The Grapes of Wrath (Revelation 14:6–20) | Coronation (Part 28)

Transcript

JRNT 527
THE GRAPES OF WRATH
REVELATION 14:6-20
9/27/26
JESSE RANDOLPH


Well good evening and welcome back. Andrew said it well. This is for some the bad part of the book of Revelation but as we know as Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is ultimately no bad part of God’s Word of course. This is just recording a part of history that praised God by His grace because of Jesus, we won’t be here for this. And we give Him praise for that, knowing we’ll be out of the world by then, by the time of these events recorded here in our text for tonight. We can praise the Lord for that. It ought to also fuel in us a real evangelistic zeal for the lost among us that they would be spared of the terrors of what awaits this world, this unrepentant and sinful world.

Well, you Civil War buffs will know that the most widely sung of songs sung by the Union army back in the days of the civil war, was The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the lyrics were penned by a woman named Julia Ward Howe, she was an abolitionist and she wrote these lyrics in the early 1860s. It begins, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.” And then comes the chorus. “Glory, glory, hallelujah…”

It’s a memorable song. It’s a patriotic song. It’s an inspirational song. Now the lyrics of that song, they might inspire me to charge a few hills on behalf of my nation. Back in the Civil War day, these lyrics might have charged me up to load up my musket to shoot some Rebs. The lyrics, they actually motivated John Steinbeck to write his Depression-era novel, The Grapes of Wrath. But I’d actually caution against building one’s theology upon the lyrics of that song, because the text that it comes from, is the text that we’ll be in tonight, namely Revelation 14. That text we’ll be in tonight, it’s not a text about God trampling out grapes of wrath in the Civil War-era or even trampling out the grapes of wrath, His divine wrath even in our day. Rather, this text is all about the wrath that God will pour out on this wicked world in His unmitigated fury in a future period of judgment that we’ve been studying now for many many months, known as the Tribulation.

Last Sunday night we re-engaged with our study of the book of Revelation after taking that long break during the summer months. As we did so we spent some time reviewing where we’ve been in our study so far through the first 13 chapters of Revelation. We eventually turned to Revelation 14, at least the first five verses, of Revelation 14. What we saw in our time in Revelation 14:1-5 is that the apostle John as he continued to receive this vision from the risen, glorified Lord Jesus, the details that were being revealed to him from Jesus in this vision, they were being revealed to John in a non-sequential order. The text that we were in last week, Revelation 14:1, it actually looks ahead beyond the bowls of God’s wrath which will be poured out toward the end of the Tribulation. That verse, Revelation 14:1, it looks forward to the day where Christ will return victorious to set up His physical kingdom here on earth. There in verse 1, John says, “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

But then we saw last week in verses 2-5, the vision that John was receiving here, it actually boomerangs backward to an earlier part of the Tribulation where there was this voice from heaven and this singing of a new song by these faithful 144,000, the sealed Jews. Then in verse 4 we’re told that they follow the Lamb, the Jews do, the 144,000, wherever He goes. They have been purchased it says, from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. These individuals are truthful. Verse 5 says “No lie were found in their mouth. And they’re faithful. They are described in verse 5 as being blameless.”

Now looking ahead to Revelation 16 through 19, this Tribulation-era judgment as we’re going to see in the weeks ahead, it’s going to intensify. It’s going to get worse as these seven bowls of God’s wrath are going to be poured out as more of the wicked are slaughtered as Babylon falls as Christ returns and as the Beast and the False Prophet are ultimately seized.

But in our text for tonight, Revelation 14:6-20, we’re not going to be (given) a full picture of the coming judgments of the Great Tribulation. Rather in these 15 or so verses, we’re going to get more of a preview, a snapshot. I’ve seen certain scholars and theologians refer to our text for tonight, Revelation 14:6-20, as a Table of Contents for what we’re going to see in the remainder of the Tribulation and I think that’s accurate. I think that’s one reason we can cover so much ground tonight as we’re following with the rapid pace that John is laying out these previews of these details of the remaining days of the tribulation.

Before we dig into it, I want to give you a quote. This is from Donald Grey Barnhouse. Barnhouse was a Presbyterian. In fact, he pastored the storied Tenth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1927 through 1960. He hosted a radio program that was popular back then, called The Bible Study Hour. Barnhouse was one of these Presbyterians who was oddly, strongly premillennial. Meaning he didn’t allow his Presbyterianism to override the plain teachings of Scripture about what God has in store for the future. And I want to read something he wrote about the chapter we’ll be in tonight, Revelation 14.

