The Final Reaping of the Earth

Revelation 14, verses 14 through 20. We're talking about the final reaping of the earth.

Revelation 14:14–20

And so we're going to look at these verses together. It says,

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.

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.

Then he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth,

and the earth was reaped.

And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven,

and he also had a sharp sickle.

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.

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.

And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came from the winepress

up to the horse's bridles for a distance of 200 miles.

And that's Revelation 14, verses 14 through 20.

Revelation 14:14–20

Jesus's first coming was one of humiliation, was it not really?

A time when he, although he existed, it says in scripture, in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, it says, but he emptied himself.

Jesus emptied himself when he came the first time right taking

the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men being found

in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point

of death it says in scripture even death on a cross and that's in philippians

2 that's a familiar passage i know to you as well.

The point is tonight, as we open up this section in Revelation,

is Jesus came the first time as a servant, okay?

He will return as the sovereign king, okay? We got to remember that.

He came the first time as a servant. He will return as the sovereign king.

In his first coming, he came in humility.

In his second coming, he'll come in majesty and splendor.

And the first time he came to earth, it talks about in Scripture,

the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost, right?

Luke 19, 10. When he returns in 2 Timothy 4, 1, it says it will be to judge the living and the dead.

Jesus came the first time as the sower. He'll come again, as we see tonight, as the reaper.

God's final judgment on the earth It really is the theme of this passage tonight.

That's the whole theme of it.

In fact, verses 12 and 13, they actually, we talked about this the last time

we were in Revelation, they form a brief respite, right?

It's just a brief silence, a little brief relaxation there, if you will.

It's actually presenting the encouraging, comforting truth here of the perseverance

of the saints that we looked at a little bit ago.

And then after that brief rest.

To encourage the faithful. The theme here that we pick up with tonight again

in verse 14 through 20 is the theme of divine wrath.

It resumes here. In fact, the final judgment introduced in these verses tonight,

they're going to take place at the worst time in human history.

We've talked about this a few times, but Jesus called this the great tribulation, right?

The great tribulation in Matthew 24.

So after years, think about this, where we're at tonight in the book of Revelation.

After years of enduring Antichrist oppressive rule, we've had demonic assaults,

the terrifying, devastating, staccato judgments, if you will, of God.

People will wearily hope that things are about to get better.

It'll seem as if life couldn't possibly get any worse.

But guess what? According to scripture, it will.

Cataclysmic, day of the Lord, all caps there, judgment, is about to fall on

Satan, his demon hordes here, and to Christ, and get this, all the wicked,

unrepentant people of the world.

Y'all know God has given them time and time again to repent,

to repent. His grace has been there.

Now that's up, okay? It's up. And his judgment is going to fall here.

And in fact, he's here, that judgment here is depicted in this passage that

we just read as the final, what?

The final reaping of the earth.

And in an unprecedented Holocaust, if you will, the full fury of the Lord's

Jesus Christ wrath is going to be released in devastating judgment.

And so the theme of coming judgment is certainly not unique, is it, in Revelation?

I mean, even before, if you remember, before the Messiah preached the good news

of the gospel, you remember old John the Baptist?

His forerunner? He proclaimed the bad news of judgment.

In fact, in Matthew chapter 3, verse 7, John the Baptist said,

Matthew 3:7

you brood of vipers or snakes, right?

I mean, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? He's talking about it right there, y'all.

Who warned you to flee from the, who warned you to flee, I'll get it out in

a minute, from the wrath to come?

And during his earthly ministry, Jesus repeatedly warned about the coming day of judgment.

All throughout Matthew and John.

Paul actually wrote, for the wrath of God, y'all remember this passage,

is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who

suppress the truth and unrighteousness.

You probably know just by hearing that much, that's from Romans 1, right?

But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath

for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of

God, who will render to each person according to his deeds or works.

That's Romans 1.18, Romans 2.5 and 6.

