The Three Angels
6Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries." 9A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
Dig Deeper
In 1975, Elton John, a popular British singer released a song entitled "Philadelphia Freedom." The song quickly rose to number one and dominated the top of the charts for much of the year. In the song, John sings that the light of the Philadelphia Freedom will shine down on and enlighten the whole world. Partly because of the connotations of the lyrics themselves and the fact that the following year, 1976, was the bicentennial of the United States of America, most people thought and still do, that the song was a memorial to the freedom that the United States brought to the world, beginning in Philadelphia in 1776. The problem is that that is not at all what Elton John was writing about. The song was actually an ode to his friend Billie Jean King. He was very inspired by the work that she was doing as coach of a tennis team named the Philadelphia Freedom, which he felt was advancing women’s and, particularly, lesbian rights. This was what he thought would bring light to the world.
Understanding symbols and symbolic language can go awry pretty quickly when we either make assumptions about the symbols that are incorrect or let our imaginations run away while interpreting them. Recently I read an interpretation of Revelation that made a big deal of the fact that the Beast of 13:11 must be America because America originally had 13 colonies and she declared independence on July 4th, which is 7/4, which adds up to 11. This is quite creative but completely ignores the fact that chapter divisions weren’t introduced to the New Testament until the 13th century and verse distinctions weren’t added until the 16th century. Thus, this theory was quite imaginative but not based on any facts. As we continue to read John’s symbolic language when he talks of things like Babylon, the Beast, and the mark, we must take great care to correctly interpret these symbols grounded by the imagery of the Old Testament, which John uses so frequently. We simply cannot use wild speculation and imagination to make these symbols stand for whatever sounds the most exciting or even logical. Otherwise we can wind up being as off the mark as those who think Elton John’s song is about the founding of America.
14:6-7 - The remainder of this chapter is a series of seven visions that consist of three angels, a vision of the glorified Christ, and then three more angels. John is about to transition between the trumpet visions which are proclamations of judgment, and the bowl visions which are applications of judgment. In foreshadowing this, the first three angels in this section make special proclamations regarding the victory of the Lamb, while the last three angels perform actions that assist in this conquest.
John sees another angel flying in midair. This is the realm of the eagle that was crying woe to the earth (Rev. 8:13). The message of this angel is peace, as the coming judgment is not the end of all things it is part of the proclamation of the eternal gospel, which is the spreading of the message of the kingdom of God. The message of this angel is, in fact, a short summation of the message of the New Testament: Fear God (Luke 1:50; 12:5; Acts 10:35), and give him glory (Matt. 5:16; 9:8; 15:31), because the hour of his judgment has come. (John 12:23, 31-32; 16:8-11) Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of waters (Acts 17:24-31).
The angel has addressed this message to those who live on the earth (which literally says "those who sit on the land"). Those who live on the earth is the usual language for apostate Israel (Rev. 3:10; 13:8, 12, 14; 17:2, 8), thus, this message is focused on the authorities who sit in power over Israel. The basic message of the gospel had called for submission to Jesus Christ, but they had rejected him (Luke 19:14). The NIV here removes the word ‘and’ which should be placed after the earth and before the phrase to every nation, tribe, language and people. The omission of that one word is important because without it we lose that there is a distinction between these two groups. Every nation, tribe, language, and people is a reference to the Gentiles. Jesus said that this message would be preached to the world before the end (judgment) would come (Matt. 24:14). It was the gospel order that it should be preached first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (Acts 3:26; 11:18; 13:46-48; 28:23-29; Rom. 1:16; 2:9). Paul verified that the gospel was, in fact, preached to the whole world before the end came in 70 AD (Rom. 1:8; 10:18; Col. 1:5-6; 23). Despite the best efforts of the Dragon and his Beasts, the Church was successful in evangelizing the world.
14:8 - The second angel declares, Fallen! Fallen is Babylon, the Great. This is the first mention of Babylon in Revelation and is a foreshadowing a later full explanation. It is probable that the first readers of this book would have immediately understood that this was a reference to Jerusalem. Peter, in his first letter (1 Pet. 5:13) referred to the city from which he was writing as Babylon. Many have supposed this to be Rome, but it seems far more likely that it was Jerusalem from where he was writing. Jerusalem is where Peter lived and exercised his ministry (Acts 8:1; 12:3; Gal. 1:18; 2:1-9; cf. 1 Pet. 4:17). First Peter also sends greetings from Mark and Silas (1 Pet. 5:12-13), both of whom lived in Jerusalem (Acts 12:12; 15:22-40). It is also true that the Revelation has focused on Jerusalem and only mentions Rome to the degree that she is related to Jerusalem. As we will see in chapters 17 and 18, the evidence that Babylon is Jerusalem will become overwhelming. She has made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Israel was to be a light to the world, but has instead, seduced them into idolatry and a false view of God.
14:9-11 - Now the third angel declares that anyone who worships the Beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury. This is the same offense of Israel, the land Beast given in Rev. 13:15-18, giving a further clue that Babylon is Israel. Those who drink of Babylon’s cup of rejecting the true gospel will drink of the wine of God’s fury. Those who drink of the cup of Babylon’s state worship will drink from God’s wrath; drinking one will automatically bring the other. This also brings echoes of the fact that it was common in the ancient world to give prisoners a potion which would put them in a state of stupor to diminish their pain during execution. The fact that the Lamb is present at torment and suffering of the wicked has caused many a great deal of difficulty in explaining. The fact is, however, that this only seems inconsistent with the nature of Jesus, when seen through eyes that have created a ‘gentle and loving’ Christ contrary to the authentic person described in the New Testament. In a sad turn of fate, these people will have no rest day or night, which is in direct contrast of the righteous angels who are depicted as praising God day and night.
Devotional Thought
There is no mistake that the righteous in heaven engage regularly in worshiping God, while those who do not worship God will be tormented day and night. Who or what we worship determines where we will spend eternity. Are you consistent and sincere in your worship of God. Do you worship more than just on Sundays but with every area of your life? Keep a list today of things you do that bring glory, honor, and worship to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment