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Eureka

AN EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE
Sixth Edition, 1915
By Dr. John Thomas (first edition written 1861)

 

 

Chapter 14

THIRD GENERAL DIVISION

Section 1. The Lamb on the mount


 
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"And I looked, and behold, a Lamb stood upon the Mount Zion, and with him 144,000, having the Name ofhis Father, which had been written upon their foreheads" - Verse 1.

All the events represented in this fourteenth chapter are in the future; for nothing having the least resemblance to them has ever been transacted upon the earth since the Deity gave the Apocalypse to Jesus Christ, who sent and signified it by his angel to John in Patmos. But, though all in that which is hereafter to become history, it is not unconnected with the things treated of in previous parts of the Apocalypse.

Thus, the Lamb and his 144,000 virgin-companions (Psa. 45:14), are represented in the first chapter by the Son ofMan clothed with a garment of linen (Dan. 10:5) whose voice is as the sound of many waters, or the voice of a multitude (Dan. 10:6). They are the One sitting upon the throne, the New Throne in the opened heavens; and the four and twenty Elders in white raiment and golden stephans; and the Four Living Ones full of eyes, in the midst of the throne, and around it, exhibited in the fourth chapter. The 144,000 are exegetical of the symbolic Lamb whose personal chieftain, or Head, is Jesus Christ, "the Captain of their salvation," or the Deity manifested in flesh, justified by spirit (1 Tim. 3:16). He is the Lamb slain, and they are in him; and therefore constituents of the symbolic and mystical Lamb; an idea emblematically signified,by the phrase, Hwith him 144,000". In other words, JESUS AND HIS BRETHREN "glorified together" (Rom. 8: 17), are the Seven Lamps of Fire burning before the throne, or the Seven Spirits of the Deity sent forth into all the earth, represented by a Lamb with Seven Horns and Seven Eyes; that is, they are the Omnipotent and Omniscient Power in substantial and glorious manifestation, styled YAHWEH AIL-SHADDAI, "He who shall be the strength of the Mighty Ones, who was, and is, and is to come," and is superlatively holy - Ch. 4:5,8; 5:6; Psa. 50: 1-6.

The wool with which the Lamb is clothed is of snowy whiteness Isa. 1:18; Apoc. 1:14. Standing in the midst of 144,000, invested with "fine linen, clean and white," he is clothed with a pure and faultless multitude; which is his snowy fleece, washed and made white in the blood of the individual Lamb, Jesus-ch. 1:5; 7:14. This Seven Horned and Seven Eyed Lamb-Multitude is the Mighty Angel descended from the heaven, clothed with a cloud; and holding in his hand a LITILE OPEN SCROLL- Ch. 10:1. One thing, however, is particularly to be observed here, namely, that, though this cloud-invested angel, and the Lamb with the 144,000, symbolize the same multitude, they represent this multitude in different positions and stages of its career. In this fourteenth chapter, while on Mount Zion, the multitude is "in the heaven," having opened the door, entered therein, and set up the throne (ch. 4:1,2; Psa. 24:7; Dan. 2:44): but, in the tenth chapter (though without abandoning the seat of government) the almighty, cloud-invested, angel-Lamb and his companions, "come down from the heaven," and take up a position upon the earth and sea - verses 1,2,5,8. In other words, war has been declared against the Beast of the Earth, the Beast of the Sea, the Image of the Beast, and the False Prophet; that is, against all Europe, for the utter destruction of all its institutions, civil and ecclesiastical; and the subjugation of all its peoples, nations, tongues, and rulers, to the absolute sovereignty of David's Son and Lord (Psa. 110:1).The Lamb and his 144,000, "who follow him whithersoever he goes," engaged in this, "the war of that great day of the all-powerful Deity" (ch. 16: 14), are the cloud-invested angel in the territories of the enemy which they have invaded, and in which they are progressing as pillars offire." In this warfare they are giving practical expression to the unwritten utterances of the Seven Thunders - unwritten in the tenth chapter; but illustrated in the fourteenth, from the eighth verse to the end.

