Jesus used the imagery of a harvest in the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13) to picture the end of this age. Here in Revelation 14 John sees a similar vision unfolding. Let’s remember what we have already seen in the previous visions. There are two groups of people distinguished so far and both are marked in some way. There are those who bear the mark of the beast and those who have upon them the seal of God’s ownership. It is not their respective achievements or failures that separates these two groups but the mark that they accepted in life. We see in this harvest that some (those who received the seal of Christ) are taken to God, but others (who received the mark of the beast) are cast into the winepress of judgement. It is a gruesome vision but it was given as an encouragement for embattled Christians in the late first century AD. It is better to suffer in a place of truth than prosper from a lie. They could have taken the easy way and just toed the line and conformed to their culture. But then they would have been living in a lie. Our culture is perpetuating lies about what it means to be significant and about what we should pursue in life. In some ways it would be easier to toe the line and join the crowd, but in doing so we would simply be stepping into a convenient lie. Don’t let the world mark you with its priorities. Refuse this mark and receive instead the mark of Christ.
Recommit yourself to Jesus.
Read Revelation 14:14-20
