VERSE 9-12 continued “Then 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. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 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.”
“Verse 11 shows that there is no let up. The smoke (the evidence of the burning) is everywhere; there is no hiding that the apostasy is suffering.
And this will continue AGE-ABIDING (“forever”) – that is until the age is over. Those with the Lamb HAVE REST (Matt. 11:28); those who do not come out do not have it PERPETUALLY (day nor night.) -- the situation only gets worse.
The “torment” with some will pertain not only to the present life but also to the shame that will extend into the Kingdom Age—and even beyond the Millennium into the everlasting future. Whenever those of this class happen to think back, they will experience a twinge of shame because of their past actions (or inaction). From that standpoint the “smoke” or remembrance of their shame or torment will be an everlasting lesson to themselves and, more particularly, to others in the ages to come.
Those who, in the present human experience, receive the mark of the beast or his image will figuratively “have no rest day or night” in the Kingdom Age; only after a period of purgation will the torment cease—but not the “smoke (the remembrance).”
Smoke rises from the place where burning took place. Accordingly, not only will the individual wrongdoers themselves experience shame, but others who reflect back upon certain events, times, and circumstances will think upon those who did the wrong. Thus others will view these wrong deeds and the retribution from the standpoint of example and judgment. The smoke will “ascend” in the sense that, where necessary, the sinful deeds will be publicly exposed or revealed to both wrongdoer and onlooker. When the Kingdom is established, humiliation will be felt by various popes, emperors, and certain individuals upon their coming forth from the grave and hearing the terms that must be met in order to abide by the laws of Messiah and to receive life. They will experience shame for their past misrepresentation of God and Christ in the earth and for their fraudulent claims not based on Scripture. The Lord will speak of such, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:21–23); yet many of these posed as his chief representatives upon earth.
Today there is no literal smoke in the Valley of Gehenna in Israel as there was many centuries ago when the burning was continuous, but anyone acquainted with the history of Jerusalem would know of its past association as the Valley of Hinnom, where garbage was burned and the corpses of criminals considered unworthy of burial were thrown.
(Nothing live was ever thrown in there).
Even though there is no literal fire or smoke now—even though that consumption took place thousands of years ago—the historical memory (smoke) of that place lingers on. Likewise in a spiritual or figurative sense, the smoke or lesson of the past will linger on.
In summation, three angels went through the midst of heaven. Each was a distinct message, but all three pointed out the date A.D. 1878 (The beginning of the Harvest and the fall of Babylon).
The important point is that a date is furnished without actually naming the date.
“Verse 11 also mentions the “mark of his name.” This means the CHARACTER represented by the name of the beast.
His name is apparently symbolized by a number (Rev 13:18), which must be CALCULATED. The total will be 666. One of the primary titles of the Papacy, and one which formerly was on the gate of Vatican City, is VACARIVS FILII DEI (Vicar of the Son of God). The name means, one in Place of the Son of God. In Roman numerals, the name equals 666. The significance, then, of the MARK OF HIS NAME seems to be the character which usurps authority from Jesus and uses it to rule over others.”
Verse 12 “Here is the patience (the waiting) of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Verse 12 is very important. It summarizes everything since Verse 6. It is saying that all of this torment will take SO LONG as to try the patience of the saints. And since this has all been going on since A.D.1878 (Verse 8, the time of the fall of Babylon), and still goes on (144 years now), it has, indeed, been an ongoing test of our faith as time passes.
This verse is so very important because it ASSURES us that this whole harvest period WILL take an extremely long time. It says, KEEP FAITH; don’t give up; though it tarry, wait for it.
The date A.D.1878 likewise marks the end of the sixth Church period (the Philadelphian stage) and the beginning of the seventh or Laodicean period. The three angels of Verses 6 through 11 are simply announcements of facts and warnings addressed to the last stage of church history: (a) “Fear God,” (b) “Babylon is fallen,” and (c) “If any man worship the beast and his image…”
Verse 12 is a commendation of the faithfulness of the true saints of the last members of the Philadelphia era, which terminated at the end of A.D. 1877, and it harmonizes with the remarks addressed to that Church: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10).
Although it’s true that some of the present generation since 1878 have escaped to a larger degree much of the temptation or trouble coming upon the world, trouble which we will soon have to endure during the final stages of the “hour of power” of the beast and the false prophet, nevertheless they have had to endure its openings stages, beginning with the opening of the great time of trouble in 1914 and the pouring out of the first of the plagues.
Excerpts for this study were taken from Brother Frank Shallieu’s “The Keys of Revelation”, and the “New Albany Notes on Revelation”.
We move on to Verses 13-14 in our next post.
