THE CITADEL OF THE SAINTS AND THE SERVANTS OF THE LAMB.
(1) And I looked . . .—Better, And I saw, and behold, the Lamb (not “a Lamb:” it is the Lamb, the true Lamb of God, against whom the wild beast wages savage and subtle war) standing on the Mount Sion. The Saviour, the Lamb, in whose blood the saints have found their victory, is seen standing on the citadel of the heavenly city. Babylon is to be introduced (Revelation 14:8). In contrast, Zion, the chosen abode of God (Psalms 132:13-18), the type of the spiritual city whose citizens are true to the King (comp. Psalms 2:6; Psalms 74:2; Hebrews 12:22-24), is introduced. There are to be seen the Lamb, set as King upon the holy hill of Zion, and with Him the sealed ones, His faithful soldiers and servants. They are described as 144,000 in number: a number which represents the full growth of the choice ones of God, the true Israel of God. (See Note on Revelation 7:4.) These have their Father’s name on their foreheads: they can be recognised as children of God, (Comp. Note on Revelation 7:2-3, and Revelation 22:4.)

(2) And I heard a voice . . .—Translate, And I heard a voice out of the heaven. The saints stand with their Lord, the Lamb, on Mount Zion, and just as of old a voice came from heaven bearing witness to Christ, so round the abode of the saints heavenly voices are heard, full of majesty, terribleness, and sweetness, as though the sounds of sea and thunder blended with the music of heavenly harps. We call to mind the magnificent 29th Psalm; there the saints, secure in Zion, hear all around them the voice of God in the thunder and in the sea, while in His safe sanctuary the saints can sing of His honour.

(3) And they . . .—Translate, And they (i.e., the heavenly harpers) sing a new song (the words “as it were” ought, perhaps, to be omitted) before the throne, and before the living creatures, and the elders (i.e., in the presence of God Himself, and creation, and the Church), and no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were purchased from the earth. It is a heavenly song, and no spirit dulled by earthly desires can learn it. The Spirit of the Lord can open the dull ear to hear and to rejoice in the songs of God’s saints. Amid the world-noises of Babylon men can neither hear nor sing aright the Lord’s song (Psalms 137:4); but the redeemed (the purchased from the earth) of the Lord can come with singing unto Zion (Isaiah 51:11).

(6) And I saw . . .—Better, And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an everlasting gospel, to declare glad tidings over them that sit on the earth, and over every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people. In view of the world the gospel is proclaimed; this is the good news that God loves the world, has redeemed mankind, that they belong to Him. This word of God is the sword of the Spirit, and the weapon (not carnal) which the Church uses against her foes. It is represented as in the hand of an angel rising in view of all nations: “The sound has gone out unto all lands.”

(7) Saying . . .—These words declare what ought to be the effect of the gospel. Those to whom it is preached are sitting inactive on the earth. They must be roused to fear God and give Him glory. They must not fear the powers of evil, the wild beasts, &c., or be afraid of their terror (1 Peter 3:14-15). They must realise that there is an hour of judgment at hand, which will discriminate between the worshippers of the world and of God. Let them learn to worship the Creator of all, and to turn from the worship of lesser and lower.
If we ask when this gospel angel appeared, our answer must be that the whole cycle of the gospel preaching is included in the vision, though doubtless there have been ages when the light of the glad tidings of God has gone forth with revived lustre, and when the warnings against easy acquiescence in evil have been given with unmistakable distinctness.

(8) And there followed . . .—The gospel angel is followed by the angel that proclaims the downfall of Babylon. Better, And another, a second, angel followed, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has given all the nations to drink of, &c. The second angel follows on the first: the doom of the world-city, the metropolis of the empire of the world-power, follows the proclamation of the gospel. The principles of Christ’s gospel must undermine the world-power; the fall of some Babylon principle has almost always succeeded the age of spiritual revival. Pagan Rome goes down before the gospel. Civil freedom follows the wake of religious freedom, for Babylon belongs not to one age. Pagan Rome was Babylon to St. John; papal Rome was often Babylon to a later age. Dante, Savanarola, Tauler, Luther, felt her to be so in the days when their eyes were enlightened; but Babylon was not on the Euphrates alone: she has reared palaces on the Seine, and on the Thames, Tiber, and on the Bosphorus. She may yet erect her power in more imposing form; but faith in that gospel which is the power of God, will cast her down along with everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. The influence of Babylon is declared in this: that she has given all nations to drink of deadly wine—the wine alike of her sin and of her doom, of her fornication and of the wrath which will overtake it. Babylon, then, is clearly an emblem of some principles which have been more or less accepted by all nations, and which will more or less involve all in the consequences of her fall. (Comp. Revelation 16:19; Revelation 16:17, where the features of this Babylon are more fully developed.)

