The Coming End-time Harvest

Read Revelation 14:1-20

Introduction: When I was a little boy, I remember going down into my grandparents’ garden to harvest potatoes, or as we like to say in WNC, taters! Granddad would go to the garden a few hours before us with a hoe and turn the potatoes over row by row exposing them to the open air so we could pick them up. Then, several people would carry five-gallon buckets down to the garden and we’d get into groups of two or three and head to the beginning of each row. That’s when the potato harvest would commence. As you went down the row you had to pick up the potatoes and toss them into the bucket. Now, that sounds simple enough, but as you were going along, you’d sometimes come across a potato with a rotten spot that couldn’t go into the bucket because everyone ought to know that if you put one rotten tater in with the good ones, it’s going to cause them all to rot! So, what did we do with those rotten potatoes we came across? We’d throw all of them off to the side where they would either rot and waste away or some animal would come by and pick up a free meal. I always thought the potato harvest was fun when I was a kid, although some of the older grandkids probably didn’t think so! Speaking of harvests, did you know that one day there’s coming a harvest on this earth? That’s right, a massive harvest of people, both good and bad. In Revelation 14 John pushes the fast-forward button and we’re carried all the way to the very end of the age where we’re given a brief look at the great end-time harvest of salvation and judgement. I want to take the next few minutes this morning and look at what he says. So, let’s begin by looking at vv.1-5.

14:1-5 “God’s People Will Be Triumphant”

In these first five verses John lets us know that God’s people will be triumphant, and we’re assured of that truth in the very first thing John communicates to us. He says that he saw a “Lamb” standing on Mount Zion. As with so many other places in Revelation, John again draws from the OT, and here he looks to Psalm 2, “1Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Psa. 2:1–6). The fact is, church, that the Lamb (that’s Christ) has been enthroned as King and he is ruling from heaven! That’s a present truth we can rest our hope on today! After John’s vision of the Lamb he says that there was 144,000 with him. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they belong to the Lamb because he tells us that they have “his name (that is Jesus’ name) and his Father’s name written on their foreheads”. Now, it’s here that we’ve got to be cautious and not be too dogmatic. The text never explicitly tells us exactly who these 144,000 are. Some believe they’re the believing remnant of ethnic Israel while others say that they’re a symbolic representation of the people of God in their totality (12 tribes in the OT x 12 Apostles in the NT x 1000 the number of completeness = 144,000). Still, others believe that the 144,000 are a symbolic of those believers, both Jew and Gentile, who make up the remnant of God’s people who fight the final manifestation of the beast, the anti-Christ, and come out victorious being alive at the second coming of Christ. I tend to lean toward that last view myself, but either way, which ever view you choose to hold the overall point that God’s people will be triumphant is the same. The people represented in these verses, vv.1-5, are victorious. In v.3 John says that “3 … they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one (I believe that’s an important statement) could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.” The fact that John says in v.4 that they are “firstfruits for God and the Lamb” seems to telegraph the fact this is a picture of what happens right at the end when Christ returns. ---- Now, I know some of you are probably wondering about John’s comment in v.4, “4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.” The main idea of what’s said there seems to point toward purity, but there may be more going on than meets the eye. There’s some scholarly literature out there that argues for the 144,000 as being a direct reversal of what happened in Gen. 6:1-8 between the sons of God and the daughters of men (I take Gen. 6 as a reference to an angelic rebellion). While that’s interesting and my well be true, the question I want to ask is this ---- Application: how can we make application of what’s said in this text, Rev. 14:1-5, to our situation today? ---- I believe that this text should act to give all followers of Jesus everywhere hope. Why(?), because it points us to the truth that no matter what happens, no matter how awful things might get, no matter how bleak the picture looks, God will always have a witness and he will never ever forsake those who belong to him! He will see to it that they persevere. Let’s turn our attention to vv.6-13 now. A serious warning and a call for perseverance.

14:6-13 “A Serious Warning and a Call for Perseverance”

