Revelation Sermon - 35

Revelation: The Grapes of Wrath

Revelation 14:14-20

1. Introduction – Before we dive deep into the meaning of this section – there are a couple interpretative decisions we have to make that will influence how we understand it.

a. So, the first interpretative decision to make is about the Son of Man figure in v.14.

i. Who is he? Well, some commentators say that this figure is another angel.

1. Last week, we’re were introduced to 3 angels. This week we are introduced to 3 more.

a. So, if this figure is angel, that gives us the nice round Revelation number of 7.

b. But there’s a problem with this approach. If this were simply another angel, why would John go out of his way to describe him as different?

i. Why use a different title? Why go into detail of his appearance?

1. Grammatically, the Son of Man figure is set apart. Angel, Angel, Angel…SON OF MAN… Angel, Angel, Angel.

c. None of the other angels are described – what they say is recorded, but not their appearance.

i. It’s obvious that this figure stands out from the other heavenly figures of this chapter – it’s also obvious that this figure is very important,

d. So, who is he? He is Jesus!

i. The phrase is a direct quote from Daniel 7:13. In Daniel 7, one like a Son of Man, the divine Jesus, is seen approaching the Ancient of Days, God the Father…

1. And the Son of Man was given authority to rule and we’re told that his kingdom will have no end.

a. Here in Revelation 14, Johns uses the exact same wording. The Son of Man is seen coming on the clouds.

i. And the clouds are more than a mode of transportation – they are a sign of victory.

ii. John also sees that the Son of Man is wearing the victor’s wreath on his head.

1. So, here’s the Son of Man figure – riding on a cloud, waring a victor’s wreath, and he is holding a sharp sickle – ready to harvest.

e. Who is he? Jesus – a couple more points to back this up.

i. Remember at Jesus’ trail before Caiaphas the high priest? Do you remember what Jesus said to him???

1. You will see who???

a. Also, in the book of Acts, after Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples were standing there staring up at the sky.

i. Then two angels appeared to them and said what???

ii. Revelation 14, on a cloud – the Son of Man, Jesus, the victory coming to harvest his crop.

1. Which is the next interpretative decision we have to make.

f. We have to figure out how many harvests are described in this section.

i. The number of harvests radically influences how we interpret and understand this section.

1. So, what are the different approaches?

ii. Well, the first is to see this as one harvest – described in two different ways.

1. The style and language are similar. The structure is similar. There’s a description of a figure with a sickle – a command to harvest and the actual harvest.

a. It could be one harvest – parallel sections describing the same harvest of earth.

g. But I believe this section is describing 2 different harvests – once again comparing the eternal destiny of believers and unbelievers.

i. And if we understand this to be 2 different harvests, then we must also figure out what each one represents.

1. Let’s look at each harvest in detail and figure out their meaning.

a. I’m probably the least qualified person here to stand up and talk about harvesting a crop…

i. But ultimately this passage isn’t about farming, it uses farming as a means to make its point.

2. Harvest 1 – So looking at the verses 14-16, the first harvest, done by the Son of Man, Jesus. There are a few things I want you to take note of.

a. First – if the Son of Man is Jesus, doesn’t it seem odd that he received a command from an angel?

i. On the surface it seems odd – but when we dive a little deeper, it makes complete sense.

1. Notice where the angel came from…the Temple. And what does the Temple represent???

a. The presence of God. OK – so this angel came from God’s presence.

b. Next, what are angels’ primary task? They are messengers. The Greek word angelos simply means messenger.

i. And angels – throughout the entire canon of Scripture, never proclaim their own message.

1. Their messages never originate within themselves.

a. They always proclaim a message that has been given to them.

i. So, this angel, coming from the presence of God in the Temple.

1. He comes bearing a message – not his own, presumably a message from the one whose presence he just left. A message from God.

a. And the message is delivering to the Son of Man – to Jesus…why?

c. Well, it goes back to something Jesus said while he was on earth talking about the end of time.

i. Only who knows the time and hour of the end?

