In chapter twelve we have seen a clear vision of a universal woman bearing a man-child and confronting a great dragon. We all have been deeply impressed with this sign. In chapter thirteen we saw two beasts — Antichrist and the false prophet, both of whom collaborate with the dragon, Satan, to oppose God and to hinder the completion of God’s economy. Following this, we have more crucial matters in chapter fourteen. Here we not only see the firstfruit (Rev. 14:1-5), but the things that follow the rapture of the firstfruit (Rev. 14:6-13): the preaching of the eternal gospel (Rev. 14:6-7), the fall of religious Babylon (Rev. 14:8), the warning against the worship of the beast and his image and against the mark (Rev. 14:9-11), and the martyrdom during the great tribulation (Rev. 14:12-13). In addition, chapter fourteen covers the harvest (Rev. 14:14-16) and the great winepress (Rev. 14:17-20). Chapter fourteen has four main categories: the rapture of the firstfruit; the things following the rapture of the firstfruit; the harvest, which is the reaping of the majority of the believers; and the great winepress, which is the reaping of the evil people on earth. Thus, this chapter reveals how everyone living on earth at the end time will be dealt with.
Everyone on earth falls into one of two categories: those who are the people of God and those who are not the people of God. The people of God are composed of Christians and Israelites, the God-fearing Jews. Israel is not covered in this chapter, because it was already covered in chapter seven with the vision of the sealing of the one hundred forty-four thousand chosen Israelites. This chapter unfolds God’s dealing with the Christian portion of His people. Among this part of His people, there are also two main sections: the firstfruit, those who ripen early, and the harvest, those who ripen later. Between the rapture of the firstfruit and the rapture of the harvest, four main things will occur: the preaching of the eternal gospel; the fall of Babylon the great, that is, religious Babylon, the Roman Catholic Church; the warning against the worship of the beast; and the great martyrdom during the great tribulation. After the harvest, the situation among the Christians will be cleared up. But those who are not God’s people will still be on earth. They are not considered as the wheat in God’s field, but as grapes in the evil field. These grapes will be gathered into the great winepress and trodden by the Lord Jesus (Rev. 14:19-20). At that time the whole earth will be cleared up. Thus, chapter fourteen is a very significant chapter, revealing how the situation of everyone on earth will be dealt with. God is wise, righteous, and sovereign. By His wisdom, righteousness, and sovereignty He will deal with everyone on earth in the proper way and at the proper time. Praise Him!
What is prophesied in the Bible is simply a principle. We do not have the details. If the Lord had given us all the details of the things to come, the Bible would have thousands of pages, and we would not be able to carry it around. We thank the Lord for His wisdom. We have pointed out that all the world powers from Babylon to the coming revived Roman Empire with the ten kingdoms are represented by the huge image Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream (Dan. 2:31-33). The head signifies Babylon; the breast and arms, Medo-Persia; the belly and the thighs, Greece; and the two legs, the Roman Empire. It is a historical fact that the Roman Empire was divided into two sections signified by the legs of the image. The period indicated by the ankle is ambiguous. Presently we are living in this ambiguous period. A gap was created by the termination of the Roman Empire in A.D. 476, but during this time that gap is being filled in by the Roman Catholic Church. At the close of this long interval, the Roman Empire will be revived and consummate in the ten kingdoms signified by the ten toes of the image. According to Daniel 2, these ten kingdoms will be smashed by a stone cut without hands (vv. 34-35). This stone is Christ, who will come from the heavens to smite the entire image, including everything from Nebuchadnezzar to the last Caesar. In His wisdom God has used the image of the human body to give a clear picture of the various stages of the worldly powers. This is the way and the principle of prophecy in the Bible. In a sense, the prophecy in the Bible is very brief.
The principle is the same with respect to the rapture of God’s people. There is a difference between the rapture of the overcomers and the rapture of the majority of the believers. We have covered this matter of the rapture in messages twenty-nine and thirty. Based upon the principle of these two kinds of rapture, we come now to the firstfruit.
