Chapter 4: The Three Angels

The book of Revelation is the last book of the Bible, written by the apostle John around 95 AD while exiled on the island of Patmos.Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea, about 37 miles from the coast of modern Turkey. The Roman Empire used it for political exile. According to early church tradition (Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.30.3; Eusebius, Church History III.18), John was banished there during the persecution under Emperor Domitian (AD 81-96). John identifies himself as "your brother, and companion in tribulation" who "was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 1:9). He wrote as a prisoner, not an academic. His testimony came at personal cost. Unlike letters or histories, Revelation is "apocalyptic literature": a symbolic genre that uses visions, beasts, and numbers to reveal hidden truths about how history ends. If you're new to Revelation, don't worry. The symbols have meanings, and this chapter explains the key ones.

The Message Most Churches Skip

You've heard sermons on Revelation: the beast, the dragon, the mark, the tribulation, the millennium. Different theological frameworks interpret these passages differently, and preachers naturally emphasize the interpretations their tradition holds.

But there's one passage in Revelation that contains God's final warning to humanity before Christ returns, and it rarely receives systematic treatment in most churches.

Revelation 14:6-12 describes three angels delivering three messages.

These are not symbolic angels or metaphorical messages. This is God's last call to a dying world, His final plea before probation closes and judgment falls.

Many Christians have never heard a systematic exposition of the Three Angels' Messages in Revelation 14. The content addresses Sabbath, creation worship, and the mark of the beast, topics that raise uncomfortable questions about established tradition.

Let's examine what God says is important enough to be humanity's final warning.

Before we begin: Revelation is apocalyptic literature, a symbolic genre common in Jewish and early Christian writing. Beasts represent kingdoms. Numbers encode time periods. Colors and creatures carry specific meanings. Understanding these symbols unlocks the message. This isn't speculation: Daniel's four kingdoms have historical fulfillment we can verify. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome rose and fell exactly as predicted. The symbols connect to real history.

Christians interpret Revelation's prophecies through different frameworks. Futurists expect most fulfillment at the end times. Preterists see fulfillment in the first century. Historicists (the framework used here) trace prophecy through history from Daniel's day to ours. Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and most Protestant reformers held this view.4 Luther identified the papacy as the Antichrist in Smalcald Articles (1537). Calvin concurred in Institutes IV.ii.12. Wesley's Notes on the New Testament (1754) traces Daniel and Revelation through history. See LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers (Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1946-1954), four volumes documenting Protestant historicist consensus. The reason is straightforward: the four kingdoms of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 have already been fulfilled. Babylon fell. Medo-Persia fell. Greece fell. Rome fell. The prophecy isn't speculation about distant futures--it's reading history that has already happened.

Interactive walkthrough of Revelation 14: https://theremnantthread.com/studies/three-angels

Scripture frequency heat map: https://theremnantthread.com/studies/scripture-heat-map

The First Angel: Fear God and Worship the Creator

"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, 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."

Revelation 14:6-7

The first angel proclaims "the everlasting gospel."

Not a new gospel or a different gospel, but the same gospel that saves, proclaimed with specific emphasis in the last days.

What's the emphasis?

"Worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

That exact phrase, "made heaven, and earth, and the sea," appears one other place in Scripture, in the Fourth Commandment:

"For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

Exodus 20:11

This isn't coincidence. The first angel is calling humanity back to worship of the Creator, and the memorial of Creation is the seventh-day Sabbath.

Why does this matter?

Because the final battle is about worship: obedience as worship, not casual "praise and worship" singing.

The first angel calls people back to true worship: acknowledging God as Creator and keeping His creation memorial: the seventh-day Sabbath.

"Fear God and give glory to him."

This fear is not terror but reverence, respect, and acknowledgment of His authority. Give Him glory by obeying what He commanded, not what tradition substituted.

"For the hour of his judgment is come."

The verb tense matters: "IS come," not "will come." The judgment has already begun.1 The pre-advent judgment beginning in 1844 is based on the 2,300-day prophecy of Daniel 8:14. While this specific timeline is debated, the text states judgment "is come" (present tense), indicating judgment has begun before Christ's return. This is confirmed by Revelation 22:11-12: Christ arrives with rewards already determined, requiring prior judgment. [Theological interpretation]

The judgment announced here precedes the Second Coming. Cases are decided before Christ returns; sentences are executed when He arrives.

Scripture confirms this sequence. Revelation 22:11-12 says: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still... And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."

Christ arrives with rewards already determined. He does not come to make decisions. He comes to execute decisions already made. The judgment must happen before He returns.

What is this pre-advent judgment? Where does it take place? How did it begin?

