Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting [eternal] gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
-Revelation 14:6
As we always must do, we not only look at scriptures in their immediate contexts to help us interpret them, we must also compare and contrast them with other passages. This practice falls under "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" from 2 Timothy 2:15. We must be diligent and study (both ideas are present in the verse). We must also "compare the things that differ" as Philippians 1:10 exhorts.
We covered these ideas in many other studies. But beyond that, it should be evident to even a cursory reader of scripture that some things are clearly different. Unfortunately, "approved" systematic theology thinking generally wants to make every verse work for every believer in any age.
Those who mock the dispensational approach to interpretation are forced to try and explain away differences we find. Ironically, when it comes to topics like the Law or the New Covenant, suddenly the mockers become dispensationalists. And the irony is that often when they practice dispensationalism, they are doing violence to context and interpretation.
Of course, when I use "dispensational" I am referring to God having different instructions and different hopes for different people in different ages. For many, however, their rejection of dispensationalism is rooted primarily in God's rejection of His promises to his earthly people, Israel, and their own selective choosing of which verses to Israel they want to claim.
The doctrine of "replacement" (the church, as they define it, replacing Israel in God's plans) is dispensational in approach. Horribly and wrongly so, but they don't pause to inflict the exchange and then continue to make distinctions. We are mocked for saying that God has different plans and rules for different people in different ages, yet we hold that everything God promised is true just not universal. The anti-dispensationalist must believe that God cannot be trusted to keep his word and will abandon his promises if me do not perform.
The Catholic Church claims it embraces both covenants. In their own way, so do the Reformed. As with other doctrines, ironically, the Reformed are much like Rome. But now, on this last point, we are in the area of opinion so we will leave that there.
If we say that God has replaced Israel with the church and then go back into the Law and the Prophets, somehow the replacement folks only seem to want to make the connection in terms of blessings. The threats of of curses or rejection no longer apply. The dictates of the Law are selectively applied. But we will leave that there as we have covered these things elsewhere. The greater point is seen in early copies of the KJV which lists one passage in the Hebrew canon as "Promises for the Church" while a page away it marks another passage as "Cursing for Israel" (something along those lines).
We focus in this study, in light of marking differences, on the idea of the "gospel." As I write, I am discomforted by my own use of "the." There is more than one gospel. This causes some to recoil at the very thought of what (as I see it) is a glaringly obvious truth. To say there is more than one gospel. however, is not to say that there is more than one to be reconciled to God.
The gift of everlasting life (resurrection life) has, since Adam, been a gift of God by grace powered by faith. It should be obvious that Adam, Abel, Noah, Abraham, and David did not believe as we do in the current age. They did not even believe the same as each other. But they did have faith unto redemption. What we understand as salvation by grace alone through faith alone is built on the example of Abraham's faith.
What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
-Romans 4:3
Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
-Genesis 15:6
Abraham obviously did not believe that the Lord Jesus died for his sins and was resurrected for his justification. David wrote of these future truths as did the prophets, but they looked through a glass darkly. They yearned to see and know what we know in Christ' finished work (cp.1 Peter 1:10-13). In their age, they had a gospel that was not as full as ours today. So when we in the current age say there is more than one gospel, we clearly state that in this age all reconciliation with God is based on Christ from his side and a response to revelation from the human side. We must be believe and rest in his completed sacrifice for our sin and his bodily resurrection for our redemption (Romans 4:25; etc.).
All this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you in Christ’s stead: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
-2 Corinthians 5:18-21
Before we look at the difference between "everlasting gospel" in Revelation 14 and the Gospel of the Kingdom found in Matthew, we note this one important commonality. And it is in this connection that much of Christendom finds repulsion.
Whereas the focus of each is quite different (mutually exclusive to a degree), the setting is similar. Simply put, one was for Israel alone and forbidden to be preached to Gentiles (or even outside of Israel) and indirectly for the Gentile through Israel as the earthly vessel of commission. The other is directly for the nations in an age to come. We must note that both are given in light of God's plans for the earth and for Israel. We have covered this distinction elsewhere. The setting of each is quite different than the conditions and teachings in the age in which we currently live (which is the plan for the heavenly places and the far above the heavens).
