Biblical Oddities: An Angel Preaches The Gospel

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He told His disciples to preach the gospel to the entire world:

Mark 16:15: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Jesus also said that before He returns the gospel will be preached to the entire world:

Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

This has led many people to believe that the Rapture will not happen until everyone has heard the gospel. This sounds plausible, but it is an error. The return that Jesus was speaking of was the Second Coming, not the Rapture. (The Rapture is a signless event; it can happen at any time. Nothing else needs to happen before the Rapture takes place.) It is true that the gospel will be preached to the entire world before the Second Coming, but the Church is not the one who will do it. Instead it will be done by an angel during the Tribulation:

Revelation 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,
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.”

Notice the clarity of this passage! The preaching (and the passage does use the word “preach”) is being done by an angel, not the Church. What is being preached is the “everlasting gospel”. Moreover, it is preached to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people”.

The Church was given the task of reaching the world with the gospel, but we will fail. The job will be accomplished by an angel, not by us. After the angel has finished its task, then Jesus will return and the end will come.

We don’t often think of angels preaching the gospel, and rightly so; that task has been given to us in this age. But the day will come when an angel will preach to the entire world.