The firstfruit to God and to the Lamb mentioned in verse 4 are the ones of God’s crop who mature the earliest. These early overcomers will be the first ripe ones in God’s field. Hence, they will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb. According to verses 14 through 16, the harvest will be reaped later. This means that they will be raptured to the heavens before the harvest, just as the firstfruit of the good land was reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest (Lev. 23:10-11; Exo. 23:19). The events recorded in verses 6 through 13, all of which will transpire during the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), indicate clearly and prove strongly that the first overcomers as the firstfruit in verses 1 through 5 will be raptured before the great tribulation and that the harvest in verses 14 through 16, which includes the majority of believers, will be raptured towards the end of the great tribulation.
Verse 1 says, “And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand.” In the past many teachers have debated whether this number is literal or figurative. Some said that the number one hundred and forty-four thousand was not a literal number, and others said that just as the seven cities in chapters two and three are literal, so must the number one hundred forty-four thousand be taken literally. This number should no doubt be an actual number, but with a symbolic meaning. Although the number is literal, it has a spiritual significance. By applying a certain principle we can apprehend the spiritual significance of this number.
One hundred forty-four thousand is one thousand multiplied by twelve times twelve. Twelve is the number of completion in God’s eternal administration. One hundred forty-four (21:17) is twelve times twelve, which signifies the completion of completions, the ultimate completion in the fullest way. Here it is one thousand times this ultimate completion.
The number twelve is not composed of six plus six, but of three times four. I do not say this lightly or without a basis. The biblical number twelve is composed of three times four. The New Jerusalem is a city of twelves — twelve foundations, the names of twelve apostles (21:14), twelve gates, twelve angels, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (21:12), twelve pearls (21:21), twelve months, twelve kinds of fruit (22:2). The height of its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits (twelve times twelve, 21:17), and its dimensions are twelve thousand stadia (a thousand times twelve, 21:16). In every aspect the New Jerusalem is a city of twelves. That the number twelve in the New Jerusalem is composed of three times four we know by the fact that the city has three gates on each of its four sides (21:13). Undoubtedly, the number three signifies the Triune God. The portrait of the New Jerusalem in chapters twenty-one and twenty-two reveals the Triune God. In 22:1 we see the throne of God and the Lamb, out of which proceeds the river of water of life. Here we have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit dispensing Himself into the city. This is the Triune God. The city itself represents God’s creature signified by the number four (four living creatures, 4:6). In the New Jerusalem it is not a matter of three plus four, but of three times four. Today our number is seven, as in the seven churches, the seven lampstands. But in eternity our number will be twelve, three multiplied by four, signifying the mingling of the Triune God with man. Hence, the number twelve signifies the mingling of divinity with humanity. How wonderful! This mingling is for the completion of God’s economy, the completion of God’s economic administration. Therefore, the number twelve indicates completion in God’s administration for the fulfillment of His economy.
Here it is not simply the number twelve, but a thousand of twelve times twelve. Twelve times twelve means completion in God’s administration for God’s economy in completion in God’s administration for God’s economy. This is similar to the titles Song of Songs, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Twelve multiplied by twelve means completion of completions. This completion is not temporary, but eternal. It is the completion in God’s administration for the fulfillment of God’s economy. The New Jerusalem will declare to the whole universe that God’s redeemed people will be twelve among twelve, completion among completions. When we are in the New Jerusalem, we will be the completion in God’s administration for the fulfillment of God’s economy for eternity. But in chapter fourteen we have a thousand of twelve multiplied by twelve, a thousand times of completion in completion. This is the significance of the number one hundred forty-four thousand. The one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit are believers who are for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose.
We are fortunate to be standing upon the shoulders of so many great teachers who have gone before us. We thank the Lord for them. What we have seen concerning the significance of this number is based upon their understanding. However, the Lord has shown us something more than He showed them. Although the number one hundred forty-four thousand is literal, it has a spiritual significance, indicating that every living overcomer is a part of the completion of God’s administration in the fulfillment of His economy for eternity. To be a living overcomer is a great matter. To be a firstfruit is to be for the completion of God’s administration to fulfill His economy for eternity.
Verse 3 says that the one hundred forty-four thousand “have been purchased from the earth.” This proves that they are no longer on earth, but had been raptured to the heavens. At the time of verses 1 through 5 the firstfruit are no longer on earth because they have been purchased “from the earth.” They were purchased with the blood of the Lamb and have been taken away from earth to heaven.
Verse 4 says that the firstfruit “were purchased from among men.” This indicates that they are no longer among men, but are in the heavens.
