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 remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Revelation 14:1-5

As we begin chapter 14, I would like to point out that the chapter is divided into three parts beginning with verse 1, and then at verse 6 and verse 14. We can see the section breaks with “then I looked” (v. 1), “then I saw” (v. 6) and “I looked and…” (v. 14) clearly showing John’s structure.

This first part is easy to understand, in contrast with some of the passages we have just been through, since we already are familiar with the images being used. Of course, I will once again begin with the reminder that this is not a literal passage, and is intended to be understood figuratively.

We open with the Lamb (Jesus) standing on Mount Zion which was the location of the Temple, God’s dwelling place in the Old Testament. Often it was used in the figurative sense in places such as Psalm 125:1. In the New Testament, it is associated with heaven, as in Hebrews 12:22: “ But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly”. Thus, we open with Jesus in heaven.

Along with Jesus in heaven, we once again have the 144,000 who as we have already seen represent the redeemed. I’m sure that you will recall that even though 144,000 was the number that represents the redeemed in Christ, it is not literally limited to 144,000; the full and literal number of redeemed may well be in the billions.

This great multitude of the redeemed are singing a “new song”, and as we have already seen, this represents their status as the redeemed at the culmination of the Church at the time of Jesus’ return. The sound of their singing is extremely loud, like roaring waters of peals of thunder, yet it is sweet like harpists playing their harps. Only those who are redeemed in Christ can sing it, and boy, are they singing! There they are, before the throne with the living creatures and the elders, just as we saw earlier…

The only questionable part of this passage is found in verses 4 and 5. Again, remember this isn’t a literal passage, it is an apocalyptic image! These were virgins who were “not defiled” with women… what could this mean? It doesn’t mean that only virgins go to heaven, that’s for sure. Keep reading: They follow the Lamb wherever He goes, they are “blameless” and there is no “lie” found in their mouths. This is because they have had their sins taken away. Often we speak of atonement of sins or forgiveness, but to be honest, few Christians seem to fully comprehend what Jesus did for us: He took our sins away entirely. It isn’t just that He paid the price for our sins, they are gone; there remains no record of our having ever sinned at all. That is what John is showing us here: Accept God’s grace, and the entire record of our sins is gone.

These are the “firstfruits” of God, belonging only to God. You may recognize the Old Testament parallel that John is using here (cf. EX 23:19; Num. 18:12). In the Old Testament, the firstfruits were set aside for God, the rest belonged to the people; there was a separation between the firstfruits and everything else. This image is telling us that to be in Christ is to be His firstfruits, set apart for God (actually ‘purchased by God’ would be more accurate); everyone else is not of God. We can see this in such New Testament passages as James 1:18:

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

See also Matt. 9:37; 13:30; Luke 10:2; John 4:35; Rev. 14:14 ff.

Thus, chapter 14 begins with the redeemed in heaven singing a new song before the throne, but there are still two more parts to go!