Seven Angels [part one] ...

In actuality there are 3 groups of 7 angels described throughout the book of Revelations of Jesus Christ relayed by the disciple John.  The first group of seven were angels given messages to the seven churches.  The second group is described here with messages for the last days.  And the third group will come later carrying the plagues of God’s judgments to be poured out upon the world.  It is possible these may be the same angels performing three different and unique missions.  It is possible they are each unique, each given a message to convey or work to perform.  What is clear, is that the work of the redemption of mankind, is not limited only to actions performed by God alone, or Christ alone.  Actions, messages, and missions that work for our redemption are “shared” with those who are willing and long to participate.  Those who would volunteer to be tools united in seeing our fallen race reconciled to God are honored by God with a work towards that goal.  In the courts of the Father Himself, are seen 24 elders, 4 beasts of unique composition, the Lamb of God or His only Son, and an innumerable host of angels who have been working and fighting for our redemption.  His angels have already fought two wars in heaven and one final war is still to come.

This idea of participation is not excluded from you and me either.  Jesus Himself gave us His great commission; reminding us we should love one another, and in small teams, carry His gospel of hope and redemption to a world who has never heard this truth.  Christ did not require us to be perfect “before” we could share in this work.  He has demonstrated His willingness to use “broken tools” in the process of our redemption.  He knows despite our imperfections and incomplete understanding of His word, if we will be willing to Love like He Loved, the gospel will find its way into the hearts and minds of those who need it, and will lead to their redemption.  It is not the strength of our doctrines, or the purity of our interpretation of scripture that transforms the hearts of men.  It is the love of Christ alone that performs this function.  When we demonstrate this love we become agents united in His mission.  We become tools working for the redemption of mankind.  When we pollute our love with our own ideas, and assume it is “us” who saves others instead of “Christ” who saves us all; we detriment the cause of Christ. 

Angels understand “who” is in charge.  Angels are aware the messages they convey originate with God, not within themselves.  The works they perform are the works they volunteer for and have been commissioned or directed to perform.  They are more perfect tools to use in our redemption than we are.  Too often we would be all too happy to take credit unto ourselves.  We assume “our” words are actually “ours”.  We believe “our” deeds were originated within us.  In this we forget, that His words should be flowing through us.  We forget His works come from Him, His motives, His love reflected through us, not beginning within us.  Our greatest danger, even within the work of the gospel, is to lose our dependence upon Christ alone, and begin to accept the idea that “we” too are an integral part of the process of salvation, our own, or that of others.

John has only recently set the stage for the work of this second group of seven angels who are to bring messages to us near the end of time.  Earlier he described the plans of the enemy, raising up three beasts, allied to see us deny our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone, and instead submit and carry the mark of this third beast.  John went on to identify a special group of 144,000 first fruits, who instead of bearing the mark of the beast, they bear the name of the Father God in their foreheads.  They stand before God pure, and without guile.  They have been transformed by the power of Christ, and their willing submission to His transformational power and love.  While John describes the fury of our enemy in his intentions to make us question our identity, he also describes the hope that not all will succumb to the mark of the enemy and instead there will be those who see the perfection of Christ wrought within them, even while still in this world.  This work is all timed near the end, just prior to the return of Christ to this world, to take us home.  It is against this timing and the back drop of these events that the second group of angels takes up their messages.

John begins in verse 6 of chapter 14 of his Revelations of Jesus Christ, saying … “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”  The first angel carries with him the message of the eternal gospel, he carries the good news.  The message is not intended for only a select group of people, but for literally everyone on planet earth.  Language is no barrier to love.  Nationality, community, and family all bow to the power of love.  It is the love of Christ that underlies the power of the gospel.  It is the revelation of His so great love, that comprises the eternal and everlasting gospel that is to be preached to all who dwell on the earth.  Notice as well, it is the mission of this angel to see that the gospel is spread.  He will work this work through any who are willing to share in His mission.  But the ultimate disposition of the gospel reaching the world is carried by this angel commissioned with this work.  As always, it is God who insures, everyone has a chance to hear and accept the freedom His gift is made of.

