Revelation 14

This chapter

‘gives us the true perspective in our world of buffeting hostilities. For what we see around us, our present disturbed scene, are not the pulsating vibrations of a kingdom in ascendency. They are the thrashing death-throes of a kingdom in desperation!’ (Bewes)

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000, 1-5

14:1 Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 14:2 I also heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Now the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 14:3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one was able to learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth.

One hundred and forty-four thousand –

The 144,000

Rev 7:4 – I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel.

Rev 14:1 – Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

There has, of course, been much debate over the identity of the 144,000.

Aune lists the following possibilities:

‘(1) the faithful remnant of Israel, (2) Jewish Christians, (3) Christian martyrs, (4) Christians generally, the Israel of God, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:11–19), or (5) primarily gentile Christians, since the Jews have rejected their place.’

I shall present the main alternatives, but beginning with a brief mention of an ‘outlier’.

1. The ‘little flock’

According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is the literal number of Jehovah’s Witness who will reign with Christ in heaven.  David Reed (Answering Jehovah’s Witnesses) cites a JW publication:’ “Jehovah has established a limited number, 144,000, to make up the little flock, and has been gathering it since Pentecost 33 C.E. … the general gathering of these specially blessed ones ended in 1935.”  The idea of a ‘little flock’ is picked up from Lk 12:32; but the context makes it clear that our Lord is referring to his ‘disciples’, consisting of all who prove faithful (Lk 12:41-53).

2. Jewish Christians

Some teach that this number refers to Jewish Christians who who were spared at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.

Rev 14:4 is appealed to as showing that the group lived in the first century, for in that verse they are referred to as the ‘firstfruits to God’.

Matthew Henry inclines to this view, although he allows that it could be

‘more generally applied to God’s chosen remnant in the world’.

According to some futurists, the number refers to a godly remnant of Jews who are protected after the Rapture of the church (i.e., during the Great Tribulation).  This would be in fulfilment of Scriptures such as Zech 12:10-13 and Rom 11:26-32, which speak of Israel being brought to repentance in the last days.  Many proponents of this view think that these Jewish believers will be involved in zealous evangelism.  They preach ‘the Gospel of the Kingdom’ (thought to be distinct from ‘the Gospel of Grace’) as a witness to the nations before the end (Mt 24:14).

Zuck (Basic Bible Interpretation) argues that the number should be understood literally:

‘The prophecy of the 144,000 in 7:4–8 need not be considered a symbolic number. The number is to be taken in its normal, literal sense because 12,000 people are said to be sealed from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Since the tribal names are literal and not symbolic, there is no reason to take the numbers symbolically.’

Lightner (The Last Days Handbook):

‘They are 144,000 servants from among the nation of Israel (Rev. 7:3–8). The Rapture and the initial events of the Tribulation will apparently be such that they will trust Christ and become saved. While the Antichrist makes a covenant with “many” Israelites (Dan. 9:27), by implication a few (at least 144,000) refuse to enter into this covenant. From each of the twelve tribes of Israel, at least 12,000 people will trust Christ (Rev. 7:5–8).

‘These 144,000 are the “firstfruits” (Rev. 14:4)—the forerunners of a multitude of Jews who will turn back to God at the second coming of Christ. They are “sealed” to identify them as servants of God and to protect them from the ravages of the Antichrist and the Tribulation. They are described as “ones who were not defiled with women” (Rev. 14:4). This may mean simply that they will be unmarried, that they will make a conscious decision to remain unmarried because of the rigors of the Tribulation, or it may be a figurative reference to the fact that they will keep themselves from all defiling relationships with the pagan world system.’

Wiersbe argues that the reference here is to a literal number of Jewish Christians who will be protected (‘sealed’) during the time of Tribulation.  He arrives at this conclusion partly from his own prior theological commitments (and who does not have prior theological commitments?!), and partly from the naming of the 12 tribes.  Wiersbe recognises some of the problems with this literal and futuristic interpretation, and also allows a secondary application of this passage to all of God’s people – both Jews and Gentiles.

Vlach writes:

‘The specific mentioning of each of the 12 tribes of Israel emphasizes the continuing role of the tribes of Israel in the plan of God. This is not a reference to Gentiles or the “church militant” as some assert. Immediately after this section, Rev 7:9 states, “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb”. John distinguishes Jews (Rev 7:4–8) and Gentiles (Rev 7:9). The group in 7:4–8 is made of ethnic Jews while the group in 7:9 is a multitude from “every nation.” Also, the group in 7:4–8 is finite; it is a group of 144,000, while the group in 7:9 is “a great multitude which no one could count.” These are not the same groups of people.’  (Vlach, Michael. Has the Church Replaced Israel? (p. 198). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.)

