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Revelation 14
3 They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand, those who had been redeemed out of the earth. 4 These are those who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed by Jesus from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.
the first fruits to God and to the Lamb
First fruits imply there is a harvest beginning due to the ripening process, and that the rest will be of a similar nature. This is symbolic of spiritual realities laid out in the economy of the Old Testament system given by God to His people Israel to be observed and understood. It can be easy to imagine the symbols are more important than the realities they were designed to represent. Let's review what this harvest is actually about, what needs ripening, the nature of the fruit that needs harvesting as well as who is assigned to do the harvesting. Instead of obsessing over whether or not we are supposed to perpetuate symbolic rituals given to God's people in the past, what is important is for us to experience in our own lives what might be gleaned through a closer examination of these symbols in relation to what may need to be ripened in our lives now.
Later in this chapter we will learn about two different harvests that will happen, for being harvested is unavoidable. The first harvest has the hallmarks of being carried out by the Hero of this book who is followed by this group of people we are learning about here. The second harvest appears to be related to those who are left when the first harvest is completed. We will look at this much close when we study these two harvests, what makes them different and even what is meant by being harvested. For now it is useful to have this context perspective as a backdrop to help make sense out of what this first fruits metaphor entails.
I heard the voice from heaven saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them." I looked, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Another angel came out from the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Send forth your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!" He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. (Revelation 14:13-16)
This harvest of souls in my opinion is already beginning. It is crucial we understand how our choices affect which harvest we will experience and in what way we are to participate in God's desire for us to be part of the first harvest rather than the last.
Let's take a look at this symbol of first fruits to find what the context might reveal about what God considers important as to the kind of fruit He wants to harvest. Keep in mind that all these things are recorded for our instruction and relate directly to our spiritual condition that shapes our own future in very real ways.
But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don't obey the Good News of God? "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?" (1 Peter 4:16-18)
The fruits being examined here have to do with the condition of our character, not literal food. This is why it is so important to not get so distracted by symbols that they eclipse the substance of what the symbols are meant to instruct us as to the condition of our spirit, the way we think, what defines how we react in various situations, provocations and encounters with others around us, particularly during times of intense crisis. In other words, because we are human reflectors by design, what source are we fixating on, what internal picture of God determines our disposition witnessed by others coming out of our spirit mirror in our interactions with them?
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is well pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:8-10)
This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
These verses make it quite clear that the fruit involved in these harvests have to do with the nature of our spirit, not merely our profession or traditions or opinions or even our behavior. Our actions however will reflect what we believe deep in our heart about the Source of our design for life, for it is impossible not to image – to act out – whatever our gut-level feelings are about the God we believe is in charge of our lives. Thus the maturing of the fruit reveals more and more clearly the nature of the seed that has been allowed to take root in the soil of our imagination until it becomes a permanent part of our character that will be harvested.
He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel weeds also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. The servants of the householder came and said to him, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did this darnel come from?' "He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?' "But he said, 'No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, "First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Matthew 13:24-30)
Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field." He answered them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 13:36-43)
This parable makes it very clear there are two distinctly different harvests but they are both conducted at the same time. It is the nature of the seed put into the ground that determines the destiny of the plants producing the fruit. It is also made clear here that it is the job of angels to do the reaping and sorting, not the job of the servants working in the field. The servants here clearly were not commissioned to do the reaping but to simply follow the instructions of the owner of the farm.
Let's go back and see what we might learn about the nature of the spiritual seed the Owner originally planted that would produce the kind of fruit He wants harvest.
Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed. [The Sabbath rest is not merely one day a week we are to cease our work on, but far more importantly it is about our perception and disposition towards God in our spirit. This is clarified more in Hebrews 3-4. This Sabbath rest is really about ceasing to try to change God's mind about us and instead, choosing to rest in complete confidence of His good will towards us like the angels announced at the birth of His Son. This will produce the fruit of peace, gentleness and faith in place of striving in fear that we are not good enough for God to love us or be willing to save us. This rest is to refresh not only us but those around us to are influenced by our spirit and the ways we interact with them as it says here.]
Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don't invoke the name of other gods, neither let them be heard out of your mouth. [God's instructions are not demands with implied threats lurking behind them. Rather God's words and instructions to us are descriptions of how we are designed to live in harmony with the principles of life and love in His great circuit that provides power and in which all our needs will be supplied. All other versions of God will enslave us, darken our hearts with fear and distort our thinking causing us to malfunction as humans. Jesus said that what comes out of our mouth originates in our heart. But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn't defile the man. (Matthew 15:18-20) Our imagination is synonymous with faith, so what circulates in our imagination needs to be our focus, for whatever circulates in our imagination affects our thinking, our heart condition and results in what comes out of our mouth. The fruit observed in our words and actions is what comes out of us, in contrast to food which goes the other direction, into our mouth and into our stomach. There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. (Mark 7:15)]
You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. [Three is a key number in Scripture associated with God. This is one reason I believe the Godhead is composed of three entities that are united as one, yet individual enough to circulate agape love which requires a minimum of three to function.]
You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out from Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. [This first celebration in God's presence represented the very first human to fully mature Spirit fruit into a complete reflection of God's likeness. The Son of God became also the Son of Man in order to recapture the position of representative of humanity, removing it from the usurper who had stolen it from Adam. Unleavened bread symbolizes that this Son of Man was untainted by any distrust of God or resistance to living in harmony with the principles that govern all creation, the principles of agape love. This principle of other-centered love is the core principle encompassing all others, which is why it is noted here that no one shall appear in the presence of Yahweh empty. This is not a command with an implied threat of punishment for noncompliance, but rather a reality check that to participate in God's design we must align with the principle of living outward-focused instead of always seeking what we can get for ourselves.]
And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: [This is the second celebration time to enjoy in God's presence and represents what we are studying here in Revelation 14 in reference to the 144,000 who are identified as first fruits similar to the first fruit which was Christ.]
and the feast of harvest, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. [This third celebration involves the concluding harvest of all who have allowed God to reproduce His likeness in their lives by allowing His Spirit to reshape and reform them so their reflection is only of His light with no darkness at all just like Jesus. This corresponds to the great multitude mentioned toward the end of chapter 7 that follows the first part introducing the 144,000 first fruits.]
Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning. [Leaven usually represents sin because of the way it quickly infiltrates bread dough and causes it to swell up through the process of fermentation. This parallels the action of decomposition that would occur should the fat from sacrificed animals be allowed to sit out all night unprotected by refrigeration or dehydration. This symbolizes the importance of living in relationship to God and reminds us that if we want to be part of this harvest, we must be willing to be cleansed of all distrust of God and the spirit of rebellion and not allow anything that would cause infection or fermentation of our spirit like bitterness to remain to take root in our heart.]
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; (Hebrews 12:14-15)
For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. (Ephesians 4:21-27 NRSV)
The blood along with the unleavened bread represents the very first fruit which was Christ.
But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ's, at his coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)]
The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk. [This goes back to reference again the second celebration, reminding us to bring the fruit of our lives into the presence of Yahweh our God where we can see more clearly the nature of the fruit growing within our own spirit.
But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God. (John 3:21)
For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:4-5 NRSV)]
Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don't provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. [Notice the emphasis here. Yahweh says He will accomplish the evacuation to clean out the obstacles in the land, and will work through His chosen messenger to communicate instructions that need to be listened to and cooperated with. The one referred to as the angel of the Lord in their time was in the cloud that led them all through the wilderness every day. He was also represented as a rock that supplied them with water. Paul indicates this was in fact, the same entity that centuries later came to be known as the human Jesus Christ.
Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall. No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 11-14)
...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputes, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, (Philippians 2:12-15)]
You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. [To bow involves worship, choosing a source to admire, to be in awe of, to define who we are, our identity and purpose and model to us how we will act like. We are surrounded by gods promising pleasure, peace, comfort or power. We are warned to not become contaminated by any of them or be sucked into being their slaves (addicts) or infected by their ways of living and thinking. We are to demolish their symbols in our lives to reduce the power of their temptations to allure us away from total loyalty to the God who created us for His love alone. As we choose to remain loyal to Him, the results is blessings inherently released by our cooperation with the principles that govern life and are designed to amplify our joy and peace.]
