Revelation 14
v.1 We see the Lamb again...this is Jesus! He is seen as He had been slain in Rev 5:6 by His Church, and was referenced as such by John the Baptist in John 1:29, 36 and here as the Savior of Israel and Mankind.
This is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to explain to our kids, but if we keep in mind that all the imagery is Jewish, and from the Old Testament, the types and images make much more sense. If we refer to Daniel 3 where Daniel's three friends were saved and "sealed" by Christ (a theophany), we see the typology coming to fruition. Daniel's friends (a type for Israel) were thrown into the great fire (Great Tribulation) while Daniel was away (the Church raptured). Jesus saved them as He does again in the last days!
v.3 Your kids may wonder why certain people or groups of people have their own special songs for the LORD, and no one else can learn them or sing them...they may think that God shows favoritism. First of all, all the saved in heaven have their own song...so there is no one left out. Secondly, we all have different experiences and means of salvation: The Jews in the Tribulation have a different experience than the Church before the Rapture. We sing to God about how He saved us from what we were experiencing.
v.4 The Tribulation saints, the sealed Jews during the Tribulation, are walking with God...the Lamb. Like the Church before them, they are seen as righteous because they are walking with the Son, and are washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. John 1:29, 36
v.7 God gives mankind a "Last Call" before everyone's eternal fate is sealed...God is patient and kind, wishing for no one to go to hell. However, throughout all our lives, we have multiple instances to accept His love for us on the cross, so some choose salvation, and others choose damnation.
This reminds me of the famous C.S. Lewis quote:
In the end, there will be some who say to God, "Thy will be done" and others to whom God says in the end, "Thy will be done."
Each of us, individually, must choose to follow God or reject Him...our eternal destiny is not God's choosing, but ours! Choose wisely! This is important for our kids to understand, for during times of crisis, where natural disasters happen, and many people die, kids may wonder why God did that. He didn't create this world with sin and death...that was a result of Mankind's rejection of Him. However, God provided a way out of death for our souls...His Son, if we choose Him!
v.8 Babylon is where the beginning of mankind's open rebellion of God occurred...the Tower of Babel. Gen 11 All cults and false religions have roots in Babylon...God will rid the earth of this actual place (modern day Iraq) and also the spiritual Babylon.
v.11 It is important to teach our kids that hell is a real place...and it's forever. Hell is the absence of God, and eternal torment, knowing that pride brought them there.
v.14 Scholars debate who this person is...is it Jesus or an angel?
First of all, the wording is like the Son of Man...not THE Son of Man.
Secondly, if we look at what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 13, He says that He instructs the angels to reap. Matt 13:39
If this is confusing to your kids, what matters most is that God will separate His followers from the unbelievers...make sure you're in the right harvest pile!
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