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Revelation 14
11 The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. 12 Here is the patience of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever
He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Revelation 9:2-3)
Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of lions. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. (Revelation 9:17-18)
The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.' (Revelation 18:9-10)
Smoke is not fire itself but rather the evidence or aftereffects of fire. Smoke can linger long after the original source of fire, even though the original object of burning has been completely consumed and turned into ashes. Thus smoke is all that is left as a reminder of what previously took place.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire is a prime example of this principle.
He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. (Genesis 19:28)
Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1:6-7)
Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. (Isaiah 13:19)
The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; and that the whole land of it is sulfur, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: even all the nations shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? what means the heat of this great anger? (Deuteronomy 29:22-24)
For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. (Isaiah 9:18)
Yahweh knows the days of the perfect. Their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil. In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish. The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields. They will vanish-- vanish like smoke. (Psalms 37:18-20)
Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18)
Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire. (Isaiah 30:27)
Smoke goes up forever and ever
When we align this prophetic symbol to the criteria of a God who is only like Jesus reveals Him to be, what can be found in these passages is a metaphor indicating this smoke represents the testimony lasting for eternity, of the history of evil and its deadly effects on those who choose it. That testimony will exist throughout all eternity, along with the marks left on the body of our Christ and God's Christ, caused when He redeemed us on His cross.
If someone asks him, 'What are these wounds on your body?' he will answer, 'The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.' (Zechariah 13:6 NIV)
A second said, "Hallelujah! Her smoke goes up forever and ever." (Revelation 19:3)
Another reason this smoke rises forever is because the fire of God that results in torment for those out of harmony with His unquenchable love, itself is eternal as it describes the very essence of God. Love can be resisted, but it can never be quenched. Resisting it is the cause of the torment, yet while anyone is free to resist it, they are just as free to escape it through choosing non-existence. But it is never possible for anyone to stop love's relentless outpouring, for this love describes the very essence of who God is and what He does all the time – everlasting, passionate, irrepressible love.
The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning? (Isaiah 33:14)
Many waters can't quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned. (Song of Solomon 8:7)
Yahweh's sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. The wild oxen will come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; and their land will be drunken with blood, and their dust made greasy with fat. For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, And its land will become burning pitch. It won't be quenched night nor day. Its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation, it will lie waste. No one will pass through it forever and ever. But the pelican and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. Thorns will come up in its palaces, nettles and thistles in its fortresses; and it will be a habitation of jackals, a court for ostriches. The wild animals of the desert will meet with the wolves, and the wild goat will cry to his fellow. Yes, the night creature shall settle there, and shall find herself a place of rest. The arrow snake will make her nest there, and lay, hatch, and gather under her shade. Yes, the kites will be gathered there, every one with her mate. Search in the book of Yahweh, and read: not one of these will be missing. none will lack her mate. For my mouth has commanded, and his Spirit has gathered them. He has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it to them with a measuring line. They shall possess it forever. From generation to generation they will dwell in it. (Isaiah 34:6-17)
I find a key phrase here relating to the long-term outcome in eternity once sin has been entirely defeated. They shall call its nobles to the kingdom, but none shall be there; and all its princes shall be nothing. This resonates with God's prophetic word regarding the author of evil who claims to be prince of this world, but who will in the end cease to exist forever due to his choice to resist this love that cannot be quenched.
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you. All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being. (Ezekiel 28:18-19)
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and those who dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. (Isaiah 51:6)
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died. Now they sin more and more, and have made themselves molten images of their silver, even idols according to their own understanding, all of them the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, 'They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves.' Therefore they will be like the morning mist, and like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, and like the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior. (Hosea 13:1-4)
I have spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens, and burning incense on bricks; who sit among the graves, and lodge in the secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; who say, Stand by yourself, don't come near to me, for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.
Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, yes, I will recompense into their bosom, your own iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says Yahweh, who have burned incense on the mountains, and blasphemed me on the hills; therefore will I first measure their work into their bosom. (Isaiah 65:2-7)
Smoke in prophecy could well be a counterfeit of the cloud that is described as God's glory. While smoke and a cloud can often appear similar, in this context as with many other symbols, discerning the difference between the true original and its counterfeit is dependent on what we have come to believe about the disposition and character of the God behind the symbols. Our perception of reality is entirely determined by what we come to believe about the One who created it.
it happened, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying, For he is good; for his loving kindness endures forever; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of Yahweh, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of Yahweh filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13-14)
The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple, until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished. (Revelation 15:8)
They have no rest day and night
This is a classic case of parallels between originals and counterfeits. Where have we seen this before?
