Revelation 14:14-20
Ya reap what ya sow
“Would you open your Bibles with me to...”
Gal 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Pray
Introduction
√ Plant illustration
Whatever kind of seed you plant - determines the type of fruit you get.
If you plant tomato's you will never get wheat.
Ex. Guys who plant marijuana in the midst of their tomato field.
No one knows while the seeds are in the ground. But when the seeds begin to break forth from the earth it becomes clear to all who look that it's not tomato!
Ap. Life is the same way.
The world encourages us to…
“Sow our wild oats”
But, you need to know that if you sow to the flesh you will not reap fruit of the Spirit!
Rather, the seeds of sin will grow up and produce its ugly fruit and a bitter harvest.
Conversely, if you plant good seeds in life you’ll find that they produce good fruit and a glorious harvest!
√ The last harvest
Our study this morning looks at the last harvest - at the end of the Age.
We get a preview of the end result of all that Mankind has sown in his disobedience and rebellion.
As our scripture reading this morning so clearly put it, God is not mocked (or deceived) by those who practice evil…
…rather, a Day has been appointed when the wicked will reap bitter harvest for all the evil that they have sown.
The Reaper! (vs. 14 - 16)
Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
Rev 14:16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
√ The Reaper!
Let's begin by identifying the guy on the cloud - cool place to be!
"One like the Son of Man" – Vs. 14
Already identified for us in Rev. 1:13 and 18 as…
…Jesus Christ.
The title "Son of Man" communicates to us that in heaven and in eternity Jesus still has the appearance of a Man!
He's not like the cherubim around the throne who have such strange appearance.
But as we've seen from John's previous descriptions of Jesus in the Revelation, though He is still recognizable to John, here in heaven we see Jesus in His glorified state.
White cloud = speaking of His heavenly
dwelling (no longer without a
place to lay His head!)
Also, a picture of His 2nd Advent
(Matt. 24:30)
Crown of gold = Victors Crown - He's won! (no
more thorns!)
Sharp sickle = Judgement - sharp speaks of the
severity of the judgement.
The thought that this picture communicates to us is that at the end of the Tribulation we see…
Jesus victorious over the Antichrist
Jesus seated as Judge over the earth
Jesus dispatching Judgement upon the wicked
…in short, Jesus is in charge and intervening in the activities of Man!
√ What's Jesus doing?
Harvesting!
The question immediately comes to mind - what kind of a harvest is this…
One of good fruit or of bad fruit?
A clue in vs. 15
"for the harvest of the earth is ripe"
"ripe" means…
"to become dry or withered"
…and always carries a bad connotation.
Ex. Other places in the New Testament we find this word used that help us understand what John is communicating in the Revelation.
Matt. 21:19 – the fig tree that Jesus cursed…
“Immediately the fig tree withered away.”
Matt. 12:10 – man healed by Jesus had a…
“withered hand.”
Mt 13:6 – the seed that fell on shallow ground…
“But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”
Literally the word "ripe" as used in each of these examples means ripe to the point that the fruit has become…
…rotten, dead and undesirable - of no use whatsoever!
The prophetic picture that John is painting for us is that the moral condition of the world during the Tribulation period is long overdue for judgement.
So the best interpretation of this section of scripture is that harvest that John is describing is the judgment of the wicked…
…a harvest of bad fruit.
√ When does this harvest take place?
Looking ahead to vs. 17-20 we see that the context of the harvest here is the final battle of Armageddon at the end of history.
So, it is probably best to understand vs. 14-16 as the general outpouring of the Wrath of God as He winds up the Tribulation and vs. 17-20 as the specific final outpouring.
Ap. Withered fruit, dry and rotten; that's what sin leads to!
Temptation always portrays sin as good and fulfilling, free of consequence.
Ex. Satan’s temptation of Eve…
“You will not surely die!” Gen. 3:4
But, the end result of all sin is bad, dried up fruit.
Ex. The end condition of the meth user – dried up, dead.
The truth is that the fruit of sin is rotten. It does not bring fulfillment any more than a withered old piece of fruit would fill the stomach of a hungry man.
Sin brings a bitter harvest!
God's winepress (vs. 17-20)
Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe."
Rev 14:19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
√ Another angel
John's attention now turns to...
"another angel"
...though we're not told - if you're counting this is the fifth angel in chapter 14.
Most of the time we find that angels are used by God as messengers to mankind.
Here we find this angel doing something a little different - he's (no gender) helping out in the harvest of the wicked on the earth.
Note that this angel, like Jesus, has a sharp sickle, and is commanded by another angel to use that sickle to harvest the earth.
√ Note what this angel is harvesting...
"...gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe." - vs. 18
...a slightly different prophetic picture here as the word “ripe” is different than in vs. 15 and means “mature”, but the symbolism is the same;
The time of judgement has come!
Here the sin of Mankind is pictured as "fully ripe" grapes on the vine.
"fully ripe" = "bursting with juice"
The symbolic picture painted for us here is that the grapes are so large that they are ready to burst open with juice.
Communicates to us that Man's sin has reached it's fullness.
They’ve come as far as God will allow and how they’re going to be judged for their sin.
We find a similar situation portrayed in the vision Abraham received from the Lord when he received the promise of Canaan.
Gen 15:16 "But in the fourth generation they (Abraham’s descendants) shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
That is, God had a set time in mind when the sin of the people in the land of Canaan would reach it’s fullness…
…at which point God would judge them by the hand of Joshua and the armies of Israel.
The truth revealed here in Rev. 14 is that Man’s sin and rebellion has reached the point that it demands God’s Judgment!
√ God’s winepress
John's prophetic picture continues by telling us that the grapes which are gathered are then thrown into God's winepress.
Wine press = stone lined rectangular trench.
Harvest = grapes harvested by workers and
brought to the winepress.
Crush = grapes placed in trench &
stomped till all the juice comes
out.
A perfect picture of the final battle of Armageddon.
Wine press = The valley of Armageddon is 10
miles wide by 40 miles long
leading up to Jerusalem.
Harvest = The wicked armies who follow the
Antichrist are gathered together
(thrown) into the valley.
Crushed = Jesus Himself completely destroys
the forces of the Antichrist
Note…
Rev 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
While John’s description of the winepress is symbolic, we find that the Valley of Armageddon is literally shaped like a winepress…
…where the Antichrist and the wicked will be crushed by Jesus.
√ Blood
John closes this section of his vision by telling us in vs. 20 that the destruction of God's enemies are so great that...
"blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs."
...that's a lot of blood!
Horse' bridle = about 4 feet high
1600 furlongs = 200 miles
Since the language of the verse and the paragraph is clearly symbolic...
…not a literal winepress or sickle
It is probably best not to interpret this as a literal pool of blood 4 feet deep and 200 miles long!
Rather, John is communicating to us that the result of the Lord's Judgement upon the wicked of the earth is one of compete and total destruction.
Close
√ Tomorrow’s headlines
As we close chapter 14 remember that what we've seen is a glimpse of tomorrow's headlines.
A message of encouragement to the saints…
…Jesus and His people win!
A message of warning to those who have rejected Jesus…
…that they better turn from their sin lest they reap what they have sown!
Ap. Sowing and reaping – woven into the fabric of life
This mornings message a good reminder that a man reaps what he sows.
In the material world
In the spiritual world
It’s your choice.
You can plant good seeds and receive a…
…glorious harvest.
You can plant evil seeds and receive a…
…bitter harvest.
But don’t fool yourself – whatever you plant will grow!