Author: Jim Cantelon

Key Verse: Revelation 14:3a “And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders.”

John now shifts from a description of the beast and his worshippers (ch.13) to a description of the Lamb and His followers. Consistent with Old Testament expectation, the venue is Mount Zion. Micah, for instance, foresaw the day when God would gather the faithful remnant to Mount Zion and reign over them forever (Mic. 4:6-8). Joel and Isaiah also saw something similar (Joel 2:32; Is. 1:19-12; 40:1-46:13).

Who are these “144,000”? In chapter 7, we saw this number first mentioned and I underlined the importance of the symbolic numbering. the group in this chapter (ch.14) are probably the same people. In both chapters the 144,000 are sealed on their foreheads — in chapter 7, the substance of the seal is not mentioned, but in chapter 14 John tells us that the seal comprises the names of the Father and the Lamb. This seal, of course, is in direct contrast to the name (or number of the name) of the beast which was placed on the right hand or forehead of his worshippers in chapter 13.

The message to the worshippers of the beast is one of dire warning — they “will drink of the wine of God’s fury” and “will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb” (v.10). Usually we think of torment as the exclusive domain of Hell, but here we see the high view God has of our wilful choices and the total anger He has at those who choose to reject His Son. That’s why verse 13 has special meaning and warning: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

Key Verse: Revelation 13:8 “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”

Two “beasts” appear in this chapter. It is quite characteristic of apocalyptic visions for animals to symbolize human beings. In this instance, we see (in v.18) that the beast is a man, for he has a “man’s number”.

For many readers, the book of Revelation is dominated by the number “666”. And all kinds of attempts have been made to “calculate the number of the beast” to discover his identity, but I think John wants it to remain an enigma. It is beyond the scope of this brief commentary to review some of the more creditable efforts to unravel the mystery.

The important thing to keep in mind is the expectation of a powerful charismatic leader who will appear on the world stage and dominate it (or “exercise his authority” (v.5) for “forty-two months”). For that period of time he has total control “over every tribe, people, language and nation” (v.7). What is more, he has a side-kick who acts on his behalf with awesome signs and wonders (vv.13-15), so effective and intimidating that he is able to “deceive the inhabitants of the earth” (v.14). Why, he can even make a statue of his boss talk!

He also imposes a strict economic policy on the people of the world — so that only those who “receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead” are able to buy and sell (vv.16,17).

These two beasts have become known as the “Antichrist” and the “False Prophet”.

Key Verse: Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…”

In this chapter, we read of a “war in heaven” (vb.7) precipitated by an attempt by Satan to destroy the pre-existent Messiah — the “male cild, who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre” (v.5). One of the unusual aspects of this account is the use of the past tense. John writes of something that has already happened both in the heavenly and earthly realms.

In reading about Satan’s downfall (vv.8,9) one thinks of Jesus’ words in Luke 10:18, when He says to the seventy-two disciples He had sent out two by two, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” This may help us to understand why Satan now operates in the space/time realm of the created universe. It may also help us understand why this world and this age are so utterly evil. But it should also encourage us to know that Satan’s rule will not last forever, “his time is short” (v.12c).

We need to remember that Satan is not God, nor is he a black equivalent. He does not possess godlike attributes. He is not all-present. He is not all-knowing. He is not all-powerful. He is an enemy, but a defeated one. And in the interim, between his present “warring” and his future destruction, we can resist him “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of [our] testimony”.

Satan is powerless in the presence of the “Lamb. All those who by faith have placed themselves beneath the atoning blood of Christ are absolutely beyond the limited reach of this “accuser of the brethren”. As the old hymn says, we are “safe in the arms of Jesus”.

Key Verse: Revelation 11:15b “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord an of His Christ, and He will reign for ever and ever.”

As John’s vision continues, he is given a measuring device and is told to “measure the temple of God and the altar” and to “count the worshippers there” (v.1). He is also told not to measure the “outer court” because it has been given to “the Gentiles” who will “trample on the holy city for 42 months” (v.2). Then the speaker refers to “my two witnesses” (the speaker is not named but I think we can assume it is Jesus ) who will “prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (v.3).

John goes on to say that these two witnesses are “two olive trees” and “two lamp stands” who devour their enemies with fire that comes out of their mouths (vv.4,5). Then, in verse 6, he calls them men, and in verses 7-12 we see them killed by a “beast that comes up from the Abyss”, and after three and a half days, they are resurrected and ascend “up to heaven in a cloud”.

