0911 THE FINAL HARVEST

SEPTEMBER 11 = REVELATION 14

THE FINAL HARVEST

In this chapter, the chaos of chapter 13 begins to resolve, in favor of God and Christ. But along the way, there are several details to make note of. Let’s delve into some of those particulars.

“And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. 

The roar of rushing waters is very loud. It is what is known today as white noise, which is basically all of the frequencies of sound given at the same time. You don’t hear an individual pitch, but a big wall of sound. It’s basically the same for a loud peal of thunder. Loud! And yet, he further describes the sound itself as being like that of harpists playing their harps. So the pitches are specific. In fact, they are together and in order, and presented as if it was not amateurs randomly playing pitches, but “harpists” playing “their” harps. So music done excellently is also like the beauty of random noise. What’s more, all that sound becomes a “new song” being sung before the Lord. As a composer, I so much appreciate that this was a new song, done by an ensemble, played at loud volumes. Praise the Lord!

Another detail in this chapter is the quote of an angel:

“ ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” 

Babylon the Great. John is no longer talking about Jerusalem in veiled language. He is talking like Peter, who secretly identified the church in Rome to his readers. Jews knew Babylon well, to be an evil but powerful place. And so, once again, John speaks a secret message to his Jewish readers.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. 

The simple and challenging application of all this information about persecution and punishment of the evil blasphemers is this: patiently endure. Stay the course. Keep the faith. But above all, this calls for patient endurance.

A few verses later, John writes,

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” 

Even while calling his readers to patiently endure, John needs to remind the church that death overtakes all. Whether by martyrdom or natural causes, those who die “in the Lord” are blessed. They are blessed, because they will “rest from their labor.” The difficult work done to remain faithful in an oppressive society is not wasted. It is labor. But you will rest from it. And the good deeds that you did will follow you, in the memories of those you served and in the example you left for others, as well as in the reward that is given to you. So rest, dear one. Rest in him.

The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.”

This gets a little geeky. But it’s something to consider, based on the earth’s current population.

If there are currently 8 billion people on earth, and death has power to kill a fourth of the earth, how many are left? 

6 billion

If then a third of the people on earth are destroyed by angelic troops, how many are left?

4 billion

If blood then flows out of the press in a flood that is 4 feet high for a distance of 1600 stadia (that’s 180 miles). 5280 ft x 180 x 180 x 4 = 684,288,000 x 7.48 = 5,118,829,713. Over 5 billion gallons of blood. Which is almost exactly the total amount of blood in every human on earth at that time, if 4 billion are left.

What do we learn from this? God’s word is true, even in strange little details from a bizarre prophetic book like Revelation. And, you and I had best be on the Lord’s side when the time of his wrath comes.