The firstfruit stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion (v. 1). The Zion mentioned in verse 1 is not the earthly one but the Zion in the heavens (Heb. 12:22). Those who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion are raptured to the heavens before Antichrist’s persecution of religion. After this rapture, Antichrist will persecute people and compel them to worship him. By this fact we know that the living overcomers are raptured before the great tribulation.
Verse 1 also indicates that the one hundred forty-four thousand have the name of the Lamb and the name of His father written on their foreheads. This is the designation of their being one with the Lamb and with the Father and of their belonging to Them. The name of the Lamb and the name of the Father written on the foreheads of these early overcomers is in contrast to the name of the beast written on the foreheads of his worshippers (13:16-17).
Verse 3 says, “And they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who have been purchased from the earth.” The one hundred forty-four thousand sing a new song before the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. Apart from the firstfruit, no one is able to learn this song, because no one else has the necessary experience. Songs always come out of experience. If you have no experience, you have nothing to sing about. Because the hundred forty-four thousand overcomers have specific and particular experiences of Christ, they can sing a song that others do not understand. Some Christians do not understand our songs. Although they may say that these songs are strange, we say that they are sweet and tasteful. Whenever we sing certain songs, we are beside ourselves. But those who do not have the experience do not understand what we are singing about. Only the experienced ones can learn to sing the song of the hundred forty-four thousand.
Verse 2 says, “And I heard a voice out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harp-singers playing on their harps.” The many waters signify the tumultuousness of the sound, the loud thunder signifies the solemnity of the sound, and the sound of harp-singers signifies the pleasantness of the sound.
The solemnity of the loud thunder will terrify Satan. Since the singing of the one hundred forty-four thousand will be noisy in that day, should not our singing be somewhat noisy today? The more noisy our singing is, the better. Of course, the religious ones will condemn this. The singing of the one hundred forty-four thousand sounds somewhat like the waters of Niagara Falls. In fact, I believe that it may be many times more noisy than Niagara Falls. Today’s Christianity is dead and legal. But we must be noisy, not dead. However, our noisy singing should not be a performance; rather, it should issue from our spirit. At least eight times in the book of Psalms we are told to make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psa. 95:1-2; 98:4; 100:1). This tumultuous, joyful noise should come automatically from our spirit. When we are filled with the sweet experience of the Lord, our spirit will be filled to the brim. The only way to express our joy is to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Because Niagara Falls is filled with water that has great impact, its sound is not a performance. This is the way we must be when we gather together. Only by experience can we understand this. I can testify that I have experienced this. Sometimes, as we are making a tumultuous noise in the spirit, singing and praising the Lord, sweet music comes forth from this tumultuous sound. If you have experienced this, you will be able to say “Amen” to what I am saying. But this has offended some who said that they were not able to bear the noise. However, this is not my way — it is the Lord’s way, the biblical way. If you do not exercise yourself in this manner today, you will have to learn to do so later.
Verse 4 says of the firstfruit that they “were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.” Just as there has been a debate about whether the number one hundred forty-four thousand is literal or figurative, there has also been a debate regarding the understanding of virginity mentioned in this verse. According to this portion of the Word, all the one hundred forty-four thousand living overcomers are virgins. Some say that this virginity is literal, and others say that it is spiritual. The virginity here should be the virginity mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 19:11-12. However, the same principle can be applied to the sisters (1 Cor. 7:7, 34, 37). The principle of virginity is that we should not be defiled by anything earthly. If we take this only literally, then all the sisters will be excluded. But it is not right to exclude the sisters from being among the living overcomers.
In order to be a living overcomer we must be kept by the Lord’s grace from every defilement and pollution and live on earth like virgins. In the eyes of the worldly people it means little whether we go to the movies or not. But in the eyes of the saved ones it is serious for me to go to a movie theater. If I did, I would be defiled. We must live a life of virginity, a life of chastity. The reason I neither smoke nor drink is that I do not want to be defiled. On occasion some brothers have offered me a drink of beer. But I have always refused. The Lord’s mercy and grace have preserved me for more than fifty years. I will not sell myself so cheaply as to be contaminated by drinking beer. Although it may not be sinful to drink beer, I will not allow the drinking of beer to defile my virginity. But do not be legal about things like this. I can sit in the presence of brothers who are drinking beer and not be bothered at all. It is absolutely not a matter of legality; it is a matter of our desire to preserve ourselves as virgins for the Lord. We all must say, “Lord Jesus, I love You. Because I love You, I will remain as a virgin for You. Lord, I don’t want to be defiled or polluted by anything. Lord, I want to keep myself for You.” As a young man, I prayed this way day by day. How I thank the Lord that He has truly answered my prayer.
