And another, a third, angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any one do homage to the beast and its image, and receive a mark upon his forehead or upon his hand,
In Revelation 14 a series of angels makes public announcements. This third one is the darkest: a shouted warning about the cost of worshipping the beast and taking his mark.
The announcements in this chapter come before the judgment itself.
There is a solemn call to repentance, and the announcement of coming judgment on the different forms of evil that have corrupted the earth. The judgments are not carried out yet. They are warnings of what is at hand, visions of what is coming — given to John, and recorded here for the comfort and guidance of believers in all ages.
The angel before this one announced the fall of Babylon, the corrupt religious system. One writer explains why this third message is heavier.
Babylon is not the only evil that must perish so that Christ may reign. Removing Babylon only makes room at first for another form of evil to develop fully, one more openly blasphemous than this. The woman makes way for the man — what at least claims to be subject to Christ makes way for what is in open revolt against Him. So the woe threatened here is far more sweeping and terrible than before. There are people of God who come out of Babylon, and who therefore were in her to come out (Rev. 18:4). But the beast in its final form guarantees the ruin of all who follow it.
The verse names two places for the mark. It first appears one chapter earlier. There a writer reads its placement as the language of slavery.
A mysterious mark is put on the right hand or on the forehead of everyone. The only exceptions are the martyrs, who lay down their lives in firm and faithful protest against this satanic claim. The mark on the "hand" would mean that the branded person was an active slave of the beast. Stamped on the "forehead," it would serve as a public acknowledgement of slavery. Either way, all must own the absolute supremacy of the beast and worship him. It was usual to brand slaves with the name or special mark of their owner. Paul (Gal. 6:17), Israel in her tribes (Rev. 7:3), the preserved of Judah (Rev. 14:1), and the glorified and heavenly saints (Rev. 22:4) are marked by God as belonging to Him, and that publicly.
The angel does not murmur. The volume has a purpose, and so does the cup he names.
The "third angel" says "with a loud voice" — so that all may hear, and so be without excuse. The nations had drunk out of the harlot's cup (v. 8); now in retributive justice they shall drink out of God's cup (v. 10). In this cup there are no ingredients to soften it. It is pure, unmixed wrath.
Refusing the mark means facing the beast's anger instead of God's. That choice is the test of faith.
A third angel announces the punishment of the inhabitants of the earth who worship the beast. Men must choose between the wrath of God and the wrath of the beast. The great proof of faith at that time will be in not worshipping the beast.
Those who hold out are described in verse 12 as keeping God's commandments and the faith of Jesus — and one writer notes how little they may know compared with a Christian today, and how much it will still carry them through.
When people generally are being forced to comply with the demands and commands of the beasts, these will keep the commandments of God; and they will do it because they cling to "the faith of Jesus." They may not know Him in that full way which is the Christian's portion today, but they will know that Jesus, who once came and was despised and rejected, is the true Christ of God, and the faith of this will possess them in spite of everything.
Readers stumble at the severity of what follows in verses 10 and 11. One writer answers that this sin is the highest sin ever reached.
Mankind started on its fallen and lawless course fascinated by the lie of the devil, "You will be like God" (Gen. 3:5). Under the same evil leadership, and through the two beasts, mankind will make its supreme and final bid to reach the goal of its desire. At this point human sin reaches its climax and rises to its highest expression. Is it not fitting that the most bitter judgment should fall on the highest sin?
The wording of the penalty settles a question people still argue over: whether everyone is saved in the end. This writer quotes an older translation of verse 11.
It is worth noting the character of this judgment, in a day when universalism is so popular even among professing Christians. True, it falls on one class of people. But even if only some must endure their punishment for "ages of ages," with "no rest day nor night," that completely disproves the claim that there is no such thing as eternal punishment.
- Warned first. The judgment has not fallen yet. The angel announces it in advance, for the comfort and guidance of believers in every age.
- Warned loudly. The loud voice is deliberate — all may hear, so none can plead ignorance when the cup comes.