The Lamb and 144,000 are the Nave of the Deity opened in the heaven in which is seen the Ark of his testimony (ch. 11:19). "Yahweh Ail-Shaddai is the Nave, even the Lamb - ho Kurios ho Theos ho pantokrator, naos autes esti, kai to arnion (ch. 21:22). YAHWEH-AIL, or Kurios and SHADDAI, or Theos, constitute the Lamb. In other words, the Multitudinous Unity, indicated by Jesus in his prayer, that believers into him through the Apostolic word "may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE IN us" (John 17:21). This unity is many individuals in One Body. This body when deified is the Nave, or Most Holy, as represented by the thrice uttered exclamation of the Four Living Ones, "Holy, holy, holy!!!" The Ark of the testimony is in this body when manifested in glory - "Christ the Head over all for the ecclesia, which is his body" (Eph. 1:22,23).

.John saw the Lamb and his virgin companions, or Bride, standing upon Mount Zion. This is the platform, or standing-place, of their Body Politic, both as the Holy, and the Most Holy community. In the state previous. to the advent of Christ, the Saints are the 144,000 in great tribulation, being subject to hunger and thirst, sun-stroke, and scorching heat - ch. 7:4,14,16. In this state of things they are subjected to the "much tribulation," through which, Paul testifies, "we must enter into the kingdom of the Deity" (Acts 14:22). They are an election taken out from the nations, by obedience of faith, for His Name (Acts 15:14; Rom. 1:5): by which faith in "the things concerning the kingdom of the Deity, and the name of Jesus Christ," "they walk," and "are come to Mount Zion, and unto the City of the living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem" (2 Cor. 5:7; Acts 8:12; Heb. 12:22). Though scattered and dispersed, and natives of divers remote places, when viewed collectively they are regarded as being born in Zion; and constituting the Holy City, the heavenly Jerusalem; for the time being trodden under foot by the worshippers of the Beast. "Glorious things are spoken concerning Zion, the city ofthe Elohim" - ir hah-Elohim. Those who believe these glorious things, and are born of water, become citizens of Zion; so that when Yahweh writeth up the people, He will count that they were born there; for all His springs are in Zion, and He Himself will establish her (Psa. 87; Gal. 4:26; Apoc. 11:2).

But the time approaches when in a literal or unfigurative sense, "our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." This standing was represented to John in the standing of the Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion, where are then "set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David" (Psa. 122:2-5). These "thrones of the House of David" belong to Zion, and nowhere else. They do not belong to the Seven Mountains, or Rome; but to the Holy Hill of Zion, which the Father styles His, in Psa. 2:6. These are the thrones in the heaven which John saw there after the door was opened - the twenty-four thrones circling about the central rainbowed throne, occupied by the Jasper and Sardine Stone, the twenty-four elders, and the four living ones (Apoc. 4:3,4,6: an emblematic illustration of the promise, "to him that overcometh I will give to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sit with my Father on his throne (ch. 3:21). These thrones of the House of David belonging to Mount Zion are the thrones John refers to in ch. 20:4. "I saw thrones," says he, "and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of the Deity, and who did no homage to the beast, nor to his image, and received not the sign upon their foreheads and upon their hands". These are the 144,000 on Mount Zion, who, having been raised from among the dead, and quickened, and had judgment given to them, occupy "thrones of judgment," and thenceforth "reign with Christ a thousand years." Among them are the twelve apostles, to whom the Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh, promised a joint possession with himself of thrones of the House of David. In answer to Peter who said, "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee: what therefore shall there be for us?" Jesus replied, "Ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:27,28). Among these also will be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets; and worthies from the east, and west, and north, and south; a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues - all these stand before the throne and the Lamb, as the glorified 144,000, clothed with white robes; and when they rest from their labors, "with palms," instead of a two-edged sword, "in their hands" (Luke 13:28,29; Apoc. 7:9; Psa. 149:6).

