Triumph of the 144,000 over the Beast, its Image, and Mark 

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

A wonderful feature of the prophetic word is that the people of God are
never brought into positions of trial and difficulty, and there abandoned.
After taking them into scenes of danger, the voice of prophecy does not
leave them there to guess their fate, in doubt, perhaps despair, as to the
final result. Rather, it takes them through to the end, and reveals the
final triumph of the faithful.       

The first five verses of Revelation 14 are an example of this. The
thirteenth chapter closed with a view of the people of God, a small and
apparently weak and defenseless company, in deadly conflict with the
mightiest powers of earth which the dragon is able to muster to his
service. A decree is passed, backed up by the supreme power of the land,
that they shall worship the image and receive the mark, under pain of death
if they refuse to comply. What can the people of God do in such a conflict
and in such an extremity? What will become of them? Glance forward with the
apostle to the very next scene in the unfolding drama, and what do we
behold?--The same company standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb, a   
victorious company, playing on symphonic harps in the court of heaven. Thus
are we assured that when the time of our conflict with the powers of
darkness comes, deliverance is not only certain, but will immediately be
brought to the people of God.       

The 144,000.--We believe that the 144,000 here seen on Mount Zion are the
saints who were in Revelation 13 brought to view as objects of the wrath of
the beast and his image.       

They are identical with those sealed, as described in Revelation 7, who
have already been shown to be the righteous who are alive at the second
coming of Christ.       

They are "redeemed from among men" (verse 4), an expression which can be
applicable only to those who are translated from among the living. Paul
labored, if by any means he might attain to the resurrection from among the
dead. (Philippians 3: 11.) This is the hope of those who sleep in Jesus--a
resurrection from the dead. A redemption from among men, from among the
living, must mean a different thing, and can mean only one thing, and that
is translation. Hence the 144,000 are living saints, who will be translated
at the second coming of Christ. (See comment on verse 13.)       

On what Mount Zion does John see this company standing?--The Mount Zion
above; for the song of harpers, which no doubt is uttered by these very
ones, is heard from heaven. This is the same Zion from which the Lord
utters His voice when He speaks to His people in close connection with the
coming of the Son of man. (Joel 3: 16, Hebrews 12: 25-28; Revelation 16:
17.) An acceptance of the fact that there is a Mount Zion in heaven, and a
Jerusalem above, would be a powerful antidote for the false doctrine of a
second probation and a millennium of peace on earth.       

Only a few more particulars respecting the 144,000, in addition to those
given in Revelation 7, will claim our attention:       

They have the name of the Lamb's Father written in their foreheads. In
Revelation 7, they are said to have the seal of  God in their foreheads. An 
important key to an understanding of the seal of God is thus furnished, for we
at once perceive that the Father regards His name as His seal. That 
commandment of the law which contains God's name is therefore the seal
of the law. The Sabbath commandment is the only one that contains the 
descriptive title which distinguishes the true God from all false gods. 
Wherever this was placed, there the Father's name was said to be. 
(Deuteronomy 12: 5, 14, 18, 21; 14: 23; 16: 2, 6; etc.) Therefore whoever 
truly keeps this commandment has the seal of the living God.       

They sing a new song which no other company is able to learn. In Revelation
15: 3, it is called the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. The song of
Moses, as may be seen by reference to Exodus 15, was a song of experience
and deliverance. Therefore the song of the 144,000 is the song of their
deliverance. No others can join in it, for no other company will have had
an experience like theirs.       

They "were not defiled with women." A woman is in Scripture the symbol of a
church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a corrupt woman, an
apostate church. It is, then, a characteristic of this company that at the
time of their deliverance they are not defiled with the fallen churches of
the land, nor do they have any connection with them. yet we are not
understand that they never had any connection with these churches, for it
is only at a certain time that people become defiled by them. In Revelation
18: 4 we find a call issued to the people of God while they are still in
Babylon, to come out lest they become partakers of her sins. Heeding that
call, and leaving her connection, they escape the defilement of her sins.
So of the 144,000: though some of them may have once had a connection with
corrupt churches, they sever that connection with corrupt churches, they
sever that connection when it would become sin to retain it longer.       

They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. We understand that this is
spoken of them in their redeemed state. They are the special companions of
their glorified Lord in the kingdom. Of the same company and the same time,
we read,       

"The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of waters." Revelation 7: 17.       

They are "first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." This term appears to be
applied to different ones to denote special conditions. Christ is the first
fruits as the antitype of the wavesheaf. The first receivers of the gospel
are called by James a kind of first fruits. (James 1: 18.) So the 144,000,
being prepared for the heavenly garner here on the earth during the
troublous scenes of the last days, being translated to heaven without
seeing death, and occupying a pre-eminent position, are in this sense
called the first fruits unto God and the Lamb. With this description of the
144,000 triumphant, the line of prophecy which began with Revelation 12