The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around about and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!" (Revelation 4:8)
Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations shall you find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, Would it were even! and at even you shall say, Would it were morning! for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you. (Deuteronomy 28:64-68)
Don't harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work. Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways." Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They won't enter into my rest." (Psalms 95:8-11)
For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)
Your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message."
For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in. For Yahweh will rise up as on Mount Perazim. He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his unusual work, and bring to pass his act, his extraordinary act. Now therefore don't be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, on the whole earth. (Isaiah 28:18-22)
But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can't rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. (Isaiah 57:20)
Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. (Luke 12:10)
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)
For me, these passages provide compelling evidence that the eternal nature of this smoke is describing the eternal nature of the results of resistance to the Spirit until resistance itself destroys the one resisting, leading them to choose eternal non-existence rather than repentance. While repentance is offered as a gift, the power it has to save us from the effects of sin cannot be experienced until we engage our will to embrace the gift and give access to the Spirit of truth and love to transform us back to reflecting the true image of God who is agape love.
This love originates at the very core of life that empowers all the universe. The Godhead is the 'nuclear reactor' that is love itself. The principle defining love includes complete freedom to not participate willingly with it. Choosing not to participate is the essence of sin, for sin involves a disconnect in relationship, not breaking rules or getting God offended. When a relationship is strained by distrust, suspicion and unwillingness to be transparent or completely vulnerable, the resulting dissonance is experienced as torment. Torment come is all different forms such as shame, guilt, condemnation, rage, frustration and other forms. But if unremedied, those affected by these symptoms will come to hate others to the point of wanting to kill them, for murder is the ultimate expression of violating the principle of life which is embodied in selfless giving rather than taking.
What this means is that anyone who forms a character around resistance to the truth of God's love until it becomes so permanently sealed in their sense of identity, destroys their very capacity to change the course of their thinking and disposition. They choose the ways of death in place of choosing life, and like Satan the pioneer of evil, it eventually becomes impossible to experience repentance even when they desperately want to get it like Esau.
Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears. (Hebrews 12:14-17)
The principle of freedom means we choose what god will shape our likeness in their image. This is the essence of our design as God-reflectors. We become like who we choose to worship, and worship involves freedom for each one to choose who to believe and become like through the principle of beholding. Freedom is embedded in our original design, and our choices have consequences that form how we relate to and experience reality.
The work of the Holy Spirit is to connect us with the God who is love. If we resist and blaspheme the only Source by which the life of God can be received, and choose instead to identify with the arch-rebel in selfishness, allowing his lies to define reality for us, the principle of formation through reflection results in an identity in us that at some point becomes eternal and fixed. Then there is no other remedy that can reverse that final choice that defines us as rejecters of God's mercy.
Those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark, identifies characters shaped in the likeness of the god of this world that they worship. They absorb the likeness of the author of rebellion, the father of lies, and when exposed by the light, they experience the same demise God says Lucifer will come to in the end.
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore have I brought forth a fire from the midst of you; it has devoured you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all those who see you. All those who know you among the peoples shall be astonished at you: you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being. (Ezekiel 28:18-19)
Resistance in a heart hardened by persistent unbelief until it becomes a permanent likeness, when exposed in the presence of the Light of relentless love itself, reacts in a fire of torment because of the natural dissonance between light and darkness, truth and lies, good and evil. This reaction is because of a principle of creation, not any arbitrary action or punishment imposed by God. God relates in principles that define love, not through artificial imposing of rules and punishments to manipulate. We were created for relationship with God and others in love, with complete freedom to choose whether to remain in love or separate ourselves from it. Yet with choices come natural consequences, and this is what we see described in these messages by these angels warning us that the outcomes of our choices about who we worship have very real and eternal consequences.
Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for [in] yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God; (Romans 2:4-5)
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for [in] yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, (Romans 2:4-5 NAS95)
those who worship the beast and his image, whoever receives the mark of his name
We have covered these symbols extensively several times, so I will not belabor them more except to be reminded that our sense of identity and the character we form as a result, is determined by how we choose to relate to God. Eternal character is shaped by who or what we worship. This angel sounds an sharp warning of the tragic consequences to all who allow the beast and its image imprint their identifying mark on them. That mark defines the perceptions of God in any who receive it, which is why these angels are so urgent that we wake up and listen seriously to their warnings and follow their instructions in order to avert this terrifying outcome.