The symbolic Lamb and 144,000 on Mount Zion are YAHWEH Tz'vAOTH, He who shall be hosts, of whom Isaiah prophesies in ch. 6, "I saw," saith he, "Adonai (the Spirit in plural manifestation - Lords) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his robe-skirts filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphim; each one had six wings; and one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, Yahweh Tz'vaoth; the whole earth is full of his glory" . Adonai with robe-skirts filling the temple is the Spirit as the Lamb and the 144,000. These thousands are the skirts of the investing robe of "the King" YAHWEH Tz'vAOTH; and symbolized by the six-winged Seraphim, or four living ones full of eyes, described by John in ch. 4:6,7,8. That Adonai is One in plural manifestation, appears from the eighth verse. "I heard," saith Isaiah, the voice of Adonai, saying, Whom shall I send? and who will go for US?" In other words, Whom shall I, the Spirit, or the Father, send? Who will go for us, the plurality symbolized by the Seraph-skirts of the investing robe? The Spirit of Christ in the prophet answers, "Here am I; send me!" And He said . "Go!" In the ninth and tenth verses is the message to be delivered to Israel. The delivery is noted in Matt. 13: 13-15, and the Messenger is there found to be Jesus. He came, and was slain. He was "delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Unto him, then, "the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Kings and Priests for the Deity and his Father; to him be glory and dominion, for the rens of the reons, Amen" (Apoc. 1:5-6). This is the ascription of Isaiah's Seraphim, of Ezekiel's Cherubim, and of John's four Living Ones, and therefore of the 144,000, to the Lamb for what he has done for them. The question, "Who will go for us?" has been graciously responded to by the loving self-sacrifice of Christ for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6-8). But for this voluntary and disinterested sacrifice, there would be no redemption; and therefore no Seraphic 144,000 hereafter on Mount Zion, or anywhere else. But, the redemption price has been paid, and all the Seals will be thoroughly unloosed. As certainly as the Lamb was slain, so surely will he appear on the Mount Zion, with the 144,000; when the moon of the political firmament shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when "He who shall be hosts" (Yahweh Tz'vaoth) shall reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his Ancients gloriously (Isa. 24:23).

Much that ought to be said about the 144,000 has already appeared in Vol. 11 ch. 7 § 5,6, to which the reader is referred. They are the "holy nation" the root of whose square is 12. The Name of the Lamb's Father is theirs; for they are said to have it. The Father's Name is representative of what He is - of His power, glory, substance, and character. The Anointed Jesus is now the apaugasma, or reflected splendor, of the glory of the Father; and the karakter, or exact likeness, of his hupostasis, or substance (Heb. 1:3). He is, therefore, "the Image of the Invisible Deity;" and occupies the rank of "first-born," or Chief, of "every creature" (Col. 1:15). Because of this, he is the impersonation, or embodiment, of the Father's Name. Isaiah speaks of him as this Name, in ch. 30:27: "the Name of Yahweh," saith he, "cometh from far, His anger burning, and the burden heavy; His lips are full of indignation, and His tongue as a devouring fire: and His breath as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity." Moses styles it, "the glorious and fearful name, aith Yahweh Elohekah - He who shall be thine Elohim, or Mighty Ones" (Deut. 28:58). Such is the Name that was written upon Jesus, when the Father "made him both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). In flashing, or photographing, the power, glory, character, and very substance, of the Deity upon a body taken from among the dead, the Father's Name was written upon it; and the resurrected Jesus can now say, in every sense of the words, "I and the Father are One" - ego kai ho pater hen esmen (John 10:30). This could not have been affirmed of him while dead. But the dead body was made to live again. It was thus restored to its former life; brought back to what it was before; and so fulfilling the word, saying, "Yahweh restoreth my soul" (Psa. 23:3). Being thus restored, he came into the position of those Paul styles, "the living who are left for the presence of the Lord;" that is, the remnant keeping the commandment of the Deity and the faith of Jesus, who are living when he comes as a thief. These, he says, "shall not sleep," or die. They are living persons such as Jesus was when restored to life; and like him, waiting for the same things to be wrought in them. The risen Jesus waited to be changed, or transformed, into what he was not on emerging from the tomb. The true believers, who hope not to die, knowing that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, are also waiting to be changed or transformed into what they are not. The position of Jesus and this remnant is identical. He had not long to wait for his change. When it did come, it was "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" - quick as a flash of lightning. This was his reviving after he rose, and by which he was made Lord and Christ.

