I find it so exciting that from Revelation 14 to Revelation 15.4, the theme is a description of the victory of the Lamb and the successful resistance of the Lamb’s followers against the beast. Dr Chris Green1 has called Revelation 14 ‘the play within the play’, a phrase taken from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, mean the truth of a situation is revealed. In this small series of blogs I plan to try and tease out some hidden threads that will help us to ponder afresh the truth of this victory.
In Revelation 14, the author, John, develops the imagery from ‘Lion to Lamb’ provoking the idea of a different ‘type’ of power with 144,000 as representative of the church’s victory through their witness and martyrdom. Angelic beings and a sea of glass mixed with fire link back to Israel’s exodus and the whole, surrounded by worship, lifts the reader’s eye and imagination away from earth and into the heavens where all this takes place. The song of Moses then prefigures the song of the Lamb now and both celebrate the victory which has been won. The passage fits into the overall flow of Revelation by revealing the victory of the Lamb and the perseverance of the saints through tribulation and martyrdom. John’s point is served by revealing the Lamb for who he is and how the victory has been won.
John has heard that ‘the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has won the victory’ (Rev 5.5) and so we might expect him to see a powerful animal representation of the victor (such as a lion). But John reconfigures this imagery to reveal the hidden message of the Lion/Lamb conjunction which challenges our earthly perception of power. How can a slaughtered Lamb be powerful? Revelation 14 makes known how differently such a victory is won. John’s radical description of the Lamb and the 144,000 helps readers understand and identify with the Lamb’s means of triumph as well as be certain of a victory characterised by witness and sacrifice – consistent with the character of their Lord and Saviour, inspiring them even to martyrdom. The promises of Hebrews 12.22-24 are fulfilled here.
There is a connection to John’s gospel as the Lamb imagery reflects God’s heart coming to earth in Jesus. How incredible that in John 1.29, another John (the Baptist) recognised this and heralded the coming of the King. Even before that, as an unborn,1 John’s spirit recognised the Lamb. As an adult he calls it out again by saying ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…’ The Nazirite Baptist, filled with Holy Spirit has, in that moment, insight and authority to proclaim the Lamb of God has arrived.
John on Patmos is privileged to receive the same insight when he sees the Lamb in Rev 7.17, expressing authority in the opening of the seals on the scroll. His proclamation resounds through all creation – as we see when the heavens open. It is resonant with the later Song of the Lamb (Rev 15.3-4). Perhaps John the Baptist is even the first to utter such a phrase on earth since the fall of Man? His declarative language shows that he recognises Jesus’ ministry as one of salvation and redemption, a major theme of the OT (Jer 23.5-6, Zech 3.10, Zech 6.12). John, on Patmos, draws upon this theme for the Apocalypse.
- https://www.cewgreen.com/
- Matthew 3.3-4; Mark 1-5-6; Luke 1.15-16.
Mismeret 