1. Only the Father knows. And what we see here in Revelation 14 is that is still true in heaven. Only the Father knows when the harvest is going to start, not the Son and not the angels.

a. What we see here is the Son’s heavenly subordination, not to the angel giving the message, but to the one form who the message came, the Father.

ii. Only the Father knows, but the Father sent an angel from his presence to the Son of Man, sitting on the cloud – the command came to start the harvest. Fire up the combine, I’m mean sickle, and get going.

d. But what does this first harvest represent? I believe this harvest represents the deliverance of God’s people at the end of time. But notice the interesting display of brevity, not much is recorded.

i. The One sitting on the cloud swings his sickle over the earth and it is harvested.

1. The details are left to the readers’ imagination.

e. However, farming illustrations were one of Jesus’ favourite metaphors.

i. Jesus described the Word of God as seeds planted in various soils.

1. And depending on the condition of the soil, the Word of God is either rejected or accepted.

ii. John the Baptist contrasted the ‘wheat’ of the godly with the ‘chaff’ of the ungodly.

1. When the harvest comes, the wheat is gathered and stored in barns, while the chaff is collected and burned in the fire.

a. Jesus said that the harvest is the close of the age. Revelation 14 describes that harvest taking place.

iii. And what we don’t have recorded for us here, we have recorded for us elsewhere.

1. When the earth is harvested, when Jesus returns as king on the cloud of victory, he will gather people to himself.

a. And he will separate the wheat from the chaff, the crop from the weeds, the sheep from the goats.

i. And the godly – the wheat, the good crop, the sheep – will be welcomed into eternal paradise.

1. While the ungodly, the chaff, the weeds, the goats – will be sent to eternal conscious torment in hell. The second harvest describes their judgment thoroughly.

3. Harvest 2 – So if the first harvest represents the salvation/deliverance/vindication of God’s people – the grape harvest of vv.17-20 represents God’s judgment on unbelievers.

a. And if the vision of eternal conscious torment wasn’t graphic enough…God’s judgment is further described as the crushing of grapes in a winepress.

i. In ancient times a winepress was built out of wood or brick.

1. Grapes were placed in an upper trough where they were trampled by foot, so that juice flowed down a channel into a lower trough that collected the fluid.

b. What we’re told here is that unbelievers are placed into the winepress of God’s wrath – the grapes of wrath…

i. There, they are trampled…judged for their sins. And we’re told what flows out of that winepress is an obscene amount of liquid…of blood.

1. The stream 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle obviously symbolic – meant to bring shock and horror to the readers.

a. This part of the vision means that the judgment will be so thorough there will be no escaping it. Sin will be judged. Those who live in sin and refuse to repent of their sins, will be judged.

c. This section contains some of the most graphic and shocking verses in all of the Bible.

i. The image is vivid – God’s enemies being trampled like grapes in a winepress.

1. Blood flowing out long and high. The image is striking and terrifying.

d. But many people have a difficult time accepting the idea of God’s wrath. One commentator I read this week even tried to make the case that this was an image of salvation, not judgment.

i. Some think that wrath and anger is out of character for a God of love.

1. But what we have to realize is that it is because of God’s love – his love for truth, righteousness, justice and pace – that he responds in judgment against evil.

e. What we have to grasp is that the penalty that sin deserves is truly dreadful – and is because sin itself is truly horrific and dreadful.

i. And maybe we find it hard to understand God’s punishment of sin because we don’t share God’s revulsion of sin.

1. Sometimes, we’re OK with sin. We’ve grown accustom to sin, and there are even sins that we are comfortable with.

a. But those sins, all sin, whether is lying, cheating, stealing, apathy, gossiping, slandering or murder…all of those are appalling to our holy and righteous God.

i. It’s not that lying offends him more than gossiping or murder is the worst – all sin is offensive and appalling to God’s righteous nature and he is personally offended by it. Are you?

1. Do you see sin, all sin, as absolutely repulsive? Or do you let certain things slide? Have you accommodated and grown accustom to sin?

ii. Think about it, for one sin, ONE SIN, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden. God didn’t coddle them – he punished them because they refused to trust and obey him.

