In the Presence — Bible Study Express

Revelation 14:10

KJV ¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: WEB ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
forecasts the touchstoning of the beast worshippers "in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Let's see what happens in the presence of the Lamb.

Matthew 8:28-29

KJV ²⁸ And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. ²⁹ And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? WEB ²⁸ When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way. ²⁹ Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
is demons entering the presence of "Jesus, thou Son of God". First, they knew who He was. They had, thousands of years before, worshipped Him and even loved Him. But now, all they could do was beg Him not to touchstone them (Mark 5:7

KJV ⁷ And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. WEB ⁷ and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”
, Luke 8:28

KJV ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. WEB ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!”
).

At other times, when the people they possessed dragged them into Christ's presence, the demons asked not to be destroyed (Mark 1:24

KJV ²⁴ Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. WEB ²⁴ saying, “Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!”
, Luke 4:34

KJV ³⁴ Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. WEB ³⁴ saying, “Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!”
). What was it about His presence that was so attractive to the possessed but so difficult for the possessing demons. It all comes down to the fact they have rejected a relationship with Him.

As we saw from the last study the disciples were learning exactly Who exactly this mild-mannered young man was. Who they were to trust and worship. And that personal knowledge of a personal Saviour developed the mega fear of Mark 4:41

KJV ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? WEB ⁴¹ They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
. Fear is about relationship. The deeper the relationship, the more we know, the more we either tend towards loathing or respect. In the case of Divinity, that means cringing demonic fear, as we see in the encounters above, or the mega fear of the disciples, and the God worshippers of the first angel's message (Revelation 14:7

KJV 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. WEB ⁷ He said with a loud voice, “Fear the Lord, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters!”
).

Yes, fear is a natural response to the presence of Divinity. The first angel encourages us to get the real, fear. A fear that allows us to live in the Presence. The alternative suffered by the beast worshippers is a cowering fear and shame as the touchstoning presence of the Lamb exposes their lies (Deuteronomy 33:29

KJV ²⁹ Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. WEB ²⁹ You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
), and exposes the fact that there was no special relationship with God... He doesn't know them! (Matthew 25:12

KJV ¹² But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. WEB ¹² But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
)

It seems that to appear in the presence of God is associated with judgement.

The Greek word for presence is enōpion, literally meaning "in the sight of" or "before". It is more formal than just "where I can see you". It's more like, "You are requested to appear before the high court of NSW".

We are going to look more closely at "the presence of the Lamb" in future studies. For now, we'll just note that Revelation 14:10

KJV ¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: WEB ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
is being contrasted with Revelation 14:5

KJV ⁵ And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. WEB ⁵ In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.
where the 144,000 are without fault "before" the throne of God. They have been judged and found "not guilty"!

Not so with the beast worshippers! Great Babylon "appears before" God and like the beast worshippers, drinks a cup of fierce wrath (compare Revelation 14:10

KJV ¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: WEB ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
with Revelation 16:19

KJV ¹⁹ And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. WEB ¹⁹ The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
).

But is the presence of angels associated with such acts of judgement?

In the next few studies, we are going to flesh out the ideas of "presence of holy angels".