In my travels throughout the years, I have found myself in many different situations. In these situations there have been a great many temptations. But I can testify, even before the accuser, that the Lord’s grace has preserved me. Although there have been television sets in many of the hotel rooms, the Lord can testify for me that not once did I turn on the television. It would not have been sinful for me to watch television, but I would have been defiled. As I was in my room I said, “Lord, I don’t want to be defiled. I want to be kept as a virgin for You. Lord, I did not come to this city for television, but for Your testimony. I know the brothers and sisters cannot see what I am doing in my hotel room, but the demons can see.” If I had turned on the television set, my testimony for the Lord Jesus would not have had impact. But because my conscience testified that I was not defiled and that I was kept as a virgin for the Lord Jesus, my speaking had an impact.
It is deplorable to make the Lord’s salvation a matter of legality. We should never say that we cannot do certain things because our church forbids us to do them. What a pitiful attitude! With us, it is not a matter of legality, but of a loving desire for the Lord. We love the Lord Jesus and earnestly desire to be preserved as chaste virgins for Him. Whenever I am in a department store, I look to the Lord that He would keep me from becoming defiled. This is what it means to be a virgin. Both the brothers and the sisters may be virgins for the Lord Jesus. If you pray to the Lord in this manner and desire to live like a virgin, all the “bugs” will be under your feet. This is the way to be a living overcomer, one of the firstfruit.
You may be wondering about the difference between the overcomers in chapter twelve and the overcomers in chapter fourteen. In chapter twelve we have the man-child, and in chapter fourteen we have the firstfruit. In the messages on chapter twelve we saw clearly that the man-child is for fighting and defeating Satan. Hence, the man-child deals with the enemy. The firstfruit is not for fighting; it is for the satisfaction of God and the Lamb. God and the Lamb need enjoyment. We, the living overcomers, shall be the firstfruit to satisfy Their need for enjoyment.
The enemy, the Devil, in heaven must be cast down by the man-child, who will execute the Lord’s judgment over him. This is the function of the man-child. But there is another need in the heavens — God must be satisfied. God is hungry and thirsty. He desires some firstfruit to taste for His satisfaction.
Here again we see the sovereign wisdom of the Lord. The overcomers who have died throughout the centuries will be the man-child, the fighters. Although we who are living on earth must also fight against the enemy, there is no need to fight him all the time. After you have preached to Satan for a while, you should forget about him. The enemy is subtle. Once you begin to preach to him, he will attract you to preach to him constantly, saying, “My face has become very thick, and I have no sense of shame. I would like to hear you preach to me all the time.” He would do this in order to distract you from loving the Lord. Therefore, after preaching to the Devil for a period of time, you should say, “Devil, I have no more time to preach to you. Rather, I would use my time to tell my Lord how much I love Him. I want to remain with my Lord in a loving way. Satan, you are the Lord’s enemy and you are my enemy too. I have preached enough to you. Get away — now is the time for me to enjoy a honeymoon with my Lord.” Learn this strategy. Do not preach to Satan for too long a time. After preaching for a certain period of time, you must stop and spend your time in loving the Lord, saying, “Lord, I enjoy looking at You and talking to You. Lord, I want to satisfy You, to be one with You, and to stay in Your presence.” Learn to spend time loving the Lord Jesus in an intimate way. If you have never had such a time, you are short. It is not adequate merely to be sinless. It is not sufficient simply to be good or right. We must be in love with the Lord. Although I do not like the term in love, I am forced to use it. We all need to fall in love with the Lord Jesus, telling Him, “O Lord Jesus, I love You, and You know that I love You. Because I love You, Lord, there are certain things that I will not do.” This is the way to be a living overcomer. Although the Lord certainly needs the man-child to fight against His enemy, He needs the firstfruit, His lovers, even more to be His satisfaction.
