THE GRAPES OF GOD’S WRATH

Isaiah 63: 1-6; Revelation 14: 13-20

It is no fun peeling away the supposed glories of wars; as politicians spin or filter news from battle fronts, real men and real women are dying in battle, and real families grieve those losses. God too grieves those losses. And on so many fronts, the message of life’s consequences for poor choices gets blamed on other nations, on parents, on schools, on society, and the list goes on. Because of cover-ups and lies from children, youth, and adults, our society is in serious trouble with itself and with our Maker. Today we are looking at two apocalyptic scenes: John’s Revelation was written to encourage those who told the truth, so help them God, in a time when it would have been safer not to. Isaiah’s dramatic picture was of enmity between Israel and Edom, a country southeast of the Dead Sea, where blame was the order of the day. Certainly John knew the image in Isaiah, but in combining the grapes image with a harvest image, he put a “bringing in the sheaves” spin to the “Fountain Filled with Blood,” making a frightening vision for the faithless and a comforting vision to the faithful.

Anyone who saw the funny episode of “I Love Lucy” when she and another woman were hired to stomp on grapes in a giant vat has a pretty good idea of how grapes have actually been turned into juice or wine for generations: they are trampled. In trampling out grapes, one often gets clothes totally stained with grape juice; at a glance it looks like blood. Using that image and ignoring the image of the sickle cutting a harvest down, Isaiah paints a most horrifying picture with his words. According to Dr. John Hamlin, Presbyterian minister and missionary, to the Jews of Isaiah’s day, Edom was a country that demonstrated hatred towards other countries by having a self-centeredness agenda. For those who have ears, let them hear. Edom, you may recall, was the country traditionally connected with the descendents of Esau, the son who missed out on his father’s birthright that was bestowed on Jacob instead. It is recorded in Obadiah: “Thus says the Lord concerning Edom: I will surely make you least among the nations, for your proud heart has deceived you; I will bring you down,” saith the Lord. The people of Edom had turned away from God. It was a land filled with vineyards, but many of the people were cruel slave traders and others were ruthless with neighboring countries according to Amos chapter one. Israelites, in fact, were prohibited from passing through their territory on the way to Canaan according to Numbers 20: 14-21, and when neighboring countries were weak, Edomites looted their goods. So there was a terrible curse against the Edomites recorded in Psalm 137: 7-9. Sometimes nations never learn from history, do they? Might God’s patience be tried in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians today? Might God curse those who, after Katrina, went into people’s homes and shops and pillaged all that they could find? Might God’s wrath be kindled against neighbors who are wicked to neighbor and against countries that maim and torture them?

Isaiah, in his dramatic 63^rd chapter, describes a figure starting to come over the summit’s rise from Edom to Israel. Who could it be? Edomites would have come to pillage; Israelites would not have been allowed passage. As the figure grows larger, as it moves closer, the question is asked “Who is this that comes from Edom in garments stained in red? Who is this, so splendidly robed, marching in great might?” And a voice comes from the figure marching on; with the word “I,” all know who it is: it is the great “I am,” it is the Lord of Hosts: “It is I” the voice says, “I am announcing holy vindication in order to save.” (Notice it’s NOT in order to destroy.) “Why are your robes red?” Isaiah asks the figure of God growing near. “I have trampled out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored” is his paraphrased reply. “Their juice spattered on my robes. A day of vengeance was in my heart but the year of redemption is here. I looked for someone to help me save them, someone to speak up and say, ‘Here I am Lord,’ but there was no one; so my own arm brought me resolution and my wrath got handled. People’s choices caused them to be trampled and crushed; righteousness will prevail and people will make different choices next time.” Could it be that the God, who with a rainbow, promised that he would not let his anger cause him to destroy creation with a flood, went instead into a vineyard and turned his wrath on grapes rather than on men? Could it also be that God actually went into the thick of battle to be with his people, not causing it, but to be present in the midst of it? Isaiah paints his picture with metaphor: as a man might appear after trampling out grapes, he may also look after being in the midst of a bloody battle. John Hamlin words it this way: “this is a rather shocking picture, which seems to imply that God Himself was killing people. Probably [it actually means that] behind the seemingly meaningless wars and mass suffering in the world, a judgment process is going on. God is not far away from the people’s sufferings, God is there in the midst of them, and his garments may get stained with blood.” As medics, chaplains, EMTs and buddies in the armed forces may get such stains in the course of saving others, God does the same, trying to redeem the world from its hatred, duty, or foolishness. In fact, the word “vengeance” in the Bible does not mean “revenge” in the sense of paybacks; “vengeance” means God is not indifferent to suffering and evil, but is there, with others, in bloodstained clothing. And God’s “wrath” permits the consequences of evil deeds to come back on the perpetrators, seeking to turn them toward Him.

The book THE MAN IN THE MIRROR invites people to be honest with themselves. Today, if there are parts of our lives, our work, and even our nation that need reflection, this is the day to see it and change what needs to be changed. Even the hymn that uses much of the imagery from these passages, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was written during the battle between Americans and Americans, while brother shed the blood of brother; while sister had spiteful words toward sister; a war from which our nation has never quite healed. Confederates at heart have spent years pointing at Yankees and saying “You were wrong!” Then “Yankees” throw the same words back. The Stars and Bars were still present along side of the Stars and Stripes at many events this weekend, the closest of which was at our own Speedway. What can we do, so that the Lord does not depend only on his own mighty arm to save the world? What will you do so that our Lord will never again have to say the words recorded in Isaiah 63: 5? “I looked but saw no helper; I stared, but no one was around to sustain others.” May God’s truth march on and become the truth that Christians truly live after a rugged self-examination of what is right and what is wrong in conscience, in commerce, and in nation. Will some here today, perhaps you, say to the Lord, “Here I am, Lord?”

Jeffrey A. Sumner July 2, 2006