1 Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

— Revelation 14:1, 3

1 … Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain.

2 Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

— Psalm 48:1, 2

And many nations will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

— Micah 4:2

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still, until her righteousness shines like a bright light, her salvation like a blazing torch.

— Isaiah 62:1

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

–Psalm 40:3

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, peace and joy from Christ to you.

In Revelation 14 John recorded that he saw the Lamb sanding on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 people. Zion, as God’s dwelling place, is “the City of God”; Mount Zion is God’s holy mountain and “joy of the whole earth.” And throughout God’s Word, Zion is both the place and the people whom God purifies, rescues, secures, and exalts. Isaiah promised: “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins.” The New Testament refers to Mount Zion as “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” And at a final day Messiah will come to Zion to teach the nations. Clearly Jesus the Lamb, full of grace and power, remains central and stands with His people. The Lord Jesus brings victory to those who follow Him.

Each of the 144,000 have the Lamb’s and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. This inscription is a gift Christ offered to His people. God’s mark protects His people while Satan’s mark incites God’s wrath. The mark reveals each person’s heart and allegiance. John heard what seemed like great rushing water and peals of thunder and a new song, that only the redeemed should sing, before the four living creatures and elders. “New songs” in the Bible celebrate great, new acts of God exalting His majesty and power to redeem. God redeems people to live redeemed lives, abstained from sinful behaviors of the world. God is holy and calls His people to be physically, morally, and spiritually faithful to Him and holy like Him.