Revelation 14:6-13 | Three Angels & One Choice

Well thanks for joining as we continue in our study of Revelation chapter 14, where we’ll cover verses 6-13 in this episode. As I mentioned before, this chapter can be broken down into three sections, and this would be the second section, and describes three different angels and the message they bring.
Now one thing to notice here, as we transition into this section of the chapter, we are in a sense moving from heaven to earth, because the messages that these angels bring are addressed to those living on the earth
So let’s take a look at the message of the first angel in verses 6 & 7, where we read…
6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 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.”
So John sees this angel flying overhead. Now, some versions render this slightly different, for example, the KJV translates it as the angel flying in “the midst of heaven’. Other versions may say “in the mid heaven”. I am reading from an ESV. And all of those are correct. Because the word John uses here is the Greek word “mesouranēma” , which literally means, mid-heaven, with the idea that it’s describing the peak of the sun’s orbit in the sky.
Think of the sun’s position around noon, where it’s at its highest point, with the idea being, what is done can be seen and heard by everyone. IOW, the angel is visible to all people and is proclaiming a message that can be heard by everyone.
Now before we press this and ask how that’s possible given that one half of the earth is dark at all times, remember, we are dealing with a vision here, not working for NASA or teaching Astronomy 101.
The visibility of the angel everywhere here is a reference to the spreading of the gospel being universally and publicly proclaimed. In fact, it may not even refer to the angel being the one who literally spreads the gospel. That is the work of believers, the church.
There is a thought that angels in Revelation correspond to realities here on earth, and so the spreading of the gospel by the angel in flight here may refer to the spreading of the gospel through martyrs.
One other perspective here is that the “good news” here is not limited to the announcement that God is saving his people, but also that the enemies of God are about to be punished. And so in this context, the angel is announcing impending judgment on the earth dwellers. And remember, that term “earth dwellers” is a term used in Revelation for those people who refuse to respond to the gospel message
But also notice that the angel’s message is for all people, to” every nation and tribe and language and people.”
You know, Christianity is often attacked and labeled by skeptics and non-believers as being exclusive. But here is a perfect example of the inclusivity of God, the gospel is open to all people, and Jesus makes himself available to everyone. All people are invited to be saved.
But verse 7 also says “Fear God and give him glory,… and worship him who made heaven and earth”. And so the angel is calling people to fear God, to worship him, to give him glory. Throughout scripture, we are called upon to give glory to God. We should give honor and glory and praise and worship to God who is the creator of all things.
The Bible begins in Genesis 1:1 by saying, In Hebrew “…“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew term “Shemayim erets”, refers to all of physical reality. And the angel here is reiterating, reminding us who God is. And that we should have a fear, an appropriate respect and reverence and sense of awe when we consider who God is.
And the angel also reminds us that this same God who is the Creator, is also the judge. And judgment is coming. But those who fear God, who worship him and glorify him will be spared the judgment
So that is the message of the first angel. But let’s move now to the second angel in verse 8, where John continues by saying…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.”
So the second angel appears and has a message that Babylon the great has fallen. In fact, not only has Babylon fallen, but notice that the angel says fallen twice, Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great”.
The Greek verb used here is epesen and it means just what it says, “to fall”, but it can mean it literally, like something falling to the ground, or figuratively, as in prophetic sense, as in the sense of complete downfall, destruction, judgment, and collapse either as a power or system. And this is the sense in which it is used here in verse 8.
Not only that, but the doubling of the word is a rhetorical device used to stress the significance of the fall, how shocking it is, and how certain the fall will be. Now we will get into more details about the fall in chapters 17-19, as well as the actual identity of Babylon in chapter 17. So I won’t press that here.
But suffice it to say that this fall is historic. Because Babylon had a universal impact and effect on all nations. Verse 8 says that Babylon “made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” It’s a reference to Babylon’s intense and passionate immorality, especially it’s sexual immorality.
But remember, we discussed that in Revelation, this reference to sexual immorality and idolatry is usually referencing spiritual adultery. And so it’s possible this isn’t focusing on Babylon’s sexual sin, but the rampant spiritual harlotry, her idolatry.
