October 24: THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE (part 5)

And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Revelation 14:11

Into smoke they shall vanish away (Psalm 37:20). The completeness and totality of the destruction of the wicked is expressed by smoke that ascends forever and ever, meaning that they will never live again. The first phrase of this verse could be looked upon as a “headline”. The rest of the verse tells us what leads up to this total destruction. It is the period of time when those who accept the beast’s mark have no rest day or night. This is the time of trouble (Daniel 12:1) just before Jesus returns. As these religious people give homage to the beast and his image, they will find no peace in their worship, for they have not only rejected the [Lord’s] holy day (Isaiah 58:13) of rest, they have chosen the side of persecution toward those who honor the fourth commandment (along with the other nine).

There is another aspect to honoring the counterfeit day of rest and worship that occurs by default: profaning (making common) the true day. In the Old Testament, God’s people were chosen to carry the good news of the gospel message to all of the surrounding pagan nations. As encouragement, He spoke through Isaiah to remind them of the blessings that fall upon the faithful, regardless of where they came from: “Blessed is the man . . . who keeps from defiling the Sabbath . . . everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath . . . Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer . . . for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:2,6,7)

The strong, grotesque language employed in the warning of the third angel’s message is purposeful: to move the hearts of people to render their wholehearted allegiance to the true and only Savior, for He is the God who created them. He is the God whose creative power can re-create. This is the meaning of redemption and sanctification for Heaven’s perfections. The beast and his image of Revelation 13 will soon make a demand for worship that goes against God’s law. Satan, who is behind it, will use fear of people to make people conform to the demand. The answer is to hearken back to the first angel’s message: Fear God and give glory to Him. The fear of people is driven out by a stronger fear: the fear of God! Jesus spoke to His disciples of these two types of fear: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

The mark of his name is a reference to character. While it is not possible for humans to evaluate all the character traits of other humans, there are outward and visible signs that are easily observable. Among these are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the keeping of all of God’s commandments, including the fourth, for there is no “ten percent discount” of His commandments. Beloved, do you believe all of God’s Word? Ask Jesus to help you with any area of your life that you are living in unbelief (see Mark 9:24). He asks nothing of you that He will not give you the power to obey – if you truly want to obey.

And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19

For further study: Psalm 31:19-20; 119:165-176; Proverbs 3:1; 6:23; 7:2; Ecclesiastes 12:13; James 2:10