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Revelation 14:1-5:

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. 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. 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. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

The implication is that 144,000 is not just a literal number, but a vast multitude. There are two passages in the book of Revelation and two passages in the New Testament that deal with the 144,000. We touched the first passage in our last study, which is Revelation 7. This presents the 144,000 in the context of a question, and the question is, “Who will be able to stand the events preceding and leading up to the second coming of Christ?“ And, as you know, the events preceding the second coming of Christ is the great tribulation, the war of Armageddon. And, of course, the coming of Christ is also a tremendous event because Christ will not come with His glory veiled, but He will come in the full glory of His divinity.

Now I would like to turn to Revelation 14. You will notice here that the implication is the 144,000 are a vast multitude. Now, in Revelation 14 we are told the context of how the 144,000 will be produced. What will produce the 144,000? And the context of this section is the Three Angels’ Message. It is the Three Angels’ Message — which is righteousness by faith or Christ our righteousness — which will produce the 144,000.

The three angels’ message can be described as the sealing message. It is a message that will prepare a people for the last days and the coming of Christ. It is also, as we shall see in our study, a message that is God’s final call to a doomed world to accept His Son Jesus Christ. But I want now to look at the first five verses which describes the 144,000. Look at verse 1:

Then I looked...

Notice, John is not hearing, but he’s doing what? He’s looking. Remember we saw in Revelation 7, that when he heard, the people were scattered, but when he looked they were together in heaven. And you will notice that chapter 14 of Revelation is dealing with the 144,000 who have now arrived in heaven, and we shall see that by several statements here. Revelation 14:1:

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion

[this is the coming of Christ]

, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

The same concept is in chapter 7; this means that they have the mind of Christ. Now, in chapter 14, this name in their forehead, which is the seal of God, is contrasted with the mark of the beast. Look at verse 9. You will discover that there’s a contrast here, the second half of Revelation 14:

...If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand....

Please notice, there are two marks. One is the seal of God on the forehead, which is having the mind of Christ, and the other one is the mark of the beast. Okay, what this verse is saying, and what this passage is saying, is that when the Three Angels’ Message is preached, it will divide the human race into only two camps. There will be nobody sitting on the fence, there will be only two camps: the believers and the unbelievers. As Christ mentioned once (Matthew 12:30):

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

There will be only two camps. Those who are for Christ will have surrendered themselves to the cross of Christ. They will say, “I am crucified with Christ. I am living, it is not I, but Christ.”

The other ones will cry out, “Crucify Him!” Okay, so there’s only two camps. Now the Bible describes these two groups in many ways: sheep and goats, the righteous and the wicked, those who build their house on the rock and those who build their house on the sand, the children of light and the children of darkness, and it goes on. You will find this dual description all through the New Testament. Now turn to verse 2, and please notice what John hears. He sees in verse 1 the 144,000 before the Lamb of God, now in verse 2 he hears. What does he hear?

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.