What often happens with both gospels is that men force definitions and words on them. This is unnecessary as they both explain themselves. When tradition rises above scripture, it forces its values and definition on the inspired Word of Truth. When we see the inspired words, we still have to pull out the lens, even in light of the words used, as context often gives words their meanings. But no matter what we surely must start with the inspired words on the pages of scripture and not with the traditions and doctrines of men.
The practice of interpreting the inspired texts by tradition and assumption is another symptom of the heaven/hell and saved/lost problem. That is, so much teaching in Christendom tries to force every verse into a teaching about either going to "heaven" or going to "hell" at death. No distinction between God's plans for the earth and God's plan for the heavenly places (among other things).
Let's get back to the two gospels. The introduction will prove to be longer than the examination of the gospels themselves. The reason for this is that we must constantly undo layers of tradition and the constraints of the clergy/laity distinction when simply reading any passage.
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make His paths straight.’ ”
-Matthew 3:1-3
Now lets' look at the context of Matthew 3:3 which is quoting Isaiah 40. I encourage the entire chapter be read, but let's look at why John is calling Israel (and Israel alone) to repent. We must remind ourselves here that when the Lord sends out the twelve in Matthew 10 with the message of the Kingdom, he forbids them to preach it to Gentiles.
Comfort, O comfort, My people,
says your God.
Speak kindly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity has been pardoned,
that she has received of the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
The voice of him who cries out,
“Prepare the way of the Lord
in the wilderness,
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Let every valley be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low,
and let the rough ground become a plain,
and the rough places a plain;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”
Isaiah 40:1-5
We dare not try to cram some future "Gentile Church" in there. And we note the condition of all this blessing; it follows a time of the Lord's chastening for her sins.
O Zion, bearer of good news,
get yourself up onto a high mountain;
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news,
lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God will come with a strong hand,
and His arm shall rule for Him;
see, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.
-Isaiah 40:9-11
We note Zion and Jerusalem and Judah here (God being a God of His word), but we also not that this salvation involves the Lord coming to rule, reign, and reward his lambs. This is a future believing, cleansed Israel.
When we turn to the Revelation, we see this coming and a time of separation and judgment. This is all part of the Gospel of the Kingdom to Israel and part of God's plan for the earth. Another affirmation of the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me to give to each one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
-Revelation 22:11-13
In Isaiah 40 the Lord continues declaring his greatness and awesomeness. After doing so, he turns again to Israel.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and assert, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my justice escapes the notice of my God”?
Have you not known?
Have you not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not faint, nor is He weary?
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to those who have no might He increases strength.
In light of his greatness and his judgment and cleansing of Israel the Lord is assuring them of his faithfulness, a faithfulness the Replacement Theologian rejects as he accuses God of abandoning his promises.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall,
but those who wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint.
-Isaiah 40:27-31
We know the Lord likens John the Baptist to Elijah. And in doing so the Lord points to "the restoration of all things." This is the promise Peter (Apostle to the Circumcision) offers "You men of Israel" in Acts 3 if they would have repented. In that promise he states that their repentance will lead to the return of the Lord.
He answered, “Elijah indeed comes first to restore all things. Yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.
-Mark 9:12-13
“Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Or why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him... Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold through all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy prophets since the world began. For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall hear whatever He may say to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly eliminated from the people.’
-Acts 3:1-13, 17-23
Do we want to apply this Post-Pentecost (Post-Acts 2) promise to some Gentile Church? And we note again, if you want to claim the promises, you must also accept the warnings. If "the people" is the "Church" and men call it, we have the same problem we have with the warning in Romans 11. In Romans 11, Gentile believers (and only gentile believers) are warned not to become haughty against Jewish believers (the branches, Rom 11:17-18) lest they be "cut off" (Rom 11:22) from the root (Israel's blessings).
Cut off from what? Israel. If Israel is now "the Church," what is God warning these Gentile believers concerning? Is this a salvation passage (as men call them)? Of course not. We have covered this elsewhere, but we note it here to stress again that the earthly hope of Israel, "the restoration of the Kingdom in Israel" (cp. Acts 1:3-6) is the context of all these promises and warnings.
The Gospel of the Kingdom promise was being preached "to the Jew first" and the Gentile believer was only grafted into that promise for the expressed purpose "to make Israel jealous" (Rom 10:19; 11:11) That is the sole reason given in scripture for the grafting in of Gentile. Not grafted into "reconciliation" with God, but grafted in to the promises to Israel. And from those promises, the gentile believer could be "cut off" if he became resentful of the root (Israel).
