And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
Blessing on the Faithful Dead, and the Harvest and the Vintage of the Earth, Rev 14:13-20
13. Write ] See on Rev 10:4.
Blessed are the dead &c.] Two questions arise as to this verse, though its touching associations make us unwilling to raise questions about it. What is its relevance here? and why are the holy dead blessed “ from henceforth ”? i.e. probably, from the time foreshadowed by the last part of the vision. The answer to both probably is, that in those days a holy death will be the only escape from persecution and temptation, which “if it were possible should seduce even the Elect.” Not only “for the Elect’s sake the days shall be shortened,” but even before they end, one and another of the Elect will be delivered from them. Even now it is a matter of thanksgiving when a Christian is delivered by death “from the miseries of this wretched world, from the body of death, and from all temptation,” and much more then, when temptation is so much sorer that no Saint can dare wish to abide in the flesh. This seems better than supposing that the special blessedness of the dead of those days consists only in the interval being shorter before their “perfect consummation and bliss.”
that they may rest ] The construction probably is, “who die that they may rest” the sense is, “Yea, they are indeed blessed, for the result, and the providential end, of their dying is, to bring them to rest.”
and their works ] Read, for their works.
do follow them ] More accurately, follow with them: there is therefore hardly any resemblance to 1Ti 5:24-25. The meaning of the passage is much the same as 1Th 4:15 we are not to think of the holy dead as if they missed (and as if the dead of the last days only just missed) the glories of the Lord’s coming: for they and their good works are kept by Him safe against that day, ready to share in its glories.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And I heard a voice from heaven – A voice that seemed to speak from heaven.
Saying unto me, Write – Make a record of this truth. We may suppose that John was engaged in making a record of what he saw in vision; he was now instructed to make a record of what he heard. This passage may be referred to as a proof that he wrote this book while in Patmos, or as the heavenly disclosures were made to him, and not afterward from memory.
Blessed are the dead – That is, the condition of those who die in the manner which is immediately specified, is to be regarded as a blessed or happy one. It is much to be able to say of the dead that they are blessed. There is much in death that is sad; we so much dread it by nature; it cuts us off from so much that is dear to us; it blasts so many hopes; and the grave is so cold and cheerless a resting place, that we owe much to a system of religion which will enable us to say and to feel, that it is a blessed thing to die. Assuredly we should be grateful for any system of religion which will enable us thus to speak of those who are dead; which will enable us, with corresponding feeling, to look forward to our own departure from this world.
Which die in the Lord – Not all the dead; for God never pronounces the condition of the wicked who die, blessed or happy. Religion guards this point, and confines the declaration to those who furnish evidence that they are prepared for heaven. The phrase to die in the Lord implies the following things:
- That they who thus die are the friends of the Lord Jesus. The language to be in the Lord is often used to denote true attachment to him, or close union with him. Compare Joh 15:4-7; Rom 16:13, Rom 16:22; 1Co 4:17; 1Co 7:39; Phi 1:14; Col 4:7. The assurance, then, is limited to those who are sincere Christians; for this the language properly implies, and we are authorized to apply it only as there is evidence of true religion.
(2)To die in the Lord would seem also to imply that there should be, at the time, the evidence of his favor and friendship. This would apply:
(a) to those who die as martyrs, giving their lives as a testimony to the truth of religion, and as an evidence of their love for it; and,
(b) to those who have the comforting evidence of his presence and favor on the bed of death.
From henceforth – aparti. This word has given no little perplexity to expositors, and it has been variously rendered. Some have connected it with the word blessed – Blessed henceforth are the dead who die in the Lord; that is, they will be ever-onward blessed: some with the word die, referring to the time when the apostle was writing – Blessed are they who, after this time, die in the Lord; designing to comfort those who were exposed to death, and who would die as martyrs: some as referring to the times contemplated in these visions – Blessed will they be who shall die in those future times. Witsius understands this as meaning that, from the time of their death, they would be blessed, as if it had been said, immediately after their dissolution they would be blessed. Doddridge renders it, Henceforth blessed are the dead. The language is evidently not to be construed as implying that they who had died in the faith before were not happy, but that in the times of trial and persecution that were to come, they were to be regarded as especially blessed who should escape from these sorrows by a Christian death. Scenes of woe were indeed to occur, in which many believers would die. But their condition was not to be regarded as one of misfortune, but of blessedness and joy, for:
(a)They would die in an honorable cause;
(b)They would emerge from a world of sorrow; and,
(c)They would rise to eternal life and peace.
The design, therefore, of the verse is to impart consolation and support to those who would be exposed to a martyrs death, and to those who, in times of persecution, would see their friends exposed to such a death. It may be added that the declaration here made is true still, and ever will be. It is a blessed thing to die in the Lord.
Yea, saith the Spirit – The Holy Spirit; the Spirit by whose inspiration and command I record this (Doddridge).
That they may rest from their labours – The word rendered here labor – kopos – means properly wailing, grief, from KOPTOO, to beat, and hence, a beating of the breast as in grief. Then the word denotes toil, labor, effort, Joh 4:38; 1Co 3:8; 1Co 15:58; 2Co 6:5; 2Co 10:15; 2Co 11:23, 2Co 11:27. It is used here in the sense of wearisome toil in doing good, in promoting religion, in saving souls, in defending the truth. From such toils the redeemed in heaven will be released; for although there will be employment there, it will be without the sense of fatigue or weariness. And in view of such eternal rest from toil, we may well endure the labors and toils incident to the short period of the present life, for, however arduous or difficult, it will soon be ended.
And their works do follow them – That is, the rewards or the consequences of their works will follow them to the eternal world, the word works here being used for the rewards or results of their works. In regard to this, considered as an encouragement to labor, and as a support in the trials of life, it may be remarked:
(a)That all that the righteous do and suffer here will be appropriately recompensed there.
- This is all that can follow a man to eternity. He can take with him none of his gold, his lands, his raiment; none of the honors of this life; none of the means of sensual gratification. All that will go with him will be his character, and the results of his conduct here, and, in this respect, eternity will be but a prolongation of the present life.
- It is one of the highest honors of our nature that we can make the present affect the future for good; that by our conduct on the earth we can lay the foundation for happiness million of ages hence.
In no other respect does man appear so dignified as in this; nowhere do we so clearly see the grandeur of the soul as in the fact, that what we do today may determine our happiness in that future period, when all the affairs of this world shall which cannot now be numbered shall have rolled by. It is then a glorious thing to live, and will be a glorious thing to die. Compare the notes on 1Co 15:58.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. I heard a voice from heaven] As the information now to be given was of the utmost importance, it is solemnly communicated by a voice from heaven; and the apostle is commanded to write or record what is said.
Blessed are the dead] Happy are they. They are happy in two respects: 1. They do not see the evil that shall come upon the world, and are exempted from any farther sufferings. 2. They actually and conscientiously enjoy happiness in a state of blessedness.
In the first sense, Happy are the dead! is a proverb frequently to be met in the Greek and Roman poets. Ex. gr.
, ‘
, .
‘
,
.
ODYSS., lib. v. ver. 306.
Happy, thrice happy; who, in battle slain,
Press’d, in Atrides’ cause, the Trojan plain:
O, had I died before that well fought wall;
Had some distinguished day renown’d my fall,
Such as was that when showers of javelins fled,
From conquering Troy, around Achilles dead.
POPE.
Thus imitated by the prince of the Roman poets:-
Extemplo AEneae solvuntur frigore membra.
Ingemit, et, duplices tendens ad sidera palmas,
Talia voce refert: O terque quaterque beati,
Queis ante ora patrum Trojae sub moenibus altis
Contigit oppetere! O Danaum fortissime gentis
Tydide, mene Iliacis occumbere campis
Non potuisse? tuaque animam hanc effundere dextra?
Saevus ubi AEacidae telo jacet Hector, ubi ingens
Sarpedon: ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis
Scuta virum, galeasque, et fortis corpora volvit.
VIRG., AEN. i., ver. 93.
“In horror fix’d the Trojan hero stands,
He groans, and spreads to heaven his lifted hands.
Thrice happy those whose fate it was to fall,
Exclaims the chief, before the Trojan wall!
O, ’twas a glorious fate to die in fight!
To die so bravely in their parents’ sight!
O, had I there, beneath Tydides’ hand,
That bravest hero of the Grecian band,
Pour’d out this soul, with martial glory fired,
And in the plain triumphantly expired,
Where Hector fell, by fierce Achilles’ spear,
And great Sarpedon, the renown’d in war;
Where Simois’ stream, encumber’d with the slain,
Rolls shields and helms and heroes to the main.”
PITT.
Which die in the Lord] These are the only glorious dead. They die, not in the field of battle, in either what are called lawful or unlawful wars against their fellow men; but they die in the cause of God, they die under the smile and approbation of God, and they die to live and reign with God for ever and ever.
From henceforth] From this time; now; immediately. This word is joined to the following by many MSS. and some versions. It was a maxim among the Jews, that as soon as the souls of the just departed from this life they ascended immediately to heaven.
Yea, saith the Spirit] The Holy Spirit confirms the declaration from heaven, and assigns the reasons of it.
That they may rest from their labours] Have no more tribulation and distress.
And their works do follow there.] And their works follow WITH them. They are in company. Here is an elegant prosopopoeia or personification; their good works, sufferings, c., are represented as so many companions escorting them on their way to the kingdom of God.
There are some good and pertinent things in the Jewish writers on this subject. “Rabbi Jonathan taught, If a man perform one righteous action in this life, it goes before him into the world to come. But if a man commit one crime, it cleaves to him, and drags him to the day of judgment.” Sota, fol. 3, 2. Avoda Sara, fol. 5, 1.
“Come and see, If any man observe a precept, that work ascends to God, and says, Such a one performed me. But if a man transgress the law, that sin ascends to the holy blessed God, and says, I came from such a one, who has performed me.” Sohar Levit., fol. 34, col. 136. Here the same personification is observed as that in the text.
“In that hour in which a man passes from this life into eternity, all his works precede him and there they say unto him, ‘This and that thou hast done in such a place on such a day.’ This he shall acknowledge. They shall require that he shall subscribe this with his own hand, as it is written, Job 37:7; each man shall subscribe with his own hand; and not only this, but he shall acknowledge that the sentence brought against him is most just.” Taanith, fol. 11, 1.
The following elegant similitude Schoettgen gives from Sepher Hachayim, Part II., fol. 47, 1, 2. “A certain man had three friends, two of whom he loved; but the third he did not highly esteem. On a time the king commanded him to be called before him; and being alarmed, he sought to find an advocate. He went to that friend whom he loved most, but he utterly refused to go with him. The second offered to go with him as far as the door of the king’s palace, but refused to speak a word in his behalf. The third, whom he loved least, not only went with him, but pleaded his cause so well before the king that he was cleared from all blame. In like manner, every man has three friends, when he is cited by death to appear before God. The first friend, whom he loved most, viz., his money, cannot accompany him at all. His second, viz., his relations and neighbours, accompanied him only to the grave, and then returned; but could not deliver him from the Judge. The third friend, whom he held but in little esteem, viz., the law and his good works, went with him to the king, and delivered him from judgment.” The meaning of this most plainly is, that nothing except the deeds of good and evil men shall accompany them to the judgment-seat of God, and that a man’s lot will be in the other world as his conduct has been in this; Their works follow with them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write: these words denote the excellency of the following saying; it is a voice from heaven, therefore worthy of our attention. John is commanded to write it, to be kept in memory for the comfort and encouragement of Gods people, who might be discouraged at the hearing of those calamitous times which they were like to meet with during the reign of antichrist, in which many of them were like to be put to death.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: this phrase of dying in the Lord, is applicable to any persons that die united to Christ by a true and lively faith; all such die in the Lord. But if we consider the Scriptural usage of it, it seems rather to signify martyrs, such as die for the Lord; for often in Scripture signifieth for, Rom 16:2,8,12; 1Pe 4:14, &c. If any shall be put to death for adherence to Christ, they shall be no losers; for they shall be blessed, and that not only upon the account of that glory into which they shall pass, but upon the account of that
rest which their death will give them from the troubles of the calamitous times before or hereafter mentioned.
From henceforth: there is some little difference amongst interpreters about the sense of this particle: certain it is, it is not to be understood of the time following this revelation exclusively, as to those who before died to Christ; for they also were blessed, they also rested from their labours, &c.; yet the particle seems to refer to the time to come. The emphasis of the particle seems to be, to obviate the doubts of those who should happen to die under antichrists rage, because they died not by the hands of pagans and avowed enemies of the gospel, but of such as should call themselves Christians; such, saith God, die for the Lord, and are blessed, and shall be blessed.
Yea, saith the Spirit; the Spirit of truth affirms it.
That they may rest from their labours; they shall be at rest from the troubles of this life.
And their works do follow them; and their good deeds and patient sufferings shall follow them, as witnesses for them before the Judge of the quick and the dead.
Here follow two visions, the one of a harvest, the other of a vintage; there is no great difficulty in determining, that they both signify some judicial dispensations of God, that he would bring upon the world, or some part of it, the latter of which should be greater than the former: yet Dr. More and Mr. Mede have another notion of them. But there is some doubt amongst interpreters, whether they signify Gods general judgment in the last day, or some particular judgments before that day, mentioned Rev 15:1-8 and Rev 16:1-21, and belong to the vials which we there read of. Those who think that the last judgment is here showed to John, are led to it from the representation of the day of judgment, under the notion of a harvest, Mat 3:12; 13:39. But I rather agree with them who think that the harvest here mentioned, is a representation of some judicial dispensations of God before that time, particularly Gods vengeance upon the beast, more fully expressed, Rev 16:1-21. For:
1. The last judgment is fully described afterward, Rev 19:1-20:15.
2. To express that, there needed not two types, the one of a harvest, the other of a vintage.
3. Here is no mention of the resurrection, which must go before the last judgment.
Mr. Mede hath noted, that there are three things belonging to a harvest;
(1.) Cutting down of corn.
(2.) Gathering it into the barn.
(3.) Threshing it.
Whence, in Scripture, it signifieth either cutting and destroying, or safety and preserving, which is the end of gathering corn into the barn. We have examples of the former, Isa 17:3,5; Jer 51:33; but of the latter we have only examples in the New Testament, Luk 10:2. It is his opinion, that the conversion of the Jews, going before the great slaughter mentioned Rev 19:1-21, is that which is here meant; but I rather agree with those who think, that by this parable is signified Gods judgments upon antichrist, and that the general scope of both the parables is to declare, that God would grievously punish antichrist, first by lesser, then by greater judgments, as is more particularly expressed in the two next chapters, to which this, to me, seemeth prefatory. Let us now come to the text itself… See Poole on “Rev 14:14“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. Encouragement to cheer thosepersecuted under the beast.
Writeto put it onrecord for ever.
