Revelation-Part 31

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THE SEVENTH TRUMPET: THE SEVEN BOWLS PENDING—THE HARVEST AND THE VINTAGE

The last scene that furnishes background for the seven bowls or vials comes in Revela­tion 14:14-20, immediately following the four climactic announcements in 14:6-13 that we looked at last month. It comes as a preview of the great battle that will transpire when Jesus returns as a mighty warrior to conquer His enemies, a battle described in the book’s chronological sequence at Revelation 19:11-21. The preview consists of two parts, the harvest in 14:14-16 and the vintage in 14:17-20. Each part is a figurative summary in antici­pation of what will be depicted in more detail as part of the seventh bowl judgment.

The Harvest (14:14-16)

The first picture takes its cue from the Old Testament book of Joel when it describes future judgment as a harvest. Joel 3:13 records, “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.” Revelation 14:15b resembles Joel when it says, “Send your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth has become ripe.” The one receiv­ing the command in Revelation 14:14 is the Son of Man, pictured as sitting on a white cloud. The white cloud alludes to Daniel 7:13-14 where such a cloud will accompany the Messiah at His second advent (Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Acts 1:9, 11). Though some have at­tempted to identify this “Son of Man” as an angel because He receives a command from “another angel” in Revelation 14:15, He is on a higher level of authority than that “other angel.” He does not respond to the angel’s authority in thrusting in His sickle, but rather receives divine notification through the angel that the proper time to do so has arrived. See Acts 1:7 for a reminder that the timing of Christ’s return is in the Father’s hands.

The angel who brings the notification about the time to begin the harvest comes from the heavenly temple (14:15), the presence of the heavenly Father being an appropriate origin for this kind of instruction. Harvesting is a well-known figure for divine judgment in the Old Testament as Joel 3:13 has noted; especially is it appropriate for the judgment of Babylon (see also Jer. 51:33). Some have suggested that this part of the scene is a har­vesting of the elect, the judgment of the non-elect being portrayed in the vintage part of the scene. Yet a portraying of the harvesting of the elect would be out of keeping with the tone of Revelation 14:6-20, which is a context of negative judgment. Also, it would be inappropri­ate as an echo of Joel 3:13, which speaks of the judgment of God’s enemies during the future Day of the Lord. This is the harvest of the condemned that John will describe in more detail in Revelation 19:11-21.

Responding to the signal from the angel, the Son of Man casts His sickle into the earth and the earth is reaped (14:16). The fact that “the earth” occurs twice in the brief statement of verse 16 emphasizes that human beings will be the objects of this judgment. The brevity of the statement dramatizes the suddenness with which the judgment will strike the earth.

The Vintage (14:17-20)

The second part of this last scene of background data pictures the future judgment as a vintage. The main character in the vintage is “another angel” (14:17). Like the angel before him, he too comes from the heavenly temple, and like the Son of Man, he too has a sharp sickle. Pruning the vine requires the same tool as gathering the harvest. This part is a more vivid picture of judgment than the harvest, because it climaxes with the treading of the winepress (16:20), not just the gathering of grapes (16:19). Jesus predicted the role angels will play in the future as punishers of the wicked (see Matt. 13:41-42, 49-50).

Another angel, this one from the heavenly altar, arrives with the signal that the time has arrived to gather the grape clusters (Rev. 14:18). This angel has authority over the fire of the altar mentioned in Revelation 8:3-5, so this is probably the same angel who cast fire into the earth in that earlier passage. The prayers of the saints for God to avenge their blood mentioned in the earlier passage are about to be answered (see also 6:9-11). The fruit of evil has now reached its prime and is fully ripe. The time has arrived to extract the results of the vine’s growth process.

The angel with the sharp sickle responds to the signal, gathers the vineyard of the earth, and throws the grapes into the winepress of the wrath of God (14:19). In ancient times the winepress consisted of two bowls hewn out of solid rock. One was higher than the other and contained the grapes that someone walked on to squeeze the juice from them. The juice flowed through a duct into the lower basin where it collected until being removed for consumption. The redness of the juice and the staining of the feet and gar­ments of the treaders on the winepress make this a vivid picture of divine judgment. This is God’s judgment against earth’s rebels and is a picturesque way of previewing the great battle to come in Revelation 19:11-21.

Revelation 14:20 gives an account of the gruesome outcome of the judgment process: a sea of blood stretching for many miles in all directions. The city referred to in verse 20 is Jerusalem, in agreement with the Old Testament prediction that the final battle will occur in the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is traditionally located in the vicinity of the Kidron Valley (see Joel 3:12-14; Zech. 14:4). Red blood, resembling the color of the grape juice, will flow excessively from the treading of the vine of the earth. See Revelation 19:13, 15 where Christ’s garments have been dipped in the blood of His enemies in the process of His battle against them. There will come a massive slaughter and loss of human life on the field of battle.

Thus ends the extended section preparatory for direct accounts of the seven bowls (or vials) of God’s wrath. Such a picture of a widespread loss of human life is not a pretty one. The widespread loss of life through recent terrorist activity on September 11, 2001, has left the United States and the rest of the world in a state of shock. But that many deaths will pale into insignificance in comparison to the number who will perish when Christ returns to assume His rightful rule on this earth. In the current emergency we can strive to bring the perpetrators of terrorists acts to justice as a means for minimizing the wrongs that they committed and guarding against the repetition of such heinous acts, but when Christ re­turns to judge an unrepentant world, there will be no fighting back. His conquest will admin­ister justice against evildoers who are in rebellion against God. When he treads the winepress of the wrath of God, that will be the end of the encounter for those judged, and justice will have been served. O that people would see the urgency of getting right with God through putting their faith in Christ before they fall victims to His future judgment!

Note: For more details about the harvest and the vintage of Revelation 14, see my discussion in Revelation 8–22 (Moody Press, 1995), pages 217-226. To order this volume,you may contact Grace Books International at (800) GRACE15 or www.gbibooks.com.

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