Schnabel critiques the view that this passage refers to literal (i.e. biological) Jews on a number of grounds, including:

‘While the distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers was indeed a continuing issue in the early church, at least Paul regarded such distinctions as a problem since Jews and Gentiles were reconciled through Jesus Christ who “has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall” (Eph. 2:14). Paul asserts that God through Jesus Christ created “one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace” reconciling “both groups to God in one body through the cross” (vv. 15–16). All who belong to Jesus Christ are “children of God through faith” with the result that “there is neither Jew nor Gentile” because “if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:26, 28, 29 NIV; see Col. 3:11).’

Wall mentions the view that

‘if we are to take the phrase more literally as referring to the saints of “old” Israel, then the 144,000 would form a “cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1; cf. Heb. 11:4–38) whose faithfulness to God established the first stage of Israel’s exodus from sin (Heb. 11:39–40) and movement toward their eventual destination (cf. Heb. 11:13–16), the new Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22–27). Their pilgrimage to promise is suggested by the exodus symbolism that lies behind the act of sealing the 144,000, which prepares for and awaits the coronation of the eschatological Israel as depicted in the second half of this interlude.’

3. The Church generally, consisting of Jewish and Gentile believers.

(a) During the final Tribulation.  For some, who do not hold to a pre-tribulation Rapture, the number refers to church as a whole (i.e. Jewish and Gentile believers) during the time of the final Tribulation.  So Ladd, Mounce.

This appears to have been the view of Matthew Poole:

‘By the tribes of Israel mentioned here, are to be understood the several gospel churches of the Gentiles, who are now God’s Israel ingrafted into the true olive.’

For Poole, the meaning of the passage as a whole is that

‘although within that period of time which is signified under the seventh seal, there should be great persecutions of the church, yet God would preserve unto himself a great number in all his churches, which should not apostatize, and who in the persecutions should not be hurt; so as his church should not fail, though the archers should shoot sore at it; for though men raged, yet it was by God’s permission; and his angels overruled it, who should take notice of those numbers that he had sealed, and marked in their foreheads.’

Wall inclines to the view that

‘if one assumes that the phrase refers to a spiritual Israel as elsewhere in the NT (e.g., James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; cf. Rom. 9–11) including Revelation (14:1), then the 144,000 could refer to an “extra special” remnant within the church, perhaps to its martyrs who exemplify fearless devotion to God of the sort John encourages. While there is no indication in the text that the 144,000 enumerate the remnant of martyrs, it does make sense of the immediate context to identify this group with those who earlier cry out for vindication (6:10). This first part of the visionary interlude, then, responds directly to the martyrs’ earlier question, “How long?” (6:10).’

(b) The entire church, represented as the true Israel.  Still others teach that the number refers to the entire church, represented here (as in other places in the NT) as the true Israel.  Proponents of this view urge that it is consistent with the highly symbolic nature of the book of Revelation.  In the present case, the symbolism is highlight by the way the tribes are listed.  As Wilson observes:

‘Judah is placed first as the Messiah’s own tribe, Dan is omitted, Levi is included as an ordinary tribe and Joseph replaces Ephraim.’

Beals comments:

‘In Rev 14:3–4, the 144,000 are said to have been purchased “from the earth” and purchased “from among men.” The almost identical language suggests that the two are the same group—the church of all ages. This would explain why, immediately after the vision of the sealing, John sees a great multitude of people from every nation and tribe and people and tongue (Rev 7:9).’ (Shorter Commentary)

They have already been identified: they are ‘the servants of God’, v3, and will later be described as those who have been ‘redeemed from the earth’, Rev 14:3. The number, like everything else in the Apocalypse, is symbolic; but even though symbolic, it is still a number, for God is, as it were, carrying out a census of his people, so that each and all should be accounted for. This stylized number represents ‘the company of God’s people across the centuries’. (Bewes)

Wilcock calls this number ‘a diagram of the Church’.

Ian Paul unpacks the numerical symbolism:

‘If twelve is the number associated with the people of God, ten is a natural number (not least because it is the base for our number system), a square suggests the completeness of God’s people (the plan of the New Jerusalem) and a cube suggests the Holy of Holies and the presence of God, then the number 144,000 has a powerful symbolic meaning. It is the complete people of God, representing his holy presence in the world, a meaning which correlates with the idea of God’s people as the body of Christ and as the temple in Pauline theology.’