Blessedin restingfrom their toils, and, in the case of the saints just beforealluded to as persecuted by the beast, in resting frompersecutions. Their full blessedness is now “fromhenceforth,” that is, FROMTHIS TIME, when the judgment on the beast and the harvestgatherings of the elect are imminent. The time so earnestly longedfor by former martyrs is now all but come; the full number of theirfellow servants is on the verge of completion; they have no longer to”rest (the same Greek as here, anapausis)yet for a little season,” their eternal rest, orcessation from toils (2Th1:7; Greek, “anesis,” relaxation afterhardships. Heb 4:9; Heb 4:10,sabbatism of rest; and Greek, “catapausis,“akin to the Greek here) is close at hand now. They are blessedin being about to sit down to the marriage supper of the Lamb(Re 19:9), and in having partin the first resurrection (Re20:6), and in having right to the tree of life (Re22:14). In Re14:14-16 follows the explanation of why they are pronounced”blessed” now in particular, namely, the Son of man onthe cloud is just coming to gather them in as the harvestripe for garner.
Yea, saith the SpiritThewords of God the Father (the “voice from heaven”) areechoed back and confirmed by the Spirit (speaking in the Word,Rev 2:7; Rev 22:17;and in the saints, 2Co 5:5;1Pe 4:14). All “God’spromises in Christ are yea” (2Co1:20).
unto meomitted in A,B, C, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic.
that they mayThe Greekincludes also the idea, They are blessed, in that they SHALLrest from their toils (so the Greek).
andSo B and ANDREASread. But A, C, Vulgate, and Syriac read “for.”They rest from their toils because their time for toil ispast; they enter on the blessed rest because of their faithevinced by their works which, therefore, “follow WITH(so the Greek) them.” Their works are specifiedbecause respect is had to the coming judgment, wherein every manshall be “judged according to his works.” His works do notgo before the believer, nor even go by his side, but followhim at the same time that they go with him as a proof that heis Christ’s.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And I heard a voice from heaven,…. Like that which was heard at Christ’s baptism and transfiguration, certifying the truth of what follows, so that that may be depended upon as an undoubted verity:
saying unto me, write; which is a further confirmation of the following sayings being true and faithful; see Re 1:9
blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; merely to die is not an happiness, for death is common to all, good and bad; it is a disunion of soul and body, and cannot be in itself desirable; it is the fruit of sin, and has something in it awful and terrible; and though it is the privilege of believers, as its sting is removed by Christ, yet not as simply and absolutely considered; but to die in the Lord is a blessedness: some render the words, “which die for the Lord”; so the Arabic version, “which die for the faith of the Lord”; and the Ethiopic version, “which die for God”; and so restrain them to the martyrs of Jesus: to suffer death for the sake of Christ and his Gospel is a gift and an honour, and what glorifies Christ; and there is a glory consequent upon it, which such shall enjoy; but then in the spiritual reign of Christ, to which this passage refers, and after the destruction of antichrist, there will be no more suffering for Christ, no more martyrdoms; wherefore this cannot be the sense of the words: nor do they mean dying in the lively exercise of faith and hope in the Lord; for though it is a happiness so to die, both to persons themselves, and to their friends and relations, yet these are not the only persons that are blessed; there are some who all their lifetime are subject to bondage, and go off in the dark, and yet are happy; but to die in the Lord is to die interested in him, in union to him; which union is not dissolved by death, and which preserves from all condemnation, at death or at judgment, and secures the soul’s immediate entrance into happiness, and the resurrection of the body at the last day, and therefore such must be blessed: the phrase, “from henceforth”, is differently placed; the Ethiopic version connects it with the word “write”, rendering it, “write now”; and the Vulgate Latin version reads it with the next clause, “hereafter, yea, saith the Spirit”; and so the Latin interpreter of the Syriac version, though that itself seems rather to place it as ours does, and which is most correct; and is to be understood not of the time of John’s writing, thenceforward to the resurrection; for those that died before his time were as happy as those who died after; nor of the time of death, though it is a truth, that from the time of the saints’ death, and from the very moment of their separation, they are blessed, and are in a state of happiness until the resurrection; but of that period of time which the declarations made by the three preceding angels refer to, from thenceforward, and after the destruction of antichrist, and during the spiritual reign of Christ: and the sense is, that happy will those persons be that die in Christ within that time, and before the Laodicean church state takes place; when coldness, lukewarmness, and carnal security will seize upon men, and Christ will come upon them at an unawares; and those sharp and severe times will commence, signified by the harvest and vintage of the earth in the following verses, and which seem to be no other than the end of the world, and the destruction of it; wherefore happy will they be that are going to heaven before that time comes; see Ec 4:1
yea, saith the Spirit; the third witness in heaven, who sets his seal to the truth of what the voice declares, and shows wherein this blessedness will consist:
that they may rest from their labours; both of body and soul; from all toil of body, and laborious work, from all diseases and distempers of body, and all outward sorrows and calamities men labour under, and are fatigued with in this life; and from all inward troubles, from a body of sin, from the temptations of Satan, and from all doubts and fears, from their present warfare state, and all conflicts with their spiritual enemies:
and their works do follow them; they do not go before them, to prepare heaven and happiness for them; nor do they take them along with them, and use them as pleas for their admission into the heavenly glory; but they will follow them, and will be found to praise, and honour, and glory, and will be taken notice of by Christ, and graciously rewarded by him, at his appearing and kingdom. This is directly opposite to the notions of the Jews, who say, that when a man departs this life, his works “go before him”, and say unto him, thou hast done so and so, in such a place, and on such a day w; and that whoever does a good work in this world, it shall “go before him” in the world to come x; and so they y represent good works as saying to a man when he is about to die,
“go in peace; before thou gettest thither, , we will go before thee, as it is said, Isa 48:8 “thy righteousness shall go before thee”.”
Sometimes they say z, they go along with him at the time of a man’s departure: neither gold, nor silver, nor precious stones and pearls accompany him, but the law and good works, as it is said, Pr 6:22 “when thou goest it shall lead thee”, &c.
w T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 11. 1. x T. Bab. Sota, fol. 3. 2. & Avoda Zara, fol. 5. 1. & Nishmat Chayim, fol. 21. 1. y Pirke Eliezer, c. 34. & Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 55. 4. z Pirke Abot, c. 6. sect. 9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Harvest and the Vintage. | A. D. 95. |
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Here we have the vision of the harvest and vintage, introduced with a solemn preface. Observe,
I. The preface, v. 13. Here note, 1. Whence this prophecy about the harvest came: it came down from heaven, and not from men, and therefore it is of certain truth and great authority. 2. How it was to be preserved and published–by writing; it was to be a matter of record, that the people of God might have recourse to it for their support and comfort upon all occasions. 3. What it principally intended, and that is, to show the blessedness of all the faithful saints and servants of God, both in death and after death: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth, c. Here observe, (1.) The description of those that are and shall be blessed–such as die in the Lord, either die in the cause of Christ, or rather die in a state of vital union with Christ, such as are found in Christ when death comes. (2.) The demonstration of this blessedness: They rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. [1.] They are blessed in their rest they rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. [2.] They are blessed in their recompence: Their works follow them; they do not go before them as their title, or price of purchase, but follow them as their evidence of having lived and died in the Lord; and the memory of them will be pleasant, and the reward glorious, far above the merit of all their services and sufferings. [3.] They are happy in the time of their dying, when they have lived to see the cause of God reviving, the peace of the church returning, and the wrath of God falling upon their idolatrous cruel enemies. Such times are good times to die in; they have Simeon’s desire: Now, Lord, let thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And all this is ratified and confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit witnessing with their spirits and with the written word.
II. We have the vision itself, represented by a harvest and a vintage.
1. By a harvest (Rev 14:14; Rev 14:15), an emblem that sometimes signifies the cutting down of the wicked, when ripe for ruin, by the judgments of God, and sometimes the gathering in of the righteous, when ripe for heaven, by the mercy of God. This seems rather to represent God’s judgments against the wicked: and here observe,
(1.) The Lord of the harvest–one so like unto the Son of man that he was the same, even the Lord Jesus, who is described, [1.] By the chariot in which he sat–a white cloud, a cloud that had a bright side turned to the church, how dark soever it might be to the wicked. [2.] By the ensign of his power: On his head was a golden crown, authority to do all that he did and whatsoever he would do. [3.] By the instrument of his providences: In his hand a sharp sickle. [4.] By the solicitations he had from the temple to perform this great work. What he did, he was desired to do by his people; and, though he was resolved to do it, he would for this thing be sought unto by them, and so it should be in return to their prayers.
(2.) The harvest-work, which is, to thrust the sickle into the corn, and reap the field. The sickle is the sword of God’s justice; the field is the world; reaping is cutting the inhabitants of the earth down and carrying them off.
(3.) The harvest-time; and this is when the corn is ripe, when the measure of the sin of men is filled up, and they are ripe for destruction. The most inveterate enemies of Christ and his church are not destroyed till by their sin they are ripe for ruin, and then he will spare them no longer; he will thrust in his sickle, and the earth shall be reaped.
2. By a vintage, v. 17. Some think that these two are only different emblems of the same judgment; others that they refer to distinct events of providence before the end of all things. Observe, (1.) To whom this vintage-work was committed–to an angel, another angel that came out from the altar, that is, from the holiest of all in heaven. (2.) At whose request this vintage-work was undertaken: it was, as before, at the cry of an angel out of the temple, the ministers and churches of God on earth. (3.) The work of the vintage, which consists of two parts:– [1.] The cutting off, and gathering, the clusters of the vine, which were now ripe and ready, fully ripe, v. 18. [2.] Casting these grapes into the wine-press (v. 19); here we are told, First, What was the wine-press: it was the wrath of God, the fire of his indignation, some terrible calamity, very probably the sword, shedding the blood of the wicked. Secondly, Where was the place of the wine-press–without the city, where the army lay that came against Babylon. Thirdly, The quantity of the wine, that is, of the blood that was drawn forth by this judgment: it was, for depth, up to the horses’ bridles, and, for breadth and length, a thousand and six hundred furlongs (v. 20); that is, say some, 200 Italian miles, which is thought to be the measure of the holy land, and may be meant of the patrimony of the holy see, encompassing the city of Rome. But here we are left of doubtful conjectures. Perhaps this great event has not yet had its accomplishment, but the vision is for an appointed time; and therefore, though it may seem to tarry, we are to wait for it. But who shall live when the Lord does this?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Write (). First aorist active imperative of as in 1:11. John’s meditation is broken by this command. This new beatitude (, Blessed) for the Christian dead goes farther than Paul’s words (1Thess 4:14-16; 1Cor 15:18). Probably “from henceforth” (‘ ) goes with “those who die in the Lord,” giving comfort to those facing persecution and death.
That they may rest ( ). Purpose clause with and the second future passive of .
From their labours ( ). From the toils, the wearinesses, but not from the activities (), for these “follow with them.” There is this to comfort us for all our growth here. Even if cut short, it can be utilized in heaven, which is not a place of idleness, but of the highest form of spiritual service.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me” (kai ekousa phones ektou ouranou legouses) “And I heard a voice out of (coming from) heaven saying; John thus certifies direct heavenly authority for the thing he is about to say, Psa 119:160; 2Ti 3:16-17.
2) “Write, blessed are the dead,” (graphon makarioi hoi nekroi) “Write thou, Blessed are the dead (ones); or spiritually prosperous are those who die in the Lord, during this era, rather than take the mark of the beast (his seal) or his name, during this last 42 months of the tribulation the great, who too shall later be raised and reign with Christ for the coming one thousand years, Rev 20:4.
3) “Which die in the Lord from henceforth,” (hoi en kurio apothneskontes ap’ arti) “Those dying in the Lord from this moment,” from the moment of the dragon or the beast’s requiring that men worship him or be put to death, Rev 14:9-11; Rev 13:4-5; Revelation 16, 17; Luk 21:34-36.
4) “Yea, saith the Spirit,” (nai legei to pneuma) “Yes, says, (affirmatively agrees) the Spirit; If the restraining power of the Holy Spirit, as he came on Pentecost is withdrawn from the world and the rapture of the church occurs at the first resurrection, about the time Satan is cast out of heaven, and the Antichrist stops the Jewish oblations, declaring himself to be God to be worshipped thereafter, death would be a sure blessing to any saved on earth. Dan 9:26-27; 2Th 2:4-11; Rev 12:8-14; Rev 13:4-5.
5) “That they may rest from their labours,” (hina anapalsontai ek ton kopon auton) “In order that they shall rest from their tedious toils,” 2Th 1:7; Rev 6:11; their weariness and pain, of resisting the beast and his power after the special restraining of the Spirit is gone, 2Th 2:6-7.
6) “And their works do follow them,” (ta gar ergs auton akolouthei met’ auton) “For their work follows them.” The fruit or consequence of their toil follows after them. No true witness for or service to God shall go unrewarded; they follow believers to the hour of rewarding, 1Co 3:8; Rev 22:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Rev. 14:13. Blessed are the dead.This relieves anxiety concerning all who are taken out of the warfare before the victory is fully won. They will share all the rewards, and their life-witness and service will be in no wise forgotten. Recall the fear with which St. Paul deals in the epistle to the Thessalonians, that those who died before Christ came would be placed under some special disadvantages.
Rev. 14:14. Son of man.So figured as presiding over the final judgment of humanity. The visions of a harvest and a vintage (Rev. 14:15-20), typify the time, now nigh at hand, in which God will gather in His own, and will trample His enemies in the winepress of His wrath.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Rev. 14:13-16
Rev. 14:13. The Harvest of the Earth for Keeping.This is the link between the earlier and later visions of this chapter. Many of the Lords redeemed ones had already been gathered in, out of their earth-persecutions. Many were still left under the fiery trial. But they were keeping steadfast and faithful, while the gospel was being proclaimed unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people. They are to be cheered and encouraged by the vision of the hour when the angel may declare that the earth-story is complete, and the judgment of God has come. In that day evil, however mighty it may seem to have grown, will fall, suddenly, irretrievably, even as Babylon fell in the day of its pride. In that day the patience of the saints will gain its full recognition. The Divine acceptance comes to the sheep of the right hand, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. But this final day of Gods judgment is no present thing; it is a vision of the far-away. It may even be turned wrongly, and made a discouragement to Christian souls, for it may seem as if all the blessedness of that day were reserved for those saints who were alive when the great judgment-trumpet should be sounded. The writer checks himself to say a gracious and comforting word to those who might be troubled with such thoughts and fears. The harvest of the earth is a long-continued process. The angel of the harvest is the death-angel, as well as the angel of ingathering for those who are alive and remain at the coming. Therefore this comforting word may be spokennay, write it down, for it is certain; write it down, for the saints of all the ages will want the gracious assurance. Not only blessed are the dead which have died in the Lord, whom you have seen in vision harping in the glory, and singing their new song, but blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, from this very hour right away to the judgment day. Yea, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. They are all stored safe in the garner of God, until the harvest of the earth is complete. Then, having given this comforting assurance, the writer can return upon his visions of the end of all earthly thingshis visions of the harvest-day of God. It must prove to be a double harvest. Christ Himself will see to the ingathering of the saints. His angels will execute His will upon those who have refused His gospel, kept their sin, and worked against all the gracious purposes of His love.
