6 Then 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. 7 He 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.”
This is the first of six angels that declare messages of gospel and judgment. What they will make abundantly clear is that there is no room for a universalism theology, that is, the idea that eventually all people will become saved. God wants that, and those who love Him want that, but it isn’t biblical as we shall read from these messages. This is the most politically incorrect part of the book of Revelation. All of us will have a Day of Reckoning. Everyone will not be treated the same. We will all be treated justly and righteously. However, no one, not a single person, will stand before God and declare to Him “You did me wrong. You were unfair.”
Everyone hears the message of this angel and the message is that ‘Old Time Religion’ eternal gospel message: Fear God; Give Him glory; Worship Him! It is the Good News. It is said that this is the only time an angel is credited with preaching the gospel. This is our assignment, but here in this end time, an angel declares it so all is without excuse. The hour of judgment has come he says, the time for salvation is almost gone.
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
The great one world political, economic, and religious order will fall. It is this evil society that demands and requires idol worship. Here we see the reference of adulteries being used for idol worshipping. The people and their nations have not waited for their Bridegroom and have followed everything else. The biblical text says they are “mad” or crazy in their drunkenness of the idol worship. (see Jer 51:7) They reek of it and it stains them completely.
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
This is the destiny of everyone who denies that God exists or that Jesus is the door and the path to salvation. While the people of the nations have been passionately drinking the maddening deceptions and seductions of this false savior, they will tragically experience another passion. This will be the passion of the Christ, the actual Savior, and the wrath of the one true living God.
Everyone will receive the full measure and strength of God’s wrath. Those who know the Christ will be forgiven and redeemed as He stands in their place. Those who don’t will have to carry that judgment upon themselves.
These verses present a terrifying picture of eternity. There is no way to read these verses and declare that everyone will believe in God and His Son. This is not a conditional immortality. This picture is one of souls being in torment while being in the awareness of the God they rejected. Jesus described this place as the “eternal fire” and the “unquenchable fire” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us that, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Everyone who is in this terrible place has deliberately chosen it.
12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep His commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Verse 12 calls for patient endurance and to remain faithful. These are encouraging calls to those who follow Him in this time of Tribulation. It is also a call of encouragement to us today in our times of trial and tribulation. Dear Christian: Patiently endure! Keep His commands! Remain faithful!
The word endurance is used seven times in Revelation. We are challenged to persevere. How often in our trials are we too quick to ask if being devoted to Jesus really worth it? How often do we get blinded to God by looking at the world and find ourselves wanting that life and not the one we have in Christ? How often do we look to the world to solve our pain and not to the Great Physician? We are called to patiently endure. We are called to keep His commands. We are called to remain faithful to Jesus. We must not lose our first love! We must choose Him simply because we know He is and He says it.
One pastor indicates that we have a hard time relating to this time because it is unnatural for us to want to die. But in this time of Great Tribulation, it will be a different story. They will be waiting in patience and in sorrow. J. Vernon McGee says, “Death is going to be precious to the people in the Great Tribulation, but not for the saints in our society in which everything is geared to comfort.”
Verse 13 has the second beatitude of the seven in Revelation. The first was in 1:3. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:8 “to be out of the body” is to be “at home with the Lord”. And in Philippians 1:21, the oft quoted verse says “For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” The Holy Spirit says “Yes”, blessed are those who know God and die. Why? Because they will be with Him! They will have rest from the dogged fight against them from the Evil One.
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