REVELATION 14:14-20

Re 14:4 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

• Son of Man- This phrase was The Lord Jesus favorite title for Himself during His earthly ministry. You can take a concordance or bible program and run down the references yourself. In this particular context, it is a fulfillment of the OT prophecy of Daniel:
  • Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
• When speaking of this time of His Second Coming, Jesus said:
  • Mt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
    • This is the last time that the phrase son of man is found in Scripture. The only other reference to like unto the son of man in the Revelation was in Rev 1.13.
    • Some commentators identify this cloud as being the Shekinah or glory of God.
• Golden crown- This crown is not the diadema that was worn by a king (as is the case in many crowns Rev 19.12), but the stephanos that was worn by victors in war or athletic games. This particular crown pictures Jesus Christ as Triumphant Conqueror over all of His enemies.
• It is the crown of triumph, as in the following verses:
  • Rev 2.10 be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
  • 1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
  • 1Th 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
  • 2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
  • Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
  • 1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
• Sharp sickle in His hand. All 7 references to the word sickle in the Revelation are in chapter 14. .Sickles were used to harvest grain. These sharp instruments would cut off the grain stalks down to the ground level. The sickle serves as a picture of The Lord Jesus Christ returning in power and glory to mow down His enemies like a harvester cutting down grain.
  • Nahum 1:2 God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth (Heb. The Lord of wrath); the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

15 And another angel came out of the temple (4^th one mentioned in this chapter), crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

• The first 3 angels in chapter 14 proclaim that judgment was coming; this angel gives the command to execute it.
• God’s judgment of the ungodly on earth is indicated by 2 phrases: the harvest of the earth (vs. 14) and the vine of the earth (vs. 18)
  • The vine of the earth is the antichrist and all who belong to his pernicious system. In Scripture, the devil is consistently counterfeiting the work of God. God has His vine, and Satan has His. God has His Son Jesus Christ, and Satan has his counterfeit.
  • The Lord Jehovah told Israel in the OT: De 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
• The Greek word for ripe here means, dried up, pine away, be ripe, wither (away). In other words, the earth has passed the point of any usefulness and it is now to be gathered up and burned with fire.
  • Mt 13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

• Here is one of the most sobering yet unmentioned doctrines in all of Scripture, and that is the executing of divine judgment. We will look into the incredible details of these vial or bowl judgments when we jump into chapter 16 and 19.

17 And another angel (5^th angel) came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

• The reaper in this vision is not The Son of Man, as in the grain harvest, but another angel that came out of the temple which is in heaven.
• Like Jesus Christ, this angel also has a sharp sickle. As we have seen in our previous studies in Revelation, angels play a prominent role in God’s sovereign purposes in the last days. They summon the 4 horsemen, they sound the 7 trumpets. They will pour out the 7 bowls or vials of judgment in Rev 16 and they will announce the battle of Armegeddon in Rev 19.17, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
• According to 2 Thess 1.7 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

18 And another angel (6^th angel) came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

• Unlike the previous angel that came out of the temple, this angel came out from the altar, and he is mentioned as having power over fire. Many commentators see the combination of altar and fire as being a picture of the prayers of the saints.
• As we saw back in Rev 5.8 & 8.3-5, the prayers of the saints are likened to incense before The Lord. Re 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
  • The mixture of God’s people praying and judgment in the Revelation is undeniable. When we pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, we tend to forget that before the Messianic Kingdom is set up on earth, judgment must first take place.

But let me divert from the context for a moment and remind us of one of most glorious and wonderful gifts from God made possible by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and that is the gift of prayer.

• Every morning and evening the OT priests would take hot coals from the brazen altar and bring them to the incense altar. There they would ignite the incense which would rise toward heaven, symbolizing the prayers of God’s people.
• Ps 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
• Oh beloved may our hearts be encouraged by this truth this morning….we worship and serve a God Who answers prayer. Through Jesus Christ we have continual access to The Father. Jesus Himself told us to pray and not faint (grow weary)…..pray without ceasing beloved.

The second part of verse 18 tells us that time has come for the Son of Man to judge this earth, The time of grace is over, and there is no more delay in the harvest of judgment.

