Revelation 14:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."

NIV: He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

NASB: and he said with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth, and sea and springs of waters.'

CSB: He spoke with a loud voice: "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."

NLT: Fear God,' he shouted. 'Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

The angel with the eternal gospel urged everyone to reverence God, ascribe glory to Him, and worship Him. The angel gives two reasons sinners should fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him. First, God's judgment is imminent. Soon He will bring an end to the beast and his empire (Revelation 17; 18). Also, He will consign the beast and the false prophet to eternal destruction in the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). All the beast's followers, too, will experience similar judgment (Revelation 20:11–15).

In the church age—the modern, present era—God uses saved human beings to warn the lost to turn in faith to God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:11: "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others." And in 2 Corinthians 5:20, he declared, "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." In the tribulation, in addition to saved people, God apparently plans to use angels to warn sinners to turn to Him.

The angel with the eternal gospel also urges sinners to respect, glorify, and worship God because He created everything. Instead of worshiping an idol—the image of the beast—those who live in the tribulation should worship the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

Revelation 14:6–13 reports what three angels announce. The first angel declares God's imminent judgment on Babylon, but first he proclaims the eternal gospel throughout the world. It appears that God gives earth's inhabitants one last chance to repent before He executes His judgment. The second and third angels pronounce judgment on the kingdom of the beast and his worshipers. Revelation 15:1—18:24 fills in the details of the predicted judgments. A voice from heaven encourages those who obey God and maintain steadfast in faith in Christ. The voice pronounces blessing upon those who lay down their lives for Christ.

This chapter distinguishes two groups of people: those who believe in Jesus during the tribulation and those who worship the beast. John sees the Lamb, Jesus, and the 144,00 sealed Jewish servants of God standing together on Mount Zion. The scene anticipates the end of the tribulation with the 144,000 celebrating their victory over the beast. Heaven, too, celebrates their triumph. The eternal good news of salvation reaches the ends of the earth, calling upon everyone to turn to God or face His judgment and announcing the collapse of commercial Babylon and the eternal punishment of the beast, whose image so many unbelievers worshiped. This impending judgment is cause for believers to stay loyal to the Lord. Many believers will face martyrdom, but their temporary suffering does not compare with the eternal suffering worshipers of the beast will experience. When Christ returns to earth, the destruction of the wicked will be so complete that blood will flow so high it will reach a horse's bridle.

This chapter continues a segment of Revelation which deviates from the chronological account of the end times. These events occur at the end of the tribulation, when Christ returns to defeat all the remaining wickedness on earth. This event is given more details in chapter 19. In Acts 14:19–22 we learn that Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged the believers by saying believers must endure many tribulations before they enter the kingdom. Revelation 14 and 15 offer similar encouragement to stay loyal to Christ in the face of persecution. Chapter 16 resumes a step-by-step account of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''