In chapter 5, John had laid his eyes upon the Lamb; and here in this chapter, he does so for the second time, as he beholds the Lamb at the head of the 144,000 – the metaphorical number that represents the Church Militant, as we learned in chapter 7. These are the people of God on earth, who follow their Savior and carry out the mission He has given them, until He returns to bring them home to heaven. The 144,000 are shown here in a state of victory, even though they have just come out of the dreadful warfare with the unholy trinity of the dragon and his two beasts; they are about to join the uncountable multitude of saints that make up the Church Triumphant in heaven, which sings the “new song” before the throne of God. And the end of the world and the final judgment is about to be seen, toward the end of this chapter.
Beginning in verse 6, John sees three angels and hears the words spoken by each one of them. The first angel is spoken of as “having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” This “everlasting Gospel” is the declaration of the Person and work of Christ, so that those who hear it might repent and find grace and mercy in Him. With a loud voice, he commands that fear, glory, and worship should be given to the Lord; for the whole goal of our Savior’s work of redemption is to restore us to a right relationship with our God, so that we may worship Him as our Creator.
The demise of Babylon is spoken of by the second of these three angels. In this Book, the name Babylon stands as a symbol for the Church’s enemies. Particularly in chapters 17 and 18, Babylon is seen as an emblem of both the political and religious beasts from the last chapter, which are there portrayed under the picture of the political beast and a harlot.
When the third angel speaks, he calls down the righteous judgment of the Lord upon any and all who “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand.” As we saw in the last chapter, the religious beast from the earth influences mankind to worship the image of the political beast from the sea; and the religious beast requires an identifying mark to be placed upon his subjects, so that they alone may participate in even the common activities of life. But here we see the final end of all such persons: they are judged – particularly at the end of the world, when the Lord Jesus comes back.
The faithful people of God are here described as patiently waiting for the judgment of the Lord to be worked out upon their enemies in His own perfect timing. They do not have to take matters into their own hands and execute vengeance on those who oppress them; for even though they appear to be defeated by the beasts, they rest assured that their victory is certain and guaranteed to them by the Lamb Whom they follow. Their faith in Jesus enables them to keep the Lord’s commandments, even though they are pressed on all sides to worship the beast “like everyone else is doing.”
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,” declares verse 13. Although the people of God suffer and even die at the hands of the world, they may take comfort because they know that their death is the gateway for them to obtain their heavenly rest and reward from the Lord Whom they serve.
The period of interregnum – the portrayal of the cosmic war between the forces of God and the forces of Satan – comes to an end in this chapter, with the Son of Man making His appearance on a white cloud. In the Old Testament, clouds were often a symbol of the presence of Jehovah; and the whiteness of the cloud represents the perfect righteousness with which Christ – the Son of Man – will judge the world. His golden crown shows Him to be the conquering King, and He holds a sharp sickle with which He will bring in “the harvest” of His wheat. In both the Old and New Testaments, the judgment of the world is represented under the symbolism of a harvest. The grain is harvested and separated from the tares; the grain is gathered into God’s granary, and the tares are assigned to the fire. This spiritual harvest is taking place now, during the time period from the Savior’s First Coming to His Second Coming. Remember how Jesus told the seventy whom He sent out to preach that they should pray for laborers to be sent forth into this harvest (Matt. 9:37-38; Luke 10:2).
After the representation of the grain harvest, John beholds a picture of the gathering of the vintage. This picture specifically focuses on the gathering and crushing of all the unbelievers who have served the political beast and his image. The crushed grapes make up the wine of the wrath of God that these people are condemned to drink. This terrible judgment is so intensive and wide-reaching that the blood of the grapes is spoken of as being deep enough to reach the bridle of a horse, extending for 1,600 furlongs – a number that represents the completeness of the Lord’s righteous judgments, from which no one will escape.
Oh Father, we give thanks that our eyes have seen the Lamb of God taking away our sins; and we rejoice that in a little while, when our eyes shall have been wipe from tears, we will have the blessing of seeing the same Lamb exalted on the heavenly throne! Let Your everlasting Gospel go on, from age to age, to cut down all the dreadful heresies of the present day, and all that may hereafter arise! Amen.
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