14Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” 16So the One sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.
17After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.” 19So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.
Revelation 14:14-20
There are two different interpretations of this portion of Revelation – Chapter 14:14-20. The interpretations are dependent on whether this passage is seen as a whole or whether it should be divided. There are those who look at the complete portion, Revelation 14:14-20, as being a message related to the coming Judgement. On the other hand, there are those who see two different harvests. I have divided the passage above into two parts. Notice how the passages are introduced in John’s vision with respect to what he saw and heard. Notice also how each passage starts.
- I saw one like the Son of Man seated on a cloud . . . then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the One on the cloud.
- Then another angel came from the Temple with a sharp sickle . . . and another angel came and shouted to the other angel.
Do you see one is a grain harvest and the other is a grape harvest?
Should this be one passage or two? I have made up my mind. What do you think? Read it and take time to ponder it. Consider it in the wider context.
I suspect Revelation 14:14-20 should actually have been numbered as the beginning of Chapter 15 by Robert Estienne when he put the chapter and verse numbers into the text. I think these verses are the prelude to the rest of the book. I also believe John takes time to separate one section from the section which follows: Revelation 14:14-16 and Revelation 14:17-20. There is nothing condemnatory in the first bracket which is contrastive to the second section. Everything about the second portion is negative and condemnatory, whereas there is nothing negative or condemnatory in the first block.
The first section is about the grain harvest. Notice Who is in focus:
- Someone like the Son of Man
- Seated on a cloud
- With a gold crown on his head
- and a sickle in his hand
- the crop is ripe for harvest.
In the second section the grape harvest is in focus and the elements of the text are all negative:
- The angel had power to destroy with fire
- Came from the altar
- The grapes are ripe for judgement
- loaded into the winepress of God’s wrath
- trampled until the blood flowed.
Jesus, the Son of Man, swings the sickle for the first harvest, is seated on a white cloud (heavenly) and wearing a gold crown. These three elements make it clear He is the One harvesting the children of God. Note, the whole earth was harvested. This reminds me of Matthew 13:24-43 and the parable of the wheat and the tares. Oh those who profess to be followers of the Lamb of God but are not, are gathered as well [tares]. Look at Matthew 13:28-30:
“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”
Matthew 13:28-30
After the harvest is the time for sorting the wheat from the tares; so too in this case. Do you see that Jesus, the Son of Man swings the sickle Himself?
Do you see how carefully John separates these two harvests by using . . . another angel . . . and another angel . . . and another angel. He makes it clear that Jesus swings the first sickle, but angels cut the bunches of grapes for the second harvest. Many commentators are troubled by the fact that an angel tells the Son of Man, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” But in apocalyptic imagery that can happen as opposed to narrative or historical / prophetic text. The time is ripe for the harvest. In John 4, Jesus was the one to speak the words, “Open your eyes and look, the fields are ripe for harvest.” We don’t have to get hung up on who says the words, an angel or Jesus. In this case Jesus is the One swinging the sickle. I suspect the angels are the ones who separate the tares from the wheat.
The first harvest then is the harvest of God’s chosen people. The second harvest is a harvest of grapes. Some commentators think these two agricultural images are random and don’t necessarily convey a hidden message or have anything to do with the structure of Revelation. They think both are judgement passages. But when you look carefully you begin to see some subtle differences. How like God! I believe these two harvests set the scene for what follows in the rest of the letter. As I indicated above, I believe these two harvest images are an introduction to the rest of Revelation. These two images or visions set the scene.
- The Harvest of God’s Children (those with God’s righteousness)
- Those who are ripe for judgement (the wicked or the unrighteous)
Some see a switch in order here like a chiastic structure. The introduction to Group A (righteous) followed by Group B (unrighteous). Then in Chapters 15 through 18 John sees the fate of the Group B, he then returns to Group A from Revelation 19 onward. I do see that macro level AB / BA switch. But I also see that in Chapter 15, our next focus passage, the Four Living Creatures are handing out the bowls of plague while the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name are playing harps and singing the song of Moses.