And we must also note here, that since grafted in gentile believers were not placed under the whole of the law, their gospel in the Acts age differed from the Jewish Gospel of the Kingdom. Theirs was a gospel that gave them some access to the earthly blessings (beneath the Jew), but was separate (as spelled out in the Acts age Book of Galatians). We will have to leave that there.
The specific "Gospel of the Kingdom" is said to be preached by the Lord in Matthew 4 and in Matthew 9 (before he sends out the twelve and forbids them to preach to gentiles). We see it again in Mathew 24 as the Lord speaks of the end of the age. In that context, the "saved" are those who "endure to the end." And the Gospel of the Kingdom is then "a witness unto all nations" before the end comes. This comes only after Israel sees "the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet." It is not a gospel of all ages to all men concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
-Matthew 24:10-14
In light of that end, the Lord (before the cross still) turns Israel's eyes to the prophecy of end times Daniel.
“So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath.
-Matthew 24:15-20
All of this concerns a future ("in those days") and Israel (Daniel, Judea, the Sabbath). But let us not miss another dispensational truth here in those "with child" (pregnant or nursing). The Lord says "Woe" or "How dreadful" for those women. This mirrors Paul's warning in the Acts age epistle of First Corinthians 7 in which he warns believers NOT to get married and NOT to bear children lest they have troubles (1 Cor 7:8) . And that warning is given because "the time is short" (1 Cor 7:29) and because "the world/age is passing away" (1 Cor 7:31). We must contrast this with Paul's instruction in 1 Timothy 5:14 for young women to marry and bear children. That can only be understood dispensationally. But our theologians localize the commands and thus render the Word of God of none effect by their traditions (cp. Mark 7:13).
We now turn to the Everlasting Gospel
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,
-Revelation 14:6 (KJV)
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the eternal gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
-Revelation 14:6 (Modern English Version - MEV)
Then I saw another angel flying overhead, having an age-abiding gospel to preach to those dwelling on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people
-Revelation 14:6 (Far Above All)
We take this opportunity to note that what Christendom has imposed on the word translated "eternal" or "everlasting" really has the sense of "of the age" or "for the age(s)" or "age-abiding." As God is outsdie of time and not subject to it, He speaks to us in terms of time. Since we cannot conceive of what "no time" means, we must be careful with ideas such as "eternity past" or "eternity future." We've noted that in other studies but in Revelation 14 I believe it can be more easily seen and understood. What about the gospel the angel declares here could be understood as what tradition has termed "eternal?" Is this then a gospel that permeates all pages of scripture? Obviously not. This idea can also bee seen in the "forever" statutes of the Law (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:40; 2 Kings 17:36-38, etc.).
[The Angel] said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, for the hour of His judgment has come. Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
-Revelation 14:7
Is this the gospel preached by Paul in either the Acts age or in the Post-Acts age? Is this gospel what we declare in the present age? Do we hold that is an "eternal" gospel as most theologians define "eternal?" Suggest this verse for your Vacation Bible School theme this year and see how that is received. Clearly we honor and can understand the admonition to worship the Creator, but we would not call that a "gospel" truth in the current age.
But in the modern "church" (especially in the Reformed churches) we must hold this to be the same gospel and we must hold it to be true for all people of all ages. It's troubling on its face, but men will massage and complicate and redefine words for us to force it into tradition. When we allow ourselves to see and allow God to have different callings in different ages for different people (dispensationalism) all the difficulties melt away.
Dispensationalism has been defined for us by its detractors as merely a guise for Zionism. Yet the principles of rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15) apply to all truths, commands, and promises in scripture. One has to force his mind to accept contradictions and mutually exclusive ideas as being simultaneously true if he refuses to apply right division to the revelations of God.
Paul declared in the Book of Galatians that only one gospel was to be declared among the Gentiles in that age, the gospel of grace. Have men not always been reconciled to God by grace through faith? Yes! But Paul was addressing Gentiles grafted into the earthly blessings and promises to Israel (as we have seen). The Judaizers were trying to put them under the Law which was for Israel alone.
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not a gospel. But there are some who trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Although if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than the one we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say now again: If anyone preaches any other gospel to you than the one you have received, let him be accursed.