But why are they referred to as coming from all the tribes of Israel?

According to Mounce:

‘That there are 144,000 (12,000 from each tribe of Israel) is a symbolic way of stressing that the church is the eschatological people of God who have taken up Israel’s inheritance.’

In v9, we read of ‘a great multitude that no-one could number’.  While, at first sight, this seems to be a different, and still vaster crowd of people, there are good reasons for thinking that this is a simply an alternative way of expressing the same group of people who make up the 144,000.

‘A. M. Farrer considered that this contrast gives expression to two complementary themes of the Scriptures: on the one hand that God knows the number of his elect, and on the other, that those who inherit the blessing of Abraham are numberless as the stars’ (NBC).

Wright takes a similar view to the one just mentioned, as does Ian Paul.  Both note that John ‘heard’, and then turned to ‘see’, strongly suggesting that both groups are the same.

But the most likely answer is not difficult to find once we remember the symbolic nature of this book. Here is Morris’ summary:-

The church can be referred to as “the twelve tribes” (Jas 1:1; cf. Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30), and this is probably the thought when a letter is sent to “the Dispersion,” 1 Pet 1:1, mg. The Christian appears to be the true Jew, Rom 2:29 and the church “the Israel of God,” Gal 6:16. Descriptions of the old Israel are piled up and applied to the church, 1 Pet 2:9-10, cf. Eph 1:11,14. It is the church which is God’s “peculiar people,” Tit 2:14, and Christ’s own who are “Abraham’s seed,” Gal 3:29 and “the circumcision,” Php 3:3. Many hold that “Israel after the flesh,” 1 Cor 10:18 implies an “Israel after the Spirit”.’ Here is Revelation, John in the same way ‘speaks of those “which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan,” Rev 2:9; cf. Rev 3:9. He regards the new Jerusalem as the spiritual home of Christians, Rev 21:2, etc., and it has on its gates the names of the twelve tribes, Rev 21:12.

This also is the view of Schreiner:

‘The 144,000 symbolically represent all Christians throughout history, both Jews and Gentiles. They are God’s army who wage war by being faithful to the Lamb and enduring persecution.’

Schreiner offers the follows reasons for this view:

(a) Numbers in apocalyptic literature are usually symoblic.

(b) The pattern of describing a single entity in two contrasting ways has already been found in Rev 5:5f.

(c) 144,000 from Israel doesn’t necessarily mean that they are all Jews.  A sort of ‘role reversal’ between Jews and Gentiles occurs in Rev 2:9; 3:9.

(d) Virtually no Jews today know from which tribe they are descended.  Therefore, it is virtually meaningless to say that  the 144,000 consists of 12,000 literally drawn from each tribe.

(e) The 144,000 are described as ‘the redeemed from the earth’, Rev 14:3 and ‘the redeemed from mankind’, Rev 14:4.  This wording suggests the number refers to all the redeemed, Jews and Gentiles collectively.

(f) The reference, in Rev 14:4, to ‘virgins who have not defiled themselves with women’ is surely symbolic (cf. 1 Tim 4:1).  It refers, surely, to spiritual purity (cf. the OT warnings against spiritual prostitution; and see 2 Cor 11:2).  This, once again, suggests that the entire passage is laden with imagery.

See Kevin DeYoung’s discussion here.

Harpists playing their harps – Not the modern instrument, but the kithara.

Here is the origin of the stereotype of the redeemed in heaven, sitting on clouds and playing harps (for ever!).  See here for examples of such a depiction in popular culture.  The trope receives, of course, little support from the text itself.

14:4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, 14:5 and no lie was found on their lips; they are blameless.

The ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins – Revelation is a book full of symbols: and this must be understood as symbolic also.  The Bible consistently commends marriage, Gen 2:18–24; Eph 5:22–33; Heb 13:4, and places no special value on celibacy (Wilcock).  The point of the present passage, then, is that followers of Christ will esteem and serve him above all others:

‘To follow the Lamb means a commitment on the spiritual plane so total that in comparison with it no other ties exist.’

They follow the Lamb wherever he goes – Tom Wright:

‘In my country the sheep are brought from one field to another by people with sticks and dogs. In the Middle East, to this day, the shepherd goes on ahead and the sheep follow him or her. They know the shepherd’s voice, but they also know that they can trust him or her to lead them to pasture, to water, to safety. No sticks, or dogs, are required.’

In the end, there are only two groups of people. There are those who follow the Lamb, and there are those who follow the beast.

