Jesus said, "This good news of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all nations and then the end shall come" (Mt 24:14). But Revelation 14:6 says that an angel has the "everlasting gospel to preach to the world." So who exactly preaches the good news, a prophet or an angel? And most importantly of all, what is this good news of the kingdom, anyway? It's not what you think!
I received this question about Revelation 14:6 on whether angels or men will be preaching the gospel before the end:
Considering Rev 14:6..."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"...why do we assume that Mt 24:14 refers to man preaching the Gospel to the world? Just a question I have always wanted to ask...
I agree with my correspondent that Matthew 24:14 and Revelation 14:6 are parallel prophecies. But I don't agree with the implied conclusion that Revelation 14:6 says that an angel will accomplish this, even though it does seem to say that. For sure, decades ago before really studying the Bible in depth I would have hastily agreed with this seemingly clear or obvious meaning to the Revelation passage.
Historical Precedents of Preaching
What changed this for me being better acquainted with the Biblical precedents of how God passes his messages to humanity in general. God has always used man to preach to the masses, not angels (who seem to only appear to the righteous and in small numbers). You won't find a single case in the Bible where an angel preaches to large groups. The largest group I can think of would be the shepherds near Bethlehem who were alerted by angels to Jesus' birth (Luke 2:8-20).
I don't think Revelation 14 breaks this precedent. It never comes out explicitly saying that "and the angel preached the gospel to the world." If you read it carefully you only will find that it "has" the gospel to be preached to the world. Normally as messengers, angels deliver their messages to men who then take it to the masses.
Who these gospel-preaching-men might be in this case is perhaps answered by the immediate context. The three angels are introduced right after the 144,000 are described on Mt. Zion along with their special sealing of protection. The angels will deliver the messages to men like the 144,000, as well as other prophets before them, specifically Elijah. This for me explains the reason for the special protection on the 144,000: they have work to do in a hostile environment: proclaim the gospel to the whole world while it is under nearly complete control of the Antichrist.
Before the 144,000 Preach, "Elijah Must Come First" (Mt 17:10)
While Revelation 14 definitely implies the 144,000 preaching the gospel in all the world during the Great Tribulation, that's not where it starts. It starts even before the end, of which the Great Tribulation is the concluding part (after the "Beginning of Sorrows"):
Matthew 24:14 (HCSB) — This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.
The logical choice for who will deliver this message "before the end" is the one named end time prophet: the end time Elijah prophet of Malachi 4:6. "Turning people to repentance" as it says is what the good news of the kingdom message does. It would make sense for Elijah to start this message using the Internet and then pass the baton to the 144000 when it goes down with WWIII and Wormwood (which by no coincidence is when the 144,000 are sealed).
But notice also that the purpose of the preaching in Mt 24:14 is not to convince everyone, but to serve as a witness before judgment can come. In this way everyone who wanted to repent had the information to do so and could have done so and thus could not say they didn't know or that God is unfair to judge the earth as harshly as he will.
This underlines the fact once again that God is not trying to save everyone now. He is calling his firstfruits who have the tenacity to choose his way repeatedly against the opposition of Satan and his minions, the world, and their own nature. According to the Bible, their reward is to reign as kings and priests for 1000 years on earth before the Great Harvest "of the rest of the dead" is bought in.
But What is the "Good News of the Kingdom?"
Notice that my correspondent above did not ask me to define the Good News of the Kingdom. He probably thought he already knew what it was, assuming it to be the same "gospel about Jesus' redeeming death and resurrection" that Christianity focuses on. I used to think the same thing but then I noticed that Jesus never connected his coming death or resurrection to the gospel or good news of the kingdom.
Because Christianity focuses on another, counterfeit gospel, Jesus' original gospel of the kingdom has not been preached since the first century when his disciples he taught it to firsthand died out. The world has chiefly heard only a little about Jesus. In fact, mainly his death. Few Christians know much about Jesus' life and what he actually taught, which is where the good news message of the Kingdom of God is hidden.
What is the good news? Here's a clue. Whatever it is, Jesus said it would be "glad tidings to the poor" (Lk 4:18; 6:20; Mt 5:3) but not so much to the rich who would find it difficult to enter the kingdom because the good news would be less motivating for them (Mt 19:23=Luke 6:24). The Christian definition of the good news fails Jesus' test or parameters. Both the poor and the rich are in the same situation when they die; they need to qualify for an afterlife. So that cannot be the good news of the kingdom. It must be something else.
That something else is summed up in Matthew 6:33. If you understand that verse and all the verses related to it that flesh out the details of the good news of the kingdom, you'll see it fits the parameters Jesus gave, and is indeed extremely good news about this life for the typical poor global citizen now and especially in history hearing it. So good, that it completely transforms how we perceive this world, this life, it's purpose, what it's about, and how to go about living it. It explains why the Jerusalem church (Acts 2-5) who was taught this good news (Acts 2:42) ended up living communally and sharing with each other so that there was no one lacking among them (Act 4:34).
The good news of the kingdom is a life-changing secret today, that will be unleashed on the world later (Mt 24:14). If you wish to understand it now in depth and along with the incredible offer of help that God is literally making to all believers, please consider reading my exhaustive supporter study on good news of the kingdom.
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20comments
It clearly says the angel the “having” the gospel in verse 6, is “saying” the gospel in verse 7.
6 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,
7 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.
God has no precedent to go by…He is God.
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Sean, it’s funny how every time a Christian insists something is “clear” in the Bible, it’s anything but clear. Verse 7 does not state he shares good news and contains no good news of any kind whatsoever. It’s a warning about bad news that God’s judgment is coming. This fits the past precedents that God uses only men to preach to humanity, not angels.
