Revelation 14:2, commentary and pictures

John heard in heaven a mighty voice like rushing water and loud thunder joined with the sound of harp players playing their harps, where the Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 before the throne.
The scene belongs to the closing work that began when Christ entered the most holy place to finish the atonement, with the warning of the third angel now being given before the Son of man comes to reap the harvest.
The 144,000 are the redeemed from the earth who have the Father's name in their foreheads, keep God's commandments and the faith of Jesus, and get the victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name.
Their new song before the throne is the song of their own deliverance, which no one else can learn, because they are translated alive, come out of great tribulation and the time of trouble, and stand without fault before God.
They are given golden harps and crowns and white robes, and join with skillful hands and grateful voices in rich praise to Him who washed them in His blood and made them kings and priests to God.

Verse Context and Timing

The verse belongs to the closing work that began when Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing atonement, the warning of the third angel, and immediately after whose proclamation the Son of man is seen coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth. It is part of the last message of mercy committed to Christ's servants for that closing work.

The chapter is one of deep interest whose messages will soon be understood in all their bearings and repeated with distinct utterance. Its three angels' messages will be proclaimed with great power, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of salvation and God's glory. It symbolizes the present duty to proclaim the message everywhere and to prepare the world for its final, powerful appeal.

The chapter contains the first, second, and third angels' messages, of which the first and second have been proclaimed in years past and the third is now being given to fallen churches. They were given as light after the disappointment, together with light on the sanctuary question and the Sabbath truth. That light explained what was accomplished on the tenth day of the seventh month, to help believers understand the event and continue waiting and watching in faith and patience. The third angel's message includes the other two messages and in its proclamation makes prominent the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, as a solemn warning entrusted to God's people as watchmen and light-bearers to warn the world and to guard against anything hindering its progress. It was present truth given to the cities of the East, carried from city to city and from town to town, shining light on the pathway of scattered believers concerning the near advent of the Lord, which some received gladly while others turned from the light and lost their hold on God and on His truth. Several messages in the chapter were to be proclaimed before the Lord's advent, not the judgment-hour message alone.

The verse stands within the prophecies of Revelation 12 to 18 that are being fulfilled. It belongs to the last message of warning that all are to hear. The second angel's message was first preached in the summer of 1844 and applied especially to churches in the United States that had rejected the Advent warning, but Babylon's fall was not then complete and will be fulfilled fully only when apostasy and the church's union with the world reach their culmination.

The chapter is to be studied in connection with the conflict over worship described in Revelation 13, warning against worshiping the beast and its image or receiving its mark, and identifying God's people as those who keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus. It presents the special movement of the messages in relation to the past and the future, including Christ's closing work in heaven and the work of His people on earth. Its truths confirm faith in the messages' past work and warn God's people against deception.

Heavenly Voice and Harps

The sound from heaven is like many waters and like great thunder, together with harpers harping with their harps, heard where the Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 having His Father's name in their foreheads. It accompanies the new song sung before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders, which no one can learn except the 144,000 redeemed from the earth. This scene belongs to the representation of God's people in the last days, whose character is joined to the proclamation and practice of the everlasting gospel and the third angel's message. The hope of standing with Christ in that company gives strength to endure opposition.

The heavenly sound is mighty, powerful, and majestic, like many waters and great thunder joined by harp music. It is voices and harps producing music unlike anything heard on earth. It celebrates the joy and glory of the promised land, where the saints continually praise God and fill heaven with praise to the triumphant Lamb on golden harps. In the Holy City the harps and singing reflect joyful praise, as heaven expresses its harmony and gladness when the saints are trusting and praising God, with angels and saints singing together with harps.

The sound is also sweet, merciful, compassionate, and filled with holy joy, like many musical instruments in perfect harmony. It accompanies victory and sacred rejoicing and thanksgiving of those who have endured severe struggle and remained faithful. As the shaken company gains the victory it moves them to gratitude and sacred joy.

