Revelation 14:6-10

6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth --- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people --- 7     saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." 8     And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." 9     Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10   he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

After the vision of the two beasts he sees the 144,000 with the Lamb on mount Zion, then he sees the three angels. The three angels each proclaim judgement.

i. The first one announces to the whole world that judgement is starting, but gives a last appeal to those on earth to worship God because he is the Creator.

ii. The second pronounces judgement on Babylon the Great who made all nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.

iii. The third pronounces a terrible judgement of eternal torment by burning sulphur on those who worship the beast and receive his mark.

Linked to this is a call for patient endurance on the part of the saints followed by a blessing on those who die in the Lord from now on. After this there is the Second Coming and the harvest of the earth. The Second Coming and the punishment of the beast, false prophet and Satan, those who worship the beast and the judgement of Babylon the Great are dealt with in more detail later.

Rev 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth --- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people ---

The eternal gospel is proclaimed to all mankind, see Rev 11:9, it is universally valid, that is “whosoever” wants to be saved can be, compare with the invitation from God Himself  “To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life” (21:6). Then there is also the invitation from the Spirit and the Bride "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (22:17). God wants the banqueting hall for the marriage of his son to be full. Hence we have a universal invitation.

Notice the four-fold description indicating that they come from the Four Corners of the earth. This is a last appeal before the judgement to come, which is the seven bowls, then it will be too late, see Mat 24:14, because the gospel will have been preached to every nation on earth. Notice that this appeal occurs between the eagle flying in mid-air crying out ‘Woe! Woe! Woe!’ because of the last three trumpet blasts and the birds flying in mid-air gathered for the great supper of God, it is one last appeal.

Rev 14:7 saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

He says in a loud voice to be heard by all. The gospel at its simplest is to fear God, give him glory and worship God as creator

Acts 14:15 “…the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,”

 because the creation itself declares the Creator

Psa 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

 Rom 1:20       “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,…”

A small child can recognise God as Creator as well as Judge. However, man refuses to do this, preferring idolatry instead (Rev 9:20), they worship the beast instead of God (13:4). The saints however, in contrast, acknowledge God as Creator and therefore they worship him (Rev 11:1), they do not worship the beast (Rev 20:4). The hour of his judgement has come, that is the harvest of grapes and the winepress of God’s wrath, the seven bowls and the judgement of Babylon the Great pronounced by the second angel in the next verse. It is the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water that are to be affected by God’s judgement of the first four of the seven bowls and hence their mention here (cf. Exo 20:11). Bowl 1 (the land), bowl 2 (sea), bowl 3 (springs of water) and bowl 4 (the sun).

Elsewhere in Revelation we find that God is acknowledged as the Creator, first by the elders, 4:11, and by the mighty angel, 10:6. However mankind has suppressed this truth about God 'and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles', Rom 1:23, men prefer to worship a beast rather than God (see 13:4). Mankind, through an unproved theory of evolution, prefers to be the product of chance and to be descended from animals rather than being created by the will of God (4:11) and in the image of God (Gen 1:27). 'They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator' Rom 1:25. This idolatry results in depravity and wickedness, Rom 1:24 ff., see also Rev 9:20-21 -- they did not repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Rev 14:8 And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."The fall of Babylon is also proclaimed by an angel in 18:2 and described in 17:16 ff. His message interprets in part the ‘hour of judgement’ of which the first had given warning: ‘fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great’ (Swete). This is an introduction to the fall of Babylon the Great, see Rev 17, quoted from

Jer 51:7-8 Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged.

8     Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her! Take balm for her pain; Perhaps she may be healed.

Isa 21:9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!" Then he answered and said, " Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground."

Babylon the Great is a reference to Dan 4:30 when Nebuchadnezzar congratulates himself on his achievement: 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' immediately he became a beast and was driven from men. To John, Rome is a type of Babylon and the Roman emperor a type of Nebuchadnezzar who did not give glory to God. Babylon seduced the world with her adulteries, 18:3. Babylon is first mentioned in Gen 10:10.

She is the prostitute (17:1-2) who has seduced and corrupted the world's nations by the intoxicating influence of her evil (adulteries, figurative for idolatry). Here she is described as making the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries, this thought is repeated in 17:2 and 18:3. The Greek word translated here as 'maddening' is thumos, meaning passion (as if breathing hard): fierceness, indignation, and wrath. She is the instrument of the devil's fury (thumos) in 12:12 (Sweet). Her wine is to be contrasted with God's wine 14:10, 14:19, 16:19, 19:15. Cities always tend to concentrate the evil within humanity. Babylon is a symbol for the spirit of godlessness, which in every age lures (entices, tempts) men away from the worship of the Creator to the worship of created things (idolatry). Her sin is described as excessive luxuries in 18:3, she gave herself glory in 18:7, added to this she persecutes the saints (17:6, 18:24) and thus is the agent of the devil (12:17). Cities, in their splendour, are a monument to man; think of the tower of Babel or the skyscrapers of Manhattan.

Rev 14:9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,

Rev 14:10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

 - The first angel proclaimed the eternal gospel to those who live on the earth which was to fear God, give him glory and to worship God as Creator, in contrast to those who worship God (14:1-5) the third angel details the punishment of those who worship the beast and his image. Earlier in Rev 13:12 the beast from the earth forced the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast out of the sea (13:12), and to worship his image (13:15) and to receive the mark of the beast (13:16), in doing so they were worshipping Satan (13:4) who had given the beast his authority. Those who did not worship the image were killed or could not buy 13:15-17. The angel now pronounces the punishment on these people who do worship the beast and his image thereby breaking the first and second commandments (Ex 20:3-5). Those who worship the beast will join the beast, 19:20, these are also those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life (13:8, 20:15). Their sin was to have the mark of the beast on the forehead, the place reserved for the name of God (Platt cf. 7:3). To have the mark of the beast most likely indicates that they belong to the beast in contrast to those who have the seal of God on their forehead (7:3, 14:1).

The wine of God's fury is to be contrasted with Babylon's wine of adultery (idolatry) in 14:8. To drink the wine of God's fury is a common OT metaphor (Job 21:20, Psa 75:8, Isa 51:17, Jer 25:15). A similar figure is used in expression ‘winepress of God’s wrath’ in 14:19, cf. Babylon who God gave the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath, 16:19. The wrath of God is poured full strength, it is not mixed with his mercy. The punishment will be in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb, which makes it more personal. This is the first time punishment by burning sulphur occurs, this is a reference to God’s judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah, (Gen 19:24, Luke 17:29 see also 2 Pet 2:6, Jude 1:7). This is finally fulfilled in Rev 19:20, 20:10, when the beast and the dragon are consigned to the lake of burning sulphur and in 20:15, 21:8 when their followers join them. Our horror of this judgement must be understood in the light of God’s eternal hatred of wickedness, God’s character never changes.