The Mark of the Father (Revelation 14:1-5)

I think it helps our understanding of Revelation if we constantly remind ourselves that it was written, and is written to Christians under intense persecution. Christian dad who'd lost their jobs. Christian mothers who couldn't feed their kids, Christian churches whose leaders had been arrested, or had mysteriously 'disappeared.' I think John uses the persecution of the church under Nero as a type of the persecution to come. Just like in Mark 13 Jesus uses the destruction of the Temple as a type of the calamity to fall on the world before His return.

I also think that Revelation teaches that such days will befall the church again before the end, so that whatever encouragement first century readers would have found in this book, we must also find, and encourage ourselves with.

Imagine what it would have been like to be a struggling Christian when you heard chapter 14:1-5 for the first time. All around you see death and torment. But then you hear that Jesus is on mount Zion, totally in charge of history, and that he has His people with Him. His people are sealed, or marked, not with the mark of the beast, but with the name of God the Father. In verse 3 we hear God’s people singing a song of celebration, because Jesus has won. You don't celebrate defeats. History is written by the winners, and hear the winders as they write history. This is a snapshot of what’s going on in heaven while the Church is being persecuted. Those who stay faithful to Jesus are rewarded, death is not the end for them.

 

What do the faithful 144,000 look like?  We met them previously in chapter 7, where we saw that those sealed by God will not yield to the temptation to come. There are four things that mark our God's people, sealed by the Father,
 

First of all, they have not defiled themselves with women. This is obviously symbolic language for worldly impurity. They have not been overcome by immorality, or perversion or evil. They are pure in their devotion to Jesus as a husband is to his wife. They have a singular zeal for Jesus which remains undimmed by the trials and temptations of living in the world.

Secondly, they follow the lamb wherever he goes. We know Jesus is the lamb, and that He commands us through His Word, the Bible. I love this picture. Jesus is the Lamb that we follow, not the shepherd here. He is the Lamb of God who we behold. He is the one who will lead us well, because He is the one who laid down His life for us. Do you follow Him wherever He goes?

Thirdly, they have been redeemed. No work of their own got them their, they have been saved by Jesus death, not by being a nice person. That’s what gets people to Heaven. Revelation is brutally clear that the world is not broken up into Christians and mean people. The blood of Christ is the great dividing line. Are you trusting, not in your Bible reading or church attendance, not even in your grace wrought good works, but in the blood of Christ.

And finally, they tell the truth. While the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, while the media and the culture are filling the world with lies, the people of God are telling the truth. We tell the truth about marriage. We tell the truth about abortion. In days to come we'll tell the truth about the false prophet. We share our faith. 

So what is the mark of the Father? Faithful, passionate, spreading, obedience to Jesus. This is the mark of God the Father, that which glories His Son, and serves His Church.