An Infinite and Eternal Relationship
Proceeding through Revelation and linking it to thoughts on recovery, when we read chapter 14, we are greeted with a see saw between the address of believers and unbelievers. Recovery ministry holds focus to sobriety first, then through sobriety the gain of an infinite and eternal relationship with God through Christ as we are discipled into the Christian faith.
Rev. 14 is set in the context of the Second Coming of Christ and opens with reference to the 144,000. Commentator G. K. Beale explains this number as a symbol for the “complete” people of God, all the people God has planned for a relationship with him and the 144,000 is a symbol for the “eternal city of Zion.” This is not a literal number, and it stands juxtaposed to 666, the “incomplete” number for humanity which was the topic of the previous chapter.
Revelation 14:1–3 (CSB)
1 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
The structure of chapter 14 follows;
v. 1-15 present his view into eternity, or his view of heaven.
v. 1-5 address believers in the Second Coming of Christ.
v. 1-13 address unbelievers in the Second Coming of Christ
v. 14-16 address believers in the great harvest.
v. 17-20 address unbelievers in the great harvest.
When you read Rev. 14 be aware of the differences in the way the unbelievers and believers are managed in the epoch of the Second Coming. John (the author of Revelation) is offering us a clear contrast between those who are believers in Christ as Savior and those who are not. By way of the 12 Steps, and teaching the truths of the Bible, recovery ministry is dedicated to sobriety from hurts, habits, and hang-ups, and “recovery” of a relationship with God through the work of Christ as Lord.