Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

14:6-7
have seen, the Church on earth is “in heaven” (12:12;
13:6). The famous statement in Hebrews 12:22-23
provides compelling evidence: “You have come to
Mount Zion and to the City of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal
assembly, and to the Church of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven. . . .” Milton Terry rightly remarks:
“The heaven of our apocalyptist is the visional sphere
of the glory and triumph of the Church, and no marked
distinction is recognized between the saints on earth
and those in heaven. They are conceived as one great
company, and death is of no account to them. . . . Thus
the entire passage serves to illustrate how saints
‘dwelling in heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ are all one
in spirit and triumph, no matter what physical locality
they may occupy.” 6 For St. John, Zion “is neither in
Jerusalem nor above the clouds; it is the whole
assembly of the saints, living and departed.” 7
In fact, Stuart Russell held that Hebrews 12:22-23 was
based on this passage in Revelation: “The points of
resemblance are so marked and so numerous that it
cannot possibly be accidental. The scene is the same –
Mount Zion; the dramatis personae are the same – ‘the
general assembly and church of the first-born, which
are written in heaven,’ corresponding with the hundred
and forty and four thousand who bear the seal of God.
In the epistle they are called ‘the church of the firstborn’;
the vision explains the title – they are ‘the firstfruits
unto God and to the Lamb’; the first converts to
the faith of Christ in the Land of Judea. In the epistle
they are designated ‘the spirits of just men made
perfect’; in the vision they are ‘virgins undefiled, in
whose mouth was found no guile; for they are without
fault before the throne of God.’ Both in the vision and
the epistle we find ‘the innumerable company of angels’
and ‘the Lamb,’ by whom redemption was achieved. In
short, it is placed beyond all reasonable doubt that
since the author of the Apocalypse cannot be supposed
to have drawn his description from the epistle, the
writer of the epistle must have derived his ideas and
imagery from the Apocalypse.” 8
Thus, while the specific application of the 144,000 is to
the Church of the first generation, in principle they are
seen as the Church in her entirety (which, at the time
St. John was writing, they precisely were). This is
confirmed by a comparison of the parallels between this
passage and the description of the redeemed in 5:6-11:
14:1-5
1 And I looked, and
behold, the Lamb was
standing. . . .
3 . . . before the throne
and before the four
living creatures and
the elders.
5:6-11
6 And I saw . . . .
a Lamb standing . . . .
6 . . . . between the
throne (with the four
living creatures) and
the elders.
14:1-5
2 the Voice . . . was like
harpists playing on
their harps.
3 And they sing a New
Song.
4 These have been
purchased from among
men as firstfruits to
God and to the Lamb.
5:6-11
8 the twenty-four
elders . . . . having
each one a harp.
9 And they sing a
New Song.
9 [The Lamb] purchased
us for God . . . . from
every tribe and tongue
and people and nation.
The Gospel and the Poisoned Cups (14:6-13)
6 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an
eternal Gospel to preach to those who sit over the Land,
and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;
7 and he said with a loud Voice: Fear God, and give Him
glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and
worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and
the sea and springs of waters.
8 And another angel, a second one, followed, saying:
Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great! She has made all the
nations drink of the wine of the heat of her fornication.
9 And another angel, a third one, followed them saying
with a loud Voice: If anyone worships the Beast and his
image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his
hand,
10 he also will drink of the wine of the heat of God, which
is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he
will 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 goes up forever and ever;
and they have no rest day and night, those who worship
the Beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark
of the Beast.
12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a Voice from heaven, saying, Write: Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord from now on! Yes, says
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their
deeds follow with them.
6-7 The rest of this chapter is divided into seven
sections – a vision of the glorified Christ, flanked on
each side by three angels. St. John is about to make the
transition between the Trumpet-visions (proclamations
of judgment) and the Chalice-visions (applications of
judgment). Foreshadowing this change, the first three
angels make special proclamations regarding the Lamb’s
victory, and the last three angels perform special actions
to assist Him in implementing His conquest. As we
would expect, these angelic proclamations and actions
parallel the duties of the Church, particularly of her
rulers and governors.
First, St. John sees another angel flying in midheaven,
the sphere of the Eagle’s cries of woe to the Land
(8:13). But this angel preaches peace: The coming
judgment is not an end in itself, but part of the
proclamation of the eternal Gospel. Contrary to the
speculations of several expositors, there is no reason to
suppose that this is something other than the Gospel of
which the New Testament constantly speaks. It is the
6. Terry, p. 404.
7. Carrington, p. 236.
8. J. Stuart Russell, The Parousia: A Critical Inquiry into the New Testament
Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
[1887] 1983), pp. 469f. It may be admitted that Russell has not proved his
case “beyond all reasonable doubt.” But he has clearly established at least a
conceptual relationship (if not a dependent one) between Hebrews 12 and
Revelation 14.
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