One of the most amazing things about a careful reading of the book of Revelation is that even though there’s lots of scary pictures of judgement, in the background there’s always the call for people to repent, even as the end is approaching faster and faster. ---- What do you think that tell us? ---- I think it tells us that even though God is right and just in his judgement, he’s also really patient. In vv.6 and 7 you read of an angel who announces the gospel to everyone on earth. Take a look at the angel’s message in v.7, it says, “7 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.” That last statement, “… worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water”, points us back to Rev. 4:11 and the throne room scene in heaven where the twenty-four elders threw their crowns before the thrown and said, “11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” That said, I think the division between the warning and call for perseverance given in vv.6-13 is divided at v.8, and here’s why. Notice that in Rev. 14:8 a second angel follows the first one and announces the fall of Babylon. What’s this reference to Babylon? ---- Some say this is a kind of a revived Roman Empire, but I see nothing in the text itself that points to such an interpretation, therefore, I would argue that it’s probably more accurate to take Babylon here as a symbol for the wicked world system as a whole that’s been oppressing God’s people all along. It seems to me that interpreting Babylon in that manner lines up better with John’s use of the OT in Revelation. When you think about it that’s what Babylon, in the OT, did to God’s people beginning around 586 BC. So, in other words, on this interpretation, the original Babylon of the OT becomes sort of a type that repeats itself throughout church history, and at the very end repeats one final time right before the second coming of Christ. The point then, seems to be in v.8, that in the text we’re looking at today, John is seeing the final manifestation of Babylon and the end has finally come. Therefore, the people of God are set to be liberated. The amazing thing to me about these verses, vv.6, 7, and 8, is that before the judgement you see God’s patience in calling unbelievers to come to Christ. ---- Application: I think there’s a really good take away in these verses for us in the here and now, especially when it comes to our sharing the gospel with unbelievers. We need to ask ourselves, “Are we patient with those to whom we witness?” Do we have a short fuse, beating them over the head with a Bible while trying to cram it down their throat? If so, we need to understand that we’re not going to reach anyone that way. Church, these verses tell us that God, who created everything, is patient, therefore, how much more so should we be, all the while never compromising the message of the gospel! The truth is that we have to warn people of the coming judgement, but at the same time we’ve got to be patient with them. ---- Look at vv.9-13. A third angel comes on to the scene and presents a warning. “9 … 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.” Notice the conditional first words of the angel’s statement, “If anyone worships the beast …” the point is that this is something you will not have to do; you will have a say in what happens here, and the direction you choose to turn will determine where you spend eternity. How can I say that, because of what the text says in vv.10 and 11, look at it, “10 he (that’s the one who chooses to follow the beast) also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he (again, the one who chooses to follow the beast) 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 (how long?) forever and ever (lit. αἰῶνας αἰώνων, for ages of ages) and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Now, that’s some pretty strong language concerning judgement isn’t it! ---- But take a look at what the text says next in vv.12 and 13. “12 Here is a call for the endurance (or perseverance) 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!”” Do you realize what these verses are telling you? ---- Because this is something that’s really important to wrap your mind around. Even in all of that language about judgement, vv.12 and 13 let us know that there’s a special blessing for those who remain true to the gospel during great persecution. These verses let us know that no matter what happens, even in death, God will keep those who belong to him.

Appeal: Doesn’t that give you hope? It certainly gives me hope! I’ll be the first to say that I don’t want to be a martyr, but it gives me a great measure of comfort to know that if that’s what I’m called to do God will keep me and be with me through it! Church, Paul meant exactly what he said when he wrote that nothing, not even death “will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39b, HCSB).

14:14-20 “Two Great Harvests”

Speaking of getting through it, let’s look at the last portion of chapter fourteen, vv.14-20. Now, from the outset I’ll tell you that there’s some disagreement among Bible scholars as to whether what’s written in these verses describes one harvest or two. Here’s the question phrased a different way, is this a picture of the harvest of the righteous given first (vv.14-16), and then a picture of the harvest and judgement of the wicked (vv.17-20), or do vv.14-16 introduce the harvest of the wicked, then vv.17-20 describe the resulting judgement? The reason some scholars see this as a picture of one harvest at the end of the age is because of its relationship and parallelism with what’s written in Joel 3:13. ---- So, which view is correct? ---- Even though it’s a hard choice for me to make, I tentatively think Revelation 14:14-20 is a description of two separate reapings. I take vv.14-16 as a picture of the ingathering of the righteous, and vv.17-20 as a picture of the gathering and judgement of the wicked, and here’s why. In v.14 you read about “One like the Son of Man” coming on a cloud. That’s a clear reference back to Daniel 7:13, and we can say with complete assurance that that’s a description of Jesus, a title that’s used for him. Why would it be different here? Some interpreters have a real issue with v.15 where the angel comes out of the heavenly temple and tells the Son of Man to harvest the earth, but in my mind that’s really not an issue. Then, in v.16 we’re told that “the earth was (reaped) harvested”. The description of the harvest in vv.14-16 stops there with nothing being said concerning judgement. To my mind that tells me that whatever we want to say about these verses, vv.14-16, the event pictured in these verses is complete. Then, in v.17 we’re told that “17 … another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.”. If these verses are describing the same event as vv.14-16, then why tells us that a separate angel also has a sharp sickle; why repeat that information? Then, if you keep reading on in vv.18-20 you end up with a horrifying picture of judgement, vv.19-20 saying, “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.”

Appeal / Conclusion: If you ask me, those last two verses there are pretty scary, and with that said, I want to pose a really straight forward question to you, which harvest do you want to be part of? Remember that little illustration I used at the beginning of this message about picking up potatoes in my grandfather’s garden? Well, I guess you could put it this way, which tater do you want to be, the one that gets take to the house or the one that gets throne to side to rot and decay. The truth, friend, is that the choice you make today concerning what you think about who Jesus is and what he’s done seals your fate as to which harvest your part of. So, what’s it going to be? The choice is yours.

Invitation

Closing Prayer