Tagged: pillar of fire

The Presence in the Pillar

When Pharaoh finally lets the Israelites go, Yahweh leads his people on a round-about journey through the wilderness rather than a shortcut through the land of the Philistines. This is because God knows his people will change their minds if they go directly from captivity into warfare. So, the Lord takes them toward the Red Sea, where they camp at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 

Exodus 13:21-22 picks up the story:

The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people.

Note several key truths in this passage:

First, the Lord goes ahead of the Israelites. He has vowed to lead them to the Promised Land, and he may be taken at his word. 

Second, the Lord is in the pillar. The pillar of cloud and fire is a real phenomenon the Israelites experience with their senses – a theophany in which Yahweh crosses the threshold between the spirit realm and the physical world. 

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The harvest and the vintage – Revelation 14:14-20

Previously: The dead who die in the Lord – Revelation 14:13

GrapesThe scripture

Rev. 14:14 – Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17 Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the sanctuary in heaven. 18 Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from earth’s vineyard, because its grapes have ripened.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth’s vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles. (HCSB)

Introduction

Following the proclamation of the three angels, we next encounter “One like the Son of Man” seated on a white cloud. He wears a gold crown on His head and wields a sharp sickle in His hand. An angel beckons Him to use the sickle, and He does, harvesting the earth.

Then, a different angel comes out of the sanctuary. He, too, bears a sharp sickle, and at the bidding of a third angel, he swings the sickle to the earth, gathers the grapes from its vineyard, and casts them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. Finally, we are told the blood gushes out of the winepress at a depth approaching the horses’ bridles and for a length of 180 miles.

This is a graphic scene of harvest and vintage, and it raises many questions:

  • What is the significance of the white cloud?
  • Who is the “One like the Son of Man?”
  • What does the sickle represent?
  • Why do both the “One like the Son of Man” and the angel wield sickles on the earth?
  • Who or what are the grapes that are gathered and thrown into the winepress?
  • And does blood really flow several feet deep for 180 miles?

Let’s see if we can find answers.

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