This past week has been a
revelation of unspeakable evil
as we continue to read
and see the horrors committed
by Islamic militants in northern
Iraq chasing at least
300 000 Christians out of their
homes in cities like Mosul. It has been reported on news broadcasters such as CNN that
Christians were beheaded, and their heads displayed on
sticks in a park in Mosul. Who
and what is behind this ? At face value,
these are evil men who do it , but who or
what moves them to do it?
In the book of
Revelation in chapters 11,12, 13 we get to know the real powers of evil.
They are the ‘trinity of evil’, of Satan (the dragon- a fallen angel ) and
his two associates, the first
beast (the anti-christ) and the second
beast (the false prophet). These are
the instigators behind all the evil that happens in this world.
Thankfully, chapter 14
provides us with an encouraging perspective.
Jesus reigns! Last week we considered the first 5 verses of
chapter 14. The chapter begins with a
majestic vision of the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion – the symbolic seat of His
power and majesty. With Him we see a
symbolic representative of 144 000 people , who had His name and His
Father’s name written on their foreheads. We saw that these represent the great
multitude of all believers throughout the ages. All these are singing the new song before the
throne, and the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders. It is a beautiful picture
of the redeemed of the earth, as they
are now all together in heaven. It is so
good to know what the future holds for the believer. We are "filled with an inexpressible and
glorious joy, for we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation
of our souls." (1 Peter 1:8,9)
As we now consider verses 6 - 13, we continue on this
triumphant note, as we now observe the judgment of God upon Satan and
his evil allies and all who bear his mark. This is a very important section, for it
answers one of the fundamental questions which all true Christians have – the
question that is asked in
6:9 – 11 ( the opening of the
5th seal) : " O Sovereign
Lord, holy and true, how long before
you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" This is the question which many Christians are asking
today in in the face of untold
suffering and injustice, when they
ask with tear blinded eyes, "Where
is my God in all this terrible suffering? Does He hear me?"
Now remember, that the apostle John receives this vision at the end of the first century . The 7 churches
to whom he writes (see Rev. 2 & 3)
are all struggling under a number of violent persecutions. Already in Acts 8:1 , Stephen's martyrdom, had led
to a widespread persecution of the Christian church. Historical records reveal at least three great waves of persecution
of Christians under the Roman emperors Nero (AD 54 - 68), Vespasian
(AD 69-79) and Domitian
(AD 81-96). John and the early church were indeed asking : "How long until our Lord
returns? We cannot bear this any longer!"
Into this situation John is
given perspective for the sake of the
church. God will certainly bring judgment
upon all evildoers. This is what the messages
of the three angels in vv. 6-11 are all about
- a reminder that God has not forgotten his
people , and that is why the call to
endurance follows in v. 12 ,
followed by a word
of encouragement or a benediction in v.
13
1.Three
angels and three messages for the nations of the world (Vv 6-11)
Note : These
messages are intended to be heard by
every nation ,tribe, language and people i.e. a universal message. It is an
announcement to all the people (the
ungodly and the godly) of the earth. The Bible which we hold in our hands is the most widely
distributed book in all the earth today . In this Bible the
judgement to come together with the gospel
of Jesus Christ constitute a continued call to the people of the world
to repent and turn from their sin and flee to Christ.
The first
angel speaks (vv. 6 &7) : “Then I saw
another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel[1] to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation
and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and
give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who
made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” This raises another question. Are we to conclude that an angel will proclaim the gospel of Christ to
sound a last warning to the nations? Such a thing is indicated nowhere else in Scripture. The gospel is given
to human messengers to proclaim and not to angels. But what we do find in Scripture is that angels do announce the gospel, but not by way of preaching. It is not
by intense proclamation or through pleading/persuasion, as your preacher does with you. No, this is by
way of an announcement. In that sense the angel Gabriel announced "good news" to Zechariah about John
the Baptist (Lk 1:19) and to Mary (Lk 1:26-33) and Joseph (Matt.1:20)
and to the shepherds
(Lk 2:8-11). In the announcement of Christ’s coming is the Gospel . The angel says , "Fear
God and give Him glory , because the
hour of his judgement has come". It concerns the final
aspect of the whole gospel – the second coming of Christ, which will also be the hour
of His judgment.
This is good news to all who bear the name of Jesus and the
name of His Father on their foreheads (14:1).
This is the hour of their glorification.
But it is bad news
for those on earth who have not been yet reconciled by the gospel
of Jesus. The "eternal gospel" will judge them. This then is a
call to all mankind to fear God and worship Him alone, NOW
! Soon, He who has made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of
water will be here. Every idol worshipper (replacing God with
people or things) and every agnostic ( who says : I don’t know whether there is a God
and I don’t care) and no atheist (who says : there is no God), and no
one who denies that God has made the heavens and the earth ( who says : I believe in the doctrine
of evolution and I deny that God is the Creator and the rightful Owner
of His creation) – all these will have a very fearful prospect before them. They
will face the terrible wrath of God, which
is described in verses 14 - 20. This
is what
the first angel announces: “Fear
God and give Him glory for the hour of
His judgment has come!”
