words. Blessed are they who have been redeemed from wrath and for whom there can be

no condemnation.

Chapter 14: occupied with a brief foreshadowing of the seven vials of wrath and the

condition of the Lord's people during that dread period. It indicates that the climax sin is

reached under the commands of the False Prophet, and that the fall of Babylon is closely

connected with the blasphemy associated with the Beast.  The torment of fire and

brimstone and the smoke of that torment which ascends for the ages of the ages reveals

the intensity of these seven last plagues, while the blessedness of the dead "from

henceforth" shows the frequency of martyrdom during this time.  The whole is

summarized under the figures of the harvest and the vintage.

Before this series is given we are permitted a glimpse of the FIRST FRUITS

(14: 1-5), and these sing a NEW SONG. In chapter 15:, before the seven vials are

poured out, we see the overcomers of the Beast, who also are a kind of FIRST FRUITS

from the harvest of the earth. These, instead of singing a new song, sing the Song of

Moses and of the Lamb. The key to the understanding of the seven vials of wrath is

found in the "Song of Moses".

There is a division of opinion as to what is intended by the title "The Song of Moses".

Some contend with a fair show of reason that the triumph over the host of Pharaoh in the

Red Sea is echoed by the greater triumph over the Beast and his image. This looks to

Exod. 15: as the Song of Moses. The Companion Bible and others however see a

reference to Deut. 32:, which is distinctly and repeatedly called the "Song" of Moses,

and which rehearses the ways of God with His people, vindicating the justice of His

judgments, and revealing the inner causes both of Israel's defection and the nation's

In Deut. 31: 19 we read, "That this song may be a witness for Me against the

children of Israel". In verse 21 and in verse 22 that "Moses wrote this song the same

day". The burden of the song is given in verse 29, the evil which will befall them in the

latter days. The song itself occupies the whole of Deut. 32: It traverses the dealings

of God with His people right to the end: the idolatry of Israel, the worshipping of strange

gods, the forgetting of God, their resemblance to the vine of Sodom. The song concludes

with a call to the nations to rejoice with His people, the threat of vengeance for the blood

of His servants, and the promise of mercy to His land and people.