Donald Grey Barnhouse writes, “The whole of the fourteenth chapter might be likened to a moment in the midst of bitter warfare. The troops reach a summit after heavy fighting. From that summit they survey the valley that now lies before them, before they dash down into the forests which cover the scene of the great battle which they are about to undertake. First of all, they see the towers of Mount Zion, their objective in the battle. The flag of victory waves there and they know that strong forces are about to proceed from its gates to attack the enemy which lies between them and it. The victory is assuredly theirs, but the steps by which they must proceed are clearly shown to them from the summit before they go down into the valley to fight through to the end of the warfare and the sure triumph. Soldiers might see before them a wood to be passed, a stream to cross, a village to be captured, an artillery post to be destroyed. So, in this fourteenth chapter of Revelation is Mount Zion across the valley and the conquering hosts on her battlements. Down in the valley what is called Babylon the Great, already tumbling, though the fall will not be complete until the eighteenth chapter. In the plain by the city, the host has bowed to the Antichrist, and the defeat of this host is announced. Some of the army of the righteous will fall; but their blessedness is foreseen; and finally, the hand-to-hand struggle of Armageddon at the very gates of Mount Zion is seen as a triumph for the forces of the Lord of Hosts, though the details will not be seen until the twentieth chapter.”

That’s an apt summary of the text that we’ll be looking at this evening. We’re looking out across the valley as Barnhouse says, where we will see Christ, the victorious reigning King, standing on Mount Zion on the other side. But in between are these series of events which the faithful at this time in history, those who live and those who die during the Great Tribulation and have faith in Christ that they’ll have to endure.

And with that, we pick it up here in Revelation 14:6. As we start here, we’re going to read into verse 7 where John is the one speaking here, the apostle John and he says “Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.’” John begins here by saying that he saw another angel. That reference to another angel distinguishes this angel from the seven angels who were introduced all the way back in Revelation 8:2, where John said, “I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” After that, in Revelation 8:3, John reported that “another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.” Then in Revelation 10:1-2, John said, “Then I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire; and he had in his hand a little scroll which was open.”

Now, as we continue on with our text for this evening, we’re going to encounter, as you’re going to see, a number of different angels beyond those. A number of different angels, six to be precise, are referenced in our text for tonight. In addition to the angel mentioned here in Revelation 14:6, there’s another angel, you can follow along with me in verse 8, there’s another angel in verse 9, there’s another angel in verse 15, there’s another angel in verse 17, and there’s another angel in verse 18. Then next week, when we get to Revelation 15:1, we’ll be introduced to seven angels who have seven plagues. Those seven angels will, in Revelation 16, end up being the ones pouring out the seven bowls of the wrath of God. Angels in other words, are going to play a prominent role in the second half of the Tribulation. Angels will be doing a lot more than floating on clouds and strumming harps and shooting arrows into the hearts of lovers on February 14. No, angels are going to play a direct role. They’re going to be used directly of God as His instruments in pouring out wrath on this sin-cursed and polluted planet during the future period known as the Great Tribulation.

Back to verse 6. We start with this angel, another angel as he’s described. And as John saw this angel, it says he was flying in midheaven. That language takes us back to Revelation 8:13 where in between the blasts of the fourth and the fifth trumpets, John said, “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!’” So there in Revelation 8:13, it’s an eagle flying in midheaven proclaiming those words of woe. Now here in Revelation 14:6 it’s an angel flying in midheaven and note what he’s doing. Look at the rest of verse 6. He has quote, “an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” This angel is portrayed, not only as flying in midheaven, but he’s an angel who speaks, he is an angel who proclaims, and specifically it says here, he’s an angel who proclaims, an Eternal Gospel.

Now, that leads to the next question. Well, what is this, Eternal Gospel? Of course, for us living in the Church Age today, the Gospel is all about God’s redeeming grace purposed to and shown through Jesus Christ. The Gospel is that message which involves believing upon what Jesus did for us, dying for our sins, rising victorious three days later. That’s the good news of which the Apostle Paul spoke in I Corinthians 15:1. That matter of first importance, he calls it, in I Corinthians 15:3-4, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. That He was buried, and He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” That’s the Gospel by which we were saved. That’s the Gospel we are called in our day to proclaim as witnesses, as ambassadors of Christ.

