Revelation 14, "The Harvest of the Earth is Fully Ripe"

Mark 4:26–29 (ESV)

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Every year, toward the end of the summer, Maxwell’s farm would harvest their potatoes. Most of the summer, the variety of crops were cultivated and harvested in small teams with different assignments, often mine was alone.

For potato harvest, it was all hands on deck. It was the last big crop of the summer to come in while the full crew was still around. So we all gathered in the potato fields, walked behind the machine, gathered potatoes into bins, and talked and joked and told stories and laughed. Some would sing songs. The harvest season is the celebration of months of hard labor. Ground must be plowed, fertilized, tilled, planted, watered, cultivated, protected against pests and thieves, and sometimes pruned and propped up.

But after the potato harvest came the sorting. The bins would be stacked in the potato house. Two of us would run a machine that would wash and sort the potatoes into sizes. The good potatoes would go into bags marked with “Maxwell’s Farm”.

But we also had to pick out the bad potatoes. And man, are bad potatoes bad! They smell, they infect their neighbors, the attract flies, and I imagine they taste pretty bad. There is nothing for it other than to take them out and dump them in the field for the worms to consume.

Maybe you have your own harvest story. The specifics might differ, but the elements are the same. What we begin to see in Revelation 14 is the sorting out of people. Revelation contrasts many things:

The Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit vs. the false trinity of dragon, beast from the sea, and beast from the earth

those who dwell on earth vs. those who dwell in heaven

the seals of God’s judgement and the sealing of God’s saints

the suffering of the saints and the salvation of the saints

The worshippers of the beast vs the followers of the Lamb

The victory of the saints is through death to life vs the eternal judgement of those who willingly serve the dragon

What I hope we can see is that the time is short for a great harvest of souls to be brought into God’s kingdom, so sing, proclaim, and endure, then look forward to rest.

This setup for chapter 14 is in chapter 13, where we find out that the dragon, Satan, has called forth a beast from the sea to run his empire on earth. Then another beast rose out of the earth. The second beast is some kind of false prophet who requires worship of the beast in order to do business in that empire.

Revelation 13:16–17 (ESV)

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead,

so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This is what was happening in the cities receiving letters in Revelation. The trade guilds required members to show a mark that showed they had gone to worship the emperor in the temple.

Marking the head and the hand is deeply symbolic in Hebrew history and literature. When God delivered Israel from Egypt, He used ten plagues, the last of which was the death of the firstborn of every household that would not apply the blood of the lamb to the doorposts of their house. If anyone applied the blood of the lamb, the life of the firstborn son would be spared. On that night, Moses told the people,

Exodus 13:11–12 (ESV)

“When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,

you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s.

Exodus 13:13 (ESV)

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

Exodus 13:14–16 (ESV)

And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals.

Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

In other words, a mark on the hand or the forehead meant, this one belongs to the LORD God. They are the firstborn redeemed for the LORD by the blood of the lamb.

Later, commands all Israel to bind His words on their hands and foreheads. In other words, all Israel was God’s firstborn son. He had redeemed them all out of slavery. The words of God bound on the head and the hand was the signifying mark.

Satan cannot create, he can only mimic God, but it’s all twisted and ugly and upside down. He enslaves people in their sins as if they belong to him. He is happy to stay behind the scenes and let the beast run the earth. Anyone who wants to succeed will swear allegiance to the beast, take his mark, but they are enslaved to Satan.

By the way, the mark of the beast is not the covid vaccine. It probably isn’t microchips embedded in your skin. Barcodes were the big scary thing when I was a kid. The mark of the beast is a life marked by self-focus. It is the number of man, repeated three times. But if satan can keep you focused on yourself, he can enslave you in all sorts of sins.

We learned a couple of weeks ago about the difference between wisdom from the earth and wisdom from above. Earthly wisdom is marked by bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.

James 3:15–16 ESV

This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

That is the way you succeed in the world.

But not everyone. This is where the singing comes in.

Sing Redemption Songs

God has people all through the earth that He has marked for redemption. Revelation 14 tells us that there are 144,000 from Israel alone that bear His mark.

