Revelation 14-b

Questions to ask in Revelation Fourteen: Part Two

The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion

Doom for Worshipers of the Beast

9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed fin full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 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.” 12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.  13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

The Reapers

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like la son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.  17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel 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. 20 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 two hundred miles.

  1. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about Jesus? – He is both redeemer and judge of this earth.
  2. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the church?  It doesn’t say much about the church, but we know that when Jesus returns, we will be with Him on those clouds.
  3. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the world? They will be judged although they live now as though there are no consequences.
  4. What does this portion of Scripture reveal about the Evil One?   He cannot hold back the end of his reign, and yet he will try.
  5. Can you see Christ’s Mercy towards humanity in the passage?  At this point, the offer of mercy is over.  It is wise to note that the mercy of Christ towards humanity has an expiration date.  Death is one of those dates, but so is this final judgment.
  6. Can you see Christ’s judgment of disobedience?  That is very vivid in this passage.

Thoughts:
• There is no doubt that this is a judgment.  I was looking to understand the difference of the harvests, and no one really focuses on that.  This is seen as a harvest that happens during the final vials of the tribulation (the wheat) and then the harvest at the end of the battle of Armageddon (the wine press).  But both are done in large groups.
• This is also a summary of what is about to be explained in greater detail in the chapters 15 – 19.  Prior to this, each judgement appears to take some time, but now the vials are poured out in rapid progression.
• Clouds are often associated with the Glory of God, note the presence of a cloud in verse 14.  (See also Ex 13, 19, Num 11, Luke 1, Acts 9)
• The first time Jesus came was in poverty. The second time He comes, it will be in power. The first time the Son of Man appeared, He came as a sower; when He returns, He will come as the reaper. (S. Davey)
• Just the other day on Facebook someone posted this little ditty about angels.  It was all biblical and that was good, but I added that angels are more than just comfort, that they are used in judgement.  They deleted the post, I guess they didn’t like that I would bring a bigger picture in on their comfortable thoughts.  But if you have read or are reading Revelation, they have that role too.

 

Outline:  The Outline is provided by the Text

  1. The Lamb and the 144,000 on Mount Zion
  2. Vision of the Angels and their Messages – notice the world will hear the gospel again.
    1. The First Angel – the Eternal Gospel
    2. The Second Angel – The Elements of judgment in the Gospel
    3. The Third Angel – the Element of hope in the Gospel.
  3. The Reapers – both are actions of judgment.
    1. The One Like a Son of Man –
      1. Sitting on a cloud
      2. Having a golden crown on His head – This crown is a stephanos, which was a crown given to conquerors; to those who were victorious. Later, in chapter 19, John will change the word from stephanos to diadema, or diadem, to refer to the crown of a monarch
        1. This is the last time any reference to Jesus Christ by this preferred title “Son of Man”
  • And a sharp sickle in His hand – This is a shocking scene – The details of this reaping will be unwrapped in the pouring of the bowls of God’s wrath which takes place in chapter 16.
  1. Another Angel with another sickle – this one has power over fire – this is a preview of the battle of Armageddon. Rev 19:11 Which by the way is not a real battle – we come back with Jesus but the battle truly belongs to the Lord since He speaks and the battle is over.  This battle, there is food left over for the birds, in fact God gathers them together for clean up.  I remember reading that the clean up of the bodies takes about 7 years.
    1. Notice who gets harvested? Those who are of the vine of the earth.  Who is Jesus?   He is the vine of heaven.   These are those who are attached to the wrong vine.
    2. Not sure if you recall the in chapter 8, where the angel “holding a golden censer” or bowl to burn incense – which was the prayers of the saints.
  • Illustration from S Davey message (When Mary, the daughter of King Henry the VIII, ruled England, she was nicknamed Bloody Mary. She terrorized Protestant Christians, murdering as many as she could. Her soldiers would spill the blood of a Christian who would not renounce their faith, then take the believer’s own Bible and dip it into the pool of blood, thus staining its pages with the actual blood of the martyred Christian. A few of these Bibles have been preserved and they are known as Martyrs’ Bibles.)
  1. The extent of the carnage – 200 hundred miles of a pool of blood. Lake Chelan is 50 miles long. Lake Washington 22 miles long.  Granted, those are both deeper than 5 or 6 ft. deep, but it gives you a little bit of an idea the amount of blood from the battle.
  2. A note from J MacArthur (the word “ripe.” It’s time to reap because the harvest of the earth is ripe. The word actually means to be overripe, to have passed the point of any usefulness, to become actually dry, withered, overripe, or rotten. In other words, the grain, the earth has passed the point of any use at all. No purpose for it at all, it’s overripe. It’s very late. That may be a hint that God has been merciful and He has been so merciful and so gracious that He has waited until the world is even past ripeness for judgment. What grace. The other implication is that the world is absolutely useless. It might as well be hacked down, bundled, and to borrow the imagery of our Lord, thrown into the fire. The gospel has been being preached, we remember that, don’t we, from the first part of chapter 14 by the four hundred and forty-four thousand and also by the two witnesses and by the everlasting angel in chapter 14 verses 6 and 7. But the rotten world is going to be dealt with now because of its over-ripeness.)