Join us as we delve into Revelation chapter 14, exploring the extraordinary vision of the Lamb on Mount Zion surrounded by 144,000 who bear His and His Father’s name. Experience the power of God’s promise and protection as the chapter unfolds a majestic scene filled with angelic songs and heavenly harps. This episode offers insight into what it means to be sealed by God in both spirit and truth, reaffirming the believers’ hope in the eventual redemption of our bodies.
Some people have asked, well, what is the overall picture here in chapter 14? The entire chapter is like an inset reminding us of what the whole tribulation period is all about. And it will wrap it up at the end of the chapter with the battle of Armageddon and the terrible destruction of that. But it starts off with 144,000 Jews. They are the focus of God’s attention.
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This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. Today on the program as we continue in Revelation chapter 14, John sees a scene of unmatched glory. The Lamb stands on Mount Zion surrounded by 144,000 who bear His name and His Father’s name on their foreheads. And then, a sound like the roar of mighty waters and the blast of heavenly harps, they lift up a new song before the throne, a song so holy that only the redeemed can sing it. After the terror and deception of Revelation 13, chapter 14 bursts forth with a vision of triumph and hope. Just before that, let me ask you something. What would it mean to you if this broadcast wasn’t here? For many listeners, Hope for Today is the only place they hear the Bible taught clearly without compromise. your gift, make sure that doesn’t stop and that the word of God keeps going out to hearts who need it most. So if the Lord leads, first of all, pray for us. And if you’d also like to support Hope for Today financially, call 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, or contribute online at davidhawking.org. Well, now here’s David with day two of 144,000 on Mount Zion.
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Revelation chapter 14, the first five verses. And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four beasts or living creatures and the elders. And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God. Our subject is 144,000 on Mount Zion. 144,000 on Mount Zion. We’ve talked about the protection of God that involves not only the presence of the Lamb, they will be with Him, but the very place where they’re standing. What a wonderful statement. They’re going to be so protected, they’re going to go right into the Messianic age and be standing with Him on Mount Zion. But third, it also involves the print of God’s name on their foreheads. You talk about protection. Revelation chapter 14, verse 1, having his father’s name written in their foreheads. Go back to Revelation chapter 3. God speaks much about the importance of his name as it relates to the believers. Revelation 3, verse 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. How interesting. Look at chapter 7. And it says in verse 3, he sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Look at 2 Corinthians, please, in the New Testament, chapter 1, verse 22. According to the Bible… These 144,000 are going to be sealed. There’s the key word. Sealed by God in their foreheads with their father’s name. It’s proof that they belong to the Lord. The song says, now I belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to me. Not for time alone, but for all eternity. And it’s precious to the believer to know that we belong to the Lord. Well, we are sealed. Those of us who are Jews and Gentiles in this age coming to know the Lord. 2 Corinthians 1, beginning at verse 20. For all the promises of God in him are yea or yes, and in him, amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he who establisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Now God has sealed us. We now belong to him. The seal is a mark of ownership. But it says in this 22nd verse that he’s given the earnest or pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. This is beautiful. Ephesians 1 verse 13 and 14. We’ve been sealed by God. The 144,000 are sealed by God with the Father’s name on their foreheads. You belong to the Lord and nothing can change you. The mark of ownership. In Ephesians 1, 13 to 14, it says, in whom ye also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after ye believed, watch this, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest, 2 Corinthians 1.22, just same thing. Who’s the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of his glory. What is the possession that is purchased by God that will be redeemed one day? And the answer is your body. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 says that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have of God. You are not your own. You are bought, purchased with a price. And the price, of course, is the Lord’s own blood. He bought your body. Now he’s got to redeem your body because your body is falling apart. Amen? Now turn to Romans chapter 8. I know some of you don’t need to be reminded of that. But Romans chapter 8. What a wonderful thing to be sealed by God. To say, I belong to the Lord. I’ve been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. God’s made some promises. And His promises are always yes and amen. You can count on them. They’re going to come true. And in order to seal this and make it real to us, He gave us the earnest of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Now keep thinking with me. Now, according to the Bible, this promise of God will be fulfilled at a future day when he redeems the purchased possession. What he purchased was your body. Now, you see this in Romans chapter 8. Let’s pick it up in verse 23. And not only they, all creation groaning and travailing in pain, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our what? Body. The redemption of the purchased possession is the redemption of your body. Your body groans and travails in pain. If it hasn’t done that yet, cheer up, it will. But according to the Bible, we have an earnest, a pledge of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that this day is going to come when our bodies will be redeemed. The Bible says in Philippians 3, 21, that our bodies will be fashioned like unto the glorious body of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in Revelation 21, God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. There’ll be no more pain or suffering or death or sorrow anymore. All of it will be wiped away. Everything will be made brand new. Now, in order to convince you and I that this is really going to happen, God seals us with an earnest of the Spirit. Now, the word earnest or pledge has often been said by Bible commentators to be a down payment. Probably their desire is to identify with a culture that knows about debt and down payment and mortgage payments. But my dear friend, the Holy Spirit in your heart is something far more than a down payment. It’s a lot more secure than