Revelation 14:9

Revelation 14:9

In Revelation Chapter 14 we are being told some of the details about the judgment of God that will one day come against the earth. God is wonderfully merciful and loving, which He especially proved by sending His Son to die for us, but there comes a time if humans refuse to repent that God must send His judgment because He is holy and just. Revelation 14:9-11 says, "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; And the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name."

The greatest responsibility of man is to worship the one, true God. Therefore, the greatest sin is to worship someone or something else in place of God. The first of the Ten Commandments says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy mind, and all thy soul, and all thy strength." Evidently, during the time of the Great Tribulation the sin of idolatry will be worse than it has ever been on the earth. Instead of worshipping God, people will turn in great numbers to worshipping the antichrist. Human beings are offered the opportunity to taste the grace of God through Christ and to know the forgiveness of their sins and to escape the wrath of God. But when human beings have thrown away the mercy of God and have turned to all possible wickedness, what will be left for humans is the wrath of God and the judgment of God.

Notice that Revelation 14:11 is speaking of eternal damnation. It says that, "the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever." You will live on the earth for a few short years, but you will live somewhere else forever. Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man should he gain the whole world but lose his own soul?" Some people put too much importance on what happens in this life. They would be much wiser if they were concerned about their eternal destiny.

In contrast to the damned, Revelation 14:12-13 says a few things about those who are saved. It says, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth; Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." The word "blessed" can also be translated “happy.” Happy are those who die in the Lord. Death is not a sad thing for those who know Christ as Savior. For them, death is the beginning of eternal happiness. In this description of believers, we find both faith and works. If someone has faith without any works, there is a question as to if they have genuine faith, and there is the certainty that they will have no rewards. It is the desire of God that you have both faith and works. If someone has works without faith; then all that they have is self-righteousness, and they will not have attained unto the righteousness of God, which comes by grace through faith.

We are told about these believers that they have patience. They are able to wait for things. Sometimes you must even be willing to wait until the return of Christ to see the fulfillment of your heart’s longings. If you are not willing to wait upon God, then you will not be able to serve Him in this world: you will just be another person going about selfishly to fulfill your own desires. We are told that these believers "keep the commandments" of God. Do you want to know what God’s will is for you today? As you go through each day’s activities, one of the things that God wants you to do is to keep His commandments. Do not lie, do not steal, do not commit adultery, etc.

Several things in Revelation 14:12-13 tell us that what we actually do is important. We are told that the believers "keep the commandments," and their "labors" are mentioned as well as their "works." This refers to the effort and the actions and the behavior of the believers, which are important. But despite this, the reason that they are called blessed is because they "die in the Lord." The difference between heaven and hell is not the effort or the good works that were done, but the relationship with Christ. If you have the right spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, then you also will be "blessed" because you will die in the Lord, and you will live forever with Him.

Revelation 14:14-16 says, "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle." Of course, these verses show us some of the details concerning the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. The first time that Jesus came, He came as a Lamb to the slaughter, and men did to Him whatsoever they would; but the second time He will come as a King and as a Judge. Jesus is seen as a king here because He has "on his head a golden crown." Jesus is the King of Kings, and He will fulfill the promises that were made about a great king who would one day sit on the throne of David. The believers have a lot of wonderful things to look forward to because we will be a part of the greatest Kingdom the world has ever known; and the One who will be sitting on the throne of that Kingdom will be Jesus our Savior.

When Jesus returns to the earth, he will be the King that we all have waited for and have needed so badly. But when Jesus returns, He is also returning as a judge. Before He sets up His kingdom on earth, He will judge the world and everyone in the world. This judgment will not be pleasant for those who are on the wrong side. That is why this passage of scripture is also a warning to those who stand in danger of the judgment of God because they are still in their sins and not rightly related to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible often compares the judgment to the reaping of a field of grain. King David used it in Psalm Chapter 1 comparing the righteous to the good grain and the ungodly to "the chaff which the wind drives away." Jesus taught the parable of the wheat and the tares. The wheat and the tares grow up together in the field. The field is the world. The grains of wheat are those who turn from their sins and believe in Jesus for the salvation of their souls. The tares are those who resist God and refuse His salvation, and therefore doom themselves to eternal destruction. That is the message of this part of Revelation Chapter 14. The earth is the Lord’s and all that are therein, and when the harvest is ripe, Jesus will be the reaper who will cut down all the field and will separate the righteous from the ungodly.

Perhaps in order to emphasize the judgment to come and to get people to be aware of the reality of it and to really think hard about the great consequences of it, another view of the judgment is given in Revelation 14:18-20. It says, "And another angel came out of heaven from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."

The judgment that Christ will bring was compared to the harvesting of grain, and now it is compared to harvesting of grapes in order to give us another picture of what will take place when a rebellious and ungodly earth falls into the hands of the living God. When grapes are harvested, often they are harvested in order to make wine. The method that is used to obtain the wine is the same today as it has been for hundreds of years. The technology has changed, but there are still large winepresses into which the grapes are placed and then pressed so that red grape juice runs abundantly out of the winepresses. The flowing grape juice is symbolic of the blood that will flow when Christ comes as head of a mighty army to destroy the enemies who will be arrayed in battle in Palestine. We know this battle will take place near Jerusalem because Revelation 14:20 says the "winepress was trodden without the city." Today we live in the age of grace, when the mercy of God is showered upon the whole earth. But the age of grace will come to an end one day, and all that will be left for the inhabitants of the earth will be the great and terrible wrath of God. Who can hide from the wrath of the Lamb? Escape His wrath while there is time. Turn to Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

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