Now, that’s the good news of I Corinthians 15:1-4. Now is that good news of I Corinthians 15, the same Eternal Gospel mentioned here in Revelation 14:6? Is that the same exact message this angel is proclaiming as he’s flying midheaven in this scene. I think the answer is no. The contents of this Eternal Gospel that this angel will proclaim in this future day of Tribulation as it’s mentioned here in verse 6, “to those who inhabit the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people,” the content of that Gospel message, that good news message is given in the very next verse, in verse 7, where it says, “And he said (meaning, the angel said) with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.’” That’s the Eternal Gospel. That’s the Eternal Gospel which will be proclaimed by this angel at this point of the Tribulation, Fear God, give Him glory, worship Him. That’s the Eternal Gospel. The basic message here is that time is up. The sands in the hourglass have completely run out. So, fear your Creator, honor your Creator, worship your Creator, because it says, the hour of His judgment has come.

Remember who the people who are living at this time in the Tribulation, who they’ll be told to worship. They’ll be told that they need to worship the Beast. This will be the system of false worship during this time. They’ll be told that they ought to worship the Antichrist. Well, this angel described in verse 6, he’ll be preaching an entirely different message. He’ll be preaching this Eternal Gospel whereby he summons the world’s wicked inhabitants to fear, to honor, and to worship their Creator. Last chance. The party is over. Judgment is coming. It’s time to switch your allegiance to the God of heaven away from the God of this world and to surrender to the God of heaven before it’s too late.

As we read on, we see in verse 8, that John was introduced in this vision to another angel, the second angel. “And another angel, (he says) a second one, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, Fallen is Babylon the Great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.’” That second angel, another angel, a second one as John says. He’s depicted as flying across midheaven also since he’s following, he’s following behind the first angel. Now this second angel doesn’t merely follow behind the first angel, but he had something to say. “Saying,” and then there’s this reference to Babylon the Great. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. Now if you’ve noticed up to this point in Revelation, there has been no mention of Babylon and no mention of Babylon the Great. So seemingly out of the blue then right here in Revelation 14:8, John through Jesus, receives this vision of this second angel who declares that Babylon the Great has fallen.

Now is this reference to Babylon the Great actually truly out of the blue? No. Not really. Remember that the text that we’re looking at tonight is like a Table of Contents for the remaining chapters of the book of Revelation that deal with the second part of the Tribulation. Or remember that Barnhouse quote that I read to you at length, from John’s vantage point it says though we’re looking down and over this valley, where a number of future episodes are being recorded and described as though they’ve taken place, but they haven’t. They still needed to take place before we get to the place where Christ is standing on Mt. Zion. So, for now we’re just getting this glimpse of this episode. We are getting this glimpse from afar. It’s down in the valley so to speak. That is what’s happening here in verse 8 with this reference to Babylon the Great. Now the details concerning what Babylon is and what will be involved with Babylon’s fall, those details are all given in Revelation 17 and 18 and we’ll get there soon. But for now, what I’ll share with you is that what Babylon appears to be referring to is both a false religious system and a false political system, which will rise up during the Tribulation, and it will be centered around the false worship of the Beast. The false religious system is mentioned in Revelation 17, and the false political system is mentioned in Revelation 18.

What is being previewed here in Revelation 14:8, is that both will be dealt with in due time. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. The second angel in this vision that John received, he cried out these words to let those know who were living at this time, that mighty Babylon and all that she represents is doomed. Now note end of verse 8, the second angel says that the fall of Babylon will be due to the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, which spread to all the nations. That language connects back, I’ll have a few Old Testament references for your tonight, to Jeremiah 51:7 where that prophet said that “Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of Yahweh, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore, the nations are going mad.” Now during the Great Tribulation before Christ returns. that cup will be poured out as God pours out His judgment on Babylon and on the earth. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great.