that. Now, I love word studies. Some of you know that. You’re kind of catching on to that. I love word studies, and sometimes I make more of something than I should. That is for sure. But I do love word studies. And the particular Greek word for earnest or pledge is a precious one to me. It’s still used today, and it hasn’t changed its meaning. It’s referring to the engagement ring. And he gave us the earnest, the engagement ring is the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Is that beautiful or what? You can count on the marriage coming. You can count on the redemption of the body. You can count on the messianic kingdom. And all the promises of God will be yours. The assurance is in your heart. The presence of the Holy Spirit of God. What a beautiful thing. Back to Revelation chapter 14. Well, in verse 1, we have the protection of God. But in verse 2 and 3, we have the praise of God. You see, what did the 144,000 do? Well, for one thing, it says, I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters and like the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Now, who do you think that is? Well, it could be Old Testament saints, but it could be somebody else. Who do you think it might be? The church of Jesus Christ. You say, are you sure? Well, go back to Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Don’t you love the way we bounce around? Revelation chapter 5, verse 8. And when he had taken the scroll, the four beasts, and four and twenty elders, represent the completed church in heaven, fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them what? harps. Say, he’s quite an angel. He’s always harping about something. But anyway, the truth is the Bible says we’re going to have harps. We’re going to have musical instruments. You say, well, I’ve never played a musical instrument. You’re going to in heaven. Back to Revelation 14, verse 3. It says, not only were the voice of harpers harping with their harps, but they sang, as it were, a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders. And no man can learn that song but the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. You say, well, don’t the believers in heaven also sing a new song? Yes, they do. What he’s talking about is no one can learn that unless they’ve been redeemed and they’ve already received the plan of God for their salvation. They’re part of God’s harvest. And I think once we’re in heaven, we’re going to sing the new song. That’s what’s pictured in Revelation 5. But right now… We’re singing it okay because we know Christ has redeemed us, but let’s put it this way. The word new does not necessarily mean new in sequence of time. It’s an old song. In fact, in the Old Testament, it’s frequently referring to the fact that we should praise God with a new song. But in Greek, we have two words for new. We have new from the standpoint of time, and we have new from the standpoint of being fresh. For instance, when Jesus said, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another. It was not new from the standpoint of time. The Old Testament told us to love our neighbor. But it was new in the sense of being fresh. What made it fresh was when he said, a new commandment I’ve given you that you love one another as I have loved past, hence you. A moment of time, the cross. All of a sudden the cross becomes the standard by which we’re exhorted to love each other. That’s what made the new commandment fresh and new in that sense to Jewish people as well as Gentiles as they believed. tried to apply the command of God that they had known all these years. It was now fresh because the standard was, as I have loved you. In the same manner, when we get to heaven, the new song which praises the worthiness of the lamb that was slain will have a freshness to it because we will have redeemed glorified bodies. But according to the Bible, this new song is not new from time. It is new from being fresh. Let me prove it to you. Turn to Psalm 33. Psalms is the praise book of Israel. Psalm 33. We read in Psalm 33, 3 to 5. Sing unto him a new song. There it is. Play skillfully with a loud noise. A lot of drummers will be happy in heaven. For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. There it is. Sing a new song. Look at chapter 40 of Psalms. Chapter 40. Verse 1 to 5. I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man who maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are toward us. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. We have a lot of cause to sing a new song to the Lord. He took me out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock. I sing a new song. When you come to know the Lord, all of a sudden there’s a newness to your singing. There’s a song in your heart. Now look at chapter 96 in Psalms, chapter 96. It’s a recurring theme, this new song that believers will sing as they praise the Lord. Psalm 96. Verse 1, O sing unto the Lord a new song. Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord. Bless his name. Show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the peoples, his wonders among all peoples, among the heathen and the peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He’s to be feared above all gods. Sing the new song, the Bible says. Look at chapter 98, verse 1. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the victory. A new song again. Look, please, at chapter 144. 144 of Psalms. And look at verse 9 and 10. Again, the new song, fresh with praise coming from our hearts for all he has done. I will sing a new song, Psalm 144, verse 9. I will sing a new song unto thee, O God, upon a psaltery, an instrument of ten strings, will I sing praises unto thee. It is he who giveth salvation unto kings, who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. A reason to praise the Lord. Psalm 149, 149. which tells us to praise the Lord and speaks about all the many ways that we can praise Him and honor Him. Verse 13 says, “‘Praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is excellent.'” Psalm 148 says, “‘His glory is above the earth and heaven.'” And then 149 says, “‘Praise the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song.'” I like verse 5. It says, let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud on their beds. It just goes on and on. And then look at Psalm 150. Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with stringed instruments. and organs or flutes praise them upon the loud cymbals praise them upon the high sounding cymbals let everything that hath breath praise the lord praise ye the lord are we getting the message folks on that mountain they sing a new song it is fresh because they are the first fruits of the harvest that god’s going to bring in the tribulation period and boy do they have a song to sing John wrote his little book, 1 John, and said, these things I’ve written unto you that your joy may be full. We’d like you to have fullness of joy. In order to have that, you need the Lord Jesus. You need the Lord Jesus. Old time chorus said, if you want joy, real joy, let Jesus come into your heart.
