A New Song? Part 1

Revelation 14:3 speaks of the "144,000" that are with the Lamb, standing on Mt. Zion who are singing a “new song”:

Rev 14:3  and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth.

Rev 5:8-9 also speaks of a “new song” being sung. In this passage, the singers are the four living creatures
and the four and twenty elders:

        Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Rev 5:9  And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
Rev 5:10  and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.

 And this is their song:

      Rev 5:9  And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,

Rev 5:10  and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.

So the new song sung by the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders in Rev. 5 and gives glory to Jesus (the Lamb) for purchasing unto God men of every tribe, people and nations. AND Jesus made THEM to be a kingdom and priests who reign ON THE EARTH. Not in heaven, but on the earth.

The next instance of the “new song” is in Revelation 14.

Rev 14:1  And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads.

Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

Rev 14:3  and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth.

Here we witness those that have been purchased unto God learning the new song. They are referred to as the 144,000. Despite being purchased out of the earth, they reign on the earth. Rev 14:3 says that “and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand”. So the 144,000 are the only ones that can “learn” the song, but even they need to learn it. It does not seem to come by spontaneous understanding.

G3129 - Learn
Thayer Definition:
1. to learn, be appraised
              1a) to increase one’s knowledge, to be increased in knowledge
              1b) to hear, be informed
              1c) to learn by use and practice
                                  c1) to be in the habit of, accustomed to

Who do they learn the song from? In Rev 5, the “four living creatures and the four and twenty four elders” are the ones that originally sing the “new song”. So do the 144,000 learn the “new song” from these? Possibly.

Rev 14:2 states that as John was seeing the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, he heard a voice from heaven “as the voice of a great thunder”. And Rev 6:1 describes the voice of one of the four living creatures as with a voice of thunder:

Rev 6:1  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come.

Is the new song that is learned by the 144,000 a result of them hearing the thunder (four living creatures) who are singing the new song in Rev 5? And as a result, the 144,000 are now singing it too? Possibly. What are the four living creatures?

But what does it mean to sing a “new song”? I’m not sure. I believe that God teaching the “144,000” the new song now. Right at this moment. It is unlike the “song” that the church has been singing for the past 2000 years. How?

My guess is that this song is different and something that probably has not ever been heard or certainly rarely heard today. But my guess is utterly irrelevant so let’s look at the instances in the bible of those that are instructed to sing this “new song” in order to try and understand it. On to Part 2.