Apocalypse Now

Daily Bible Reading – Revelation 10:1 – 14:20

Beginning in verse 14 of chapter 14 we have a description of what is known as the “Battle of Armageddon.” John sees Christ on a white cloud, coming with a sickle to reap the harvest of the earth. It is a picture of judgment. When He came in the flesh, He came as a sower of the seed; but people rejected the seed of the Word (Matt. 13:3–23). Instead, they received Satan’s lies. Now Christ must come as a Reaper, bringing judgment to the world. “The harvest of the earth is ripe!” calls the second angel. God knows just when to judge; He patiently waits for the seeds of iniquity to come to fruition (James 1:14–15; Gen. 15:16). This is an anticipation of the battle of Armageddon (see Joel 3:11–16).

At this point, we should review the events leading up to Armageddon. During the first half of the Tribulation, when the Beast was working with the Jews, Russia and Egypt attacked Israel. The Beast was forced to go to Palestine to keep his covenant with the Jews. God defeated Russia, the Beast defeated Egypt; both enemies are sent home in utter defeat. Then the Beast sets himself up as the world ruler and deity, reigning from Jerusalem. However, Russia and her allies plan rebellion against the Beast. After Babylon is destroyed, the enemies of the Beast have their opportunity to attack. During the final three and one-half years of the Tribulation, armies will move toward Palestine (see 16:13–16) to fight the Beast. Dr. Dwight Pentecost suggests that the word “battle” ought to be “campaign”; see Rev. 16:14. In other words, the “battle of Armageddon” is not a single battle so much as a military movement that climaxes with the armies of the world facing each other at Megiddo. Revelation 19:17–21 indicates that the sign of the Son of Man will appear at that time, and these armies will unite to fight Christ instead of fighting each other.

The picture in vv. 17–18 is that of a man cutting clusters of grapes off a vine. The wicked world-system is “the vine of the earth” (v. 18), while Christ is the True Vine (John 15). Israel was planted in this world to be God’s holy vine, to bear fruit for His glory (Isa. 5:1–7; Ps. 80:8–16). Sad to say, Israel bore bitter fruit. In fact, Israel rejected its true Messiah and accepted the false Christ, and had to suffer the bitter consequences. Read Isa. 66:1–6 and Joel 3 for additional material on this final battle.

Verse 20 presents a terrifying picture: the blood will run for 200 miles out of the city of Jerusalem, and be as deep as the distance from the horses’ bridles to the ground! This is the winepress of God’s wrath (19:15). See Isa. 63:1–6.

We have, then, in this chapter a prophetic summary of the events to follow. There are some very practical lessons for us to learn from this chapter: (1) God will establish His kingdom on earth in spite of Satan’s opposition. The OT promises will be fulfilled literally, Israel will have her promised kingdom. (2) Those who reject the Gospel of the grace of God today will face awful judgment tomorrow. It is better to die for Christ’s sake and have eternal glory than to live for the devil and suffer eternally. (3) The nations of the world are today taking the path to Armageddon. We see the rise of Europe and Egypt, and of the Asian nations. We see also the coming federation of Europe. But man’s final war against God will end a dismal failure for Satan and his allies!