1. For one sin, ONE SIN, Moses was excluded from the Promised Land. God wanted him to do one thing, Moses did another…not a petty or vengeful God, punishing the sin of those who disobey.

a. For one sin, ONE SIN, Ananias and Sapphira were slain.

i. For one sin, ONE SIN, for all of our sins, Jesus came to die on the cross so that all sin for all time could be fully and finally dealt with before God.

f. What Revelation 14 describes for us is the swift and radical judgment of everyone who refuses to confess their sin before God and accept Jesus as their Saviour.

i. What the long and high stream of blood represents is the radical judgment of every vestige of evil that stands in hostility to God’s perfect reign.

1. Revelation 14 shows us that if your sins have not been punished on the shoulders of Jesus, as he died on the cross to pay the penalty people deserved…

a. Then your own shoulders will have to bear the infinite weight of God’s judgment.

ii. Either we accept the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, believe that his blood is sufficient to forgive us…

1. Either we are counted in the first harvest…or we bear the punishment for our sins ourselves as God pours out his righteous wrath on those who don’t believe in him.

g. You see, God’s wrath isn’t contrary to his love, his wrath is poured out because of his love.

i. It’s simple to know which side of his you’re on…believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

1. Reject Jesus, and be trampled in the winepress of God’s wrath.

h. There’s so much more we can look at. The significance of the phrase “outside the city” means that those who are trampled in the winepress are left of the new city – outside the covenant community.

i. The significance is that Jesus was crucified where? Outside the city.

1. So, we either accept and believe in him who’s blood was shed outside the city on our behalf…

a. Or we will experience our own punishment outside the city.

4. Application – A couple points of application as we close.

a. When reading this chapter, when seeing the reality of punishment and righteous judgment on God’s enemies…it should remind us of the importance of spreading the gospel.

i. We shouldn’t wish this fate on anyone, so we must do all we can do spread the good news of salvation through Jesus’ blood.

b. Jesus said that harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. So, we must make sure that we are working on behalf of Jesus to bring in that harvest. We need to see spreading the gospel as our chief concern.

i. Every Christian is called to spread the gospel.

1. What we read this morning is the reality awaiting those who don’t know Jesus as their Saviour. People you know, people you love, maybe even people who share DNA with.

c. If they don’t believe in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour – believe in their heart and confess with their mouths…they will spend eternity separated from God. They WILL experience the righteous judgment of God. We can’t leave it to chance or to someone else – we must take up the gospel cause.

i. But, how can they believe if they have not heard? And how can they hear if they aren’t told? And how can they be told with people aren’t sent? Well, you’ve heard the gospel, believed it yourself, now its your turn to join the labourers.

1. Our chief concern as Christians and as a church has to be the spread of the gospel.

a. Everything else is secondary. Yes, we must be edifying and building up the body of believers that is already here. We must never neglect that.

i. The church doesn’t major in self-help tips, feel good stories – we are not a social club.

ii. Church isn’t about pursuing our own ideas or agendas or about keeping the status quo…

1. The church’s main concern is the proclamation of sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus.

a. Something we are all called to do.

d. Finally, we’ll close with this. The agricultural metaphor used this morning reminds us of the hard work and endurance we need in working for God.

i. We live in a world of instant gratification. We want results and we want them yesterday!

1. But the work of the church is a lot like farming – something most of you understand.

a. Just like planting a crop requires careful plowing, planting, fertilizing, watering and time…

i. So too does planting the seed of the gospel. We want quick results, but it doesn’t often work that way.

e. We must prepare the soil of the soul through biblical witness; our message must be watered with prayer. And we must wait…often for long seasons. The temptation for weary Christians and church is to give up…

i. But much like farming, patience and endurance is required in doing God’s work, in God’s way, according to God’s Word, by God’s power and in God’s time.

f. Last point – notice that in spite of all that we’ve studied at over the past couple months, notice that there is still a harvest of God’s people.

i. The beasts can never stop…not even slow down the harvest the Son of Man will reap on the day of his glorious and victorious return.

1. Unlike the uncertainty of human harvests, this harvest cannot fail.