Revelation 14:1-20 Comments by Stephen Ricker
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Take Your Sickle and Reap
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I. The Lamb and the 144,000 (14:1-5)

The Lamb Mount Zion New Song Three Angles

* The drawing is called "The Lamb Mount Zion New Song Three Angles". It was in the "September 1522 Luther Bible", the first Bible translated into German. Luther's New Testament was published in September of 1522, with a second edition coming out in December of the same year both adorned with woodcut illustrations by Lucas Cranach.

>1. Who is the Lamb? (1, 5:6, 7:14)

* Revelation 14:1 "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."

* Revelation 5:6 "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth."

* Revelation 7:14 "I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

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>Why is Jesus referred to as the Lamb so many times in this book?

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>How is the song of praise described in verses 2 and 3?

* Revelation 14:2-3 "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. 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."

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>2. What does it mean that the 144,000 did not defile themselves with women? (4)

* Revelation 14:4 "These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb."

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>What is a firstfruits?

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>3. Why might what we say be important to our relationship to Jesus?

* Revelation 14:5 "No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless."

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>What does being blameless imply?

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II. The Three Angels (14:6-13)

The Destruction of Babylon

* The drawing is called "The Destruction of Babylon". It was in the "September 1522 Luther Bible", the first Bible translated into German. Luther's New Testament was published in September of 1522, with a second edition coming out in December of the same year both adorned with woodcut illustrations by Lucas Cranach.

>4. What is the gospel? (6)

* Revelation 14:6 "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."

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>What does the fact that it is eternal mean?

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>Is anyone exempt from the effect of the gospel?

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>5. What is the fear of God and why is it good? (7)

* Revelation 14:7 "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."

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>Who made everything? (John 1:1-3, 14)

* John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."

* John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

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>6. What was and is Babylon? (8; Dan. 1:1, 2:36-45)

* Revelation 14:8 "A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."

* Daniel 1:1 "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it."

* Daniel 2:36-45 "This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron--for iron breaks and smashes everything--and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands--a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy."

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>What is its maddening wine?

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>7. What is the result of those who worship the wrong identity? (9-10)

* Revelation 14:9-10 "A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb."

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>What does it mean that the smoke rises for ever? (11)

* Revelation 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

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>Is it easy to live by faith in Jesus? (12)

* Revelation 14:12 "This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus."

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>What will happen to those who do not remain faithful to Jesus?

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>What does it mean that our deeds follow us?

* Revelation 14:13 "Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: 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."

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III. The Harvest (14:14-20)

Harvest

* The drawing is called "The Harvest". It was in the "September 1522 Luther Bible", the first Bible translated into German. Luther's New Testament was published in September of 1522, with a second edition coming out in December of the same year both adorned with woodcut illustrations by Lucas Cranach.

>8. What did the angel on the cloud look like? (14)

* Revelation 14:14 "I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand."

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>What is a sickle and when is it used? (15)

* Revelation 14:15 "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."

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>How is this sickle used? (16; Mark 4:26-29)

* Revelation 14:16 "So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested."

* Mark 4:26-29 "He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

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>9. Why use two sickles? (17; Matt. 13:30)

* Revelation 14:17 "Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle."

* Matthew 13:30 "Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

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>What is the difference between wheat and weeds that look like wheat (tares, darnel)?

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>What can we learn about being a true follower of Jesus? (Matt. 3:8; John 15:8)

* Matthew 3:8 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

* John 15:8 "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

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>10. Who is depicted as grapes throughout the Bible? (18; 3:14-15, 5:3-4; John 15:5)

* Revelation 14:18 "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."

* Isaiah 3:14-15 "The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty."

* Isaiah 5:3-4 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?"

* John 15:5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

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>What then is the second angle doing? (19-20)

* Revelation 14:19 "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. 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.""

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