In the
previous posts we have learned about the rise to power of the Antichrist and
the martyrdom of the 144,000 witnesses.
John is next told that three angels will be sent to declare important
messages to those on planet earth.
Revelation 14:6–7 “And I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour
of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and the fountains of waters.”
Since the establishment of the kingdom is at hand
and men have only a short time to accept His gift of salvation in Jesus, God
provides a supernatural witness to the gospel message. The 144,000
witnesses and the two prophets are no longer on the scene, so God sends an
angel to fly throughout the heavens urging the people on earth to worship the
one true God, Creator of heaven and earth. This seems to be in
fulfillment of Matthew 24:14—“And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come.”
The
angel’s message is clear (my paraphrase):
Fear God and glorify Him; worship Him as your Creator. Your eternal destiny is soon to be
determined.
Questions arise because of the message preached by
the angel. It’s not Romans 10:9, “That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
The word “everlasting” indicates to me that the
gospel has always been essentially the same. The full revelation of that
gospel has come in increments. In every increment the required response
of the individual is faith in God’s provision—even when that provision is not
fully known. I rest in the fact that God is righteous and is the One Who
determines whether one has responded in faith to that revelation or not.
The second messenger angel announces the
judgment and fall of Babylon.
Revelation 14:8 “And there followed
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because
she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Babylon was the birthplace of false
religion, and she is responsible for leading the nations into spiritual
adultery. They rejected the one true God to follow the false gods established
through the deceit and influence of Satan.
The prophet Jeremiah declared this same
truth.
Jeremiah 51:7
“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth
drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.”
Throughout scripture the description of Babylon
was specifically identified as located in Shinar or Chaldea—not Rome, as taught
by some. The prophets declared that Babylon
would be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah
13:19 “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Jeremiah
50:13 “Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall
be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and
hiss at all her plagues.”
Jeremiah
51:37 “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an
astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.”
Those prophecies have yet to be fulfilled. The area of ancient Babylon is inhabited even
today. This will be discussed in more detail when we reach chapters
17-18; but I believe this angel is announcing the fall of the rebuilt city of
Babylon in the land today known as Iraq.
(to be
continued…)
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