Revelation 14 describes the eternal destiny of all people in unforgettable imagery. Those who receive the gospel will enter the Kingdom of Christ with its eternal rest and blessedness. Those who reject the gospel will face the wrath of God with its eternal torment.
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The Reaping of the Harvest and the Grapes of Wrath
Revelation 14:1-20
On March 18, 2024, over a year ago, I taught on Revelation 14:1-5. Of course, you remember that message so well, that we don’t need to even talk about it right? I thought so!
Let’s begin our study today, by reviewing where we have come from recently, and then giving a summary of 14:1-5, before launching into the rest of chapter 14.
Remember that there are 4 major different perspectives on how to understand the book of Revelation:
- The Historicist. This school of thought believes that the book of Revelation is describing the unfolding of history from the first to the second coming of Christ. There are almost no scholars today that are still espousing this position. It has all but died out.
- The Futurist. This is a very popular view of Revelation. In this view, the Church is raptured before the events of Revelation begin. They see the visions of the book of Revelation as future events that will come upon the world just before the second coming of Christ.
- The Preterist. This is just the opposite of the Futurist position. Just as the Futurist sees the book of Revelation being fulfilled in the future, the Preterist sees it as having been fulfilled in the past, primarily in the first century.
- The Idealist. This school of thought sees the visions of Revelation as the perpetual struggle of good and evil, God and Satan. The Idealist does not link any of the visions with actual historical events and persons. Rather, they see the visions as symbols of principles that occur over and over throughout history.
Twice in the first three verses of this Book, we are told that the prophecy would be fulfilled soon. In 1:1 we are told that this Revelation is about things “which must soon take place.” In 1:3 we are told that “the time is near.” Then at the end of the book in 22:10 we are told “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” Now, that is in direct contrast to Daniel 12:9 where we read, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.” The prophecy given to Daniel was sealed up. The time was not near. They would not be fulfilled for hundreds of years. Yet the Revelation given to John was not be sealed up, because the time was near. That can only mean, that the fulfilment of Revelation would not be hundreds of years in the future. Rather, we should look for a soon fulfilment. Was there any great judgment of God poured out in the first century? There certainly was. It was God’s judgment upon the Jews when the Romans besieged the city, and ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, fulfilling Jesus words in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
The Preterist position, is the only one of the four views that takes these time indicators in Revelation in their natural and plain sense. Thus, as I have studied this book, I have been giving more credence to the Preterist position than I have done before.
At the same time, I believe there are good reasons to look at least at Revelation 11-13 from the Idealist position if not more. What I mean is that I think chapters 11-13 in particular, refer to the entire history of the church age, not just to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. I believe that because these 3 chapters alone, found right in the middle of the book, are the only chapters which use the time designations “1,260 days”, “42 months” and “time, times, and half a time.” All three of those phrases are describing the same period of time. My own conclusion is that these are symbolic descriptions of the church age.
During this period of time we discover that
- The church will be persecuted – 11:2; 13:5
- The church will bear witness to Christ – 11:3
- The church will be nourished by God – 12:6
We know that those three things have been taking place since Christ ascended to heaven. Thus, I believe the best way to look at chapters 11-13, is to see them as being fulfilled throughout history.
However, as we return to chapter 14, those strange time designations never occur again. Thus, we should be sensitive to the fact that the fulfillment of chapters 14-19 may be especially relevant for Christians living in the first century.
Revelation 14:1-5 – The Church Triumphant.
Now, let’s review the vision we see in chapter 14:1-5. Here we see the 144,000 standing on Mt. Zion with the Lamb. They have God’s name written on their foreheads, in contrast with those who worship the Beast having his name written on their foreheads (13:16-18). The 144,000 are engaged in worship. They are singing a new song. Revelation 5:9 tells us this is a song of redemption, because Christ has redeemed them by His blood, and in 14:3 we read that they are purchased from the earth.
Furthermore, we read in 14:4-5, of their character. They have not been defiled with women, they follow the Lamb wherever He goes, and no lie was found in their mouth. In short, they are blameless.
I believe in this vision, we are seeing the Church Triumphant. In chapter 13, we saw the church facing violent persecution. If anyone did not worship the Beast were killed. Well, in this vision we see those faithful saints in heaven worshiping Christ. Though they were slain on earth, their souls have been translated to heaven, where they are involved in thunderous and sweet praise of God. They are described as not having been defiled with women, because they were faithful to Christ, and would not worship the Beast. They would not commit spiritual fornication. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes, meaning they are disciples of Jesus. No lie was found in their mouth, in contrast to the serpent who deceives the whole world.
