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One of the most significant events, if not THE most significant event, in human history is the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Savior of humanity. Christ's birth had been prophesied by many, but it was Isaiah who gave us the fullest and most detailed description of the Messiah's coming. It is notable that besides Mary and Joseph, shepherds were the only individuals allowed to visit Jesus on the night of his birth. Why only shepherds? What is the spiritual significance of the shepherds? We will explore this question.

(References: Isaiah 46:3)

633. 14:9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice. This symbolizes still more from the Lord concerning people caught up in faith divorced from charity.

A third angel following the prior ones symbolizes still more from the Lord that follows in the line of thought, for in the highest sense an angel means the Lord (no. 626). That is because, when an angel utters the Word, as in the present instance, he does not speak on his own, but from the Lord. To say with a loud voice symbolizes what follows, the subject of which is the damnation of those people who in life and in doctrine confirm themselves in a faith divorced from charity.

The subject in verses 1-5 of this chapter is the New Christian Heaven, and in verses 6 and 7 a preaching of the gospel, namely, the gospel of the Lord's advent to establish a new church. And because people caught up in a faith divorced from charity stand in the way, there follows now the threat and warning of damnation to people who still persist in that faith.