At a Jewish wedding in the early Christian
era a groom would wear a ceremonial crown and… [the groom would arrive [at the
home of his parents] during the night prior to a wedding. He was attended by
male companions, one of whom would serve as his best man…. Upon his arrival the
groom’s family would host a feast…[and he would be] received by a group of
young women. Early the next day the friends of the groom would go out to bring
back the bride, who would arrive in a sedan chair with the groom’s friends as
her symbolic honor guard.
The marriage would be consummated on [that
night, after the actual wedding ceremony,] the first night of a banquet
celebration typically lasting for seven days….[1]
Jesus’ parable has to do with the young women
who would receive the bridegroom at the start of the festivities. In his
parable they are called “ten virgins.” Most likely they helped prepare and
beautify the bride, then went to the home of the bridegroom to receive him and accompany
him into the feast lighting the way and perhaps helping to provide light as the
celebration went into the evening. The “lamps” or torches had rags at the end
that were soaked in oil, so they would continue to burn. Oil had to be added
every fifteen minutes or so to keep them going.[2]
With this background we can now comprehend
the parable Jesus told:
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten
virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them
were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they
took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As
the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight
there was a cry, “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” 7 Then all
those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise,
“Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.” 9 But the wise
answered, saying, “Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather
to the dealers and buy for yourselves.” 10 And while they were going to buy,
the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage
feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying,
“Lord, lord, open to us.” 12 But he answered, “Truly, I say to you, I do not
know you.” 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the
day nor the hour.
Since Jewish weddings of that day depicted
the bridegroom as a king coming for his bride (the queen), it forms a great
picture of what it will be like when the ultimate bridegroom and king comes for
his bride. This is why Jesus began with these words, “Then the kingdom of
heaven will be like….” He is speaking not of the start of the kingdom that came
with his first coming (cf. Mk. 1:14-15). Rather, he is looking forward to the
future consummation of the full and eternal glorious kingdom, the reign of God
forever, over and with his people. It is also not surprising that Jesus uses
the young women, the virgins, as a picture of people who are waiting for that
coming. After all, if they were to be the true attendants of the bride and if
they were to be a genuine part of the marriage feast, they must not only be
busy about beautifying the bride, but they must also be prepared for and
awaiting with love their blessed hope (cf. Titus 2:13). Jesus depicts five as
ready and five as not. The latter five did not care about the bridegroom and bride
enough to look forward to his coming and to act as a result.
What is the point of the parable? It is found
in Matthew 25:13: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
It is to make sure you are part of the first group (those who love the
bridegroom and the bride more than themselves), those ready, and not part of
the second group (who loved themselves more). The first group will enjoy
forever the presence of the bridegroom. The latter will be forever separated
from his favorable presence and face judgment.
I have told and explained this parable since
it clearly and memorably provides for us the same message we find in Revelation
14:6-20. For here, we also will see that Jesus Christ will come again and with
him the full kingdom of glory will be consummated (Rev. 15:1-4). As such, he
will bring ultimate salvation to his people, but judgment to those who continue
to ignore and/or reject him.
From the inception of the book of Revelation,
Christ’s future coming has been established (1:7), but thereafter only alluded
to or implied (11:11-12) until this passage. What we find in these fifteen
verses are visions (or histories) #5 and #6 in Revelation’s third cycle
(12:1-15:4) through this present age. It is the first look in some detail at
Christ’s second coming within Revelation and what will happen in conjunction
with it and how these future realities should shape our lives now. We are
reminded with this passage once again that each cycle through this age does not
merely repeat what has gone before, but progressively gives a more detailed
look at what happens now, with the second coming of Christ, and with the future
consummated kingdom of glory.
In the first eight verses we find the fifth
vision of this cycle.
The
Proclamation Of The Gospel And Judgment By Three Angels. 14:6-13
It is not until the sixth vision (14:14-20)
that we see clearly what is happening here accompanies the second coming of
Jesus Christ. What we find in the fifth vision, through three different angels,
are three different messages the world must pay attention to so they can be
ready.
