Revelation 14:6 - Meaning and Application

In this part of the chapter, we have three angels, or messengers, sent from heaven to announce Babylon’s fall, and to speak about what came before and after that great event.

The first angel is sent on a message that comes before Babylon’s fall, and that message is to preach the everlasting gospel (Revelation 14:6, Revelation 14:7). The gospel is everlasting in its very nature, and it will remain so in its results. Though all people are like grass, the word of the Lord lasts forever. It is fitting work for an angel to preach this everlasting gospel, because the task is both noble and hard. Yet God has placed this treasure in jars of clay.

This everlasting gospel matters to the whole world. Since it concerns everyone, it should be made known to every nation, tribe, language, and people. The gospel is the chief means by which people learn to fear God and give him glory. Natural religion, meaning what people can know of God through nature and conscience alone, is not enough to keep up true reverence for God or to secure his glory from people. It is the gospel that revives the fear of God and restores his honor in the world.

When idolatry slips into God’s churches, it is by the preaching of the gospel, with the power of the Holy Spirit, that people are turned from idols to serve the living God. He is the Creator of heaven, earth, sea, and springs of water (Revelation 14:7). To worship any god besides the one who made the world is idolatry.

The second angel follows and announces Babylon’s actual fall. The preaching of the everlasting gospel had shaken the roots of antichristianism, that is, the system opposed to Christ, and had hurried its ruin. Babylon is usually taken to mean Rome, which had already been called Sodom and Egypt because of its wickedness and cruelty. It is now first called Babylon because of its pride and idolatry.

We should notice three things here. What God has planned and foretold will happen as certainly as if it had already taken place. The greatness of papal Babylon will not keep it from falling, but will make the fall more terrible and striking. Its sin in corrupting, misleading, and intoxicating the nations around it will make its judgment just and show God’s righteousness in its total ruin (Revelation 14:8). Its crimes are listed as the clear reason for its destruction.

The third angel follows the other two and warns everyone about the divine punishment that would come on all who stubbornly stayed loyal to the antichristian cause after God had already announced its downfall (Revelation 14:9, Revelation 14:10). If, after this warning against Babylon, and after part of it has already been carried out, anyone still continues in idolatry, claiming allegiance to the beast and supporting his cause, they must expect to drink deeply of the wine of God’s wrath. They will be forever miserable in both soul and body. Jesus Christ will carry out this judgment, and the holy angels will see it and approve it.

Idolatry, whether pagan or papal, is a damning sin by nature, and it will destroy those who keep on in it after clear warning from God’s word and providence. Those who refuse to come out of Babylon when called, and choose to share in her sins, must also share in her plagues. The guilt and ruin of such hardened idolaters will also highlight the beauty of the saints’ patience and obedience. These graces will be rewarded with salvation and glory. When the treachery and rebellion of others are punished with everlasting destruction, then it will be said, to the honor of the faithful, “Here is the patience of the saints” (Revelation 14:12). You have already seen their patience tested, and now you see it rewarded.