-Galatians 1:6-9
Paul's approach to evangelization varied greatly in the Acts age depending on his audience. In Acts 17 alone we see Paul speaking to Jews and reasoning from the scriptures. We laud the Bereans for "searching the scriptures whether these things are so" (17:11) Yet we see none of that on Mars Hill as he speaks with Gentiles. There he speaks of the Creator God and points, not to scripture, but to their own philosophers.
‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’ “Therefore since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to suppose that the Deity is like gold or silver or stone or an engraved work of art or an image of the reflection of man.
-Acts 17:28-29
Is this the Gospel of Grace as exalted by Paul in the Book of Galatians the same as the Gospel of the Kingdom preached by John the Baptist and by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel accounts? Is this the gospel forbidden to be preached to Gentiles by the twelve in their Matthew 10 commission? No! Yet it is a gospel. And in the Acts age, with the Kingdom "at hand" when "the time is short" as they anticipated "the restoration of the Kingdom in Israel" and the return of the Lord Jesus if Israel had repented, the gospels (plural) in Galatians were being preached.
Not what John had declared. Not what the Lord taught in his earthly calling to Israel alone (Matthew 15:24), but a message of grace alone subdivided for two audiences: faithful, believing Jews on the one hand and grafted in believing Gentiles on the other.
On the contrary, they saw that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised [Gentiles], as the gospel to the circumcised [Jews] was to Peter. For He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles.
-Galatians 2:7-8
We've noted elsewhere how Peter's epistles were addressed to "the diaspora" (Jews, 1 Peter 1:1) as James' epistle was addressed to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad" (Jews, James 1:1). The scattered tribes being another reference to the diaspora/dispersion. These were apostles to the circumcision who preached the gospel to the circumcision. As we have seen, John's revelation was also for the nation of Israel and looked to the terrible time of her winnowing; the cleansing that needs to happen as prophesied by Isaiah and others.
We could say here in the future Revelation age that the end has reverted to the beginning. We are dealing with a "good news," a proclamation from before the time of the Law separate from the calling on Abraham's life. Revelation 14:7 presents God solely as Creator ("Worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”).
No, this "everlasting
gospel" cannot be preached now. The moment has not yet arrived when these words can be
proclaimed. We can tell of "judgment to come" (Acts 24:25, mellontos, coming), but not
of the "hour" having actually arrived. If "grace" and "judgment" are the same thing, then again we
may say that words are useless for the purposes of revelation. "Now is the day of salvation" not of
judgment (2 Cor. 6:2).
It is therefore eternal in the sense that it belongs to the first and the last of the dispensations in
which God deals with men. It goes back to the beginning, before the Law. It tells of God's claim
as Creator; and not of Christ's work as Savior. "Now I know that thou fearest God" was God's
word to Abraham (Gen. 22:12). "This do and live, for I fear God," said Joseph (Gen. 42:18). So with Job (Job 1:1); and the Egyptian midwives (Ex. 1:17-21). The "fearers of God" was a title
specially given to proselytes from the Gentiles (Acts 13:16, 26).
The time will have then come to add the sentence in Isa. 41:2, which the Lord omitted when
He read Isa. 41:1, 2 in the Synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:18-20): "The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me," and continued down to and including the first sentence of verse 2, "to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord." Then it is significantly added that "he closed the book and sat down." Why? Because
that was not yet the time to preach what follows in Isa. 41:2, viz., "the day of vengeance of our
God." But here, when this first angel preaches in mid-heaven to all on earth, the time will have
come to preach this "day of vengeance," as having then come.
-E.W. Bullinger , Commentary on Revelation (excerpt)
We would only slightly depart from Dr. Bullinger on his inclusion of the Acts in the present age. He himself would adjust his understanding in later years to acknowledge this, but at the point he was writing this commentary he had not yet drawn all the distinctions he would later draw. But the greater point remains. This preaching of vengeance was omitted from the opening of the Lord's ministry in Luke 4 and is certainly not part of what we preach as revealed to Paul for us in the current age in Ephesians.