‘You can take any group of people and – invisibly – there will be a line drawn down the middle. Some are going to go God’s way. Others will go their own way, and in so doing will identify themselves with the opposition; in short, with the beast.

The contrast is strong. On the one side of the divine we survey the followers of the Lamb, the 144,000 (v1). On the other side are the worshippers of the beast. Between these two groups is the voice of the eternal gospel, vv6f. And at the end of the road is “the harvest of the earth”, vv14-20, the judgement.

Meditate on the contrast. The Lamb’s followers have a new song to sing; the beast’s have no rest. The Lamb’s followers are sealed with God’s name on their foreheads, safe for eternity; the beast’s are branded with his mark. The Lamb’s followers are safe, “purchased from among men”, v4; the beast’s are vulnerable and headnig for the fall associated with Babylon, v8. The Lamb’s followers are, through the Gospel, visualised as pure, vv4f; the beast’s are tainted with Babylon’s adulteries, v8. The Lamb’s followers follow him into happiness, vv4,13; the beast’s are heading towards the judgement, vv10,11,14-20.’ (Bewes)

Which way are we going? Which group do we belong to? Of course, we say we want to go the way of peace and truth and love.

‘But the choice doesn’t usually present itself like this! The issue normally faces us in a multiplicity of tiny and perfectly natural decisions: How shall I spend the Easter week-end…Which group shall I identify with at my new college?…Shall I compromise with this shady business deal just this once?’ (Bewes)

And, of course, there is still time to change.

They have not defiled themselves with women – Gleason Archer comments:

‘They are said to be “virgins” (parthenoi) because they have not “defiled themselves with women.” (This cannot refer to sex relations within the marriage bond, for this would be no defilement at all but rather an honorable act, according to Heb 13:4.  Therefore it must refer to fornication and adultery, such as will run rampant in the corrupt society of the last days.) But the term parthenos here undoubtedly extends beyond sexual chastity to an attitude of complete faithfulness and chaste devotion toward the heavenly Bridegroom, whose imminent return they await, for the glad occasion of the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).’ (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties).

This interpretation, reasonable as it seems, does not take account of the next phrase – ‘for they are virgins’; which would suggest that the author is referring, throughout the description, to their spiritual qualities.

Three Angels and Three Messages, 6-20

14:6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 14:7 He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!”

An eternal gospel

Wright insists that we understand this ‘gospel’ in terms of the OT background.  Of particular significance is Isaiah 52:

‘For many today, the Christian ‘good news’ or ‘gospel’ is a message about them: God loves them, God forgives them, God promises them a blissful place in ‘heaven’. But, without diminishing the personal meaning, most of the summaries of the ‘good news’ in the Bible are much larger in scope. Paul summarizes the ‘good news’ in terms of the saving events of Jesus’ scripture-fulfilling death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3–8), or of Jesus’ Davidic descent, his public recognition as ‘son of God’ through the resurrection, and his universal lordship (Romans 1:3–5). For Isaiah, there are three elements immediately mentioned, with a further immediate consequence. John seems to be aware of all of this.

‘First, ‘Your God reigns!’ This message, announced to the exiles in Babylon, can mean only one thing: your God, YHWH, has won the victory over Babylon, and you are now free to go home. Jerusalem will be rebuilt (52:7, 9).

‘Second, ‘Your God is coming back!’ God had, it seemed, abandoned the Temple in Jerusalem when the Babylonians closed in to attack. But now he would return, publicly and visibly (52:8; 40:5).

‘Third, ‘God is doing a powerful and public work of rescue!’ (52:10). All the nations would see that Israel’s God had saved his people from their plight.

‘So Babylon fell, the exiles went back home … but nobody ever said that YHWH had finally come back. But the early Christians believed, and they believed that Jesus believed, that YHWH had come back, in and as Jesus himself. They believed that his glory was fully and finally revealed when Jesus died on the cross as the innocent lamb (Isaiah 53:7). All this is vital as the complex scriptural background to Revelation 14.’

Rev 14:6-13 in Seventh-Day Adventist Teaching
Called by the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) the “three angels’ messages,” this passage forms the core of the SDA belief system. According to a convoluted and erroneous SDA interpretation, the following points are true. (1) “The hour of His judgment has come” (v. 7) refers to the “investigative judgment” of 1844. (2) “Worship the Maker of heaven and earth” (v. 7) is a call to observe Saturday as the Sabbath. (3) “Babylon the Great has fallen” (v. 8) identifies the Roman Catholic Church as the notorious prostitute who seduces the nations. (4) “If anyone worships the beast … and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand” (v. 9) is a warning against following the Antichrist and worshiping on Sunday. Those refusing to heed the warning will be “tormented with fire and sulfur” (vv. 9–10). According to this understanding, only people embracing the SDA message will be saved.

