Revelation 14:9-20 (Fallen is Babylon & Two Harvests)

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 14

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur 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, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

The Harvest of the Earth

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

This week we reach the end of chapter 14 which bookends John’s summary of the events that began in chapter 12. In chapter 12 a woman was depicted as giving birth to a male child, who was the Messiah, and we were told that the devil, described as a dragon, attempted to devour the child, but that he escaped and was caught up to heaven to his throne, speaking of Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of his father. Then we were told that war broke out in heaven against the dragon and his angels, that Michael and his angels fought against them until that ancient serpent was thrown down to the earth, and his angels with him.

However, his defeat in heaven meant that his wrath was intensified against the church on earth, therefore he pursued the woman from whom the male child had come, but the Lord protected her in the wilderness. This infuriated the dragon, and so he went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, the church abroad.

Therefore, in chapter 13 the dragon is pictured standing on the sand of the sea calling forth two beasts, one beast that rises out of the sea, who is Rome, and another that arises our of the land, who is the Jewish religious system. They persecute the church, and for a time these beasts are allowed to make war on the saints, and to conquer them. While some lose their lives, others forsake Christ and worship the beast, and bear his mark upon their foreheads and upon their hands.

However, in chapter 14, standing in opposition to these beasts is the Lamb on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who have not defiled themselves or worshiped the beast, who instead bear the Lamb’s name on their foreheads. They’re the firstfruits of God and of the Lamb. Then the rest of chapter 14 describes the Lamb’s judgment against Babylon the great, this beast that had arisen out of the land, Jerusalem, that had become a synagogue of Satan. Who had yoked herself to the beast out of the sea, to Rome.

One angel is described as flying overhead proclaiming the Gospel to those who dwell on the earth, a final warning to those who dwell there to repent and give glory to God. Then a second angel there in verse 8, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” This statement significant because John is repeating a refrain from the prophet Isaiah when God spoke an oracle against the pagan nation of Babylon, and also wrote, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon”.

This angel here is identifying Jerusalem with Babylon, which is meant to be a scathing indictment. While she appeared deeply religious, she was in fact a harlot, and therefore had lead the nations astray by her sexual immorality. Jerusalem was meant to be a light to the nations, “a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish … having the law, the embodiment of knowledge and truth,” (Rom. 2:19-20) but instead (as the Apostle puts it) “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of [her].” Therefore, as John puts it here in verse 9, “she has made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

Don’t take part in Jerusalem’s harlotry

And so it’s at this point we pickup there in verse 9,

English Standard Version Chapter 14

9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur 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, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

The angel’s fundamental point here is this, don’t take part in Babylon’s harlotry, don’t take part in Jerusalem’s spiritual infidelity, their unfaithfulness, don’t worship the beast, don’t worship Rome. Don’t forget, we’re meant to see a contrast between those who follow the Lamb at the beginning of chapter 14 and those who follow the beast here in verse 9, a contrast between those who worship the Lamb and those who worship the beast. One group has the Lamb’s name written on their foreheads while the others bear the mark of the beast. We’re meant to remember that we don’t want to be counted among those who worship and serve the beast, because those who do will suffer the same judgment as the harlot.

Judgments are warnings

The judgments carried out against the harlot are meant to serve as a wake up call and a warning to those who might be tempted to serve the beast. When my children were younger spankings were more prevalent, and whenever one of my children needed a spanking I didn’t do it in secret, rather I knew it would be advantageous for my other children to see it. I knew that discipling one child would also serve the other children, that witnessing the consequences of one child’s actions would naturally encourage the others to avoid that same behavior. The judgment carried out against the one would be a sober warning to the others. And so it is the intention of the harlot’s judgment here, and the intention of all the judgment accounts in Scripture. They’re meant to serve as warnings to us, to shake us out of our sinful stupor. God’s judgments are a great mercy to mankind, they’re meant to summon us to fear God, to worship him who made heaven and earth.

Don’t strip the Gospel of its potency

We often try to make the gospel more palatable to unbelievers by stripping the message of any threats of judgment, to make the message less offensive, not realizing that the threat of God’s judgment is meant to warn and drive men to Christ. Now, the threat of judgment exists regardless of whether we tell others or not, therefore when we’re unwilling to warn them we communicate that it’s inconsequential whether they submit to Christ or not, and in turn put them at greater risk than they were before. They walk away with no reason to turn from their sin, in fact, you’ve only told them that Jesus loves them, and to them it’s inconsequential whether Jesus loves them or not, they’re content with their sin, and you’ve just communicated that Jesus is too. I don’t mean that we’re to use the Bible as a club, but we must understand that the threat of God’s judgment serves a good and merciful purpose to its hearers, and to avoid it’s use is to strip the Gospel of its potency. The potency of God’s love and mercy is found within the context of his holy and righteous character, not outside of it.