The voice from heaven is also God's voice speaking at midnight to deliver His people. It comes from a clear place of indescribable glory in the midst of angry heavens, shaking heaven and earth as He manifests His power. The wicked behold its tokens with terror and amazement while the righteous behold them with solemn joy, amid the sun appearing shining in its strength and signs and wonders following in quick succession. Its sound is like many waters and its words declare that it is done. Those who died faithful to the third angel's message and kept the Sabbath are raised and glorified to hear God make His covenant of peace with those who kept His law.

The scene forms part of a connected sequence of past, present, and future events ending in the complete redemption of the 144,000. It is set in the glorious future home of the redeemed, where they praise God in triumph with Christ on Mount Zion. There martyrs slain for Jesus and an innumerable company of little ones are seen, and the 144,000 are told that only they may enter the temple, to which the company shouts Alleluia. No further explanation of the voices or harps is given beyond that setting.

Identity of the 144,000

The verse shows the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 having His Father's name in their foreheads, redeemed from the earth. From heaven like many waters and like great thunder comes the sound of harpers harping with their harps, accompanying the new song sung before the throne and before the four beasts and elders. That new song belongs to the 144,000 alone, and no one else can learn it because only they were redeemed from the earth. They are marked as without guile in their mouth and without fault before the throne of God.

Only the 144,000 enter the glorious temple on the mount. The temple stands on Mount Zion surrounded by seven other mountains where roses and lilies grow, where beautifying trees of every kind stand about it, and where little ones climb or fly to pluck never-fading flowers. It is supported by seven pillars of transparent gold set with glorious pearls, and inside are tables of stone with the names of the 144,000 engraved in letters of gold. The scene includes martyrs slain for Jesus and an innumerable company of little ones, and as the company is about to enter Jesus raises His lovely voice and declares that only the 144,000 enter this place, while the rest answer with Alleluia.

The 144,000 are not Jews who will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah. That idea must be changed or modified before one can be sent out to present the truth to others, and the passage about the 144,000 must be set forth according to the views held as a people. Identifying them as those raised at Christ's resurrection is an error that must be rejected in favor of unity on the third angel's message.

Those sealed to be with that company who die beforehand rest in death in the grave through the time of trouble. They come up at the voice of God to stand upon the earth with the 144,000. Their death is rest and results in good, so there is no need to mourn for them except for the living's present loss of being deprived of their company. The vision concerns the faithful who will be privileged to visit and view the worlds God has made. After the saints are threatened with death during Jacob's trouble they are delivered by the voice of God, and the triumph of the 144,000 is seen with faces lit and shining with the glory of God amid heavenly praise accompanied by harps.

Character and Final Victory

The voice like many waters and thunder with harpers belongs to the portrayal of the character of God's people for the last days, whose character is joined to proclaiming the everlasting gospel and practicing it in true missionary work after God's wisdom. That work is carrying the third angel's message to the whole world in clear, straight lines and in its distinctive features. The company in Revelation 14:1-5 is a number to belong to, clothed with Christ's salvation and living in connection with Him.

They are those who keep His commandments and have the faith of Jesus. They are the loyal and true who do not bow to decrees of earthly rulers against the authority of the King of heaven. They are called to worship God as Creator, with the fourth commandment identifying the seventh-day Sabbath as memorial and sign of creative power and of loyalty to Him.

They have the Father's name in their foreheads because in this world their minds were consecrated to God and they served Him with intellect and with heart. They stand girt for holy service, clothed in white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, as first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Following Him in heaven requires having first followed Him on earth in trustful, loving, willing, confident obedience as the flock follows the shepherd, not fretfully or capriciously. They do not go in and out as those who beg a place, but reign forever as His children welcomed to inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world and to enter into the joy of their Lord.

Their speech is free from guile and they stand blameless before God. That following excludes bruising and imprisoning fellow men, humiliating them, grieving and oppressing them, and binding, condemning, and causing suffering to body and mind to compel worship of an idol sabbath without one text of Scripture for its authority.

They stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion bearing the Father's name instead of the beast's mark, having gotten victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name. They hold the harps of God on the sea of glass mingled with fire before the throne and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. The sound like many waters and like great thunder is their harp-playing and singing before the throne.

Their new song is a song of deliverance belonging only to them because it is the song of their own experience as those translated alive from the earth. They came out of great tribulation, passed through the time of trouble such as never was and the time of Jacob's trouble, and stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. They washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, were found without guile and without fault, and were delivered to hunger no more nor thirst nor suffer heat but to be fed by the Lamb and led to living fountains of waters with all tears wiped away.

In contrast, professed Christians who give to a man-made institution the glory and honor due to God's Sabbath day and compel others to worship that idol are idolaters not sealed by God. As unrepentant despisers of God's law they will be visited with retributive judgments poured out without mixture of mercy. The sealed people uphold the Sabbath of the fourth commandment given as the memorial of creation in Eden against the determined effort to destroy it and to institute a spurious sabbath in its place to bring worldwide apostasy against God's law.

The faithful and loyal subjects who keep His law in contrast with those who worship the false sabbath are reined up by the churches, deprived of liberty of conscience, brought before magistrates and judges, sentenced, delivered into prison and the chain gang, and condemned to death. Their persecutors show determined and obstinate contempt for the laws of Jehovah. The hope of standing with Christ on Mount Zion gives strength to endure opposition, and that vision remains the hope for all who become overcomers.

Those who make up this company are characterized by deep consecration and unity, for which united labor prepares them.

Warnings and Present Mission

The verse belongs to the messages of the first, second, and third angels by which God has separated His church in this day from the churches and from the world to stand as a light in the earth in sacred nearness to Himself. The three angels represent the people who accept the light of God's messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Made the depositaries of His law and entrusted with the great truths of prophecy for this time as a sacred trust like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, they are to communicate them to the world. To every soul that accepts Jesus the cross of Calvary shows the worth of the soul and lays the commission to preach the gospel to every creature as the light of the world, an all-important work for time far-reaching as eternity that nothing is to be permitted to hinder, actuated by the love Jesus manifested in His sacrifice for redemption.

The verse stands in the chapter containing the first, second, and third angels' messages, where the first and second have been proclaimed in years past and the third is now being given to fallen churches. The third angel's message includes the other two messages of Revelation 14 and its proclamation makes prominent the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, a solemn warning message entrusted to God's people as watchmen and light-bearers to warn the world and to guard against anything hindering its progress. That message of Revelation 14 is now to be proclaimed not only in lands far off but in neglected places close by where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved. God is calling His people to this long-delayed work at this time, and the work in the cities is to be regarded as of special importance, with decided efforts to enlighten those never yet warned by carefully selected workers laboring two and two in harmony with the counsel of experienced leaders under the direction and commission of Jesus Christ.

The chapter contains special messages of warning that call God's people out from the world and are not secondary to medical missionary work. Those who have heard these messages are to come to their senses and make their lives an expression of genuine faith and spirituality. They are to gain an experience very different from that of the Jewish nation who rejected the Bible prophecies of Christ's coming and chose their own way.

Heavenly Reward Promised

The redeemed are seen on the sea of glass after ascending together in the cloud for seven days, where Jesus with His own right hand places crowns on their heads and gives them harps of gold and palms of victory. They stand in a perfect square, clothed with a glorious white mantle from shoulders to feet, some crowns very bright and others less so, some heavy with stars and others with few, yet all perfectly satisfied with their crowns. Angels are all about them as they march over the sea of glass to the gate of the city, where Jesus lays hold of the pearly gate, swings it back, and receives those who washed their robes in His blood and stood stiffly for His truth, and they march in with a perfect right in the city. The heavenly harp music is the music the redeemed themselves make as heaven's arches ring.

