MP3: The Mighty Angels of Revelation 13-14
Hosts: Nathan Jones & Vic Batista
The Gospel Angel
Nathan Jones: In Revelation 14:1-5, we saw angels teaching 144,000 young Jewish men a special song so that they can use it to evangelize the world. God continues working His redemptive plan through His angelic messengers. Now in Revelation 14:6-13, God is going to speak His Gospel message to the world directly through three evangelistic angels.
By this mid-point in the Tribulation, God has sent the 144,000 Jewish Evangelists out to evangelize the world. God had also sent the Two Witnesses, whom we read about earlier in Revelation, who shared the Gospel from Jerusalem during the first half of the Tribulation. Now in the second half, God is going to send angels directly to the people to share the Gospel. Let’s pick up with verses 6-7:
“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 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.'”
Vic Batista: Awesome how we again are seeing the continuation of the work of these mighty angels, and this Gospel Angel is proclaiming the everlasting Gospel.
Nathan Jones: Right, this angel is proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, meaning that Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected from the dead. Jesus beat death! When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ we will be saved of our sins and the punishment will be taken off of us and placed onto Him. We can stand before God holy and pure. That is the Good News, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Vic Batista: The Gospel is a simple message that has not changed for 2,000 years and never will throughout time, for it is the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Nathan Jones: We know that during the Millennial Kingdom that follows the Tribulation there will be children born during that Kingdom, and they will need the Gospel, too, so that leaves another 1,000 years yet to come of the Gospel being proclaimed. As the passage reads, it is the Everlasting Gospel. Throughout eternity we will be praising the Lord for His great work in bringing salvation to the world and reuniting mankind back to our Creator.
Vic Batista: I love verse 7 because it is also a call for people living in our time. The message tells us we should fear, meaning respect, God and give glory to Him because there is a judgment on the world coming.
Nathan Jones: Exactly, and that’s why the Lord sends His angels out to preach the Gospel to every person left on the earth. Remember what Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:14. Before His Second Coming every person on the planet would get to hear the Gospel.
Will the Gospel reach every person before the Rapture? Not according to Revelation 14. In our day and age, the translation ministries have done excellent work in reaching almost all of the major people groups. They are now working with smaller unreached groups, those under 200 people, out in the jungles. There are clearly some people groups who have yet to hear the Gospel.
But, Jesus was not referring to the Rapture that happens before the seven-year Tribulation, but to the Second Coming which happens at the end of those seven years. By the Second Coming of Jesus, at the end of the Tribulation, every single person on the earth will have been given the Gospel.
By the #SecondComing of #Jesus, every person will have been given the #Gospel. Click To TweetOne of the ways in which every person is reached with the Gospel by the Second Coming is that they are visited by the Gospel Angel. He is the first of three proclaiming angels which we’ll call Evangelism Angels. The first, the Gospel Angel, goes to every nation, tribe, tongue and people and shares the Gospel with them.
Vic Batista: True, Jesus in Matthew 24 does talk about the Gospel of His Kingdom being preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. We see that is going to happen during the time of the Tribulation. Some people believe that the Gospel much reach everybody in our time before the Rapture, but Revelation 14 teaches otherwise.
Nathan Jones: Yes, there is a view that the Church will eventually evangelize the entire world, and everybody will become saved, and then Jesus will come back. That is called Post-Millennialism, but that will not be the case. The Church will not evangelize the entire world before we are raptured. We are making a good run of it, but God has a special crusade for the Tribulation where every person will be given the Gospel. That fact means that no person will be without excuse. Every person during the Tribulation who takes the Mark of the Beast willfully will know what they’ve taken, because they will have miraculously been given the Gospel, and yet have rejected it.
Vic Batista: Today we have a satellite network called Sky Angel which has wonderful Christian programs.
Nathan Jones: Right, our ministry’s program “Christ in Prophecy” airs on Sky Angel and other networks. I’m not saying that the Sky Angel satellite will be the Gospel Angel who shares the Gospel. Instead, picture an actual angel showing up to each and every person and giving them the Gospel. Wow!
Vic Batista: How merciful and loving of God to send out the Gospel Angel for His glory and for His purpose in evangelizing the world!
The Babylon is Doomed Angel
Nathan Jones: The second angel of the three Evangelism Angels follows the Gospel Angel, but he has a different message than the Gospel. He proclaims in Revelation 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.” This angel is proclaiming doom for the Antichrist’s kingdom which he calls Babylon.
What exactly is Babylon? We don’t know if it is the city of Babylon rebuilt in Iraq, or it is Rome, some say Jerusalem, some even say New York City, but I don’t think Babylon is quite any of those. I think what the Doom Angel is talking about is the Antichrist’s global system of government. The angel is proclaiming that the Antichrist’s kingdom will be falling. Now again, this is a flash-forward to the end of the seven-year Tribulation, so the angel says “fallen” as in the past tense. This gives the reader hope knowing that the Antichrist will certainly be defeated.
Vic Batista: These flash-forwards push us up to Revelation 17-18 regarding Babylon, which we will cover in a later segment.
For that person who doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the simple message of the Gospel Angel is even now available to you if you will allow the Lord to work in your heart.
Nathan Jones: Remember what the Gospel Angel proclaimed in Revelation 14:7, “Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come, worship Him who made Heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Vic Batista: What a simple yet profound message! Pray from your heart to receive Jesus Christ.
In the thirty-first segment of our series “The Mighty Angels of Revelation,” we’ll continue in Revelation 14 and be introduced to the Don’t You Take the Mark Angel.