Daniel 7:9-10 shows the sequence: "The judgment was set, and the books were opened." Then, after this judgment scene, the Son of Man receives His kingdom (Daniel 7:13-14). The books open first. Dominion follows. Daniel 8:14 provides the timeline: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." This prophecy, calculated using the day-year principle, points to 1844 as the beginning of the heavenly sanctuary's final phase (the pre-advent judgment).

The nature of this judgment, its connection to the earthly sanctuary that God showed Moses, and the prophetic mathematics that pinpoint 1844 are explored in depth in Chapter 8: The Mathematical Prophecy. What matters here is the core announcement: judgment is come. Not "will come." IS come. We are living in the judgment hour.

The Second Angel: Babylon is Fallen

Throughout the Bible, "Babylon" represents any system that opposes God's truth and His people. The original Babylon conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and forced God's people into exile. In Revelation, "Babylon" becomes a symbol for a religious system that does the same things spiritually: corrupts true worship, persecutes believers, and mixes God's truth with human traditions. The pattern:

"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."

Revelation 14:8

"Babylon is fallen, is fallen."

The phrase is repeated twice for emphasis. The city has fallen: morally, doctrinally, and spiritually. It is beyond recovery, beyond reform, and beyond hope of restoration. (For the full exposition, see Chapter 13.)

What is Babylon?

The word "Babel" (root of "Babylon") means "confusion" in Hebrew, from Genesis 11 where God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel.2 "Babel" in Hebrew (Χ‘ΦΈΦΌΧ‘ΦΆΧœ) is traditionally understood to derive from the root Χ‘ΦΈΦΌΧœΦ·Χœ (balal) meaning "to confuse" or "to mix," as indicated in Genesis 11:9: "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth." The application of "Babylon" to the church system that drifted from Scripture follows the pattern established by Revelation 17-18, where "Babylon the Great" represents a religious-political system characterized by persecution of God's people, false doctrine, and church-state union. This interpretation has been held by Protestant Reformers and biblical commentators for centuries. [Etymology established; application is theological interpretation] Spiritual Babylon is the system of confusion that mixes truth with error, biblical Christianity with pre-Christian traditions, and God's authority with human presumption.

Historical Babylon:

Spiritual Babylon:

Who is Babylon?

Revelation 17:5 identifies her: "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth."

Mother implies daughters: a church system that departed from Scripture and spawned other institutions keeping her traditions.

The "mother" in this passage is the Catholic Church. Rome acknowledges this role openly. Catholic sources call Sunday "our mark of authority" (documented ahead). They state they changed the Sabbath without biblical warrant. They note that Protestants follow their tradition while claiming to reject their authority.

The "daughters" are Protestant institutions that retained Catholic doctrines. The Reformation protested Catholic abuses. But when it came to the Sabbath, most Protestant churches kept Rome's Sunday. They retained the changed day, the mark of papal authority, the evidence that church tradition can override Scripture.

This describes institutional teaching, not the spiritual status of individual believers. Many Christians within Sunday-keeping denominations sincerely love Jesus and study Scripture faithfully. The question this chapter raises is about institutions and what they teach, not about individuals and whether they belong to God.

"Made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Wine intoxicates. Babylon's wine is false doctrine that confuses, deceives, and spiritually intoxicates entire nations.

Fornication represents unfaithfulness to God, the church claiming to be Christ's bride while serving another master, mixing worship of the true God with traditions borrowed from Greco-Roman religion.

This describes Church + State union: religious power using government force to impose doctrine. This is spiritual fornication: using worldly power instead of relying on the Holy Spirit.

"Babylon is fallen, is fallen."

The moral collapse is visible to everyone: pastoral scandals, financial corruption, doctrinal confusion, and split denominations. The world watches churches implode and wants nothing to do with Christianity.

The second angel declares: The system is fallen. It's beyond reform. God's people need to come out (Revelation 18:4, developed further in later chapters).

The Third Angel: The Mark of the Beast Warning

"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 ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

Revelation 14:9-11

This is the most solemn warning in all Scripture.

It is not the most popular, not the most comfortable, not the one churches like to preach, but it is the most serious warning God has ever given.

If you're feeling anxious reading this, that's understandable. These are heavy words. But remember: God gives this warning because He loves you and wants you to escape what's coming. He doesn't warn to condemn; He warns to save. The fact that you're reading this now, before the final test, means you still have time to understand, to prepare, and to choose. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

"If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark..."

Worshiping the beast means obeying papal authority over God's authority.

The beast of Revelation 13 is the same power as the "little horn" of Daniel 7, the power that would "think to change times and laws" (Daniel 7:25).5 The identification of the "little horn" with the papacy was standard Protestant teaching from the Reformation forward. John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, and Isaac Newton all held this view. Newton devoted extensive analysis in Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel (1733), identifying the eleven horns and the little horn's rise from the Roman Empire. The Catholic Church changed the Sabbath. They admit it. This is their mark of authority.

