The Call for Patient Endurance

Revelation is a bloody book, to be sure. In fact, we are told in 14:19-20 that in the process of harvesting the earth, the blood flow will rise so high that it will spread the distance of 1,600 stadia (it doesn’t really matter what a stadia is… primarily that it is 1,600 of them), and up to the level of a horse’s bridle! That’s a lot of blood!Is this a declaration that the Lamb slain is now slaying a bunch of others in order to harvest the earth? Has he finally become the Lion we really wanted after all and given up on this silly lamb-like behavior? How are we to read this harvest of the earth and all this blood?This Sunday we will slow down a little in our series, our text overlapping with last week’s text, and explore other themes that have to do with how the Lamb intends to harvest the earth and our own role in it. We will learn,“Revelation’s visions of judgment do not ultimately conflict with the central and centering vision of God and the Lamb in chapters 4 and 5.” (Michael J. Gorman. Reading Revelation Responsibly: Uncivil Worship and Witness: Following the Lamb into the New Creation. 185)Join us in worship as we explore afresh Revelation 13:9—14:20.