The Lamb and the 144,000

14Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.²And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,³and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth.⁴It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb,⁵and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.

The Messages of the Three Angels

6 Then I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live^* on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people.⁷He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgement has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’

8 Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’

9 Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands,¹⁰they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.¹¹And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of^* Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.’

Worshipping the beast: UK PM sells weapons in Dubai

If we give the author the benefit of the doubt we can say that in a book which uses the metaphor of fornication to describe idolatry (this is also found in the Old Testament) we can interpret the words “those who did not defile themselves with women” as meaning, “those who rejected the worship of idols”. I think this is reasonable, although the langauge is nevertheless sexist and leaves the impression that the 144,000 are all male. On the contrary, I think this is picture language for faithful and committed discipleship of the Lamb, by both sexes. People have a limited choice: they can follow the Lamb or the Beast, they can commit the “fornication” of idolatry or maintain the purity of faith. The song sung by the redeemed is new because it is free of the struggle which is inevitable in human life and hails a divine victory which the singers share.

The three angels bring “good news” which is in essence the call to worship the Creator and the promise of punishment for those who worship the Beast. Babylon stands for the power of Roman idolatry whose adherents,  bearing the mark of the Beast, that is, whose characters are marked by evil,  will suffer the fiery fate of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis.

This punishment however is not visible yet, in this world. In fact in this world it appears that the followers of the Lamb are suffering. They must endure in patience and hope, trusting in God’s justice. Those who die “in the Lord”, that is, in faith, will receive immediate blessing and reward.

Those who are perhaps beginning to get impatient with the complex language of these visions can reflect that they give the reader a way of understanding the apparent defeat of God and goodness in the world we know, by introducing another world which reveals the justice of God and the Lamb. This expresses  hope that  the world is different from its appearance. There is a kingdom which, as Jesus describes it in the Gospel of  John, is “not of this world.”

Luke 12:49-59

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 ‘I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!⁵⁰I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!⁵¹Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!⁵²From now on, five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;⁵³they will be divided:
father against son    and son against father,
mother against daughter    and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’<!– 54 –>

Interpreting the Time

54 He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, “It is going to rain”; and so it happens.⁵⁵And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, “There will be scorching heat”; and it happens.⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?<!– 57 –>

Settling with Your Opponent

57 ‘And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?⁵⁸Thus, when you go with your accuser before a magistrate, on the way make an effort to settle the case,^* or you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison.⁵⁹I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny.’

Gentle Jesus? (Giotto)

Here are Jesus’ family values! He has come to divide families, because some members of the family will follow him and others reject him. He makes it clear that discipleship is more important than the family! If this sound extreme now, it must have sounded even more so to its original hearers for whom the integrity of the family was profoundly important. Was Jesus downgrading the importance of the natural family? I think from the available evidence we have to answer, yes, he was. The new family. those who do the will of the Father in heaven, is more important in his eyes. There’s no doubt that in almost all human societies his views will seem offensive, but believers ought not to hide them, for that reason. The natural family carries the value system of any society and structures its obligations. Jesus says that the values and obligations of discipleship are more important. Jesus’ depicts his own vocation as fire and baptism-he means his commitment to God’s fiery word and his consequent death-and his followers must not expect to be much more comfortable.

Jesus’ ministry is depicted as a “sign” like the signs by which people interpret the weather. “Use your eyes!” Jesus is saying to his contemporaries, “and you’ll see the crisis of faith which is on its way.” He also urges them to come to terms with God before the time of judgement. In secular affairs they know when they should make an out of court settlement with their adversary, why not in the case of God?

We can see why, after three years of ministry, Jesus ended up with eleven disciples.