Angel One: A Warning Of Judgment To The Unbelieving World, And A
Call To Fear God. 6-7
In verse six we read: “Then I saw another
angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who
dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.” In our
previous post we learned that Revelation 14:1-5 and 15:1-5 form bookends around
the fourth through the seventh visions in this third cycle. They let us know
that this third cycle has brought us to the end, the consummation of the future
full kingdom of glory (15:1-4) and who will be part of the joy of that future kingdom
(14:1-5). However, here in the middle part we see there is a warning for those
who are ignoring (14:6-13) the coming king (14:14-20).
The first of three angels is referred to as
“another angel” because of the angels who have been key parts of earlier
visions in the entire work of Revelation, especially as visions were unfolded
(cf. 5:2; 7:2; 8:2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12; 9:1, 13; 10:1, 5, 7, 15). All of the
references just listed in chapters 8-10 deal with seven angels who had seven
trumpets that were integral in the second cycle in the book. The seventh angel
is referred to in 10:1 as “another mighty angel” and his trumpet brings the
vision to the consummation (cf. 10:15). Most likely, John writes, “another
angel” here to tie loosely into those earlier visions. What will be announced
here is not only very important (highlighted by the angels, “another angel,”
and “mighty voice”), but like with the seventh angel and his trumpet, this part
of this cycle brings us also to the consummation of the future full kingdom of
glory.
The angel that is “flying directly overhead,”
literally “in the midst of the sky” (cf. Rev. 8:13; 19:17) is said to have “an
eternal gospel to proclaim.” It is
eternal since it is never changing and also since it has eternal consequences.
The fact that it is “a gospel,” rather than “the gospel” (as is more common in
the New Testament), does not mean this is a different gospel. The point seems
to be that there is a different focus or emphasis than what is typical. The
second and third angels will make it clear that the focus here is on why the
gospel is needed, i.e. apart from salvation in Jesus Christ, all people are
lost and face God’s judgment. It might be that though the focus here is on
judgment, the saving part of the gospel is also being proclaimed (“since you
are under God’s judgment, repent and trust in Christ!”).
This first angel addresses “those who dwell
on earth,” literally, those who sit or are stuck on earth or in an earthly view
of things. Such language in Revelation refers to those who are idolatrous and
who reject or ignore the true God (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10a, 10b; 13:8, 12,
14a, 14b; 17:2, 8). This refers to those
whose main existence and allegiance is earthly and is contrasted with those
whose main existence is heaven and with Jesus on Mount Zion (14:1-5). And what
is said here to and about these earth dwellers is not parochial, but is true of
all kinds of people, throughout the whole world—all who have ignored or
rejected Christ (“to every nation and tribe and language and people,” see also 10:11;
13:7; and 17:15).
And what did the angel say to all the lost in
verse seven “with a loud voice” (emphasizing its heavenly origin and
importance)? “Fear God and give him glory.”
There appears to be a dual meaning. On the one hand, most of the times
people are called to give God glory in Revelation (twelve times) it is
addressed to the community of believers (see a close parallel in 15:4). This
also fits with the exhortation at the end of verse seven, “and worship him…,”
which elsewhere is always addressed to the believing community. However, there
is also a parallel in 11:13 (“the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God
of heaven”), where the people are unbelievers coerced to acknowledge God’s
sovereignty. There in 11:13 we saw that this is an allusion to Dan. 4:34.
Because there are many parallels between Dan. 4 (where Nebuchadnezzar
acknowledges the true God, but most likely not as a genuine believer in God)
and Rev. 14:6-8, most likely this exhortation is meant to call unbelievers to
fear God and give him glory. I believe most likely what is going on here is
that the angel is calling unbelievers to trust in the Savior and so to fear
God, give him glory, and to worship him in the true and full sense. However, for
those who will not, the result will be fear/terror and giving of glory to him
in judgment.
Next, we discover why this exhortation is
given: “because the hour of his judgment has come.” This has reference to the
time of God’s final judgment (see also the same use of “hour” in Rev. 17:12-18)
and so it is that much more important that unbelievers reverence God and give
him glory in faith and repentance. If they do not, they will fear God and give
him glory by means of their being judged!
There are several points of application we
must note before continuing.
(1) To begin, as we teach the gospel to others, we must not
forget to explain why salvation in Christ is needed. It is because we are
sinners and under God’s judgment apart from him. To leave this out is to run
the risk of proclaiming a false gospel and a false Savior—namely one who fixes
our brokenness, takes us to himself, makes us feel good, and yet does not care
about our sin or about how we live. With such a “savior,” we do not reverence
and glorify the true God and Savior!