I. The first-fruits of Gods harvest of the earth.The dead which die in the Lord. We may think of heaven as the great storehouse, granary, of God. His harvest is the harvesting of years. His grain ripens in all the ages. The reaper we call death cuts down the golden grain; but no stalk is lostevery one is borne into the garner, and safely treasured there until the harvest work is complete. It is but a resting time for the saints; they never pass out of Gods memory and regard. Their works do follow them, and all will be taken into due account in the great day of Divine appraisement. It is a most helpful way in which to think of our dead, and of our own dying. They are but first-fruits of harvest, carried in early to Gods barn. They are only waiting awhile, until the day when the earth-fields can be swept once for all, and Gods harvest of the earth be complete.
II. The remainder of Gods harvest of the earth.A day must come when the arresting hand must be placed on the earths story, the stalks may no longer stand in the earth-fields. All must be gathered in. That is presented in symbol in the visions of the angel offering the sickle to the Son of man, reminding Him that the harvest is almost over-ripe, and must at once be reaped. Of this we are assured: the succession of the dying will not be continuous. The number of Christs redeemed ones will one day be completed. And what He will do for them in the great forever they shall know when the last stalk has fallen before the reaper.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev. 14:13. The Blessedness of the Dead.What this text means in its fulness of application no one now knows. But its suggestions are manifest and manifold.
I. Gods saints, at death, enter into rest.Restnot, indeed, from service, but from labourwhich implies the disagreeable, exhausting, discouraging side of toil. In the higher sense of service they rest not day nor night, serving God in His temple. But the hindrances without and within all cease, and the service is unmixed delight.
II. Their works do follow them.This, in a threefold sense, is true:
1. Follow them in witnessing to their fidelity.
2. Follow them in contributing to their reward.
3. Follow them in perpetuating their influence for good.Anon.
Dying in the Lord.
I. What is it to die in the Lord?One has said that it implies a previous living with Him. Living with Him involves the exercise of certain elements. These are found in Rev. 14:12.
1. Faith: The faith of Jesus. No man can live with or die in the Lord without faith in Him. With it he can live and die triumphantly.
2. Obedience: They that keep the commandments of God. Living with God is obeying God. The obedience of faiththe obedience that is vitally connected with faithenters into the preparation for a happy death, or death in the Lord.
II. Why are those who die in the Lord blessed or happy?
1. The happiness of contemplation. The Christian has a bright prospect. He can look forward, not to a dark uncertainty, but to the pleasures of home. When dying, one said, I wish I had the power of writing or speaking, for then I would describe to you how pleasant a thing it is to die. Another, I have experienced more happiness in dying two hours this day than in my whole life.
2. The happiness of release from toil, sorrow, pain. RestThat they may rest from their labours. Christians are not free from trials; it is not according to the Divine plan that they should be. But those trials cannot pass beyond the gate of death; and when the Christian passes into the beyond he leaves his trials.
3. The happiness of being with Christ after death. The psalmist said, In Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Again, I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness. Paul said, I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Great joy here, but fulness of joy with Christ.Anon.
The Blessed Dead.No book is fuller than this Apocalypse of the struggles and victories of the Church on earth; but it also opens a door into heaven. It shows that heaven is not all future, but, as it were, contemporary with present history, and bound to it by the closest ties. Messengers pass and repass; tidings come and go; and the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne presides alike over time and eternity.
I. The answer which the text gives to the question, How is the heavenly blessedness attested?We all profess to believe in the reality of heaven; but why?
1. There is the evidence from, miracle, or the presence of the supernatural in the form of power. This great apostle heard a voice from heaven. But before this, John had looked on One whose life was crowded with miracle. He had witnessed His risen glory as He came back from heaven, and His ascension glory as He returned to heaven. If miracle could vouch for heaven, its existence was confirmed.
2. The testimony is, in itself, Divinely credible. Its internal character vouches for its authority.
3. There is a living and. experimental evidence of the reality of heaven. It is written in living epistles, written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God.
II. How is the heavenly blessedness secured?
1. The doctrine here is that the title to heaven depends on faith in the Lord.
2. But there is also a preparation for the heavenly state by holy obedience. They rest from their labours, implying that they prove their faith by works.
III. How is the heavenly blessedness enjoyed?
1. Heaven is the rest of the worker. It is not sloth, torpor, or inactivity; but while there is no apathy there is rest to the body and the spirit. No more out in the billows, toiling in rowing, when the wind is contrary, but in smooth water, and with the ripple breaking on the shore.
2. Heaven is the continued influence of the work. Their works do follow them. Every moral act, truly good, will last for ever. The simplest act of self-denial for Christs sake, the mothers faintest prayer, record themselves in the soundingboard of eternity, and never die away.John Cairns, D.D.
Rev. 14:15. The Harvest of the Earth.The expression is a singular and, indeed, a striking one. As his fields are to the farmer, so, we are permitted to think, the whole earth is to God. The farmer works for a harvest of his fields and trees, and God may be thought of as working for the harvest of the whole earth. Gods work in the world is like ploughing, sowing, weeding the fields. Gods work has its reward when He carries home the last loaded wain, and His garner is filled with the good corn of the earth of humanity. Can we follow out the figure, and find in it the suggestion of helpful truths?
I. God prepared the earth for His seeding.Scientific men may wrangle over the ages and order of creation. It is enough for us to know that, at a given time, God had prepared the earth to be the scene of a moral trial for a new race of beings. It is full of interest to inquire into all the mystery of nature. Of its study man never tires. But it is of far greater interest to observe in how marvellous a way the earth was adjusted and adapted to the beings who were to be placed upon it. The relativity of creation to a being with five senses, and these particular five senses, has never yet been shown with the precision and fulness that it demands. The farmer cleans, and ploughs, and manures, and harrows, and ridges, his fields, in precise adaptation to the crop that he intends to grow upon it; and earth is the prepared field of God, made ready for His sowing.
II. God seeds His prepared earth with men.Scattering the seed all over the earth, that mans probation may be carried on under every varying condition of soil, and landscape, and climate, and relationship. God keeps on seeding the earth with men; every seed with a great possibility in it; every seed set where its possibility may freely unfold, and where the God provided influences all tend to the nourishment of all its best possibilities. Men, men everywhere, are the seed of God. They are quick with Divine life, and sown in the earth to grow into a harvest for God.
III. The harvest God seeks from His seeding is character.God sows His earth with moral beings, in the hope of reaping moral character. But what is moral character? It is the proper fruitage of the earth-experience of moral beings. But can we understand it a little more fully than that? A moral being is one that can recognise a distinction between good and evil, and, when the distinction is seen, can choose for itself which it will have, the good or the evil. But a moral being must be put into such circumstances as will offer it the choice between good and evil. And substantially the test amounts to this: good is doing what is known to be the will of the Creator; evil is doing the will of the moral being himself, when that is known to be not the will of the Creator. The picture-scene in the Garden of Eden is the typical trial of moral beings. But what we need, for our present purpose, to see with clearness, is that when, under enticement of the senses, the moral being has chosen the evil, he is said to have fallen, but he has really started the possibility of moral character, which is the issue of the conflict in which the will, biassed by the indulgence of the senses, is brought back to the choice and obedience of Gods will, and recovered from all the sad experiences and conditions resulting from the choice of evil. The story of a life is the story of that conflict. It is the growth, through the long months, of Gods seed into the full corn in the ear of established moral character. It is the unfolding of what God would gather in from His seeding of men, the righteousness of the accepted will of God. One thing only does man take through the great gatesthe character that he has gained. It is the full ear that heads the stalk, and ripens for the reaper.
IV. God has anxious times while His seed of men is growing into His harvest of character.Every blade that breaks the earth in the farmers field has to fight for its life with varied foes: insects, worms, mildew, rust, living creatures, varying temperatures, crowding weeds; the growth of every blade to stalk and ear is a hard-won victory. The stalk can do its best, and be its best, only at the cost of unceasing struggle and watchfulness. And the field of earth is but a type of the world of men. Every character is the product of a stern experience, the issue of a hundred fights; a triumph from an unceasing struggle. Think of each mans life-story, and this is true. Think of the histories of nations, and this is true. Think of the story of humanity as if it were the story of one man, and it is Gods Adam, planted in Gods earth, and growing amid the thousandfold influences for good and evil, through all the long ages, and showing at last the golden grain of moral character, rich and ripe, that can be gathered into Gods garner, as the glorious reward of His toil; For over every phase and feature of the struggle in every man out of which character is born, God presides. The problem of each mans dealings with his surroundingshelpful be they, or injuriousGod is intensely interested in. He is anxious as the farmer is anxious over his growing blades. He is anxious as the parent is anxious over the unfolding of character in his child. He may let the struggle alone. He may interfere. But we may be sure that He is deeply concerned. We speak of the making of a man, or the making of a nation. The one thing of profoundest interest to God is the making of characters in His great earth-fields. Be it so; then a fact of infinite sadness has to be faced. The issue is disappointing, for Gods harvest-hope of reaping character from His sowing of men is only partially fulfilled.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Strauss Comments
SECTION 44
Text Rev. 14:13
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.
Initial Questions Rev. 14:13
1.
Why are the dead in Christ called blessed in Rev. 14:13?
2.
Does this vs. show a personality trait of the Holy Spirit? If so, what?
3.
Are Christian works important (or necessary) for our salvation? (Study Romans, Galatians and James on Faith and works.)
Rev. 14:13
Johns serious contemplation is broken by the command write (grapson 1st. aor. imp. active). He was commanded by the heavenly voice to write Blessed are the dead the ones dying in the Lord from now (ap arti is a difficult phrase but it can hardly mean that the ones who die in the Lord from now on which would imply that those who died before were not blessed. This cannot be the meaning.) The Spirit says in order that (hina purpose clause) they shall rest from (ek out of or away from) their weariness (or sorrow). The Greek word kopt means to strike or beat the beast in grief. When it is used in the sense of labor it always entails drudgery, and weariness of the soul (or sorrow). The Spirit promised rest from weariness for their works (erga physical labor) follows with them. God promises to bless those who die in Christ with victory; give meaning to their suffering, and assures them that their work for Christs kingdom is not in vain.
Discussion Questions
See Rev. 14:14-20.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(13)And I heard a voice . . .Translate, And I heard a voice out of the heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, saith the Spirit, in that they shall rest from their labours; for their works follow with them. We are not told whose voice speaks, but it proclaims a blessing on (not only martyrs, but) those who die in the Lord, in happy union and fellowship with Him (Joh. 15:2-5; 1Jn. 1:3); such are happy, for they rest from toil, and their works of faith and labours of love (even if only the giving a cup of cold water in the name of Christ) follow with them into the presence of their Lord (Mat. 10:41-42; Heb. 6:10). The words from henceforth form a difficulty; the reason for their introduction is to be found in the state of trouble which the last verses describe: the righteous are happy in being taken away from the evil to come. Or may it be that the words are designed to console the mourners in an age when dark unbelief robs away the sweet resurrection trust, and writes over its graves, Farewell for ever? If the climax of world-power should be bitter scorn of the idea of a life to come, and complacent satisfaction with a portion in this world, then words of faith, proclaiming that the dead are happy and restful, and that their work is not in vain in the Lord, may find new force to sustain a fainting courage or a wavering trust.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Heard a voice from heaven The above three menacing angel-voices were from the mid-heaven; but now peals down a voice from the highest heaven in beautiful contrast with the menacing voices. Amid the menaces upon the persecutors it interpolates a benediction upon the faithful dying sufferers.
Write Let this blessed assurance be well recorded.
Blessed are the dead They are under no malediction, in no torment, in no unconsciousness, for they are blessed, that is, happy and more than happy.
Die in the Lord Said on occasion of their martyr-death, yet in such comprehensive terms as to include all the dying faithful in all ages.
From henceforth This from henceforth, starts from the death of each individual dying saint. The meaning then is, those dying in the Lord are thenceforth and forever blessed. The end of a holy life is the commencement of an eternal bliss. This assures the unshrinking faithful who refuse the beast, his mark, and his number, and thereby meet death, that their destiny is not torment, but blessedness.
Yea, saith the Spirit This appears to be a responding voice ratifying the affirmation of blessedness. John hears this response from the same highest heaven, and knows and tells us that so saith the Spirit. By inspired intuition he knows the voice of the Spirit, and allows us now to infer that the first voice was from the First Person of the Trinity, and the response from the Third.
That In order that. Depends upon die. Those dying in the Lord do truly die, in order that they may rest from their labours.
And Better reading, For, assigning a reason for their blessed rest, namely, that their works of keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, (Rev 14:12,) do follow them, namely, from this world to the next, as witnesses for their justification with God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The bliss of the saints and the reaping of the earth:
v. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
v. 14. And I looked, and, behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown and in His hand a sharp sickle.
v. 15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle and reap; for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
v. 16. And He that sat on the cloud thrust His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. The fate of Anti-Christ’s servants, of all those that reject the salvation of Christ, has just been pictured. The prospect of the loyal Christians is all the more glorious by contrast: And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Write: Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth; yes, says the Spirit, that they rest from their labors; for their works follow after them. Here the curtain of heaven and of eternity is lifted for a moment to show the faithful believers, all who die in the faith, what a wonderful reward of mercy awaits them above. Those that die in the Lord are those that remain steadfast in His Word and faith unto the end, whether this end be that of a quiet death or that of martyrdom. With their death they enter immediately into the bliss which is prepared for them; there is no purgatory, no soul-sleep, in the sense of the term as used by modern false teachers: the soul is in the happiness of heaven, and the body will there be reunited with it on the last day. And so great is the Lord’s mercy that He calls this rest in heaven a reward of labor, making the good works of the believers the proof of their faith and graciously calling eternity’s unspeakable joy a recompense, although it is a matter of grace alone. This verse is like a peaceful interlude in the rushing of a mighty storm.
The next picture brings out the other side of the Judgment again: And I saw, and, behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like a Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown and in His hand a sharp sickle; and another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle and reap, because there has come the hour to reap; for the harvest of the earth has matured. And He that sat upon the cloud threw His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will return from heaven on the last day, riding on the clouds of heaven, with great power and glory. The white cloud is like a garment of light, and He bears on His head the crown of glory. He is the Lord of the harvest, and at His command the souls of all men are harvested. The fields are white for harvest, the total number of elect has been reached. There must be no delay, the sheaves must be garnered in.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rev 14:13 . A heavenly voice, [3511] concerning which it is in no way said to what person it belongs, [3512] commands John to write down what was itself just proclaimed as a word of revelation of his spirit (viz., .