Undiluted wrath

Then John goes on to describe the severity of these judgments that will be levied against Jerusalem and those who participate in her unfaithfulness. He says there in verse 10,

English Standard Version Chapter 14

10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur 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, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

The point here is that God’s wrath against them would not be diluted. The ancients would dilute their wine by mixing it with water, or add spices to it in order to increase it’s kick. Therefore, the idea here is that the wine of God’s wrath and the cup of his anger would not be diluted, but it would be a strong drink, not mixed with water, but with spice. The message to them is that if you drink the cup of state worship, you will also drink the cup of God’s wrath.

Eternal judgment

In fact, the imagery of this judgment against the unfaithful extends beyond the temporal, and into eternity. John says that they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. That the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever, that they will have not rest, day or night. This is the same kind of imagery that we’ll see later in Revelation 20:10 when the devil is finally thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and false prophet are, where they are tormented day and night forever and ever.

Chronology

And as we’ll see later, the chronology of events here is that the beast and false prophet (land beast) will be thrown into the lake of fire at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, but the dragon won’t join them until the second coming of Christ. However, until then, he’s been bound from deceiving the nations, that the Gospel might be proclaimed, that the kingdom of heaven might stretch from shore to shore, like a tiny mustard seed that, in time, becomes larger than all the other plants in the garden.

Hell

This imagery also builds upon Jesus’ teaching of hell. Jesus spoke of hell more than he spoke about heaven, and he described it more vividly. Jesus described hell as outer darkness (Matt. 25:30), a place of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), a fiery furnace (Matt. 13:42), where the worm doesn’t die (Mark 9:48), where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:42), a trash heap like Gehenna outside the walls of Jerusalem where the trash burned continually, and an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).

One of the abiding themes throughout is that hell is eternal, and many over the centuries have kicked against this clear teaching, because it’s immensely difficult to stomach the amount torment and anguish associated with such a sentence. However, the testimony of Scripture is abundantly clear, hell is eternal torment.

What’s also shocking to many of us is what John says there in verse 10, that “he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” I’ve often heard the claim that hell is just the absence of God’s presence, that God just gives those who reject him what they want, a place without him. However, this idea misunderstands Scripture and the nature of God’s wrath and his presence.

In one sense it is true that hell is the absence of God’s presence. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that, “they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” but Paul isn’t saying that God simply walks walks out of the room. The word translated presence is also the word for face, therefore the idea isn’t that God walks out of the room but that he turns his face away. Listen to Number 6:24-26,

English Standard Version Chapter 6

24  The LORD bless you and keep you;

25  the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

26  the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

This is the exact opposite of what happens in hell, the gracious countenance of God’s face is not does not shine upon those who inhabit it, rather they experience a countenance of wrath and justice.

Not only that but the Bible teaches us that God is omnipresent, that God is spirit, and that, in one sense, there is nowhere that he isn’t present, therefore it’s impossible to conceive of a place that God does not inhabit. God is not limited by space and time, nor is he a created being. Consequently, this is why John describes hell as torment in the presence of the Lamb and his holy angels.

And as we consider the doctrine of hell I think it’s important for us to keep in mind several key points. We tend to view hell as extreme because we don’t grasp the gravity of our own sin, we tend to think lightly of our sin, we are quick to excuse sin, and we don’t think it’s as serious as it really it. This is why God’s judgment against Adam and Eve for eating of the tree of the knowledge of good an evil can also appear so extreme to us, because we don’t understand the fundamental seriousness of sin. And the reason we don’t understand the fundamental seriousness of sin is because we don’t grasp the holiness of God. In other words, if we have small thoughts about God we will have small thoughts about our sin. Therefore, we must first strive to understand the holiness of God if we intend to grasp the seriousness of our sin. Only then will we realize that our sin is tantamount to cosmic treason. To sin against an eternal, holy, and altogether righteous God, whose worth cannot be measured, is to warrant an eternal punishment that’s fitting to his nature.

The doctrine of hell should also magnify our view of the cross. As our understanding of the seriousness of our sin is made clearer, so is our view of the cross. The doctrine of hell should make clearer the immense cost of our sin at Calvary, to better understand the hell Jesus endured on the cross. That his physical suffering paled in the face of the Father turning his face away when Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Therefore, remember when we diminish the seriousness of our sin, and diminish the holiness of God, and diminish punishment deserved for sin, we fundamentally diminish the sacrifice the Christ. Therefore, whenever you consider the severity of hell, never forget to consider the magnitude of the cross, and the price Christ paid in order to redeem you.

