1. the Remnant of Israel

John says,
I looked, and; lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father’s name (or, according to the best copies, His name and His Father’s name) written in their foreheads {Rev. 14:1}.
They are presented in blessed rest and companionship with the Lamb. They are servants of God, sealed in their foreheads; and however much they had been oppressed by the beast, nevertheless they are seen as having proved the faithfulness of Jehovah, and the sure abiding of His word of promise, in caring for them and exercising His own power in bringing them through the fire. John, who had before seen them so hotly pursued by Satan, now has a vision of them with the Lamb; and not only so, but on mount Zion, the place of promised blessing on the earth, the metropolis of past and future national glory — the mountain, not of Sinai blackness and darkness, but the place of royal grace, where David and Solomon were honored by Jehovah, and where again the true Messiah, the greater than Solomon, shall yet manifest His wondrous power and grace, bring glory to His people Israel, and reign before His ancients gloriously. These hundred and forty and four thousand at that time will be blessed in the earth. It is prospective; for they can only be there with the Lamb after His appearing. They have not their Father’s name, but His Father’s name, written in their foreheads. Those who compose the Church of God, the body of Christ, — are a heavenly people, they know their sonship, have received the indwelling Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, and know God as their Father. But these are not the Church; yet, like every redeemed company, whether heavenly or earthly, they owe all their blessings to the Lamb; for the blood of the Cross is the foundation of all lasting good.
While John was thus beholding this favoured remnant, he heard
a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder {Rev. 14:2}.
He heard also
the voice of harpers harping with their harps {Rev. 14:2}.
These, too, were heavenly sounds; for he goes on to tell us that they sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before
the four living creatures, and the elders {see Rev. 14:3}
Let the reader notice here, that we have, first, the company on mount Zion; secondly, the elders in heaven; and, thirdly, harpers harping before the elders. Here are three distinct companies — one on earth, and two in heaven; and though all are redeemed and brought into their blessing by the blood of the Lamb, it is impossible to identify them, or to regard them as only different visions of the same company, for reasons assigned when considering the seventh chapter. The question for us now is, Who are the harpers?
1. We are distinctly told they are in heaven, singing as it were a new song before the elders.
2. There seems to be a remarkable sympathy between the “harpers” and the hundred and forty-four thousand on mount Zion, for no man but these could learn their song.
3. We only get one company in the Revelation having harps besides the elders in the fifth chapter, and these are that part of the faithful remnant who are martyred for not worshiping the beast, who get the victory over him by having a place in heaven on the sea of glass, and to them are given the harps of God. They are described in chapter 15 as singing the song of victory and of the Lamb; but it is Jewish in character, for they sing the song of Moses. They will reign with Christ. But further. In this first action in the chapter before us, the remnant are clearly spoken of as on mount Zion with the Lamb, as redeemed, as learning directly from heaven to sing the new song. We can understand what true sympathy there will be between the spared remnant on earth and the slaughtered remnant in heaven. We may notice further, that the hundred and forty-four thousand are called virgins, and have escaped the foul defilement of an adulterous generation; they have been true to God, and are only now engaged in following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. In their mouth is found no guile or lie, and they are without fault. The last words,
Before the throne of God {Rev. 14:5},
are omitted by the best critics. We must regard this first scene, in Rev. 14, on earth as anticipative, and as existing at the same time as the harpers seen in heaven in chapter 15.
There are two other points deserving special notice in the description here given of the remnant on mount Zion. First, they are redeemed from the earth from among men, the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb (Rev. 14:3, 4); and, secondly, they were faithful to God. The first point is of importance, because it shows us that this company is on the mount of earthly favour and blessing, redeemed from the earth — an election from among the people of Israel for the earth. There is no thought here of the Church, the body of Christ. It is a remnant of Israel, which will be brought through the great tribulation into the millennial blessing. With regard to their being the “firstfruits,” we are to understand the firstfruits from the earth for earthly blessing: the harvest of the earth is to follow. They, are pure and uncorrupted,
for they are virgins {Rev. 14:4}.
Living in a time when violence and the foulest corruption fill the earth, when the world is overrun with infidelity, men are under the
strong delusion {2 Thess. 2:11},
and the only Lord God in every way denied, they stand boldly out for the living and true God, and refuse to worship the beast; they are therefore not defiled, and in their mouth was found no guile — the lie of the beast. The power of the God of Abraham encircled them; and brought them through the time of temptation, and they are now with the Lamb, following Him whithersoever He goeth, and are without fault, or blameless.