"Have An Apocalyptic Day." Chapter 14: The Grapes of Wrath

 

The Reaper, Vision of Armageddon, from the Luther Bible, c.1530 (colored woodcut)

After the appearance of two beasts, God sends three angels to share messages from God to the earth. 

The first has an "eternal Gospel" exhorting people fear, worship, and give glory to God.

The second warns, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!" Ever since the Babylonian Empire destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews into exile in the 6th century BCE, "Babylon" has been a symbolic shorthand for oppressive Empires that stand in opposition to God's will of justice and equity for all people. Standing outside of time, God sees all evil empires fall at once: Babylon, Greece, Rome, and to the extent that we follow in their footsteps, our own American Empire, too. 

 The third angel warns that those who worship the beast will drink the "wine of God's wrath." 

Then, the Son of Man and one of his angels, equipped with sickles, reap the harvest of the whole earth, and gather the "grapes of wrath." When the grapes are pressed, the wine is blood: not the blood of God's enemies, but rather the blood of innocent victims. Blood that has already been shed by victims of Empire, spilled forth for all to see, so that none can deny the misdeeds of the cruel. 

From the poetry of  Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to John Steinbeck's grim reflection on rural poverty during the Great Depression, the "Grapes of Wrath" is an image that has echoed throughout history. It reminds us of what the prophets have always declared: Injustice will not go on forever. God has an answer. The grapes will not rot on the vine. For persecuted Christians in the first century, for enslaved persons or migrant workers in America's fields, and for all who cry out under oppressive human systems, there will be a harvest, and the pain of God's creation can come to an end. 

My poetic reflection on REVELATION 14 

14. The Lamb is standing now on Zion’s peak;

The hurricane of voices joins the song

God’s first fruits of all humankind, unique

To sing the fall of each new Babylon.

The angels harvest wine of deadly wrath,

The grapes are hanging heavy from the vine;

The winepress bleeds, and floods most ev’ry path

With blood of the forgotten, in the wine. 

A voice from heaven, “Write this: they are blessed

From this time forward, who die in the Lord!”

Says Nephesh, “from their labors they shall rest,

A Sabbath for these souls is now restored.”

Saints, hold the faith of Jesus constantly;

Endure in God’s commandments, and be free.