Understanding Revelation (14:14-16)~Riddlebarger

"Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped."

(Revelation 14:14-16)

The vision granted John and recorded at the end of Revelation 14, John sees Jesus, Israel’s Messiah, bring about the great and final harvest, as well as the trampling of the grapes, symbolic of God’s judgment upon the wicked. During his own messianic ministry, Jesus spoke of his return at the end of the age to judge the world, raise the dead and make all things new in terms of a great harvest. 

When Jesus explains the parable of the weeds to his disciples in (Matthew 13:37), Jesus states that “the one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. `As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.’”

Clearly the harvest at the end of the age is the second advent of Jesus, when judgment comes upon the entire world. The wheat is spared and stored in the barn (v. 29). But the weeds are thrown into the fire. This seems to indicate that the harvest of the grain is associated with the final ingathering of the church, as when Jesus speaks of his angels as gathering the elect from the four corners of the earth, and when one is suddenly taken while the other is left to face the judgment (Matthew 24:31; 36-41).

Indeed, in Revelation 14:4, John has already spoken of believers as the first fruits of the harvest offered to God.

Therefore, it is likely that John’s vision of a harvest of grain is a glimpse of final blessing, when the harvest of souls is completed and all of the God’s elect have been gathered by the angels.

(Kim Riddlebarger)

Understanding Revelation (14:13)

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" 

(Revelation 14:13)

Because Jesus Christ has taken his place in the heavenly Zion, having conquered death and the grave, his absolute triumph over all his foes secures the blessing granted to all those who die trusting in him. Indeed, all those who die in Christ are blessed. For not only do they take their place among the great multitude who surround the glassy sea and add their voices to those of the heavenly choir, they will be given rest from their labor. In the heavenly city, there are no more tears, no more pain, no more injustice, no more suffering; only glorious, blessed and eternal rest.

Recall that during his messianic ministry, Jesus gave his followers the following invitation in (Matthew 11:28), “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

(Kim Riddlebarger)

Understanding Revelation (14:12)

"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus."

(Revelation 14:12)

What is perseverance? The word literally means to bear up or to endure. John calls it, “the perseverance of the saints,” distinguishing it from any other kind of religious perseverance. It is those that have been set apart by the new birth that, while being sustained by the preserving power of God, continue in faithfulness to Christ. Because they are “kept by the power of God” (1 Pet. 1:7), because it is God who is at work in them both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13), those genuinely in the faith keep pressing on. They may falter along the way; they may even fall and fail. But none falls finally who are kept by God’s power until the final redemption is accomplished.

John further qualifies what is meant by perseverance: “who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” The old hymn expresses it well, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Perseverance actually has substance; attentive obedience to God’s commands and ongoing reliance and trust in Jesus Christ in all of His sufficiency. Are you persevering as a Christian? That means that you never get away from trusting Christ and obeying Him. Again, you may falter; you may have some big flops along the way. But the heart desire is to continue following after Christ. That’s the evidence that one truly knows Christ.

(Phil A. Newton)

Understanding Revelation (14:10-11)

"And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

(Revelation 14:10-11)

The Bible teaches us that hell is a place of pain, a place of unbroken torment. Have you ever endured a burn from a naked flame (it’s almost the worst pain imaginable). Hell, John says, is a place of fire; a place of fire. “Oh, but that’s just a metaphor, right? Fire and sulfur - those are mere images. There are no literal flames in hell, are there?” Well if they are images and metaphors, the reality to which they point transcends and exceeds them in a way for which we do not have the vocabulary. If the best we can do to describe the pain of hell is to talk about fire, what must the reality be? What a horror hell will be! 

But there is another kind of pain and suffering there. To be sure it’s physical, but it’s more, isn’t it? Emotional, psychological, spiritual! You see that little phrase; you have “no rest, day or night.” There’s no peace in hell! There’s no respite! There’s no hiatus, no relenting in the wrath of God!

