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Revelation 14

KJV · Chapter 14/22

1And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

3And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

4These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

5And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

8And there followed 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.

9And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

14And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

15And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

19And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The Lamb appears on Mount Zion with the 144,000 who are sealed, singing a new song, while three angels successively proclaim the eternal gospel, the fall of Babylon, and a warning against worshiping the beast. The chapter ends with two symbolic harvests, one of grain and one of grapes, representing final judgment.

Explanation

This chapter functions as a direct counterpoint to chapter 13: while the beast demands worship through a mark and force, the Lamb voluntarily gathers his faithful followers, marked with God's name, showing two opposing and mutually exclusive loyalties. The three angels announcing successive messages — the eternal gospel for every nation, the fall of 'Babylon' (a symbol of corrupt and oppressive world systems), and the warning about the consequences of worshiping the beast — summarize the entire moral message of the book in miniature. The image of the grape harvest trampled 'in the great winepress of the wrath of God,' with blood rising to the horses' bridles, uses extreme apocalyptic hyperbole to convey the absolute seriousness of the final judgment against persistent injustice. Today's application is that, faced with social pressure to conform to evil, the faithful are called to persevere in loyalty to God, whatever the cost.

Fun facts

  • The term 'Babylon' used here and in later chapters (14:8) does not refer to the historic city, which had already ceased to exist as a power centuries earlier, but was a common code name among first-century Jews and Christians for Rome, the oppressive empire of the time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Revelation 14:1In direct contrast with the mark of the beast from the previous chapter, the Lamb appears with the 144,000 (already introduced in chapter 7) marked on the forehead with His name and the Father's, not with the number of the beast.
  2. Revelation 14:2The voice from heaven, compared to many waters and to a great thunder, but also described as the sound of harpers, mixes overwhelming force with musical beauty in the same scene.
  3. Revelation 14:3Only those who had lived through the same experience as the hundred and forty-four thousand could understand that song, a way of describing a testimony so specific that it cannot simply be repeated without having lived it.
  4. Revelation 14:4This passage is usually read symbolically, as purity and faithfulness, avoiding a kind of spiritual unfaithfulness with idols, rather than as a literal requirement about marital status. Christian traditions disagree on how literally to take this image.
  5. Revelation 14:5This describes the character of this group with two qualities: complete sincerity (“in their mouth was found no guile”) and blameless conduct before God.
  6. Revelation 14:6An angel appears announcing an “everlasting gospel” to every nation, tongue, and people - a universal message, unlike the geographic limits of the earlier plagues.
  7. Revelation 14:7The content of this message is direct: fear God, give Him glory, because the hour of judgment has come; the description of God as creator of heaven, earth, sea, and springs of water echoes the language used in the Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20.
  8. Revelation 14:8This is the first mention of ‘Babylon’ as a nickname, explained in more detail later in chapters 17 and 18, for a great, corrupt city that seduces the nations. The earliest Jewish readers already associated this name with the empire that had destroyed the temple in Jerusalem centuries before.
  9. Revelation 14:9A third angel follows with an even more serious warning, directed specifically at those who worship the beast and receive its mark.
  10. Revelation 14:10The pairing of fire and brimstone echoes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, becoming the Bible's standard image for describing divine judgment.
  11. Revelation 14:11This describes the consequence of that act as a torment without end and without rest, a direct contrast with the rest promised to the faithful a few verses later.
  12. Revelation 14:12This repeats almost the same expression used in chapter 13 about the patience of the saints, now linking that perseverance to obedience to God's commandments and to faith in Jesus.
  13. Revelation 14:13A voice from heaven declares blessed those who die “in the Lord” from that moment on, promising rest from the struggles described in the previous chapters.
  14. Revelation 14:14The title Son of man, used here with authority, comes from the vision in Daniel 7. The sickle uses the image of the harvest, the natural marker of the end of an agricultural cycle, to describe a moment of reckoning.
  15. Revelation 14:15An angel coming out of the heavenly temple orders the harvest to begin, using the agricultural image of a ripe crop to describe the right moment for judgment.
  16. Revelation 14:16The command from the previous verse is carried out at once: the sickle is thrust in and the earth is reaped.
  17. Revelation 14:17This introduces another angel, also with a sharp sickle, coming out of the same heavenly temple, setting up the second harvest scene that follows.
  18. Revelation 14:18An angel connected to the fire of the altar (perhaps the same altar mentioned in earlier chapters) calls for the harvest of grapes, an image separate from the grain harvest, usually read as a specific scene of judgment against those who oppose God.
  19. Revelation 14:19The winepress was where grapes were trodden to become wine, and here it becomes a violent image of judgment. The exaggerated scale - blood rising high and stretching a thousand and six hundred furlongs - is typical of apocalyptic literature, which uses extreme numbers for emphasis, not a literal geographic measurement.
  20. Revelation 14:20The exaggerated scale - blood rising up to the horses' bridles over a huge distance - is typical of apocalyptic language, which uses extreme numbers to convey the seriousness of a judgment, not a literal geographic measurement.

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