“And I looked, and lo a Lamb stood on Mount Zion and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand having His Father’s name written in their foreheads,” Rev. 14:1-5.

“THE NEW SONG OF THE REDEEMED”

“And they sang a new song BEFORE THE THRONE (OF GOD) and before the four living creatures and before the elders (of the heavenly Sanhedrin)…” Rev. 14:3 AMP.

We have seen that this new name to be given to the overcomers is His name as in Rev. 3:12. Let me quote the words of Charles H. Spurgeon as touching conquering (overcoming) by His new name;

“The Victories of Jesus among men are all the more wonderful because they are accomplished by means of all appearance most adequate; they are due not to physical but to MORAL POWER – the energy of goodness, justice, truth; in a word, to the power of His holy arm. His holy influence has been the sole cause of success. Jesus never stoops to use policy, or brute force. His unsullied (to soil, to disgrace) perfection secure to Him a real and lasting victory over all the powers of evil. …..Glory be unto the conqueror, let new songs be chanted to His praise.

The salvation, which Jesus has accomplished, is wrought out with wonderful wisdom; hence it is ascribed to His right hand. It meets the requirements of justice, hence we read of His Holy arm; it is His own unaided work, hence all the glory is ascribed to Him, and it is marvelous beyond degree, hence it deserves a NEW SONG” end quote.

I want to declare to you, that the above description is that of your new nature. To be victorious over evil, you have to have wisdom, be holy, righteous and dependent on the Spirit.

REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH BY HIS BLOOD

“And THEY sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, WHICH WERE REDEEMED FROM THE EARTH,” Rev. 14:3. Here in this passage we are told that only the 144,000 could sing this particular song and that they were the redeemed from the earth.

Does it mean these 144,000 are the only figures redeemed from the earth? What is the basis of this redemption? In other words, what are they redeemed from? In the first place the Hebrew word for REDEEM (Padah) means – to sever, i.e. ransom, to release, preserve, deliver, rescue, which gives us the sense of “to cut loose” “to loose or let go” as by payment of a redemption price.

In Exo. 21:29-30, we are told that if an ox should kill a man, if there be laid on him a sum of money, then he (i.e., the owner) shall give the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him. In other words, the equivalent of the man’s life should be paid back to the relatives of the dead. So this term emphasizes the releasing accomplished by the payment of the redemption price.

Why redemption? Redemption becomes necessary when:

(1) One is in the condition of slavery (Lev. 19:20; Deut. 7:8); (2) From adverse conditions affecting one’s life spiritually or physically (2Sam. 4:9; Job 6:23; Ps. 55:18);or

(3) From the powers of death and the grave (Job 33:28; Ps. 49:15).

In Deut. 9:26 we read of how God redeemed the nation of Israel from Egypt to become His personal property. See also Ps. 78:42. In Isa. 35:10; 51:11; and Jer. 31:11, 12, we see how God redeemed them from the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonian exiles years later. In all of these, the redemption is in direct connection to slavery and suffering.

Now this redemption of the children of Israel from Egypt was not without a price. God caused the Egyptians to pay the price for the release of the nation of Israel to which God has then taken to be “His first born.” As a result ‘the firstborn son’ of Pharaoh and that of all the Egyptians had to die, including that of animals to be an exact price for the release of the nation of Israel (Exo. 4:21-23; 11:4-8).

Even nations were given into the hands of King Cyrus such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba for the release of the nation of Israel as a ransom from their exile. Isa. 43:1-4, “…For I the Lord thy God the Holy one of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Seba for thee.”

This confirms the Scripture that says, “The wicked shall be a ransom for the (uncompromisingly) righteous, and the treacherous for the upright (because the wicked fall themselves into the traps and pits they have dug for the good), Prov. 21:18 AMP.

Again, the Lord says, “Israel was holiness (something set apart from ordinary purposes, dedicated) to the Lord, ‘the first fruits’ of His harvest (of which 110 strangers were allowed to partake) all who ate of it (injuring Israel) offended and became guilty; evil came upon them, says the Lord,” Jer. 2:3 AMP.

Beloved, did you notice anything from these passages we have just read? The effect of living a righteous and holy life before God is so great that it is not something to toy with in the name of religion.

You can only say the battle is the Lord’s when you are totally separated, consecrated, unto Him. Only then can He take over your battles. ln fact, at this stage, you have no battle to fight. Therefore, live the life and allow the wicked to dig their graves.

To be continued…