(2) What is more, when a person genuinely trusts in the
true Savior, there is a sense of reverence for him and a desire to glorify him.
This leads to obedience and transformation (cf. 14:4-5).
(3) Additionally, we must remember this gospel never
changes or becomes obsolete. It is always needed.
(4) Finally, we must never forget that God is glorified
both in salvation and judgment.
Angel Two: The Pronouncement Of Judgment Upon The World System
Referred to As Babylon, For She Has Led Mankind To Blinding-And-Intoxicating
Spiritual Adultery. 8
The first part of this verse reads: “Another angel, a second,
followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great….’” In Isaiah 21:9a we
read, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon” and this is equivalent to the statement in
Isaiah 21:9b that Babylon’s idols have been destroyed: “and all the carved
images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.” The nation of Babylon was not
only used by God in the sixth century, B.C., to judge and discipline wayward,
but also was viewed as the epitome of an idolatrous, God-opposing people, who
would also persecute those who are righteous. It is no surprise, then, that in
Revelation “Babylon” is used as a label for the universal world system that
opposes God, persecutes his people, and will be judged by God (16:19; 17:5;
18:1, 2, 10, 21).[3]
In the rest of the verse we discover why this God-opposing world
system faces judgment: “‘…she who made all nations drink the wine of the
passion of her sexual immorality.’” Here is brought together two different
metaphors for idolatry. The first, intoxication, not only has Old Testament
precedent (Is. 29:9-10; Jer. 51:7-8; Hos. 4:10-12), but also gives a powerful
picture of how idolatry impacts a person. It dulls their senses to both what is
good and right, as well as what is dangerous, and it makes people stagger
through life. The second, sexual sin, also has Old Testament precedent (Isaiah
57:3-13; Ezek. 16; Hos. 1-3), and it also provides a great picture of what
idolatry is: namely unfaithfulness to
God! Both of these same descriptions are
used of the Babylonian world system in Rev. 18:2-3, where it is also made clear
that idolatry has demonic origins.
As was discovered in Revelation 13, giving allegiance to the world
system that ultimately serves Satan is not only idolatry, but it also brings
God’s judgment.
Because all three of these angels and their messages are found in
the fifth vision in this cycle and also speak of unbelievers, it is most likely
they are parallel and so are describing the same people. In other words, those
who are stuck in the world and its thinking (6-7) are those who have given
allegiance to the Babylonian world system that is guilty of intoxicating
spiritually adultery and deserving of God’s wrath.
This is one of the many passages in Revelation that warn readers
against worshiping the world system and warn against being taken in by it. As
Jesus Christ reveals himself and the entailments of life in him, he also
clarifies how easily we can become unfaithful to God as we give ourselves to
counterfeit gods. When this happens, our senses are dulled and we cease to have
ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us (see Rev. 2-3). The problem can be
either that we are not genuine believers or that we are believers who have
strayed from God and been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:12-13).
Angel Three: A Pronouncement Of What Happens To Those Who Reject
The Eternal Gospel, Give Into the Strong Influence of Babylon, and Worship The
Beast And Its Image. 9-11
In this third statement to the unbelieving world, one that comes
from the third angel, we have a conditional statement. The protasis (that part
of the condition that communicates, “If this happens”) is found in verse 9: “And
another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone
worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his
hand….’” The worshiping of the beast, its image, and receiving a mark on the
forehead or hand come out of Revelation 13. There we saw this was a picturesque
way of speaking of the idolatry of worshiping, giving allegiance to, or
trusting in the world system and its gatekeepers for our hope, happiness, our
significance and security, or our salvation. So, this condition has to do with
those earth dwellers (vv. 6-7) who worship the Babylonian-like, intoxicating
world system that is unfaithful to God (8).
What happens when people love self, world, anything, or anyone
more than God? We find out in the
apodosis of the condition (the “this, then, is what happens” part), which is
found in verses 10-11: “‘…he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured
full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and
sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And
the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day
or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the
mark of its name.’”
In verses 10-11 we discover that those who never repent and turn
to the true God and his Savior for salvation will face his judgment, and this
consists of just and grievous eternal punishment in hell.
