Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 14:14–20 (ESV)

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.

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.”

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

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.”

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.

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.

So tonight, we will finish the fourth vision cycle.

Last time we were together, we considered the three angels and their pronouncements of judgment.

Tonight we will see the final salvation of God’s people and the final judgment of the wicked.

Now this vision cycle began back in chapter 12 where John saw the history of redemption through Christ’s ascension symbolized by the woman and the child and the dragon.

We then saw the history of redemption since the time of Christ’s ascension through the present day.

And we saw that since Christ’s ascension, we have been at war with the powers of darkness - with Satan and the worldly powers he is king over and the deceit of false religion, which were represented by the two beasts.

And we saw that our part in this war as the people of God - sealed by the Holy Spirit, and with Christ present with us - is to persevere until the end bringing the Gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins to the end of the earth until Christ’s physical return.

This is the endurance of the saints that we saw in verse 12:

And what we saw, was that the Gospel will save those God has elected to eternal life - but it will be a means of judgment for the reprobate.

They will be punished for their failure to believe in Christ.

This is why the three angels pronounced judgment on the world - on those who worship the sea beast.

Because there will be a final judgment for all who worship anything other than Christ.

And there will come a final salvation.

Those who endure to the end will be saved and either raptured or physically resurrected at Christ’s return, and those who have earned judgment will be physically raised and thrown into eternal torment.

This will all happen at Christ’s return, which is what John sees next:

So once again John sees a cloud.

It is the first thing he mentions here.

And once again this cloud points us to the identity of the One sitting on it.

We have this connection made in the book of Revelation a couple of times.

Right at the outset, John addresses the book to the seven churches and says that the book is also from Christ:

Revelation 1:4–7 (ESV)

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

Even so.

Amen.

When Christ comes, John says, He will come with the clouds, and it will make the unsaved wail.

But John knows that it will mean the salvation of the elect, which is why he says “even so, amen!” Or, “even so, let it be!”

So John says here that when Christ comes, He is coming with the clouds.

We saw in chapter 10, near the end of the third vision cycle containing the seven trumpets, that John describes the One Who gives him this revelation and tells him that he will have to do it again.

And if you’ll remember, this is Christ.

And when He descends in the cloud, He gives John that scroll that represented revelation from God, and we read:

Revelation 10:8–10 (ESV)

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll.

And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it.

It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.

And if you’ll remember, I said that I believed that what was on the scroll was a description of the seven bowls of God’s wrath, which we will see in the next vision cycle.

And the reason that the scroll was sweet in John’s mouth - it was sweet at first - is because, as we will see, the vision begins with the final salvation of the elect.

And the reason it turns bitter in his stomach - after he has a moment to digest what is being revealed - is because it describes in detail the punishment of the wicked.

When Jesus comes, those of the earth will see Him and wail on account of Him.

Even so, let it be, because our salvation will be complete.

So twice already in the book of Revelation, we have seen the cloud motif point to Christ’s Second Coming.

Here we have the third:

But realize, this cloud motif is not original to the book of Revelation.

In fact, it is used to refer to both the presence of God and the judgment of God throughout the Bible.

First, let’s go back to the book of Genesis, right after the Flood.

God had just destroyed mankind, except for Noah and his family.

And when they come off the Ark, God gives them their marching orders:

This is a restating of the creation mandate that was given to Adam, which as we know, he failed in.

So God was starting over with Noah and his family.

And they fail too.

And so does all of reconstituted mankind with the Tower of Babel.

That’s why God - as judgment - fills the earth with them.

But God made a covenant with Noah that He would never again judge mankind with a flood.

And as a sign, God gives the rainbow:

Genesis 9:11–16 (ESV)

I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh.

And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

And that “bow” is an archer’s bow.

It is what shoots arrows.

God faced His weapon of war away from the earth.

And He set it, He says, in the cloud - singular.

It will be seen when the clouds - plural - are seen, but it is set in "the” cloud.

And note that God does not tell us He gave the rainbow to remind us of His mercy and grace in never destroying the world with a Flood again.

He says it is a reminder for Him that He promised to never destroy the earth with a Flood.

Put a pin in that for a moment.

Because there’s more: in the Old Testament, a cloud was used to represent the presence of God.

After the Exodus, God led Israel in the form of a cloud by day:

When God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, He descended in a cloud:

When God’s presence entered the Tabernacle, it was in the form of a cloud:

When He entered the Temple many generations later, His presence was represented by a cloud:

And note that the cloud is identified in the Tabernacle and the Temple with the glory of the Lord.

It is a manifestation of God’s glory and very presence.

This is what Ezekiel saw in his vision of the glory of God:

And Ezekiel goes on to describe some very hard to understand things - creatures and wheels in wheels - and he goes on to say this:

Ezekiel 1:26–28 (ESV)

And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.

And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around.

And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

So Ezekiel calls the glory of the Lord this divine but human king in a cloud - the glory of which he likens to a rainbow.

And let’s not forget what we saw already in the book of Revelation.

When Christ comes in the third cycle, He is:

Revelation 10:1 (ESV)