invited to fear the Deity, and to give glory to him (Rev 14:6, 7). Proclamation is made by the "One Body," now anointed and glorified, and of which the Lord Jesus is the Head, that "time shall be no longer." Daniel's 1260 time shall then terminate -- and the finishing of the mystery of the Deity be apocalypsed (Rev 10:6, 7). The glorified members of this Body sing a new song before the throne; and confidently aver, as the result of the events prefigured in the ensuing fourteenth chapter, that they shall reign as the kings and priests of Deity upon the earth (Rev 14:3; 5:9, 10).
Fourth Part of Sixth Vial
Apocalypse 16:16
The Advent, or "Manifestation of the Sons of the Deity" (Rom. 8:19; 1 John 3:1, 2) having transpired, the Angel of the Sixth Vial gathers the kings, or rulers, of the Earth-beast, and of the whole habitable, or Sea-beast, into the place styled in Hebrew, Armageddon. This gathering effected the events of the Seventh Vial (which are the Seven Thunders hurled by the Second and Third Angels against Babylon and the worshippers of the Beast and his Image; and the Harvest and Vintage of the Son of Man and the three angels exhibited in the fourteenth chapter) -- finish the mystery, and the wrath of the Deity against mankind is stayed.
CHAPTER 14
Dissolution of the Laodicean State
Translation
1. "And I looked, and behold a Lamb stood upon the Mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty-four thousands, having the name of his Father, which had been written upon their foreheads.
2. And I heard a sound from the heaven as a sound of many waters, and as a sound of loud thunder.
And I heard a voice of harpers harping with their harps. 3. And they sing as it were a new song in the presence of the throne, and in the presence of the four living ones, and of the elders: and no one was able to learn the song, except the hundred forty-four thousands, who had been redeemed from the earth.
4. These are they who had not been contaminated with women; for they are virgins. These are the attendants upon the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These had been redeemed from among men, an offering of first fruits for the Deity and for the Lamb. 5. And in their mouth had been found no guile; for they are faultless in the presence of the throne of the Deity.
6. And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having aionian news to proclaim to them who dwell upon the earth, even every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7. Saying with a loud voice, Fear the Deity, and give to him glory, for the hour of his judgment hath arrived; and do homage to him who hath made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.
8. And another angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen hath Babylon the great city; because she hath made all nations drink of the wine of the raging of her fornication.
9. And a third angel followed them, saying, with a loud voice, If any one worship the Beast and his Image, and receive a sign upon his forehead, or upon his hand, 10. He also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of the Deity, which hath been prepared without mixture in the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth until the aeons of aeons: and they have no respite day and night, who worship the Beast and his Image, and whosoever receiveth the sign of his name.
12. Here is the patience of the saints; here they who keep the commandments of the Deity and the faith of Jesus.
13. And I heard a voice from the heaven, saying to me, Write! Blessed the dead dying in the Lord from this time. Yea, saith the Spirit, in order that they may take rest from their labors; and their work he goes in aid of with them.
14. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like to a son of man, having upon his head a golden stephan, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
15. And another angel came out of the Nave, vociferating with a loud voice to him sitting upon the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap, because for thee hath arrived the hour of the reaping, for the harvest of the earth hath been ripened.
16. And he that is sitting upon the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17. And another angel came out from the Nave which is in the heaven, he having also a sharp sickle.
18. And another angel came out from the altar, having power over the fire, and he shouted with a great outcry to him having the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and cut off the clusters of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.
19. And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and cut off the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of the Deity.
20. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out from the winepress unto the bridles of the horses, for a thousand six hundred furlongs.
Remarks on the Translation
By comparing the above with the Common Version the reader will see the difference for himself. I have found no benefit in the labors of the "recent editors" who have undertaken to mend the Greek text. They seem to think nothing of "taking away from the words of the book of this prophecy;" and of "adding" thereto -- Ch. 22:18, 19. We have examples of this editorial recklessness in the chapter before us. The first occurs in a note upon to onoma, "the name" in verse 1. "All the recent editors for to anoma, have to anoma autou kai to onoma. I recommend", says the revising editor of the Baptist New Version, "that this reading be followed and translated: his name and the name." But I have not followed the recommendation, because the proposed alteration is superfluous, and implies two names, the name of the Father and the name of the Lamb. But the name of the Father is also the name of the Lamb; and therefore the phrase, "the name," is doubtless correct, and certainly all sufficient.
Again, in Verse 2, on the words, "I heard the voice of harpers," etc., a note runs thus, "instead of phonen ekousa, all the recent editions have he phone hen ekousa hos. I recommend that this reading be adopted and translated: the voice which I heard (was) as." Now this would imply that the voice of the harpers was as "the sound of great thunder" -- a noise not very creditable to their music! The recent editors err in supposing that phonen, used four times in the second verse, refers to the same voice or sound. This is not the fact. The sound of many waters, and the sound of loud thunder, are the sounds of acclamation and war; while the voice of harpers is the song of personal redemption, and future glory, when the war is over. I have therefore disregarded the decision of "the recent editors;" and maintained the distinction between the thundering and the harping, by dividing the second verse, and translating the phoneof thunder "sound," and the phone of the singing harpers, "voice," in the sense of music and song.
Again, "the recent editors" do not like the word dolos, "guile", in verse 5, but substitute the word pseuthos, "lie". A man that is guileless does not lie; but a man may not lie, and yet be full of deceit. The change may be more favorable to their morality; but I doubt not altogether unnecessary.
