John Gill Commentary Revelation 14

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb
The Alexandrian copy, and some others, read "the Lamb"; the same that had been seen before in the midst of the throne, (Revelation 5:6) ;

And all the Oriental versions have the same article also; the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for mention is made of his Father in a following clause; the King of Zion, where he is seen standing, and the Redeemer of his people, who are at large described; it is the same Lamb who is so often spoken of in this book before: in the two preceding chapters an account is given of the state of the church, as oppressed under Rome Pagan, and Rome Papal, and here of its more glorious and victorious condition, with Christ at the head of it; in the last chapter antichrist is described, with his followers and worshippers, and as exercising tyranny and cruelty upon the saints, and here Christ and his followers are represented in vision, and some hints given of the fall of Babylon, and of the wrath of God upon the worshippers of the beast, and of the happiness of those who belong to the Lamb: and of him it is here said, that he

stood on the Mount Zion ;
by which is meant not heaven, but the church on earth; why that is called Mount Zion, (See Gill on Hebrews 12:22); here Christ the Lamb stood, as presiding over it, being King of Zion, or the church; where he stood and fed, or ruled, in the name of the Lord, and in the majesty of his God; and where he appeared in the defence of his church and people, oppressed by antichrist; for he is Michael that stands for the children of his people, and who stands with courage, and in the greatness of his strength, and is invincible; nor does he stand here alone:

and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand ;
the same with those in (Revelation 7:3Revelation 7:4) , though all the world wondered after the beast, and all that dwelt upon the earth worshipped him, yet there was a number preserved that did not bow the knee to him; a remnant according to the election of grace, who were called out of the world, and brought to Zion, and were on the side of the Lamb, and abode by him, and cleaved to him:

having his Father's name written in their foreheads ;
not baptism, administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, as some think; nor eternal election, as others, though as their names were written in the Lamb's book of life, so this was manifest to themselves and others, as if his name and his Father's had been written in their foreheads; but rather adoption, the new name of a child of God, they having the spirit of adoption, whereby they cried, "Abba", Father, and being openly and manifestly the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus;

Unless it should be thought there is an allusion to the inscription in the mitre on the forehead of the high priest, "holiness to the Lord", and so be expressive of that visible holiness which will be on the saints in the spiritual reign of Christ, which this vision respects; see (Zechariah 14:20) ;

Or to the frontlets between the eyes of the people of Israel, to put them in mind of the law, and their obedience to it, (Deuteronomy 6:8) ; and so may here denote the engagements of those saints in the service of God;

Though perhaps no more is intended than their open and hearty profession of their faith, and that they were not ashamed of appearing in the cause of God and truth; nor of Christ and his words, his Gospel and ordinances:

The Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "having his name, (the Lamb's,) and his Father's name written in their foreheads"; and the Ethiopic version adds, "and of his Holy Spirit".

Mr. Daubuz thinks this vision refers to the times of Constantine, and to the Christians then, and particularly the council of Nice, and as contemporary with that in (Revelation 7:9–17) .

And I heard a voice from heaven
The same with the voices heard in heaven upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet, (Revelation 11:15) ;

as the voice of many waters ;
very loud, and uttered by a great multitude of people, signified by waters in this book, (Revelation 17:15) ; the same with those that praise the Lord for the destruction of antichrist, and for the marriage of the Lamb, (Revelation 19:1–7) ;

and as the voice of a great thunder ;
to which the Gospel may be compared for its open, loud publication, being heard far and near, as thunder is:

and I heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps ;
that is, singing the praises of God, for the fall of Babylon, the happy state and condition of the church, and the blessings of grace; the harp being a musical instrument, used under the Old Testament in singing praise:

Brightman thinks that these different sounds represent the course of Gospel doctrine, and the church's voice throughout the reign of antichrist; that when the church first went into the wilderness, her voice was like the murmuring of waters, confused and indistinct; when she began to revive under the Waldenses and Albigenses, Wickliff, Huss her voice was like thunder, loud and terrible; and at the Reformation, it was as the voice of harpers, when confessions of faith were published with sweet harmony and consent.

Others have thought that the different properties and efficacy of the Gospel are designed; as its rapidity and irresistible force, by the many waters; its striking and shaking the consciences of men, by the thunder, Christ's ministers being sometimes "Boanergeses", sons of thunder; and its harmonious music, pleasant sound, peace, joy, and comfort it brings, by the voice of harpers.

The Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, read, "the voice which I heard was as harpers"

And they sung as it were a new song
The song of redeeming grace; the same with that in (Revelation 5:9) ; see the note there: this is to be understood of the 144,000, who sung it

before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders ;
that is, publicly in the church, the ministers and members being present; of these; (See Gill on Revelation 4:4); (See Gill on Revelation 4:6);

and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and]
four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth ;
out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation; from among the men of the earth, and out of the apostate church, called the earth, in opposition to the pure church, which so often goes by the name of heaven in this book; and these, in consequence of being redeemed by the blood of Christ, were called by grace out of the world; and such only can sing the song of redemption with application to themselves; and say he has redeemed us, and loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood; to none but these is it given to know spiritually and experimentally the mysteries of electing and redeeming grace; the natural and carnal man neither knows nor receives the things of the Spirit of God; nor can he learn them by hearing, reading, study, and conversation, unless it be only in a notional and speculative way.

The Jews speak of a new song, which the angels have never used; it is said, (Psalms 98:1) ; "sing unto the Lord a new song"; a new song, for there is an old song; but this song is what the angels never praised him with, and therefore it is new;'' and indeed the song of redeeming love is peculiar to men.^F13

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Zohar in Numb. fol. 70. 4.

These are they which were not defiled with women
With the whore of Rome, and her harlots, she is the mother of; while the kings and inhabitants of the earth were drunk with the wine of their fornication, or committed idolatry with them, which is spiritual fornication, and is here meant by being defiled with them, these were free from such pollutions, or idolatrous practices:

for they are virgins ;
for their beauty and comeliness in Christ, chastity, sincerity of their love, uncorruptness in doctrine and worship, and for the uprightness of conversation; (See Gill on Matthew 25:1);

these are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes ;
as the sheep follow the shepherd of the flock, and which is a character of Christ's sheep, (John 10:4John 10:5John 10:27) . These follow Christ in the exercise of the graces of humility, patience, and love; and in the performance of the several duties of religion, and subjection to ordinances, and in the path of sufferings; and in every way in which Christ the Lamb has gone before them, or in his word and providence leads and directs them to, whether it be grateful to the flesh or not;

particularly they follow where he is preached, and his Word and ordinances are faithfully administered; and they follow him to heaven, where he is: it was part of the oath taken by the Roman soldiers, (toiv strathgoiv akolouyein opoi pot' ai agwsi) , "to follow the generals wherever they should lead" ^F14 , to which it is thought there is an allusion here; see (2 Samuel 15:21) ;

these were redeemed from among men ;
"by Jesus", as the Syriac and Arabic versions add, and so the Complutensian edition; by the blood of Christ, for all men are not redeemed by it; and in consequence of this they were called, and delivered from this present evil world, and the men of it, and from a vain, wicked, and idolatrous conversation with it:

[being] the firstfruits unto God, and to the Lamb ;
in allusion to the firstfruits under the law, which represented and sanctified the lump, and showed that harvest was coming;

so these persons are called the firstfruits to God, and to the Lamb, being called by grace, and consecrated to their worship and service, with reference to the harvest of souls, or that large number of them which will be gathered in during the spiritual reign of Christ, which these persons will be at the beginning of; and as those who are first called and converted in a country or nation are said to be the firstfruits of it, (Romans 16:5) (1 Corinthians 16:15) ; so these being the first, in the period of time to which respect is had, bear this name; and as the converted Jews received the firstfruits of the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, and at other times, so these will receive the firstfruits of the far greater pouring forth of the Spirit in the latter day, which will begin, and usher in the kingdom of Christ; see (Romans 8:23) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Vid. Lydii Dissert. de Jurament. c. 2. p. 258.

And in their mouth was found no guile
Or "a lie", as the Complutensian edition, the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions read; by which may be meant idolatry, for idols and idolatrous practices are often called lies, and lying vanities; see (Jeremiah 16:19) (Amos 1:4) (Jonah 1:8) (Romans 1:25) ; and the sense is, that the superstition and idolatry of the church of Rome were not among them: or it may design false doctrine, and the meaning be, that they did not speak lies in hypocrisy, as the followers of antichrist do; nor were they given up to believe a lie, as they are: the generality of copies read, "no guile"; which is expressive of the sincerity of their words; there was no deceit nor hypocrisy in them; they did not speak with flattering lips to men, nor did they draw nigh to God with their mouths, when their hearts were far from him; they were Israelites indeed, like Nathanael, in whom was no guile; though not in so strict a sense, in which this phrase is used of Christ, (1 Peter 1:22) ;

for they are without fault before the throne of God ;
not as considered in themselves, as if they were entirely free from sin, and never committed any; though it might be true of them, that in general they were of unblemished lives and conversations, that is, not guilty of any notorious and scandalous crimes; but rather the sense is, that they were without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, as being washed in the blood of Christ, and so cleansed from all sin, and as being justified by his righteousness from all iniquity; and so were before the throne of God, and in the sight of divine justice, unblamable and unreproveable; see (Jude 24) (Colossians 1:22) ; the phrase, "before the throne of God", is left out in the Alexandrian copy, and in the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and in the Complutensian edition.