In fact, in 2 Thessalonians 1.6-9, the apostle Paul added this.

He said, for after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those

who afflict you and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well

as the Lord Jesus will be revealed from when, excuse me,

to us as well as when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty

angels and flaming fire, he says.

Dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not

obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

These will pay, it says in that passage, the penalty of eternal destruction

away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.

The writer of Hebrews, y'all remember we studied the book of Hebrews?

The writer of Hebrews actually warned, for if we go on sinning willfully after

receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for

sins, but a terrifying expectation of what?

Judgment. And the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

That's Hebrews 10, 26 and 27.

Peter also wrote of the coming judgment, warning that the Lord knows how to

rescue the godly from temptation. Aren't you thankful he does?

And to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.

By his word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire,

it says in 2 Peter, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

That's 2 Peter 2, 9 and 2 Peter 3, 7.

The Old Testament, too, y'all, speaks of God's eschatological judgment.

That's the end times, right, on the world.

In fact, in Isaiah, it's written this. Listen up quickly tonight.

He says, Thus I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity.

I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness

of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir.

Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble and the earth will be shaken from

its place as at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of his burning anger.

That's Isaiah 13, 11 through 13.

Wow. The coming judgment, y'all, is also referred to in Isaiah chapter 24,

Isaiah 24:21–23

verses 21 through 23. Listen to it.

It says, so it will happen in that day that the Lord will punish the host of

heaven on high and the kings of the earth on earth.

They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon and will be confined

in prison. And after many days, they will be punished.

Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed.

For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.

And his glory will be before his elders. So two Old Testament passages actually

present really striking parallels with Revelation 14 that we read tonight.

Isaiah 63, verses 1 through 6, it records a fascinating account here that the

Isaiah 63:1–6

Messiah, as he comes to execute the bloody final judgment on the unbelieving world, listen to this.

He says this, he says, Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah?

This one who is majestic in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength,

it is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Why is your apparel red, and your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?

Familiar theme right there. I have trodden the wine...

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 raiment.

For the day of judgment, the day of vengeance was in my heart,

and my year of redemption has come.

I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished,

and there was no one to uphold. so my own arm brought salvation to me, and my wrath upheld me.

I trod down the peoples in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath,

and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

Eerily similar there to Revelation 14.

In fact, this passage, like Revelation, it uses the metaphor of what? Trampling what?

Grapes, right? In a wine press to depict the devastation of God's final judgment.

The prophet Joel actually recorded the devastation caused in Israel by drought,

fire, and a massive invasion of locusts in Joel chapter 1 through chapter 2 verse 11.

Joel 1 · chapter mention

The prophet there used those temporal judgments to warn of the even more devastating

judgment of the day of the Lord.

In fact, in Joel 3 verses 12 and 13, that

Joel 3:12

final judgment is described y'all as the same imagery

found in revelation 14 tonight listen quickly

let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of jehoshaphat for there

i will set to judge all the surrounding nations 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.

So Joel, like Isaiah, depicted God's future judgment of the wicked in the imagery

of the winepress and of a harvest as well.

The Lord Jesus Christ, and I just would also use the harvest analogy for judgment.

In fact, if you remember in the parable of the tares, he said this.

He said, allow both to grow together until the harvest, the wheat and the tares, right?

And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather up the tares

and bind them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn,

right? In Matthew 13, 30.

So asked by his disciples, by the way, you know, to explain that parable, Jesus said this.

He said, the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of

the age, and the reapers are angels, which is what we see tonight, right?

In Revelation 14, 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. Yep, we saw that tonight in Revelation 14.

And they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit

lawlessness and will throw them into the furnace of fire.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 13, 39-42.

So Joel, Isaiah, and the Lord Jesus himself all spoke of a coming harvest of

divine wrath when the Messiah will execute final judgment.

And that final outpouring of the judgmental fury of the Lamb is the theme of

this passage tonight in Revelation.

