They Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes (Revelation 14:1-5)

Transcription

1 They Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes (Revelation 14:1-5) The Valley of Dry Bones The prophet Ezekiel knew all about death. He had witnessed the death of a kingdom, the death of a city, the death of a temple, the death of a people, the death of a covenant, the death of a dream. The Babylonians had destroyed everything when they crushed Jerusalem in 586 B.C., but the fact of the matter is that Israel had died long before that. A steady stream of wicked and godless kings and the incessant idolatry which plagued the nation from its very inception had left Israel like a rattled harlot waiting to die of the disease ravaging her body from her years of illicit liaisons with foreign gods. The Babylonians had only brought about the inevitable, putting the nation out of her misery. And now those who remained languished in exile with no city, no temple, no homeland, no nation, and no hope. Death reigned. It was into that darkness that the prophet had a vision. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones (Ezek. 37:1). This was not just any valley; this was a graveyard, the Valley of Death. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry (37:2). It was a mass grave. This had been a valley of slaughter, and no one had buried the corpses. The flesh had long since rotted away, or been picked over by the vultures. You can picture the wind-swept valley, full of dry bones, bleached in the scorching Middle Eastern sun. These were the remains of Israel, the covenant people of God. And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? (37:3a). Can these bones live? It had obviously been years since these bones were alive. No, they cannot live! They re dead! And yet, the prophet sensed that the LORD knew something that he did not. So he answered, O Lord GOD, you know. (37:3b). Then he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD. (37:4-6) Just as God formed the first man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7), so God would recreate His covenant people, formed by the word of His power, fashioned in His image, and regenerated by the breath (ruach the Spirit) of life. So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (37:7-10) Thus, as the prophet proclaimed the word of God in the power of the Spirit, the Valley of Death came to life. And Ezekiel saw standing before him an innumerable company of redeemed saints. The LORD then interpreted the vision for His prophet. 1

2 Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off. Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD. (37:11-14) The promise was clear, and it was astounding. Through sovereign grace, the power of the Spirit, and the preached word, God would create a people for His own possession, a people alive from the dead, a people in whom His Spirit would dwell, a people whom He would bring into the everlasting land of their inheritance. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.... I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. (37:23-24, 26) Yes, God would create a people, a covenant people, a cleansed people, a redeemed people, a holy people, an exceedingly great army out of dry, dead bones. An Exceedingly Great Army What Ezekiel saw as a future promise, John sees in Revelation 14:1-5 as a present reality. This vision of the Lamb and the 144,000 is the fifth vision in this third vision cycle known as the seven symbolic histories which span Revelation Let s read the vision, and then I will point out several points of contact with Ezekiel s vision of the valley of dry bones. Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. I d like to give you just four of the reasons (there are more than four) why this vision is in many ways a fulfillment of Ezekiel s vision. First, when the dry bones had been re-formed into bodies and revived by the Spirit of life, Ezekiel states that he saw an exceedingly great army. Likewise, John sees, standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, 144,000 who had the name of the Lamb and of His Father on their foreheads. We were introduced to this company in Revelation 2