), because [3513] this word of revelation contains the most effectual consolation for believers who are oppressed by the secular power, and even threatened with death. [3514] Zll. is wrong in considering that there are two voices, for the voice of the Spirit ( , . . ., , . . .) is distinguished here as little from the “voice from heaven,” as in the epistles, chs. 2 and 3, what the Spirit says is to be distinguished from what the Lord commands to be written. The voice from heaven belongs to a heavenly person, who, as interpreter of the Spirit, communicates his revelation to the prophet in intelligible words. The first sentence, which concludes with , contains what is properly the main point of the consolatory declaration, and, as it were, the theme, whose meaning ( ) is more fully explained in the following sentence. Not only by the formal plan, but also in a still more inward way, is this latter part of the heavenly discourse to be distinguished from the former; the already shows us the beginning of a new declaration, and a new declaration is also actually presented, since as the parenthetical words affirm this confirmation and exposition (
, . . .), added to the first words
, appear in a definite way as a revelation of the Spirit. It is, therefore, incorrect to refer the to the latter sentence, whether in the sense of Vitr., who combines the with ., or in that of Lamb., Bos., who [3515] writes (i.e., ), and tries to explain the wonderfully composed formula of assurance by the absolute plane profecto . [3516] The reference of the [3517] to the emphatically prefixed conception of is shown by the relation of the thought. [3518] By a combination with ., Zll. reaches the incorrect interpretation: “Better on this account than those who experience the impending time of distress, are the martyrs dying just at the beginning of this time;” [3519] but the conception means much more and differently from what Zll. expresses, and to refer it alone to martyrs is as certainly incorrect as is not “to die for the sake of the Lord.” [3520]
The dead “who die [3521] in the Lord ,” i.e., bound with him by faith, and kept in fellowship with him [3522] by fidelity to the faith even unto death, [3523] are “blessed from henceforth,” because, viz., now the glorious end, which will bring condemnation to enemies [3524] and complete blessedness to all believers, [3525] immediately impends. This is the eschatological reference of the [3526] presented in the connection, in its combination with the idea , which in itself points already to the goal of the Christian hope.
Incorrect is the explanation of Stern, who, in uncertainty, refers the to the entire sentence .
., and incorrectly tries to apply what is said only of the end of time in such sense that then they who die in Christ immediately enter paradise with intermission of purgatory, which is, therefore, indirectly fixed for the dying prior to that final time; while just as incorrectly, in order to escape the doctrine of purgatory, Calov., etc., explain the by “from the death of every one.” [See Note LXXVII., p. 405.] . The future is formed from , just as from . [3527] The here can depend as little upon the parenthetical . . [3528] as the in 2Co 8:7 upon the succeeding . But this passage is not, with Ewald and De Wette, to be explained from 2 Cor. (above cited) and Eph 5:33 , as an idea lying at the foundation of a purposive command; but the close analogy of Rev 22:14 shows that the clause , . . ., is to be elucidated after the manner of the restrictive idea of , [3529] that it is expressed at the same time how the goal of blessedness ( .), held forth by the promise, includes that heavenly , and is to be afforded those dying in the Lord. [3530] The solemn expression [3531] which designates the blessed rest from all troubles of the earthly life of conflict [3532] is the more significant, because it sets forth a peculiar opposition to the lot of the damned, Rev 14:11 .
. The marks excellently the contrast between the just-mentioned and the , to which the themselves belong. [3533] This significant contrast becomes uncertain if the idea of the “works” [3534] be resolved into that of the reward itself. [3535] The thought, which occurs in like manner both in the classics and in the rabbins, [3536] is the profound view that the works wrought by believers in the Lord (1Co 15:58 ) are themselves an eternal good.
[3511] Rev 10:4 .
[3512] Against Hengstenb., who wants to refer it to a departed saint, or one of the elders.
[3513] Cf. Rev 19:9 , Rev 21:5 .
[3514] Cf. Rev 13:7 , Rev 10:1-6 .
[3515] Exercit. phil. Francq ., 1713, p. 299 sq.
[3516] i.e., with unconditional certainty.
[3517] Mat 26:64 ; Joh 11:52 .
[3518] Beda, C. a Lap., Calov., Wolf, Ew., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[3519] Isa 57:1 . Cf. Coccejus: “The time is impending, in which it will be better to die than to live.” Hammond.
[3520] Also against Grot., Laun., Vitr., etc.
[3521] The part. pres. marks the words . . in relation to the idea (Zll., incorrectly: “Those exposed to death”), as a designation given more accurately than in a mode having no regard to time.
[3522] 1Co 15:18 ; 1Th 4:16 .
[3523] Rev 2:10 .
[3524] Rev 6:10 , Rev 8:3 sqq.
[3525] Rev 7:9 sqq., Rev 11:16 sqq., Rev 14:1 sqq., Rev 21:1 . sqq.
[3526] Cf. Mat 26:64 .
[3527] Winer, p. 83.
[3528] Ebrard.
[3529] (Hengstenb.) Not ., as Winer, p. 297, attempts, who by the partic. understands the temp. fin. .
[3530] Cf. Rev 9:20 .
[3531] Cf. Heb 4:9 : .
[3532] ., Rev 2:3 . Cf. Rev 21:4 .
[3533] Rev 2:2 .
[3534] Cf. Rev 2:5 ; Rev 2:19 , Rev 3:8 .
[3535] De Wette; cf. Grot.: “The memory of deeds.”
[3536] Sophael., Philact ., 1420: [“immortal virtue”]; v. 1443: [“Piety does not die with mortals”]. Aboth., Rev 6:9 : “At the hour of man’s departure, gold and silver do not accompany him, but the law and good works.”
The entire section, Rev 14:6-13 , Hammond refers to the times from Domitian to Constantine.
The old Lutheran exposition [3537] understood by the angel with the eternal gospel, Luther. Such an interpretation was made already by Michael Stifel, in the year 1522. Bugenhagen took Rev 14:6 sqq. as the text for his funeral sermon on Luther. [3538] A Catholic compositor, who was engaged in setting up the Lutheran Bible, Wittenberg, 1623, committed great offence by substituting “ neu ” (new) for “ ewig ” ( everlasting ). [3539] Calov. understood by the angel (Rev 14:8 ), the second Martin, viz., Chemnitz with his Examen Trid. Conc . ( .); by the angel (Rev 14:9 ), the antagonists of the Calixtines, among whom he reckons also himself.
Bengel preferred to refer the angel (Rev 14:6 ) to John Arnd; the is
Germany. The angel (Rev 14:8 ) is probably Spener.
[3537] “Almost all of our writers” (Wolf). Cf. also Vitr.
[3538] Cf. Bengel, Erkl. Off ., p. 758.
[3539] Cf. Wolf on Rev 14:6 .
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXXVII. Rev 14:13 .
The interpretation referred to is not peculiar to Calov. and the school of exegetes which he represents; e.g., Ebrard: “ says rather simply this (De Wette, etc.), that they who die in Christ need not wait for blessedness and compensation until, by the return of Christ to earth, an end is made to the power of the beast hostile to Christ, but, that, immediately after their deaths, they shall find the most glorious compensation by resting from their labors, and not losing the fruit of their works accompanying them. Nothing whatever is said concerning any merit of their works before God as Judge; for they are the regenerate ‘who die in the Lord,’ because they have lived in Him, and He in them.” Hengstenberg: “The dead who die in the Lord are blessed from now on. This is not contrasted with any former time in which the dead who died in the Lord were not blessed. The blessedness is as old as the dying in the Lord, and this dates from the time of Christ’s death, who also already, for the intermediate state, has brought life to light (2Ti 1:10 ), but with a remote future with respect to the completion of the kingdom of God; not first in the new Jerusalem that is hereafter to be established on the renewed earth, but already from the moment of their departure into heaven. This is explained by the conversation between Christ and the penitent thief. The latter prayed the Lord to remember him when he came into his kingdom at the establishment of the kingdom of glory on earth. But the Lord assured him of more than that for which he prayed (Luk 23:43 ). By saying, ‘ Lord , remember me,’ the thief shows that he is one who is dying in the Lord. For to die in the Lord, is when one, in the face of death, with complete confidence confesses Him to be Lord.” Luthardt: “It was expressly revealed to John, in order that Christians of all times may know that from now on, i.e., now already, blessed are they who die in the Lord, i.e., in fellowship with him, for with their death they enter into a blessed state; in order, also, that they may be consoled in that they die before the second coming of Christ. This toilsome life is now at an end, and a blessed peaceful rest in the bosom of Christ follows, while the unblessed have no rest day or night (Rev 14:11 ).”
Observe the force of the , as in note on ch. Rev 2:2 . The promise belongs here only where there have been previously , viz., toilsome exhaustive labors, not for self, but for the Lord.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2518
THE BLESSEDNESS OF DEPARTED SAINTS [Note: Intended for a Funeral Sermon.]
Rev 14:13. I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
AS connected with the context, these words were intended to comfort and encourage those who should suffer martyrdom for the cause of Christ. The destruction of Antichrist is declared in the preceding verses. But as, in the meantime, the saints would be harassed with grievous persecutions, they are here taught to endure their trials with patience, in an assured expectation of a glorious recompence at the instant of their departure from the body. This will account for the very extraordinary way in which the most simple of all truths is here both announced and attested. The blessedness of departed saints, one would have thought, should not have needed to be promulgated in so solemn a way; especially when Christianity had been for a long period propagated, and, if I may so say, established throughout all the Roman Empire. But the circumstance of its being thus solemnly declared may well lead us to contemplate it with peculiar attention.
Let us, then, consider the blessedness of departed saints,
I.
As announced from heaven to the Apostle John
But who are they who are here pronounced blessed?
[Some imagine that martyrs alone were referred to: and it is certain that they were primarily in the mind of him who spake; because they are the persons to whom, more particularly, the preceding context belongs. But yet it cannot be said of all martyrs, that they are blessed: for we are assured on infallible authority, that persons may go, and probably have gone, from the flames of martyrdom to those more tremendous flames that never can be quenched. St. Paul says, we may even give our bodies to be burned, and yet want that charity which is indispensable to our final admission into heaven [Note: 1Co 1:3.]. We must extend our views to believers: yet even of believers it is not necessarily and universally true, that they are blessed: for we know, that there are some who for awhile believe, but in time of temptation fall away [Note: Mat 8:13.]. In truth, it cannot be certainly said of any, whilst they are yet alive, that they shall be happy in the eternal world; because there is no human being of whom it can be infallibly declared, that he shall persevere unto the end. After the fall of David, and Solomon, and Peter, and Demas, who shall venture to say, that he may not, after all his profession, make shipwreck of the faith? It is of the dead only that it can be affirmed, that they shall certainly be saved: and of those only who die in the Lord. They must first be in Christ by a living faith; they must then abide in him, bringing forth fruit to his glory; and, lastly, they must die in him, humbly hoping in him even to the end, and being faithful unto death. Persons so living, and so dying, are truly blessed.]
And why is their blessedness so peculiarly proclaimed?
[It is announced, by an audible voice from heaven: and the Apostle is commanded to record it, for the benefit of all future generations. Whence was the necessity for such a manifestation of so plain a truth? Had it not been known in the Church as long as any written record of Gods mind and will had existed? True; it was known: but yet it was foreseen that it would be obscured by that corrupt Church that would in due time arise; and a special revelation of it therefore was given, in this extraordinary manner, for the comfort of Gods saints whom that Church would persecute; and for a warning to those who should give way to fear, and turn from the holy commandment committed to them. That persecuting Church would inculcate the doctrine of purgatory, in order to enrich her ministers: but those who should die in defence of the Gospel might rest assured that their felicity would be immediate and complete, as soon as ever they should have sealed their testimony with their blood; as would also he the misery of those who either inflicted those sufferings, or, through fear of suffering, renounced their holy profession. The faithful should from henceforth, from the very moment of their death, be happy; but the others, from the instant of their departure from the body, should drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which should be poured out, without mixture, into the cup of his indignation. The faithful universally, and the faithful exclusively, might apply to themselves this glorious truth. They should be blessed; but they alone: the fearful and the unbelieving should altogether be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where they should immediately and to all eternity endure the second death [Note: Rev 21:8.].]
Lest, after all, this declaration should not have its due weight on our minds, we are led to contemplate it,
II.
As attested by the Spirit, to every child of man
Were the Spirits testimony conveyed only in a way of simple asseveration, it would be amply sufficient to engage our fullest confidence: but it is given in such a way as to approve itself to the judgment of every considerate man: for, with the testimony, he makes known the grounds and sources of that very blessedness, to the certainty of which his testimony is borne.
1.
They (the departed saints) rest from their labours
[The trials of those who are called to suffer martyrdom are greater than we, who enjoy the protection of the civil magistrate, can imagine. I say again, We, of this happy land, have no idea of the horrors of the inquisition, or of the cruelties exercised by the Papal Church. Even in our own land, in former days, multitudes of the most holy men have been burnt alive for their fidelity to Christ. O! what a transition must those holy saints have experienced, from the flames of martyrdom to the bosom of their Lord! But, in truth, the labours of every saint are very great: it is an arduous course that they have to run; a distressing warfare to maintain. Hear the holy Apostle himself groaning under the burthen of his in-dwelling corruptions, and crying, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death [Note: Rom 7:24.]? Those, indeed, who think but little of eternity, may pass through life without much care or conflict: but they who know the value of the soul, and consider that, by every act, word, and thought, they are treasuring up for themselves an everincreasing weight, either of misery or of glory, to all eternity; they, I say, feel a burthen upon the mind, a fear of falling into sin, a desire to approve themselves to God, a longing to be dissolved, that they may be with Christ: and to them rest will be sweet, as to a weary traveller, or as the haven after a tempestuous voyage.]
2.
Their works do follow them
[Their works, however excellent, do not go before them to receive a recompence on the ground of merit; but they follow them as evidences of their integrity, and as proofs of their union with the Lord Jesus Christ. In this view, the very least work they ever performed for Christ, and by virtue derived from him, even the giving of a cup of cold water to a disciple for his sake, shall in no wise lose its reward. Every prayer that they ever offered, yea, the very groans by which their feelings found an indistinct utterance; and their tears, which from time to time were treasured up in Gods vial; shall then be brought forth by him as witnesses for them, and as demonstrations, that, in his final decisions, God conducts every thing with perfect equity. Indeed, if God were not to bring forward their works with a view to future retribution, he would account himself unjust: as St. Paul has said; God is not unrighteous, that he should forget your works and labour of love which ye have shewed towards his name. Though, as I have already said, our works can challenge nothing at his hand on the ground of merit, they may, and shall, challenge a reward of grace, and actually be the measure of our recompence at that day: for God will deal with every man according to his own works; and every man shall receive according to his own labour. How truly blessed then will be the man who died in the Lord! Perhaps, at times, he was ready to doubt whether he should find acceptance with God at all, or not: but now, to his unutterable joy, he hears his Saviour say to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Now, then, his utmost desires are all satisfied; and he is completely happy in the bosom of his God.]
Let me now conclude, with briefly adverting to the text
1.
