Daily Devotions
Whose Side Are You On?
Reading for December 26th: Revelation 1-3
Weekly reading for December 20-26: Revelation 12-16
Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
Revelation 14:1
There are two distinct groups in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation:
One group, described as the 144,000, stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. They have the name of the Father on their forehead. They are virgins (v 4; 2 Cor 11:2). They tell no lies and are described as blameless (v 5). They are the first fruits of the redeemed of the earth (v 4).
In the other group, we witness those who bear the mark of the beast (v 9). They worship him and his image (v 9). They will drink "full strength" of the cup of the wine of God's wrath (v 10).
What is clear is that there is no middle group in this chapter. Everyone bears a mark. Everyone belongs in a camp. There are no fence straddlers. There are no part-time saints. There are no souls with dual membership. All who are with the Lamb are with him. All who are with the beast are with the beast. There is no in-between.
Whose side are you on?
Father, forgive us of our double mindedness! Purify our hearts and give us courage to stand with the Lamb!