You see, this passage tonight pictures the two final harvest of divine wrath,

pictures that final harvest of divine wrath in two, you probably already saw

it, two agricultural motives, if you will.

The grain harvest that we see in Revelation 14, and then what?

The grape harvest. The grain and then the grape.

So the grain is in verse 14 through 16. The grape harvest is verse 17 through 20 we read tonight.

And so it's raising the question here, why did John record two visions of the same event?

I mean, there are many depictions of this event by the prophets,

including those we already read tonight.

So it's not unusual, though, for John to record two visions of it. It's really not.

But there's also, I think, a specific situation at this point in the book of

Revelation that actually suggests a purpose behind this repetition.

As the tribulation think about this as

it nears its climax two main

aspects of god's eschatological wrath

remain to be actually poured out on the sinful world the first aspect and we'll

see this in a couple weeks in in revelation 16 the first one involves the seven

bowl judgments a rapid fire sequence of frightening and deadly worldwide judgments

that's going to destroy the final Babylon,

the Antichrist empire.

But the second aspect, and you probably saw it in this passage tonight,

you said, oh, yep, that's the battle of Armageddon.

At which point, Jesus Christ returns to judge and destroy his enemies.

And we'll see that even in more depth in Revelation 19.

By the way, Brother David, battle don't last long.

I mean, kapoom, all right? It's over with.

And so we'll break these two harvests up. One is the grain harvest.

The other one will be the grape harvest.

So are y'all okay with me kind of going a little bit in depth with just the

grain harvest tonight? We'll stop there, okay?

Let's go back to the passage again. He says, 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.

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.

Then he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth,

and the earth was reaped. That's verse 14 through 16.

So this first one we're talking about tonight is the grain harvest.

It symbolizes those seven bowl judgments.

The grape harvest, the final judgment of Armageddon. We'll talk about that more next week.

But both harvests, get this tonight, involve what? a sickle and a reaping, right?

A sickle and a reaping. And both can be described by the same three points,

the reaper, the ripeness, and the reaping.

The reaper, the ripeness, and the reaping. So let's break those down tonight

on this first one. Let's first of all, look at the reaper.

Look back at verse 14 one more time.

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.

That familiar phrase probably jumps out at you from john right i looked and

behold it often introduces a

new and important subject in revelation we've seen that many times already,

what caught john's attention though here tonight was a was what what what did

he what it caught his attention when you look back at that verse what do you

think he what did he behold jesus,

yeah and what was what was the

what else yeah and there was a cloud wasn't there a white cloud, right?

An image drawn from Daniel chapter 7, actually.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

In fact, listen to this from Daniel 7, 13 and 14, just a couple of verses.

Listen to what it says in Daniel.

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 up to the ancient of days and was

presented before him and to him was given dominion,

glory and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion. I can't help but think of that song,

Sharon, by skillet, dominion.

But anyway, it will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

So John saw here, sitting on the cloud, one like a son of man.

Sharon said it earlier, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Coming, what? To establish his kingdom in fulfillment of whose prophecy that

we just read? Daniel, right?

Daniel's prophecy here. And that brilliant white cloud symbolizes just simply

all the glory and majesty.

His glory and majesty. He's ready to take the dominion of which Daniel prophesied he would take.

The reaper is sitting, by the way, as he waits for the proper time to actually

stand and begin reaping.

And so that reaping, which I said is the seven bold judgments,

is going to be followed by Christ's return to establish his kingdom.

And that depiction of Christ as one like a son of man, it also derives from

Daniel's prophecy. back in Daniel chapter seven, verse 13 talks about it.

It was the Lord's favorite name, by the way, for himself during his incarnation.

In fact, when he emptied himself, I mentioned that at the outset tonight,

when he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and was made in the

likeness of man or men and was found in appearance as a man,

it says in Philippians two.

So why the text here does not use that definite article, if you will, and read the Son of Man.

