20250612

martyrs and the future

Revelation 14:1-20

Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and noticed the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
Revelation 14:2 I heard a sound from the sky like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps.
Revelation 14:3 They sang a new song before the throne and before the four animals and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
Revelation 14:5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another agent flying high overhead, with the permanent gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the land – to every nation, tribe, language, and people.
Revelation 14:7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made the sky and the land, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:8 And another, a second agent, followed, saying, “She has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen. She made all the nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”
Revelation 14:9 And another, a third agent, followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the wild animal and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Revelation 14:10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is poured full strength into the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the sacred agents and in the sight of the Lamb,
Revelation 14:11 and the smoke of their torment will go up for ages and ages. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the wild animal and its image, or anyone who receives the mark of its name.
Revelation 14:12 This calls for endurance from the devotees, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”
Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from the sky saying, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Breath, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them.”
Revelation 14:14 Then I looked, and noticed a white cloud, and one like the Human Son was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
Revelation 14:15 Another agent came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the land is ripe.”
Revelation 14:16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the land, and the land was harvested.
Revelation 14:17 Then another agent who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in the sky.
Revelation 14:18 Yet another agent, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the land, because its grapes have ripened.”
Revelation 14:19 So the agent swung his sickle at the land and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the land, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.
Revelation 14:20 Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for
about one thousand six hundred stadia.

martyrs and the future

Here we see the 144,000 again. They are called the firstfruits because they were the first to hear the whole gospel, and be redeemed. Many of those first Jewish believers paid for their allegiance to Christ by giving their lives. John witnessed that. All of his early companions in the ministry were now dead. The question that looms in the air here is “Was it worth it?” The answer:

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Breath, “so they will rest from their labors, since their works follow them” (13).

The wrath of man (even if it leads to death) is nothing compared to the horrible wrath of God that is coming upon this world. God our creator loves us, and because of this love he cannot allow sin and Satan to continue to reign. There will be a day of reckoning for Satan and sinners – a day of vindication for the martyrs.

LORD, may we love the people of this planet enough to warn them of your coming wrath.