3 7, where their roll was called by tribe, 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. What John sees in that first vision of Revelation 7 is the entire company of the redeemed saints shown in symbolic form. I won t rehearse all of the reasons this morning; rather, I refer you to our website, to the message (and manuscript) from Revelation 7 entitled, The Saints Who Stand before the Throne. Suffice it to say this morning that the verbal links between Revelation 3:12; 5:9-10 ; 7:1-8; 7:9-17; 9:4; 14:1-5; and 22:4, among others, make it abundantly clear that the 144,000 which John sees in Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5 represent the same innumerable multitude who have been redeemed from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation which John sees in 7:9-17 worshiping around the throne, clothed in white robes, and dwelling in the Lord s presence as the Lamb shepherds them to the springs of the water of life. And the reason I call this company of 144,000 an army is because the way they appear in Revelation 7:5-8 strongly resembles the census lists from the book of Numbers, where the purpose was to organize Israel into military divisions that would conquer the Promised Land. 1 So I conclude that what we have in Revelation 14:1-5 is an exceedingly great army of saints reformed, redeemed, revived, and ready to inherit the land, just like Ezekiel saw. Second, speaking of the land, the 144,000 stand before the Lamb atop Mount Zion. You will remember the promise of God to Ezekiel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel (Ezek. 37:12). And a little later They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be prince there forever (37:25). God s promise would be fulfilled when He brought His redeemed people into the everlasting land of their inheritance, which in the new covenant (and this is most definitely a new covenant promise in Ezekiel 37 cf. 37:14) does not refer merely to the geographic land of Canaan, but to the new heavens and new earth, the new Jerusalem, Zion the everlasting city of God where He dwells in the midst of His people (cf. Heb. 11:10, 13-16). 2 Thus, that John sees the 144,000 on Zion with the Lamb shows that John is seeing the fulfillment of Ezekiel s vision. Third, the 144,000 stand before the Lamb, who is Jesus Christ, the everlasting heir of the throne of David (cf. Luke 1:32-33). This is the meaning of God s promise to Ezekiel, My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd (Ezek. 37:24; cf. John 10:16). That promise is fulfilled in Christ, the Son of David, the Lamb of God. Fourth, in Revelation 14:4 John says that the 144,000 have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins, which does not mean that they were literally celibate, for the Bible never presents sexual relations within the sanctity of the marriage covenant as defiling. Rather, there are two things going on here. First, John is figuratively presenting this army of 144,000 as consecrated for battle. According to Mosaic Law, Israel s soldiers had to maintain ceremonial purity and celibacy in preparation for waging holy war (Deut. 23:9-11; 1 Sam. 21:5; 2 Sam. 11:8-13). 3 Secondly, though, John is using the image symbolically of their abstaining from idolatry, from fornicating with the whore of Babylon. Throughout the Bible, and even in the letters of Revelation, involvement in pagan idolatry is often spoken of in sexual terms. So John is presenting the saints as the pure and consecrated followers of the Lamb, and not the 1 G. K. Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2015), Beale, Dennis E. Johnson, Triumph of the Lamb (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2001), 202. Cf. note 4. 3

4 diseased and defiled consorts of the harlot of Babylon. 4 This is precisely the way God used a very similar word in Ezekiel 37:23 of the redeemed, reformed, and revived army of Israel They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all their backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them Ezekiel s exceedingly great army will be cleansed of the defilement of idolatry, and therefore consecrated wholeheartedly to the LORD, to David s greater Son, to the Lamb, to follow Him wherever He goes. Am I a Soldier of the Cross? So what we have in Revelation 14:1-5 is the exceedingly great army of Ezekiel 37, a redeemed, reformed, reborn company of holy warriors standing before their Captain, who is Christ the Lamb, ready to follow Him wherever He goes, ready to follow Him into holy war against the beast and his forces (cf. Rev. 17:14; 19:14). Isaac Watts, the great hymnist, pastor, and theologian of 17 th -18 th century England, who is best known for the hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, was thinking of this passage when he wrote, Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause, or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease While others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace to help me on to God? Sure I must fight if I would reign; increase my courage, Lord! I ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word. In that hymn, Watts is wrestling through what it means to be a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb. And it is a question that all of us would do well to consider this morning. What are the marks of a soldier of the cross? What are the characteristics of one who has been raised by the word of God and revived by the Spirit of God to join the ranks of the redeemed saints? I see at least five in this text. The Saints Are Owned by Christ First, the saints are owned by Christ, having been purchased at the cost of His blood. Twice in this passage, John says that they have been redeemed (agorazo), or purchased. In 14:3 we read, No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. And in 14:4 These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits 5 for God and the Lamb This is the same word (redeemed agorazo), and the same phrase ( redeemed for God ) found in 5:9, when the elders sing their new song Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed [redeemed, purchased] men from every tribe and language and people and nation So these 144,000 soldiers, who 4 Beale, For a discussion of the meaning of firstfruits, cf. Beale, It refers to the portion of the harvest consecrated to the Lord. 4

