The Book of Revelation and the Coming Judgment: Solving the Mystery of End Times Bible Prophecy by Dale Tolmasoff

Author:Dale Tolmasoff [Tolmasoff, Dale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The Seven Bowls

Now we come to the end of the age and the final series of judgments. Unlike the seals and trumpets, which we have already discussed, the bowl judgments are not limited to a fraction of humanity. They are God’s final judgment on all those who side with Satan and his kingdom.

The Lamb and the 144,000

14:1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Again we see the 144,000. As we said earlier, this is a symbolic number representing the church as an army of 144 fighting units. When we first saw the 144,000, they were limited to the faithful Jewish church (7:4). But they were soon joined by “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (7:9). They are seen standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb. This brings to mind God’s words: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Psa. 2:6). Scholars are divided over whether this vision is set in heaven or on earth in Jerusalem. I believe we are seeing the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, which represents the bride of Christ (21:9-10). We are told that the city walls of New Jerusalem are 144 cubits high (21:17). All of this helps identify the 144,000 with the heavenly city. In addition, Dennis Johnson gives other reasons for identifying this as a heavenly scene:

“The details of the vision make clear that this Mount Zion is not on earth but in heaven. The 144,000 choristers who accompany the Lamb sing “before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders” (Rev. 14:3; see 4:2-8). John hears a voice from heaven, like the sound of waterfalls, thunder, and harps (14:2). This is the song of the Lamb’s redeemed choir-army. When these singers reappear, they are “standing on the sea of glass” (15:2), the same transparent pavement that John had seen extending before God’s throne in heaven (4:6)” (Dennis Johnson, 201).

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