(Apologetics Study Bible)

14:8 A second angel followed the first, declaring: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral passion.”
14:9 A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 14:11 And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 14:12 This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus.

The smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever – In context (note especially the mention of ‘fire and sulphur’, this image recalls the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:

Gen 19:28 He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.

Paul Marston (Hellfire and Destruction) notes that here, and generally:

‘Smoke rises as a memorial of destruction.’

Fudge (The Fire That Consumes) argues that the everlasting rising up of the smoke does not indicate that the torture itself is endless, but represents rather a perpetual witness to the destruction:

‘Like today’s symbol of a mushroom-shaped cloud, the rising smoke gave silent testimony to a destruction accomplished. Where Sodom and Gomorrah once existed, all was now silent. A day before, the cities had bustled with people. As Abraham views the smoke, the people are gone, dead, destroyed. If anyone was tempted to doubt it, the rising smoke gave proof.’

Again:

‘All that remained was a dense smoke rising from what a day earlier had been a bustling city. Now all was quiet, the smoke a grim reminder of the severity of a divine retribution now fully accomplished. Biblical writers use this symbol in connection with later judgments (Isa 34:10; Rev 14:11; 19:3).’

Fudge quotes Bauckham:

‘It was believed that the fate of these Cities of the Plain continued to be in evidence in the form of the smoking wasteland to the south of the Dead Sea … For this reason language indicating that the judgment continues forever could be used: “its smoke shall go up forever” (Isa 34:10); the cities “are exhibited as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7) … But we should note that in this whole tradition rooted in Genesis and the prophets the idea that the punishment is long-lasting or eternal refers to its finality. The still smoking site signifies that the cities will never be rebuilt. Their destruction lasts forever.’

Fudge cites Bauckham again, who refers back to Isa 34, on which the imagery of present passage is widely believed to be based:

‘Edom’s dusty land will become “burning sulfur” and “blazing pitch” (Isa 34:9). The fire “will not be quenched night and day” and “its smoke will rise forever” (Isa 34:10). The unquenchable fire tells us that Edom’s fire will not be put out until it has destroyed completely (Isa 34:11). It consumes by night and by day until it has finished its work. Then the actual burning stops, but the smoke continues forever.’

The ‘rising smoke’, then, is a sign of extinction, as in Gen 19 and Isa 34.

Note that the reference to ‘burning sulfur’ and ‘blazing pitch’ once again recalls the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Note also the reference to smoke which rises ‘forever’.

Ian Paul notes that this verse also looks forward to Rev 19:3 –

‘Though the phrase smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever (AT) has been interpreted as indicating a continual experience of torment … this is difficult to sustain in the light of the parallel at 19:3, where an identical phrase the “smoke from [the city, Babylon] rises for ever and ever” (AT). It is impossible to imagine the city being perpetually destroyed, the image must signify the eternal effect of its destruction rather than an eternal process of destruction.’

We may distinguish between the smoke of God’s wrath and the smoke of incense.  The contrast is:

‘forcefully present in the imagery of Isa. 65:5, where the very offerings intended to please God provoke His wrath instead (hence the use of ʿāšān rather than qeṭōreṯ…). On the other hand, the verb ʿālâ is related to ʿōlâ, “whole burnt offering”; this suggests that in Jgs. 20:40 the destruction of Gibeah is an offering pleasing to the God who had commanded the city’s annihilation.’ (ISBE, 2nd ed., art. ‘Smoke, Smoking’)

No rest day or night – This passage, along with Rev 20:10, is often cited in the debate between those who hold to a doctrine of conscious eternal punishment, and annihilationists.  I conclude that it does not weigh decisively in favour of the traditional doctrine of endless torment.  See note following.

Eternal conscious torment, or annihilation?

Rev 14:9 “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 14:10 that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. 14:11 And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

See also:

Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

Before presenting the two main options – traditionalist and annihilationist – it is worth noting that Michaels is not sure that the passage is actually about ‘hell’, as usually understood:

‘Although the language of these verses has contributed mightily to traditional Christian images of hell, it is difficult to say whether or not “hell,” as commonly understood, is in view here. Why, for example, is the torment going on in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb, thus (apparently) in heaven itself? The announcement seems related to a celebration of Babylon’s doom five chapters later: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever” (19:3). That celebration too goes on in heaven (19:1). Probably both scenes are momentary previews of “hell” and hell’s finality in “the lake of fire” (19:20; 20:10, 14; 21:8), not the reality itself.’