- Warned about a brand. The mark on the hand marks an active slave of the beast; on the forehead, a public confession of it. God marks His own people too.
- Warned of no exit. People could still come out of Babylon. The beast in his final form guarantees the ruin of everyone who follows him.
- Warned at the climax. This is the old lie "you will be like God" pushed to its limit. The highest sin draws the heaviest judgment, on those who chose the beast's wrath over God's.
he also shall drink of the wine of the fury of God prepared unmixed in the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb.
The third angel warns anyone who worships the beast and takes his mark. The verse raises hard questions: why the wrath is "full strength," why the Lamb is named as a witness, and why God says all this out loud first.
God shouts this warning instead of whispering it. Grant reads the volume itself as mercy.
Here God's mercy can only take one form: a loud, forceful threat of extreme punishment for those who worship the beast. The more terrible the evil, the more openly the Lord announces the doom that will fall on it, so that no one may walk into it without knowing.
The phrase behind "poured full strength" is a paradox in the Greek.
In Revelation 14:10 we have the expression tou kekerasmenou akratou, which describes "the wine of the wrath of God" more fully. Lowth and others take it to carry a contrast that our English version does not show — "the mingled unmingled." The picture is of wine not mixed with water to weaken it, but mixed with drugs to make it stronger.
Gaebelein puts the same fact in plain moral terms.
They drink of the wrath of God. It is "without mixture," that is, no mercy is found in the cup of His indignation.
The image answers something earlier in the chapter. The nations had already drunk from Babylon's cup. Where the ESV says "sulfur," older versions say "brimstone."
The nations had drunk out of the harlot's cup (v. 8); now in retributive justice they shall drink out of God's cup (v. 10). In this cup there are no soothing ingredients (Ps. 75:8). It is pure, unmixed wrath. "He shall be tormented in fire and brimstone." "Fire and brimstone" (Isa. 30:33; Rev. 20:10) are symbols of anguish beyond words. The awful torment is individual. Each one shall suffer eternal misery in his own person.
Why name the watchers? Scott treats them as part of the suffering itself.
Another awful feature of the agony laid on each follower of the Beast is that the torment must be endured "before (or in the presence of) the holy angels and before the Lamb." The holy angels had watched from their place on high the horrible wickedness of the Beast and his helpers. Now they will watch God's vengeance, and each tormented one will know that the angels are looking down on that scene of anguish. He suffers "before the Lamb" too, Whom they had openly defied, and Whose blood they had recklessly trampled on.
The same Person can be met in either of two ways.
There is not an unconverted man who shall not see Jesus Christ some day! If you look to Him now you will find Him a Saviour; when you see Him then you will find Him a Judge. If you come to Him now, you will find mercy. If you stand before Him then, you will be driven away to "drink of the wine of the wrath of God … in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb."
How long the punishment lasts settles a modern question: is everyone finally saved in the end? Dennett also names who shares this guilt.
In a day when universalism is so popular, even among professing Christians, it is worth noting what kind of judgment this is. True, it falls on one class of people. But if there were only some who must endure their punishment for "ages of ages," and who will "have no rest day nor night," that alone disproves the argument that there is no such thing as eternal punishment. Note also this: wherever man takes God's place in the souls of others, wherever men give to man what belongs to God alone, there is morally the same guilt that these terrible judgments are pronounced on here.
One other Person has drunk this cup. That is where the warning turns into an offer.
He looked at the cup, shrank from it, but said, I will drink it. Our eternal salvation hung on His drinking that cup. If He did not bear that wrath and judgment, we must; and if He did not drink that cup, we must drink it. ... Drain it? You will drink, and drink, and drink it again as the eternal ages roll on, but you will never drain it. Thank God, my Saviour has drained it for me.
- Cup announced — God proclaims the doom with a loud voice, so no one walks into it blindly. When evil goes this far, a loud threat is the shape mercy takes.
- Cup undiluted — The wine is "full strength": not weakened with water, but made stronger. No mercy softens what is in the cup.
- Cup returned — Those who drank from Babylon's cup must now drink from God's, and each one drinks it in his own person.
