Revelation 14:7

14:6-13 The progress of the Reformation appears to be here set forth. The four proclamations are plain in their meaning; that all Christians may be encouraged, in the time of trial, to be faithful to their Lord. The gospel is the great means whereby men are brought to fear God, and to give glory to him. The preaching of the everlasting gospel shakes the foundations of antichrist in the world, and hastens its downfal. If any persist in being subject to the beast, and in promoting his cause, they must expect to be for ever miserable in soul and body. The believer is to venture or suffer any thing in obeying the commandments of God, and professing the faith of Jesus. May God bestow this patience upon us. Observe the description of those that are and shall be blessed: such as die in the Lord; die in the cause of Christ, in a state of union with Christ; such as are found in Christ when death comes. They rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution; for there the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. Their works follow them: do not go before as their title, or purchase, but follow them as proofs of their having lived and died in the Lord: the remembrance of them will be pleasant, and the reward far above all their services and sufferings. This is made sure by the testimony of the Spirit, witnessing with their spirits, and the written word.

{6} 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. (6) That is, Babylon is destroyed by the sentence and judgment of God: the execution of which John describes in chapter 18. This voice of the ministers of Christ has continued since the time that Babylon (which is Rome) has by deliberate counsel and malice questioned the light of the gospel offered from God.

These angels, or ministers of God, whether civil or ecclesiastical witnesses, cried aloud against the papal idolatry, in worshipping saints and images, admonishing all men to give Divine adoration only to the true and living God, who was the Creator of all things. The worshipping of images began soon after antichrist began to reign: we find it decreed in a synod held at London about the year 710, but it was abolished by a synod at Constantinople, 712. In 723, it was again established by a synod at Mentz. By a synod in Syria it was defended, Anno 725, and the emperor Leo Isaurus was excommunicated for opposing it; but in 730, a synod at Constantinople decreed for Leo against it. Another synod, held there Anno 755, under the emperor Constantinus Copronymus, decreed against it; but two other synods held in Bavaria, 765, 766, again decreed for it. In the year 786 the second synod of Nice established it; since which time it hath constantly obtained amongst the papists. But as from the first broaching of this idolatry it was opposed by five emperors of Constantinople, so it hath all along been declaimed against by the faithful ministers of Christ, preaching the everlasting gospel, and calling upon men to perform Divine adoration only to him who made heaven and earth.

Revelation 14:7 . Κρίσεως , of judgment ) D. Lange , Epicr. p. 402, refers this preaching to the last times: but this however ought not to be fixed too late. The passage from Matthew 24:14 , which he compares, has been considered above, on ch. Revelation 6:2 .— πηγὰς , fountains ) The article is not added: for fountains are now in some measure contained under the sea; although these, in themselves, also are something great in the universe. See Beemann’s Hist. Geogr. eap. iii. part 4.

Revelation 14:7 . ποιήσαντι κ . τ . λ . Since he who has created has the right to judge his creatures, as well as to receive their worship ( cf. Revelation 4:11 f., etc.).— ὥρα = the fixed (cf. Revelation 14:15 ), καιρός the fit, moment for action. Contrast with this summons Lucan’s fulsome appeal to Nero (1:57 f.): “librati pondera cœli Orbe tene medio,” etc. The second angel of the trio announces the faults and fall of ( Revelation 14:8 ) Rome as a second Babylon. The prophet quotes from the postexilic oracle appended to Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 51:7-8 ).— θυμός has probably the double sense carried by the English term “passion”. As history proves, the Cæssar cult fairly intoxicated people, especially in the East. In Asia Minor it became a perfect passion with many communities. They will find it a different kind of passion, the prophet grimly writes, drawing on a powerful O.T. figure; the passion of God’s hot indignation will be forced down their throats, like a bitter draught ( Revelation 14:10 ). θυμός , however, besides translating a Hebrew equivalent for “fury” ( Isaiah 51:17 f.), is occasionally a LXX rendering for the analogous idea of “venom” or “poison” ( חֵמָה or ראשׁ , cf. Job 20:16 ), and this would yield a good sense here.

