Greetings! This is the third and final post in our series on Revelation chapter 14. In the last post, we learned about the three angels that were dispatched to earth with messages of warning to earth’s inhabitants. In this post, we’re going to learn about the last two harvests that will take place in the last half of Daniel’s 70^th week. Ready? Let’s get into this!

Revelation 14

Third in a Three-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Two Harvests

In this last portion of chapter 14, we see a remarkable scenario of two harvests. In the first harvest, we see the Son of man, who is Jesus, harvesting the earth. In the second harvest, we see angels harvesting the “vine of the earth,” the grapes used to make the wine of God’s wrath that the nations of earth must drink and all those who take the mark of the beast.

First Harvest: Harvest of Men

Rev. 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

Let’s look at the first harvest. In verse 14, John said he saw a white cloud and “upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” The Son of man wearing a golden crown is Jesus. He is holding a sharp sickle. A sickle is a curved hook-like blade used to cut grass or grain. It’s an instrument used for reaping a harvest. Jesus has the sickle and is ready to reap a harvest. He’s just waiting for the word to go forth and reap.

Then in verse 15, John saw an angel come out of the temple and the angel cried “with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” The message Jesus was waiting for finally came. An angel came out of the temple and told Him it was time to reap the harvest.

Verse 16 says, “he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” Jesus reaps the earth’s harvest, but what kind of harvest is the Son of man reaping? He is harvesting the souls of earth. He’s reaping the rest of the harvest. Remember, the firstfruits of the harvest were the 144,000: “These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” They were the first of the harvest reaped. Now it’s time for Jesus to reap the rest of the harvest. Remember there will still be people getting saved because of the angels proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus in the earth. There will be people who make the decision to follow Jesus and not Antichrist during the last three- and one-half years. It is these souls that Jesus is reaping from the earth.

This same phraseology of “harvesting” can also be found in the Gospel accounts. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus sent out the believers two by two into the cities to preach and teach the Word of God. He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest” (v. 2). The harvest He was referring to, of course, was the souls of mankind.

In Matthew chapter 13, we see another example of sowing and reaping the harvest. Jesus was teaching the parable of the tares of the field. “Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Matt. 13:3–8).

He interpreted the parable for the disciples. He explained the one that sows the good seed is the Son of man. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. The tares in the field represented children of the wicked one. The Devil is the one that sowed the tares in the field. The reapers are the angels. He said as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:41–43).

The picture John saw of the Son of man reaping the earth with His sickle is the harvesting of the souls in the earth before the bowl judgments are poured out on the kingdom of men. What is being described here as the harvesting of the earth is actually a second rapture. The first rapture took place when the man child was caught up to God (Rev. 12). The second rapture takes place right before the bowl judgments are poured out onto the earth. Those who receive Jesus during the last half of the 70^th week will not be made to drink of the cup of God’s wrath. They will be caught up to God in the harvest that Jesus reaps with His sickle before the bowl judgments are poured out.

Second Harvest: Harvest of Earth’s Grapes

Rev. 14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

Now let’s look at the second harvest. The second harvest takes place after the harvest of men is reaped from the earth. John described the second harvest in verse 17: “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.” An angel with a sickle came out of the temple. Then another angel came out from the altar to make a proclamation. He cried out to the angel who had the sickle, “Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe” (v. 18). The second harvest is to reap the “vine of the earth.” The vine of the earth is grapes. Ripe grapes. The fact that the grapes are ripe indicates a fullness of time—harvest time.

John says in verse 19, “The angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” The angel reaped the harvest of grapes and threw them into a winepress. A winepress is an instrument that is used to press the juice out of grapes for making wine. The kind of winepress the grapes are thrown into tells us what kind of wine is being made. The grapes are being thrown into the winepress of the “wrath of God.” This angel is preparing “the cup of the wine of God’s wrath.” It’s the drink that the third angel in verse 10 was warning everyone that they would drink if they took the mark of the beast. This harvest is judgment time.

Verse 20 tells us about the wine that came out of God’s winepress of wrath: “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.” The grapes were pressed in the winepress outside the city, which means outside Jerusalem. Most likely, the place being described is the place where the battle of Armageddon will take place. As the grapes were pressed, blood came out of the winepress. There was so much blood that it rose up as high as a horse’s bridle and it extended for 1,600 furlongs, which is 184 miles. That’s a lot of blood. One teacher said the grapes being thrown into God’s great winepress of the wrath of God were all the rebellious people who will lose their lives in the battle of Armageddon.

This scenario described in chapter 14 is a fulfillment of end time prophecy in Joel chapter three: “Let the nations bestir themselves and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the [vintage] harvest is ripe; come, get down and tread the grapes, for the winepress is full; the vats overflow, for the wickedness [of the peoples] is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord will thunder and roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the children of Israel” (Joel 3:12–16 Amp.). 

This portion of scripture in the book of Joel points to the last days’ judgment. This is the only place in the Bible where the valley of Jehoshaphat is mentioned. Bible scholars believe this valley is a valley of judgment, Armageddon. It is in this place where divine judgment will be poured out upon the ten-toed kingdom. We see here the sickle has been put in, the grapes of wrath are reaped, the winepress is full, and the vats are overflowing. As we just read in verse 20, the overflowing vats will rise as high as a horse’s bridle and extend for 184 miles!

This wine of God’s wrath that is being prepared will be administered in the bowl judgments. It is the wine the second and third angels were warning the inhabitants of earth about, telling them how to escape from having to drink from this cup of the wine of God’s wrath. This is the wine the second angel said the nations of the earth would have to drink (v. 8). This is the wine the third angel said those who took the mark of the beast would have to drink (v. 10).

The dispatching of the three angels with their messages of warning is a display of God’s compassion. He doesn’t want the inhabitants of earth to drink from the cup of the wine of His wrath. He wants to provide them a way out of it and to be part of the harvest of men when Jesus reaps the earth. He wants them to escape the coming wrath and to be with Him in heaven. Such is the love of God.

***********

Sign up to receive a biweekly subscription to End Time Mysteries blog.
If you enjoyed this post, forward it to someone you know would enjoy it.
© 2017–2024 End Time Mysteries a.k.a Karen Thompson. All rights reserved.