Notes on the New Testament, Explanatory and Practical: Revelation

by Albert Barnes

(5) The blessedness of all those who die in the Lord; who, amidst the persecutions and trials that were to come upon the church, would be found faithful unto death, ver. 13. They would rest from their labours; the works of mercy which they had done on the earth would follow them to the future world, securing rich and eternal blessings there.

(6) The final overthrow of all the enemies of the church, ver. 14–20. This is the grand completion; to this all things are tending; this will be certainly accomplished in due time. This is represented under various emblems: (a) The Son of man appears seated on a cloud, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle—emblem of gathering in the great harvest of the earth, and of his own glorious reign in heaven, ver. 14. (b) An angel is seen coming out of the temple, announcing that the time had come, and calling on the great Reaper to thrust in his sickle, for the harvest of the world was ripe, ver. 15. (c) He that has the sickle thrusts in his sickle to reap the great harvest, ver. 16. (d) Another angel is seen representing the final judgment of God on the wicked, ver. 17–20. He also has a sharp sickle; he is commanded by an angel that has power over fire to thrust in his sickleinto the earth; he goes forth and gathers the clusters of the vine of the earth, and casts them into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.

This whole chapter, therefore, is designed to relieve the gloom of the former representations. The action of the grand moving panorama is stayed that the mind may not be overwhelmed with gloomy thoughts, but that it may be cheered with the assurance of the final triumph of truth and righteousness. The chapter, viewed in this light, is introduced with great artistic skill, as well as great beauty of poetic illustration; and, in its place, it is adapted to set forth this great truth, that, to the righteous, and to the church at large, in the darkest times, and with the most threatening prospect of calamity and sorrow, there is the certainty of final victory, and that this should be allowed to cheer and sustain the soul.

CHAPTER XIV.

A ND I looked, and, lo, a [425]Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him [426]an hundred forty and four thousand, [427]having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

1. And I looked. My attention was drawn to a new vision. The eye was turned away from the beast and his image to the heavenly world—the Mount Zion above. ¶ And, lo, a Lamb. See Notes on [ch. v. 6]. ¶ Stood on the mount Zion. That is, in heaven. See Notes on He. xii. 22. Zion, literally the southern hill in the city of Jerusalem, was a name also given to the whole city; and, as that was the seat of the divine worship on earth, it became an emblem of heaven—the dwelling-place of God. The scene of the vision here is laid in heaven, for it is a vision of the ultimate triumph of the redeemed, designed to sustain the church in view of the trials that had already come upon it, and of those which were yet to come. ¶ And with him an hundred forty and four thousand. These are evidently the same persons that were seen in the vision recorded in ch. vii. 3–8, and the representation is made for the same purpose—to sustain the church in trial, with the certainty of its future glory. See Notes on [ch. vii. 4]. ¶ Having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. Showing that they were his. See Notes on [ch. vii. 3]; [xiii. 16]. In ch. vii. 3, it is merely said that they were “sealed in their foreheads;” the passage here shows how they were sealed. They had the name of God so stamped or marked on their foreheads as to show that they belonged to him. Comp. Notes on ch. vii. 3–8.

2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as [428]the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of [429]harpers harping with their harps:

2. And I heard a voice from heaven. Showing that the scene is laid in heaven, but that John in the vision was on the earth. ¶ As the voice of many waters. As the sound of the ocean, or of a mighty cataract. That is, it was so loud that it could be heard from heaven to earth. No comparison could express this more sublimely than to say that it was like the roar of the ocean. ¶ As the voice of a great thunder. As the loud sound of thunder. ¶ And I heard the voice of harpers. In heaven: the song of redemption accompanied with strains of sweet instrumental music. For a description of the harp, see Notes on Is. v. 12. ¶ Harping with their harps. Playing on their harps. This image gives new beauty to the description. Though the sound was loud and swelling, so loud that it could be heard on the earth, yet it was not mere shouting, or merely a tumultuous cry. “It was like the sweetness of symphonious harps.” The music of heaven, though elevated and joyous, is sweet and harmonious; and perhaps one of the best representations of heaven on earth, is the effect produced on the soul by strains of sweet and solemn music.

3 And they sung as it were [430]a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but [431]the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

3. And they sung as it were a new song. See Notes on [ch. v. 9]. It was proper to call this “new,” because it was on a new occasion, or pertained to a new object. The song here was in celebration of the complete redemption of the church, and was the song to be sung in view of its final triumph over all its foes. Comp. Notes on [ch. vii. 9], [10]. ¶ Before the throne. The throne of God in heaven. See Noteson [ch. iv. 2]. ¶ And before the four beasts. See Notes on [ch. iv. 6–8]. ¶ And the elders. See Notes on [ch. iv. 4]. ¶ And no man could learn that song, &c. None could understand it but the redeemed. That is, none who had not been redeemed could enter fully into the feelings and sympathies of those who were. A great truth is taught here. To appreciate fully the songs of Zion; to understand the language of praise; to enter into the spirit of the truths which pertain to redemption; one must himself have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. He must have known what it is to be a sinner under the condemnation of a holy law; he must have known what it is to be in danger of eternal death; he must have experienced the joys of pardon, or he can never understand, in its true import, the language used by the redeemed. And this is only saying what we are familiar with in other things. He who is saved from peril; he who is rescued from long captivity; he who is pardoned at the foot of the scaffold; he who is recovered from dangerous illness; he who presses to his bosom a beloved child just rescued from a watery grave, will have an appreciation of the language of joy and triumph which he can never understand who has not been placed in such circumstances: but of all the joy ever experienced in the universe, so far as we can see, that must be the most sublime and transporting, which will be experienced when the redeemed shall stand on Mount Zion above, and shall realize that they are saved.