Preterists believe this group has special reference to Jewish Christians that lived in the first century before the destruction of Jerusalem. Why? It is because in 14:4 they are described as “first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” The first fruits in the Old Testament, were the first portion of the harvest that were then consecrated to God. Well, for several years, the Christian church was made up entirely of Jewish believers. For the first seven chapters of Acts, the entire church was made up of converted Jews, and there were thousands of them in Jerusalem. Preterists believe that it was the Jewish Christians who were converted before 70 A.D. that were the 144,000. They believe this also because in Revelation 7, the 144,000 were taken from the 12 tribes of Israel. Idealists believe that the 144,000 are all of God’s people saved throughout the history of the church. Futurists believe that the 144,000 are Jews converted during the last 7 years of the history of the world. You will have to decide what you think is most Biblical.
Now, we can take up the rest of chapter 14. It is divided into 7 sections. We have 3 angels making proclamations, then a vision of the glorified Christ, then 3 angels performing specific actions.
The three angelic proclamations:
14:6 “And I saw another angel…”
14:8 “And another angel…”
14:9 “Then another angel…”
The three angelic actions:
14:15 “And another angel came out of the temple”
14:17 “And another angel came out of the temple”
14:18 “Then another angel came out from the altar”
In this section we will look at 3 things:
- Three Angelic Proclamations
- The Reaping of the Harvest
- The Treading of the Grapes
1. Three Angelic Proclamations (14:6-13)
- The Eternal Gospel: 14:6-7. In this vision we see an angel flying in midheaven preaching the eternal gospel to those who live on the earth.
Who does the angel preach to? Every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
Who does the preaching? It says “another angel.” Should we expect a literal angel flying around in midheaven preaching to all the nations of the earth in their language? I don’t think so. We have no indication in Scripture that angels are the ones the gospel proclamation has been entrusted to. In the Great Commission, Jesus entrusted the gospel to His people, the Church. The word “angel” means messenger, and it can mean either a human or celestial messenger. I believe this vision is simply letting us know that the church is going to do the job Jesus assigned it – get the gospel to all the people groups of the world.
What is the content of the message? It is quite different than we would expect. There is no mention of the life, death, or resurrection of Christ. Instead the messengers tell people that they must fear God, give Him glory, and worship Him, because He is their Creator, and will shortly judge them. We must remember that the apostles included these elements in their gospel preaching. In Acts 17:30-31 Paul declared that all men must repent because God is going to judge the world. Of course, no man can fear God, worship God, or glorify God unless He comes to Jesus Christ in penitent faith, so those elements must be assumed to be included in this message.
So, here we see the gospel going forth over all the world. Jesus did say in Mt. 24:14, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
- The Fall of Babylon: 14:8. There have been many suggestions as to who this Babylon the great is. Some believe it is a symbolic way of describing this world system in rebellion to God. Others see it as Rome. Others as Jerusalem. I’m going to wait until we get to Revelation 17 and 18 to dig into the identity of Babylon.
- The Doom of Those Who Worship the Beast: 14:9-11. We have learned thus far, that all people receive a mark of some kind. The 144,000 are sealed with the name of God on their foreheads, and the rest receive the mark of the Beast with the Beast’s name on their foreheads. The principle is clear. You have to serve someone. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’ve got to serve somebody (Bob Dylan). What happens to those people who give their allegiance to the State rather than to God?
He will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
What is this passage talking about? I believe that this passage is describing Hell. It is said that the worshipers of the Beast will be tormented with fire and brimstone. Fire is an accoutrement of hell. We read of those that will be thrown into the furnace of fire (Mt.13:52) where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. We read of those who will be cast into the eternal fire (Mt. 18:8). We read of the goats on the left of Jesus who will hear these terrifying words, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41).
Brimstone is also associated with hell. We find in Revelation 19:20, 20:10, and 21:8 that brimstone is part of the lake of fire, which is the second death. Therefore where we read of fire and brimstone, I believe we are reading about the eternal hell.
How long does Hell last for? “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” The terrifying thing about hell is that it never ends.
What is Hell like?
Wrath – like wine mixed in full strength. Wine was usually diluted as a common drink, because the water was not fit to drink. The wine of God’s wrath will not be diluted or watered down.
Torment: this is mentioned twice in verse 10 and 11.
Conscious: “They have no rest day and night.” They can’t turn off the torment. They can’t just go to sleep and escape it.