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Have you been born again of the Spirit of God? Because if you haven’t, you will not be entering the kingdom of heaven. It’s so important that every one of us understands it isn’t just going to church. It isn’t just listening to certain religious programs or messages. My friends, we need to read God’s Word and find the truth there. The truth is the gospel of our Lord, Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ. Have you opened your heart to Him? Have you? Have you confessed your sin and repented of it and expressed by your confession your faith and belief in the finished work of our Messiah who died for your sin and rose again from the dead? And it’s promised eternal life to all who put their trust in Him. God bless you.
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Would you like to know more about a relationship with Jesus Christ? He loves you so much. And we’d like to send you a free booklet called What is Christianity? Again, if you don’t yet know Christ, you’re not yet a Christian, or if you’re new to the Christian faith. We’ll also send you a simple Bible study you can do at home. Call 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, and we’ll get these resources to you. Well, David will be back in just a moment, so stick around for some additional teaching. First of all, Matt’s in the studio, and together we’re going to share a great resource with you, something that’s really, really appropriate for what’s going on in our world today.
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Matt? This month, Jim, we’re featuring our book, Hope in Difficult Times. And let me just read a few quick lines from it. Yeah, this is good. Go ahead. Hope is attractive. Its very mention can motivate us to take another step, to try again. It helps us to cope with the pain of the moment, always looking to the future and a better time. It is optimistic in a very pessimistic world. It looks for ways to help, to resolve conflict and to heal. It suggests that things do not need to remain as they are. It is a word that anticipates change for the better. Matt, I think of Romans 8, 28 as you read that.
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Again, that’s from your dad’s book. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. And for those times, we’re just struggling to hang on to this truth. When life presses in and casts clouds of doubt in our hearts.
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You know, my dad drafted the book, you know, Hope in Difficult Times. For that purpose. Yeah. Yeah. And he named this ministry Hope for Today. That’s it. Because God’s word provides the hope we must have for today and every day. Certainly in these days when evil seems to run rampant and when you open this book, wow.
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Hope in Difficult Times. Yeah. Because it counts on the absolute trustworthiness of our God to deliver every time on his promises.
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Yes, hope that is an earnest expectation that God has us securely held in his plan and purpose for our lives.
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And we’ll discover the wonders of the Bible’s teaching on hope inside Hope in Difficult Times. Our featured offer for just $20. Your purchase will bless you, your family, and friends. And it will help the Ministry of Hope for today. To get your copy of Hope in Difficult Times, call 800-75-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible by the numbers 242. Or go to davidhawking.org. And just before David returns, you know, maybe you sense, like I do, that the clock, it’s ticking. That our world is drowning in noise, lies, and confusion that most people have no idea what’s coming next. Here at Hope for Today, we try to put together a broadcast that cuts through… through all of that confusion, with the truth of God’s Word. But here’s the reality. If people like you don’t step up, praying for us and contributing, well, that voice, just a simple truth, it could go silent. Your gift helps Hope for Today reaching the searching and broken, the ones who think that all hope is gone. You’re not just funding a program. You’re pushing back against the darkness with the truth of God’s Word. So if God stirs your heart, send support to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, R-P-O, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8, P1. Or call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And of course, online at davidhawking.org. And here’s David with a closing word.
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Thanks for listening to our broadcast from Revelation 14. We have been talking about the 144,000 Jewish evangelists that’ll be on Mount Zion. I don’t know what you know about Zionism, but the Bible’s filled with it, mentioning it over 150 times. And it’s referring to the property you know as Jerusalem, but it’s also referring to the people, the Zionists of Israel, who are messianic. Praise the Lord. And I am excited, I hope you are too, in studying the 144,000. They are singing, according to verse 3 of chapter 14, they’re singing a new song before the throne, before the four beasts, the worship leaders of heaven, the cherubim angels, and the elders, 24 of them representing the church in heaven during the tribulation. And it says no one can learn that song but the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. They follow the Lamb, according to verse 4, wherever He goes. And they are the firstfruits unto God. Well, I hope you’re enjoying our study. So give us a call, and it’s great being with you again.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. If you’d like to take David up on his invitation to reach out to us, again, the number here in the U.S., 875-BIBLE for Hope for Today, or in Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. Tomorrow, David wraps up his message called The Lamb on Mount Zion from Revelation 14, verses 1-5. 144,000 lift their voices like mighty waters, singing a new song that only the redeemed can sing. Don’t miss this powerful conclusion. That’s next time on Hope for Today.
