Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

14:2-5
therefore, belong to the Church, the army of
overcomers. Yet they are also a special group: the
Remnant-Church of the first generation.
2-3 With his eyes on the Lamb and His army, St. John
hears a Voice from heaven, the familiar reminder of
God’s presence in the Glory-Cloud: like the sound of
many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and
. . . like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,
the heavenly orchestra playing accompaniment to the
victory song of the army of saints, who sing a New
Song before the Throne and before the four living
creatures and the elders. The New Song is, as we saw
on 5:9, the new liturgy necessitated and brought about
by the new epoch in the history of redemption. And
this liturgy, the exultant response of the redeemed,
belongs to the Church alone (cf. 2:17): No one could
learn the Song except the one hundred and forty-four
thousand who have been purchased from the Land,
redeemed as slaves from the tyranny of the Land Beast.
4-5 St. John gives further descriptions of the redeemed:
These are the ones who have not been defiled with
women, for they are chaste men. Several strands of
Biblical imagery are involved in this statement. We
must dispense with the idea that John is speaking of
literal celibacy by calling them “chaste men” (or
“virgins”), as Carrington pointed out:” ‘Virgins’ here is
obviously a violent symbol for purity, just as ‘eunuchs’
in Matthew [19:12] is a violent symbol for celibacy;
neither is meant to be taken literally. They are not men
who have had no intercourse with women, but men
who have not defiled themselves with women, which is
quite a different idea, and is certainly not meant to
describe marriage.” 4 Virgin is frequently used in the Old
Testament for Zion, the people of God (2 Kings 19:21;
Isa. 23:12; 37:22; Jer. 14:17; 18:13; 31:4, 21; Lam. 1:15;
2:13). More particularly, the chastity here is a symbolic
reference to the requirement of sexual abstinence by
soldier-priests during holy war (cf. Ex. 19:15; Lev.
15:16; Deut. 20:7; 23:10-11; 1 Sam. 21:4-5; 2 Sam.
11:8-11). In addition, the context condemns the
“fornication” committed by the nations, in connection
with the worship of the Beast (v. 8-10). Fornication
and harlotry, throughout the Bible, are potent
metaphors for apostasy and idolatry (cf. Isa. 1:21; Jer.
2:20-3:11; Ezek. 16:15-43; Rev. 2:14, 20-22), while
religious fidelity is called chastity (2 Cor. 11:2). The
Lamb’s army, gathered about Him on Mount Zion, is
chaste, faithful to Him, and single-mindedly consecrated
to the Holy War.
St. John tells us further that these soldiers are the ones
who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, the term
follow being a typical metaphor for the obedience of a
disciple (Matt. 9:9; 10:38; 16:24; Mark 9:38; 10:21, 28;
Luke 9:23; John 8:1210:4-5, 27; 21:22). A precise
statement of those who comprise this group, however,
is given in the next phrase: These have been
purchased from among men as first fruits to God
and to the Lamb. The expression first fruits refers
essentially to a sacrifice, the offering up of the first
harvest of the land to the Lord, claimed by Him as His
exclusive property (Ex. 22:29; 23:16, 19; Lev. 23:9-21;
Deut. 18:4-5; Neh. 10:35-37; Prov. 3:9-10); these
Christians have offered themselves up to God’s service
for Christ’s sake. More than this, though, the New
Testament uses first fruits to describe the Church of the
Last Days, the “first-generation” Church (Rom. 16:5; 1
Cor. 16:15), especially the faithful Remnant from the
twelve tribes of Israel (James 1:1, 18): “The confessors
and martyrs of the apostolic Church, who overcame by
reason of their testimony and the blood of the Lamb,
are thus declared to be a first fruits, a choice selection
out of the innumerable company of saints. The purpose
of this Apocalypse was to give special encouragement
to these virgin spirits.” 5
The characteristics of this group are strikingly similar to
those of Israel when she first became God’s Bride:
I remember concerning you the fidelity of your youth,
The love of your betrothals,
Your following after Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
Israel was holy to the LORD,
The first of His harvest . . . . (Jer. 2:2-3; cf. v. 32)
Finally, St. John says, no lie was found in their mouth,
for they are blameless. It is the Dragon who is the
deceiver, the false accuser, the father of the Lie (John
8:44; Rev. 12:9); God’s people are characterized by
truthfulness (Eph. 4:24-27). As St. Paul declared
regarding the heathen, the basic Lie is idolatry:
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for
an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds
and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. . . . For
they exchanged the Truth of God for the Lie, and
worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever” (Rom. 1:22-25). At
root, the Lie is false prophecy (cf. Jer. 23), the
rendering of honor and glory to the creature in place of
the Creator. We have seen that the conflict between
true and false prophecy, between the witnessing
servant-prophets and the False Prophet, is central to
the concerns of the Book of Revelation. In opposition
to her enemies, the Church carries and proclaims the
Truth. As the prophets had foretold, God raised up a
faithful Remnant during the time of wrath and
tribulation on Jerusalem:
But I will leave among you
A humble and lowly people,
And they will take refuge in the name of the LORD.
The Remnant of Israel will do no wrong
And tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths. . . . (Zeph. 3:12-13)
Commentators have often been vexed over the
question of whether this picture is meant to represent
the Church as seen on earth, or the Church as seen at
rest, in heaven. It should be obvious that both aspects
of the Church are in view here – especially since, as we
4. Philip Carrington, The Meaning of the Revelation (London: SPCK, 1931), p. 237. 5. Terry, p. 404.
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