In reference to the deceased
[ [Note: Here may be stated the character of the deceased.
The character of the person, on occasion of whose death this Sermon was preached, was as near to perfection as could well be expected in the present state of the Church. The Author, in the space of forty years, has seen few that he considers as equal to her, and never one that was superior. She was indeed a Mother in Israel. Her name was Jane Chapman. She was one of the first-fruits of the Authors ministry: and during nearly forty years she maintained so undeviating a course of piety, as to be the admiration of all who knew her. Till about the age of fifty-three, she lived ignorant of God and of his Christ. Her mind was first awakened to a sense of her lost condition by reading Vivians Dialogues between a Minister and his Parishioners: and, from the moment that she sought for acceptance with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, her soul was filled with peace and joy in believing. Doubtless there were variations in her frames, as well as in those of others: but the general tenour of her life was remarkably peaceful; and she closed a most honourable career of piety, at the age of ninety-one. What the particular character of her religion was, shall now be stated in few words; but not so much for the purpose of doing honour to her, (though she is worthy to be held in the highest honour,) as for the benefit of those into whose hands this brief memorial may fall.
Her religion, then, was modest and unassuming: there was nothing of that obtrusive forwardness which is so common amongst the professors of our days, and so justly odious both to God and man. It was also fraught with humility and contrition. A deep sense of her utter unworthiness abode at all times upon her mind: yet there was nothing of gloom about her, nothing of melancholy; for her contrition was tempered with a lively faith, a faith that was remarkably simple. There was no leaning to any thing of her own; nor any doubting of the sufficiency that was in Christ. Her whole life was one act of faith: she lived entirely by faith in the Son of God, as having loved her, and given himself for her. At the same time it did not shew itself in a bold unhallowed confidence, but in a meek and humble affiance: and it was operative upon all her tempers, her spirit, her conduct, insomuch that it was really her meat and her drink to do the will of God; and so uniform was her deportment that she seemed to have been cast into the very mould of the Gospel, and to possess, as far as the frailty of our fallen nature would admit, the very mind that was in Christ Jesus. She was truly a light, not only in the world, but in the Church to which she belonged: and, whilst her graces were extremely diversified, and capable, like the rays of light, of bearing a distinct scrutiny, they were so blended (the sombre with the brilliant), and kept in such proportioned measure and simultaneous motion, as to display a brilliancy which it was impossible to behold and not admire. Her death was such as might be expected: truly it might be said of her, Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace. Her last words were, Come, Lord Jesus! I long for thee. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!May the latter end, both of him who writes this Memorial, and him who reads it, be like hers! Amen, and Amen!]]
2.
In reference to those who are yet living
[Inquire, I pray you, whether ye be in Christ: for, if ye be not in him, and abide not in him, it is in vain to hope that ye can die in him It is in vain also to dream of blessedness in the eternal world. This is the privilege of those only who live and die in the Lord O ye who are strangers to a life of faith in the Son of God, think what your feelings will be, when your works shall follow you to the bar of judgment! In what light will they then appear? What judgment will you then form of a life devoted to the concerns of time and sense? Will a neglect of God and of your eternal interests be thought so venial then, as you account it now? Will such a witness benefit you at the bar of judgment? Or will the prize that shall be accorded to the successful racer and the victorious warrior, be held forth to you? No; the rest which is here spoken of, is reserved only for the weary traveller, who has walked with God, and held on his way even to the end. Let this record then, which was written for your instruction, sink deep into your ears: and cease not to cry mightily to God for his converting grace, that you yourselves may be that character, for whose consolation it was so announced, and for whose encouragement it was so attested.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
I would desire permission to consider this verse by itself, for the blessedness and sweetness of it. I do not say but that it might be supposed to have an immediate reference to that age in which it was written. But I do say, that the general, yea, the universal consolations of it, are such, as to suit all ages of the Church of God. Everywhere, and upon all occasions, it must be allowed, that the dead are blessed dead, which die in the Lord. And John, being commanded by a voice to write it down, evidently shows, that God the Holy Ghost will have the Church to know their blessedness in this particular. A few of the more striking features will prove it.
As first. The blessed dead, which die in the Lord, die in union with Christ. They are, in fact, part of himself; members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And, in the sight of God, to all intents and purposes, they are one. For as Christ is the head of his body the Church, where the head is, the members must be; so that though dying out of time, they still live to him in eternity. And this is what the Apostle said: For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; or whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s, Rom 14:8 .
Secondly. The dead are blessed, which die in the Lord, from henceforth: because, from the moment of their death, and from henceforth, they are God out of the gun-shot of the enemy. No heresy, no powers of darkness, neither men nor devils, can anymore annoy them. Oh! the blessedness of being freed from the malice of the world, and from the powers of darkness. Satan cannot anymore forever, throw his fiery darts, to distress the child of God. Even if this had been all, it would have been sweet, to have heard the voice from heaven, saying, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
Thirdly. They are blessed which die in the Lord, because their own body of sin shall no more distress them. No further sorrows shall arise from the out-breakings of sin, or the indwelling of corruption. No tears shall fall anymore from pain. No anguish from heart-distresses. They rest from their labors, and sorrow and sighing are done away.
And, lastly, to mention no more. Dying in the Lord, they rest in the Lord, their spirits are with the Lord. Hence they are blessed in the Lord. Their works follow them. What works? Not good works, for they have none. Lord saith the Prophet, thou hath wrought all our works in us! Isa 26:12 . Not their bad works, for the Lord hath washed away all their sins in his blood, 1Jn 1:7 . What works then are these, which are said to follow the blessed dead? Perhaps their works and labor of love, in seeing the fruit of their prayers answered in the Church’s prosperity. The cries of the soul awakened by grace, and therefore the Lord’s work in them, answered in mercy, when meeting before the throne the redeemed of the Lord brought home, like themselves, by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
Ver. 13. A voice from heaven ] That voice of Christ, Joh 5:24 ; Joh 8:51 .
Write, Blessed are the dead ] Though by the pope accursed and pronounced damned heretics.
Which die in the Lord ] Especially if for the Lord; which is (saith Father Latimer) the greatest promotion in the world, such as is not granted to any angel in heaven.
From henceforth ] As well as heretofore in those primitive persecutions. Or, from henceforth, that is, presently from the very time of their death, , e vestigio, a mode, ab ipso mortis tempere. This puts out the very fire of purgatory; for if all believers die in Christ, and are blessed, and that presently, then none are to be purged.
Rest from their labours ] The sleep of these labourers, oh, how sweet is it! Quale sopor fessis in gramine -they get the goal, they enter the haven:
” Italiam socii laeto clamors salutant. “
A Christian here is like quicksilver (which hath in itself a principle of motion, but not of rest), never quiet; but as the ball upon the racket, ship upon the waves, &c. Death brings him to his rest, Isa 57:2 .
And their works follow them ] They die not with them, as Hortensius’s Orations did. Mors privare potest opibus, non operibus, Death may deprive a man of his wealth, but not of his works.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 14:13 . The approaching climax of retribution upon pagan Rome affects the dead as well as the living. The latter are encouraged to hold on in hope; the former are brought nearer their reward ( cf. Rev 6:11 , Rev 11:18 ). goes with (note here and in Clem. Rom. 47. the first application of . to the dead saints) rather than with , and . . (which is timeless, like . . . in Rev 14:11 ) denotes all who die in the faith, loyal to their Lord, i.e. , primarily martyrs and confessors ( cf. Rev 13:8 ; Rev 13:15 ). They die “in His fellowship, as it were in His arms” (Beyschlag). Like Paul (in 1Th 4:15 ), though on different grounds, the writer is controverting a fear ( cf. 4 Esd. 13:24) that at the advent of messiah those who survived on earth would have some advantage over those who had already died. “Yea, saith the Spirit” ratifying what has been said “happy to rest from their labours” ( i.e. , their Christian activities, not the special form of their death for the faith). So far as the sense is concerned, it matters little whether . . . depends on or . Both constructions are grammatically legitimate, though the former is perhaps closer. The point of the passage (note and , as in 1 3., Rev 22:6 f.) is that the bliss of death for a Christian consists not in mere rest from labour but in a rest which brings the reward of labour. While death brings the rest, the reward cannot be given till the final judgment. Consequently the near prospect of the latter is welcome, among other reasons, because it means the long-deferred recompense (Rev 11:18 ) for the faithful dead. So far from being forgotten (Rev 2:2 f., Rev 2:19 , Rev 2:23 , etc.), their accompany them to judgment and it is implied receive their proper reward there ( cf. Milton’s fourteenth sonnet). The bliss of the departed therefore depends upon two grounds: their are not to be overlooked, and the interval of waiting is now ( ) brief. The fourth degree of bliss in 4 Ezra 7 :[95] is that the departed spirits of the just understand “the rest which, gathered in their chambers [ cf. Rev 6:9-11 ] they can enjoy now with deep quietness, guarded by angels, as well as the glory which still awaits them in the latter days”. John does not share the current pessimistic belief ( cf. Apoc. Bar. xi. xii. 4, Verg. Aen. i. 94, with Isa 57:1 f.) that death was preferable to life, in view of the overwhelming miseries of the age. His thought is not that death is happier than life under the circumstances, but that if death came in the line of religious duty it involved no deprivation. The language reflects Gen 2:2 (with put for ), but while it is true enough, it is hardly apposite, to think of the dead as resting from works (Heb 4:9 ), no more being needed. The root of the passage lies not in the Iranian belief (Brandt, 423 f., Bklen, 41) that the soul was escorted by its good deeds to bliss in another world ( cf. Maas, Orpheus , 217 f.), but in the closer soil of Jewish hope ( cf. Bacher’s Agada d. Tannaiten , 2 i. 399 f.; Volz 103) as in En. ciii. 2, 3, Apoc. Bar. xiv. 12, 13, and Pirke Aboth vi. 9 (hora discessus hominis non comitantur eum argentum aut aurum aut lapides pretiosi aut margaritae, sed lex et opera bona). In 4 Esd. 7:35 (where, at the resurrection of the dead, “the work shall follow and the reward be disclosed”) opus may be a Hebraism for “recompense” (Psa 109:20 , cf. 1Ti 5:25 ). Contemporary Jewish eschatology also took a despairing view of the world ( cf. 4 Esd. 4:26 33). But while the dead are pronounced “blessed,” e.g. , in Apoc. Bar. xi. 7, it is because they have not lived to see the ruins of Jerusalem and the downfall of Israel. Better death than that experience! Death is a blessing compared with the life which falls upon times so out of joint (Rev 10:6 f.). The living may well envy the dead. In John’s Apocalypse, on the other hand, the dead are felicitated because they miss nothing by their martyrdom. Yet life is a boon. No plaintive, weary cry of Weltschmerz rises from the pages of this Apocalypse. in the papyri means relief from public duties or the “resting” of land in agriculture ( cf. U. Wilcken’s Archiv f. Papyrusforschung , i. pp. 157 f.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Ecclesiastes
NAKED OR CLOTHED?
Ecc 5:15
It is to be observed that these two sharply contrasted texts do not refer to the same persons. The former is spoken of a rich worldling, the latter of ‘the dead who die in the Lord.’ The unrelieved gloom of the one is as a dark background against which the triumphant assurance of the other shines out the more brightly, and deepens the gloom which heightens it. The end of the man who has to go away from earth naked and empty-handed acquires new tragic force when set against the lot of those ‘whose works do follow them.’ Well-worn and commonplace as both sets of thought may be, they may perhaps be flashed up into new vividness by juxtaposition; and if in this sermon we have nothing new to say, old truth is not out of place till it has been wrought into and influenced our daily practice. We shall best gather the lessons of our text if we consider what we must leave, what we must take, and what we may take.
I. What we must leave.
But there are other things than these earthly possessions from which death separates us. It carries us far away from the sound of human voices and isolates us from living men. Honour and reputation cease to be audible. When a prominent man dies, what a clatter of conflicting judgments contends over his grave! and how utterly he is beyond them all! Praise or blame, blessing or banning are equally powerless to reach the unhearing ear or to agitate the unbeating heart. And when one of our small selves passes out of life, we hear no more the voice of censure or of praise, of love or of hate. Is it worth while to toil for the ‘hollow wraith of dying fame,’ or even for the clasp of loving hands which have to be loosened so surely and so soon?
Then again, there are other things which must be left behind as belonging only to the present order, and connected with bodily life. There will be no scope for material work, and much of all our knowledge will be antiquated when the light beyond shines in. As we shall have occasion to see presently, there is a permanent element in the most material work, and if in handling the transient we have been living for the eternal, such work will abide; but if we think of the spirit in which a sad majority do their daily tasks, whether of a more material or of a more intellectual sort, we must recognise that a very large proportion of all the business of life must come to an end here. There is nothing in it that will stand the voyage across the great deep, or that can survive in the order of things to which we go. What is a man to do in another world, supposing there is another world, where ledgers and mills are out of date? Or what has a scholar or scientist to do in a state of things where there is no place for dictionaries and grammars, for acute criticism, or for a careful scientific research?
Physical science, linguistic knowledge, political wisdom, will be antiquated. The poetry which glorifies afresh and interprets the present will have lost its meaning. Half the problems that torture us here will cease to have existence, and most of the other half will have been solved by simple change of position. ‘Whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away’; and it becomes us all to bethink ourselves whether there is anything in our lives that we can carry away when all that is ‘of the earth earthy’ has sunk into nothingness.
II. What we must take.
III. What we may take.
‘Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavour
Stood not behind, nor in the grave were trod,
But as faith pointed with her golden rod,
Followed them up to joy and bliss for ever.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 14:13
13And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
Rev 14:13 “Blessed” This is the second of seven blessings found in the book of the Revelation (cf. Rev 1:3; Rev 14:13; Rev 16:15; Rev 19:9; Rev 20:6; Rev 22:7; Rev 22:14).
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” This refers to the martyrs (as did the 144,000), but the exact time of this death is uncertain. Some commentators relate it to John’s day and some relate it to the end-time. Though the time element is uncertain, it is important to know that the death of God’s saints is precious in His sight (cf. Psa 116:15).
Although this group is made up of Christian martyrs, it is best to interpret this as “witnesses” in a more general sense of believers. Not all believers were killed in the first century, not all will be killed in the tribulation of the end-time, but all believers must remain faithful to Christ. This metaphor is inclusive, not exclusive.
“for their deeds follow with them” It is a paradox of Christianity that as believers we are gifted by the Spirit at salvation for effective ministry to and for the body of Christ (cf. 1Co 12:7; 1Co 12:11). God calls, equips, and produces eternal fruit through imperfect believers. It is His gift, His Spirit that empowers, but saints receive a reward for their faithfulness, availability, and perseverance (see Special Topic at Rev 2:10). Believers are not saved by works (self-effort), but they are saved unto good works (cf. Eph 2:8-10). God’s will for every believer is Christlike service (cf. Rom 8:29; Gal 4:19; Eph 1:4)!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
unto me. Omit.