1. Traditionalist interpretation

For many, this passage clinches the argument in favour of eternal conscious torment.  So Hoekema (The Bible and the Future), Carson (The Gagging of God), Blanchard (Whatever Happened to Hell?) and others.

John Wenham concedes that this text

‘is the most difficult passage that the conditionalist has to deal with.’

Beale offers two reasons why he thinks that the present passage evokes everlasting punishment:-

‘First, the parallel of Rev 20:10 refers to the devil, the beast, and the false prophet undergoing the judgment in “the lake of fire and brimstone” where “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” This does not say that their existence will be abolished forever but that they will suffer torment forever. The ungodly suffer the same fate as their three satanic leaders, who represent them.’

‘Second, the word “torment” (basanismos) in Rev 14:10-11 is used nowhere in Revelation or biblical literature in the sense of annihilation of one’s existence (against Fudge, who defines it as “lifeless desolation”). Without exception, in Revelation it refers to conscious suffering on the part of people (Rev 9:5; 11:10; 12:2; 18:7, 10, 15; 20:10)….The various forms of the word “torment” (the basanismos word group) elsewhere in the New Testament and LXX, when applied to people, also refer to conscious suffering, not annihilation (see Matt. 4:24; 8:6, 29; 18:34; Mark 5:7; 6:48; Luke 8:28; 16:23, 28; 2 Peter 2:8).’

In Morgan, Christopher W. Hell Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment.

According to Yarbrough:-

‘Scripture implies that the smoke from the judgment of God’s enemies will not mar heavenly praise but if anything enhance it (Rev. 14:11; 19:3). Furthermore, in heaven “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4). So hell’s woes will ultimately be transcended by those blessed in the heavenly presence. This may appear callous at first glance, but it is what Scripture says.’

In Morgan, Christopher W. Hell Under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment.

D.A. Carson (The God Who is There) thinks that verse 11 teaches endless punishment:

‘This does not sound like a place where suffering comes to an end…It is an illusory comfort to suppose that those who end up here will eventually be annihilated.’

Carson and Blanchard stress the possessive pronoun – it is their torment: it belongs personally to them.  And it is ‘for ever and ever’.  Moreover, it persists ‘day and night’.  The inference drawn from this latter point, however, is disputed by Guillebaud and Fudge, who note that the expression suggests continuous suffering, but not necessarily endless suffering.

Beale (Shorter Commentary) focuses attention on the meaning of ‘torment’.  Nowhere in Scripture, he writes, is this term used in the sense of cessation of existence:

‘The nature of the torment is explained in the second part of v. 11 not as annihilation but as lack of rest. Therefore, the smoke is metaphorical of a continued reminder of the ongoing torment of restlessness, which endures for eternity.’

2. Annihilationalist interpretation

Bowles summarises:

‘Conditionalist writers have taken this comment (no rest, day or night) to refer to the uninterrupted suffering of the followers of the beast while it continues, without implying that it will continue forever.’

Bowles finds in vv9-11 an inverted parallelism:-

13. (A) If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, (9)

14. (B) he also shall drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, (10a)

15. (C) he shall be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. (10b)

16. (Ci) And the smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever, (11a)

17. (Bi) and they have no rest, day or night, (11b)

18. (Ai) these worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. (11c).

Bowles thinks that each of the elements of the text admit to a conditionalist interpretation:-

The judgment of God by fire and sulfur is “a cipher for total destruction at Sodom and Gomorrah and thereafter (Gen 19: 23, 28; Deut 29: 23; Job 18: 15– 17; Isa 30: 27– 33; 34: 9– 11; Ezek 38: 22ff.).” The biblical image of judgment by fire and sulfur is a picture of decisive destruction and obliteration— not a picture of enduring torment. (Quoting Fudge)

‘The smoke of their torment rising for ever and ever’ alludes to the destruction of Sodom (Gen 19:28) and that of Edom (Isa 34:10ff).  Fudge again: “Isaiah says ‘its smoke will rise forever,’ telling us that Edom’s destruction is not only certain (not quenched) and complete (smoke rising) but also irreversible. The desolation will be unending.”  What it does not tell us is that the suffering is everlasting.