Again, "all the recent editors" cancel the words, enopion tou thronou tou Theou. "I recommend," says the reviser, "that this reading be adopted, and that the words, 'before the throne of God,' be omitted" from the fifth verse, so that with this editorial mutilation it would read, "and in their mouth was found no lie; for they are faultless." But, where do they stand in this faultless condition? The recent editors have cancelled the answer; I therefore restore it, and insert it in my translation; as, before, or "in the presence of the throne of the Deity," as represented in ch. 4:4.
In the sixth verse, I have left the word aionion untranslated. I have transferred it merely. The "aionian good news" will be the subject of exposition, when it will be seen that "everlasting" is not the word best suited to express its quality. We may find a better word when we see distinctly what the thing is; or "aionian" being understood in its true sense may be suffered to remain.
Again, in verse 15, it reads, hoti elthe soi he hora tou therisai "because for thee hath arrived the hour of the reaping." The "recent editors" omit the word soi, for thee, though the order is addressed to a certain party. The hour of the reaping hath arrived. But by whom? Their recencies have struck out the answer in suppressing the words "for thee". I have restored them; and the answer is "for thee, upon the cloud." And here we may dismiss "all the recent editors" as more of a pest than a blessing to the original Greek text of the revealing Spirit.
"And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood upon the Mount Zion, and with him 144,000, having the Name of his Father, which had been written upon their foreheads" -- Verse 1.
All the events represented in this fourteenth chapter are in the future; for nothing having the least resemblance to them has ever been transacted upon the earth since the Deity gave the Apocalypse to Jesus Christ, who sent and signified it by his angel to John in Patmos. But, though all in that which is hereafter to become history, it is not unconnected with the things treated of in previous parts of the Apocalypse.
Thus, the Lamb and his 144,000 virgin-companions (Psa. 45:14), are represented in the first chapter by the Son of Man clothed with a garment of linen (Dan. 10:5) whose voice is as the sound of many waters, or the voice of a multitude (Dan. 10:6). They are the One sitting upon the throne, the New Throne in the opened heavens; and the four and twenty Elders in white raiment and golden stephans; and the Four Living Ones full of eyes, in the midst of the throne, and around it, exhibited in the fourth chapter. The 144,000 are exegetical of the symbolic Lamb whose personal chieftain, or Head, is Jesus Christ, "the Captain of their salvation," or the Deity manifested in flesh, justified by spirit (1 Tim. 3:16). He is the Lamb slain, and they are in him; and therefore constituents of the symbolic and mystical Lamb; an idea emblematically signified by the phrase, "with him 144,000". In other words, Jesus and his Brethren "glorified together" (Rom. 8:17), are the Seven Lamps of Fire burning before the throne, or the Seven Spirits of the Deity sent forth into all the earth, represented by a Lamb with Seven Horns and Seven Eyes; that is, they are the Omnipotent and Omniscient Power in substantial and glorious manifestation, styled Yahweh Ail-Shaddai, "He who shall be the strength of the Mighty Ones, who was, and is, and is to come," and is superlatively holy -- Ch. 4:5, 8; 5:6; Psa. 50:1-6.
The wool with which the Lamb is clothed is of snowy whiteness -- Isa. 1:18; Apoc. 1:14. Standing in the midst of 144,000, invested with "fine linen, clean and white," he is clothed with a pure and faultless multitude; which is his snowy fleece, washed and made white in the blood of the individual Lamb, Jesus -- ch. 1:5; 7:14. This Seven Horned and Seven Eyed Lamb-Multitude is the Mighty Angel descended from the heaven, clothed with a cloud; and holding in his hand a Little Open Scroll -- ch. 10:1. One thing, however, is particularly to be observed here, namely, that, though this cloud-invested angel, and the Lamb with the 144,000, symbolize the same multitude, they represent this multitude in different positions and stages of its career. In this fourteenth chapter, while on Mount Zion, the multitude is "in the heaven," having opened the door, entered therein, and set up the throne (ch. 4:1, 2; Psa. 24:7; Dan. 2:44): but, in the tenth chapter (though without abandoning the seat of government) the almighty, cloud-invested, angel-Lamb and his companions, "come down from the heaven," and take up a position upon the earth and sea -- verses 1, 2, 5, 8. In other words, war has been declared against the Beast of the Earth, the Beast of the Sea, the Image of the Beast, and the False Prophet; that is, against all Europe, for the utter destruction of all its institutions, civil and ecclesiastical; and the subjugation of all its peoples, nations, tongues, and rulers, to the absolute sovereignty of David's Son and Lord (Psa. 110:1). The Lamb and his 144,000, "who follow him whithersoever he goes," engaged in this, "the war of that great day of the all-powerful Deity" (ch. 16:14), are the cloud-invested angel in the territories of the enemy which they have invaded, and in which they are progressing as pillars of fire." In this warfare they are giving practical expression to the unwritten utterances of the Seven Thunders -- unwritten in the tenth chapter; but illustrated in the fourteenth, from the eighth verse to the end.
The Lamb and 144,000 are the Nave of the Deity opened in the heaven in which is seen the Ark of his testimony (ch. 11:19). "Yahweh Ail-Shaddai is the Nave, even the Lamb -- ho Kurios ho Theos ho pantokrator, naos autes esti, kai to arnion (ch. 21:22). Yahweh-Ail, or Kurios and Shaddai, or Theos, constitute the Lamb. In other words, the Multitudinous Unity, indicated by Jesus in his prayer, that believers into him through the Apostolic word "may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17:21). This unity is many individuals in One Body.