Blessed. See Rev 1:3.
the dead. App-139.
henceforth. Observe the period referred to.
Spirit. App-101.
that = in order that. Greek. hina.
rest. Compare Rev 6:11.
labours = toilsome labours. See Rev 2:2.
and. The texts read “for”.
works = rewards. Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause). App-6.
follow. Add “with” (App-104.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 14:13.[163] , ) That voice which said, Write, Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord, that they may rest, etc., was uttered by one of the inhabitants of heaven, with whose person and condition it particularly agrees to call Jesus Lord. The Spirit Himself, as it were by a parenthesis, interrupts that voice, and at once approves and amplifies it, by the word , from now; just as after the words, Write, Blessed, there follows, in ch. Rev 19:9, an asseveration. From now, that is, they are blessed, saith the Spirit. From now, from this very point of time, when this voice speaks in the series of prophecy. A saying of the Spirit occurs also, ch. Rev 22:17, Rev 2:7, etc. Moreover the Spirit speaks in the saints, especially those who are afflicted, 1Pe 4:14; and seeking their home, 2Co 5:5. depends upon the word , as ch. Rev 16:15, Rev 22:14. [164] appears first to have occurred in the margin, as in ch. Rev 22:20, the second : whence some have made it , others, . The sense is plain without this word.[165] The Latin did not contain this reading, but expressed it in a twofold way, , a modo jam, as in Gal 1:6, sic tam. [Comp. App. Crit. Ed. II. P. IV. N. IX. cxvi. cxviii.] – ) A future, as , ch. Rev 22:14.
[163] , dying) either by a violent or a natural death.-V. g.
[164] B has ; Vulg. A modo jam. The other oldest authorities have . , .-E.
[165] But still the margin of Ed. 2 fixes a higher value upon it than the larger Edition.-E. B.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
The Dead in Christ
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them.Rev 14:13.
1. This is one of those rare enough verses in the Apocalypse which, amid the prevailing utterances full of woes and threatenings, of judgments and of terrors, fall with a quite peculiar softness and soothing upon our ears. Like the fragments of a tender melody which now and then is heard breaking through the stormful wailing notes of some piece of music, they are all the more heavenly because of the surrounding strife and stress of sound. Or, as when the sky is dark and the hills are in gloom, and the only patch of colour is the lurid red on the great mounting thunder-cloud, rolled outward into space on thunder-edges, a gentle gleam escapes for a moment and lights up some height or rests in glory upon some distant slope, so does such a sudden burst of spiritual sunshine as this divinely tint the sombre landscape, and bring a feeling of more than earthly gladness and hope into our hearts.
2. If the Apostle John was, as is generally believed, the writer of the Book of Revelation, and if he was at Rome with St. Peter and saw the persecution of the first Christians by Nero, and escaped the slaughter, then the passage containing the text not only has the beauty of its long association with those who have died in our arms, and with the sorrow and sentiment of gracious death all over the world, but it also has a deep historical interest of its own. The writer had then seen at Rome the crowds of martyrs who day after day testified by strange and cruel deaths to the faith of Jesus. He may have watched their suffering from the rows of the great circus, the site of which we look on from the steps of St. Peters. He may have heard with mingled wrath and pity of the paths of the palace of Csar lit at night by human torches; he may have stood beneath the cross on which St. Peter died, and beside the scaffold where St. Paul suffered for his Master. Yet, looking back from his Eastern home on these terrible and woeful things, and expecting more of them before the Lord should come, he wrote in this triumphant strain: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them.
I
The Blessed Dead
1. This voice from heaven which St. John in Patmos heard is one of the great benedictions of the Bible, and may almost be said to give, in a single sentence, the whole New Testament teaching on the unseen life of Christs redeemed. It is but one little corner of the curtain that is lifted, but it is enough. The dead, as well as the living, are in Gods hand. We ask no more; we know no more; we pretend to know no more. The veil shall one day be drawn, and we shall know. It is sufficient for the present to be assured that the dead in Christ are for ever done with toil, unrest, weariness and pain, with hindrances to fellowship with one another as well as with Christ; that there are no more misunderstandings, no separations of feeling, no self-reproaches for sin, no need for repentance, no stirrings of remorse, such as even the best of them often had below; that they are without fault before the throne of God, without fault because Christ whose likeness they wear is without fault; and that all the sin of the earlier life is so completely blotted out from the very memory that it is as though it had never been.
We wonder at it, and wonder at ourselves to think we have passed through it all, and that we are here; friends, faces, scenes, that were everything to us, and they are gone with a widening sea between. That must have been the feeling of the man who said, Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness. It is at such a time that the thought of the living, unchanging Friend must come in if our own hearts are to live. I think, next to the desire for God Himself, for an infinite Friend, it is the desire for our dead that presses us to the cry, My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God,the living God who will not let the dearest and deepest things to which He has given life die for ever, and who has sent His Son into the world to lie down in our grave and rise again, that He may be the first-fruits of them that sleep. If we can clasp Him to our heart, it recovers all and morethe shadow of death is turned into the morning, and the dim, fading past changes into a blessed future. We may say even it makes them present. Ye shall see greater things than these, heaven opens, and the angels of God ascend and descend on Him. May you and yours, my dear friend, have something of this view, and as your faith lifts its eye by that heavenly ladder, may the departed come down and be about you in your thoughts and feelings, may we not hope with a true though unseen presence?1 [Note: Letters of the Rev. John Ker, 335.]
2. The text speaks not of the dead in general, but of the dead which die in the Lord. Who are they? They who die in the Lord are in the Lordunited to Him by faith. Faith is the bond of union; by faith the believer dwells in Christ, while Christ dwells in him by His Spirit. He is one with Christ, and Christ is one with him. He is in Christ. To die in the faith and fear of the Lord, to die in a state of reconciliation and peace with the Lord, all these are but aspects of one great principle, the principle of inner union with Christ Himself.
Another sorrow fell on him in the illness and death of one who had been, by her Christian character and her good works, a strength to the congregation. In a letter to Mr. David Cowan, Dr. Robertson writes from Irvine toward the end of August 1875:
Our loving and beloved Mrs. Brown is still with us, but wearying, wearying, as she said to-night, to be home. How sublimely simple her faith iswithout all fear or doubtnot trusting to swim ashore on any raft of doctrine, or system of orthodoxy, or even on separate Scripture texts and promises, boards and broken pieces of the ship, still less, least of all, not at all on any works or merits of her own, but clinging to the hand of Jesus only, who has come to her over the waters of death, and bids her come to Himto Him who gives the weary rest. O Lamb of God, I come. She cannot be long outside the harbour, one would think. May she have an abundant entrance. As I left the house to-night late in the darkness under the trees, it was not difficult to imagine that the shining ones were waiting about the doors.1 [Note: James Brown, Life of William B. Robertson, 284.]
3. To die in the Lordthe lips murmuring His name, the eyes of the heart fixed upon His cross, the spirit commending itself to Him even as He commended His Spirit to the Father, while it sinks beneath the weight of the falling tabernacle of clayof all the exercises of faith this commonly is found to be the least difficult for those who have lived the life of faith on the Son of God.
As Laurence Oliphant lay dying, the dear and sacred name of Christ was ever on his tongue. A day or two before his death he called his faithful nurse early in the morning, probably in that rising of the energies which comes with the brightness of the day, and told her that he was unspeakably happy. Christ has touched me. He has held me in His arms. I am changedHe has changed me. Never again can I be the same, for His power has cleansed me; I am a new man. Then he looked at me yearningly, she adds, and said, Do you understand? As he lay there dozing, smiling, with the look of this exultation never leaving his face through the long last hours that followed, he was heard to hum and sing in snatches the hymn, Safe in the arms of Jesus. Who knows where he had learnt it?perhaps at some American revival or camp meeting, where the keen observer would catch up unawares and with a smile at himself the homely strain, which thus floated back to the memory of the dying the hymn of the humblest believer, the simplest certainty of a faith unencumbered with any new lights. His last conscious moment on Sunday, adds his wife, was one of hope and effort lifewards. The actual end was complete and perfect peace. He passed away as into a tranquil sleep, and woke four hours after in another world, or rather under another form, without having tasted death either physically or spiritually. Thus this extraordinary, varied, and noble life came to an end.2 [Note: Mrs. Oliphant, Memoir of the Life of Laurence Oliphant (ed. 1892), 404.]
4. To die in the Lord is to pass on and up to live with Him in the higher sphere, to live with Him there as we have lived with Him here, only no longer brokenly, imperfectly, fitfully, by reason of manifold infirmities, as here, but in perfect communion with Him who is all-perfect, seeing Him as He is and being like Him. To die in the Lord is not to cease to live, but to begin to live, as by a new birth, a new and fuller life, and that for ever and ever, in a new and better world, to rise into another and higher region, freed from all the encumbrances of this, a region of intense, conscious, joyous vitality; a region of intelligent, responsible, glorious activity, in which nothing that makes the dignity, the grandeur, of the burden of life is laid down, but only the pain.
The soul expands, freed from the baffling barriers of earth; expands to pursue the infinite glory and beauty of God. That is the depth of the blessedness of the dead. Nor need we fear, as some have feared, that in this great development the dead will so excel us that they will lose touch with us, or forget us in their larger life. They cannot, and will not, because the foundation of all their souls expansion is love. Moreover, God loves, and though He excels infinitely His children, yet in loves communion we reach Him and abide in Him. And if we, so far behind Him, can live with Him like a child, we can also live with those we have loved, even were they a thousand worlds beyond us in all things else but love. Nor is this close communion through love between us and them the least part of their blessedness. And we too, even when our natural grief for their departure is deepestwe too, in belief in the blessedness of those we love, feel blessedness slide into our soul. To believe that they are radiant with joy and life, yet unforgetful of our love, is so Divine a comfort that, even when we stretch out our arms in vain, we thank God that we are not left alone. For spirit can touch spirit, though the eye sees not and the ear hears not. We cry, Blessed are the dead, and I, too, with them, am happy with their happiness. That is a deep consolation, and if we cherish it, it deepens. Our dead are blest in love, and we, in their love, are blest.
I believe very few of us think enough of the dead. Fear of false teaching about invocation of saints, and prayers for souls in purgatory, has made us Protestants almost forget what God has really told us about the dead. Surely the nearer we are drawn to Christ, the closer is drawn the tie by which living and departed are knit together. That is why I love to tell the mourners who are just feeling the great blank in their home circle that God never meant it to be a blank. I love to say, that loved husband, or wife, or parent, or child is resting in the Blessed Presence of God. You are summoned to the same Presence; there is but a veil between. The one family is never broken, though God has called some of them to rest in another room.1 [Note: 1 Aubrey L. Moore, God is Love, 214.]
Mrs. Carlyle had again written to Mazzini, and again received honourable and gentle counsel. On July 15 he wrote to her:
Yes! Sad as death; but not basely sad. You believe in God; dont you think, after all, that this is nothing but an ephemeral trial, and that He will shelter you to your journeys end under the wide wing of His paternal love? You had, have, though invisible to the eyes of the body, your mother, your father, too. Cant you commune with them? I know that a single moment of true fervent love for them will do more for you than all my talking! Were they now what you call living, would you not fly to them, hide your head in their bosom and be comforted, and feel that you owe to them to be strongthat they may never feel ashamed of their own Jane? Why, can you think them to be dead, gone for ever, their loving immortal soul annihilated? Can you think that this vanishing for a time has made you less responsible to them? Can you, in a word, love them less because they are far from sight? I have often thought that the arrangement by which loved and loving beings are to pass through death is nothing but the last experiment appointed by God to human love; and often, as you know from me, I have felt that a moment of true soul-communing with my dead friend was opening a source of strength for me unhoped for, down here.2 [Note: Mrs. A. Ireland, Life of Jane Welsh Carlyle, 187.]
II
The Rest of the Blessed Dead
The Spirit, in the mind of the Seer, responds to the Voice from above him, Yea, they are blessed, to rest (as they shall) from their labours.
1. Let us get this point quite clearly established from the Word of God, that those who depart this life in the Lord are in a state of bliss and rest. It is but an expansion of this truth when we are told that they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. God Himself wipes all tears from their eyes; and they wait calmly in that peaceful world and enjoy the rest, the Sabbath, that remaineth for the people of God. They are in Gods presence, and therefore they are blessed. They are in Gods safe keeping, and therefore they are at rest. Rest from the toils of life, from the cares of life, from the griefs of life, to all those who have known them, is blessed indeed. There is no more naturally true or beautiful way of announcing a good mans death than the old-fashioned phrase, He is at rest.
Emerson says that we carry the pledge of the continuance of our being in our own breast. Browning says that because there is so much wanting in this life, therefore there must be another life to supply the defect. There is, however, another aspect of the future of which he is enamoured, and which he would fain portray, namely, that of cessation from the toils of earth. Hence, in the following verses [from Old Pictures in Florence] both phases are put before us side by side:
Theres a fancy some lean to and others hate
That, when this life is ended, begins
New work for the soul in another state,
Where it strives and gets weary, loses and wins:
Where the strong and the weak, this worlds congeries,
Repeat in large what they practised in small,
Through life after life in unlimited series;
Only the scales to be changed, thats all.
Yet I hardly know. When a soul has seen
By the means of Evil that Good is best,
And, through earth and its noise, what is heavens serene,
When our faith in the same has stood the test
Why, the child grown man, you burn the rod,
The uses of labour are surely done;
There remaineth a rest for the people of God:
And I have had troubles enough, for one.
But are these two views entirely inharmonious or incongruous? Are they mutually exclusive? May there not be a sense in which the living dead rest from their laboursthe excessive and exhausting efforts of earthwhile their works follow with them, to be continued and perfected in that other sphere? But, whether that be so or not, what the poet in either case would have us see is that the future is a continuation of the presenton a higher level, in an ampler air, and surely with less to fetter or restrain.1 [Note: J. Flew, Studies in Browning, 228.]
2. The text speaks of one particular kind of restviz., a rest from labours; not from work, not from occupation, for be it remembered that man is endowed with an endless capacity for work. Heaven is not the rest of idleness; heaven is not the elysium of the drone and the sluggard. It is not rest from activity, rest from employment, that the dead in Christ enter upon, but a rest from toiling, wearying, disappointing, useless, harassing, painful labours. The Greek word for labours () which is used in the text has invariably the sense of trying and distressing labours, exertions which, whether effectual or not, involve a painful strain, efforts often baffled, ever exhausting, ever reminding us of the condition into which man falls when he deliberately sets his own will against Gods will; when therefore, instead of working in harmony with the eternal principles by which the universe is administered, he works more or less in antagonism to them, or in ignorance of their bearings. Looking at this point more closely, we feel that all the labours connected with our existence in the world of time and sense involve weariness, are liable to failure; at the best they are mixed up with much that we would gladly be rid of; and a very large portion of them is altogether futile, directed to wrong ends, issuing in results utterly opposed to our own wishes and intents. Hence the very common feeling, which at times creeps over us all, that it is well all such labour should come to an end; that the weary turmoil and struggle should cease; that rest, even at the cost of unconsciousness, is in itself a good; and could we but be secure that, together with this mortal coil, we shook off all responsibility for the past, and all possibility of recurrence of old struggles and trials, we might, perhaps, often be content to lay down our wornout bodies for ever in the quiet grave.