- Cup witnessed — The angels who saw the wickedness now watch the vengeance, and so does the Lamb they defied. That same Lamb is Saviour to whoever looks to Him now.
- Cup drained — No one will ever finish this cup: no rest, day or night. Only One ever drained it, and He drained it for others.
And the smoke of their torment goes up to ages of ages, and they have no respite day and night who do homage to the beast and to its image, and if any one receive the mark of its name.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Here is the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
The third angel has just warned of unending torment for everyone who worships the beast and takes his mark. Verse 12 turns to those who refuse the mark, and it raises two questions: who are these saints, and what holds them up when refusing costs everything?
Older versions read "patience" here. One study of the word shows it means more than waiting quietly:
hupomone (from hupomeno, "to sustain") is translated "enduring" in 2 Corinthians 1:6 and "patient continuance" in Romans 2:7. All of that belongs to the thought of the word. It is a "patient endurance" that does not give way under trial and suffering… The same word stands behind "the one who endures to the end" in Matthew 10:22 and Matthew 24:13… The Lord Jesus, in the place He has taken as Man, is our perfect example of it (Hebrews 12:2-3). He "endured" the cross, and the hostility of sinners against Himself.
These saints are not allowed to fight back. Holding on is the only course left to them:
In this state of things, unequalled in the history of the human race, the saints can only hold fast and hold on. They are forbidden to resist with the sword, even if they could (Rev. 13:10). But faith and patience win the day in the end, however severely they are tested. Death is before them; yet it is better for the beast to kill them than for them to share the beast's torment.
Verse 11 sounds like pure threat. One writer reads it as mercy, spoken while the saints' patience holds:
Here God's mercy can only take the form of a loud, emphatic threat of the harshest penalty for those who worship the beast. The more dreadful the evil, the more openly the Lord announces the doom that hangs over it, so that no one runs into that doom without knowing. Here "the patience of the saints" is sustained in a "reign of terror" such as the world has never yet seen.
Keeping God's commandments costs these saints, because a rival set of commands is pressed on everyone:
When people everywhere are being forced to obey the demands and commandments of the beasts, these will keep the commandments of God. They will do this because they cling to "the faith of Jesus." They may not know Him in that full way which belongs to the Christian today. But they will know that Jesus, who once came and was despised and rejected, is the true Christ of God. That faith will take hold of them despite everything, and they will brave the fury of the devil.
Their faith attaches to a name, and that name ties them to the martyrs later in the book:
The afflicted saints cling to the clear commands of God and to the faith of Jesus. In this prophetic record the martyrs are the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17:6). That name of sweetest sound is brought in only rarely in the book, but the places where it appears are full of interest (Rev. 14:12; Rev. 17:6; Rev. 22:16).
One writer names who these saints are, and adds a note on the verse's wording:
These saints are, in fact, the Jewish remnant. They hold to the commandments of God as given in Old Testament times, and they believe in Jesus as the coming Messiah, despite the claims of antichrist. Tested to the utmost, they will stand firm, holding fast to the word of God and to their faith in Jesus all through this period of darkness… The words "here are" before "they that," as in the English version, should be left out. The last clause of the verse simply describes what these saints are like.
Faithfulness takes one shape in calm times and another under persecution:
There are times when one can walk quietly. Faithfulness then means complete separation from the world. But peace makes this hard, because the line between the two is easily forgotten, and worldliness creeps in. In times of persecution faithfulness means bearing witness, and not denying the Lord or His testimony to escape the anger of man and of the enemy.
- Hold — endurance here is patience that carries a load without breaking. The same word describes Christ enduring the cross.
- Hold against — the beast issues commands, and these saints keep God's instead. Their choice narrows to death by the beast or torment with him.
- Hold onto — the faith of Jesus keeps them. They know the rejected One is the true Christ, even without the fuller light Christians have now.
- Held up — the loud threat of verse 11 is mercy, spoken while their patience holds through a reign of terror without parallel.
- Held out — in quiet days faithfulness means staying separate from the world. Under persecution it means not denying Him to escape.