Revelation 14-16

What’s Happening?

John sees a vision of how the blood of martyred Christians will heal the entire world. In a previous vision, John saw a dragon raise a giant beast from the sea and another beast from the land. Together, they symbolize a demonic trinity of Satan, empires, and emperor worship working together to harm and kill Christians (Revelation 12:1-13:18). But John is also given a vision of an army of priests who will defeat this seemingly all-powerful demonic trinity. 

In God’s temple and in front of God’s throne stands an army of 144,000 priests. Like priests in the Old Testament God’s name is marked on their heads and they are singing (Exodus 28:36-38; Revelation 14:1-3). They represent all believers who have refused to join the beasts’ perverted ways, but have remained faithful to Jesus despite their persecution and deaths (Revelation 1:4-6, 14:4-5).

Suddenly, three angels appear to announce the coming of God’s kingdom and the need for repentance. The first angel announces that God’s kingdom is coming soon, so all peoples should repent. For everyone who repents by serving Jesus as King will escape the empires of the dragon bound for destruction, and join God’s kingdom coming to bring life (Revelation 14:6-7). The second angel announces the fall of Babylon. Babylon is the name of the empire opposed to God’s kingdom. Babylon has convinced whole nations to join her in worshipping other gods and serving other kingdoms (Revelation 14:8). Then a third angel appears, declaring what the coming of God’s kingdom will be like for those still serving the empires of the beast (Revelation 14:9-11). When God’s kingdom finally comes, his marked priests rejoice, while those marked by their service to the beast weep. Together, these three angelic messengers announce the Gospel Jesus himself proclaimed while on earth: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here (Revelation 14:12-13).

John is then given a vision of how the deaths of God’s marked priests lead to the conquering of beastly empires and the rescue of those trapped under them. In heaven, two divine reapers are called to harvest the earth of its ripe grain and grapes. The grain is collected and the grapes are crushed in a winepress until their juice fills a valley (Revelation 14:14-20). The wine of the grapes is the blood of God’s 144,000 marked priests. Here, John sees a repetition of the Exodus story. On the shores of the Red Sea, God’s people were nearly defeated as Pharaoh pursued them. But God opened a way through the sea, out of death and into life. The sea swallowed Pharaoh and the rescued people of Israel worshipped God on the other side of the now still sea. In Revelation, the blood of the martyrs forms another sea that has covered the beastly nations and rescued God’s people from death to life. Now the priests of God stand on the other side of the still sea and worship him for their rescue (Revelation 15:1-4). In both Exodus and Revelation, God’s people are rescued when they turn from the wicked empires that enslaved them and enter into the kingdom of God. 

God then uses the blood of the martyrs, seen as seven poured out bowls, to cleanse and purify the earth. As martyrs die under the brutality of Babylon, their blood was meant to reveal the wickedness of her actions and cleanse the violence from people’s hearts, leading them to repentance. Each of these seven bowls are reminiscent of the plagues that fell on Egypt (Exodus 7:1-11:9). But this time they fall on Babylon and her beastly citizens (Revelation 14:8, 16:1-21). Like in the book of Exodus, these plagues are meant to bring repentance. But just like Pharaoh in Exodus, those in opposition to God’s coming kingdom do not repent (Revelation 16:9, 11). Therefore, the kingdom of Babylon cannot stand under the weight of the coming kingdom of God (Revelation 16:19-21). 

Where is the Gospel?

Surprisingly, the way God will destroy the demonic trinity of Satan, the empire, and emperor worship is through the blood of martyred Christians. God judges and rids the world of evil through the blood of God’s marked priests—which are all believers in Jesus. 

Jesus is the head of the martyrs who proclaims God’s coming kingdom and brings people to repentance so they might join it. Jesus came to rescue those under the powers of Babylon by calling them to a new kingdom. He did this by dying under Babylon, as his body of martyrs soon would. Through Jesus’ blood on the cross he is cleansing and creating a new people to cleanse and create a new world. As John said at the beginning of Revelation, that same blood has made this people priests like Jesus (Revelation 1:5-6). We have been made priests like Jesus, to die in such a way that rids the world of evil. And it is the sacrificial lives of believers in Jesus that will cause the world to repent and escape the fate of wicked empires. 

If Jesus has cleansed you by his blood, you are God’s priest. Your life and death are sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Our lives are living conduits of God’s coming kingdom (Luke 17:21). If you have lost friends and family because they were faithful to Jesus, the good news of Revelation is that they stand in heaven as priests. Their blood was not wasted. It is right now calling out to the world and to their persecutors to bring them to repentance. We are all, even those who have died, living sacrificial priests. And God promises that because of Jesus, our sacrifices are how he will bring his kingdom to the world.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see the God who rescues his people. And may you see Jesus as the one who has made us priests so that our sacrificial lives can bring healing and rescue to the world.