The warnings Paul gives in his epistles (during and after the Acts age) are warnings of loss for believers. The harsh words of warning in Romans 11, 1 Cor 5-6, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, Philippians 3, etc. pertain to believers. Not that any would be subject to wrath upon himself, but certainly there is much that can be lost (The Prize, rewards, crowns, the inheritance, etc.). When the idea of wrath is reintroduced in the Revelation we are outside boundaries of these other dispensations. In the gospels and in the Acts we see the warning of a time of testing in the future, here in the Revelation we see it coming to fruition.
Harsh warnings continue through chapter 14. Condemnation of sexual immorality (which can be seen as spiritual adultery as well) along with a warning against worship of the Beast and his image (idolatry not foreign to Israel, but very much part of most Gentile worship systems, including Catholicism). We see warnings of God's wrath. We then see Christ ("One like the Son of Man"), not in name, but in visage, as he and an angel continue the winnowing and separation.
The angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one hundred and eighty-six miles.
-Revelation 14:19-20
Whereas some men build their ministries today preaching the wrath of God, this is not our calling in this age. We have been called to the ministry of reconciliation, pleading with men to be reconciled to God who has already been reconciled to them and who is not holding their sins against them (2 Cor 5). The gospel in Revelation 14 was commissioned to angels. We do note that some would interpret angels as "messengers" and therefore try to place men in the stead of these creatures, but we note that all the angels in the chapter follow the angel who was "flying in the midst of heaven" (Rev 14:6).
But if the reader insists that this is all figurative language and these may still all be men, we do not argue, we point back the gospel preached in this chapter. No matter the messengers, it is not a gospel preached by John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, Paul, the Apostles to the Circumcision, or any apostle in the Gospel accounts, the Acts, or in Paul's post-Acts epistles. It is certainly foreign to Paul's revelation in Ephesians. So we leave that there and note the context of the harvest and the presence of the temple.
Then another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud [the Son of Man], “Thrust in Your sickle and reap. The time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested.
-Revelation 14:15-16
The preterist forces all of this into the long ago past as having already been fulfilled. Yet even if they want to define this harvesting in some spiritual, theological sense it does not touch the issue of the gospel present. The gospel of Revelation 14 has no place in the current age.
There is an argument to be made that the audience for the gospel here is Israel. If we limit "them that dwell on the earth" to Israel (14:6), understanding "earth" to mean "the land" (which is worth consideration), we would have to miss the full description. As an aside, the phrase "those who dwell on the earth" appears 7 times in the Revelation. This suggests a consummation. The references are connected to testing, judgment, torment, etc.
The judgment coming on those who dwell on the earth is also connected to the Beast and his image. The presence of "éthnos" (nations), especially in light of other end times passages such as Matthew 24 and Luke 21 helps us to see this gospel in context of the gentiles.
Understanding the warnings, especially in light of God as Creator, coming upon Israel as a winnowing and upon all the nations (éthnos, gentiles) in the age to come separates it from any conditions we see today or have seen in the history of what men call the "church." However you want to interpret the "temple" here or the judgment or the harvesting, they do not fit what we see today or what we preach today.
Israel is to be sifted in the age to come and only the true and faithful believers will enter into the promises to their fathers. The nations will be judged as to how they treated the Jews during this time. We see this in the culmination of the Lord's last days words in Matthew 24-25 in the parable of the sheep and goats where we see the nations (éthnos) gathered before him and judged, not for their faith, but in how the treated "the least of my brothers" (Jews).
We cannot rip this judgment of the goats from its context and make any and every person his "brother" and the people ministering them somehow not his brother? We have covered this topic on its own but what do we believe is being taught here? The timeframe is clearly future (when the Lord returns), the location is clearly the earth, and the reward has nothing to do with faith. Is this a "salvation by philanthropy" passage? We will leave that there and refer the interested to our study of the parable.
We note before the leave, however, the greater point at hand. We must not fall into the heaven/hell or saved/lost pattern of interpretation. We must also recognize that different commands, promises, and judgments in scripture are for different purposes.
The Creator God gave Adam a "law" that was limited to the earth and affected conditions on the earth. The hope of paradise restored has always been before the nations, yet nations have taken the route of the men of Babel. The recognition of the nations (Genesis 10) resulted in that post-flood act of rebellion (Genesis 11) and continues from that day through the calling of Abraham, through the kingdom in Israel, through the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the Acts age. But God turned from judging the nations when he chose Abraham from among the nations (Genesis 12) and the nation of Israel to be his witnesses and the priests for the nations (Exodus 19:5-6, a role they have never fulfilled but will in an age to come).