“Great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”
Revelation 15:3-4
So in effect John does move to the victorious ones who have persevered to the end, before the bowls full of the seven plagues are loosed on the unrighteous. Are the saints rejoicing at those vanquished? No, their joy and exuberance is reserved for the LORD who has won a mighty victory and brought His people through to salvation.
Now let’s examine in some detail the second stanza of this epic account. The Harvest of the Grapes – Revelation 14:17-20. I don’t wish to labour long (or belabour) this portion more than necessary. I believe it speaks for itself, the meaning is plain. Why is it focused on grapes rather than grain? Because the grapes are symbolic of blood and the trampling of the wicked outside the city is fitting judgement for those who denied the Name Above All Names in preference to the counterfeits of Satan. Especially so, after having been given opportunity after opportunity to repent and bow at the Name of the Only True God of the Universe. So what happens now? Those who have called down judgement on themselves by refused to repent and bow the knee before the Lamb of God, are now figuratively crushed in the winepress of God’s wrath. The grapes are trampled in the winepress and the blood flows in a river for 180 miles or 290 kilometres as deep as 4 to 5 metres. That is quite a remarkable river of blood. The depth or height of the river is dependant on the height of a horse’s bridle. The estimates vary between 4 and 5 feet high. I have chosen 1.5 metres because of something I found on https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/80720/how-many-people-trampled-would-it-take-for-blood-to-flow-out-for-a-distance-of-1.
It leaves us with the following question does it not?
How many people are represented by that much blood?
Others have gone before me in an attempt to crunch the numbers. I found on the website mentioned above some answers to that question. Estimating a bridle height of 1.5 metres and a river width of 4 metres and the fact that the adult human body contains approximately 5 litres of blood, the total cubic estimate of blood is 300 kms x 4 metres wide x 1.5 metres deep . The average adult human has between 4.5 and 5.5 litres of blood in their body. Taking the calculations from hermaneutics.stackexchange.com that amounts to 1.8 x 109 litres of blood which equates to between 360 million people and 140 billion over numerous attempts on the website to work this out. Many have tried and the results of the many set two benchmarks: 360 million to 140 billion. There is great variance between their efforts, all laid out on the website for your perusal.
However I would say we need to stick to the measure found in Revelation 14:20 where the distance is measured in Roman stadia as 40 x 40 stadia = 1600 stadia. The reason for this is that 40 x 40 stadia represented the completeness of the wrath of God which covered that areal extent representing the totality of the land of Israel from top to bottom. Thus the outpouring of human blood equating to all those who had been slain over time. Thus the whole world was to be covered by God’s wrath on the final day of judgement.
And one final thing to tell you, dear reader: the source of John’s use of words in this section came from Joel, the prophet in the Old Testament.
I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat [Ha Megeddo]. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land. . . Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people.” Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the LORD will soon arrive. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine. The LORD’s voice will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will shake. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a strong fortress for the people of Israel (God).
Joel 3:2, 13-16
The contrast between the grain harvest and the grape harvest comes from the LORD’s Word to Joel, with all of the related nuances and symbolism.
Not everyone gets to know the day or the hour of their death. Let us use the time we have to repent. Let us pray for God to forgive our sins. If we are to die let us die with our hearts clean.
Leonard Ukulikiyinkindi
(Immaculee’s father leading thousands of Tutsi in a prayer of repentance the day before he was killed)
Don’t be caught on the day of your death without repenting, ask God to forgive you and make you clean.
Ian
Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
Matthew 18:21-22 – (Footnotes: Three separate readings: 7 times; 7 x 7; 70 x 7) All meaning the same thing. Forgive to the perfection of the person sinning or your ability to forgive.
Don’t you know it is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance? Paul of Tarsus
Romans 2:4
Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.
Ian
Agree with most of this. Clearly Jesus coming in the clouds to redeem His Bride, now fully called and chosen. In that event sometimes referred to as The Rapture, is a reasonable interpretation of this first harvest.
The second harvest, being the Tares, will endure great persecution prior to the Final Tribulation that will come upon all the living inhabitants of the Earth.
Either these Tares refuse the mark and suffer death, or they accept the mark and go through the tribulation.