The witnesses are not named, so I won’t speculate as to their identity (although some3 commentators build a case for them being Elijah and Moses). The beast is also not named, but we do know that this beast is the first of four referred to in the vision. The other three were the dragon (or Satan, 12:3), the beast with ten horns and seven heads (13:1), and the beast with two horns who spoke like a dragon (13:11). Apart from the variety of description, all these beasts are committed enemies of God. In this chapter, many commentators identify this beast with the Antichrist.

But the key verse (v.15) is the focus of the chapter. The “kingdom of the world”, that is: Satan’s domain, will eventually give way to “the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ”. The Lamb will “begin to reign” (v.17).

Key Verse: Revelation 10:6b, 7 “‘There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets.'”

The key verse is a quote from a “mighty angel” who comes “down from heaven” (v.1). He is of immense size, his body “robed in a cloud”, with a “rainbow above this head”, his face shining “like the sun”, and his legs “like fiery pillars”. He places one foot on the sea and the other on the land, raises his hands to heaven, and shouts with a lion’s roar (vv.2,3).

To this point in Revelation, John has written as thought he were in heaven. Now, however, he is on earth (visions have a way of changing from one scene to another), and he is able to converse with this remarkable angel. Another aspect of the scene, which in the natural world would be incongruous, is perfectly in order in an apocalyptic vision — John, the human being (with human physical dimensions) not only converses with this immense angel, but is also able to take a scroll from the angel’s hand and “eat” it.

The scroll tastes “sweet” but turns John’s stomach “sour” (v.10). Its content has something to do with prophecy — for John is told, after eating it, that he “”must prophesy again about many peoples, nation, languages and kings” (v.11).

Perhaps the key ingredient in the scroll has to do with “the mystery of God [being] accomplished” after the seventh trumpet is blown (v.7). That mystery is very much related to “our Lord and…His Christ” who “will reign for ever and ever” (11.15).

Key Verse: Revelation 9:20a “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands…”

By now you’ve seen how difficult it is to try to analyze and systematize the content of apocalyptic writing. John is describing a vision, and in so doing is attempting the describe the indescribable. Scores of well-meaning attempts have been made over the years to tell us what John “re3ally meant”, but all such efforts should be taken with more than a grain of salt. Especially if the would-be interpreter is dogmatic about his interpretation!

This is why it’s refreshing from time to time in Revelation to come across material that hints at the purpose of the vision. Look at verses 20 and 21. These two sentences follow a description of two of the three remaining trumpet-disasters. The fifth trumpet precedes a fallen star unlocking “the shaft of the Abyss”, out of which a dense cloud of smoke produces a plague of tormenting locusts (vv.1-11). The sixth trumpet releases a supernatural army of 200 million who destroy a third of mankind. What’s the point of these cataclysmic horrors?

Apparently repentance is the point. Verses 20 and 21 tell us that the “work of [mankind’s] hands” are sufficient to bring heaven’s wrath upon the earth. That “work” is idolatry, murder, occultism, and sexual immorality. The scope of the disasters shows how enraged God is at sin. Were it not for the gracious work of Christ, mankind would have been destroyed long ago. That’s why we should repent of all sin now — while there is yet time.

Key Verse: Revelation 8:6 “Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.”

The seventh seal is opened and a half-hours silence follows (v.1). As the silence ends, John sees “seven angels who stand before God” being given “seven trumpets” (v.2). These seven angels haven’t been mentioned as yet, but they are probably some kind of personification of the “seven spirits” before the throne in 1:4. They are given seven trumpets and each angel in turn blows his trumpet.

But before they blow their trumpets another angel appears. One author calls him “the angel of worship”. He offers incense at the altar,  and it ascends “with the prayers of the saints…before Good” (v.4).

Here is what Lynn Harold Hough says about these events:

“It is remarkable that in the midst of all the rushing movement of the book of Revelation there is alway time to set each particular experience in rich and noble perspective. The hour of worship has its own rights amid all the heavenly events. Even God’s judgements are not apart from the saints. They include the prayers of the saints.” (Interpreter’s Bible Vol.12 p.425)

Then the trumpet disasters begin. First come hail and fire (v.7). Then a burning mountain falls into the sea (v.8) follows by a blazing star falling on the fresh waters (v.10). The result is a badly scorched earth, and polluted sea and land waters. Then a fourth trumpet reduces all day and night light in the heavens by a third (v.12).

The chapter ends with an eagle warning about the disasters yet to follow (v.13). There are still three trumpets to be blown.

Key Verse: Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Reading Revelations is like looking through a kaleidoscope. The colours, the patterns, the overall picture keeps changing — it seems in constant flux. Suddenly, the martyrs “under the altar” of 6:9 are now “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in fort of the Lamb” (7:9). Numbered month them are “144,000 from all the tribes of Israel” (v.4). — I say “numbered” loosely, for we’re reading about an apocalyptic vision here, and any number’s value is symbolic. (Even the naming of “all the tribes” bows to symbolism in this case, for the tribe of Dan is not mentioned. Instead of Dan is Manasseh — see Genesis 49.)

As the martyrs glorify God — “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (v.10) — the angels “around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures” (v.11a) fall down and worship (v.11b, 12).

In the middle of all this, a dialogue occurs between two people: John and “one of the elders” (v.13a). The elder asks John if he knows who these countless thousands are. Then he answers the question himself, telling John that “these are they who have come out of the great tribulation” (v.14a). They “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v.14b). And now, “the Lamb…will be their shepherd” (v.17). That first martyr Jesus, who gave HIs life that they might live “will lead them to springs of living water” (v.17b). The Lamb is a Shepherd.

Key Verse: Revelation 6:16, 17 “They called to the mountains and the  rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand?'”

The Lamb opens the first seal, releasing the first of seven plagues upon the earth. The imagery of the first four is powerfully vivid: horses of different colours and their riders, all symbolizing war and its tragic results. A white horse appears, its crowned rider holding a bow, and he rides out to conquer (probably representing an invader). Then a red horse, whose rider holds a large sword and the power to take peace from the earth, follows, Next, a black horse, its rider holding scales in his hand, enters. This rider announces an exorbitant price for wheat, indicating famine prices, the sorrowful result of war. The fourth is a pale horse, ridden by Death itself, symbolizing the disease and casualties of war and famine.

The fifth seal reveals the multitudes slain in war because of their “testimony” (v.9). They call loudly for vengeance and are told to be patient.

The opening of the sixth seal introduces ominous cosmic disaster: a great earthquake, a blackened sun, a blood-red moon, falling stars, and a vanishing sky (vv.12-14). Every human being on earth is so terrified that all of them seek sudden death — not for fear of the disasters, but for fear of Him who precipitates them: the one “who sits on the throne…and the Lamb.” The issue is not the apparent anger of nature. The issue is the very real wrath of the Father and the Lamb at all unrighteousness and injustice. The “great day of their wrath has come”, and in light of their judgments and man’s accountability, “who can stand?”

Key Verse:  Revelation 5:9 “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and with Your blood You purchased men for God from every trice and language and people and nation.”

John now sees a “scroll” in “the right hand of Him who sat on the throne” (v.1). It has writing on both sides and is sealed with seven seals. The value of its message is so great that o one “in heaven or on earth” can break the seals and read it (v.3). John laments, but then hears one of the elders say, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” (v.5).

But, rather than a Lion, John sees a Lamb, “looking as if it had bee slain, standing in the centre of the throne” (v.6). The multi-dimensional factor is very evident here, in that “the one who sat on the throne” (v.1, 7b) is still sitting there even while the Lamb is at the “centre of the throne”. His “seven horns ad seven eyes” represent “the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (v.6). The “seven spirits” were previously described as seven lamps, but in this instance there may be a reflection of the of the seven eyes of God in Zechariah 4:10, “which range throughout the earth”.

The seven horns speak of power — omnipotence. The seven eyes speak of knowledge — omniscience. The Lamb of God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is, in every way very God. He is the only one “worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals” (v.9). He and the one “who sits on the throne” are one. The hosts of heaven sing, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, forever an ever!” (v.13). The Lamb is worthy.

Key Verse: Revelation 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.”

The vision continues. Here we see the “throne room” of heaven. It’s a key description for a number of reasons, not the least of them being that this “throne room” is the main “set” of the drama. For  interests sake, you might try drawing the set as it’s described in verses 1-6. Probably you’ll do what I did — you’ll draw in two dimensions (a flat picture, rather like a disk). But try something else: try drawing it, or imagining it, in three dimensions (like a sphere) — the difference will be rather like that between a square and a cube. And don’t forget, our interpretations will always be less than satisfactory, for John is attempting to describe something that’s indescribable.

The main elements of the description are:

(a) a throne

(b) someone on the throne

(c) a rainbow around the throne

(d) 24 other thrones around the throne

(e) 24 elders on these thrones

(f) seven lamps before the throne

(g) a glass sea before the throne

(h) four creatures around the throne

Add to this the colours of jasper, carnelian, rainbow, white, gold, and crystal — all lit with flashes of lightening and vibrating with peals of thunder, and you have three-dimensional description, It’s an awesome picture.

But the key factor in this picture is the verbal message: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is, and is to come” (v.8b). We’re dealing here with God the Father Himself. The only adequate response is prostration (v.10). No description can even come close.