The book of Revelation points out the substantial truth: It turns out that the human race is largely controlled by unseen evil powers who use sensual pleasures to hold us in bondage. Although we have embraced the idolatries of personal autonomy and hedonistic pleasure, we realize that something doesn’t seem quite right. Satisfaction eludes us. Empowerment feels empty. We suspect that behind the veneer of secular humanism, dark powers are at work. Using its visionary images, Revelation depicts this kind of spiritual oppression. We face the dragon, Satan, who with his servant beasts controls the unbelieving world and wars against the countercultural Christian community that has discovered the truth.

Knowing this truth creates a great longing for the evil powers somehow to be defeated. This is the situation depicted by three messenger angels who appear in Revelation 14:6-12. They pronounce the overthrow of evil powers, warning of judgment for those who reject Jesus Christ and eternal wrath for those who serve the beast. Christians have one purpose, namely to warn mankind with respect to the coming judgment in order that men may turn to God in true faith.

The first angel is seen “flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth” (v. 6). John describes the angel’s message as a “gospel.” This seems unusual since he says nothing directly about Jesus, His death on the cross for sins, or His offer of salvation through faith. The message, in fact, is a warning: “the hour of his judgment has come” (v. 7). This message is good news to the persecuted church about the coming defeat of ungodly powers and thus her freedom from tyrants who afflict her.

Here, the gospel is presented in the form of a call to repent. We should remember the way in which Jesus introduced His ministry in the Gospels. Mark 1:14-15 says that Jesus came to Galilee “proclaiming the gospel of God,” in these terms: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” The coming of Jesus is the good news, calling for repentance and faith. Jesus spoke of the coming “kingdom of God,” and the first angel declares that the “hour of his judgment” has come, which amounts to the same thing. He preaches his message to all “who dwell on the earth.” In Revelation, this expression refers to unbelieving people who ignore Jesus and are comfortable with sin. This unregenerate multitude covers the globe: “every nation and tribe and language and people.” The angel shows how God calls them all to take notice and heed the message of His Son’s coming.

The first angel’s having warned of judgment, the second angel shouts: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (v. 8). This cry introduces a new image to Revelation, yet one that apparently was widely understood in the early church. The Roman Empire of John’s time was like ancient Babylon, which destroyed Jerusalem, exiled the people of Israel, and persecuted them for observing their duties to God. Both Babylon and Rome are symbols of the world system and its rulers as they oppose God and His people.

Rome and Babylon were known not only for tyrannical oppression but also for the sinful seduction of surrounding nations. Babylon “made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality (v. 8). In our time, it is America and other decadent Western nations that export sexually permissive values and provide the appetite that fuels a vast global network of prostitution and pornography. The fall of Babylon provides a sober warning of what will happen to America if it does not repent of its sin.  This second angel warns of God’s judgment on those who drink from Babylon’s cup.

The first angel brought a warning to the spiritually indifferent world about the coming hour of God’s judgment, calling people to wake up and repent. The second angel urged the certainty of God’s judgment on wicked Babylon, answering the cup of sin with God’s cup of wrath. The third angel’s message warns us about the severity of God’s wrath in the hour of judgment (vv. 9-10). The first angel warned the spiritually negligent. The second angel threatened those who enjoy Babylon’s corruption. The third angel confronts those who have given their loyalty to the world and have thus worshiped the beast, that is, the worldly power of intimidation.

The Bible states that those who deny God glory must inevitably glory in the world and through it in the Evil One. Those who will not serve the true God must worship the false gods, behind which stands Satan. In John’s day, the beast was manifested in the Roman emperor and his demand to be worshiped as God. Today, the beast may be political tyrants, corporate titans, entertainment idols, or anyone else to whom we give the devotion of our hearts. The angel warns that the true God responds in wrath to this idolatry. Those who worship earthly idols will “be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (v. 10).

If the first two angels foretold the certainty of judgment, the third angel warns of the reality of hell. It is always easy to go along with the world, but here we calculate the cost. This angel speaks of God’s punishment in the form of “torment” from “fire and sulfur” (v. 10). We should remember Revelation speaks in symbols, so “fire and sulfur” should be taken symbolically. If the fire and sulfur of hell is a symbol, the reality can only be much worse in hell’s punishment of bodily and spiritual torment. Verse 11 speaks of “the smoke of their torment” going up. Here too, smoke is figurative, yet is serves as an enduring memorial of God’s punishment involving a real, ongoing, eternal, and conscious torment.

The fact that God has warned us of judgment in advance shows that He offers salvation to those who repent and believe. Even as the angel warns of the hour of judgment, John 3:16 still calls sinners to be saved: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Christians are called to tell people the true story of Jesus’ death and to live out His resurrection power. This is John’s application from this passage. What should we do in such a dreadful battle? John answers: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus” (v. 12).

When John urges us to continue in “faith in Jesus,” he means that we must continue to look up to that gospel carried by the angel in heaven. It tells us that through faith we are forgiven by Christ’s blood and reconciled to God. It bears good news that our Savior has conquered the evil power under which we have suffered. John adds that we must also “keep the commandments of God” (v. 12). The cup of sin, sexual immorality, and worldly idolatry will be offered to us by this harlot world. God’s Word gives us wisdom to recognize it as poison.

We remember how Jesus drank the cup filled to the brim with God’s wrath in our sins so that we might be forgiven (Matt. 26:39), and out of love for Him we drink the cup of life that He gives. We can be sure that by refusing our allegiance to the world, we will suffer its wrath. But we hear the angel cry, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great” (v. 8), and our hearts are lifted up. In the day of Christ, faith and obedience will be crowned with eternal life in glory. The holy life of faith and obedience will present the very witness that the people we love need to see so that they may be encouraged to believe. And in the hour of God’s judgment, in the presence of His holy angels, Christ will reward those who bore the mark of His name, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).

Revelation 14:6-12 Study Questions:

What is the “eternal gospel,” the good news that the first angel announces to all the people of the earth in verses 6-7?

How does the spirit of Babylon still seem to live on in our own day?

What judgment does the third angel pronounce on those who are implicated in the monstrous evil of “Babylon” (vv. 9-11)?

What do these warnings show us about the character of God?

What does it look like for us to follow Jesus (v. 12) even in the face of such difficult warnings of impending judgment?