The book of Revelation has many images within it that can cause fear and confusion. I want to highlight a passage that I have seen applied to a doctrine that is not part of the actual context it is describing.
A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” – Revelation 14:9-13
Millard Erickson is a great Evangelical Systematic Theologian who has introduced many students to Christian Theology. He is usually perceptive about issues, and certainly a reliable voice about many theological issues. There is what appears to me to be a common misstep when it comes to a particular doctrine in the church that he appears to share. It is a tendency to apply inappropriate proof-texts to the subject of final judgment or “hell.”
In his case, on page 1242 of his Christian Theology, he uses the first two paragraphs of the Revelation passage above to describe the “torment” of the “final state of the wicked.” In other words, a prominent Evangelical theologian attaches this passage to the doctrine of hell. He links it within the same paragraph in his book to “eternal punishment,” “outer darkness,” “weeping and gnashing of teeth” and other phrases commonly used to articulate a doctrine of “final punishment,” commonly referred to as “hell.”
Is final punishment really the context of Revelation 14? In a word, no.
I first note that whoever this refers to must have allowed themselves to be “marked” with the “mark of the beast and its image.” They must apparently have the “number of the beast” in order to “buy and sell.” This seems to be a very specific group of people who are coerced into accepting worship of a false god. This seems to require a very specific punishment for a very specific offense.
Second, these are warnings about punishments that are listed in Chapter 16 as occurring during the pouring out of bowls of “punishments”God’s wrath.” Verse 8 has a bowl poured out on the sun, increasing its intensity until it “scorches people with fire.” In verse 9 they are “seared by intense heat” and still refuse to repent. Verse 10 has a bowl poured “on the throne of the beast,” resulting in “his kingdom” being “plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony.” These are specific punishment for a specific people at a specific timeframe.
Chapter 14:12-13 gives another timeframe clue. God’s faithful people must patiently endure and remain faithful to Jesus. There is a special blessing for those who “die in the Lord from now on.” They will also “rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” There is martyrdom occurring, which relates to the reason given for the punishments of those who worship the beast. The “rest” in death of the faithful is contrasted with the “torment” of those who choose to live by worshiping evil.
Martyrdom of the saints relates to the reason for the punishments named in Revelation 14:9-11.
The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” – Revelation 16:3-7
This reveals the reason for the punishment: Babylon the Great is murdering God’s elect on a scale unseen in human history. The evil empire is ripe for destruction from God’s wrath. How do I know it is time for God’s wrath? We are told in the first verse of Chapter 15, which sits between the warning and the judgments.
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.
Notice that God’s wrath is “completed” when the seventh bowl is poured out. This is all prior to “final judgment.”
Now let’s consider the “smoke of their torment” that “rises forever.”
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “ ‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn.’
Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. – Revelation 18:4-8
It is “Babylon the Great” that is to be burned to the ground in a fire that will be remembered, just as Sodom and Gomorrah are remembered by their fiery destruction.
In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!’ “Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.
When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “ ‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’
“Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.” – Revelation 18:17-20 (emphasis is mine)
Notice that God is doing to this evil city what it has done to God’s people. The punishment fits the crime. This entire context is about an end-time evil system that attempts to consume all people and all resources while killing anyone who dares oppose it – especially faithful Christians!
Just in case you might wonder how long the fiery torment of the city lasts, consider the verses that follow:
Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.
The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No worker of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.” – Revelation 18:21-24
The analogy here is a sudden violent and complete destruction of the Evil City, not eternal torment of its citizens. The reason is clear: they have sinned against God by harming God’s emissaries and leading the nations away from God.
God expects His people to refuse to deny Jesus no matter what the personal cost. The reward for staying with Jesus will be far greater than the temporary pain and discomfort you will experence for doing so. Trying to save your life by compromising will result in great suffering when Jesus judges. The choice is clear: choose Jesus!
The main lesson here is that using Revelation 14 to promote or elaborate the idea of the torment of “final punishment” in “hell” is a misuse of Scripture. This is entirely the wrong contect for making that connection. As one of my Seminary professors once told the class, “A text without a context is a pretext.” Let’s instead follow Paul’s advice:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15
John Valade 
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