Last 5 Days
To follow or not?
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angels came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
“Then I looked, and behold” suggests that there is a change in perspective, where the action had shifted from the heavenly announcements in verses 6 to 13 to visions of symbolic actions in today’s passage. What are these symbolic actions?
Commentators debate over who the “son of man” (verse 14) is likely to be. However, it is not far to say that the “son of man, with a golden crown on his head” represents Jesus. The angel who came out of the temple in heaven and who came out from the altar suggest God’s judgment in response to the cries of His oppressed saints. Therefore, in this vision of symbolic actions, these actions portray to the readers judgment at the end of days, and may be continuing the contrast between the fate of the righteous and the wicked found in Revelation 14:6-13.
If we were to think along this line, then the grain harvest would represent the gathering of God’s people as is used in the gospels (e.g. Mark 4:20, 29). In contrast, the grape harvest of being thrown into the great wine press of the wrath of God would represent judgment of the wicked. The blood from the winepress would flow for 1600 stadia. Stadia is a measurement unit, but how far is it? The better question is, what does it symbolise? If it was symbolic then there is no real need to translate it to actual measurement units of today. One of the symbols that John uses in writing Revelation is in the use of numbers. The number 4 had appeared several times prior to this message, representing the whole earth.1600 is thus 4x4x100 – it is symbolic of the multiplication of 4, which simply means the whole of the whole earth. What 1600 stadia symbolically means is that there is no where and no one that can escape from the judgment of God. None of the army gathered against God – none of the beast worshippers committed to the world’s values – will survive.
Dear friends, brothers and sisters, this is not a scare tactic to scare anyone who listens to the gospel into believing. It is the truth presented to us in a direct and straightforward manner. Just like how the laws and the penal code had been presented to us on earth, we know that at the end of days, we, too, will face judgement. The short-term advantages of committing to the world’s values, of wanting control of our own lives and of the enjoyment of not submitting to God are not worth eternal damnation. We do not need to be eternally separated from God. God has promised us eternal reconciliation with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We only need to believe. Would you choose to be the grain or the grape? Come and carefully consider the claims of Christ, come and follow Jesus, come and grow in being His disciple. Come!