I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. [Keep in mind that what is being described here as promises made in relation to the physical land Israel was to inherit from God, symbolize the conquering and cleanup of our own internal landscape filled with triggers, wounds, resistance to love and all sorts of strongholds that resist truth and grace and a true knowledge of God.
For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
What is meant or symbolized by God sending hornets to drive out enemies? Why would God send terror and confusion to people?
Here are promises that if we will trust in His power to care for us, instead of us attempting to get our act together by cleaning up our own lives through battles involving force, shame, fear or any other technique of the enemy, God promises to accomplish the victory in our hearts and lives through means provided by heaven, even though it will require time to bring this victory inside of us to full conclusion. But when we cooperate with God and allow His beauty to be reflecting increasingly through us, the resistance we will encounter will be because what is happening in our hearts is seen as a terror to those who prefer selfishness, pride and lust to define their lives.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn't come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. (John 3:19-20)
This was God's original plan presented to His people before they ever approached the land of Canaan. They were never to think they had to fight their own way into like all the other nations do. They were to trust in God's provisions, protection and rely on His methods and motives alone. Had they done this history would have been dramatically different. Yet we today have the opportunity to choose a different path so that God's name can be glorified more clearly from how they related to Him.]
I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. [Again, the emphasis here is that Yahweh is the one who accomplishes what needs to happen to bring to completion the preparation of the ground of our heart so it can produce a harvest of fruit corresponding to the Spirit He has implanted within us. He is the one who knows how to place borders around our heart and mind to protect us from infection by enemies of our soul and spirit.
Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a winepress in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. (Matthew 21:33)
Then Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (Job 1:9-10)
If God planned to drive out the enemies ahead of them, why did He say here they were to drive them out? They were to participate by learning how to join with God by practicing His ways of expelling evil so they could learn to know His heart instead of relying on their own distorted perspective of how to defeat enemies. The story of Jehoshaphat is a prime example of how they could have taken over the land of Canaan that would have brought true glory to God's reputation far better than all the violence they ended up using in the name of God.]
You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." [This is a clear warning against any compromise when it comes to other sources of life, love, truth and provision for our spiritual life. To allow ourselves to indulge in ways that violate our relationship with the true God who created us is to invite invasion of dark spirits that will entangle us again with the very sins and weaknesses God is seeking to liberate us from. These covenant bonds turn into chains that enslave us, not contracts that will benefit us as they falsely present themselves to be.
Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion has light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has a temple of God with idols? For you are a temple of the living God. Even as God said, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they will be my people." Therefore, "'Come out from among them, and be separate,' says the Lord. 'Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) This separation is not cumbersome to true children but rather liberation from the lies and darkness and fears that are suffocating life out of us and that destroy our very capacity to enjoy living in the light of the presence of love's power.
This entire passage is a description of the liberation of our hearts, minds, bodies and spirit from all the evil and darkness and misapprehensions about God that hold us in bondage to sin through distrust of God's heart. Salvation involves God's plan to liberate our land over time so that our condition of mind and spirit can be realigned to function and thrive in close alliance with His love and not experience torment in His presence. (Exodus 23:12-33)
This process symbolized by the cleansing of the land by means God promised to provide if His people would have only trusted and cooperated with Him, is the same means that will cleanse our hearts so that the seed of God can thrive within the protection He puts in place. What is needed today is belief and trust to allow God to fight our battles instead of taking things into our own hands as they too often did.
Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can't sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; (1 John 3:9-11)
The group we have been looking at here in Revelation 14 are identified as those who are the earliest to mature their characters to full completion to reflect the image of God. They are first fruits, meaning that the rest of this harvest will be more extensive, yet will have similar attributes to what are found in the first part of the harvest. This is what I believe is inferred in chapter 7 where this group called 144,000 is first introduced. They are the first fruits sealed in the character of the Lamb they follow because they have allowed God to cultivate His seed of truth and love in them until their lives reflect the same glory of God's heart just as Jesus did who is the very first fruit of all. Then following the presentation of the first fruits at the beginning of the harvest, the rest of the harvest is represented in chapter 7 as a great multitude that no one could number.
The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the priest: you shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. (Ezekiel 44:30)
For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:22-23)
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:18)