In the presence of Christ and the holy angels: 2 Thess.1:9 says that those in hell are away from the presence of the Lord. How do we reconcile that statement with this one which says that those in hell are in the presence of the Lamb? Most scholars explain that those in hell will be away from God’s gracious presence, but will never escape His wrathful presence. He will be present as their Judge but not as their Savior.
Rather than worship the Beast and be led to an eternal conscious torment in Hell, the saints persevere and keep the commandments of God and their faith. The warnings of hell can be a strong incentive to persevere in faith!
In contrast to those who die outside of Christ and go to hell, verse 13 says “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” Why are they blessed? Because they rest from their labors for their deeds follow with them. Those who die in the Lord will receive an eternal rest from their toil, suffering and fatigue under persecution. Instead, they receive relief, rest, and peace.
Notice the contrast between those who die in their sin and those who die in the Lord.
Those who die in their sin Those who die in the Lord
No rest day or night They rest from their labors
Tormented (cursed) Blessed
Eternal wrath Eternal rewards
2. The Reaping of the Harvest (14:14-16)
The vision. Son of Man. Of course, this vision is that of Jesus Christ. He is sitting on a white cloud. White stands for holiness. Jesus comes on the clouds of heaven. He is wearing a golden crown, signifying royalty, for He is King of kings, and Lord of lords. He has a sharp sickle in His hand, indicating that He is the One who brings in the great harvest.
What is the Meaning of the Vision? In Matthew 13, Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares. In Mt. 13:30 the harvest is that time when the wheat is gathered into His barn. In verse 43, Jesus explains this and says, “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” At the final harvest the tares will be bound in bundles and burned, and the wheat will be gathered up into His barn.
John the Baptist said in Mt. 3:12 that Jesus “will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
This Harvest is a harvest of souls. It is the bringing in of God’s elect into His eternal kingdom. It is what happens when Jesus says to those on His right, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!”
It is a picture of what we just read about in Revelation 14:12-13. Those who persevere in faith and obedience to Christ, will be reaped in the final harvest. They will be blessed. They rest from their labors, and their eternal rewards follow because their deeds follow with them.
3. The Treading of the Grapes (14:17-20)
Just as we were given a picture to illustrate Revelation 14:12-13, we are also given a picture to illustrate Revelation 14:9-11. The first pictures illustrates the gathering in of the saints into His eternal kingdom. The picture here illustrates the pouring out of God’s wrath on impenitent unbelievers.
The Vision. The harvest of grain represents the glory of heaven. The treading down the grapes represents the horrors of hell. In this vision an angel takes his sharp sickle and gathers clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. The grapes were trodden down, and blood came out from the wine press up the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 200 miles.
The Meaning of the Vision. I will give you the Preterist and the Idealist interpretations of this vision.
Preterist. The harvest of grain in verses 14-16 represent the harvest of Jewish believers in Christ before 70 AD. The grape vine represents apostate Israel (Is. 5). The treading down of the grapes until this river of blood comes forth represents the massacre, the blood bath that the Jews would experience when the Romans came into their land in 70 A.D. and destroyed their holy city. “200 miles” is approximately the land that God gave to Israel to occupy. The meaning is that their will be a blood bath throughout the entire land of Israel.
Idealist. The harvest is God’s ingathering of His elect, consummated in His second coming and the rapture of His church. The treading of the grapes refers God’s final judgment upon the wicked when He casts them into Hell. The blood which was up to a horses’ bridle for 200 miles is meant to give an impression of horror. It is not meant to be taken literally. It would not even be possible to get enough people into the land of Israel to shed that much blood. But it does give us a horrifying picture of the eternal fate of the lost.
Conclusion
What are the great themes that we see in this chapter?
- The urgency of getting the gospel to every nation of the world. World evangelization. World missions.
- The horrors of Hell for those that do not repent
- The blessedness of Heaven for those that believe in Jesus and persevere in faith to the end.
Because Hell is so horrifying; because Heaven is so glorious; we ought to do everything we can to get the gospel to every person on the planet. We need to continue to pray, give, and send people to the unreached, that they can hear the gospel, believe, and be saved.
We need to really believe that our family member, or friend, or neighbor who doesn’t follow Christ is headed for an eternal hell where they will face conscious torment forever!
We need to keep before us that Blessed Hope of being gathered into God’s kingdom after living faithfully for Him to the end.
- Saints, pray and give to missions!
- Saints, share the gospel with your lost friends and family!
- Saints, look forward eagerly to your blessed eternal future with Christ!
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