Revelation 14:2-3; A Voice from Heaven

Revelation 14:2-3 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty andfour thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 

Standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, the 144,000 will join in the heavenly song of redemption. With all the devastation they have seen, with all the trouble they have faced, with all the rejection, hostility, hatred, and persecution they have endured, one might expect them to be too sorrowful to sing (cf. Ps. 137:1–4). But instead, they will joyously praise the Lord for their protection and triumph.

Psalm 137:1-4 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? 

This is not the first time John heard a voice from heaven (cf. 4:1; 10:4, 8; 11:12; 12:10), nor will it be the last (cf. v13; 18:4; 19:1).

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 

Revelation 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

Revelation 10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. 

Revelation 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. 

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed arethe 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. 

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 

The voice he heard was very loud and continuous, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. Ezekiel 43:2 likens the voice of God to the sound of many waters, while Revelation 1:15 describes the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ in the same way. But since Revelation 19:6 uses both of those phrases to describe the voice of a heavenly multitude, it is best to understand them in that sense here.

Ezekiel 43:2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice waslike a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. 

Revelation 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 

Revelation 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 

 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2000). Revelation 12–22 (pp. 74–75). Chicago: Moody Press.