| THREE ANGELS ARE SENT OUT |
|---|
| This passage is the full explanation of Matt 13:40-43: “At the end of the age, the Son of Man will send forth His Angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness and will throw them into the furnace of fire, in that place there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.” Of course, we can also find these Angels in Revelation Chapters 8, 9, 16, and 19. In verse 10, and 11, John describes the smoke that rises up forever, for those who worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark. The hour of judgment begins with the first Angel. |
| 6 I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. |
| Rev 14:6 And I saw an Angel flying – many relate this to the speed at which the gospel can be transmitted in the end days, through the internet etc. The “flying” is first found in Zech 5:1-2, a “flying scroll” that brings God judgment, a scroll the size of a living area, that enters houses all over the world through a wifi. Not only can we preach with speed today, but the world is now “smaller” and worldwide evangelism is much easier. in the midst of heaven – see also Rev 8:13, the eagle (the end-time saints) flying in mid-heaven, and Rev 19:17, “the birds that fly in mid-heaven.” This signifies that this “Angel” is the Spirit of Christ, as the Rider on the White Horse, ie the body of Christ, flying “in mid-heaven” to preach the gospel. In fact, the 144,000 in verses 1-5, the Angel here in verse 6, and the Rider on the White Horse in verse 20, all refer to the Sanctified Church of the last days, that preaches the true Gospel, and brings the hour of judgment to the Gentiles, or “nations” who have perverted the Gospel. We discussed this in detail in Chapter 7. having an eternal gospel – The true Gospel is preached by the end time Sanctified Church, the Rider on the White Horse. to preach to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people – this statement was prefigured by the statements of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4:1-3, and Darius in Dan 6:25-27, “To all peoples, nations and languages that dwell in all the earth.” This also confirms that the true Gospel is not cultural, or dependent on language. |
| 7 He said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!” |
| Rev 14:7 Fear God and give Him glory – King Nebuchadnezzar, after recognizing the true God, gave God glory. (After he set up his image, the image of the beast). King Darius in Dan 6:25-27, told all men to “tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,” after Daniel broke the law that cannot be changed (Dan 6:15), (the mark of the beast). the hour – in terms of human history, this is the 11th hour. The 12th hour is described in verse 15. The 9th and 10th hours were described in Rev 11:13, and Rev 17:12. of His judgment has come – the outpouring of the holy spirit and the restoration of the true Gospel brings “the hour of judgment,” see John 16:8, and Gal 1:8-10. The Church treads out the fierceness of wrath of the Almighty God, striking down the Nations (or Gentiles) who have corrupted the truth; defeating them with the sword of the word of God (Rev 19:15-16). who made the heaven and earth, and sea and “springs of waters” – the expression, “who made the heaven and earth…” was first used in the Ten Commandments, in Exod 20:11, the commandment of the Sabbath Day. This is another hint of the “mark of the beast,” the breaking of the fourth commandment. To “heaven and earth, and sea” in Rev 10:6, is added the phrase: “springs of waters.” Springs of water throughout Revelation and John’s Gospel refer to the baptism of the holy spirit that accompanies obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The “Everlasting Gospel” is the Gospel that complies with all of the salvation conditions of Christ. These are the “measurements of the temple” (Rev 11:1), that allowed the “glory of the LORD” to come “into the house” (Ezek 43:4). |
| 8 Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her immorality.” |
| Rev 14:8 another Angel, a second one – the judgment intensifies as time passes. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great – this phrase is from Isa 21:9; the Angel is calling the saints to come out of the false religion of the beast, as in Rev 18:2. |
| 9 Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, |
| Rev 14:9 worships the beast – “worship” in the Greek language literally means “to bow down and kiss.” The beast became the “false Lord” of the Church. Here, John instructs us not to bow down to him. Does the beast only signify the Pope for the 42 months when he was in control of the saints? If anyone still bows down to the teachings of the beast, he worships the beast and Satan (Rev 13:4). or his image – the Gentiles, in contrast to the spiritual Jews in verse 1-5, did not know what they worshiped (John 4:22) and needed to make Christ equal to God in order to worship Him. This resulted in “the Trinity,” the “image of the beast,” created by the “false prophet.” and receives his mark on his hand or forehead – discussed at Rev 13:16-17. |
| 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. |
| Rev 14:10 will drink of the wine of the wrath of God – churches that worship the Trinity and keep Sunday rest will drink the communion of Christ’s blood in an “unworthy manner,” (1 Cor 11:27). They will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. |
| 11 The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. |
| Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever – the spiritual torment of the kingdom of the beast intensifies as we also see in Rev 16:10. they have no rest day and night – they are spiritually tormented, and also suffer with respect to God’s commandment for rest, which has now affected their ability to obtain a proper rest of physical and spiritual peace with God. They are confused by “the mark of the beast,” and they deny that God requires man to rest at all. |
| 12 Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” |
| Rev 14:12 who keep the commandments of God – again as in Rev 12:17, the true saints are distinguished, because they do the will of God. |
| 13 I heard the voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.” |
| Rev 14:13 Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on – this is the age of the sanctified Church, and all those in the Lord are in the sanctified Church, and receive the holy spirit, the seal of salvation (Eph 4:30). their deeds follow them – described as the righteous acts of the saints in Rev 19:8. |
| 14 I looked, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. |
| Rev 14:14 one like a Son of man, having a golden crown – this is the description of Matt 13:41: “the Son of Man will send out His Angels.” The Son of Man, stands on the clouds to oversee the work of these Angels. |
| 15 Another angel came out from the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send forth your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” 16 He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. 18 Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Send forth your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe!” 19 The angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. |
| Rev 14:15 another angel came out of the temple – that is out of the end time Sanctified Church, which is described as the temple, as opposed to “the tabernacle” of the saints in the wilderness. John will describe the cleansing of the lawless by the end time Church. the hour to reap has come – this is the last of the twelve “hours” of man’s existence described in Revelation. The 9th hour was in Rev 17:12; the 10th at Rev 11:13; and the 11th at Rev 14:7. the harvest of the earth is ripe – the Angels are those described in Matt 13:36-39, gathering the wheat with the tares. But here in Revelation we actually use the metaphor of grapes, we find in Isa 63:1-6, and Rev 19:15: “he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.” This is the end of the cleansing of the sanctuary, the cleansing of the kingdom of heaven, that Daniel prophesied would take 2,300 days. |
| 20 The winepress was trodden outside of the city, and blood came out from the winepress, even to the bridles of the horses, as far as one thousand six hundred stadia. |
| Rev 14:20 the wine press was trodden outside the City – outside the Holy City, New Jerusalem. Here we go back to Luke 21:24: “Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” and now “all Israel will be saved” according to Rom 11:26. The “144,000 of the tribes of Israel” appearing in the beginning of the Chapter, is our hint, although these are actually spiritual Israelites. up to the horses’ bridles – this is a beautiful tie-in to Rev 19:14. The Rider on the White Horse, the Sanctified Church, is followed by the armies of heaven on white horses, and treads out the great wine press of God’s wrath. The Rider is the Spirit of Christ as the body of Christ. The Spirit of Christ, manifest as the Son of Man, is on the clouds, watching the Rider complete His mission. for a distance of two hundred miles – the length of Israel is 263 miles, and Judea is about 150 miles. The meaning is that the lawlessness is removed the Holy City, and there is also none in Judea, the place of the saints. |
