Dee Finney's blog

start date July 20, 2011

today's date March 29, 2013

page 475

TOPIC:  THE LAST JUDGMENT OF THE GOATS AND SHEEP

3-29-13 - DREAM - I don't know where I was, but I had hundreds of small boxes of old dirt - about 4 x 6 inches and about 3 inches deep.  I was scratching the surface of the dirt in each box and then putting water in it, hoping all the old grape vines it used to hold would reconstitute themselves.

TIM LAHAYE

REVELATION: 14:14-16 "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." "And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." "And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."

This is Christ, the Messiah. The cloud relates to Christ's second coming. Remember when he ascended, the angels told those watching that he would return the same way as he left? He disappeared into a white cloud.

The crown pictures Him as the ruler of the earth, and the sickle symbolizes judgment as an instrument of the harvest. The time is come to finish the judgment of the earth. The second coming of Christ includes more judgment.

14:17-20 "And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle." "And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe." "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God." "And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs"

Where verses 14 to16 picture Christ's judgment as a grain harvest, verses 17 to 20 symbolize the wrath of God as a grape harvest with the treading of the grape clusters in an immense winepress.

Again the sickle depicts judgment. The clusters of the vine of the earth represent the unbelievers of the earth, those who have followed and worshipped the Beast

"Her grapes are fully ripe" or "at the prime", in that the time for God's judgment of the earth is now! The great winepress of the wrath of God pictures the violence and intensity of God's coming judgment on the earth. The city is probably Jerusalem, and if so, the greatest intensity of the judgment may be centered in Palestine. Perhaps the reference is to the coming Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16: verses 14 -16). Armageddon

The blood may be either the red juice of the grapes or literal human blood resulting from the final battle. The amount of "blood" that results from the winepress emphasizes the severity of the judgment. A thousand and six hundred furlong are approximately 184 miles, the full length of Palestine. The average height of a horse's bridle is about four to five feet. The winepress may be an anticipation of the vial or bowl judgments of chapter 16.

There is only one valley in Israel that fits the mile description. It is the Jordan Valley, which extends from just north of the Sea of Galilee to Eilat at the Red Sea.

This just shows the terribleness of the punishment of the still living unsaved. This could be by a tremendous war or just like Sodom and Gomorrah. It was directly from God. At any rate, it is terrible.

To reap and harvest the earth is to judge and punish its people. And so the earth was reaped.

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 or about 184 miles.

The last 3 verses above show that the time is right and the Judge of all the earth is to harvest the both good and the bad. This will be the judgment of the Goats and Sheep.

SYMBOLISM

Matt. 13:47 A wine press - symbol of coming judgment
Isa. 63:312. A falling stone - symbol of coming judgment
Dan. 2:34. Four horses - symbol of coming judgment
Rev. 6:2-814. A white throne - symbol of coming judgment
 

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