Now as we turn here to Revelation 14:9, we see a third angel appearing on the scene. Look what it says there, verse 9. “Then another angel, a third one, followed them.” Meaning, this third angel is depicted as following the first two as the first two fly across midheaven. Similar to the first two angels this third angel comes pronouncing a message of doom. A message which is aimed at those who worship the Beast. This third angel says with a loud voice, verse 9. “‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand.” Meaning if anyone gives in, or gives ear, or gives pledge to the evil rulers of the world at this point in the Tribulation. If they take the mark of the beast. If they worship the beast. If they engage in false worship of the Antichrist. Rather than giving glory to the true God and to His Christ. Now here comes the verdict in verse 10, “He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage, and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

If anyone at this point in the Tribulation, verse 9, “Worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand.” And then the words of judgment come out in verse 10, he will verse 10, “Drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage.” See the wicked and the rebellious of this age, they will have to this point, been drinking of the wine of spiritual immorality as it’s served up by the Beast. But now they’ll be as they’re punished and as they’re judged, they’ll be drinking of the wine of God’s wrath.” In previous ages the wine of God’s wrath has always been tempered. It’s always been mixed. It’s been mixed in with other of His attributes. For instance, His grace and His mercy. Like in Psalm 75:7-8. Listen to how Asaph puts this. “God is the Judge; He puts down one and raises up another. For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh, and the wine foams; it is full of His mixture, and He pours from this; surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.” Note that line I emphasized. That the cup of God’s wrath written by Asaph back in Psalm 75, hundreds of years ago from where we sit today, it is full of His mixture it says. In an earlier time when God would pour out His judgment, when he would pour out His wrath, it would be mixed with His mercy. It would mixed with His grace. It would be mixed with each of His other attributes. It is full of His mixture as it says in Psalm 75:7.

But now, in our text, at this point in the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, that will no longer be the case. Rather, God’s wrath which up until this point, will have been tempered in various ways, self-tempered by God for various centuries, it’s now going to be poured out in undiluted form on the unrepentant and wicked on this planet. That’s exactly what’s being said here in verse 10, that those who worship the beast and those who worship his image, those who receive a mark on their forehead, those who receive a mark on their hand indicating that they worship the Beast, “will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His rage.” Terrifying results, terrifying words, terrifying outcomes.

As if that depiction of God’s intense, pure and unmixed wrath, His deserved wrath isn’t horrifying enough; next the angel says this, still in verse 10. Again, this is still referring to those who receive the mark of the beast, that they worship the Beast and receive his mark. It says, “He will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” And that’s saying a few things. First of all, the torment for beast worshipers will be individual. He will be tormented. Each one of them will be tormented. It will be unspeakably painful as they receive this torment. This is referring to the very elements which were rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah when they paid the price for their sin, fire and brimstone. It is also going to be a spectacle as all of this is going to take place in the presence of God’s holy angels. God’s holy angels are going to witness God’s vengeance being poured out on the wicked. And it won’t just be the holy angels who witness the torment of the unrepentant Beast worshipers of this age. No. End of verse 10 says this will take place “in the presence of the Lamb.” The same Lamb that these individuals have been mocking by worshiping His counterpart, the Beast, the Antichrist. The same Lamb whom they have openly defied. The same lamb whose blood they’ve been trampling upon this entire time. That Lamb Jesus in His glory, will witness their torment as they get a foretaste of the suffering that they’re eventually going to experience in the pangs of hell and eventually, in the lake of fire.

Now speaking of eternal judgment, look at verse 11 where this third angel, still the third angel, reports to John that the worshipers of the Beast are going to be tormented forever. Revelation 14:11, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” I don’t plan to give an extensive defense tonight of the Biblical doctrine of eternal punishment. But I will say that this passage is not the only one but it’s an especially strong one in favor of that position. That position that God will punish eternally all of the unregenerate, all of the (un)redeemed, not just those who die in that condition during the Tribulation. Note the expression that’s used here, verse 11, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.” I mean, that in and of itself is a clincher. If there were no other passage in Scripture describing eternal hell, that would be enough. That’s how clear it is. Because there’s no stronger way in the Greek language to express the idea of eternity than how it’s phrased right here in verse 11, forever and ever. And as if that weren’t enough, there’s the next clause where these same Beast worshipers, the one whose smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, look what comes next. “They have no rest day and night.” That’s driving the point home even further that this is continual, ongoing, eternal suffering. This torment won’t be momentary. This torment rather is going to continue on forever. It’s going to be everlasting.

