Last 5 Days
Hour of Judgement is Near
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.”
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion[a] of her sexual immorality.”
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. 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.”
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!”
Here, we are presented with three angels who have three different and important proclamations from God. The first angel proclaimed the eternal gospel to the entire earth and all the different people in it. He said, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth” This includes people of different tongues, tribes and races. The gospel is like a double edged sword. It is good news to those who believe in Him, but bad news to those who reject it.
The second angel proclaimed, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great”. Isaiah had first said “Fallen, fallen is Babylon” to prophesy the impossible fall of this super world power of his time. (Isaiah 21:9) The fall of the great Babylon to the Persian Army was a very significant and shocking historical milestone, so much so that the ancient world continued to use this phrase to describe the fall of a world power of its time. In the same manner, John had predicted the fall of the great Roman empire who was persecuting the people of God. Rome was like a great prostitute who seduced the world into great immorality and the consequence was judgement upon the seemingly impenetrable power nation.
In the third proclamation, the third angel had said that “anyone worships the beast will drink the wine of God's wrath”. This cup of God’s wrath and judgement will not be diluted. It was said that it was common for the people drank their wine mixed with water. Back in those days, clean drinking water was hard to find and so alcohol was a natural disinfectant to reduce microbial activity in water. As a result, it was common for the Romans, Greeks and Jews to mix water and wine. However, here the cup was a full undiluted judgement that is to come. Those who gave in to the worship of the beast will face the full judgement, tormented in fire and sulphur. This continues to be a strong warning to those who does not remain faithful to God in our time, they will burn in the pain of eternal fire and there will be no rest for them, day and night.
The three proclamations are stark reminders of an impending judgement that is to come upon all man. For those who choose unbelief despite the knowledge of the gospel will face the full wrath of God. The wicked will be tormented in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb and eternally tormented. However, for the faithful servant of the Lord, even those who are dead (1 Thess 4:16) or fallen asleep in Christ (1 Cor 15:18), they will find true rest in the presence of God. Even death cannot separate them from the love of God. (Roman 8:38-39) This is the gospel, the good news! Those who truly believe and are faithful till the end, this eternal rest will be for them to enjoy.
Francis Chan has equated eternal life to a ball of yarn that wraps around the earth a gazillion time, and said that the life we live now is merely a speck in comparison to the infinite length of eternity. Earth life, in God’s eyes, is but a preface to life beyond the graves. It is only like the appetiser we eat in the main course. The most important decision we have to make is not pertaining to how we will fare in this life, but how it will affect the life that is to come. Dear brothers and sisters, how would you fare in these decisions about the life that is to come?