Gathered in a hollow square about Christ in majesty before entering the city of God, each holds a shining harp in the hand Jesus has placed there. When the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the strings with skillful touch, awakening sweet music in rich, melodious strains. That music thrills every heart with unutterable rapture and joins every voice in grateful praise to Him that loved them and washed them from sins in His own blood and made them kings and priests unto God. The redeemed thus play harps and raise grateful praise in rich, perfect strains, filling heaven with songs to the Lamb. That triumph welcomes Christ the victorious King and the redeemed washed in the blood of the Lamb, reflecting the joyous and bright music of the saints' eternal home with their Saviour forever near, which God's people will soon hear when the King from heaven appears in glory to bring them there, rejoicing over the gift of everlasting life.

Angels also take part in that heavenly music, for the harps of the heavenly land are associated with angels singing. Angels play harps with care in heavenly, divine music, with one leading by sounding the first note and the others joining together in rich harmony, and their faces shine with the glory of Jesus. Their playing is perfectly ordered and harmonious, careful and beautiful, reflecting the glory of Jesus.

When Jesus comes escorted by ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, the dead are raised with corruptible putting on incorruption and mortal putting on immortality, crying victory over death and the grave. As the redeemed ascend, the gates of the city swing back for those who kept the truth, and a voice richer than any mortal music welcomes them to inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, and the righteous receive lives that run parallel with the life of Jehovah. Then they cast their crowns at the Redeemer's feet, touch the golden harps, and fill all heaven with rich, sweetest music. This belongs to those who fight the battles of this life and gain victory day by day, who love Jesus and give to Him what He bought with His own blood at infinite price and do not reject Him, after gaining the crown of everlasting life and hearing the benediction of entrance into the joy of the Lord, with seeing God's face in eternal life, as Christ gave His life to make possible their forming characters after the divine similitude.

Inside the New Jerusalem every harp is tuned to the praise of God, belonging only to sanctified lives that measure with the life of Christ, for no sinner will be there. Heaven once had a sinner in Satan, but there was war in heaven and Satan and his followers were overcome and cast out, and no other sinner will be allowed to enter. Once inside those gates there will be no tempting devil to come to them and no wrong thought will arise in their minds, and songs will go forth unto God in the heavenly courts when the gates are thrown open, the harp put in their hands, and the crown placed on their brows. Living by faith now and carrying out the principles of Bible truth from point to point is the way to reach that welcome and everlasting life.

The golden harp and crown are given to faithful children and families who enter together unbroken. When the gates are thrown back upon glittering hinges and the nations that have kept the truth enter in, the golden harp is placed in the hands of the children of faithful parents who learned the beauty of holiness at home, and a crown of gold is placed upon their brows, and music and rejoicing and triumph go forth in the city of God. Children brought to Christ are welcomed with rejoicing when the gates swing open for those who have kept the truth, with harps of gold placed in their hands to fill all heaven with rich music, singing the song of redemption in praise and thanksgiving. This is given only to overcomers who keep hold of God by living faith in a living God, fitted for immortal life to enter through the gates into the city to go no more out, including children who please Him by being gentle and kind and obedient, pleasant and of beautiful character, to play upon beautiful harps forever with crowns of gold in an always happy life where they will never fall down or be sick, and children brought to a life that measures with God's life.

Faithful workers in the kingdom of glory in the world to come receive a harp of gold with a crown placed on every brow and sing the triumphs of the grace of Christ. Overcomers arrive in the New Jerusalem with shining faces and musical harps, heaven resounding with the songs of joy of the redeemed, where one after another of those who were helped will say to those who helped them that without them they would not be there, as the result of helping each other and making the Christ-life real within. That triumph includes seeing souls saved through personal influence for Christ, following holy angels as they touch their harps and singing the song of triumph, and that seeing is happiness. The harps of gold belong with crowns laid up for the conquerors, the white linen which is the righteousness of Christ, the palm branches of victory, and the pure heavenly mansions Christ has gone to prepare for His children.

