and they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred [and] forty-four thousand who were bought from the earth.
John has just watched the beast trample the earth. Now he hears harps in heaven and a song before God's throne. Two questions follow: what makes this song new, and why can only one company on earth learn it?
Earth's noise comes first; heaven answers it.
Heaven is stirred and breaks out into song. We have heard the confused noise of earth, the mixed cry of the victor and the wail of the defeated. We have watched the Beast trampling the earth and breaking it in pieces — a display of senseless brute force. We have watched his partner in crime, the Antichrist, morally darkening and deceiving the world. But now other sights delight the eye, and other sounds and songs greet the ear. We meet a new company in Heaven. They are distinct from both the living creatures and the elders, for they harp and sing "before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders."
Commentators differ here. Scott sees a new company in heaven, tied to those on Zion below. Another writer leaves them unnamed and points instead to the subject of the song.
Who these heavenly singers are we are not told. The voice comes "from heaven," and they sing the song before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and before the elders. But whoever these singers of praise may be, the subject seems, from the context, to be the victorious outcome of this chosen remnant's sufferings. No doubt it traces back to God's grace and the blood of the Lamb.
Chapter 5 also had a song about redemption. The difference lies in what that redemption leads to.
They sing a new song before the throne and the living creatures and elders. Here the fact itself is what matters. In chapter 5 there was a song in heaven, and of heaven, about redemption. But those redeemed there became kings and priests. Here redemption is tied to earthly blessings, not to the kingdom and priesthood on high. And they sing it before the heavenly company and the throne. Heaven, however, has a direct link with the song. It goes with triumph over the power of evil through patient endurance of suffering.
The word "new" also sets this song against an older one.
This company of harp-singers sing a "new song" in contrast with the old song. The new song has redemption as its theme; the old song has creation as its subject.
The limit is not arbitrary. Experience is what shuts everyone else out.
No one could learn that song but the 144,000. Only they had passed through the sorrows, and only they had known the grace connected with their deliverance. Heaven raised the song that suited their circumstances. In communion with the mind of God, they caught up the strains and repeated them.
Suffering, then, is not a barrier to this joy but the doorway into it.
There is a special joy belonging to those who have passed through the furnace of affliction… Others will share the blessings of the millennial reign. But none will taste all its sweetness like those who have drained the bitter cup of the sorrows that came before. No one will come as near to the throne as those who have tested God's strength and faithfulness in the hour of deepest need.
"Redeemed from the earth" marks out where this company belongs. It also keeps them apart from the church.
They are redeemed from the earth, from among men, the firstfruits to God and the Lamb (verses 3, 4)… This first point matters. It shows us that this company stands on the mount of earthly favour and blessing, redeemed from the earth. They are a chosen group from among the people of Israel, for the earth. There is no thought here of the Church, the body of Christ. This is a remnant of Israel that God will bring through the great tribulation into the millennial blessing. Their being the "firstfruits" means firstfruits from the earth for earthly blessing: the harvest of the earth is to follow.
The tie between the two groups is older than the song.
The singers in Heaven and those with the Lamb on Zion are clearly in closest sympathy. The two together formed one company on earth. How fitting, then, that the saved and delivered Jews on Zion should be the only ones on earth who enter into and learn the song of their brothers "before the throne" in Heaven. On earth they learn; in Heaven they know.
- Suffering — the song belongs to those who came through "the furnace of affliction." The trial qualifies the singer.
- Song — it is new because its theme is redemption, not creation. And that redemption brings earthly blessing, not the kingdom and priesthood of chapter 5.
- Sung — heaven raises the song first; those on Zion catch it up, in communion with the mind of God.
- Sealed — no one else can learn it. No one else drank that cup or tasted that grace of deliverance.
- Seen — redeemed from the earth, they are the firstfruits of an earthly harvest still to come. They learn below what they will know above.