The second angel speaks (v. 8) : “ Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen
is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of
her sexual immorality.” The second
angel announces and confirms the
certainty of the destruction of
that city ( symbolically called Babylon) which has tempted the
nations to sin ! This announcement
is the 'gospel' of Babylon's
fall. Here we find echoes of Isa. 21:9 and Jer. 51:8… “ fallen, fallen is Babylon”.
"Babylon" must be
thought of symbolically. It refers
to the entire power of the anti-christ
and of his anti-christian kingdom, just
as Jerusalem and Mt. Zion symbolize the rule of God.
Now 'Babel' or ‘Babylon’ ( which would have been located in in
today's southern Iraq ) was the city of
the mighty king Nimrod [2].
In Gen. 11 we read how people attempted to build
a city and a massive tower. It was a classic expression of human arrogance
and self- sufficiency. The high tower was a symbolic fist raised in defiance
against the Creator and so we find that Babylon in the Scripture stands for
that which is anti-God. It is the great opponent of the people of God.
Under the
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, the Jews were carried into exile in
Babylonia and suffered there in captivity. Hence Psalm 137: 1 "By the
rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion" [3]
. But even there in exile the Israelites
knew that the Lord would judge Babylon:
Psalm 137:8,9 further says: "O
daughter of Babylon doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us."
Many of the
prophets had spoken about the fall of Babylon - both in the literal and
symbolical sense. Thus we find that in
the book of Revelation Babylon becomes a
symbolic representation of Satan's kingdom – see Rev 16:19; 17:5 ; 18:2,10,21. In Chapter 18 in particular we shall consider
this in more detail .
The
announcement of this second angel is therefore
good news for Christians. Satan's
kingdom cannot stand. His capital city (symbolically called
Babylon) has fallen. From our perspective this sounds as a future happening , yet the reality is that
she has fallen. The word of God is true.
It cannot be broken. This must happen, and if you are on the Lord's side.
REJOICE - your redemption draws near!
The third
angel speaks : (vv. 9 - 11): “ And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a
loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a
mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's
wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented
with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of
the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and
they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image,
and whoever receives the mark of its name.” The 3rd angel announces judgment upon the individual
worshippers of the beast. Here on earth
they seemed invincible. They lived like lords, prospering and knowing
apparently no suffering, whilst the people of God were struggling
(Psalm 73). Here then is a vision of the end of the wicked. Just as
Asaph was given a glimpse into the future of the wicked (Psalm 73:18), so we are
given a glimpse into their end. Here we have some of the most explicit language
in the entire Scripture concerning the destiny of the wicked : They will have
to bear the full extent and full
strength of God's everlasting fury towards them : “the smoke
of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or
night”. This is the unquenchable
fire spoken of in Matt. 3:12 and Lk.
3:17 - the fire of judgement which our Lord was to bring upon the earth - those
who would not fear God and worship him. They abandoned themselves like wild, impulsive
animals to the lusts of the flesh. Now
their suffering will be a conscious
suffering , it will be an eternal
torment of having consciously rejected the truth .
2. A Call to Perseverance (v.
12)
[12] Here
is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of
God and their faith in Jesus. This is counsel which we have received once before 13:10.
Now thank God, that He has shown us what must be. For truly, we will not be exempted from trials and
sufferings and from spiritual warfare.
Some of us might well go into captivity; others may get killed. But we must keep this great perspective of our
glorious future in mind. At all cost- do
not compromise ! Do not like Esau, who for
the sake of temporary gain forsakes his inheritance.
Obey God's commands and remain faithful to Jesus. You must endure !
3. A Word of
Encouragement (v. 13)
“And I heard
a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from
their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The voice from heaven comes to us
as an encouragement as we persevere in our
obedience to the commandment of God
and of our faith in Jesus. And if
you die for the Lord’s sake, you are blessed. John needed that assurance for
Himself. He needed that assurance for his seven churches which were experiencing various forms of persecution. The
Christians in Iraq, and in Syria need
that assurance today. You and I need
that assurance to persevere in our faith , lest we be tempted to give up and
pursue another gospel which is no gospel at all ! Many are doing so already .
Persevere dear friend, and you will be blessed. And the Spirit of
God says: "…you will rest from your
labours, for your deeds will follow you."
This is direct assurance from heaven to you. These are not the
words of a man . This is the voice of your heavenly friend. Take courage and stand firm.
Let’s conclude with the words of 1 Cor.
15:58:
"Therefore
, my dear brothers, stand firm . Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves
fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain." AMEN
[1] This is the
only place in the revelation where the word "gospel" occurs. There is no definite article in the Greek
here . The NIV translates incorrectly “the eternal gospel” , whereas
the ESV translates correctly “ an eternal gospel”
[2] ( Gen 10: 8 - 12)
[3] [ Significantly we realise then , that there was a time in O.T.
history when the children of God where almost as it were 'wiped' out à pointing to the 2 witnesses of Rev
11 who were lying slain in the street]
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