The fourteenth chapter ends with a note of God’s final judgment. Remembering that chapters 12 through 14 are felt to be a bit of an interlude in the middle of the book of Revelation we would do well to rehash some of the themes.
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In chapter 12 was seen the fall of Satan from heaven to earth. He made an unsuccessful bid to destroy the Lamb and the mother of the church. Infuriated after that failure he turned his dogs out on the followers of the Lamb.
- Chapter 13 spoke of the Dragon, Beast 1 and Beast 2 all of which represent the assembly of his evil, anti-God, anti-righteousness network on earth.
- Chapter 14 revealed the arrival of the Lamb, the missionary angels and will conclude with the final judgment of God on the anti-righteousness, the anti-God of Satan and man.
With that as background let us turn to the final section of Revelation 14. There John will see 2 harvests. The first will be a harvest of the righteous and the second a harvest of the anti-righteous.
The preface to judgment
Before the visions is prepended the 13th verse: a preface.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” (Revelation 14:13–ESV)
That voice is from heaven
In this preface to judgment note the origin of the prophesy was from heaven. It was not from men and as such came with utmost authority. That it came from heaven is a thing that almost goes without saying. To tell someone the sky is blue is of little use in most contexts. Reminders can be good though and we would do well to take them to heart. A voice of prophecy from heaven carries the greatest authority and will not fail. [Read more…] about Revelation 14:13-20 – God’s written record of rest, reward, and reproof