The image of the beast represents Protestant churches enforcing Catholic doctrine through civil law.

An "image" looks like the original. When Protestant churches use government power to enforce Sunday worship (like the Catholic Church did for centuries), they create an image of the beast: religious authority using state force to compel obedience.

"His mark in his forehead, or in his hand"

This isn't a physical mark such as a microchip, barcode, vaccine, or tattoo.

The forehead represents belief, conviction, and intellectual assent. The hand represents actions, compliance, and work.

The mark is received when someone:

or

The mark becomes enforceable when Sunday worship is mandated by law.

Right now, in most countries, you can keep Saturday without legal penalty. Sunday isn't (yet) enforced. So technically, the mark hasn't been given yet.

But the preparation continues. Sunday laws have been proposed. Religious leaders call for government-mandated rest days.6 The European Sunday Alliance continues advocating for EU-wide Sunday rest legislation. Pope Francis's Laudato Si' (2015), ΒΆ237, calls for Sunday rest as ecological practice. The European Parliament has debated mandatory rest day legislation multiple times since 2009. See Chapter 12 for detailed documentation. The infrastructure forms.

When Sunday worship becomes law, when keeping Sunday is mandated under penalty of economic sanctions, job loss, inability to buy or sell, then the mark is given.

Those who comply receive the mark. Those who refuse and keep God's Sabbath face persecution.

"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation."

This wrath is unmixed with mercy, undiluted by grace.

The seven last plagues (Revelation 16). Devastating judgments on those who worshiped the beast and received his mark.

"And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone... and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever."

This is complete destruction, not eternal torture. The wicked are consumed, not preserved in agony forever.3 The interpretation that "tormented with fire and brimstone" and "forever and ever" refers to complete destruction rather than eternal conscious torment is based on comparing Scripture with Scripture. Malachi 4:1-3 states the wicked will be burned up and become ashes. 2 Peter 3:10 describes elements melting with fervent heat. Ezekiel 18:4 states "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." The Greek aionios (translated "eternal/everlasting") often refers to permanence of result rather than unending duration. This view is held by Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some evangelical scholars (including John Stott and Edward Fudge), though traditional Christianity teaches eternal conscious torment. The core warning remains: those who receive the mark face God's complete and final judgment. [Theological interpretation - annihilationism vs traditionalism] The "forever" refers to the permanence of the result (eternal death), not an eternal process of dying.

Malachi 4:1 confirms: "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."

They burn up. They're destroyed. They become ashes (Malachi 4:3). This is complete annihilation, not eternal torment.

But the warning stands: Receive the mark, face God's undiluted wrath.

But then verse 12 offers hope:

"Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Revelation 14:12

The remnant are those who escape the mark and the plagues.

Identified by two characteristics:

  1. Keep the commandments of God (including the Fourth Commandment, the Saturday Sabbath)
  2. Have the faith of Jesus (trust in His sacrifice, not their own works)

The remnant do not have faith alone (James 2:20 says that's dead), nor works alone (we're saved by grace through faith - Ephesians 2:8-9).

Both work together: commandments and faith.

Obedience flows from love (John 14:15), and works are produced by genuine faith (James 2:18).

The third angel divides humanity into two groups:

We Are Living in the Time of These Messages

These aren't messages for a distant future. They're being proclaimed now.

Evidence:

  1. The Sabbath truth is going to all nations. More people than ever understand that Saturday is the biblical Sabbath, that the Catholic Church changed it, and that keeping Sunday is following man's tradition over God's command.
  2. Babylon's fallen state is visible. The moral and doctrinal collapse of mainstream Christianity is obvious: scandals, divisions, empty churches, compromised doctrine, and worldly entertainment replacing worship.
  3. Sunday law movements are forming. Multiple countries have proposed or strengthened Sunday legislation. Religious leaders increasingly call for government-enforced rest days. The image of the beast is forming.
  4. Global enforcement capability exists. For the first time in history, technology enables worldwide enforcement of buy/sell restrictions.7 Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) now under development by 130+ countries enable programmable money that can restrict purchases by category, location, or time. The Bank for International Settlements' "Project mBridge" and China's digital yuan demonstrate cross-border CBDC capability. See Atlantic Council, Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker (2024) for current status. The infrastructure for mark enforcement exists.

The timeline: We're between the second and third angels.

Babylon has fallen (present reality). The mark is forming but not yet enforced (future soon). Probation is still open but closing.

The call goes out: "Come out of her, my people" (Revelation 18:4).

The call is to leave the fallen churches, to stop following tradition, and to return to God's commandments before Sunday observance becomes law.

This isn't comfortable truth. It means:

But what did Jesus ask? "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

The Three Angels' Messages are God's final warning to earth, the message that identifies the remnant and exposes the mark. Most churches never preach it. That silence is the point.