's Social Security system in the United States, where a registered number is a requirement to earn wages. Only this will go farther and will also be a requirement for buying and selling. Everyone works for money to buy and sell things, pay medical bills and so forth. None the less, a new world order will be in place, but not necessarily the one projected today by all the theorists out there. Satan will be claiming to be God, and probably Jesus as well since he wants people to believe that God and Jesus are one in the same being, and the world will believe him and do what ever he says, save the few left for this event. Which could still be in the millions.

Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." Rev 14:13

The rest of chapter 14 is describing the harvest of the believers. Keep in mind, the harvest is complete at this time, with exception to the ones who will repent after the millennium. What the harvest is for, are the ones who will live during the millennium with Jesus and get a first hand lesson about God without the interruption of Satan once and for all. As this will be the first time the earth and mankind will be rid of Satan since its creation.

So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Rev 14:16

The last verse is simple enough to understand. It's talking about the blood of those who have been through the winepress of God. These are the chosen ones, "the vine of the earth," and the amount of their blood is shown to be enough to fill up quite a large area.

So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs. Rev 14:19-20

A furlong is about 600 feet. So 1,600 furlongs is 960,000 thousand feet, or 181.82 miles. It doesn't give us the width of this river of blood so the actual volume is unknown. This is one of those things we ponder as to why we have been told about it without a reason as to why it was so important to mention. It just exists and of course it's a lot of blood. However, this event is not a literal event and will not physically happen.

Should God decide to do such a thing physically, it would mean killing all of those who have just been resurrected in order to show just how much blood they have shed over the years. This event that John saw is only a relative explanation of how much blood will have been shed by that time.

I also want to point out, this event has been taught for years as the blood that will be shed by people when Jesus returns and fights against the population of the earth. That is not so, it clearly tells us it is the blood of the saints, the vine of the earth, and will not be part of the battle at that time since all of the saved people will be gone. Those left to fight against Jesus are not of the vine of the earth.

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