Grapes of wrath
Day 712, Friday, July 24
Revelation 14:14-20
In these closing verses of chapter 14 we look ahead to the judgment of the world. Revelation draws much of its imagery from the Old Testament, but today we can also see echoes of New Testament teachings. Jesus appearing with a sickle reminds us of the idea of judgment as a harvest of good and evil that we read of in Matthew 13. As in the Last supper, wine is equated with blood, but here it is blood of judgment, not blood of mercy.
The crown of gold Jesus has on his head doesn’t look like the crown we usually think of with royalty, but it more like the laurel wreath winning athletes were crowned with. The wreath of thorns Jesus wore at the crucifixion has become the wreath of victory.
It might seem odd in verse 15 that an angel tells Jesus to take his sickle and reap; why would an angel be giving a command to Jesus? The angel is a messenger from God. We remember from Matthew 24 that Jesus said no one, not even the Son, knew the time of judgment—only the father knew. When the time comes, the Son will be told.
Verses 17-20 call to mind the words of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe. Verse 1 includes the words, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.”
The time is right, and the time of harvest has come. “The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.” Judgment comes, and the river of blood flows for nearly 200 miles.
-Rev. Mark Fleming
Friday meditation
Song of Solomon 2:14 – 3:5
He
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
She
My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills.
All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him. I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not find him. The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. “Have you seen the one my heart loves?” Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me. Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Prayer focus
Take our hearts, God, and purify them with your fire so that when the time of your return comes we may be ready.