John continues in verse 7 … “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  This angel proclaims to our world that we should “fear God”, or perhaps better understood, we should “respect God”.  “We” are NOT the top of the food chain.  “We” are not the supreme beings of the universe.  There is something greater than us.  It is God who made man, not the other way around.  In fact this angel identifies God by His most important attribute – He made heaven (and the universe in which it is found), earth (everything that lives), the sea (everything found in water as well as the water itself), and fountains of water (our most basic necessity).  The reason we are to give glory to God is because of His identification as our Creator, and more importantly our re-Creator.  You will remember from our earlier study of the gospel of John, wherein we learned that to “give glory” is to perform acts of love for others.  The request to love others forms the basis of His great commission to us, and is consistent in the message of the eternal gospel, this angel is relaying.  The hour of His judgment is come.  The time of the end has arrived.  Evil will not be allowed to live on in perpetuity.  An end to the time where evil will be allowed to exist is coming fast, this is the hour of His judgment, and the angel begins by announcing that time is now upon us.

The revelation of this first angel is very important in both content, and timing.  He carries the gospel to the entire world.  And he does it in the last days of this world’s history.  The methods for communicating on a global scale have arrived.  The penetration of Christianity around the world is no longer zero, it is rising.  Language barriers have been overcome.  The printed and electronic word is carried to parts of the globe that could not have ever been reached only ten years ago.  The angel carries his message of the eternal gospel to places we have not dreamed of going.  He uses those who are willing to share in his mission of love and redemption.  And he breaks down barriers that once stood in the way of his delivery.

John continues in verse 8 … “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”  The second angel carries a warning based on a lament.  The news of Babylon’s fall is not proclaimed as gloating, or in triumph, or celebration.  It is instead sad news.  What was once hoped to be a pinnacle of knowledge, of social order, of prosperity – has corrupted itself.  Original ideals have been trampled under the foot of self service, greed, and avarice.  Instead of being the golden head and jewel of the earth, Babylon has fallen.  And as she has fallen, she has taken all the nations down with her.  She in fact “made all nations drink” or participate in her fornication and angry deeds.  Heaven does NOT rejoice at the rejection of love and freedom from self, when it is chosen.  Instead Heaven grieves at the rejection of love.  This lament is repeated with tears and great sadness … “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”.  This is a sad announcement and proclamation.  It is a declaration to the world, that what was once a great hope, has become corrupted, and has led the world into sharing in this corruption.

So the question is posed, who is Babylon?  Traditionally the Catholic church of the dark ages was held to be this symbol, because of the corruption of the gospel that occurred in those dark years.  The word was withheld from the people.  Salvation was for sale through indulgences.  Works of art were made to be worshipped.  The special day of worship with God established at creation was altered by the power of the church.  And worst of all, dissent was not tolerated, punishable by death utilizing the power of the state to achieve these goals throughout the world.  What might have been the great hope of Christianity was corrupted by greed and avarice, and became a blight on the history of the delivery of our gospel.  Forever stained would be gospel of Christ, as it was advanced at the point of a sword, rather than with an unconditional love that could see evil end.  Indeed to understand the sadness that must have occurred as the church bearing the name of our Lord declined during these ages must have been a cause of great lament throughout the heavenly courts.  But to adopt this interpretation at the exclusion of others may perhaps be too limiting.

Consider for a moment, the timing of these angel’s messages.  They occur AFTER the third beast has been identified and come into prominence.  In fact the next angel will discuss the issue-of-the-day with the mark of the third beast in just the next few verses.  The proclamation of the downfall of Babylon is a current event.  It does not indicate that it reaches back into history to find its fulfillment, but rather in the modern times in which this angel makes his proclamation.  He is the second angel.  He follows the worldwide proclamation of the gospel.  Christianity was NOT worldwide during the dark ages, it was largely centralized in Europe and north Africa.  China, the America’s, Russia, were areas largely untouched by the gospel during the dark ages.  However, in our age, the gospel has a very real ability to be heard worldwide.  While China is not too fond of Christian missions, it has not forbid them altogether.  Doors are opening that were once shut to the gospel.  So if this message of the fall of Babylon is occurring AFTER the worldwide proclamation of the gospel, and just prior to the mark of the third beast.  That would make its proclamation timed to … NOW!!