In type, the firstfruit were brought not to the farmer’s home, but into God’s house, the temple, for His satisfaction. This was even true of the Lord Jesus as the firstfruit (1 Cor. 15:20, 23). On the morning of His resurrection, the Lord did not allow Mary to touch Him. He said, “Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17). The Lord seemed to be saying, “Do not touch Me, because I must present My freshness in My resurrection to My Father. My Father must be the first to taste the freshness of My resurrection.” We all need to learn to present ourselves in a fresh, intimate, and loving way to the Lord for His enjoyment. If you decline to do certain things or to touch certain things simply because you are afraid of something, you are not on the high plane of being a lover of the Lord. Rather, you are down on the lowest level. We must be on the highest plane, refusing to do certain things, not out of fear, but out of love for the Lord. The sisters desire to be with their husbands instead of going home to their parents because they love their husbands. Likewise, because I love the Lord, I shall refrain from doing certain things. I may have the liberty to do them, and it may not be wrong to do them, but simply because of my love for the Lord Jesus, I would not do them. This is the true significance of this portion of the Word.
We need to follow the principle in verse 4. This principle is that we, sisters and brothers alike, must keep our virginity, looking to the Lord that, by His grace, He would preserve us for Himself. We should be not only fighters, but also firstfruit, those who ripen earlier for the Lord’s satisfaction. We need to say, “Lord, for the sake of Your satisfaction, I want to ripen early. Lord, I don’t care for my rapture — I care for Your satisfaction. I want to be taken to the heavens to satisfy You. Lord, as long as I can satisfy You, it makes no difference to me whether I am on earth or in heaven.” This is the attitude of the living overcomers.
Because it does not matter to the firstfruit where they are, we are not told that they are caught up; instead, we are simply told that the one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. As we have pointed out, this surely is not the Zion on earth, but the Zion in the heavens. If you are one of the living overcomers, it will make no difference to you whether or not you are raptured. Because you are already in the Lord’s presence, the rapture will not come as a surprise. It does not matter to you whether you are in His presence here on earth or there on Mount Zion. When you get there, you will not be surprised. It would be wrong to say, “Oh, I’m here with the Lord. I’m in His presence!” Those who will be raptured as the firstfruit will have no feeling of surprise. Rather, they will say, “Lord Jesus, I have been with you continuously for years. Lord, it makes no difference whether I’m in Anaheim or in the third heaven.” To the outsiders, it will come as a surprise for you to be standing on Mount Zion, but it should not be a surprise to you. It should be a common experience. If you have been away from your husband for many years, you will be “crazy” with excitement when you see him. But if you are with him all the time, you will surely not be so “crazy.” Are you truly loving the Lord? Are you in intimate fellowship with Him right now, being kept in Him as a virgin? If you are, then the rapture will not come as a surprise; it will be an ordinary experience.
Although these verses on the firstfruit point to one kind of rapture, they actually say nothing about rapture. We are told that the man-child is “caught-up,” but we are told that the firstfruit are standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb. If you were to ask them when they got there, they might say, “We are simply here. We have no special feeling about being here because we have been in the Lord’s presence for years. We have lived in this atmosphere for a long time.” This is the rapture of the living overcomers. These are the firstfruit, those who satisfy the hunger of God the Father and the Lamb, the Redeemer. The earliest ones of God’s crop to mature are not for fighting; they are for satisfaction.
Verse 5 says of the firstfruit that “In their mouth no lie was found.” Lies are the expression and representation of Satan. The Devil is the father of all liars, and lies come out of him (John 8:44). That no lie was found in the overcomers’ mouth indicates that there is nothing of Satan in their expression. If we live a life of loving the Lord, then no lie or falsehood will proceed out of our mouth. Although I hate to say it, for years I have suffered the lies of genuine Christians. What a shame! In the Lord’s recovery there should be no lies and no falsehood in our mouth. When we say “Yes,” we mean yes, and when we say “No,” we mean no. If we cannot answer with a clear yes or no, we should not say anything. In such a case we should exercise our wisdom to say nothing, so that no lies nor falsehood would come out of our mouth. We have nothing to do with Satan, the liar and the source of the lies.
Verse 5 also says that the firstfruit are without blemish. This indicates that they are without spot or wrinkle, but are perfect in the holiness of God (Eph. 5:27), absolutely sanctified to God and fully saturated with God (1 Thes. 5:23).
The one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruit “follow the Lamb wherever He may go” (v. 4). It is not that the Lamb follows us, but that we follow Him wherever He goes. We all must learn the lesson of following Him wherever He goes.
