Tuesday 24 November 2009

Background

This section of Revelation anticipates the final judgement ofall of humanity and of the earth. There are two harvests mentioned:one a grain harvest and the other a wine harvest. It seems likelythat for John (who wrote the Book of Revelation) the grain harvestrefers to those being gathered into eternal bliss. The wine harvestmost likely refers to those doomed to eternal punishment. This isthought to be because wine, the fruit of the vine, flows red likeblood. The first harvest is gathered in by one like a Son of Man -the same description of Christ in the first vision of the book ofRevelation (Revelation1:12-16). The wine harvest is in the hands of an angel.

Using the language of gathering in a harvest sounds as though Johnthinks that the end of all things - sometimes called the end time -is pretty close. It is difficult to know exactly how soon Johnexpected the end of all time to be. He seems more interested inwhat it would be like, rather than when it might happen. He isn'tinterested in making predictions. So the mention of the earth being"fully ripe" for the harvest is actually a sign of urgency. John iscalling people in the Churches tofaithfulness now in the present ratherthan the future. He is giving them a vision, a picture of the endtime in order that they might be moved to act now.

So the issue of this passage isnot when will the world come to an end,but rather can we learn to live now in the light of what we know tobe true about God and the world? This is a call not to postponechange in our lives and relationships because we'll put thingsright with God and each other later. This passage is a call for usto change now.

To Ponder

Are we living in the 'end time' now? Why?

What would the fully-ripe harvest of your life belike?

If today was your last day alive what would youwant to do in it?