“Put in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near, in the valley of decision.”

The scenario is sickening. The bloodletting is sure. The judgment has come in the form of the Lamb of God who has taken away the sin of His people and now calls the wicked out to battle.

“I looked, and saw a white cloud, and on the cloud one sitting like a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Send your sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap has come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe!” He who sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.”

Revelation 14:14-16

The angel with the sickle is none other but our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has returned to get for Himself the victory over all wickedness and unbelief. All who resist Him are gathered in like the harvest of bloody grapes, and thrown into the wine press of the wrath of God. There is no escape. The offer of salvation is over and the great day of final reckoning has arrived. Only those who are covered by the precious blood of the Lamb slain for them are safe. They shelter under the mighty wings of the grace of God.

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom one that which will not be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:13-14

The all-conquering Lord has returned to claim His kingdom, His people and all the power and glory. The holiness of God has now overcome all evil and evil is being dealt with in the place of the wrath of God – the plains of Armageddon. The Lord Jesus is finally calling out His enemies and His people are with Him, rejoicing in the triumph of the name of Christ their all- conquering Lord and God. He alone is able to pronounce and execute judgment on the nations that forget God and He alone treads the wine press of the punishment for sin. All will succumb.

“Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens will laugh, The Lord will have them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath: “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”

Psalm 2:1-6

The rebellion in every human heart will be broken and each will face the consequences of its folly. Those who have followed the kings of the earth, will now received the just recompense for their treachery against their Saviour and rightful Lord. The bonds of sin and death will be broken for the people of God, but for the ungodly, they will receive the second death that they have chosen. The Lord will laugh at them and will put them to eternal flight. No one will escape the justice of God and all will be terrified. The Lord Jesus Christ will be set on high and have His true position over the kings of the earth and all who follow them.

It is called the Valley of Decision, not because they can decide for God, but because their dreadful fate is finally outworked and applied to their souls. Their souls are lost to God for good- such is the terrible and frightening position of God-haters and all who embrace folly.