When we put together the messages of all three of these angels, we
see that there is only one way of salvation and that is to trust in Jesus
Christ as Savior. This is seen especially in light of previous contexts where
we see that the only way of Salvation, the only way to know and worship the
true God is to receive and rest upon Jesus Christ alone for salvation, the one
who lived, died, and was raised in the place of sinners (Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9, 14).
The result is that they follow Jesus (14:4) and are sealed by and secure in
Jesus (7:1-8; 14:1-5). For those who ignore or reject Jesus Christ, they will
face eternal judgment.
As A Result Of The Messages Of The Three Angels, There Is A Call
For True Believers To Endure And A Promise Of Reward For Those Who Do. 12-13
First, in verse 12 there is a call for believers to endure in the
faith and not to give into idolatry: “Here is a call for the endurance of the
saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” Revelation
both affirms that genuine saints will persevere (3:5; 15:2; 20:12-15; 21:7) and also affirms that saints must persevere (here and 13:9-10,
18; 22:14). Saints are commanded to persevere, and all should know that no one
who professes faith in Christ, but does not endure to the end, will be saved.
Yet, all genuine saved persons will heed these calls and warnings and will
persevere by God’s grace. In context, the specific call to endure is to avoid giving
into idolatry by giving into worship of the Babylonian world system, even if
one must pay a great price in this world for not capitulating.
Next, these enduring saints are given motivations for their
endurance in verse 13: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this:
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says
the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’”
At the very point that life is at its worst and lowest (at the point of death
and all that leads to that death), even then true believers experience
happiness since they are saved and will experience rest from all their troubles
and turmoil. After all, their persevering works that are evidence of their
salvation will follow them and assure their eternal reward.
Now that the fifth vision in this third cycle is complete and we
have seen both an exhortation to unbelievers to turn to Christ and for
believers to persevere, we now come to the sixth vision in 14:14-20, and
discover what we are seeing now takes place when Christ comes again to gather
believers to himself and to judge unbelievers.
The Son Of Man’s
Harvest Of The Earth During His Second Coming: Believers Are Gathered To The Lord And
Unbelievers Are Gathered To Suffer God’s Thoroughgoing Judgment At The Very End
Of Time. 14:14-20
There are two primary emphases we discover in these seven verses.
The Gathering And Judgment Of Believers. 14-16
Following images first found in Daniel 7 and the coming of the Son
of Man[4] and also images that speak
of judgment (use of a sickle), we read in 14-16: “Then I looked, and behold, a
white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown
on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of
the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your
sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth
is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the
earth, and the earth was reaped.”
The parallelism of verses 14-16 and 17-20, along with similar
pictures elsewhere of gathering first believers and then unbelievers (cf. Matt.
13:29–30, 37–43) strongly suggest that we have the gathering and judgment of
believers here in 14-16. And, as has already been affirmed, these believers
will go into eternal happiness and bliss as they receive their reward (14:12-13).
The Gathering And Judgment Of Unbelievers. 17-20
Here we read: “Then another angel came out of the temple in
heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the
altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud
voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, ‘Put in your sickle and gather the
clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ 19 So the angel
swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress
was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a
horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.”
Based upon the phrase, “the great winepress of the wrath of God,”
in verse 19 and the vision of blood in verse 20, this is clearly punishment of
the wicked.
On the picture of the winepress and the blood, the background to
this is Isaiah 63:3, a passage that looks forward to God’s future day of
judgment: “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was
with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood
spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.” The shedding of blood
that involved judgment or punishment could not take place within the boundaries
of the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:32; John 19:17; Acts
7:58; Heb. 13:12). Here the city represents the secure abode of God’s people.
So, the judgment is “outside the city,” i.e. on those who are not in Christ
(see 14:1-5; 21:1-7).
Finally, on the last part of verse 20, Simon Kistemaker (in his
commentary on Revelation) helpfully writes the following:
And
the blood came out of the winepress up to the bridles of the horses for a
distance of sixteen hundred stadia. This is the first time the word blood
appears in the present context. It enlivens the intensity of the conflict
between Christ and the anti-Christian forces that face judgment and dreadful
punishment. John obviously paints a picture by using the symbolic images of
grape juice from a winepress representing blood, and horses with bridles
portraying warfare. He writes a similar account of this warfare in 19:11–21.
There he mentions the horseman who treads the winepress of the fury of the
wrath of God Almighty, whose robe is dipped in blood and whose name is the Word
of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords. This rider on a white horse is a
judge who judges righteously and a general who engages his enemies in warfare.