And like we saw in the previous chapter, people are going to either side with the beast, the antichrist, and the false prophet, or they will worship God. You will choose either the city of God, or the city of man, Babylon. But for those who choose Babylon, the fall will be great.
But let’s continue with the third angel, where we read in verses 9-10…9 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, 10 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 sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
So we see that the third angel has the most severe message. In short, those who have followed the beast and received his mark will face judgment. And so once again we see this line drawn between those who worship the beast, and those who worship God.
You know, in America, especially in more recent decades, we seem to draw the line between right and left, Republican and Democrat, progressive versus conservative. And there is some truth in that. However, that is not the most important division. The most important division is that of good versus evil.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, “ Whoever is not with me is against me…”. He didn’t leave room for a political, riding the fence response to him. You are either with Christ, or against him. There is no neutral ground when it comes to Jesus Christ.
In fact, if you remember, back in Revelation chapter 3, Jesus said, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit, or vomit, you out of my mouth.”
This is part of Jesus’ message to the seven churches in Revelation 2–3. The Laodicean church is criticized for being spiritually complacent
Hot water was useful for healing. Cold water was refreshing. but lukewarm water was useless and nauseating.
Jesus uses this analogy to say He’d prefer people be fully committed rather than being half-hearted or apathetic, you know, having a lukewarm faith. The imagery of him spewing you out shows his strong rejection of mediocrity in your relationship with Him.
Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 10:38 ”… whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
But in verse 10 we see, again, that those people who receive the mark of the beast and worship the beast will experience the wrath of God. The image here is that they will drink the wine of God’s wrath. We’ve already seen that Babylon caused others to drink the wine of her passionate immorality. But here, the tables are turned, and those who do so will now drink the wine of God’s wrath
Notice that we are told this wine of God’s wrath is at full strength. In the ancient world, wine was normally mixed with water so that it was diluted. It was normal to have about 3 parts water to 1 part wine. This was done for a variety of reasons, but typically it was to either control intoxication or to help purify the water.
But notice here that the wine these people are about to drink, the wine of God’s wrath, is poured out at full strength. It is not diluted to weaken its effects. It is not watered down. Meaning God’s judgment is intense, it’s at maximum strength. It’s pure divine wrath against those who worship the beast and take its mark.
And we are told of the consequences for those people… “he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb”. When we get to chapter 19, we are told that the lake of fire burns with sulfur. And this reminds us of the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, where fire and sulfur rained down
In Ezekiel 38:22-23, God says, “I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. 23 So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
And I want to make another observation here. So many times these days we hear people try to argue that Jesus of the New Testament is full of love, but the God of the Old Testament was full of wrath. They like the all-forgiving, full of love, eat with the sinners, turn the other cheek Jesus, but they despise what they think is a vengeful, wrathful God of the OT.
But here’s the truth…it’s the same God in both the OT and NT. In our study of Genesis, we saw that the God of the OT is also full of grace and mercy. And here in Revelation, we will see that Jesus, the lamb, is not only full of grace and truth, but also of wrath. And just because we may want to ignore, or skip over those verses, or turn a blind eye to scripture that doesn’t fit our preconceived notions, that doesn’t make it any less true.
But one more observation here. In Matthew 26:29, at the last supper, Jesus told the disciples, “I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Jesus was abstaining from wine from that moment until the consummation of God’s kingdom, when he will drink wine again in heaven with believers.
So the people of God will drink wine in heaven with Christ. Those who worship the beast, who receive his mark, will drink a different sort of wine, the wine of the wrath of God.
At the Last Supper, the wine represented the blood of Jesus. Jesus said, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'” It was a cup of grace, of mercy, and ultimate joy, looking forward to eternal communion.
But here in Revelation, people will drink of the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength. One cup is offered in love, leading to life, forgiveness, and future joy in the kingdom. The other cup is forced upon those who reject the first, leading to unending judgment. And it’s the same savior who promises both
But let’s continue now with verse 11, where we read about the result of those who reject God and worship the beast. Verse 11 tells us…11 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.”