In a certain lake in Munster, it is said, there were two islands; into the first death could never enter, but age and sickness, and the weariness of life and the paroxysms of fearful suffering were all known there, and they did their work till the inhabitants, tired of their immortality, learned to look upon the opposite island as upon a haven of repose. They launched their barks upon its gloomy waters; they touched its shore, and they were at rest.1 [Note: W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals, i. 203.]
Of all hand work whatsoever, necessary for the maintenance of life, those old words, In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, indicate that the inherent nature of it is one of calamity; and that the ground, cursed for our sake, casts also some shadow of degradation into our contest with its thorn and its thistle: so that all nations have held their days honourable, or holy, and constituted them holydays, or holidays, by making them days of rest; and the promise, which, among all our distant hopes, seems to cast the chief brightness over death, is that blessing of the dead who die in the Lord, that they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.1 [Note: Ruskin, The Crown of Wild Olive, 36 (Works, xviii. 418).]
III
The Works of the Blessed Dead
1. Some would take Their works follow with them, to mean that the reward of past works goes with the Christian into paradise. True indeed it is, in a very practical sense, that the peace and blessedness are rewards. But a work is one thing, and its reward is another; and without good reason we should not assume that they are identified by the language of Scripture. Others, again, would have it that the memory of past works is meantan explanation open not only to the same objection, but to the far more formidable one that it would seem to represent the soul of the Christian as dwelling for ever with complacency on the thought of his own merits. But if the memory or the reward of works is not meant, at least chiefly or primarily, we are led on to a view that the works mean the living acts, the deeds which characterize the faithful servant of God as such, the results and proofs of the inner life on earth; that on his departure hence the man, the conscious man, bears with him those faculties and is permitted and enabled to do those works, in such form and such degree as may be consistent with his new condition. The works themselves, the energies and the results, go with him. He is not therefore, as some would tell us, in a state of dim unconsciousness, nor merely in a state of ecstatic trance, visited by gleams of heavenly splendour, or visions of a more glorious hereafter; he is in a state of action, doing works which differ from his works in this life mainly in that the element of struggle, of painful effort, of an all but perpetual sense of failure and disappointment, is withdrawn, and replaced by a sabbatic resta rest not of idleness or vacuity, but of unbroken, untroubled action.
It is curious that in the service for the Burial of the Dead in the Book of Common Prayer this verse ends with they rest from their labours; the words and their works do follow them are omitted. In the earlier days, in which the Prayer Book was arranged, men thought of death chiefly, if not entirely, as the great rest-giver. But the omission of the last clause, and their works do follow them, destroys entirely the sense of the Heavenly Voice. Its very purpose was to assure men, not that the departed had passed into a long deep sleep, or that they would sit and sing themselves away to everlasting bliss, but that whilst death would give them rest from labourfrom the strain and stress always more or less associated with earthly effortit would not be the rest of sleep, of unconsciousness, or even of inaction, but the rest of work from which the sense of labour had departed.1 [Note: W. Garrett Horder, The Other-World, 60.]
2. Activity is the law of our being. Powers unused gradually wither and at last perish. Use leads to increase and development. Disuse means in the end paralysis and loss. So far as we can judge, the mind is always at work. Even sleep, which seems like inaction, is not so in reality. In sleep the mind is active, only under conditions by which it is recuperated for the work of what we call its waking moments. Save where disease has stopped the wheels of the mind, it is ever active. Incessant activity is the law of life in the Divine Being Himself. My Father worketh hitherto, and I work, said Christ, and within narrower limits that seems to be the law of the creatures made in His image. If, therefore, life be continued beyond death, our works must follow with us. To say that the soul will exist is only to say that it must be active.
My belief in the immortality of the soul springs from the idea of activity: for when I persevere to the end in a course of restless activity, I have a sort of guarantee from Nature that when the present form of my existence proves itself inadequate for the energising of my spirit, she will provide another form more appropriate.2 [Note: Goethe.]
3. The workswhat they are and what they have done for the manfollow as the shadow follows the man, the one thing inseparable from the other, when the sun is in the sky. Beautifully has it been said that the good works of Christians do not go before them to open heaven; but they must follow after, to make it a place of blessedness. The Psalmist says of the rich man, When he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. Not so with the man who is rich toward God. Character goes with us into the other world. Many work on materials that cannot follow them to eternity. The artist works for months on the canvas: he dies, and leaves the portrait behind him. The sculptor works on the marble for years: he dies, and leaves the sculpture behind. But the good man works on a material that will bear transferring to the other world. He draws beautiful linesdraws them upon his own soul, upon himself. He has sought the best material to work on, material that will last when the rocks melt. And his work in others will remain; it is cut deep enough, so that it shall be visible in the judgment, and can be read at the opening of the books.
It is only in death that a man enters into full possession and use of what he produced within himself. What mental treasures he gathered in, all his life, what fills his memory, what pervades his feelings, what his mind and fancy created, is to remain his property for ever.1 [Note: G. T. Fechner, On Life After Death, 55.]
For the great sympathy was histhat love of the neighbour which is thrown like a mantle over the shoulders of some men, making them different from their fellows, securing to them that love of great and small, which, perchance, follows some, where they are dead, to that place where a human testimony may not be all in vain.2 [Note: H. S. Merriman, The Sowers, chap. xxiv.]
I must be permitted to give the following fragment from The Book of the Sparkling Stone. It is strangely beautiful:
Understand, now, that this is the mode of progress; in our going towards God, we ought to carry our being and all our works before us, as an eternal offering to God; and in presence of God we shall surrender ourselves and all our works, and dying in love, we shall pass beyond all creation into the super-essential kingdom of God. There we shall possess God in an eternal death to ourselves. And this is why the Spirit of God says in the book of the Apocalypse, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Rightly indeed does He call them the blessed dead, for they remain continually dead to themselves and immersed beyond their own nature in the gladdening unity of God. And they die ever newly in love, by the attracting refreshment of that same unity. Furthermore, the divine Spirit saith, They shall rest from their labours, and their works shall follow them. In this finite existence, where we are born of God into a spiritual and virtuous life, we carry our works before us as an offering to God; but in that unconditioned life, where we die anew in God, into a life of everlasting blessedness, our good works follow us, for they are one life with us.1 [Note: M. Maeterlinck, Ruysbroeck and the Mystics, 84.]
IV
The New Era
1. The words from henceforth form a difficulty; the reason for their introduction is to be found in the state of trouble which the previous verses of this chapter describe: the righteous are happy in being taken away from the evil to come. Or may it be that the words are designed to console the mourners in an age when dark unbelief robs them of the sweet resurrection trust, and writes over its graves, Farewell for ever? If the climax of world-power should be bitter scorn of the idea of a life to come, and complacent satisfaction with a portion in this world, then words of faith, proclaiming that the dead are happy and restful, and that their work is not in vain in the Lord, may find new force to sustain a fainting courage or a wavering trust.
, from this time forth (Joh 13:19; Joh 14:7), must be connected, as its position shows, not with (blessed), but with (which die); nothing is said with regard to the past, the purpose of the revelation being to bring comfort to those who in the coming persecutions would need a strong consolation. It is a message in the first instance for a particular age, and referred to those who were to be called to suffer for their faith. Yet in view of the quite general terms in which it is couched, the later Church has felt herself at liberty to use it for the comfort of her mourners.2 [Note: H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John, 187.]
2. The state of good men who died before the coming of Christ appears to be always spoken of in the Old Testament as one of true, but very imperfect, blessedness; a period, not indeed of unconsciousness, but of dim expectation. It was scarcely looked forward to with joy by those who trusted confidently in the power and love of God. At the best they would be but prisoners of hope still, waiting for their appointed changefor the morning which, after an unknown length of night, would usher in the day of restoration. But when Christ came, when He had accomplished His work, when the blood was shed which atoned for all repented guilt, when His body had hallowed the grave, when His Spirit had burst the bars of the pit and preached to the spirits in Hades, a mighty change was effectedthe prison became a palace. The future restoration, though not as yet effected, was anticipated; and while all the great spirits of old, who in darkness and trembling had passed into the shadow of death, were filled with a new joy, henceforth all who departed this life united to Jesus entered at once into a state of conscious blessedness, knowing, like St. Paul, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lordpresent with Him in no dim visionary region, but present in paradise. To this end Christ died, and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Since His resurrection, the dead are placed under Christs lordship just as much as the living; therefore from henceforth, after Christs resurrection, those who die in the Lord are blessed, inasmuch as He will be the Lord of their destiny, and will be their security that it shall be one of glory, and honour and immortality.
Union with Christ finds its consummation in the heavenly destiny which it opens up before the believer. However we may speculate on the mysterious problems of the future, in this respect, at least, the Christian can feel no misgiving. By death Jesus escaped from the power of death and can die no more. So those who are one with Him participate in His deathless life. They cannot be less immortal than He is. His existence and theirs are twined together at the roots. Their life is hid with Him in God, but the secret forces which are withdrawn from the gaze of men will be revealed when they enter into possession of their glorious inheritance. It is with no tawdry splendours that we would imagine it bedecked. But all for which the heart most hungers, all to which the pure spirit most aspires, the satisfaction of loves longing, the attainment of the loftiest idealsthese are the saints inheritance awaiting them in the realm of light.1 [Note: A. S. Peake, Christianity: Its Nature and Its Truth, 297.]
The Book of Revelation casts the gleam of final victory in the future over many troubled scenes, always becoming clearer till all things are made new, and the material and spiritual, body and soul, earth and heaven, are reconciled. There is a divorce of these now, and death is the expression of it. The resurrection is the expression and consummation of reconcilement. God, who is the Creator of the material and spiritualthe Former of bodies, Father of spiritshas united them to each other in Him, and both to Himself in close eternal union. Is not this credible, probable, true, because godlike and grand,an end to the universe worthy of our highest thinking and of its Author? This reconcilement of the material and spiritual in Christ is not merely a prophecy and pledge of the end but the means of it. I am the Resurrection and the Life. All flows from this as streams from a fountain, light from a sun, life from God, for He is constituted the Head of the regenerated universe.2 [Note: John Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life, 171.]
Dr. Young of Kelly (the famous chemist who was first to discover paraffin oil in shale) died on 13th May, 1883. On the Sunday following his funeral, Dr. Robertson preached at the evening service in Skelmorlie United Presbyterian Church, Dr. Goold of Edinburgh preaching in the forenoon. Mr. Boyd, the minister of the church, writes:
In the course of his sermon Dr. Goold insisted strongly that the doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old Testament, and quoted a number of passages in support of his position. Dr. Robertson had arranged to preach in the evening from the text, Christ hath brought life and immortality to light by the gospel, and the psalms, hymns, and anthem had been chosen with this text in view. But after the forenoon service he came to me in anxiety and said, I must change my subject. If I preach the sermon I intended, Dr. Goold will think I am controverting his teaching. All afternoon he was restless, evidently thinking over other sermons, but unable to fix on one. When the hour of evening service had come, he told me that he was still undecided. I replied, Keep to your subject; the choir cannot now change the hymns. He consented to do so. It was evident that he had taken the position that immortality was not clearly taught in the Old Testament. With great tact he succeeded in avoiding the appearance of contradiction between him and the morning preacher, by saying in well-chosen words, which I cannot reproduce, something to this effect:Doubtless there are references to the doctrine of immortality in the Old Testament, as was so well put before you in the forenoon. But just as he whose death we are this day remembering with sorrow, found embedded in the caverns of the earth the dark substance by which he has illuminated the homes of rich and poor in many lands, so did Christ bring to light the doctrine of a future life. The shale was in the earth long before, but it was Dr. Young who revealed its illuminating power. Even so the doctrine of immortality, embedded in Old Testament passages, was practically unrevealed until He came who brought life and immortality to light.
I can give you no idea of the beautiful touches by which Dr. Robertson wrought out the thought I have only indicated; but so skilfully was it done that I think no one in the church ever dreamt of anything but completest harmony between the two preachers.1 [Note: James Brown, Life of William B. Robertson, 428.]
The Dead in Christ
Literature
Brooke (S. A.), The Kingship of Love, 293.
Brown (J. B.), The Sunday Afternoon, 320.
Cairns (J.), Christ the Morning Star, 161.
Callan (H.), Heart Cures, 89.
Cook (F. C.), Church Doctrine and Spiritual Life, 165.
Dean (J. T.), Visions and Revelations, 168.
Eyton (R.), The Glory of the Lord, 76.
Farrar (F. W.), Words of Truth and Wisdom, 144.
Findlay (G. G.), The Things Above, 159.
Gutch (C.), Sermons, 290.
Guthrie (T.), The Way to Life, 372.
Hankey (W. B.), The Church and the Saints, 183.
Horder (W. G.), The Other-World, 59.
Knight (G. H.), In the Cloudy and Dark Day, 169.
Little (W. J. K.), Sunlight and Shadow in the Christian Life, 196.
Massillon (J. B.), Sermons, 141.
Matheson (G.), Sidelights from Patmos, 203.
Moir (T.), Sermons, 110.
Moore (A. L.), God is Love, 205.
Paget (F. E.), The Living and the Dead, 175.
Rawnsley (R. D. B.), Village Sermons, i. 187.
Roberts (D.), A Letter from Heaven, 1.
Sidebotham (H.), The Discipline of Temptation, 55.
Speirs (E. B.), A Present Advent, 178.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xxi. (1875), No. 1219.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), v. (1867), No. 528.
Christian World Pulpit, xv. 232 (H. W. Beecher); xviii. 92 (H. W. Beecher); xx. 49 (F. W. Farrar); xxxviii. 323 (A. Rowland); xli. 81 (A. T. Pierson).
Church of England Pulpit, xl. 61 (B. Maturin); lxi. 608 (R. E. Giraud).
