Revelation 14:1-4 reveals Christ as the Lamb whom the overcoming firstfruits follow. In the Old Testament typology the sheaf of the firstfruits of the good land was brought into the temple and offered to God directly for His enjoyment. In the New Testament reality, the one hundred forty-four thousand overcomers will be the firstfruits in God’s new creation offered to Him directly in the heavenly Holy of Holies for His satisfaction.
These early overcomers will be the first-ripe ones in God’s field. Hence, they will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. The harvest will be reaped later, in verses 14 through 16. This means that the overcomers will be raptured to the heavens before the harvest, just as the firstfruits of the good land were reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest (Lev. 23:10-11). Exodus 23:19 says, “The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Jehovah your God.” This shows us that the rapture of the firstfruits to the heavens is typified by the firstfruits being brought into the house of the Lord for God’s enjoyment. The events recorded in Revelation 14:6-13, all of which will take place during the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), indicate clearly and prove strongly that the first overcomers, the firstfruits in Revelation 14:1-5, will be raptured before the great tribulation, and that the harvest in verses 14 through 16, composed of the majority of the believers, will be raptured at the end of the great tribulation.
The one hundred forty-four thousand, firstfruits to God and the Lamb, in Revelation 14 will be raptured to the throne of God. These one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruits will not be taken to the air; rather, they will be taken to the heavens, even to the heavenly Mount Zion, the center of the heavenly Jerusalem. The firstfruits are a small part of the harvest which ripens first. This signifies that as God’s chosen people are growing on earth, a small number among them will become the firstfruits, the overcomers.
Revelation 14:1 says, “I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”
The Lamb, whom a hundred and forty-four thousand overcoming believers follow, is standing on Mount Zion. In the universe there are two Zions: one in heaven and one on earth. The earthly Zion is one of the mountains on which Jerusalem was built. The other is the heavenly Zion in the third heaven where Christ with the Father is today. The earthly Zion is the reflection of the heavenly Zion. In Revelation 14:1 Mount Zion does not refer to the one in Jerusalem on earth but the one in the heavens. The heavenly Zion is the final resting place of the overcomers.
In typology the firstfruits are brought into the temple to be presented to the Lord. God Himself enjoyed the freshness of the firstfruits. In any type of farming, there is the farm, the barn, and the farmer’s home. The barn is always between the farm and the home. The farmer does not take the firstfruits into the barn but into the home for his own enjoyment. Then, later, the harvest is brought into the barn. Our Father’s home is the temple on the heavenly Mount Zion. Therefore, the firstfruits of His farm will not be brought into the “barn” in the air, but to the temple which is on Mount Zion in the heavens. Then the harvest will be brought into the “barn.”
The firstfruits in Revelation 14 are before the throne of God; they are no longer on this earth. This means that they have been raptured. They are on Mount Zion in the heavens, before the throne of God. They are standing not in the air but upon the throne, upon Mount Zion. This refers to Mount Zion in the heavens where God dwells. Thus, the firstfruits go not to the air, that is, to the barn, but directly to the Father’s home in the third heaven.
One hundred forty-four thousand must be an actual number with a symbolic meaning. One hundred forty-four thousand is one thousand times twelve times twelve. Twelve is the number of completion in God’s eternal administration. One hundred forty-four (Rev. 21:17) is twelve times twelve, which signifies the completion of completions, the ultimate completion in the fullest way. The number here is one thousand times this ultimate completion.
The biblical number twelve is not composed of six plus six but of three times four. The New Jerusalem is a city of twelves—twelve foundations, the names of twelve apostles (v. 14), twelve gates, twelve angels, the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (v. 12), twelve pearls (v. 21), twelve months, and twelve kinds of fruit (22:2). The height of its wall in 21:17 is one hundred forty-four cubits (twelve times twelve), and its dimensions in verse 16 are twelve thousand stadia (a thousand times twelve). In every aspect the New Jerusalem is a city of twelves. We know that the number twelve in the New Jerusalem is composed of three times four by the fact that the city has three gates on each of its four sides (v. 13). Undoubtedly, the number three signifies the Triune God. The portrait of the New Jerusalem in chapters 21 and 22 reveals the Triune God. In 22:1 we see the throne of God and of the Lamb, out of which proceeds the river of water of life. Here we have the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—dispensing Himself into the city. The city itself represents God’s creatures signified by the number four (4:6). In the New Jerusalem it is not a matter of three plus four but of three times four. Today our number is seven, as in the seven churches, the seven lampstands. But in eternity our number will be twelve, three multiplied by four, signifying the mingling of the Triune God with man. Hence, the number twelve signifies the mingling of divinity with humanity. This mingling is for the completion of God’s economy, the completion of God’s economic administration.
In Revelation 14 it is not simply the number twelve, but a thousand of twelve times twelve. Twelve times twelve means completion in God’s administration for God’s economy. This is similar to the titles Song of Songs, Lord of lords, and King of kings. Twelve multiplied by twelve means completion of completions. This completion is not temporary but eternal. The New Jerusalem will declare to the whole universe that God’s redeemed people will be twelve among twelve, completion among completions. When we are in the New Jerusalem, we will be the completion in God’s administration for the fulfillment of God’s economy for eternity. But in chapter 14 we have a thousand of twelve multiplied by twelve, a thousand times completion of completions. Twelve times twelve multiplied a thousandfold means maturity upon maturity. This is the significance of the number one hundred forty-four thousand. The one hundred forty-four thousand firstfruits are believers who are for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose. In short, the number one hundred forty-four thousand indicates that every living overcomer is a part of the completion of God’s administration in the fulfillment of His economy for eternity. To be a living overcomer is a great matter. To be one of the firstfruits is to be for the completion of God’s administration to fulfill His economy for eternity.