1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
In the first part of the vision John sees the end result of the conflict between God and Satan. Jesus is victorious, standing on Mount Zion. Zion was the name of the mountain on which David built the earthly Jerusalem centuries before. With Him are the 144,000. This includes the 144,000 Israelites from chapter 7:1-8 and the great multitude that no one could count from chapter 7:9-17. They are identified as those redeemed from the earth. There is a sound like harps and John hears the 144,000 singing a song that only they can sing. They are described as virgins, because they did not commit adultery by worshiping other gods. They are described as firstfruits of the harvest.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:18
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
In the second part of the vision, John sees three angels flying through the air. These angels are messengers of the arrival of judgment to the earth. The first angel proclaims that all should fear God and give Him glory because the hour of judgment has come. The peoples on earth had been worshiping the Beast up until this point. They had refused to acknowledge Christ as their redeemer, but now they would have to bow down to God, the creator of all things.
The second angel announces the final fall of Babylon, who is likened to a prostitute. We will discuss more about Babylon in chapter 17-18.
The third angel pronounces the punishment that awaits anyone that received the mark of the Beast on their hand or forehead. Anyone that received the mark has given their allegiance to the Beast. They will receive the punishment of God's anger and they will be punished with burning sulfur forever.
The third part of the vision is an appeal to all people to stay faithful to Jesus. All those who die from John's time until the end are blessed and will rest.
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.[c]
Now the final part of the vision plays out. This is a vision in two parts. In the first part John sees one like the son of man seated on a cloud with a crown on His head and a sickle in His hand. An angels comes out of the temple and announces that the time to reap has come. The angel swings His sickle and harvests the earth. This angel could be Jesus and this scene could be describing the rapture. Jesus is waiting for the time decided upon by God.
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
This could also be an angel with a special mission. The 24 elders described earlier also wore gold crowns. This harvest could describe the final judgment of God on the earth. We are not told what the first harvest is.
In the second part of the vision another angel emerges from the temple with a sickle. An angel that is in charge of the fire tells him to harvest the grapes. This is the harvesting of the wicked, since we are told that the grapes were thrown into the wine press of God's wrath. We are told that they were trampled in the winepress outside the city, which correlates to the final battle on the plains of Armageddon, or Har Megiddo. Megiddo is located in the plain of Jezreel, a valley southwest of Nazareth. Here, it is thought by many, that the great final battle of Armageddon will be fought at the end of time. The final description is of the valley flowing with blood to the height of a horse's bridle for about 200 miles. This depicts the magnitude of the final battle.
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