The interpretations of the name of the ‘beast’, expressed by the number six hundred and sixty six, were numerous; they include the names of several emperors such as Nero, Titus, Trajan, Domitian, and also the Pope because of the title ‘vicaris Filii Dei’ (Vicar of the Son of God, representing on earth Jesus Christ, the Son of God), Martin Luther, John Calvin, Napoleon, William II, Hitler and Mussolini, and so forth. But the names with which the ‘hundred and forty-four thousand’ are marked on their foreheads, the Name of the Lamb and of the Father, are not subject to multiple interpretations!
Whereas the anti-Christ-trinity: the ‘dragon’, the ‘beast’ and the ‘false prophet’,1 has furnished itself with a double identity in the form of ‘two beasts’, of which one operates like a lion2 and one like a lamb,3 Mount Zion rises before John’s eyes. There John sees the One, the true Lamb, Who will conquer as the Lion of Judah,4 standing – surrounded by his ‘elite troops’, the ‘hundred and forty-four thousand’. The bearers of the ‘sign of God and the Lamb’ are standing opposite the bearers of the ‘mark of the beast’. They are standing on Mount Zion. Originally this mountain was part of the most ancient area of the City of Jerusalem, on which the fortress of the previous inhabitants, the Jebusites, was built. When Jerusalem was expanded in the course of time this part kept the name ‘City of David’ because finally King David got hold of the City of Jerusalem. Look at 2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 21:15-27; 2 Chronicles 3:1; 6:1 – 7:3.
The name ‘Sion’ or ‘Zion’ later came to be applied to the ‘whole City of Jerusalem’, and later on even to the ‘whole of Israel’.5 The name is mostly associated with the Temple Mount as the place upon which God’s House, the Holy Temple, stood. ‘Going up to Zion’ means going up to God and His Temple, serving Him.6 God lives in Zion, which is why those who dwell in Zion dwell safely and assuredly, under His wings.
‘Zion’ is the focal point of ‘messianic salvation’ as far as the prophets are concerned. The word ‘Zion’ is used more than 800 times in the Old and New Testament. ‘Zion’ is a Biblical concept that refers to Israel, especially in its relationship to the nations of the world. Jerusalem is the focus and centre of the world. Israel, the Holy Land, the nation and Jerusalem as its centre have been chosen by God to bless the whole world.
The ‘hundred and forty-four thousand’ are from the tribes of Israel.7 They bear the name of the Father and the Son. Although it is not said what the task of these servants will be, they have been made unassailable, having been sealed by God.8 It seems obvious that it will be a worldwide service of witness to the nations. Like prophets to the nations? Or 144.000 ‘apostles’ like Paul to the nations?
The prophet Joel says: “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy hill. Declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar. Let them say, ‘Spare Your people, Lord. Do not make Your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”9 You hear the mocking of the ‘beast people’ around them and against them. “They are powerless, where is their God to help them and save them?” they shout.
It is the Lord’s Day in Zion. “In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to My inheritance, My people Israel, because they scattered My people among the nations and divided up My land.”10 Compare this with the United Nations’ plans for dividing up the land of Israel since 1948 with bits and pieces for Jews, Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon! All these ‘division-plans’, like establishing a ‘Palestinian State’ on land that God promised to Israel, and ‘dividing up’ Jerusalem in two parts and giving East-Jerusalem to the Palestinians as the ‘capital’ of their new state ‘Palestine’ will ultimately invoke God’s anger and wrath and will bring forth His judgement. Who gives them the right to divide up the land that God has promised to Israel by an everlasting Covenant, to which He swore a solemn oath by His own Name in Psalm 105:9-11? “…the Covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting Covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit…”
“The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the Heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her no more.”11
• John is again allowed to look to the distant future in this verse, after the victory over the ‘beasts’ and ‘Babylon’ and the Coming of Christ in Glory. He will see what this means later in greater detail, in chapter 20–22:5. It is already determined prophetically, however.
• The Victory over all ‘powers of darkness ‘is certain and sure! Because Jesus is the Victor!
• ‘Vicar of Christ’ (from Latin Vicarious Christi) is a term used in different ways and with different theological connotations throughout history. The original notion of a ‘vicar’ is as an “earthly representative of Christ”, but it’s also used in the sense of “person acting as ‘parish priest’ in place of a real ordained person.”
• The title is now used in Catholicism to refer to the bishops and more specifically to the Bishop of Rome (the Pope). ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’ (Latin: Vicar or Representative of the Son of God) is a phrase first used in the forged medieval ‘Donation of Constantine’ to refer to the Apostle Peter, a leader of the Early Christian Church and regarded as the first Pope by the Catholic Church. The earliest known instance of the phrase ‘Vicarius Filii Dei’ is in the ‘Donation of Constantine’, now dated between the eighth and the ninth centuries AD.
Bible References:
1.Revelation 16:13 2.Revelation 13:2 3.Revelation 13:11 4.Revelation 5:5–6 5.Psalm 149:2; Isaiah 46:13; Zephaniah 3:12–17; Matthew 21:5; Romans 9:33 6.Psalm 84:8; Isaiah 8:18, 24:23; 31:4; Jeremiah 31:6; Micah 4:7–8 7.Revelation 7:1–8 8.Revelation 7:3 9.Joel 2:1, 15–17 NIV 10.Joel 3:1–2 11.Joel 3:16–17 (Authorised Version)