Another aspect of the message of the lament of Babylon’s fall is its identification as “that great city”.  In the time of John, there were very few nations, and nearly all revolved around the prominence of a City State.  Babylon in fact was a city, whose armies under Nebuchadnezzar had swept over the then known world.  To interpret the fall of Babylon as pertaining only to a church, whether historical, or current seems a bit limiting given the natural association of Babylon as a “great city” rather than as a woman who might better represent a church.  Babylon of old influenced a great degree of the lives of those around the world, particularly around the world that contained the history of those who followed the true God.  If these messages are to find relevance in the time of the end, then it would be more likely to have Babylon represent a nation whose influence is great upon the world, particularly on nations where there are a great number of those who follow the true God today.

So if not looking backwards to find the fulfilment of Babylon, or at a minimum, not only looking backwards – where do we find its only fulfillment in our age?  I submit only one power is global in nature and scope; and would fit the image of hope that has been lost.  The United States of America alone fits this description.  We were founded on the ideas of religious freedom and tolerance.  We were the location in the earth that opened to help the woman fleeing into the wilderness.  We had grand ideals of democracy rather than autocracy.  We evolved, some would argue too slowly, to finally realize the ideas that ALL men were truly created equal by our Creator, regardless of the color of their skin, or national origins.  We brought prosperity to the whole world.  We brought Christianity to the whole world, taking the seeds of Protestantism sown in Europe and spreading it worldwide.  We stopped the spread of fascism.  We won the cold war.  We give when others are in need.  We were once the golden jewel of social order, of knowledge, or prosperity for all of our citizens.  Our middle class was once the envy of the world.

But Babylon is fallen, is fallen.  What was once great, has become corrupted by avarice and greed, and the nature of man to serve only himself.  Now, our richest one percent dictate the fates of the remainder of the entire world.  They have no inclination to share anymore, but only to become even more rich.  We pollute now with impunity.  We deny the reality of global climate change because we profit from the status quo.  We cause the rest of the world to acquiesce to our financial requests and systems, or risk losing the wealth we are responsible for creating.  We back up our “requests” with the might of our military.  And we have begun to embark on the course of compelling the conscience of others.  Whether from the far left, or far right, the compulsion to think like I think, or believe like I believe is ever more entering the landscape of our media, and our reality.  We have all but destroyed privacy and the expectation to have freedom from publicity.  Everything that is said, whether intended to be private or not, is available for public consumption.  And the problems associated with our downfall as Babylon are NOT limited only to issues of our government or corporate structures.  They have infected the church as well.

Christianity in our age, in our nation – conjures up its first images as “hate speech” or judgmental-ism.  We are not known for our love first, but too often for our love as our last identifying characteristic.  Too many pastors who minister through television are concerned first about the “financial support” of their ministry, ahead of the needs of their parishioners.  Too many members give tithes and offerings only when it is expedient, or too often not at all.  Our hearts are not touched with feelings of empathy for those in desperate need who crowd our streets and overfill the mental hospitals who can care for them no longer.  We believe the poor have earned their condition.  If they were more motivated to work, they would not be poor.  So we harden our hearts, close our doors, and deny love to those who would need it most.  The thought of visiting the sick, or those in prison, never so much as enters our minds.  We are too busy.  We are too busy working to support ourselves, pay our bills, and minister in our local churches where it is safe and comfortable to worship.  Our ministry wanes.  Our personal testimony becomes corporate testimony, it has lost its uniqueness.  We espouse the ideas of salvation, not the personal impact of salvation upon us.  In short, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.  Our nation and our church are not what they once were.  Both our government and our corporate religious institutions are not what they once were.  And so the lament rings through the courts of heaven.  Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

So what is revealed about Jesus Christ through the messages of the first and second angels?  First, that the good news of the gospel is to be preached to ALL the world, for the time for this world is nearing its end.  Second, that while it may yet be great, and may have been founded in ideals and hopes with highest expectations – Babylon has fallen.  Whether applied to the largest Christian church of the dark ages, or to our nation as it sits today, starting out great does not guarantee that the finish remains that way.  Self-interests can corrupt even the finest institutions, whether corporate or individual.  Our government, the pillars of our economy, the backbone of our corporate churches, and the man in the mirror are ALL subject to the corrupting effects of self-service.  Only Jesus Christ can free us from this condition of slavery we have embraced.  The lament of heaven is real.  The condition it declares is designed to lift our self-deception.  We have fallen.  But there remains hope.

And the third angel’s message is about to be delivered …