Lesson Six

Chapter 14:14-20

Divine Symbol of Final Justice

a) Grain Harvest (v. 14-16)

- Verse 14:

o Christ is the one seated on the Cloud with a golden crown (v. 14). He is the son of man (Read Rev 1:7, 13; Daniel 7:13)

o Three characteristics of the Son of man:

o Comes from the Cloud of heaven (signifies judgment). White = purity (6:11; 7:9, 13) & victory (19:14). Cloud speaks of a kind of throne (5:5a).

o Has a golden crown (victory)

o Sharp sickle in hand (final harvest). Sickle stands for the judgment of God in the final harvest.

- Verse 15:

o Another angel comes from the temple to tell Christ to take his sickle and reap the harvest. This goes back to Rev 14:4, picking up the idea of the firstfruits of the great harvest to come.

o The final ripe harvest of the Saints occurs here Rev 14:14-16. This is a harvest of the redeemed

- Verse 16:

o Notice how Jesus is the only one who reaps the harvest. We are only labourers in his field (Mark 4:26-29; Matt 13:24-30; 9:37-38; Luke 10:2; John 4:34-38).

o The image of the harvest is grain.

b) Grape Harvest (v. 17-20)

- Verse 17:

o An angel cast the sickle here. He doesn’t have a golden crown but comes from the temple (v. 17). This is the same angel in verse 15 directing Jesus with his sickle to reap the harvest.

o God’s cloud throne is in his Temple (7:15). The Temple is linked to the demands of a holy God’s justice (14:17) and mercy (14:15b). Two harvest are directed from the heavenly temple

- Verse 18:

o There’s another angel who comes out of the altar (v. 18). Thus altar speaks of the altar of insensitive and burnt offering, representing the prayers of the saints (read Rev 8:3-5)

o As the prayers reach God, he is sending his angels, sending judgment on the oppressors. This angel has fire. This speaks of this angel also in charge over the fiery judgment of God on the unbelieving nations (Rev 8:3-5).

o Angels of God can be warriors who carry out God’s judgment. They are apart of the “armies of heaven” (Rev 19:14). Read on the avenging angel in Rev 6:9 and 8:3.

- Verse 19-20:

o The image of the harvest is grapes. This is the harvest of the unsaved. (Read Joel 3:13; Isaiah 5:5; 63:2-3; Lam 1:15; John 15:6).

o This speaks of the Judgment of the sinners (Rev 20:13-14). Those where were trampled outside the city shows the absolute rejection by God (v. 20). This speaks of the wrath of God (v. 19).

o Blood of these souls rises as higher as a horse’s bridle. Meaning that the horses will walk through the blood of the sinners up to his chest.

o The bloodbath will flow for a distance of 1,600 stadia (about 184 miles). This is contrast to the New Jerusalem 12,000 stadia (Rev 21:16). This is the width of the Roman Empire at the time. 1,600 stadia could be symbolic (4 squared times 10 squared) representing worldwide destruction. Four is the number of the earth or creation, combined with tens, the number for totality, suggests a bloodbath that is not only extensive but covers the entire earth.

o OT parallel passages: Joel 3:13; Isaiah 63:2-3; Jer. 51:33.

c) Read Jesus’ parable of sheep and goats (Matt 25:31-46). I believe this is speaking of the great Armageddon/Earthquake that we will read about later in the book of Revelation, where Jesus comes in the sky at his second coming.