5 are the same as the innumerable saints from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (5:9; 7:9), have been redeemed out of the earth where they were slaves of sin and Satan, captives in Babylon, at the cost of Christ s precious blood, the blood of the Lamb who was slain. But notice the purpose of their redemption. They were purchased for God and for the Lamb. The Lamb purchased their freedom from slavery with the blood of His cross that He might turn them into soldiers and that the Father might turn them into sons. They are owned by Christ and His Father. Which is why they bear the names of Christ and His Father on their foreheads (3:12; 7:3; 22:4; cf. 13:16-17; 14:9). This is the mark of ownership, like the tattoos or brands on slaves and soldiers in the Roman era. It is not a visible mark, but rather represents the seal of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13) by which His people are sealed and protected (Rom. 9:4) and preserved in faith to the very end when they receive their reward as conquering soldiers, and enter into their inheritance as faithful sons. This is one of the marks of a soldier of the cross. They have a deep sense that they are not their own, that they were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20). They know that they are owned, and therefore they live to glorify God with their body. The Saints Worship Christ When John sees the 144,000, the first thing he notices is their mark of ownership the name of the Christ and His Father inscribed on their foreheads. But the second thing that catches his attention when he looks upon this regimented company standing in formation before the Lamb is the thunderous worship that erupts from their ranks. They are singing a new song, a song of victory, a song of redemption (cf. 5:9-10). And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. (14:2-3) If you trace the voice (singular) through this passage, described in verse 2 as like the roaring of many waters and the sound of loud thunder and of harpists playing on their harps, you soon find that it is equated in verse 3 with the they (plural) who sing a new song, which then ties with the 144,000 who alone are able to sing the new song. In other words, it is the soldiers who sing. They are enthralled with the Lamb, which His sacrifice, with their blood-bought redemption. They worship. They can t but worship, for their hearts are filled with praise for the glory of God s grace displayed in the redemption won by the blood of the Lamb. This is the second mark of a soldier of the cross. They worship Christ. Their worship is unified (one voice), it is loud (roar of many waters and sound of loud thunder), it is glorious (many harps), it is heavenly (before the throne, the four living creatures, the elders), and it is known only by those who have been redeemed from the earth. The Saints Are Consecrated to Christ Third, saints are consecrated to Christ. John says in verse 4, It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins We saw earlier how this was an allusion to the warriors of Israel consecrating themselves to the LORD in preparation for holy war. In the context of Revelation, it likely carries the idea of not being defiled by liaisons with the world, with Babylon. These soldiers live with a singular devotion to the mission and to their Messiah, to the cause and to their Commander. They have purified and consecrated themselves for war, in 5

