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Angels in Revelation
Revelation describes actions of
angels.
The great lesson of Revelation is the same vision
Elisha's servant saw: "And when the servant of the man of God arose
early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with
horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, 'Alas, my master!
What shall we do?' So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are
with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed,
and said, 'Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the
Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha"
(2 Kings 6:15-17).
Although we are few and forces of evil appear to
be overwhelming, Revelation opens our eyes to the mighty host of
angels fighting for good and vanquishing evil.
John expands on what is said about angels in
other parts of Scripture. The following passages help us understand
what angels do in Revelation.
Jesus Christ "has gone into heaven and is at the
right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been
made subject to Him" (1 Peter 3:22).
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels" (Hebrews 12:22).
"Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth
to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).
"There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
who repents" (Luke 15:10).
Jesus promised: "Whoever confesses Me before men,
him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God"
(Luke 12:8). "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments,
and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will
confess his name before My Father and before His angels"
(Revelation 3:5).
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His
glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats" (Matthew 25:31,32).
"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His
Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to
his works" (Matthew 16:27).
In the parable of the tares, Jesus explains: "The
enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the
age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are
gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this
age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather
out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice
lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire" (Matthew
13:39-42).
"So it will be at the end of the age. The angels
will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast
them into the furnace of fire'' (Matthew
13:49,50).
"And He will send His angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other" (Matthew 24:31 // Mark
13:27).
"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet
of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be
with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).
"Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay
with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are
troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those
who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:6-8).
Angels are subject to Christ. Believers are in
fellowship with Christ and His angels who are ministering spirits,
sent to help the heirs of salvation. The angels rejoice over each
sinner who repents and Christ will confess the faithful before His
Father and His angels.
All the angels will accompany Christ when He
returns to judge the world. He will send them out with the sound of
a trumpet and they will remove the wicked and cast them into the
furnace of fire. They will assemble all of God's elect from every
quarter. The dead in Christ will rise first, then the living
faithful will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the sky to be with Him forever.
This background information helps us understand
what angels do in Revelation.
Revelation speaks of
rebellious angels.
This is also taught in other
passages.
Jesus said that on the day of Judgment He would
say to those on the left hand, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into
the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels"
(Matthew 25:41).
"And the angels who did not keep their proper
domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great
day" (Jude 6).
God's angels are
victorious.
"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels
fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in
heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent
of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
... Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil
has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he
has a short time" (Revelation 12:7-9,12).
What activities of angels
are described in Revelation?
1. An angel gave the Revelation to John
(Revelation 1:1,2).
John received a 'little book' from an angel who
told him: "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations,
tongues, and kings" (Revelation 10:1-11).
At the close of Revelation we are told: "And the
Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants
the things which must shortly take place" (Revelation 22:6). "I,
Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the
churches" (Revelation 22:16).
2. Angels worship God.
"Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and
the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and
thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the
Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and
strength and honor and glory and blessing!'' (Revelation
5:11,12).
"And all the angels stood around the throne and
the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God, saying: 'Amen! Blessing and
glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to
our God forever and ever. Amen' '' (Revelation
7:11,12).
3. Angels support the preaching of the
gospel.
"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell
on the earth to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people 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' " (Revelation
14:6,7).
4. Angels help the servants of
God.
"Then I saw another angel ascending from the
east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud
voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth
and the sea, saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees
till we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads' " (Revelation 7:2,3).
"Then another angel, having a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he
should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden
altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense,
with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the
angel's hand" (Revelation 8:3,4).
5. Angels bring God's judgment on the
earth.
This is the most prominent activity of angels in
Revelation.
Seven angels blow seven
trumpets of partial destruction.
At the sound of these warning trumpets 'a third'
is destroyed, but the peoples of the earth do not repent
(Revelation 9:20,21).
The first angel: "a third of the trees were burned up, and
all green grass was burned up" (Revelation 8:7).
The second angel: "a third of the sea became blood; and a
third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the
ships were destroyed" (Revelation 8:8,9).
The third angel: "And a great star fell from heaven, burning
like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the
springs of water; and the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third
of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the water,
because it was made bitter" (Revelation 8:10,11).
The forth angel: "And a third of the sun was struck, a third
of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were
darkened; and a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the
night" (Revelation 8:12).
The fifth angel: "he opened the bottomless pit" (Revelation
9:2). The locusts that come up from the bottomless pit have "as
king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in
Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon"
(Revelation 9:11). These names mean 'destruction' (compare with
Exodus 12:23; Job 26:6; 28:22; Proverbs 15:11; Ezekiel 7:25).