These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins these are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. These have been bought from men [as] first-fruits to God and to the Lamb
Revelation 14 opens with the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. Verse 4 describes the 144,000 gathered around Him: their purity, their obedience, and the name they are given — firstfruits. Who are they? Why are they called virgins? And what does it mean to follow the Lamb wherever He goes?
The verse calls them "redeemed from mankind." That puts this group on earth, not among the glorified.
First, they are redeemed from the earth, from among men, as the firstfruits to God and the Lamb (vv. 3, 4). Second, they were faithful to God. The first point matters. It shows us that this company is on the mount of earthly favour and blessing, redeemed from the earth — a chosen people from among Israel, for the earth. There is no thought here of the Church, the body of Christ. It is a remnant of Israel, and they will be brought through the great tribulation into the blessing of the kingdom to come.
Commentators differ on the details. Some see a different company from the sealed 144,000 of Revelation 7; others link the two. Either way, the number is symbolic, and God keeps this company for Himself in a corrupt world.
In this vision we see how God will preserve for Himself faithful souls. They will be true to the Lamb and free from the corruptions that the beast is forcing on all under his power. The number given is symbolic. Twelve is the number of complete administration, and here we have the square of it multiplied by a thousand. We have had it before in the number sealed of the tribes of Israel in Revelation 7, but we must not infer from this that the two companies are identical.
Some read "have not defiled themselves with women" as a rule about marriage. Commentators reject that reading.
Verse 4 must not be interpreted in a literal sense. Some apply it to a firstfruits of the Church, and that has led to much confusion and even worse things. Literal impurity is not in view. If it had a literal meaning this company would consist of men only. At that time the woman is on earth — the great prostitute Babylon and her daughters, the godless religious world-systems that leave Christ out (chapter 17). They did not defile themselves with the corruptions and idolatries prevalent on the earth. They kept themselves from spiritual fornication.
Their purity has a positive side too.
In the middle of the worst corruption — open idolatry, proud boasting, daring blasphemy, and open wickedness — these saints had not defiled themselves. They had walked through a scene abandoned to Satan without defilement. They lived and walked in virgin purity. They had "kept themselves unspotted from the world." There is more here than virgin purity of life. There is also virgin love — undivided heart affection for the Lamb.
The phrase marks out a place of nearness in the kingdom. It is not the portion of every believer.
Then they "follow the Lamb wherever He goes." That is, they are His companions in His earthly kingdom. The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the companions of Christ. But those "companions" include all Christians. Here the word covers only this suffering, now victorious, remnant. To have the privilege of being the constant and close attendants of the King in His glory will be the sum and perfection of earthly happiness.
The name firstfruits marks the difference between their portion and the heavenly one.
They have shared Christ's rejection, and now they have a place of special blessing. Special blessing is always the result of special sorrow. They are the firstfruits for God and the Lamb on the earth, as we are the firstfruits for heaven.
The same word carries a promise about what follows them.
"Firstfruits to God and to the Lamb." These are a pledge of earth's coming blessing. God and the Lamb are to reap a rich and plentiful harvest, and these are a sample.
The scene lies in the future. The path of separation it describes is open now.
How good it is for believers today, who are the subjects of sovereign grace, to seek to walk in separation from the growing evils of our time, whether political or religious. In obedience to the Word, they take a place outside the camp, to gather to Christ and, as it were, to "follow the Lamb wherever He goes."
- Bought. Everything in the verse rests on redemption. They are "redeemed from mankind" before the verse names a single virtue of theirs.
- Undefiled. "Virgins" is moral, not marital. They refused the idolatry and corruption around them and kept their hearts whole for the Lamb.
- Following. Purity clears the way for obedience — they go wherever He goes, as His close companions in His kingdom.
- Firstfruits. They are the sample of earth's coming harvest, the pledge that a great ingathering follows.
- Reward. Their special blessing grew out of special sorrow. The same path of separation is open to believers now.