I always find it interesting that those who deny this doctrine, the doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment, eternal punishment, they tend not to have any problem with other places in Scripture, and specifically other places in the book of Revelation, where that same formulation, that same expression is used, namely forever and ever. Revelation 4:9. This is this scene where the four “living creatures are giving glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever.” Revelation 5:13, speaking of the Lamb, it says, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.” Revelation 22:5, no one takes exception to this. “There will no longer be any night, (speaking of the eternal state) and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.” I mean that’s all fine. We like that. We’re happy to recognize that God is the one who lives and reigns forever and ever and we’re happy to acknowledge that Christ is the Lamb who reigns forever and ever and that we when we enter into the eternal state, we will reign with Him forever and ever. We like that part. That’s the good stuff.

But then when it comes to our passage in verse 11 where it says, “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever,” well that makes me uncomfortable. I don’t like that part. I don’t like how that doesn’t quite square up with my conceptions of justice. I don’t like how I’m going to have to explain that passage to my unsaved coworker or my weaker minded Christian coworker. Well, your conceptions of justice and my conceptions of justice frankly are irrelevant. What’s relevant and what’s important is what God’s Word declares about His character, about His attributes and what His justice demands. What His justice demands toward wretched sinners like you and me in the church age and what His justice demands toward the wretched sinners who will still live in the Tribulation. The doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment, eternal hell isn’t something that’s man made. No. It’s something that God has declared. It’s something that His justice requires. The philosophers and the academic elites and the liberal theologians of our day, they may not like it; but what they can’t overcome is that the Bible expressly teaches it. And that’s where we say, that’s where we land. Verse 11, “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Forever and ever means forever and ever.

Now as we move to verses 12 and 13, we have kind of a transition in this prophecy and this vision that John received. We actually have some words of encouragement that John is speaking now between these different angelic announcements. Look at Revelation 14:12. He says, “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” So, the stern warnings that we’ve worked through up to this point, to all those who during the Tribulation are worshiping the Beast; they’re counter-balanced now by this encouragement which is given to those who have put their trust in Christ and who are maintaining and persevering in their faith in Christ during the time of the Great Tribulation. Though the Beast is going to intensify in his efforts to bring the world under control at this point in the Tribulation, there will still be some who aren’t going to give in. They’re not going to yield. Instead, as it says here in verse 12, they keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. The Beast, the Antichrist, he’s going to try to persecute them but they’re not going to buckle. They’re not going to bend. They’re going to persevere. They’re going to demonstrate a long-suffering faith, an obedient faith. The result is what we see laid out in Matthew 13:43, where the words of Jesus there are, that “The righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” That’s what’s going on here in verse 12 as these saints persevere.

Now those words of encouragement continue on into verse 13, where John now hears a voice from heaven. He said, “And I heard a voice from heaven. And the voice gives him a command saying, “Write.” There are twelve places in the book of Revelation where John is commanded to write. Seven of those are the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 and then we also have this one. Then comes this blessing. Verse 13, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” There are a number of different words of blessing or beatitudes in the book of Revelation. Revelation 1:3, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it.” Revelation 16:15, “Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, so that he will not walk about naked, and men will not see his shame.” Revelation 19:19, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection.” Revelation 22:7, “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the authority to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.” And then this one, Revelation 14:13, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”

Note that. From now on. Or as older translations have it, henceforth. Those who die in the Lord at this particular point in time. Those who die in the Lord during this dark period of persecution and opposition during the Great Tribulation, when there’s this great pressure worldwide to worship the Beast and increasing opposition to those who like these faithful ones who refuse to worship the Beast, will be specially blessed. Then end of verse 13, John now heard the Spirit of God affirming this message of that voice from heaven. “‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.” There will be no more striving or toil. There will be no more persecution or torture or trials. Rather for these faithful ones, there will be rest. And further, their deeds it says will follow them. Just as there will be rewards for deeds done in the body during the church age, II Corinthians 5:10, we’ll all “be recompensed for our deeds in the body, according to what we have done.” There will also be rewards for these Tribulation-era saints who persevered. Who persevered both in their living for Christ and also in their dying for Him. Their deeds it says follow with them.