The sixth angel: He released "the four angels who are bound
at the great river Euphrates" ... "to kill a third of mankind"
(Revelation 9:14,15).
The seventh angel: "The kingdoms of this world have become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign
forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15). The seventh trumpet
announces the coming judgment (Revelation 11:18). Jesus had said:
"Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world
will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:31,32).
Seven angels bring
judgment.
The call to begin the final judgment is given by
seven angels in chapter fourteen.
The first: "Another angel flying in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel" (Revelation 14:6) "for the hour of
His judgment has come" (Revelation 14:7).
The second: "Another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is
fallen'" (Revelation 14:8).
The third: "A third angel followed them, saying with a loud
voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives
his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full
strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone" (Revelation 14:9,10).
The fourth: "And another angel came out of the temple,
crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 'Thrust in
Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for
the harvest of the earth is ripe.' So He who sat on the cloud
thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped"
(Revelation 14:15,16).
The fifth: "Then another angel came out of the temple which
is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle" (Revelation
14:17).
The sixth: "And another angel came out from the altar, who
had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had
the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather
the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully
ripe'" (Revelation 14:18).
The seventh (the same as the fifth): "So the angel thrust
his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and
threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God" (Revelation
14:19).
Seven angels pour out the
seven last plagues: seven golden bowls full of the wrath of
God.
Now that the harvest has begun and the vines are
thrown into the winepress of the wrath of God, seven bowls of the
wrath of God are poured out on the earth by seven angels. The seven
bowls are similar to the seven trumpets, but in this case the
devastation is complete, and still the peoples of the earth do not
repent.
"Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and
marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them
the wrath of God is complete" (Revelation 15:1).
"And out of the temple came the seven angels
having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having
their chests girded with golden bands. Then one of the four living
creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the
wrath of God who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with
smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able
to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were
completed" (Revelation 15:6-8).
"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying
to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God
on the earth'" (Revelation 16:1).
The first: "A foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who
had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image"
(Revelation 16:2).
The second: The sea "became blood as of a dead man; and
every living creature in the sea died" (Revelation 16:3).
The third: "The rivers and springs of water" became blood
(Revelation 16:4).
The forth: The sun scorches men with fire, yet they do not
repent (Revelation 16:8- 11).
The fifth: The kingdom of the beast becomes full of
darkness, yet they do not repent (Revelation 16:10,11).
The sixth: The Euphrates dries up (Revelation 16:12).
The seventh: "It is finished!'' (Revelation
16:17).
One of the angels with the
seven bowls, explains the meaning of the great
harlot.
"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven
bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, I will show you
the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters'"
(Revelation 17:1).
"But the angel said to me, 'Why did you marvel? I
will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that
carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns'"
(Revelation 17:7).
"After these things I saw another angel coming
down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was
illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud
voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen'"
(Revelation 18:1,2).
"Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great
millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, 'Thus with violence
the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found
anymore'" (Revelation 18:21).
"Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the
midst of heaven, 'Come and gather together for the supper of the
great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of
captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those
who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both
small and great'" (Revelation 19:17,18)
An angel binds Satan for a
thousand years.
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:1,2).
After the thousand years, the devil is vanquished and thrown into
the lake of fire, the dead are raised and all must appear before
the judgment throne of God. Those whose names are not found in the
book of life are also thrown into the lake of
fire.
One of the angels with the
seven bowls shows John the bride of the
Lamb.
For the righteous there is a new heavens and a
new earth and an angel shows John the Lamb's
bride.
"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven
bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with
me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife.' And
he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and
showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a
most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal"
(Revelation 21:9-11).
The Angel who brought the
message warned John not to worship angels but to worship
God.
"Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And
when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the
angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, 'See that you
do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren
the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship
God' " (Revelation 22:8,9 // 19:10).
Revelation describes
actions of God's angels.
There are also rebellious angels, but the angels
of God are victorious. An angel gave the Revelation to John. Angels
worship God. They support the preaching of the gospel. They help
the servants of God. They bring judgment on the earth. Seven angels
blow seven warning trumpets of partial destruction. Seven angels
bring judgment. Seven angels pour out the seven last plagues: seven
bowls full of the wrath of God. One of these angels explains the
meaning of the great harlot. An angel binds Satan for a thousand
years. An angel shows John the bride of the Lamb. The Angel who
brought the message warned John not to worship angels but to
worship God.
Understanding what the angels do in Revelation,
helps us understand Revelation. Although we are few and forces of
evil appear to be overwhelming, Revelation opens our eyes to the
mighty host of angels fighting for good and vanquishing evil. And
we are assured that if we remain faithful until death we will share
in the victory of Christ and the heavenly host.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982,
Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)