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NASB | Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and this is what I saw: the Lamb stood [firmly established] on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had His name and His Father's name inscribed on their foreheads [signifying God's own possession]. [Joel 2:32] |
Bible Question:
Please explain Revelation 14:12 according to what you understand that verse to mean. Who is it talking about, and isn't it contradictory? |
Bible Answer: The first five verses of this chapter should more properly be suffixed as a climax to Chapter 13, which relates (13:15) to the death of the last members of the body of Christ because of their refusal to bow the knee to the image of the beast. Their death according to the flesh will result in their change to spirit nature and the completion of the Church beyond the veil of human experience. The 144,000 who stand on Mount Sion (Zion) represent the glorified Church; hence verse 1 is future in its application. After Jesus fulfilled his earthly mission, he was laid for a foundation in spiritual Zion, being a tried (and finished) stone (Isa. 28:16). The temple class is to be completed in like fashion at this end of the age: as tried and finished stones. It is this Kingdom—symbolized by Mount Zion, toward which all of the Lord’s people march throughout this Gospel Age—that will soon be fully attained. As Moses went up into the quaking mountain the third day (Exod. 19:16–20) and was lost to the sight of the people below, so at and in conjunction with a great time of trouble, the last body members will be, as it were, “caught up,” gathered to the Lord, changed to his likeness. In the Kingdom the Word of the Lord will go forth from Jerusalem, but the Law will go forth from Zion, the completed and glorified Church (Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2). The very number itself, 144,000, is another indication this verse is future. In Chapter 7 the 144,000 were also mentioned; there the number was said to be “sealed” (Rev. 7:4). “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” Having God’s name written or having His mark branded in their foreheads —permanently fixed there in the most intimate sense—is the same as being sealed. The 144,000 are the sons of God in the highest sense of that term. Only 144,000 are to be sealed, and those who are sealed in the full sense of the word will make their calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10). On this side of the veil the Christian is in the process of being sealed; where this class is spoken of as having been sealed, it is an accomplished fact. The latter is a crystallized, finished work in which God’s name is permanently ingrained in the person’s character. |