Now we just read in verse 10 about those who worship the beast and take the mark being tormented with fire and sulfur, and this verse gives us more details regarding that by saying that the smoke of their torment will ascend forever.
Now I could have read this verse 11 with the previous two verses, but I wanted to leave it by itself on purpose. Because there are some people who argue that the punishment here is not everlasting, but rather, points to these people simply being annihilated. I want to speak for just a moment about something called annihilationsim.
Annihilationism is a minority Christian theological view about the final fate of the unsaved people, people who die without faith in Christ. And of course here we are talking about those who worship the beast.
This is in contrast with the traditional majority view of the unsaved people, which is that they will experience what theologians call eternal conscious torment, where the wicked suffer unending, conscious punishment in hell.
Now most of us, most people in fact, have probably always understood the thought of hell as being eternal. So why would anyone believe in annihilationsim? Where does that thought come from?
Well, they believe Hell, or the lake of fire, is not a place of ongoing torment but of final extinction after their punishment. The wicked are “destroyed,” “perish,” or are “burned up” permanently. IOW, punishment is eternal in its consequences because it results in everlasting non-existence, and finality, but it’s not an ongoing, conscious suffering.
But the reason annihilationsim appeals to a minority of believers, is because they think it avoids the moral difficulty of eternal punishment based on finite sins. IOW, they believe it wouldn’t be morally right of God to punish someone for all eternity because they refused to worship God or accept Jesus Christ in this short, finite life. Finite sins don’t warrant infinite punishment. And so they argue the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
This is one of those arguments many skeptics make about the God that they don’t even believe in, arguing that they wouldn’t worship a God who is so egotistical and vengeful and spiteful and jealous that He would punish someone in hell forever just because they wouldn’t worship him.
Well, just a couple of thoughts about that. First, nobody is going to go to hell just because you didn’t choose to believe in or worship God. You will go to hell because you are a sinner and you cannot be in the presence of a holy God in that condition. So you can avoid the whole problem by not sinning
But your problem is summed up in Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, which tells us that sin results in our failing to meet God’s standard of glory.
And so we have been separated from God due our sin. And the bad news is that we are all in the same boat as far as that goes. We’re all sinners. But the good news is that, fortunately, God loves you very much. And He has offered you a way to be saved. And that is through Jesus Christ.
But in response to the skeptic or unbeliever, the second thought here is that although your sin was indeed only finite, the problem you have, is that your sin was committed against an infinite God.
When someone is convicted of first degree murder and is sentenced to life in prison, or even sentenced to execution, we are meting out the most severe and lasting punishment possible. But couldn’t they argue that it’s unfair to suffer such a long or severe punishment for a sin that lasted only a few moments?
But it’s not about how long a sin took to committ, it’s about who the sin was committed against. When you sin and take the life of a human, you will pay the ultimate human finite price, with the rest of your finite life. But when you sin against God, an infinite being, you will pay the infinite price, with an infinite penalty
I like the thoughts of philosopher and theologian Anselm regarding this issue. He argued that sin is fundamentally a debt of honor owed to God, whose majesty and worth are infinite. Even a brief or finite sin, constitutes an infinite offense because it withholds from God the absolute obedience and honor due to Him as the supreme, eternal Being.
Sinning against the infinite God requires an infinite penalty. And humanity, being finite, cannot pay this debt. Our lives and efforts are limited, so no amount of finite repentance or good works is enough to pay an infinite penalty. This is why the incarnation of God was necessary.
In Psalm 51, King David’s prayer of repentance after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, although his sins clearly hurt other people, he recognizes that his primary offense is against God. Crying out to God he says, “”Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,…”
Genesis 39:9, Joseph, resisting Potiphar’s wife: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” He focuses on offending God, not just Potiphar
Even in Numbers 23, the Israelites are told “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.”
The Bible teaches that while sins can have what you might think of as horizontal consequences, like hurting other people, they are ultimately vertical, against a holy God whose nature is violated.
You were made, you were created in the image of God, and when you sin, you violate the nature of God. And in order to spend eternity in God’s prescence, that has to be fixed, there has to be a remedy. That remedy is Jesus Christ.