6 stark contrast to the defiled and debauched followers of the beast. 6 It was this war-time consecration which Paul commended to Timothy, Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him (2 Tim. 2:4). I would commend to everyone John Piper s book Desiring God. I recommend the whole book, but in this regard especially his chapter on money and the wartime lifestyle which the soldiers of Christ ought to adopt so as to avoid the defilements and entanglements of this world. Piper writes, There is a war going on. All talk of a Christian s right to live luxuriously as a child of the King in this atmosphere sounds hollow especially since the King Himself is stripped for battle. It is more helpful to think of a wartime lifestyle than a merely simply lifestyle. Simplicity can be very inwardly directed and may benefit no one else. A wartime lifestyle implies that there is a great and worthy cause for which to spend and be spent (2 Corinthians 12:15). 7 This is a further mark of a soldier of Christ. He knows he is at war, and he lives his life as such. He has consecrated himself to his Captain. He lives in a state of readiness, of training, on post, so that when the call comes he is not found on leave in Babylon. The Saints Are Sanctified in Christ Fourth, and following closely on the previous point, the saints are sanctified in Christ. John remarks that in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless (14:5). This is an allusion to Isaiah 53:9 (cf. Zeph. 3:13), in which it was said of the Suffering Servant, the Lamb led to slaughter (Isa. 53:7), there was no deceit in his mouth. Do you see what has happened? These saints, these soldiers, have taken on the character of their Captain. 8 They have been conformed into His image, and are found to be men and women of integrity, of holiness. This, then, is a fourth mark of a soldier of Christ. They take on the character of their Captain. There has been a transformation since their redemption. By grace, through faith, in the power of the Spirit, they have pursued integrity, purity, righteousness. And though their righteousness is not perfect in this age, it is purposeful and it was real. And in the age to come, they will stand on Mount Zion before the Lamb blameless, with great joy (Jude 24), dressed in the splendor of holiness (Rev. 19:8). The Saints Follow Christ Finally, the saints follow Christ. In one of the iconic lines from Revelation, John says in the middle of verse 4 They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. And where do lambs go? To the place of sacrifice, to the place of slaughter, to the cross. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel s will save it (Mark 8:34-35). The soldier of Christ follows his Captain down what John Piper calls the Calvary road, the road of suffering, of tribulation, of life poured out in sacrifice for the sake of love. He writes, What a tragic waste when people turn away from the Calvary road of love and suffering. All the riches of the glory of God in Christ are on that road. All the sweetest fellowship with Jesus is there. All the treasures of assurance. All the ecstasies of joy. All the clearest sightings of eternity. All the noblest 6 Cf. Johnson, John Piper, Desiring God (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2011, orig., 1986), Beale,

7 camaraderie. All the humblest affections. All the most tender acts of forgiving kindness. All the deepest discoveries of God s Word. All the most earnest prayers. They are all on the Calvary road where Jesus walks with his people. Take up your cross and follow Jesus. On this road, and this road alone, life is Christ and death is gain. Life on every other road is wasted. 9 The soldiers of Christ have not wasted their life on the roads of comfort, ease, and meaningless pursuits of wood, hay, and stubble. Rather, they have poured out their lives in sacrifice, in suffering, and in many cases, unto death, believing that to live was Christ and to die was gain. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Are You a Soldier of the Cross? Isaac Watts pondered the question, Am I a soldier of the cross? And I would pose the same question to you. Are you a soldier of the cross? Are you among those once dry bones that have been redeemed, reformed, and revived by the word of God s power, the exceedingly great army in the Lord? Test yourselves in this. As we close, let me lead you in some prayerful reflection as you lay bare your heart before the Lord. Do you live with a deep sense of being owned by Christ? Do Paul s words, You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:19-20) ring true in your heart? Or do you live as your own master? Do you live a life of worship to Christ? Is there deep within your soul a desire and burden born of the experience of grace that compels you to joyfully sing songs of thunderous praise to the Lamb? Or is your heart dry and dead toward Christ? Do you live a wartime lifestyle of consecration to Christ? Are you a good soldier of Christ Jesus who resists the entanglements of civilian affairs? Is your life marked by a singular devotion, a consuming passion, a state of readiness? Or are you often found in the brothels of Babylon? Does your life show the evidence of sanctification, of transformation, of conformity into the image of Christ your Captain? Is your life marked by integrity, by repentance, by experiences of victory over sin, by the purposeful pursuit of righteousness? Or is your life indistinct from the citizens of Babylon, the followers of the beast? Are you walking the Calvary road of sacrifice in the service of love? Are you driven by the desire to know and gain Christ, to glorify Him in life and in death? Or are you driven by the desire for comfort and ease and security above all else? May God be pleased to grant repentance and renewal by His Spirit in these matters. May the breath of His Spirit blow again through the valley of dry bones, creating by the word of His power an exceedingly great army who will follow the Lamb wherever He goes. 9 John Piper, Don t Waste Your Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009, orig. 2003), 76. 7