Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

Welcome back to corona chronicles. We're still in Revelation chapter 14, and we're going to be reviewing the last part of the chapter from 14 verse 14 to the end. And these like like some of the other things we've seen in this chapter, these are really sobering words. And you you'll see that as we read them together. I looked and there before me was a white cloud and seated on the cloud was 1 like a son of man with a crammed gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, take your second and reap because the time to reap has come for the harvest of the earth is right. So he who is seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth and the earth was harvested. Another angel came out of the temple in heaven and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel who had charged fire came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle. Take your shot sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine because its grapes are right.

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 wine press outside the city and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horse's bridles for a distance of 1600 Stadia. Tough words, but we've gotta put them in the context. Of warning and warning warning that God gives graciously to this earth. And actually, in a sense, this is a warning because this hasn't happened yet.

But it will happen. And God is saying look, life is serious and your life is serious and and God's judgment is serious. I mean, in many ways, we want God to judge. I mean, imagine a world without justice and judgment. When when evil and wrong is done, we want we we cry out.

Don't we? For for judgment for for a punishment for a dealing with that which is wicked and evil. And God is saying to us, there's a time coming when that's it, the earth is ripe as it's put here. The grapes are ripe for harvest. I've given you long enough.

And I'm going to pluck them and crush them. Yeah. It just it just as we read it, it does remind reminds me of that bit in Genesis where where God says to Abraham that he's not yet going to come into the promised land until the sins of the Amorites reach full measure. Yeah. In other words, there has to be a ripening process.

There's gonna be hundreds of years of patience with that nation, giving them time to repent, giving them time to turn. But if they won't, he will wait till their sins reach full measure and then he's gonna come. Yeah. But it's like that here. It's waiting as you say for the grapes and the fruit to ripen.

You know, God is patient, but if we remain opposed to him, then we will be taken to the fullness of our opposition. If you like, and then judgment is is gonna come. But as you say, and I think this is 1 of the 1 of the strong arguments for the existence of God is that, you know, inside we have this longing for justice and this inbuilt sense of right and wrong. And that's when, you know, if criminals who commit terrible acts, managed to get away with it somehow. We we appeal to something bigger than this world, don't we?

That's not fair. What about the justice? Knowing that a human court even wouldn't satisfy that longing, there's gotta be some sort of perfect, reasonable justice here. And that's because we're made in the image of this 1. Yeah.

And people say don't they, you know, he's got away with it or something. But that's why, you know, no 1 gets away with it in the end. No. We stand before this god who who is a righteous god. But the I think I think that the other thing is that sort of the ripening of grapes that you've got here.

Yeah. But the thing is, I I may do what I would consider and we would all consider sort of like a little sin, you know, and a lie about you. And it it doesn't feel that bad to me. But it When it's allowed to grow, it grows and grows and grows and it it and God God is saying, there's a time where you know, I've had enough of this growth. Mhmm.

But actually, these sins, he's gonna show them what they really are, the fruit of them. Mhmm. And so they're plucked and there's this judgment that comes. But as a as we said, he's been warning about this. So it's not It's not it's not that he just is in a terror and anger and that he's frying off them.

In fact, there's angel after angel coming, isn't there? But who is this angel? This this first 1. Anyway, well, I mean, it's interesting because before you get to that angel, you you meet the son of man. Yeah.

And that is again like lots of revelation, it's rich with old testament imagery, particularly the idea of the son of man coming on the cloud. Yeah. You know, it's this picture from Daniel that this is the ascended Christ who is coming into the father's presence to be given all authority in heaven and earth, and that includes the authority a judge. But then interestingly, the angel Now angels are messengers, and they're normally sent from God to us for a message. But interestingly, this angel is bringing a message to the son of man.

And the angel is saying, here's the message son of man. It's time for judgement, the time for judgement has come. And so the angels are very much involved as we've seen in this in this chapter, and they're the ones who kind of usher in this this final judgment. But again, the son of man is Jesus. Yeah.

And and he so so He's not this gentle Jesus meek and mild. So I mean, he is meek and mild. Of course. Yeah. But, you know, just to keep him as a baby at Christmas.

He is this awesome 1 that comes with a sickle and he's going to judge. And and I think that's the beauty of it because he can judge because he you know, there there's no 1 going to be able to say to Jesus, is that? You didn't understand how I felt. You didn't understand about the email. What gives you the right?

What gives you the right? I've got a few words to say to you. Yeah. You know, I was misrepresented. He was misrepresented.

Yeah. You know, I suffered a cruel death. He had suffered a cruel death. People lied about People lied about him. You know, that he he knew all these things and experienced the the horrors of of sin in this world against it.

So his his judgment is true and correct and right, wasn't it? It is. And I think I mean, the language of the imagery here at the end for that judgement is intentionally graphic, isn't it? You know, this sharp sickle it brings to mind harvest. You know, the sickle has swung across the earth and the harvest time has come.

And then you've got this this trampling in the wine press outside the city and blood flowing from the wine press. You know, these these there would be something wrong with us if we read that and it didn't unsettle us a bit and didn't make us feel uncomfortable. Yeah. We read it and we either think, oh, that's that's grim or that is terrible. You know, and the law is trying to say, yeah, and the reality will be even worse.

You know, there there is there is gonna be this kind of conscious outpouring of God's anger upon those who refuse to repent. And and, you know, we would all be in that position if it wasn't for God's grace. Mhmm. But that, you know, we don't do anyone any favors by sort of covering over that, do we? Know, and I said that.

I mean, it's interesting isn't it that you get people sort of mouthing off even in this coronavirus, which which seems to me to be a warning kind warning actually of God to say, hey, there's a bigger judgement coming, and the mouth they're like, where's God in the coronavirus? Yeah. Sort of thing. Well, I'll tell you where God is. He's warning you that there's a worse death to come.

There's something worse than death. And so that's where it but, I mean, I think probably just to finish. The the this description of being crushed by the wrath of God is also a description that you get of Christ on the cross. Where he's crushed and and it says, doesn't it? I think it is Natum that, you know, God's rod smashed against it.

It's it's it's somewhere like that. Mhmm. And he was crushed for our for our sins. Mhmm. And so the anger of God is either going to be on us or on Jesus -- Yes.

-- in our behalf. Yeah. And that is the good news even in this, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah.

And and while we're here now with the warnings of corona, turn to Christ -- Yeah. Yeah. -- who was crushed for you. Yeah. Well, we'll leave it there.