Well now as we move from verse 13 to verse 14, there’s this transition in John’s vision. Now he’s still looking out over that valley of future events culminating in Christ standing victorious on Mt. Zion. As He’s looking out even further into that valley, to some of those last instances of judgment which are happening, He’s going to see some really interesting colorful devastating pictures laid out. Now to set the context, John as he receives this vision that’s recorded in the remaining verses here, verses 14-20, this vision is still looking forward. It’s looking forward to a time when, near the end of the Great Tribulation, the people of earth will have made their decision not to follow Christ. They’ll have decided instead to follow and worship the Antichrist. They’ll have received the mark of the Beast, and they’ll have done so to continue living in this period of the Tribulation. They will have refused Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in order to survive the remaining days on earth during the Tribulation. And in doing so the cup of their wickedness will be full and the winepress of God’s wrath as we’ll see, will also be full. And so, this will now be the time for God to pour out His wrath on unrepentant and wicked mankind who having been given time and time again, chances to turn from the Antichrist and turn to Christ will continue to reject Him.

This is in perfect accord by the way, here’s another Old Testament reference, with Isaiah 63:3-4 which is a another prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ which says this. “I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My clothes. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, and My year of redemption has come.” Well, we’re going to see in these remaining verses here 14-20 is in fulfillment of that and other Old Testament prophecies.

Setting the scene again here; we’ve encountered three angels so far in the passages we’ve studied. Each of whom, as John received these visions, was warning the earth of its imminent judgment. In the remaining verses we’re going to encounter three more angels who are actually going to lay out how God is going to implement His judgment. How His divine wrath will be poured out. How His righteous fury is going to be kneaded out in this part of the Tribulation.

Take a look at verse 14, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” John now sees something new in this incredible scene. First, he sees a white cloud. Right away, this brings thoughts to mind of Daniel 7 where in Daniel 7:13, it says, “I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came to the Ancient of Days and came near before Him.” It also brings to mind Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:30 where He said that when He comes again, it says the nations “will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” There’s also Matthew 26:64, where Jesus says, “you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Well, now here He is. Now here is Jesus in this vision that John receives. The Son of Man on this white cloud. This scene is depicting His return, “sitting on the cloud (it says) was one like a son of man.” Again, that harkens back to Daniel 7:13. The next verse in Daniel 7:14, says, “And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not be taken away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

Well here in our passage, Revelation 14:14 this one like the son of man is about to set up His everlasting kingdom on earth. His kingship is highlighted by this next description of Him where it says, He has “a golden crown on His head.” He’s been given authority to execute judgment, John 5:27, “because He is the Son of Man.” And now He’s here being depicted as coming to reign. Psalm 2:8 says the nations are His inheritance; the ends of the earth are His possession. He has universal dominion. And now here He is coming and He’s crowned, and He’s coming not with His gentle and easy yoke that he had during His first coming, but now He’s coming, Psalm 2:9, with a rod of iron. And He’s depicted not only as having a rod of iron but look at the end of verse 14. He has it says, “a sharp sickle in His hand.” What all of this is pointing to is that day when Christ returns and He judges and He reaps and He separates the wheat from the tares at the end of the age. It is all in fulfillment of another Old Testament prophecy.

I’m going to have you turn to this one, Joel 3. Old Testament prophet and look at Joel 3:9-12, “Call out this message among the nations: set yourselves apart for a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the men of war approach, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, ‘I am a mighty man.’ Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. There, bring down, O Yahweh, Your mighty ones. Let the nations be roused up and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.” Verses 13-16 “Send in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their evil is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near in the valley of decision. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness. And Yahweh roars from Zion and gives forth His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth quake.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Turn back with me over to Revelation 14:14 where Christ, the returning King, and Christ the conquering Lamb is depicted not only as having a golden crown on His head, but a sharp sickle in His hand. At this point He’s returning not to rescue. Rather He’s returning to reap. He’s returning to judge and He’s returning to sift, and He’s returning to conquer.