(9) And the third angel . .—Better, And another angel, a third, followed them, saying in a loud voice, If any man worship the wild beast and his image, and a mark upon his forehead or upon his hand, he also himself shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled pure (in full strength, undiluted, e.g., “He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed no mercy,” James 2:13) in the cup of his indignation, and shall be tormented in fire, &c., &c. This third angel naturally follows the other two, which describe the powers which are in conflict: the word of God, and the Babylon of the world; the gospel will triumph; Babylon is doomed; hence comes the warning that men should not identify themselves with the city of worldliness, falsehood, and sin. The reference to the wild beast, the image, and the mark, carries us back to the last chapter, and shows us that Babylon is only another aspect of the work of God’s enemies: it is the city of the world-power. The warning not to receive the mark is a declaration that man, individual man, is responsible: there is no necessity for his receiving the mark, the hall-mark of a cowardly connivance at wrong-doing, or for setting his judgments by the fashions of the world.

(11) For ever and ever.—Or, unto ages of ages. The imagery of the smoke going up reminds us of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:28; comp. Isaiah 34:10). They have not rest by day and by night, who worship the wild beast, &c. Sin, which is first embraced as a delight, becomes soon an inexorable tyrant, by an awful retribution compelling men along the routine of the evil habits which they loathe while they long for, and long for even while they loathe them: there is a destiny of unrest in all sin. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, which cannot rest.” It is well that solemn words like these should be read by the light of the most certain of all truths—the power sin has of stamping its indelible features upon the human character, and giving to habit the force of a destiny.

(12) Here is the patience . . .—Translate, Here is the patience of the saints (not “here are they,” but) who keep, &c. In this readiness to wait, to endure through much tribulation to the end, is the patience of the saints seen. There is a patient waiting for Christ shown by those who keep God’s commandments, who cleave to righteousness in spite of much temptation, and who refuse to pay homage to the god of this world because firm in the faith that Jesus is King.

(13)And I heard a voice . . .—Translate, And I heard a voice out of the heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, in that they shall rest from their labours; for their works follow with them. We are not told whose voice speaks, but it proclaims a blessing on (not only martyrs, but) those who die in the Lord, in happy union and fellowship with Him (John 15:2-5; 1 John 1:3); such are happy, for they rest from toil, and their works of faith and labours of love (even if only the giving a cup of cold water in the name of Christ) follow with them into the presence of their Lord (Matthew 10:41-42; Hebrews 6:10). The words “from henceforth” form a difficulty; the reason for their introduction is to be found in the state of trouble which the last verses describe: the righteous are happy in being taken away from the evil to come. Or may it be that the words are designed to console the mourners in an age when dark unbelief robs away the sweet resurrection trust, and writes over its graves, “Farewell for ever”? If the climax of world-power should be bitter scorn of the idea of a life to come, and complacent satisfaction with a portion in this world, then words of faith, proclaiming that the dead are happy and restful, and that their work is not in vain in the Lord, may find new force to sustain a fainting courage or a wavering trust.

THE HARVEST.
(14) And I looked . . .—Better, And I saw, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one seated like to a son of man, having upon his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. There can be little doubt that Christ Himself is here intended: the “cloud” (Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:9), the expression “Son of man” (comp. John 5:27 and Daniel 7:13), the “crown,” the general resemblance to the vision in Revelation 1 (see Revelation 1:7-13), indicate as much. The “crown” is the crown of victory; the hour of conquest is at hand. The sickle shows that the harvest has come. (Comp. Joel 3:12-14 and Mark 4:26-29.)

(18) And another angel . . .—Translate, And another angel, . . . he who hath authority over the fire. The two scenes—one in Revelation 6:9-10 (the souls crying beneath the altar), the other in Revelation 8:5 (the angel mingling incense with the prayers of the saints)—must be remembered. The angel who had charge of the altar fire, and flung the ashes betokening judgments towards the earth, calls with a loud cry, Send thy sharp sickle, and gather the bunches of the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.