Gloriographs by Rick Reynolds

6 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; 7 and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”  (Revelation 14:6–7)

There will come a point when the last sermon is preached, and the lost get one last chance. The message will be loud and clear and heard by all, from an angel flying in midair (the “first angel”). The “eleventh” hour of judgment has come.

This is God’s grace and shows his fairness, to spread the “good news” from angelic megaphones this one last time to “every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” But the message is not typical or sugarcoated, but goes “back to the basics,” that is, believe in the Creator of the heavens and earth, or else.

And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.” (Revelation 14:8)

For some of us, accepting the “foundational truth” that “God created the heavens and earth” was a straight shot to belief in the dead, buried and risen Christ without equivocation. As one of my college professors was fond of saying, “it’s just that simple.”

The antithesis of God’s creation is Babylon, which is symbolic of everything else we could conceivably worship that does not emanate from above. In most cases, the Bible sardonically refers to this earthly “city” as “great.” Those who are deluded, who have drunk enough of the “wine of the passion of her immorality,” to think that happiness and worth comes horizontally not vertically, are doomed. To get their attention, Almighty God has to place a second angel in “mid heaven,” above the noise and deception, in clear view to all, that there be no mistake that there is only one true God.

9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  (Revelation 14:9–10)

Then a third angel is dispatched, a harbinger of the cold reality of the unbelief manifested is the acceptance of the “mark of the beast.” There will be no going back. They will drink the cup of God’s wrath and anger, with zero grace mixed in, and they’ll be forever tormented by “fire and brimstone.” And to add insult to injury, the angels and the Lamb will look on. The idea is that while these people suffer greatly eternally, they will always see Jesus, and forever regret their decision to accept the “mark.”

Ironically, the alternative almost certainly results in martyrdom, allowing those who believe to “slip the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” ¹ Still there is a chance for believers to run the gauntlet and witness the Lord setting foot on this earth at his Second Coming.

This is the ultimate outworking of the “perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12)

¹ “High Flight,” McGee, 1941. Quoted by Reagan in his 1986 speech memorializing the death of the Challenger space shuttle crew.