It's not really clear why they don't do that here,

why it's not used, but that phrase also appears without a definite article in

its only other appearance in Revelation, and we already covered it in chapter 1, verse 13.

So maybe the article was omitted to actually strengthen the allusion to Daniel 7, 13.

In any case, there's no doubt here that the one, like a son of man,

is the Lord Jesus Christ, is who he's referring to.

And this is the last time, by the way, that scripture refers to him by that title.

And it presents, I think, a marked contrast with the first time in the New Testament,

that calls him the son of man.

At that time, he had nothing, did he?

Not even a place to lay his head, it says in Matthew 8.

Now, what? He is about to take possession of the entire earth.

The reaper is further described what

look at that passage as having a golden crown on

his head that crown is not the the

diadema that was worn by a king but the

stephanus worn by victors in war and

athletic events it's the crown of triumph in

other words right he's a triumphant it

pictures the son of man not in his identity you know

as the son of man here it pictures him not in his

identity as a sovereign ruler either but as a triumphant conqueror

victorious over all of his enemies the

reaper what else is said about the reaper also had

a sharp sickle in his hand anybody ever have a sickle you got a sickle a sickle

is just it was like a long curved razor sharp iron blade that was attached to

a long broomstick wooden handle and sickles were used to harvest grain,

as they were held with both hands forth,

their sharp blades would actually cut off the grain stalks at ground level.

And the picture here in this passage is of the Lord Jesus Christ mowing down

his enemies like a harvester cutting grain.

What a picture, right? All right, so that's the reaper. Let's talk quickly about

the ripeness for this first one.

Look at verse 15 tonight, 14, 15. And another angel came out of the temple,

crying out with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud.

What did he say? Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come,

because the harvest of the earth is ripe. It's ripe.

Another angel here, the fourth one, it's actually mentioned in this chapter.

Appears on the scene the first three angels y'all probably remember

this from some weeks back proclaim the judgment that was

coming the fourth angel the command to execute it and this angel actually came

out it says of of the heavenly temple and from the very throne before the throne

of god in a loud voice conveying urgency it conveyed power and authority that was delegated to him,

delegated to him from God.

And the angel cried out to him who sat on the cloud, it says,

put in your sickle and reap for the hour to reap has come because the harvest of the earth is right.

So he delivers the message from God, the father to the son of man,

that it is time for him to move in judgment.

God's anger. I want y'all to get this tonight. God's anger has reached its limit

and his wrath is poured out.

It's time. It's time. The time for grace is over here.

And there will be no more delaying the harvest of judgment.

In fact, the son can now execute the right to judge that the father has delegated to him.

Because the earth is what again? It is ripe for judgment.

In fact, that verb translated is ripe actually means it's dried up,

withered, overripe, or rotten.

The grain, the earth, in other words, pictured here has passed the point of

any usefulness and it's fit only to be gathered up, if you remember as scripture

says, and burn with fire in Matthew 13.

All right, here's the last one tonight about this first, the harvest,

the grain harvest, the reaping.

Let's look at it quickly. Verse 16, then he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle

over the earth and the earth was reaped.

Matter of fact, right? I mean, here's one of the most tragic,

though, and sobering statements, I think, in all of Scripture,

simply and without fanfare, right?

It just records the executing of divine judgment on the earth.

That frightening, the details of that judgment are going to be unfolded in chapter

16, a few chapters later here.

But they'll be, I'll give you a little preview, but not much.

There'll be loathsome and malignant sores on the worshipers of Antichrist,

the death of all life in the world's oceans.

There'll be the turning of the world's rivers and springs of water into blood

and the intensifying of the sun's heat until it scorches people.

Painful darkness over all of Antichrist's kingdom is coming.

The drying up of the Euphrates River in preparation for a massive invasion by the kings of the east.

And then the most powerful and destructive earthquake we're going to see in

all of history is going to take place.

Those seven rapid-fire bowl judgments marked that first phase of the final reaping

of the earth by the Lord himself, right, and his angels.