The passage from Isa 34 is worth quoting in full:

34:9 Edom’s streams will be turned into pitch
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
34:10 Night and day it will burn;
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland
and no one will ever pass through it again.

It seems clear that the Revelation passage is based on this passage from Isaiah.  But it is also clear that the earlier passage has to do with the destruction of Edom, not its eternal torment.  The smoke rises ‘continually’, that is, without interruption, not without end.

But what about ‘no rest day or night’?

Chris Bolt, an advocate of the traditional doctrine, thinks that ‘no rest, day or night’

‘is not a picture of unfeeling, unsensing death. Rather, it speaks to a continued, conscious existence.’

But this is assertion without reason.  And, in any case, Bolt seems to assume that annihilationism teaches that the unsaved have no existence after death; but this is very much a minority position.  John Wenham said that the idea that ‘the first death is the end and that there is no Day of Judgment and that we are not judged according to our works’,

‘is plainly inscriptural and not the view of any conditionalist that I know. (Facing Hell, p255)

Broyles suggests:

‘“No rest day or night” is another way of saying that God’s wrath is poured out in full strength when the judgment is operating; it is quenchless, unremitting and overwhelming. In modern warfare terms, it is the equivalent of intense, day and night, bombing; there is no break until it obliterates the enemy. The meaning of Rev 14: 11 is in harmony with the passage in Isaiah 34 that lies behind it.’

In other words, says Broyles, the suffering is uninterrupted, while it continues.  And uninterrupted torment is not necessarily everlasting torment.

A conditionalist reading of this text, according to Broyles, is consistent with the immediate context, where Rev 14:14-20 depict the final judgement of the wicked as a scene of utter destruction, not of endless distress.  It is also consistent with the wider context of Revelation, where the parallel descriptions of God’s judgement on the unrighteous describe utter destruction and not endless torment (Rev 6: 12– 17; 11: 15– 18; 14: 6– 20; 16: 17– 21; 17: 1– 19: 5; 19: 6— 20: 21).  (in Christopher M. Date, Gregory G. Stump, Joshua W. Anderson. Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism (p. 145ff).)

Ian Paul agrees:

‘Though the phrase smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever (AT) has been interpreted as indicating a continual experience of torment (which raises some particular theological problems), this is difficult to sustain in the light of the parallel at 19:3, where in an identical phrase the ‘smoke from [the city Babylon] rises for ever and ever’ (AT). It is impossible to imagine the city being perpetually destroyed; the image must signify the eternal effect of its destruction, rather than an eternal process of destruction (cf. the destruction of Edom in Isa 34:10).’

Peterson quotes Stott:

‘The fire itself is termed “eternal” and “unquenchable,” but it would be very odd if what is thrown into it proves indestructible. Our expectation would be the opposite: it would be consumed forever, not tormented forever. Hence it is the smoke (evidence that the fire has done its work) which “rises for ever and ever.”’

Peterson responds:

‘On the contrary, our expectation would be that the smoke would die out once the fire had finished its work. . . . The rest of the verse confirms our interpretation: “There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image.”‘

Elsewhere, Stott writes:

‘I do not myself think that the anxious question whether the nature of hell is an eternal conscious torment or an ultimate eternal annihilation can be settled by a simple appeal to these sentences. For one thing, we need to keep reminding ourselves that the content of Revelation is symbolic vision not literal reality. Further, the essence of hell is separation from God, whereas these sentences speak of torment ‘in the presence of the … Lamb’. What is clear is that hell is an eternal destruction, whatever the precise nature of this destruction may be, and that there will be no respite from it.’

(The Incomparable Christ, p205f)

According to Rev 20:10, the devil, the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where ‘they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever’.  Does not this last phrase (‘for ever and ever’) prove that the torment of the apostates in v11 is similarly everlasting?  Stott points out that the referents are different.  Moreover, ‘the devil, the beast and the false prophet’ are not people: they are best understood as symbols of various forms of hostility towards God.  Traditionalists such as Pawson, however, insist that these entitites are personal beings, given that they suffer the very personal experience of ‘torment’.

According to Boyd and Eddy,

‘These passages are not as problematic for the annihilationist view as they might initially seem. The phrase “forever and ever” can be translated “for ages upon ages,” which implies an indefinite but not necessarily unending period of time. Even more fundamentally, it is important to keep in mind that Revelation is a highly symbolic book. Its apocalyptic images should not be interpreted literally. This is particularly true of the phrase “forever and ever,” since phrases similar to this are used elsewhere in Scripture in contexts in which they clearly cannot literally mean unending (e.g., Gen. 49:26; Exod. 40:15; Num. 25:13; Ps. 24:7).’

(Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology)

In front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb – This signifies, not delight, but certainty:

‘The torment of the people who followed the beast does not bring satisfaction or some sort of demented delight to the angels and the Lamb. Rather, the phrase seems to insist on the certainty of God’s punishment of evil because of the satisfactory completion of the Lamb’s ministry and because of the ongoing presence of the holy angels who enforce God’s judgments.’ (Beasley-Murray)

Perhaps the point of this vivid imagery is not so much that the angels and the Lamb watch the torment, but rather that the tormented now realise from what (and from whom) they have distanced themselves.  Fee puts it like this:

‘As part of the human race, John was giving expression in the only kind of language available to him (and us) the horror of eternal separation from the God in whose image all have been created, and through Christ and the Spirit are being re-created. Such “eternal separation” lies beyond all attempts to imagine, whether it be John’s Revelation or Dante’s Inferno. One must simply hear this for the horror it represents: to be aware of the reality of “the holy angels and the Lamb,” but miss out on being there.’

Stott argues that

‘the “torment” of Rev 14:10, because it will be experienced “in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb,” seems to refer to the moment of judgment, not to the eternal state. It is not the torment itself but its “smoke” (symbol of the completed burning) which will be “forever and ever.”’  (In Christopher M. Date, Gregory G. Stump, Joshua W. Anderson. Rethinking Hell: Readings in Evangelical Conditionalism.)

Metzger (cited by Gorman) comments:

‘[T]his picture of wrath and hell means nothing more or less than the terrible truth that the sufferings of those who persist in rejecting God’s love in Christ are self-imposed and self-perpetuated. The inevitable consequence is that if they eternally persist in such rejection, God will never violate their personality. Whether any soul will in fact eternally resist God, we cannot say.’

Carson (The God Who Is There):

‘[This] does not mean that the angels and the Lamb are sitting there laughing and saying, “I told you so.” It means that there is enough awareness in these people of the angels and the Lamb to whom they no longer can have access, that that is part of their torment. There is no way out. “And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever” (14:11).’

14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:
‘Blessed are the dead,
those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’ ”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them.”

So here is the practical application of this teaching.

“From now on” – that is, from the time of Christ’s redemption.

“They can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them” – It is not that work is absent in the life to come, but rather than painful work is absent:

‘The word labour (kopos) means ‘labour to the point of weariness’ and sometimes merely pain. It is in this latter sense that we should understand it here. Heaven is not so much a place where no work is done as one where pain has ceased. Believers rest from their labour, but their deeds (erga) go into the life beyond the grave. This gives dignity to all the work in which Christians engage. They are occupied in no insignificant task.’ (Morris)

Walls interprets ‘their deeds’ as their martydom.  Mounce agrees that ‘their supreme labor is faithfulness unto death.’

‘These deeds follow them in the sense that there can be no separation between what a person is and what that person does.’ (Mounce)

Fee remarks that the verb translated ‘follow’ ‘almost certainly’ means ‘accompany’, rather that ‘follow along behind’.

14:14 Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man! He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 14:15 Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!” 14:16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 14:18 Another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe.” 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 14:20 Then the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles for a distance of almost two hundred miles.

This twofold vision (vv14-16; 17-20) represents the last judgment in the form of a twofold harvest: of grain and of grapes.

Harper’s Bible Commentary offers a fairly standard intepretation:

‘Though the Parousia is not described with traditional Christian imagery (e.g., 1 Thess. 4:15–17), the grain harvest represents the gathering of Christians (Matt. 24:31), while the vintage harvest (Rev. 14:17–20) refers to the judgment of the ungodly (Isa. 63:1–6; cf. Rev. 19:15b).’

Grimsrud (To Follow the Lamb) declines to see this second harvest as suggestive of punitive punishment.  The blood that is shed, he suggests, is that of Jesus and his followers (as in Rev 12:11), not that of the ungodly.  The ‘wrath of God’ (v19) is then seen as the outworking of human rebellion against God.

Grimsrud observes that the winepress was stomped ‘outside the city’ (v20) – an image suggestive of Jesus’ death (Heb 13:12f).

The excess quantity of blood, v20 recalls the great multitude who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:9,14); it takes a lot of blood to wash that number of robes!

In support of this interpretation, Grimsrud notes the reference (Rev 17:6) to the picture of Babylon as the great harlot who was ‘drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus’.  The blood of Jesus and his followers plays a crucial role in the downfall of the powers of evil.