The Third Angel's Message

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The Third Angel presents an ominous message to all the inhabitants of the Earth. It is a clear and menacing warning about aligning with the beast and his image. It requires  each person to make a decision that will determine their eternal destiny. 

As with the message of the First Angel, the loud voice indicates that it is a universal message of immense importance. This message is to go out to the world with power, because it is a matter of life and death. 

Along with the messages of the first two angels, the Third Angel's message focuses on the issue of worship. It reveals that there is an evil power at work that is undermining the worship of the Creator God by shifting worship to the beast and its image. This power is the dragon that gives authority to the beast and its image (Revelation 13:4). The dragon is identified as "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world (Revelation 12:9). He is the source of the falsehoods and misinterpretations of Scripture that have entered into Christianity. He is the father of lies and "there is no truth in him" (John 8:44). His rebellion that started in Heaven continues today, with power and urgency, because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12).

The Third Angel is warning of the serious danger of falling into the dragon's trap. It warns of worshiping this false beast power by aligning with it. Revelation 13 reveals the beast and gives us insight into its character and its rebellious plans against God's people. 

So who or what is the beast? The Bible uses symbols in its prophetic passages. From the Book of Daniel we see that a beast in prophecy represents a king or a kingdom (Daniel 7:3). In the Third Angel's message the beast is a kingdom or a system set up in opposition to God. It has its own government and its own leader, who sets himself up in the place of God. It changed what God established and replaced it with counterfeits. It changed God's unchangeable law and claims the authority to do it. It changed the day of worship established by the Creator, the seventh day, from Saturday to Sunday. It established traditions and rituals that make a mockery of God's statutes. In direct opposition to God, this beast power introduced idolatry and the worship of images into its religious services. A Biblical study of the characteristics, teachings and plans of this beast power help us identify it as the papacy.

The image of the beast is a religious system that accepts and promotes the false worship of the beast. Just as an image in a mirror looks exactly like the object in front of it, this system accepts and mimics the corrupted teachings of the papal church. Much of Protestantism has departed from the purity and simplicity of the gospel, and has allowed false teachings and sinful practices into their belief systems. In addition, by accepting and practicing the false day of worship, apostate Protestantism has aligned itself with the papacy in direct opposition to God and His holy law. Those who willingly align themselves with the papal system have allowed themselves to be drawn into the plans of Satan. 

These three powers, the dragon, the beast, and the image to the beast, make up the Unholy Trinity, the devil's counterfeit of the Godhead in Heaven.

This passage is one of the most misunderstood in Bible prophecy. Without relying on Scripture, many, including religious leaders and teachers, have speculated that these marks are visible marks. Some say they are UPC codes, or chips implanted under the skin, or some tattoo or other visible mark, or the number 666 burned on a person's forehead and hand. There is no support in Scripture for any of these ideas.

The Bible is not open to personal interpretation or speculation. Every question that may arise is answered within its pages. The Book of Revelation reveals that there are two marks or seals that represent the character of the people of Earth in the last days. Neither mark is visible, nor are they devices or codes. 

The first mark is the seal of God (Revelation 7:3,4; 9:4). Revelation 14:1 tells us that this seal or mark is the Father's name symbolically written on the foreheads of the redeemed. A name in the Bible represents character. These people who have the seal of God demonstrate His righteous character in their lives. They accept and live the law of God as a sign of His authority as Creator. The Fourth Commandment declares that the Creator's mark or sign is the seventh-day Sabbath (Exodus 20:8; 31:12,13; Ezekiel 20:12,20; Mark 2:28). 

The second is the mark of the beast. It is the opposite of the seal of God. This mark on the forehead indicates a conscious decision to align with the beast power and accept its false teachings. This mark represents direct opposition to the Word of God in favor of human traditions and practices. This is especially true of its false day of worship.

While the mark on the forehead is the result of intelligent reasoning, the mark on the hand represents action. This mark on the hand represents those who simply go along with the majority, following blindly in the false practices and beliefs of the papacy. 

In this verse, wine symbolizes the wrath of God. Jeremiah 25:15 tells of the wine of God's fury against the nations. The Second Angel warns that Babylon (the papal system) "made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (Revelation 14:8). The Third Angel warns that those who participate in Babylon’s false teachings and practices will experience the wrath of God. 

This is a simple yet powerful warning. God's wrath will be undiluted. In times past, God in His mercy often limited His responses to the evils of humanity, even when complete destruction was deserved. The Third Angel tells us that in the end God will not hold back His fury against sin and rebellion. The seven last plagues will be a terrible experience for all who have rejected this warning.  

God will delay His judgment until the warning goes out to every person. Then, after a probationary time, God's wrath will fall upon everyone who has the mark of the beast.

The word "tormented" is also translated as "distressed." This is a warning that just before Jesus returns, the seven last plagues will fall on those "which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image (Revelation 16:2). It is also referring to the final destruction of the wicked in the lake of fire after the 1000 years have passed (Revelation 20:14,15).

Angels have watched the human rebellion against God since sin first entered the picture. They also watched as Jesus, the Lamb of God, gave His life on the cross to provide redemption for rebellious humanity. Angels will stand with Jesus, most likely in sorrow, as they witness the destruction of those who rejected the salvation that was offered them.

This passage is NOT referring to an eternally burning place of everlasting punishment for the wicked. Although the idea of an eternal hell has been embedded in Christian doctrine and teaching, eternal torment is unscriptural. That teaching is one of the many false doctrines and evil heresies originated by the Catholic Church and embraced by Protestantism.

The Bible tells us that "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:14,15). The wicked "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Revelation 21:8). Even the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says that the wicked "perish."

The lake of fire is a temporary event that has one purpose, and that is the final eradication of sin and the annihilation of those who choose to cling to it. It will bring about the end of sin for all eternity. After Satan, his demons and those who rejected Jesus are burned up, the fire will go out.

After a fire finishes consuming whatever it was burning, smoke rises long after the flames go out. The smoke is the memory that a fire existed. "The smoke of their torment" refers only to the memory of the rebellion. That memory will prevent, for all time, a resurgence of sin anywhere in the universe. The Lord "will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time (Nahum 1:9).

For the duration of the punishment of the wicked in the lake of fire, no one will have rest until they die in the purging flames. 

This a repeat of Verse 9 and was added to emphasize the importance of the Third Angel's warning.