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My Spirit is saying that you’re one of the two witnesses Tim.
And I’m just part of The Tent Witness in Revelation 15.
Who knows what God will reveal at the proper time.
Yes, agreed Moses and Elijah according to Jesus
Luke 16:29
But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’
Thanks!
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Hi
So basically we’re looking for the following events to confirm the end: building of the Third Temple (which could take a few months to construct), the destruction of Damascus which is the thermal nuclear war mentioned in Zechariah and the Preaching of the Gospel to the nations (which is very subjective and only God would really know when the preaching is finished to His satisfaction).
Mauricio, no, the Third Temple is not a sign of the end as it’s unclear when it is built. Same with the Damascus war, it can come any number of years before the end does. The global publication of Good News of the Kingdom is the one sign we have that the end is ready to come (Mt 24:14).
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I noticed in the news NASA has discovered a planet out there drifting through space with a magnetic field 200 times stronger than Jupiter and it is only 20 lightyears out. Could this be Wormwood?
Reply Steve, I’ll have to write an article about this Friday, stay tuned =).
Reply Good article Tim. What got my attention was the strength of that joker. 200 times that of Jupiter and only 20 lightyears out. Seems like it wouldn’t have to get close to wreck our world, but like Chris says below it would probably tear us apart. We would become the little pieces Wormwood is going to rain down on us. As far as Wormwood sneaking up on us, it makes me think of Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. NLT
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Hi Steve
I doubt it as this rogue planet is a super Jupiter yet Wormwood is smaller than the Earth as it is a dwarf planet. A super Jupiter would tear the Earth apart while a dwarf planet would be pulled apart by the Earth’s gravity to rain down on the surface. Also shouldn’t Elijah be warning people about it if this was Wormwood?
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All valid points. The story of this planet just goes to show how little NASA does know about what is out there and how something could sneak up on us. I still like Katrina’s insight that it will just appear because it will come from God’s dimension.
Reply Hi Liz
Indeed there is a lot of things that NASA is unaware of. Remember that asteroid that came closer than the Moon orbits Earth?
Yes Wormwood is in Heaven right now waiting to be unleashed on the world when the 144,000 are sealed in the safe zone.
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah foreshadow what will happen in the last 7 years of the age.
Hi Tim,
I used to be married to a youth pastor and I still keep in contact with a lot of the youth I ministered to. I wanted to let you know that I have been seeing an increase in interest in what the Bible actually says vs. what the church has taught. Those who are brave enough to speak out have gotten some backlash from the older generation and their family. I have been quietly referring them to your site and seeing if the seed grows! Thanks for all you do – it is making a difference.
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It seems pretty obvious to me that the ‘angel’ is a satellite broadcasting an everlasting gospel message all round the world. In those days what word would the people use name such an object flying round in the sky ? An angel seems the obvious word for those times.
Reply Evie, that’s very imaginative, but a literal angel fits the context perfectly leaving no justification to invent another meaning. Worse, there are three angels like this and there will be no satellites in the sky after Wormwood/WW3, which is before the second angel. That rules out angels for the last two angels and it’s kind of an all are satellites or all are angels kind of thing…
Reply evie as far as I can tell, satellites are definitely different from angels. Another problem with your idea is how do the angel messages get out in this case after Russia and China nuke Mystery Babylon aka USA turning it into a nuclear wasteland and Wormwood eradicates civilisation until the Beast establishes his kingdom?
Don’t feel bad the Bible isn’t an easy book to read let alone understand the plain meaning of verses. I had that experience as well with the Bible too.
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Tim, God will attempt to preach in the end to save many but Jesus will turn people away saying I never knew you? Can you shed some light on this?
Reply Kescher, despite God’s powerful, great end time revival through Eljiah teaching repentance and the Good News of the Kingdom, not everyone will listen, not even most Christians. Christians who go along following religion instead of the Word of God, even when they do it in Jesus’ name, they must be rejected.
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The vast majority of believers have been duped by very questionable Bible translations which largely misrepresent Yehovah’s plan of salvation. They even believe that they will “retire” in “heaven”. And many such heresies.
To be sure, Jesus Christ, our Savior informed the man crucified next to Him that His place of abode is in PARADISE–not some nebulous place in “heaven”. Here’s another heresy: There is 110 times the word “ekklessia” written in the Greek New Testament (Original Greek New Testament text inspired by the Holy Spirit). and not a single word for “church” exists in place (or to replace) those 110 words that Holy Spirit inspired there! Imagine that! There are reprehensible and lazy persons going out there to the pulpits of Christianity and (without doing a single hour of STUDY and research) continue to talk about “churches” and “heaven” and “baptism” (the original Greek word “baptizio” was left untranslated by Tyndale!). To be sure, the Greek word “baptizio” meant “to immerse someone deep in water”–not to “sprinkle with water”. And…some 20,000 more heresies like the foregoing…. Thanks God for Tim McHyde, for his careful attention that He gives to the Words of God inspired in the Bible! We can learn something from him all the time he pens down his research information from the Bible.
If the end will come when the gospel has been preached throughout the world, then if we know the stage of this program we would have some indication of the nearness of the end, Christ’s return to earth and to bring about His rule. What is your view on what stage we are at in this endeavor? Are there any nations which have not been reached by this message yet?
Reply Ernie, see my new article that explains this question. It’s not about countries that the Christian gospel reaches. It’s about the Gospel of Jesus, the Good News of the Kingdom returning.
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