Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Revelation chapter 14 verses 17 through 20:
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.’ 19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press, as high as a horse’s bridle, for a distance of about two hundred miles.
The word for “Revelation” is “apocalypse”, meaning “showing”. John the Revelator gets his apocalyptic vision as in a dream and shows it by writing down what he sees. The whole book of Revelation is an apocalyptic vision, shown to the faithful in a time of tremendous persecution and suffering. It is meant to encourage and strengthen their resolve with through the vision of another world on its way — a world of truth and justice and the raising of the dead.
Today’s Lesson is probably most familiar through the lyrics of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, a song whose lyrics were written by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe and inspired the North amidst the terrible struggle and suffering of the Civil War. The lyrics which correspond to today’s Lesson begin the song:
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
The song is about God’s anger at human injustice and oppression, and ultimate judgment on behalf of the causes of Liberty and Justice for all people.
The hymn is at or near the top of the pantheon of all American patriotic songs, and was sung round the campfires of Union soldiers and quoted before 25,000 marchers by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in what is commonly referred to as his “How Long? Not Long!” speech.
There is injustice in the world. There is oppression. But the revelation is given to show another world on its way, a world that is not long away, a world we cannot stop dreaming of, believing in, and working towards.
How long? Not long. Not too long anyhow. And those who keep hoping, keep striving and do not give over to cynicism or dismay will see no longer through the eyes of another, but behold with their own eyes and sing with their own lips:
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on!
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