Read with Me
Revelation 14:6-12 (HCSB)
Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
A second angel followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”
And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”
Listen with Me
John’s vision of the choir of 144,000 is followed by three visions of herald angels, each bringing an announcement from God’s throne.
The first angel cries out the good news (gospel) that even at that late hour, anyone who is willing to turn away from their sinful patterns of thought and action, to repent, to fear God, and to give Him glory, can still be saved. But that decision and decisive action must be made quickly because God’s hand is already lifted to bring complete ruin to the empire and to all who will not repent.
This angel is followed by one who declares the fall of Babylon. This was not the ancient city which was already buried in five hundred years of accumulated sand, but the world system that had repeatedly risen against God, typified more than five hundred years earlier by Babylon, but now embodied in Rome. Even though someone looking out their window at the city of Rome at that moment would see the city standing solid as usual, the reality of the fall and destruction of not just the city, but of the empire itself, had been pronounced by God, and the physical fall would soon manifest itself.
The third angel was sent to announce the end of all those who had aligned themselves with the emperor and with his agenda against God’s people, the Church. Those people had pledged themselves to the empire, supporting its agenda with their thoughts and actions (as symbolized by being sealed on their foreheads and hand). The inescapable doom for all those will be an eternity alongside an eternity in the lake of fire, suffering alongside the dragon, satan, and the emperor, his supporters and his priesthood forever (Revelation 19:19-21; 20:10).
The call for endurance of the saints is a command from God to stand firm and not give up. Deliverances is on the way, and the doom of those who were persecuting them had been pronounced. It was going to happen.
Pray with Me
Father, you are the eternal God who sees the end from the beginning and whose will no one can thwart, no matter how much earthly power they seem to have. It is easy in troubling times, times when persecution breaks out, to doubt Your goodness and Your power to save. But from the earliest days, when You called your people out of Egypt and destroyed Pharaoh and his whole army, You have preserved Your people no matter what happened. Help us, also, to never give up, to never grow discouraged, and to never compromise with the world’s system in order to protect ourselves or ease our suffering. Our hope is in You, and in You only. Thank You, Lord, for Your loving grace, and for Your power on our behalf. Amen