But getting back to those who believe in annihilationsism, they argue primarily from a few different verses. For example, they point to John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” They argue that the word perish there is in contrast to eternal life, and that it suggests annihilation rather than eternal suffering.
They also point to Matthew 10:28 where it says “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” And again, they argue that “destroy” there refers more to being annihilated than suffering eternal torment.
But again, annihilationsim is a very minority position within Christianity. And what many fail to remember when they argue that the love of God couldn’t bear to tolerate and watch eternal punishment, is that they fail to think about the holiness and justice of God. His love is perfect, but so is His holiness.
But let’s continue now with verses 12 and 13 which read, …12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 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!”
So in the verses we have covered so far, and the messages from the three angels, we have seen a call for all people to worship and glorify God, and a warning of punishment and everlasting torment for those who worship the beast. But in these two verses, John takes the time to remind all believers to persevere and endure.
And again, it will be easy, when times get very hard, to compromise, to give in to the beast, whether it’s for economic reasons, or just to save your own life. This reminds us of the early chapters in Revelation where Jesus is writing to the seven churches, and there is a consistent message of overcoming and enduring until the end, regardless of the cost.
But it’s important to understand what endurance means here. Well John clearly tells us that those who endure are “those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus”. We’ve seen several examples so far in Revelation of what it means to overcome, like rejecting false teachings, confessing Jesus’ name and holding to his testimony, turning away from idolatry, immorality, refusing to worship the beast, and others.
And John is calling us to faithful endurance because the consequences are severe. People’s eternities are at stake.
But we are told in verse 13 that “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”. But what does it mean to be blessed? I believe we discussed this briefly back in chapter 1, but it is not easy to translate exactly. But some commentators explain that it essentially means good fortune and happiness, and shalom in a deep and profound sense.
But we are told here that the dead are blessed! Well that doesn’t exactly sound like good fortune and happiness! Death doesn’t sound like a blessing, especially for those loved ones left behind. And death wasn’t originally considered a blessing, but a curse that entered and became the last enemy of man as a result of sin.
But the important distinction here is that we are told blessed are those “who die in the Lord”. Not just those who die. But those who die in the Lord. Big difference. And there’s a big difference between those who will be blessed and find rest versus those who worship the beast and who we just saw in verse 11 will never find rest
We are also told here that “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors,”. Now that word for labors here is the Greek word “kopos”, which carries the picture of just a weariness and pain and troubles from living in the world.
And sure, life is a gift and can be beautiful, but I also don’t have to tell you how difficult and painful it can be at times. And even in the bible, Job suffered great pain and misery and loss during his life. Paul experienced all sorts of trials and hardships during his ministry. Which proves that just because you are a Christian doesn’t mean you get a pass on the sufferings and hardships of life.
But it simply means that if you die, having already placed your faith and trust in Jesus, then death should not bring fear. Paul recognized this, and he said in Phillipians 1:21 – “to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.
I think the next verse there is also very insightful. Because Paul continues by saying about life or death “ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.”
IOW, Paul recognized that it was better to die and to be with Christ, but to live meant fruitful work for the kingdom, and that it was beneficial to others.
And all of that should comfort believers, knowing that, as a believer, death should not be feared. But while we are here, we all have work to do. And as verse 13 ends, those good deeds will follow us, they will not be forgotten, but will be rewarded
So when you step back and look at these verses, the message of the three angels should echo in your mind: Fear God. Worship the Creator. And Babylon has fallen.
Their message really comes down to a single decision.
Everyone will ultimately drink from one of two cups. One cup offered by Christ, the cup of grace, forgiveness, and eternal life. The other cup is the wine of God’s wrath, reserved for those who reject Him and follow the beast.
One cup leads to rest with Christ. The other leads to torment without rest. And the Savior who offers the first cup is the same Judge who warns about the second.
And so the question this leaves hanging in the air is this: Whose side are you on? Who are you worshiping? From which cup will you drink?
Choose wisely. Because your eternity hangs in the balance.