Those mansions can be valued only by the redeemed who are made meet for them by the inward work of grace transforming earthly, worldly tastes to the divine and heavenly. Harps alone cannot make heaven a place of bliss for anyone, for heaven would be no heaven if tastes and meditations and temper are not Christlike. Without any of these outward things, those with pure and holy characters would be happy because they have Jesus and His love, for purity and innocence and conformity to Christ's character make heaven enjoyable, strengthening all faculties in harmony, and perfect bliss can dwell only in the heart where Christ reigns supreme, the end for which Christ came to die, the Just for the unjust, to elevate men and women and stamp His divine image upon them.

The reward belongs to the humble and obedient whom Christ covers with His robe of righteousness, welcomed by Jesus Christ as they enter in through the gates into the city, given harps of gold to sing to His glory, and clothed in robes woven in the loom of heaven with not one thread of humanity in them. It belongs to those forgiven again and again upon repentance and at last brought off victorious through Him who loved them and washed them in His own blood, who will live from everlasting to everlasting to sing the song of praise to the Lamb in a place where there is no more trial, affliction, pain, or death. It belongs to those who love Jesus and give to Him what He bought with His own blood at infinite price, who at last cast their crowns at Jesus' feet and touch golden harps and fill all heaven with sweetest music after receiving the blessing to inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. It belongs to those who form characters after the divine similitude through Christ's sacrifice, touching the golden harp and filling all heaven with rich music after gaining the crown, casting it at the Redeemer's feet, hearing entrance into the Lord's joy, seeing God's face in eternal life, and making heaven's arches ring with songs of redeeming love.

The harp represents beautiful joyful music where the saved will be happy always, free from sickness, falling, and temptation. They touch glorious golden harps until heaven's arches ring with praise, offering praise and thanksgiving to God on the throne in their promised home. Their joy in heaven is so great that former trials seem small beside the glory surrounding them, rejoicing over the gift of everlasting life and partaking of the divine nature through the Lamb's sacrifice, receiving eternal life and a golden harp when welcomed into God's kingdom. The saints continually praise God in the heavenly land of everlasting life, with the harps of the heavenly company accompanying their songs, and parents may stand before the Lord with their children holding harps and singing praise to God and the Lamb.

Worship and Daily Application

Music is part of God's worship in the courts above, where heavenly choirs sing in harmony, and those on earth in their songs of praise should endeavor to approach that harmony as nearly as possible, making proper training of the voice an important feature of education that should not be neglected. The heavenly music is a powerful, harmonious sound of harpers playing their harps, and the heavenly musicians play with care and order, one leading by sounding the first note and the others joining in perfect melody. This heavenly harmony is the standard toward which singing on earth should strive, for correct, harmonious singing glorifies God, benefits the church, and favorably affects unbelievers.

Parents must turn from parties, pleasure excursions, dances, and worldly music parties and train their children for salvation so they can share the reward of the faithful children fitted for immortal life. After preparation for the grand review they will enter through the gates into the city to go no more out, the crown of life will be placed upon their brow, and they will have a harp of gold to sing praises to God.

Living by faith now and carrying out the principles of Bible truth from point to point, measuring with Christ's life and seeking the divine likeness in this life, is the way to reach that welcome and everlasting life. The gates will be thrown open and the redeemed welcomed in, the harp will be put in their hands and the crown placed on their brows, and then songs will go forth unto God in the heavenly courts. The harps are golden harps placed in the hands of overcomers, who will live from everlasting to everlasting to sing the song of praise to the Lamb. This belongs to those forgiven again and again upon repentance and at last brought off victorious through Him who loved them and washed them in His own blood, in a place where there is no more trial, affliction, pain, or death, and once inside those gates there will be no tempting devil to come to them and no wrong thought will arise in their minds.

Vision Setting Affirmed

John's view is of Christ in heaven. There the Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the hundred and forty and four thousand. In that heavenly scene before the throne is heard the voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice of great thunder, with the voice of harpers harping with their harps.