Revelation
14:6–7—This first
angel of John’s vision has often been interpreted by Lutheran commentators as
Martin Luther, because of his clear proclamation of the eternal gospel to . . .
those who dwell on earth. Certainly God worked through this man, as He works
through others, to bring His message of freedom in Christ to every nation and
tribe and language and people.
Then I saw
another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to those who dwell on the earth.
This other angel preaches the gospel, but also announces judgment (the hour of
His judgment has come). Because the judgment of God is so evident on the earth
in great tribulation, it is no wonder why the crowd of those saved through the
great tribulation can’t be numbered (Revelation 7:9-14).
Some today like to identify their ministry or
technology with this angel flying in the midst of heaven. One prominent
television ministry named the satelite they use “Angel One” in a hoped-for
fulfillment of this verse. The desire to connect contemporary technology or
events with this angel is nothing new. Adam Clarke, writing from the late 18th
century said, “But the vision seems truly
descriptive of a late institution, entitled The British and Foreign Bible
Society, whose object it is to print and circulate the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments, through all the habitable world, and in all the languages
spoken on the face of the earth.”
John Trapp,
writing in the late 17th century, saw a fulfillment of his own: “This is held to be John Wicliff, who wrote
more than two hundred volumes against the pope, and was a means of much good to
many.”
Fear God and
give glory to Him. This is what the
angel will tell the whole world to do. They can do this and give glory to God
and worship Him willingly in this life, or be compelled to give glory to Him
later.
It is certain that one day all will give glory to God.
Philippians 2:9-11 says, Therefore God
also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of
those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God.
Here is the bitter irony of their lot: though they
damn themselves eternally by their refusal to face the truth, one day they will
be forced to face it. Sooner or later the ‘glory’
they refuse to ‘give’ the Creator willingly will be torn from them by the
spectacle of His wrath.
John says this is the everlasting gospel, and it may
sound different that the gospel we hear preached today. It isn’t all that
different, but it is preached to a different, specific time – to those in the
latter part of the great tribulation. Hence still something of a Gospel message
sounds… It is Gospel, but it is the Gospel in the form it takes when the hour
of judgment has set in. It is one of the very last calls of grace to an
apostate world.
To every
nation, tribe, tongue, and people.
This can be a valid fulfillment of Jesus’ promise in Matthew 24:14 that the
gospel would be preached to all the world before His second coming. But this
can never be a valid excuse for neglecting the urgency of missions. God has not
given the responsibility for spreading the Gospel to angels, but unto His
people.
However, this is the only place in the New Testament
where we see angels preaching the Gospel. In God’s sublime wisdom, He has
chosen to give that responsibility to people alone, apart from the rarest of
exceptions.[2]
[1]
Luther’s Seal © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[3]
Collect for Wednesday of the week of Pentecost 19, For All the Saints, A Prayer
Book For and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity
Bureau, Delhi, NY
