Topic – Torment: Revelation 14:10

10 “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed []in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and []brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

In Revelation 14:10, scripture writes about what will happen to anyone who worships the beast and his image, and who receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand. Is it even possible to process the equal and opposite to God’s love?

When we read about ‘His anger’, we must pause. Think about dinosaurs. Think about a T-rex, roaring, chasing its prey, and tearing another animal to pieces. Now, think about a baby, born unto this world in a state of pure love and dependence; a state of purity that we may never attain again after birth, and yet even as innocent as we are at birth, we are more corrupt than heaven… than God.

Think about the love of Yeshua on the cross when He said: “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

Yeshua did know. He knew that no matter how they tortured Him it did not come close to the wrath of God.

Listen, the Church doesn’t want to talk about this. But, I’m asking you to meditate upon it. I’m not trying to scare you. God is. God is letting you know to love Him with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength.

Why?

Because that’s how it is in heaven. God loves you completely and you love Him completely. Do you think He commands the seraphim angels to sing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty” all day long?

No, they do it because they are in ‘awe’ of Him.

They do it because they cannot resist His goodness. His righteousness. His truthfulness. His reliability and His totality.

God has warned us. Heaven once became corrupt and a war broke out; a war so bad that a new heaven and a new earth will be created (soon). Listen closely to what I’m about to share with you:

If heaven was messed up badly enough to have to make a new one, God’s not going to put up with this twice. And whoever, whatever, messed up heaven is going to pay. That’s a place of promise. A place of goodness. A place full of God’s presence. He has turned His back on those who betrayed Him. He said He would do it and He has done it.

And when God’s back is turned, watch out.

Repent. Do this now. Tell God you love Him and want to start again.

For those who receive the mark will receive the full wrath of God, just like the evil one. And the evil one started a war in heaven. Yet, even the evil one got to live for a period of time without torment; an opportunity to repent, give his/it’s soul back to God and restore its relationship. It is written, with God, anything is possible. (Matthew 19:26)

This means that it is ‘possible’ that during the thousands (or perhaps many more than thousands) of years that the dragon has lived here on earth, there has been an opportunity to repent and restore its relationship with God. Yet, when Yeshua came, after thousands of years, what did He say?

He said that the devil is a thief and a liar. Specifically, the Lord said this when speaking to the Jews who denied Him:

44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells []a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of []lies.

Let’s examine this closely:

Those who do not believe have chosen a different ‘father’, not God, the Father.

The devil has desires; this is in contradiction to the scripture “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

The devil was a murderer, from the beginning.

There is no truth in him. (The Lord knows what is ‘in’ man and the Lord knows what is ‘in’ the devil, for He created both of us.)

In John 2:24-25, it is written about our Lord (when many were trusting in Him during the Passover feast in Jerusalem):

24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, because He knew all people,25 and because He did not need anyone to testify about mankind, for He Himself knew what was in mankind.

This was just before our Lord and Savior was crucified. People were trusting in Him. Nicodemus was about to visit Him and ask about baptism and the new birth. He was reaching a leader of the Jewish temple. And people were believing in the Messiah left and right.

But, still, He knew what was ‘in’ man, what was in our hearts, and that He would be tortured and die; only to rise again.

Now, do you think that our Lord and Savior doesn’t know what is in the evil one?

Of course He does. And He also knows that we are susceptible to the same thing: temptation, sin, and, resultantly, eternal destruction.

The father of lies? Contrast this with the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

BIG difference.

Which mark will you wear? The mark of the devil or the mark of Yeshua? Will you pick up your cross and follow Him? Or will you continue to edify things of this world instead of being edified by God?

Surely, you’d rather experience God’s love than God’s anger, right?

God makes the choice so clear. If we only take Him seriously and truly believe in Him, we realize that there really is no choice. Eternal love, love to the point of selfless torture and death for-us vs the same punishment as the one who attempted to destroy heaven?

C’mon. Imagine for a moment that you are God; not in a sinful way. Simply as a thought exercise… from God’s eyes down, is God real?

Yes!!!!

It’s completely absurd to think that you, yourself, are not real, right?

Now, if you know that you are real and that you are the truth, way, and life… then, do you have any doubt that what you’ve shared is accurate?

Of course you do not doubt. You know.

Meanwhile, people fight about what is good and what is not, what is the truth about God and what is not, and how to get to heaven… or if heaven is actually real. But, God knows heaven is real. God lives there.

God sees us like we see a TV with poor reception. Do you remember rabbit ear antennas? It’s like you’re trying to find just the right angle to tune in and get a clear signal…. That’s human life. The amount of distortion that is here as a result of a heavenly being being cast out of heaven who has much more power than earthly beings is substantial.

It’s not too much for God.

God came and set the signal straight, even if for a brief moment. All you have to do is love on the Lord and you’ll experience clarity. All you have to do is fear God and you’ll experience clarity. All you have to do is remember God’s Son and you’ll have a clear signal.

