End Time Insights

The ingathering of the fruit of the vine represents the wrath of God on all men who take the mark of the Beast  – Revelation 14:17-20.  Next,  Revelation  presents the ingathering of the “ fruit of the vine , which is then pressed in the “ winepress of God's wrath .” This is the fate of all men who swear fealty to the “ Beast ” and take its “ mark. ” The “ saints ” are gathered to the “ sanctuary of God ,” but the “ inhabitants of the earth ” are “ tread underfoot ” in His winepress.

Two different harvests occur at the end of the age – The reaping of the grain and the ingathering of the fruit of the vine .  In chapter 14,  Revelation  contrasts two distinct groups: Those who follow the “ Lamb ,” and the men who render homage to the “ Beast ,” the “ inhabitants of the earth .” Two different fates await each group presented here as two harvests: the “ grain ” harvest, and the “ fruit of the vine .” Both occur at the final judgment.

The  Gospel of Mark  divides the story of the barren fig tree into two sections and places the “cleansing” of the Temple between them. The two incidents are closely linked. The fruitlessness of the fig tree and its cursing highlighted the failure and fate of the Temple, and the actions of Jesus foreshadowed its destruction. After his arrival in the city of Jerusalem, he first visited the Temple and “ looked around on all things .”

Returning to the custodianship of the Law means rebuilding the wall between Jew and Gentile, but “you are all one in Christ - heirs of Abraham.”  In  Galatians , Paul portrays the Mosaic Law as the “ custodian ” or “ pedagogue ” that supervised Israel “ until  the seed came ,” and that “ seed ” was Jesus. In Greco-Roman society, the “ pedagogue ” was the slave with custodial and disciplinary authority over an underage child until he reached maturity, even though the custodian was a slave.

The fourth trumpet blast causes a partial darkening of the sun, moon, and the stars of heaven over Babylon  - Revelation 8:12.  The darkening of the sun, moon, and stars is based on the ninth Egyptian plague that darkened the land for three days. It also employs imagery from the judicial pronouncement against Pharaoh in the book of  Ezekiel , a judgment carried out by the ancient empire of Babylon. Now, darkness will consume the realm of the “ Great City, Babylon ” - (Ezekiel 32:7-11).