Mount Zion.
"And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand......." Revelation 14v1.
John's attention is now drawn away from the dragon and his two beasts, causing havoc on earth, to the vision of the young lamb standing on the Mount Zion. There could be no greater contrast. From the tragedy on earth we now turn to the triumph in heaven. The portion chapter 14v1 - 15v4 is viewing things on earth from heaven's perspective, in contrast to chapter 13 where we have seen it from the perspective of earth. It is noteworthy that the portion outlined begins and ends with a song. The message of the verses could not be more clear that no matter how dark the days, and no matter the evil intent of Satan, the Lamb will triumph and His people will triumph with Him, and songs will abound. The comparison between chapter 13v1 and chapter 14v1 sets the scene.
- Chapter 13v1 - "And he (Satan) stood upon the sand of the sea."
- Chapter 14v1 - "And I looked and lo a lamb stood on the Mount Zion."
The spirit of God is drawing our attention to the transience and ultimate doom of Satan's kingdom, as contrasted with the eternal, sure dependable kingdom of Jesus Christ. Chapter 13 opens with Satan standing on the shifting sands of the sea shore. Chapter 14 begins with the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. Jesus has already used this metaphor in chapter 7 to contrast those who build their lives on the sand, and those who build them on the rock. (Matthew 7v24-28). In order to understand the force of this we must refer to the biblical teaching of Mount Zion. Mount Zion could be summarized as follows: it is the "mountain of the Lord's house" of (Isaiah 2v2; 2v3). It is the "stone cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, ....... and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2v31-35 and also Daniel 2v44-45). Mount Zion is the symbol in scripture of the rule of God on earth and always refers to the future day when the kingdom of God will be on earth and the prince of peace will reign from shore to shore. References like Isaiah 2v1-4, Isaiah 28v16-19, Isaiah 35v9-10, Isaiah 51v11, and many, many more, all present the picture of Mount Zion as God's ruling kingdom on earth. We must also be aware that Mount Zion exists invisibly right now in heaven according to( Hebrews 12v22-24) where it is described as "the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." The book of Revelation does not end until it has given us a picture in chapter 21v10-11 of the great city "the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God." In interpreting these things we are dealing with an eternal God, who knows the end from the beginning, and indeed, Mount Zion has always existed in His mind and it will become visible in the future day. It is this future day which is being described in chapter 14. We must not become bogged down with the chronology of these things and be more aware of the glorious facts that are revealed. Despite the worst efforts of Satan and his hosts, despite the darkness of the evil that will descend upon earth, as described in chapter 13, John sees the certainty of the kingdom of God.
The delightful phrase in this verse is this "with Him an hundred and forty four thousand." We shall develop this in the next study but how wonderful it is as we begin this section of God's word to see that it opens with a vision of the glorious kingdom and with Him in that kingdom thousands of people who have come through unscathed from the darkest period in all human history.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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