• The Greek word for ripe at the end of verse 18 is different from the one in verse 15. Here it means, fully ripe and in it’s prime.
• John Macarthur writes this: this pictures the earth’s wicked, unregenerate people as bursting with the juice of wickedness and ready for the harvest of righteousness.
• All the enemies of God will be thrust like ripe grapes into the winepress of the wrath of God.

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20 And the winepress was trodden without the city (Jerusalem), and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

• The wine press of the wrath of God will be trodden outside the city. We know from Zech 14.1-4 that the climax of the Battle of Armegeddon takes place when the visible appearance of The Lord protects Jerusalem from the carnage of the battle.
• That battle will take place in the north of Israel on the Plain of Esraddon near Mount Megiddo (about 60 miles north of Jerusalem), and it will rage the entire length of Israel as far south as Bozrah in Edom (Isa 63.1-6).
• There will be millions of people engaged in the Battle (war) of Armegeddon, as the nations gather together to fight against The Lord and against His Christ (see combination of 1^st and 2^nd coming prophecy in Psalm 2). The outcome of this war will be an incredible bloodbath that will be 4 feet deep for a distance of 200 miles.
  • The bible is not rejected today because it is hard to understand; the bible is not in need of constant revision because it is obscure; the bible is not laid aside because it is apocalyptic and unable to be understood; the bible is rejected because it is against sin, against this world system, and against the religions and wickedness of fallen man, therefore fallen man is against the bible.
• As we will see more in depth in Rev 19.11-21, when Jesus Christ returns to the earth, the antichrist, the false prophet, demonic powers and all who are enemies of Jesus Christ will be immediately destroyed. Do I really need to say that the battle will be no contest!
• When Jesus Christ came the first time, He shed His blood for them, but they rejected Him. Here The Lord is pictured as trodding down the wicked and it is their blood that is being shed.
  • Jer 25:30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
  • Joe 3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Joel 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
    • This is the end of man’s glory and Satan rule on the earth. Lehman Strauss

CALL UP PRAISE TEAM AND SERVERS

What is the cause of this horrific judgment and the demonstration of the wrath of God that we covered in our study this morning? Sin and rebellion against a Just and Holy God and Creator. The battle of Armageddon will be the tragic earthly end of the rebellion that began ever so subtlety in the Garden of Eden and continues even as I speak. In closing, we need to face up to the facts.

• Sin is an awful thing beloved. It has destroyed lives, marriages and churches. There is not one redeeming thing that can be said about sin, any sin. Sin is every human beings worst enemy.
• Sin rules this fallen world’s religions, fashions, entertainment and philosophies 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and keeps mankind blinded from the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Love not the world is a command and we either heed the warning for our own good or ignore it to our own destruction.
• You and I are sinners, born separated from the life of God….we are by nature attracted to the sin of this world and it’s forbidden and fallen pleasures. We cannot free ourselves from sins power and attraction, and we all deserve to be punished for our sin.
• But herein is the love and grace of God manifested. The gospel tells us that Christ Jesus died for us, and by grace, through faith in Jesus, The Father offers to each and every one of us here this morning forgiveness of sin. Listen to what God says beloved:
  • 1John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins
  • 1 John 3.8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
  • 1John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
• Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels
  • Hell was not prepared for man, but multitudes of people end up in hell…why? They reject God’s only sacrifice for their sin, Jesus Christ. And why do they do that?
  • John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
  • 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
• The Lord’s Supper is the ordinance of God that allows us to be cleansed from the debt of sin and the defilement of sin as we honestly look to Jesus Christ with a broken and contrite heart.
  • 1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
    • If we do not take The Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we must have Him as our Judge. Sin is either taken from us and borne by the Substitute, or it is borne by us and must crush us. Donald Grey Barnhouse
• As we take the elements this morning may we remember that we are a redeemed remnant who have been plucked out of the mire of sin and the fires of hell to be a living witness of The Risen Lord……each and every day of our lives are to be totally devoted to His Kingdom and purposes.

READ ALLISTAR BEGG PRINTOUT