 |  |
"With violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no
more at all . . . . and again they said, Hallelujah, and her smoke rose up for ever and
ever" (18: 21 - 19: 3).
During the Millennial Kingdom Babylon will remain a burnt mountain, a monument
of wrath to all the nations of the earth. During the same period the smoke of the torment
of those who received the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image will be an
awful object lesson to those in the heavens. Both symbols shall pass away with the
"former things" when the ages of the ages finish their course, and when He that sits upon
the throne shall say, "Behold, all things are new" (21: 5).
There is another portion of the angel's message which must receive attention, namely
the words of 14: 12, 13:--
"Here is the patience of the saints--those who keep the commandment of God, and
the faith of Jesus. And I hear a voice from heaven, saying, Write, Blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their
labours, for their works follow with them."
In Rev. 13: 10 we have an explanation of what constitutes "The patience and the
faith of the saints"--captivity and sword under the cruel oppression of the Beast. This is
expanded in 14: 12, which coming in immediate sequence to the reference to those who
worship the image of the Beast suggests the character of their trial. A voice speaks from
heaven, saying, "Write". On four different occasions the apostle is commanded in the
Apocalypse to write.
A | 1: 11, 19; 2:, 3: Write to the seven churches.
B | 14: 13. Write, Blessed are the dead.
B | 19: 9. Write, Blessed are they which are called
to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
A | 21: 5. Write, Behold, I make all things new.
There is a real connection between 14: 13 and 19: 9. "Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth." The death here spoken of is evidently martyrdom.
Under the fierce persecution of the Beast the believer is called upon to think of death as
"blessed" rather than by yielding to pressure to purchase an extension of life by
worshipping the image. Such overcomers are specially mentioned in Rev. 15: 1-4 and
20: 4, and are clearly referred to in 14: 1 (cf. 13: 16). See also second half of
Heb. 11: 35. These enter into "rest" and their works following them bear testimony to
their victory over the Beast and the False Prophet.
The same word is used of both classes. The one have "no rest day and night", the
other "rest from their troubles". The martyrs under the fifth seal likewise are told to
"rest" a little season until their fellow servants should also be killed (6: 11). There is an
evident reference here to 14: 13.
The passage which we have here before us brings very vividly to light the two classes
into which the actors in the Revelation are to be divided. It is not so much saved and
unsaved, but