Clergymans Magazine, 3rd Ser., v. 146 (H. G. Youard).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
a voice: Rev 11:15, Rev 11:19, Rev 16:17, Mat 3:17
Write: Rev 1:11, Rev 2:1, Rev 10:4, Rev 19:9, Rev 21:5
Blessed: Rev 20:6, Ecc 4:1, Ecc 4:2, Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2, 2Co 5:8, Phi 1:21-23
die: Rom 14:8, 1Co 15:18, 1Th 4:14, 1Th 4:16, 1Th 5:10, from henceforth: Yea saith the Spirit, or, from henceforth saith the Spirit
Yea: rest, Rev 6:11, Rev 7:14-17, Job 3:17-19, Isa 35:10, Isa 57:2, Luk 16:25, 2Th 1:6, 2Th 1:7, Heb 4:9-11
and their: Psa 19:11, Psa 85:13, Mat 25:35-40, Luk 16:9, 1Co 15:58, Gal 6:7, Gal 6:8, Phi 2:17, 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8, Heb 6:10, Heb 6:11
Reciprocal: Num 23:10 – the death Jos 24:29 – after these Psa 4:8 – I will Psa 49:15 – God Psa 94:13 – mayest Psa 95:11 – my rest Pro 14:32 – the righteous Pro 31:31 – and let Ecc 7:1 – the day Son 7:9 – those that are asleep Dan 12:13 – rest Hab 2:2 – Write Mar 4:29 – he putteth Luk 2:29 – now Luk 12:37 – Blessed Luk 16:22 – that Rom 8:10 – the body 1Co 15:19 – of all Phi 1:23 – with Heb 4:10 – he that Heb 6:12 – inherit Jam 1:25 – this Rev 2:7 – let him Rev 22:19 – and from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE BLESSED DEAD
And I heard a voice from heaven saving unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours.
Rev 14:13
The Bible tells us that those who serve God faithfully here, pass into the presence of God, and are clothed in white robes, and rest from their labours.
I. First and foremost among these will be the noble army of martyrs, men who in all ages were willing to suffer for the truth; then there will be the Apostles and Prophets, the Prophets of the Old Testament, who saw the day of Christ afar off, and the Apostles of the New, who went forth to bear Gods message of love to all the world. There will be the learned Doctors of the Church, who spent their lives in teaching or expounding or harmonising the great truths of God.
II. The state of the dead in Christ is invariably spoken of as a blessed state and a state of rest, both of which are impossible if purgatory is true. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them; while of those who worship the beast and his image, it is said that The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night.
III. They are in Gods presence, and therefore they are blessed. They are in Gods safe keeping, and therefore they are at rest. If we could think more of these two truths which are so plainly stated in the Bible, it would utterly recast some of the heathen notions that linger round us still.
Rev. Canon Aubrey Moore.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Rev 14:13. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. That can be said of every person who is faithful until death, but it is said here especially with reference to those who have died under persecution. It is peculiarly appropriate to make the statement in view of the thousands who had been slain by Pagan and Papal Rome through the past centuries. Also after the Reformation had stirred up the anger of the “die-hards” of Babylon many others were put to death in their struggles. From henceforth. Some commentators say this means from the judgment day and thereafter. It is true that all righteous people will be blessed (happy) after that day, but I do not believe the Spirit was applying the blessing to that date in this verse. There will be saints living when Christ comes who will never die, yet they will be happy for ever. But our verse is about those who die in the Lord, and they are especially mentioned for the reason described in the first part of this paragraph. And since these who died in the Lord had the experience some time before the end of the world, the passage gives us the grand information that when a righteous person dies he is happy from that moment onward. This all agrees with Paul’s remarks in Php 1:21-23. Their works do follow them. The Greek for follow means both to accompany a person and to come along afterwards. Both senses of the word apply to a faithful servant of God. The good deeds he performs will still linger behind to be an influence for others. (“By it he being dead yet speaketh,” Heb 11:4.) Also the record of faithfulness will be with him in principle to recommend him before God.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 13.
2. And I heard a voice from heaven- saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them–Rev 14:13.
This passage has been truly named the beatitude of Revelation. It appears to have an identification with Rev 20:6 : “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” Both passages referred to the martyrs–and here again the proleptic element of chapter fourteen is seen in verse thirteen, as the scene depicted was ahead of the orderly developments of the apocalypse; in that this benediction on the death of the martyrs chronologically belonged at the end; and was therefore a prolepsis with the other events of chapter fourteen.
There is a remarkable variation in the form of address in verse thirteen. Instead of the usual form of seeing the vision of events, John was represented in this verse as hearing a command. The commanding voice said, Write. It was a special voice giving an order, not by vision, but by direct command to write it down.
As stated, this verse along with Rev 20:6 was a martyr scene: “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth”–meaning from then on in martyrdom. They belonged to the martyred group–the aggregation of the man child “caught up unto God”; the hundred fortyfour thousand “redeemed from the earth.” They were the dead who had died in the Lord–in the cause for which they were martyrs.
The beatitude of the Spirit was: That they may rest from their labors–that is, from the travail of persecution –and their works do follow them. There was a descriptive distinction here in their labors and their works. The labors referred to the parturition of birth–the travail, the pain, of bringing forth the man child; hence, labors had reference to the rigors of the persecution unto death, or martyrdom. The works referred to their righteous acts in the midst of the period of torture and trial. These works, saith the Spirit ” . . . do follow them.” Their deeds of faith and fidelity in the unfaltering performance of their prime duty followed on after their martyrdom to abide with, comfort and encourage the rest of the seed–the remnant that remained on the earth–as though the martyrs by these righteous acts were yet among them. In that way one’s righteous lives and deeds yet follow on among men after they are transported from this earth on which we dwell.
These blessed dead had been swept from the earth in martyrdom, dying in the cause of the Lord, and though they had been “caught up unto God” and “lived and reigned with Christ” in a state of victory, they nevertheless remained in the spirit of their works with those who were left on the earth to face the next stages of the violent drama of persecution.
Since the subjects of the Spirit’s beatitude were represented as having died in the Lord, manifestly the object of the beatitude was to strengthen, encourage and uphold the living in their darkest hour. In that way it may be appropriately applied to the church today. Loyalty to Christ in any generation requires the full measure of the martyr spirit of courage and endurance, and martyrdom in its worst does not always result in immediate death. We may all possess the soul of a martyr, and in that spirit we live in the Lord, as the blessed dead had died in Him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 14:13. And I heard a voice out of heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Those that die in the Lord are obviously in contrast with the followers of the beast spoken of in Rev 14:11, and the verb used in the original, not fall asleep but die, seems to imply the thought of the troubles and persecutions in the midst of which they died. The verb is several times used of Jesus in the Fourth Gospel; and the words in the Lord here added to it may be intended to denote that the death referred to was such a death as His. The expression therefore does not bear that sense of quiet falling asleep in Jesus which we generally assign to it. It rather brings out the fact that in Him His people meet persecution and death; and that, although they are not all actually martyrs, they have the martyr spirit.From henceforth. What is the time to which these words point? Is it the moment when the harvest of the earth is to be reaped? In that case we must connect them with Blessed, while they are obviously connected with the verb die. Yet we cannot speak of dying after the harvest It seems better, therefore, to understand the words as referring to the beginning of the Christian age, and onward to the end (comp. Mat 26:64). During all that time the 144,000 are being gathered in amidst the temptations of Babylon and the opposition of the beast. To the faithful during all that time, therefore, the consolation of these words is given; and their meaning is, that they who die in the Lord are blessed, not because at death they enter into the immediate possession of the heavenly reward (a point upon which no direct information is afforded), but because they are set free from the difficulties and trials and sorrows which, were they left here to continue the struggle, they would have to meet. Instead of being longer troubled they enter into rest (comp. 2Th 1:7). Hence accordingly the following words.
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, for their works follow with them. Those who thus die are blessed because they rest from their labours; they have that rest from toil and suffering which they cannot obtain here below. And how comes it that they thus rest? Because their works (an entirely different word from labours) follow with them. Their Christian character and life, giving them a meetness for the rest, follow with them. They enter into heaven fitted for its joys.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
These words in their original and primary intention were delivered by the Spirit, and commanded to be written by St. John, for the support and comfort of the church under that severe persecution which should befall it; and to declare the happy condition of martyrs particularly, and such as die for the Lord; but they may be considered in a greater latitude, and be of general use to the church of God in all ages, and under all circumstances, and administer comfort to all believers who die in the Lord, that is, in the faith of the Lord, in the fear of the Lord, and in the favour of the Lord, to all that die sincere Christians, both in faith and practice.
Here note, 1. A solemn declaration of the blessed state of good men after this life; their death is blessed, and a blessing to them.
Note, 2. The time from whence their blessedness commences, from henceforth, that is, from the time of their death, then doth their blessedness begin.
Thence learn, That all good Christians immediately upon their dissolution and departure out of this life are in a blessed and happy condition.
Note, 3. Wherein the blessedness of the righteous after their departure doth consist:
1. In resting from their labours, that is, from all the troubles, sorrows, and sufferings, from all the calamities, infirmities, and miseries of this frail, mortal state; no sin shall affect them, no sorrow afflict them, no danger affright them.
2. In reaping the comfort of all the good works they have done in the world, their works follow them: that is,
1. A delightful remembrance of their good works is found with them, which if it refreshes their souls with transporting pleasure now, how will it swallow them up with the highest transports of complacency and delight then!
2. The blessed fruits and happy effects of their good works, and the special reward belonging to them, shall accompany good men into another world, which will render them completely blessed, by procuring for them, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, an admission into heaven, where they shall drink of those pleasures which are at God’s right hand for evermore.
Note lastly, How this truth concerning the future blessedness of the righteous deserves our most serious and attentive regard and meditation, because delivered by an audible voice from heaven, expressly commanded to be written, and confirmed by the solemn asseveration of the Spirit, I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The expressions “in him” and “in Christ” occur repeatedly in the New Testament and are associated with a number of blessings. One must be baptized to be in Christ. ( Gal 3:26-27 ; 1Co 12:13 ) Earlier, the assurance had been given that those already martyred were at rest and those coming out of the great tribulation were worshiping around the throne. ( Rev 6:9-11 ; Rev 7:9-17 ) Here, the promise is made to those from this point forward who die in faithful service. They will be given rest from their earthly works. However, the good effects of those works will continue to work on earth in the lives of those who knew them. This is the message of the Holy Spirit both here and in other passages. ( 1Th 4:13-18 ; 1Co 15:20-23 ; 1Co 15:58 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 14:13. And I heard a voice from heaven This is most seasonably heard when the beast is in his highest power and fury; saying unto me, Write He was at first commanded to write the whole book. Whenever this is repeated, it denotes something peculiarly observable. Blessed , happy, are the dead which die in the Lord In the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ; and, in consequence of that faith, in a state of vital union with him, he being thereby made of God unto them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and thereby imparting unto them, 1st, A satisfactory knowledge of the nature and greatness of their future felicity, in their illumination; 2d, A title to it, in their justification; 3d, A meetness for it, in their sanctification; and, 4th, Bringing them to the enjoyment of it, in their complete redemption from all the consequences of the fall; from henceforth Particularly, 1st, Because they escape the approaching calamities, or are taken away from the evil to come, as the expression is, Isa 57:1-2, to which passage there seems to be an allusion here; 2d, Because they already enjoy so near an approach to, and indeed an anticipation of, glory the glory to be conferred at the second coming of Christ, and the resurrection of the dead; for they rest No pain, no purgatory follows; but pure and unmixed happiness; from their labours And the more laborious their life was, the sweeter is their rest. How different is this state from that of those (Rev 14:11) who have no rest day nor night! Reader, which wilt thou choose? And their works Each ones peculiar works, done from a principle of faith and love, with a single eye to the glory of God, and in a spirit of humility before God, resignation to his will, and patience under all trials and sufferings; and in meekness, gentleness, and long-suffering toward those who oppose them in their Christian course of cheerfully doing good, and patiently suffering ill; follow them And will be produced as evidences of their faith and love; or of the genuineness of their religion at the day of judgment. But the words, , properly signify, their works follow with them, or follow them immediately; that is, the fruit of their works; they reap this, in some measure, immediately on their admission into paradise. Observe, reader, their works do not go before, to procure for them admittance into the mansions of joy and glory, but they follow or attend them when admitted. Bishop Newton accounts for the expression, From henceforth, blessed are the dead, &c., by observing, that though from the time of the Reformation, the blessedness of the dead who die in the Lord hath not been enlarged, yet it hath been much better understood, more clearly written and promulgated than it was before, and the contrary doctrine of purgatory hath been exploded and banished from the belief of all reasonable men. This truth, adds he, was moreover one of the leading principles of the Reformation. What first provoked Luthers spirit was the scandalous sale of indulgences; and the doctrine of indulgences having a close connection with the doctrine of purgatory, the refutation of the one naturally leads to the refutation of the other; and his first work of reformation was his ninety-five theses, or positions, against indulgences, purgatory, and the dependent doctrines. So that he may be said literally to have fulfilled the command from heaven, of writing, Blessed are the dead, &c., and from that time to this, this truth hath been so clearly asserted, and so solemnly established, that it is likely to prevail for ever. But though what the bishop here states might be one reason of the expression, from henceforth blessed, &c., yet the principal reason of its being used seems evidently to have been that above suggested, namely, to intimate that the sufferings which the people of God would be exposed to at this period, from the persecutions of the antichristian power, would be so great that those individuals who escaped them by being taken out of the world by death before they came, would have reason to think themselves happy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Verse 13
Their works; the memory and reward of their works.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die {b} in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their {c} works do follow them.
(b) That is, for the Lord.
(c) By works, is meant the reward which follows good works.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The blessedness of those who die in Christ 14:13
This "voice" was probably the Lamb’s (Rev 1:10-11; Rev 1:19; cf. Rev 10:4; Rev 10:8; Rev 11:12; Rev 14:2; Rev 18:4; Rev 21:3). The voice told John to record that it would be a blessing for the believers who live during the Great Tribulation to die as martyrs. They will receive a unique blessing reserved for no one else. [Note: Moffatt, 5:439; Robertson, 6:413.] This is the second of seven beatitudes in the book (cf. Rev 1:3; Rev 16:15; Rev 19:9; Rev 20:6; Rev 22:7; Rev 22:14). Here, as often in Scripture, the blessing assures a future reward for present obedience to God. [Note: Beckwith, p. 422.]
"The faithfulness of the martyrs unto death is not a legalistic work which merits eternal bliss, but a manifestation of their devotion to Christ. These works follow them in the sense that there can be no separation between what a man is and what he does." [Note: Mounce, p. 278.]
Many believers will die as martyrs for refusing to worship the beast (Rev 13:15). They will die "in the Lord" in the sense of dying as their Lord did, namely, for His faithfulness to God. The word order in the Greek text makes this interpretation preferable to the one that takes "in the Lord" as simply a designation of believers who are "in Christ." "From now on" means from this time in the Tribulation on, specifically during the bowl judgments. They will thereby escape the intense persecution of the beast, which they would otherwise experience, if they remained faithful to Christ (cf. Rev 12:17).
The Holy Spirit added (cf. Rev 22:17) that they would also experience blessing because they would be at rest beyond the grave and because God would then reward their faithful deeds (cf. 1Ti 5:24-25; Heb 6:10). In contrast, the beast-worshippers have no rest (Rev 14:11) and receive punishment for their unfaithfulness to God (Rev 14:10).
"God does not save anyone for his works, but He does reward us for our works. Our works (good or bad) are like tin cans tied to a dog’s tail; we cannot get away from them. They will follow us to the bema seat of Christ." [Note: McGee, 5:1011.]
This is a positive incentive to remain faithful that balances the negative warning previously given (Rev 14:9-12).