Revelation 14:1 (ESV)

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

These redeemed people from Israel will come to faith in Jesus at some time in God’s plan. When they do, they learn a song.

Revelation 14:2–3 (ESV)

And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder.

The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders.

No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Have you learned the song of the redeemed? The song starts with those in heaven singing of their redemption before the throne of God. And on earth, only these 144,000 redeemed out of Israel at the end of time can learn it. That’s how it begins. But that’s not where it ends. We are told these are only the firstfruits of the harvest of souls coming to Christ at the end of time.

Revelation 14:4–5 (ESV)

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

No aspersions on women. This is a direct reference from the book of Enoch that speaks of the angels who defiled themselves by giving up their heavenly calling so that they could be united to women physically. The point here is that these people won’t follow satan the father of lies or worship the beast. They are redeemed, they belong to God, and follow the Lamb, whose blood redeemed them, wherever he goes. Where does he go?

Proclaim Good News to the World

The redeemed people of God have a song to sing. The world may not understand it. But God does not give up on anyone. At the end of time, Satan and the beast will throw everything they have at followers of Jesus and persecute and kill them. But God will only up His hand. The redeemed witnesses of Jesus are joined in their witness by angels flying down from heaven

Revelation 14:6–7 ESV

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The good news is that God reigns. Jesus is King. The Spirit is going out into the whole world through the church to every tribe and language and people. This comes with bad news. The breaking in of the kingdom of God is the breaking down of the kingdoms of this world, Babylon and all her allies.

Revelation 14:8 ESV

Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

The gospel is good news because it proclaims freedom from sins through Jesus. But it is a warning as well. For those that will not repent of their sins, a third angel joins the proclamation.

Revelation 14:9–11 (ESV)

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,

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.

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.”

We proclaim good news: God reigns, and Jesus is His Messiah. But this won’t be received as good news by everyone. So, this calls for endurance.

Revelation 14:12–13 (ESV)

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

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!”

Endure through Obedience and Faith

The mark of the Christian is someone who follows the Lamb, Jesus, wherever he goes. We are marked by a different life than the world lives. There is a blessing for those of us who maintain faithful allegiance to Jesus until the day we die. When you have carried out all His plans for your life, you may rest. Until then there is work to be done.

Our chapter brings us back to the harvest theme. Verses 14-20 depict a harvest in two parts. The sorting at harvest is not good and bad potatoes. It is people who have been prepared, “ripened” if you will, through endurance in their faith in Jesus, to rest with Him forever. That is verses 14-16.

Verses 17-20 depict the harvest of those who will go into the fire of the wrath of God. And it is terrifying. The images of blood flowing as juice flows when grapes are crushed under the heavy weight of the winepress. To remain in your sin, unrepentant, is to bear the crushing weight of judgment.

But here is the good news. The gospel is still available. Until we reach that day of the harvest, there is still time. We don’t know how long, but why would you delay? There is a song known to those who have lived in this same world ruled by the greed, corruption, idolatry, and immorality of Babylon, but have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. They know the joy of following Him wherever He goes. They know the freedom of obedience and faith that trusts God’s words as though bound on our foreheads and hands.

Even though this will mark me as different in this world, and will bring trouble to my life, in the end, I will be gathered to my rest in the presence of Jesus my redeemer, the arms of my loving heavenly Father, in the loving communion of the Holy Spirit. In the meantime, He has left me in a field that is ready for harvest. Someone is ready to listen to the song of the redeemed and say, "Yes, I am one of them too; I must have this thing."

Whose mark is on you? Whose song do you sing? We are all broken, but can be redeemed by love.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

Have you ever helped in a harvest? What was that experience like?

Jesus told several parables that compared the kingdom of God breaking into our world to a harvest, see Mark 4, Matthew 13; 24:29-31. What lessons can we draw from that analogy?

What is a redemption song that resonates with you in a special way some people might not understand?

What do we learn about God in Revelation 14?

What are the many ways we see God working in our world in this chapter?

What do we learn about ourselves in Revelation 14?

What are the marks of a Christian life we see in this chapter?

How will you respond to this passage this week?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?