(7) Saying . . . —These words declare what ought to be the effect of the gospel. Those to whom it is preached are sitting inactive on the earth. They must be roused to fear God and give Him glory. They must not fear the powers of evil, the wild beasts, &c., or be afraid of their terror ( 1Peter 3:14-15 ). They must realise that there is an hour of judgment at hand, which will discriminate between the worshippers of the world and of God. Let them learn to worship the Creator of all, and to turn from the worship of lesser and lower. If we ask when this gospel angel appeared, our answer must be that the whole cycle of the gospel preaching is included in the vision, though doubtless there have been ages when the light of the glad tidings of God has gone forth with revived lustre, and when the warnings against easy acquiescence in evil have been given with unmistakable distinctness.

7. Fear God—the forerunner to embracing the love of God manifested in the Gospel. Repentance accompanies faith. give glory to him—and not to the beast (compare Re 13:4; Jer 13:16). the hour of his judgment—"The hour" implies the definite time. "Judgment," not the general judgment, but that up on Babylon, the beast, and his worshippers (Re 14:8-12). worship him that made heaven—not Antichrist (compare Ac 14:15). sea … fountains—distinguished also in Re 8:8, 10.

Verse 7. - Saying with a loud voice. Λέγων , "saying," in nominative, though agreeing with the accusative ἄγγελον ," angel." The "great voice" is characteristic of all the heavenly utterances (ver. 2; Revelation 11:12, 15 , etc.). Fear God, and give glory to him. Thus the angel proclaims the gospel in opposition to the second beast, who bids those that dwell on the earth to make an image to the first beast (cf. Revelation 13:14 ). Compare the effect of the coming judgment, described in Revelation 11:13 . For the hour of his judgment is come . This is the reason given for the fear mentioned. That it has effect is seen by Revelation 11:13 . Is come ; that is to say, is at hand. And worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. As remarked above, the angel thus directly opposes the invitation of the second beast to pay homage to the first beast. Again we have the fourfold enumeration of objects of creation, denoting the universal nature of the assertion (cf. on ver. 6). Revelation 14:7

Saying with a loud voice - As if all the nations were summoned to hear. Fear God - That is, reverence, honor, obey God. Render homage not to the beast, to his image, or to any idol, but to the only true God. This is the substance of the gospel - its end and design - to turn people from all forms of idol worship and superstition, to the worship of the only true God. And give glory to him - To give glory to him is to acknowledge him as the only true God; to set up his pure worship in the heart; and to praise him as the great Ruler of heaven and earth. For the hour of his judgment is come - His judgment on the beast and on those who worship him. The imagery here is substantially the same as in Daniel 7:9-10, Daniel 7:14, Daniel 7:26-27; and there can be no doubt that there is reference to the same subject. See the notes on those verses. The main idea is, that when God shall be about to cause his gospel to spread through the world, there will be, as it were, a solemn judgment on that anti-Christian power which had so long resisted his truth and persecuted his saints, and that on the fall of that power his own kingdom will be set up on the earth; that is, in the language of Daniel, "the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." And worship him that made heaven, and earth, ... - The true God, the Creator of all things.

As already remarked, this is the ultimate design of the gospel, and, when this is accomplished, the great end for which it was revealed will be reached. The design of this portion of the chapter Revelation 14:6-7, also, was to comfort those to whom the book was addressed, and in the same way to comfort the church in all the persecution and opposition which the truth would encounter. The ground of consolation then was, that a time was predicted when the "everlasting gospel" would be made to fly speedily through the earth, and when it would be announced that a final judgment had come upon the anti-Christian power which had prevented its being before diffused over the face of the world. The same ground of encouragement and consolation exists now, and the more so as we see the day approaching; and in all times of despondency we should allow our hearts to be cheered as we see that great anti-Christian power waning, and as we see evidence that the way is thus preparing for the rapid and universal diffusion of the pure gospel of Christ.