The Lamb and the first fruits

John saw a Lamb standing on Mount Zion. A hundred and forty-four thousand were also standing with Him. This is twelve times twelve times thousand, a huge number that denotes God’s government – need not be an exact hundred and forty-four thousand. They had the name of the Lamb’s Father on their foreheads. These were the earthly but redeemed.

These people had not defiled themselves with women. They did not commit adultery or practice sexual immorality. (God calls a marriage relationship honourable and the marriage bed undefiled. God approves a marriage between only a man and a woman. And God instituted monogamy as the acceptable norm starting from Adam and Eve).

These people did not pursue idols and worldly wealth. They were not covetous and did not worship money. They were virgins uncorrupted and unscathed by the world. They followed the Lamb wherever He went. They were the first fruits unto God and unto the Lamb. They spoke no guile. They were faultless before the throne of God. They trusted in God’s righteousness, not on their own.

These were the remnant of Israel of the Old Testament period that trusted in His promise about the Saviour Who would die for their sins. The promise was about the Seed of the woman Who would bruise the head of the Old Serpent. They were the virgins that would form the marriage party of the Lamb. They are the companions of the virgin Bride of the heavenly Bridegroom. They rose from the dead when the Lord was raised from the dead. They were the firstfruits from among the dead along with the Lord. They were seen by the public in the region of Judea on that Saturday when the Lord visited the captives in Paradise.

John heard a voice from heaven – the voice of many waters. It sounded like a great thunder. There was the voice of musicians playing their harps and singing a new song. They were standing before the throne of God, the four beasts and the twenty-four elders. Only the one hundred and forty-four thousand could learn that song. Mere followers of the Jewish religion would not be a part of this huge population.

Six Angels

(1) John saw an angel fly in the midst of heaven. He was having the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. This is New Testament times. He, as a representative of the disciples of Christ, would preach this gospel to the inhabitants of the earth. People belonging to every nation, kindred, tongue and people-group would hear this gospel. He was instructing the hearers to fear God and give Him the glory. He warned them that the hour of His judgement has come. He directed the hearers to worship the Creator that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. This coterminates with the seventh vial of chapter sixteen.

(2) John saw another angel saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication”. This is elaborated in chapter seventeen and eighteen. The end of her fall is mentioned in chapter nineteen.

(3) John saw a third angel following the first and the second, shouting, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, (chapter thirteen) the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God”. God pours out His wrath without mixture into the cup of His indignation. The receiver of the mark shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. This ‘pouring out’ will happen in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever. They have no rest day nor night. “Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”.

The Church that refuses to compromise with the world and live a separated life will require utmost patience. Believers will have to suffer for long and endure the pain inflicted by the ungodly. Their long-suffering during the tribulation will continue till the Lord pays the world back. Then, it would be His time of vengeance. He will pay the unbelievers and the wicked with unending tribulation. There would be no dilution to the pain and suffering for those who received the mark of the beast. Those who showed allegiance to the enemies of God will be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone. They would have no rest. This coterminates with chapter nineteen.

John heard a voice from heaven. It bid him to write. John wrote, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them”. This event happens in parallel with the judgement of the unjust and the filthy. The dead in Christ will rise first. They will receive rest from their labours. The Lord will reward them according to their works. He has promised that His reward is with Him to give everyman according as his works shall be. The Spirit of God agrees with the statement of the angel. This runs parallel with chapter twenty-one.

John saw a white cloud on which was seated the Son of man as King. with a golden crown on His head. He also had a sharp sickle in His hand.

(4) A fourth angel came out of the temple in heaven. He announced that it was time for harvest.as it was ripe. He was bidding the Lord to thrust His sickle and reap. The Lord had for long waited for this moment. He had let the tares grow alongside the grain. He did not allow them to be plucked off as it would harm the grain / good fruit as per His parable in Matthew thirteen. It was now the right time. He would gather the wheat into His barn according to John the Baptist.

Meanwhile, the tares were bundled together to be burned. The unbelievers and the false ministers who were invoking the name of the Lord during their ‘ministry’ were sucking out the nutrition that was meant for the grains and were disrupting their growth. They that robbed the genuine believers came together (or were allowed to be brought together by the Lord Himself) as allies and partners in crime. They would yield no fruit or bad fruit. Not anymore. It was the time of the final trumpet. The Lord thrust His sickle and the earth was reaped. All genuine believers were gathered into His presence. As per Psalm two, all who kissed the Son are saved. This coterminates with chapter eleven.

(5) There was the fifth angel that came out of the temple in Heaven. He too had a sharp sickle in his hand. Ready to ravage the ‘wild vine’?

(6) A sixth angel came out from the altar. (It was under this altar that John saw the beheaded believers. This must be the time when the last of the beheaded believers arrived). He cried out to the fifth angel with a loud cry, “Thrust in thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. Her grapes are fully ripe”. This wild vine of Isaiah chapter five did not have anything to do with ‘the True Vine’, Jesus, of John chapter fifteen. They were growing alongside the good fruit. They looked like they were good grapes. Alas, they were only producing blood-yielding fruit, not the tasty /healthy kind.

The angel thrust his sickle and gathered these unbelievers and false ministers for torment. The wrath of God was poured on them. They were tormented as the grapes would be trodden in a winepress. They were cast to a place meant for criminals. (Our Lord was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem as a ‘criminal’ for our sake). They have no place in ‘the city’ New Jerusalem. Their blood would flow for one thousand six hundred stadia / furlongs and would reach the horses’ bridles. What these numbers mean is one of many mysteries to me, the author of this book. However, the obliteration of the unbelievers is total and conclusive. This is mentioned again in chapter nineteen.

The horses (the swift, the undeterred and the powerful) would drink the same blood that the evildoers produced. So much would be the flood of this ‘blood’ that it would rise up to the ‘bridles’ forcing them to drink; otherwise, they would suffocate. The reality is that the ‘horses’ are themselves deep in this blood. A global ‘blood bath’! (Economic crash? Military violence? Technology breakdown?) The Lord is paying them back with the same cup that they used to deceive the nations. This time it is undiluted and filled to the brim. All ‘horses’ that drink ‘blood’ would also die. This will bring the history of mankind to the God-determined end. Then, it would be judgement time.