WEEK 34
“The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”
Date: April 2, 2003
Place: Allendale Baptist Church
Text: Revelation 14: 14-20
Introduction
As we studied last week I said that chapter 14 is a preview of the 2nd coming of Christ. The actual event we will study in chapter 19.
We also noticed an angel preaching to every tribe, tongue and nation, the everlasting gospel.
This reminds us that God’s grace reaches out to those who dwell on earth, even in these final terrible days.
In our study tonight we will see the coming judgment on a Christ rejecting world.
Let’s pick up where we left off last week at …
Verse 14
“Then I looked and behold,”
This tells us that John is not just hearing but is a spectator.
“A white cloud, and on that cloud sat One like the Son of man”
This is speaking definitely of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Acts 1: 9 the Bible tells us that Jesus was “taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”
He was taken up in a cloud and will return in the same.
Matthew 24: 30 says; “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
“having on His head a golden crown.”
This confirms this One as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. J Vernon McGee calls Him the hero of the book of Revelation.
Here Jesus is seen as King not as Prophet or Priest.
His office of King is always connected with His return.
Remember Jesus was offered a worldly crown but did not accept it. He earned it by dying on the Cross.
One of the commentators I read stated that if we are wearing a crown that belongs to Christ we had better take it off.
The story is of Queen Victoria @ her coronation ceremony began to weep and took off her royal crown of England. She said she was unworthy to wear a crown and only her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was worthy of wearing such a crown.
It is a fact that during the following years of her reign, the country was greatly blessed. England saw a great revival and awakening during this time.
That is what needs to happen today in our world.
“And in His hand a sharp sickle”
This is a harvesting tool with a razor sharp, curved steel or iron blade and wooden handle, commonly used by ancient farmers to cut grain.
It represents swift and devastating judgment.
Verse 15 & 16
An angel from the temple tells Him (Jesus) to thrust in his sickle because the harvest of the earth is ripe.
While winning lost souls to Christ is sometimes seen or pictured in Scripture as a harvest, in John 4:34-38, this image is also used of God’s judgment as seen in Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43; Luke 3:8-17.
God permits the seeds of iniquity to grow until they are ripe, and then He judges.
What John is describing to his readers here is a harvest of judgment upon again a Christ rejection world.
We can look around us today and see that the seed of sin is fully ripe. But during the time of the tribulation sin will be much more evident.
Verse 17
This temple refers to the heavenly temple, the dwelling place of God,
Verse 18
This angel is associated with the fire on the altar, which represents the prayers of the saints we saw in chapter 6 and 8.
Fire refers to the constantly burning fire on the brass altar of the Jerusalem temple.
Twice a day the priest would burn incense with that fire and offer the burning incense in the Holy Place as a symbol of the people’s prayers.
This angel is said to be coming from the heavenly altar to ensure that all the prayers of all the saints for judgment and the coming kingdom are now being answered.
This angel calls for judgment to start.
Verse 19
This is a vivid description of a horrendous slaughter or bloodbath.
It refers to the slaughter of the enemies of God who are still alive.
Many believe this is a description of the coming destruction of the wicked at the battle at Armageddon, the final battle against God’s enemies.
God’s wrath is described as a winepress which is used in the process of making wine.
Every part of the grape is crushed leaving only the juice to remain.
Verse 20
This takes place outside the city of Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:1-5 tells us that Jerusalem will be attacked, but will not be destroyed in the end time, but spared for the glory of the kingdom
This next part of verse 20 gives the graphic effect of God’s wrath.
“And blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles,”
The severity of the slaughter is given in this imagery of the blood of those killed in the Battle of Armageddon spilling as high as the horses bridle, about 4 feet high.
“for one thousand six hundred furlongs.”
This is the distance of about 184 miles.
The approximate distance from Armageddon in the North of Palestine to Edom in the south.
This is the distance of just north of Huntsville to about the south side of Dallas.
Many say John is exaggerating when he describes a river of blood 4 feet deep and 200 miles long
Dr. Warren Weirsbe said:
“Today, God is speaking to a world in grace, and people will not listen. One day He must speak in wrath. The bitter cup will be drunk, the harvest of sin reaped, and the vine of the earth cut down and cast into the winepress.”
Close
God always rewards. For those who reject Jesus as Lord, they will receive unrest. They will be eternally separated from God; in a place of torment. Verses 10-11 give us a brief description of this literal place called Hell.
But for those of us who know Him and have accepted Him as Savior, we have rest in our salvation; we can also rest in His promises; and one day we will rest from our labors.
This should be enough for us to want to share with those around us about the rest we will one day have. About the hope, the grace and forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ. Not to mention the eternal home He has prepared for us.
As I mentioned Sunday morning, the older I get the more I look to that place, my eternal home. But I’m not ready tot go right now.
There is an old story of a young boy went to church on a Sunday night. The preacher asked, “How many of you want to go to heaven?” Everybody but this young boy put up his hand. The preacher looked at him and asked, “Son, don’t you want to go to heaven?” “Sure”, the boy answered, “but I thought you were getting up a load for tonight.”
Well, I’m not ready to go tonight either. Ultimately I will be going to that place to be in the eternal presence of my Lord and Savior. But I want to stay here and serve Him a while longer. I want to share with lost folks how they can be saved.
One of the great preachers and revivalist of our day, Vance Havner said he would often leave to do a revival and his father would take him to the train station to see him off. On return home as he rounded that last mile and be within distance he could see his father standing on the platform leaning against that rail waiting for him. His father would always ask. “How did you make out son?” knowing that was his father’s way of asking “how did the revival go? In his sermon be home before dark he made mention of that memory of his father and the reminder that one day he would make that last turn in life and see his heavenly Father standing waiting for him as he stepped off that train with the last stop in heaven, and God will ask him, “well son, how did you make out”, because He knows. He said all he looked forward to hearing was well done.
