Revelation 14

I. Supplementary revelation of Preparations for the final judgments in the Great Tribulation chs. 14-15 [Note: For a study of the many parallels between chapters 14 and 15 and Exodus 19-24, see William H. Shea, "Literary and Theological Parallels Between Revelation 14-15 and Exodus 19-24," Journal of the Adventist Theological Society (Autumn 2001):164-79.]

John received additional revelation that prepared him and the reader to understand the remaining judgments in the Great Tribulation.

1. Judgment at the end of the Great Tribulation ch. 14

John recorded these scenes of his vision to assure his readers of the triumph of believers and the judgment of unbelievers at the end of the Tribulation (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).

"The two previous chapters have prepared Christians for the reality that as the end draws near they will be harassed and sacrificed like sheep. This section shows that their sacrifice is not meaningless.

"Chapter 14 briefly answers two pressing questions: What becomes of those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast and are killed (Revelation 14:1-5)? What happens to the beast and his servants (Revelation 14:6-20)?" [Note: Johnson, p. 537.]

This chapter contains several incidents John saw in heaven and on earth that continue the parenthetic revelation begun in Revelation 12:1. While he saw some things in heaven, most of what he saw transpired on the earth. What he saw in heaven only provides background information for what he saw on earth in his vision. From revelation of the defeat of evil forces (ch. 13), John turned to the triumph of the forces of good.

"It is the opposite side of the picture, a victorious stance of the Lamb and His followers after their temporary setbacks portrayed in chapter 13.

"The whole of chapter 14 is proleptic. As a summary of the Millennium (Revelation 20:4-6), the first five verses feature the Lamb in place of the beast, the Lamb’s followers with His and the Father’s seal in place of the beast’s followers with the mark of the beast, and the divinely controlled Mount Zion in place of the pagan-controlled earth . . . The remainder of the chapter furnishes a proleptic outline of the catastrophes and the bliss that receives a chronological and more detailed treatment in Revelation 16:17 to Revelation 22:5. In this fashion, the chapter is a sort of intermezzo to provide encouragement by telling the ultimate triumph for those who refuse the beast’s mark and to predict the doom of those who do receive it." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, pp. 188-89.]