Get baptized and be born again. Take communion and remember the Lord’s sacrifice. Know God, personally. Get to know God, so when you get to the gates of heaven He does not say: “I did not know you. Depart from Me.” (Matthew 7:23)

Teaching points:

1) Who wrote Revelation and what were the circumstances of the time?

More than likely (according to early Christian fathers like Irenaeus) Apostle John, one of the original disciples of Christ Jesus. Modern scholars debate whether this was John the Elder vs John the Apostle.

John was preaching the Word of God and testimony of Yeshua. He was exiled to Patmos, where he experienced some form of outdoor solitary confinement. I can imagine he was nearly starving, in search of clean water to drink, and sleeping in some sort of cave. Yet, his faith was strong. And he was shown a prophetic vision of end times, which was later called ‘Revelation.’

2) Where else in scripture does this information appear?

Revelation 12:9-11 – 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole []world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even []when faced with death.

Cross Reference – Genesis 3:1-4 – 3 Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die!

We see a parallel here between the end times and creation. When Adam & Eve were deceived in the Garden of Eden, they were deceived by the ‘serpent’, who is mentioned both in Genesis as well as Revelation. God is the beginning and the end, and He is here to witness, provide, create or destroy throughout all of time.

Revelation 20:10 – 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and []brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

This corresponds to Revelation 14:9, where it is written: 9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

Revelation 19:20 – 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs []in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with []brimstone.

Here, we see the association of the false prophet and how he receives the same punishment as the beast. We learn that those who take the side of the evil one receive the same punishment as the devil.

Jeremiah 25:15 – 15 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and give it to all the nations to whom I send you, to drink from it.

God prophesies that He will punish the nations of His choosing with His wrath, foretelling what is written in Revelation at the time of the second coming of Christ Jesus.

Psalms 75:8 – For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams;

It is []well mixed, and He pours out of this;

Certainly all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink its dregs.

The psalmist reminds us that the wicked must receive God’s wrath in this verse, a foreshadowing of end times.

Ezekiel 38:22 – 22 With plague and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, []a torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

The fire and potency of hell is hard to imagine. When we consider that fire, hailstones, torrential rain, and brimstone can come from heaven, how can we even conceive the fierceness of what exists in sheol?

3) How to apply these scriptures to your life:

Personal anecdotal story – Have you ever read 23 Minutes In Hell? This is a very detailed testimony of when the Lord brought a Christian man to hell and asked him to testify about it. I have also been shown hell during a meditation – as well as heaven in a different meditation – and I can testify to the experience of hell being extraordinarily intimidating, dark, and scary.

While I think it’s wise for us to simply love the LORD, we must also consider that hell was never meant for us. It was – and is – meant for the dragon, the serpent of old and new, who was cast out of heaven after starting a war with our Father. The devil’s punishment is eternal, and we are not meant to be included. God couldn’t have made it easier: He sent His Son, that so long as we believe in Him and “listen” to Him (i.e. do what He has taught us), we can get to heaven.

Why are we so stubborn as to think we know better, or that ‘man’ might know better? Certainly, it’s societal training – or the influence of the evil one – that has led us to this belief. We have so many competing theories on how the world works; yet only ‘one’ truly has evidence. The Lord, Christ Jesus the Nazarene, born of a virgin, lived as a human, performed many miracles, was tortured, crucified, and rose again. This is one of the most factually witnessed accounts in history. We have ‘proof.’

So, why then would we not believe our Lord and Savior – who died on the cross to save us from eternal damnation – that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the way out of earth, to heaven, and without bypassing hell?

He walked on water…

He raised the dead…

He made people speak who were mute…

He made ‘food’ multiply…

He cured the blind…

He stopped people from bleeding or solved their disfigurement…

He even showed us that He could wither a fig tree, so that it would never fruit again…

He taught us how to love in such a way that the world has forever changed…

…and even though so many deny Him, the clock reset when He was born…

The ‘clock’ reset. Year 0 equals the year our Savior was born. The most celebrated holiday in all the world is a reminder of His royal birth…

And, still, today, when people invoke the Name of the Lord, radical healing takes place.

Scriptures to keep in mind:

John 3:16 – 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Meditate upon this.

Romans 8:32 – 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

He’s inviting us into eternity, ‘with’ Him. He has shown the greatest form of love for us that has ever existed, and now He’s asking us to live with Him, in His love, forever and ever.

John 15:13 – 13 Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.

Amen!

John 14:6 – 6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.

Let’s not choose from ten thousand foolish options; let’s choose Him, He who has proven His resurrection to over 500 people after feeding thousands and clearly living in such a way that those around Him could see that the “laws” of earth did not apply to Him and His life.

Closing:

It’s good news that heaven will never be corrupted again. Yes, we are to pray for our enemies. Yes, we are to submit to God, the Father in all that we do. Yes, we are to live with sacrifice, as testimony to Christ Jesus, that He might come again and bring us with Him to our heavenly home. Yes, church, yes!

Don’t be fooled. Don’t be tricked. Don’t be afraid, says the Lord 365 times in scripture. Follow Him