Isn't it strange that we have such difficulty in understanding the last book of the New Testament. "Apocalypse"? The word simply means "revelation". So, shouldn't it be clearer? The problem is that the book is filled with symbols, numbers and strange visions. So, for our modern literal-mindedness, it's puzzling. We can't take it literally and we are not in tune with the visionary language. But in fact, Apocalypse is a book of comfort and consolation and of hope for Christians in a time of suffering and persecution. Today's excerpt from chapter 14 describes the companions of the Lamb, the followers of the risen victorious Christ, those who are marked with His name and the name of the Father. That's all of us who've been baptised into Christ, and over centuries and continents we are uncountable in human figures. So, to take the number 144,000 literally makes no sense and has led to all sorts of Christian deviations, oddities and anxieties. The number is highly symbolic: 12 times 12 (the number of completeness) and multiplied by 1,000 (representing immensity). And we sing a new hymn to the Lord, mysterious because its sound is like the roar of thunder or the waves of the ocean, yet also like the gentle sound that harpists make. We are redeemed from the world because we worship and follow Christ rather than any other person or idol. We are those who have not surrendered.