Verse 15, moving on. We now have this mention of a fourth angel. It says, “And another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sits on the cloud, ‘Put in Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’” This fourth angel is depicted as coming out of the sanctuary which I take in this context to mean the heavenly throne room of God. Meaning, this angel has been in God’s divine presence in His eternal dwelling place, beholding His glory and His righteousness. Now coming from that setting, this angel pleads with Christ. He’s depicted here as crying out with a loud voice to Him who sits on the cloud. He’s pleading with Christ, knowing from John 5:22, that the Father has given all judgment to the Son. This angel is pleading with Christ because he is appalled with the wickedness of men in this Tribulation era and he’s begging to see the wickedness finally be put down, and to see divine justice prevail. And then come these words, Verse 15, “‘Put in Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’” Now that’s not a command. Angels can’t command the One who actually created them. This is a plea. The angel is pleading with Christ to take action. The angel is pleading with Christ because he knows having been in God’s presence, that it’s the perfect timing of God’s sovereign plan for judgment to come in this moment. “The hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

Now that word ripe here in verse 15, it’s interesting. It means dry or withered. The picture is that of a fruit or vegetable on a vine still that’s become so ripe, overripe that it’s actually dried up. It’s actually withered. It’s like the plum that’s turned into a prune. That’s the picture here. The angel is pleading with Christ to thrust in His sharp sickle and to harvest the earth, because the world and its inhabitants are in this rotten moral condition. They need to be uprooted. They need to be cut down. And so, the angel is communicating to Christ, the Reaper. He’s saying don’t leave this rotten fruit around here any longer. Take it out. Remove it. Put in your sickle.

Well in response, Christ does as the angel requests. Look at verse 16. “Then He who sits on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Now though John, in his vision only saw Christ the One who sits on the clouds swinging that sickle, we know from Matthew 13:40-42 that Christ is going to use certain angelic assistants to bring in this harvest of judgment. Here’s Matthew 13:40-42, “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” He’s going to send forth angels it says. So, Christ will use the instrumentality of angels but He Himself will be the reaper. Again, here in Revelation 14, we just have John looking across this long valley to this coming future day described actually in Revelation 19 and 20 where Christ, through His angels, will do the reaping.

Now, as we move into verse 17, we learn from another angel who John encountered in this vision. This would be the fifth angel. But here we have another description of future reaping, harvesting, and judgment. Now, I would be with Mark Hitchcock here in saying that this next scene is really just an escalated or intensified description of the same judgment that’s going to come at the end of the Tribulation. That has already started to be described in the verses that we’ve covered. We have these two harvests being described here. One of grain in verses 14-16 and one of grapes in verses 17-20. But what they’re really doing combined is picturing all of the judgment that’s going to come at the end of the Tribulation from these two different angles. I think the one mentioned in verses 14-16 describes how sudden and how instantaneous the judgment will be. And I think that verses 17-20 show how severe the judgment will be.

Look at verse 17, “And another angel came out of the sanctuary which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.” So, the Lord has already put in His sharp sickle and now we’re told, and we just saw this from the quote I read for you from Matthew 13, that the angel “came out of the sanctuary which is in heaven,” God’s throne room. And the angel, the fifth angel also had a sharp sickle. And this fifth angel is then implored by a sixth angel to do something. Look at verse 18. “Then another angel.” That’s angel number six. “Then another angel, the one who has authority over fire.” Now that statement that this angel has authority over fire is a precursor to the judgment that’s to follow. This angel, the angel who has authority over fire, it says he came out from the altar. The heavenly altar in the throne room of God. “And he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle.” Meaning, angel number six is calling out to angel number five Saying, ‘Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.’”

Back in verse 15, that word that’s been translated for us in English ripe, I told you it meant dried up or withered. Here in verse 18 though it’s the same English word ripe, it’s actually an entirely different word in Greek and it’s a word that means fully grown or in prime condition. Bursting would be the idea. The depiction of these clusters from the vine in verse 18, these grapes of wrath is that they are full of juice. They’re ready for harvest. They’ve ripened fully and they’ve ripened fully so that they can be placed into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Again, this entire scene is in fulfillment of various different Old Testament prophecies. In this case, this passage, is in fulfillment I believe of what’s said in Jeremiah 25:30-31 where it says, “Yahweh will roar from on high and give forth His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His pasture. He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A rumbling has come to the end of the earth because Yahweh has a contention against the nations. He is entering into judgment with all flesh.”

Jesus we know, came as the True Vine, John 15:1, but He was rejected. During the Tribulation, He will continue to be rejected by those who make up as it’s called here the vine of the earth, the unbelievers, those who reject Him. Well, their rejection of Him, the vine of the earth’s rejection of the True Vine, it’s going to have a brutal and a violent end. Because the blood of the Lamb was once shed by His enemies. But now His enemies will have their own blood shed, as it’s wrung out to the last drop. The grapes of wrath, they have been fully ripened on the vine and now they’re going to be thrust into the great wine press of the wrath of God. Look at verse 19, “So, the angel (angel number six) swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.” As that sixth angel swung his sickle and gathered these clusters of grapes, these grapes of wrath from the vine of earth, what we’re given here is this depiction of God’s gathering His enemies in a single place to bring them together to crush them.

