REVELATION

“Then I heard a voice from Heaven say ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on'” Revelation: 14:13

We will be blessed, if we remain faithful to our Lord, abstaining from receiving the mark of the beast either on the forehead or on the hand. Those who remain faithful through every trial and persecution will rest from their labor. They can withstand the persecution by trusting in Jesus Christ and obeying His commands found in His Word. Then, John saw a white cloud and seated on the cloud was like the Son of Man, the image of judgement. Christ is separating the faithful from the unfaithful like a farmer harvesting his crops. This is a time of joy for the Christians who have stood firm and who have been persecuted and martyred, and they will receive their long-awaited reward. Another Angel came out of the temple and said that the earth was ripe for the harvest. So He, who was seated on the cloud, swung His sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested. Another Angel came with a sharp sickle and gathered clusters of grapes and they were smashed in the wine press of God’s wrath. They were trampled outside the city and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses and the distance was set to be thousand six hundred stadia. The distance of 1600 stadia equals about 180 miles, approximately the north-south length of Palestine.