You know when we endure bodily pain of any kind here, psychological trauma, emotional anguish, and then you can’t sleep, everything is so much worse, every pain amplified, every trial doubled. The slightest failure seems like a catastrophe; the brightest day looks dull when you can’t rest. You’ve experienced that, right? You just can’t sleep! Everything is so much worse! You see, what John is telling us about hell, if you do not know Jesus Christ what exhaustion! What fatigue! will plague your body and your soul and your mind. You will toss and turn and writhe in unrelenting restlessness, day and night!

(David Strain)

Understanding Revelation (14:9-10)

"And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger,..."

(Revelation 14:9-10)

There’s another cup, a second cup that answers to the cup of Babylon’s pollutions. The cup of sin! Now there’s the cup of wrath! The cup of judgment! The cup of divine anger! That’s what John begins to speak about. It’s a picture of hell. Sobering! Horrifying even! 

What is there in the cup of wrath that is poured out in hell? First of all, there is punishment. We’ve already seen that the cup of wine that Babylon gives to the nations corresponds directly to the cup of wrath. The cup of wrath answers Babylon’s cup. For every drop we drink from Babylon’s cup we will drink just punishment from the cup of God’s anger. Sin will be punished with exacting correspondence and accuracy. That’s the message. Also notice the population of hell is described- who are in hell? Those who worship the beast and its image; they are made to drink the cup of wrath. Those who reject Jesus and opt instead for false worship, and empty religion, they drink the hell of divine wrath. They are those, John says, who have the mark of the beast on their forehead and on their hands, their heads and hands. Their thoughts and deeds, their intellect and their actions and activity governed by a principle and an impulse that rejects the Lordship of Christ and so they are made to suffer the wrath of the Lamb.

(David Strain)

Understanding Revelation (14:8)

"Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality." 

(Revelation 14:8)

There’s a cup, the wine of Babylon’s pollution given to the nations. Babylon in the book of Revelation is simply a symbol for human society living in rebellion against the rule of God, that’s what it means. And Babylon has this cup of potent wine that makes the nations drunk with the passions of sexual sin. John’s painting a picture, really, of our society, isn’t he, where vice is now called a virtue, where wickedness is legislated for. You turn on the television screen - Babylon. You listen to the radio - Babylon. You go online and with one click, there’s Babylon, pouring out the cup of her passions and sins and immoralities. This is our society, our world. Notice the potency of the cup, the wine that Babylon offers - wine that makes passionate those who drink. Here’s the intoxicating power of sin. Notice also the universality of it! Who drinks? She makes all nations to drink. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one righteous, not even one.” Not you; not me!

And he says Babylon is fallen. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.” A real power! The wine of sin is intoxicating and it is universal, but it is not absolute in its potency and power. Babylon is a fallen power. Her final fall is yet to come, of course. Babylon is alive and active all around us. One day Babylon will be dealt with and removed forever, yet Babylon’s power, the power of sin is not absolute. That is to say, there is still the possibility of deliverance from its potency, pollution, and power. Well you draw breath while it is still called today. Do not harden your hearts. Hear rather the invitation of Jesus Christ who alone can break the chains of sin and set you free. The sin of Babylon is potent, it is pervasive, almost universal, and any society that is built upon it, founded upon it, John is telling us will certainly fall.

(David Strain)

Understanding Revelation (14:6-7)

"Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."

(Revelation 14:6-7)

The last angel we saw mentioned was in chapter 11—the seventh angel, we’re not told who this gospel-bearing angel is. This angel preaches the gospel from the vantage point of “midheaven,” which implies that it is visible, reaching the expanse of the earth with the gospel. Here he emphasizes the global aspect of the gospel. The eternal nature of the gospel shows that it transcends seasons, centuries, and ideologies to speak the truth of God to all humanity. The gospel is not just for a small group in a few centuries. The gospel is for the world. Because it is “an eternal gospel,” then it bears eternal accountability for all humanity. Everyone in “every nation and tribe and tongue and people” has a responsibility toward the gospel of Jesus Christ. John calls additional attention to this accountability when he refers to God as the one “who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” He’s not as the dragon, who has no power to create, but only deceives and destroys. God created the earth that we enjoy; but He is no absentee landlord. He calls us into accountability to the eternal gospel. And what kindness has been shown to a world of rebels by offering to us the good news of the Savior, Christ Jesus the crucified and risen Lord!

(Phil A. Newton)