This "age-abiding" gospel proclaimed in Revelation 14 is not the promise of the restoration of the Kingdom in Israel. It is not the gospel of a grafting in by grace into the promises of Israel for Gentiles. It is not predicated upon faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. It is good news to those who have refused to follow the beast or worship his image among the nations and a condemnation of those who will follow him. Just as in Matthew 25, the sheep do not know exactly what they have done right ("Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?" cp. Matthew 25:37-38). Blessings for those nations which care for God's chosen people.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in the Acts age. He speaks to them of the end times and the expectation of the return of the Lord in the clouds as he promised in Acts 1 and as Peter promised Israel upon repentance in Acts 3. Revelation 14:7 states that hour of his judgment has come. We distinguish this from the greater idea of the "day" of judgment. Dr Bullinger helps us here again.
And, observe here, it is not the "day of his judgment is come," but "the hour." This refers of
course to the last and final crisis of the judgment — the seven Vials — which closes everything
up. "Fear God and give glory to him... worship him (not the Beast) who made the heaven and the
earth," &c. It is God as creator who is proclaimed, and that by an angel, not by men. The heavenly
utterances proclaim the Father and the Son, but here it is the Creator. That is the basis on which
worship is demanded. What a state the earth must then be in, when only this one part of the primeval
gospel can be proclaimed. This takes place probably before Rev 8.
And yet, in spite of all this, Commentators take it as "the inauguration of Christian missions,"
or "the operations of the Bible Society"! These words could never have been read with their context
by those who thus misinterpret them! No! this is the first step in these angelic announcements. A
solemn note of warning is loudly sounded. -ibid
Let us not confuse judgment and grace. We turn to Dr Bullinger's points in "The Apocalypse."
We have to remember that though the Gospel is often used in a technical sense, the word itself means glad tidings or good news. It is clear that this news may vary and yet be good. As a matter of fact there are several subjects connected with this good news. It will be sufficient to mention the "gospel of the kingdom," and "the gospel of the grace of God." All are preached, and are to be preached, according to the dispensations to which they belong. For example, in the present dispensation it is only "the gospel of the grace of God" which is to be preached (Acts 20:24), and he is accursed who now preaches a different gospel (Gal 1:8). "The gospel of the Kingdom" was preached by John the Baptist, by Christ, and by Peter, &c. (Matt 4:23; 9:35). And it will yet be preached again in the Great Tribulation, after the Church of God has been taken away (Matt 24:14), up to this point; and then it will be replaced by "The Eternal Gospel," as it is rendered in the RV. It is so called because it takes us back to the beginning, and tells of the earliest good news, or gospel, preached from God as Creator, and consists of the one great truth which was preached from the beginning. It is manifest that it cannot be "everlasting" in the strict sense of the word, because when "the hour of his judgment is come," and gone, it will not be possible to preach it any longer. This settles the matter for us. If it did not, it is equally clear that God's gospel of grace which is preached now consists of something more than the fact that men are to "fear God"! And who would dare to preach now that "the hour of His judgment (or crisis) has come." No, this "everlasting gospel" cannot be preached now. The moment has not yet arrived when these words can be proclaimed. We can tell of "judgment to come" (Acts 24:25, (...) (mellontos), coming), but not of the "hour" having actually arrived. If "grace" and "judgment" are the same thing, then again we may say that words are useless for the purposes of revelation. "Now is the day of salvation" not of judgment (2 Cor 6:2).
-E.W. Bullinger, The Apocalypse (The Fifth Vision "On Earth"), excerpt
So much more could be said on all these topics, but we will restrain ourselves and encourage the reader to do his own sorting and searching and studying. We cannot let tradition overrule what we should clearly see are differences. "Compare the things that differ" (Phil 1:10) and "study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing [cutting straight line] the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15).
We must recognize that God has a plan for the earth and a plan for the heavenly places. We must recognize that God requires different things of different people in different ages for different purposes. If we fail to mark these differences, we will fall into confusion at best or submit our minds to men who will create fanciful explanations so complex we force ourselves to bow mind and will to them (as the Catholic Church requires of the laity to its hierarchy) at worst.
