March 6: THE REMNANT DESCRIBED (part 5)
These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. Revelation 14:12
In this descriptive passage, it is vital to grasp the cleansing, restorative power of our Lord, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). He who has the power to create life is also ready and willing to recreate. His restoration is complete, ultimately rendering His beloved creatures pure and undefiled, hence this descriptive metaphor: for they are virgins.
The prophetic reference to women, meaning churches, calls for discernment between the pure and the impure. Chapter 12 opens with a description of the pure woman of God. The word women above, by the fact that it is plural, symbolizes the many apostate churches of the world. Chapter 17 refers to a great harlot who is the mother of all the others. Even though some elements of truth are mixed in, she is insistent upon clinging to and promoting errors (see Jeremiah 51:9). After hearing truth, those who cling to error become deluded by it (2 Thessalonians 2:11).
Isaiah, whose writings are like a “mini-Bible” began his message by reminding God’s people that they once had the truth but no longer live by it. Instead, the vast majority rebelled, and then continued in the wrong direction. They would merely ‘go through the motions’ without allowing the cleansing work of the Lord to bring them back to complete devotion to Him. By diluting God’s truths and mixing in pagan practices, the symbols and ceremonies of the sanctuary lost their meaning.
How the faithful city has become a harlot! Isaiah 1:21
To follow the Lamb wherever He goes can be readily understood by tracing the way (Psalm 77:13) through the sanctuary. The repentant sinner enters the courtyard in recognition of his own sinful state; he approaches the altar of sacrifice and accepts the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lamb; he is then baptized (laver of washing) and enters the Holy Place. Here, the justified one maintains a daily relationship by feeding upon the Bread of life (table of showbread), communicating through prayer (altar of incense), and letting the light of the Lamb (seven-branch candlestick) shine through his own life in witnessing to others.
The sanctified ones, with spiritual eyes, follow the Lamb into the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary where He currently ministers on behalf of His people. The is the location of God’s throne, the ark of His covenant (Revelation 11:19). The ark symbolizes a place of true safety and refuge!
Yes, the remnant is not only redeemed from among men, but they are also counted as firstfruits: sanctuary language that signifies a bountiful harvest! The leaders in the last-day movement are symbolically numbered as 144,000 (12x12x1000), but notice that we have been given a vision of the abundant harvest that follows:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10