Call for endurance

Now, pickup with me there in verse 12,

English Standard Version Chapter 14

12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

This is one of the repeated refrains given to the first century church, particularly the generation who experienced the great tribulation. The last time we saw this refrain was back in chapter 13 when the first beast (signifying Rome) rose out of the sea and was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them for a period of time. While God had promised to preserve his church this didn’t mean they would remain unaffected by their circumstances, therefore God calls them to endure.

In fact, John also says that they must be prepared to endure even to the point of death, writing, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!” Again, just like chapter 13 when John wrote, “If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain.” and “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Rev. 13:10)

And if you follow the thread of this charge to endure through the Book of Revelation you’ll see that it begins as early as chapter 1 when John writes in verse 9,

English Standard Version Chapter 1

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

and then it becomes the refrain of every letter to the churches in Asia Minor in chapters 2-3, all seven letters conclude with a call to endure or a call to conquer.

Let me read them quickly for you in succession, the church in Ephesus, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary, to the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life , which is in the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7), to the church in Smyrna, those who are faithful unto death, I will give them the crown of eternal life, the one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death (Rev. 2:10), to the church in Pergamum, to the one who conquers, the one who endures I will give some of the hidden manna, and a white stone from the Garden of God, with a new name written on it (Rev. 2:17), to the church in Thyatira, to the one who conquers and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and I will give him the morning star. (Rev. 2:26-28), to the church in Sardis, the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. (Rev. 3:5), to the church in Philadelphia, the one who conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall never go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God (Rev. 14:1) and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven, and my own new name. (Rev. 3:12), then finally to the church in Laodicea, and to the one who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev. 3:21)

Every single letter is a call to endure, a call to conquer by enduring tribulation, to recognize that it is better to die in the Lord than to have both body and soul destroyed in hell. In fact, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them, John says. Ever single letter to the churches promises a reward for their endurance, to eat of the tree of life, to be given the crown, to be given some of the hidden manna and a white stone from the Garden of God with their name written on it, to be given the morning star, to have their name preserved for eternity in the book of life, to have their name confessed before God and his angels, to be made a pillar in the temple of God, the new Jerusalem, and granted to sit with Christ on his throne, just as he sat down with his Father on his throne. Wonderful promises for those who endure to the end, both then and now.

Harvest

Now, as we reach the final verses of chapter 14 John describes two harvests. The first is a harvest of the righteous, and the second is a harvest of the wicked. Let’s read together picking up there in verse 14,

English Standard Version Chapter 14

14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” 16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Now, typically, when we think of a harvest our minds are trained to run immediately to the end of the age at the second coming of Christ. However, we have to remember that just as not every “coming” of Christ is necessarily a reference to his second coming, not every reference to a harvest is necessarily a reference to the final harvest at the end of the age.

Grain harvest

We must understand that in one sense the harvest had already begun as early as Jesus’ ministry, his disciples had already began to reap the harvest that Jesus had sowed. In John 4:35-38 in light of many Samaritans believing in Jesus on account of the woman at the well, Jesus told his disciples, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ... ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” In other words, the disciples will harvest what Jesus has already sown, and the fields were already white for harvest. And then in less than 40 years the Gospel had spread throughout the whole world, the firstfruits of the disciple’s efforts. Therefore, Jesus is depicted here as seated on a cloud with a golden crown and sharp sickle in his hand, and John says that he swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Jesus likely described this event in his Olivet Discourse when he told his disciples, “And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” (Mark 13:20)

Grape harvest

Now, this other harvest is a harvest of a different kind, the first harvest is presumably a grain or wheat harvest, but John says that this is a harvest of the vine, a harvest of grapes. Just as there are those who are gathered as fruit unto eternal life, so there are those who are gathered as fruit to unto eternal punishment. Their punishment is described as grapes ripe for judgment, and ready to be thrown into the great winepress of God’s wrath, a winepress that is trodden outside the city, resulting in the flow of blood from the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle, and for 185 miles, or approximately the distance from Jerusalem to the Red Sea.

Again, in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse he described these events like this, in Luke 21:20-24,

English Standard Version Chapter 21

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

Conclusion

As we wrap up, let’s again remember to heed of these passages of judgment, to remember that they’re meant to serve as warnings, to shake us out of our sinful stupor. God’s judgments are a great mercy to mankind, they’re meant to summon us to fear him, to worship him who made heaven and earth. That it is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That everlasting punishment is a very real threat, that we must not put our fingers in our ears, or fail to warn others. We must also recognize John’s repeated call for the church to endure tribulation, to keep one’s self unstained from the world, and to remind ourselves of the promises given to those who conquer and remain faithful until the end, glorious promises.

Prayer