Such was the time of his transformation into "a quickening spirit;" and the operation by which the Father's Name was written, impressed, or flashed, upon him. It was his "NEW NAME," and identical with the Father's: not another name distinct from His. When this was flashed upon him, he became "The Blessed and Only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords." It is " a name which no man knows, but he himself;" that is, it declares what cannot be affirmed of any other man; namely, that He is the Invisible Eternal Power, in incorruptible and deathless manifestation, having absolute dominion in heaven and upon the earth — The Father's Image (1 Tim. 6:15; Apoc. 19:12,16; Matt. 28:18).

But the Eternal Spirit hath invited others to a participation with Jesus in the Father's Name. "He that hath an ear," saith he, "let him hear what the Spirit saith to the ecclesias; to him that overcometh, I will write upon him the Name of my Deity, and the Name of the city of my Deity, New Jerusalem, which descended out of the heaven from my Deity, and my New Name; which no one knows saving he that receives it" (Apoc. 2:17; 3:12). This has been explained in the first volume. I quote it here to remind the reader that saints, who walk in the truth, have the promise, that this "glorious and fearful name" shall be written upon them, as it hath been already written upon their Elder Brother, the Great Captain of their salvation.

The Name that shall be written has certain novelties connected with it, that entitle it to be called "New". The Name is now doctrinally sealed in the foreheads of the Deity's servants, who are also immersed into His name. As the result of the sealing they believe "the things of the kingdom of the Deity and of the Name of Jesus Christ." They have now "no more conscience of sins;" but "the answer of a good conscience towards the Deity," and the hope of a resurrection for eternal life in the kingdom. But, though they have put on the New Man, and are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, whatever their present spiritual conformity, they are not yet "like him" in power, glory, and substance. This is their hope, the realization of which will endow them with new qualities. Instead of being corruptible, ignominious, and weak of body, this will be changed, or transfigured, into a like form with the body of Christ's glory. In the operation of this instantaneous transfiguration, the New Name of the Spirit is written upon them; so that that which in the state of tribulation is doctrinally written in their foreheads, is incorporated into their very substance by the Divine energy that subdues everything to itself (Phil. 3:21).

With this New Name of the Spirit, styled the Father's Name, the 144,000 will stand on Mount Zion. It is written upon them before they appear there. This is evident from the word gegrammenon, having been written. When was it written? Doctrinally, when sealed in their foreheads (ch. 7:3) in the great tribulation (verse 14); and corporeally, when "the dead, small and great," stand in the presence of the Deity, and are judged by what has been written, according to their works. Those who are found written in the Book of Life, receive their reward in the inscription of the New Name, which makes them like what Jesus Christ now is. All others are "cast into the lake of fire" with the Beast and False Prophet (ch. 11:18; 20:12-15; 14:9,10). Hence the standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 6:7,8) precedes the standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. The judgment of the household of Christ intervenes between the resurrection, and the ascending of Yahweh's Hill. This is evident from Psa. 24; where, in answer to the question, "Who shall go up into the Mountain of Yahweh? And who shall 'rise into' the place of his holiness?" — it says, "The innocent of hands and the pure of heart; who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity and hath not sworn to deceit". This implies previous scrutiny. All saints who rise, but whose moral qualities, on examination, are not found in accordance with the above, shall not "rise into the place of his holiness" — "yahkum bimkom kodsho;" which is Mount Zion. They shall not be permitted to stand there as constituents of the 144,000, who are the pure of heart, and in whose mouth no guile "had been found," heurethe.

 

 


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