Standing on Mount Zion

The Hills Are Alive…

The hills are alive with the sound of music! No, not that Sound of Music! This is the sound of the 144,000 singing a new song that no one else can learn. And they’re standing on Mount Zion. Let’s read about it here in Revelation 14.

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.  And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.  They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.  These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.  And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God. -Revelation 14:1-5 (NKJV)

Hold on, back up. At the end of the last chapter, we just finished talking about the beasts and how the dragon wants to kill everyone who doesn’t worship him or the beasts. Now we’re singing!? What’s going on.

Okay, for anyone who’s just joining us let me fill you in on what’s happening. In the heart of Revelation there’s a war going on between Christ and Satan. In Revelation 13 there were two beasts carrying out Satan’s activities on earth. They’re main method of fighting is with lies and deceit. Sometimes with force. Satan wants to trick you or force you into worshiping him. Now we get to see God’s counter attack. Lucky for us, God’s ways are not like Satan’s ways. God always tells the truth. Always! He wants to warn us about the sneaky ways of Satan and save us from the terrible plagues about to fall on the earth. He loves us soooo much! So that brings us to this group of people standing on Mount Zion.

Who’s Standing on Mount Zion?

This group has the name of the Lamb and his Father written on their foreheads. Note – they do not have the name of the beast on their forehead. This name on the forehead means they have the character of God in their minds, not the character of the beast. They have surrendered their own will and now want to do God’s will. Now that sounds like a true christian.  I want to be in this group!

They sure sound familiar. We learned about them earlier in Revelation chapter 7. You can read more about them here. Back in chapter 7 the 144.000 were sealed so they could withstand the wrath of God (Rev. 6:17; 7:3-4). Now they are standing on Mount Zion.

Where in the world is Mount Zion? In the old testament, Mount Zion referred to the hill where Jerusalem was built. However in the New Testament it’s a name for the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22). It it used both as a symbolic place where God’s people dwell and as a literal place where we will go to be with God when he comes to get us.

Revelation often mentions two groups of people.

• “Those who dwell on the earth”, representing those who are not following God. (Rev. 6:10; 11:10; 13:14; 14:6; 17:8)
• “Those who dwell in heaven or Mount Zion”, representing those who follow God (even while still living on this earth).  (Rev. 12:12; 13:6; 14:1; Heb. 12:22; Eph. 2:6)

You Are So Valuable!

This group is redeemed from the earth. That means they’ve been purchased at a great price. The price of Jesus’ blood shed on the cross for their sins.

You are so valuable to God! He died so that you could live forever! Even though you’ve sinned, you can still live forever because Jesus took the punishment of sin for you. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Also notice that they have no deceit in their mouth (Rev. 14:5). Unlike the beast who is full of deceit and lies. They are without fault. That doesn’t mean they’ve never done anything wrong. We’ve all made plenty of mistakes. Praise the Lord he forgives us when we confess our sins to him (1 John 1:9). This just means they have decided to follow the Lamb (Jesus) with their whole hearts and Jesus covers them with his righteousness (perfectness).

Jesus gives us his perfectness – then we are without fault before the throne of God. Wow! That’s so awesome! I think I would want to sing too! Wait – I do love to sing to God! You don’t have to wait until heaven to stand with Jesus and sing praises to him!

An Important Decision

We have an important decision to make everyday. Will we believe the truth of God’s word, or will we believe the lies of Satan?

It will seem as though the whole world is deceived by Satan’s lies. So many will not receive the love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10). It is hard to decide to follow God’s ways when everyone you know is doing something different, and yet still call themselves a christian.

Pray for the holy spirit to lead you into all truth. God’s word is always true. Pray that you will be brave and follow Jesus wherever he leads you. Pray also that you will have God’s kind, loving, patient character in your heart and mind. Jesus loves to answer those kinds of prayers. He will always be with you!

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