The
enemy faces complete annihilation to the degree where the level of blood and
gore rises as high as the horses’ bridles. The length of this river of blood is
1600 stadia, that is, about 180 miles or 300 kilometers. Some commentators
refer this measure to the land of Israel from north to south. Others understand
the figure to mean the square of forty. Forty is the traditional number that
symbolizes punishment (forty years in the desert [Num. 14:33]; forty lashes for
an evildoer [Deut. 25:3]). Still others take the number 1600 symbolically and
interpret it as the square of four multiplied by the square of ten; the number
four represents the earth and the number ten stands for fullness in the decimal
systems.
Conclusion
What we have, then, in the two visions of Revelation 14:6-20 is a
clear affirmation that Jesus Christ is coming again to consummate the kingdom
of God. And when he does come, he will bring ultimate and complete salvation
for his people, but he will also come to judge extensively, fully, and
eternally all those who are not his followers and oppose him.
The message of this passage is that a person must not only receive
and rest upon Christ alone for salvation, but also persevere in that
salvation—not giving into worship of the world system, a temptation to which we
easily succumb. Otherwise, Revelation would not warn us about idolatry so
frequently!
This future coming of Jesus not only comprises our blessed hope,
it also reminds us to be ready for the coming of the bridegroom-king, like
those young women in Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:1-13 who so loved and
cherished the bridegroom, they took steps to be ready. May we take care that we
not give into the love of the world system around us and may we do as John
exhorts us at the end of his first epistle:
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).
Joyfully Persevering In And Awaiting The Bridegroom-King With You,
Tom
[1]
This is taken from “Weddings In Ancient Israel,” in the
Archaeological Study Bible, 1039. The
fact that the wedding ceremony takes place after the bride is brought to the
bridegroom, before the consummation of the marriage is taken from Michael J.
Wilkins, the ESV Study Bible,
1876, on Matthew 25:1.
[3]
The way that John refers to the idolatrous world system is “Babylon the great”
a statement taken from Daniel 4:30. Daniel 4:30, an arrogant and idolatrous
affirmation from the lips of Nebuchadnezzar just prior to his humiliation and
just after the record of his idolatrous actions in Dan. 3, reads: “Is not this
great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and
for the glory of my majesty?” The LXX
for “great Babylon” has the very same phrase we see here in Rev. 14:8.
Regarding “Babylon the great,” Beale, Campbell, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015) 302-3, write: “[This is] Nebuchadnezzar’s prideful
description (Dan. 4:30). End-time Babylon is about to fall, just as was
Nebuchadnezzar…. The ungodly social, political, and economic system dominated
by the Roman Empire placed believers in the same position as Israel under
Babylon. Therefore, Rome and all wicked world systems take on the symbolic name
‘Babylon the great.’ Indeed, this symbolic interpretation of Babylon is assured
beyond reasonable doubt by the prophecies of God’s judgment on historical
Babylon, which foretold that Babylon ‘will be desolate forever’ (Jer. 51:26)
and ‘not rise again’ (Jer. 51:64; cf. 50:39-40; 51:24-26, 62-64; so also Is. 13:19-22).
Thus, that ‘Babylon the Great’ is applied to the ungodly kingdom in the new
covenant era shows clearly that it cannot refer to literal Babylon.”
[4]
Regarding “a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man,”
Beale, Campbell, Revelation,
310, write that this is “an allusion to Dan. 7:13 and stands in the
interpretive tradition of Mt. 24:30. This tradition usually associates the Son
of Man’s coming with both redemption and judgment.” I argue this is a reason
for seeing the gathering of believers in 14-16 and judgment on gathered
unbelievers in 17-20. Additionally, we see once again that Revelation is
announcing the inauguration of the fulfillment of visions Daniel saw and
recorded in his book. Simon Kistemaker, Revelation,
416, adds: “John had already alluded to this Old Testament passage when he
predicted the return of Jesus “coming with the clouds” and called him “a son of
man” (1:7 and 13 respectively).” He adds that this is the only place a “white
cloud” occurs in Scripture. It might be a symbol of holiness and judgment.
Also, he adds: “these clouds are the exact opposite of dark foreboding clouds
that intend to hide God’s glory (Exod. 19:9; 1 Kings 8:12).”