In a number of different descriptions, God’s enemies are depicted as in the end, being gathered ultimately for the purpose of judgment. Joel 3:2, “I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Zechariah 14:2, “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.” Revelation 16:16, “And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” Revelation 19:19, “Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies assembled to make war with Him who sits on the horse and with His army.” Well here in Revelation 14:19, a similar gathering of the peoples is described, as “The angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, (he gathered them) and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.”

Though by this point they have been given countless opportunities to attach themselves to the True Vine, to Christ Himself. They rejected Him. They refused Him. And now these overripe grapes, these grapes of wrath, these clusters from the vine of the earth, they’ll be thrust into the great winepress of the wrath of God. One which Christ Himself by the way, will tread out.

Go with me to the book of Revelation 19:15. Again we’re in the table of contents here in Revelation 14. It’s forecasting what’s going to come later in Revelation 19:15 where it says this. “And from His mouth (this is Christ at His return) comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron, (and then note this) and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty.” Christ will return. Christ will judge. Christ will tread. Christ will crush. This is the day which was prophesied of Him back in Isaiah 63:3 where it says, “I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath.” Well, the fearful nature of what this will entail and the scope of the carnage, it comes to a head in verse 20, where it says, “And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia.”

Now first, note that the treading of the grapes of God’s wrath takes place outside the city. Meaning, outside the city of Jerusalem so as not to pollute and defile the Holy City with the blood that will be shed there. More likely this will take place in the valley of Jehoshaphat surrounding Jerusalem as prophesied in Joel 3. Note, what’s being tread out here are not actual grapes. This isn’t green grape harvest time or red grape harvest time. What’s being tread out here are unrepentant sinners, men, women, all the unrepentant. We know that because this wine press was trodden it says. And as that was happening, blood came out from the wine press. Not grape juice, not wine, blood.

The level of carnage is going to be unimaginably massive in its scale. Look at the last few words of verse 20, “Blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia.” This is looking ahead to that scene of that final battle in Revelation 19:21 where it says that “the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sits on the horse.” Meaning, the sword of Christ. The sword He wields at His returnAnd the number of lives at this phase that will be taken will be so great that the amount of blood will be so pronounced, the slaughter will be so massive, that there’s going to be this stream of blood which proceeds for 1,600 stadia. That’s about 180 miles is the conversion there.

And then the blood that flows from that scene, it’s not going to be some sort of little trickle for 180 miles. No. It says the blood will be up to the horses’ bridles. The sea of humanity which has been rejecting Christ all this time and worshiping this false Christ, the Antichrist, their bodies as the blood leaves them, is going to produce this sea of blood that’s going to extend that far. It’s a massive slaughter. It’s a tremendous loss of human life. As you can imagine, there have been those who have had a really hard time accepting this language, verse 20, as being something that ought to be taken literally. They can’t conceive of such a gory scene. They can’t conceive of such widespread carnage. So, they say that this language must be figurative or it must be symbolic. It must be representative of just the overall widespread death that will occur at this point in the Tribulation. I’ve even seen people that have tried to say that maybe it’s not like the bridles of full-size horses but more like Shetland ponies. I mean people will do anything to get around the plain language of God’s Word. I take it to be literal.

I agree with William Newell, who writes this of this text. He writes, “Ah, such a fearful sight! Rivers of human blood unto the bridles of the horses! Yet it will be. If Josephus could say that when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, the Roman soldiers obstructed the very lanes with dead bodies; and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fires of many of the houses were quenched with these men’s blood. What folly to doubt this Word of God that a river of Blood will run when the Son of God tramples the nations of all the earth in the Almighty’s anger!”

I wasn’t sure that we could do it, but we’ve done it. We finished Revelation 14 tonight. Next Sunday night we’ll work through Revelation 15 Lord willing, where John has this vision of these seven angels who are described as preparing to pour out seven bowls of God’s wrath. That’ll be next time. Let’s pray.