Revelation Chapter 14

(Review Verses 1-5 here, and Verses 6-12 here)

VERSE 13-14 “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.”

“THE BLESSED WHO DIE”

“It is as if Verse 12 might DISCOURAGE US that the Lord immediately inserts Verse 13. He says:

‘Even though you might wait long for the completion of the destruction of the apostasy, if you die during this time, there is something special for you — you need not SLEEP; you will be changed in a moment (1 Cor. 15:51, 52) because you are now in the sounding of the seventh (the last) trump’.

Recall, that Verse 8 gave us a date: 1878. This date now becomes important because Verse 13 states that this special blessing is FROM HENCEFORTH — from a specific moment; from 1878. We are dead (as humans, sacrificially) in Jesus — baptized into his death (Rom. 6:3). If, from henceforth, we die (literally) our labors (strength-consuming service) will end; but our works (of praise and service) will continue — on the other side of the veil WITHOUT laboring (expenditure of strength, vitality).”

SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT INTERNAL SECTION DIVISIONS:

“While Revelation employs several methods of construction to let us know when the subject or time is changing, one of these methods is very noticeable to the eye. Verses 13 and 14 both begin with similar expressions: AND I HEARD, AND I LOOKED. Verse 6 (which really begins this chapter) begins AND I SAW. This is one of the Lord’s sign-posts to tell us that there is an interruption in the narrative. We may be jumping forward or backward in time, or we may be taking a new perspective of what is already being discussed. In any case, this is an important KEY in the interpretation of the book. When Verse 13 begins, it is not referring to the end of the Harvest after the saints’ patience has been tried (which Verse 12 had just mentioned), but it is jumping way back to Verse 8, the time of Babylon’s being cast off from favor. Verse 14 begins a new look at the Harvest, totally unrelated to the subject matter of Verse 13.”

Back to the Blessed Dead

“The dead which die” here are not those of Adam’s race, reckoned dead in their trespasses and sins (Matt. 8:22), who later surrender themselves to the Lord and become converts to Christianity. The matter can be reasoned thus: If to “die in the Lord” is viewed (symbolically) as a consecration to God and His service of those who previously were dead in Adam—namely, their crucifixion of the flesh and its lusts and the daily endeavor to keep the body under (1 Cor. 9:27)—then one would be forced to conclude that the “works” which follow or continue would be some deeds of the flesh that took place prior to conversion—obviously the wrong thought.

No, blessed are the dead in Christ (those reckoned dead to sin and the world through consecration and baptism into Christ’s death—Rom. 6:2–4) who die or terminate their earthly pilgrimage in literal death. Blessed are these dead, in Christ, who thus finish their course (Who are proven, “faithful until death…” Rev 2:10), for if their actual death occurs at the time specified and under the conditions of faithfulness implied by the expression “which die in the Lord,” they will experience the happy lot indicated by “the Spirit” as resting from their labors and their works following them.

Some feel that the fulfillment of this Scripture began at Pentecost and continued throughout the Gospel Age as the faithful were laid to rest, their wearisome toil and pilgrimage ceasing there, and that naught awaits such but their reward (Rev. 6:11), to be granted at the last day when they are awakened from the tomb in the first resurrection morn. It is further reasoned that although the faithful are now muted in death (Psa. 115:17; Eccl. 9:5), the memory and the example of their lives linger on, and the counsel, instruction, and noble works of a few of this number have been preserved and passed on to benefit succeeding generations.

However, edifying, encouraging, and seemingly reasonable this thought may be, exception is taken, for while the dead might be spoken of as resting from their labors since Pentecost, yet their works did not continue on in the sense required and declared by the Spirit in Verse 13.

When used in conjunction with the genitive case, the Greek word meta is to be translated by the English equivalent “with”; where found in relation to the accusative case, meta is to be interpreted as “after.” Since the former condition applies here, the works of the Christian dead should be thought of as following with them. Because in the King James, the American Revised Standard, and certain other versions, this Greek word is left untranslated and thus is omitted from the English text, one is apt to draw his own conclusion as to the sense implied. If, on the other hand, meta had been retained and inserted into the English text in the proper manner, there would be no room for conjecture on this point. Meta, when used in conjunction with the genitive case elsewhere in the King James Version, is rendered “with” 346 times and is not once translated “after.”

Verse 13 states that the works of “the dead which die” follow with [meta] them, NOT after them!

The phrase “rest from their labors; and their works do follow” is worthy of consideration. The word “and” is a poor substitute for the Greek word de. “And” is used as an equivalent of this word only four times in the New Testament; in contrast, de is translated “but” over 2,000 times, and “but” indeed more properly suits the situation in this case. The line of thought is as follows: The blessed ones who die rest from their labors, but their works continue with them. The fatiguing aspect of their labors ceases with the acquisition of a new body from above—for then their activities will continue gloriously on, unhampered by the former vessels of clay.

Therefore, verse 13 might be paraphrased thus: “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, for now not only may such rest from their toil, but their work of love and joyous service to God accompanies them beyond, uninterrupted by the sleep of death.” (Under this circumstance death may be spoken of as a blessing, whereas otherwise it is usually pictured as an enemy—1 Cor. 15:26; Jer. 31:16.)

It would be difficult to reconcile the interpretation of Verse 13 as applying to Pentecost onward, since Christians who died thereafter are scripturally referred to as being asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:14; Acts 7:60) and this portion of God’s Word bespeaks activity following death. Only when the setting and fulfillment of Verse 13 are thought of as occurring at the end of the Gospel Age is the difficulty removed.

This dispensational aspect is confirmed by the relationship that exists between John’s hearing the Spirit utter the blessing to attend “the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth” (Verse 13) and his looking to the source whence this information emanates (Verse 14) and seeing the “Son of man” seated on a white cloud with a sickle in his hand.”

Continued with next post.