Revelation chapter 14 depicts a vision of the last seven plagues, the bowls of God's wrath. This final judgment is the Lamb's harvest of the earth. Revelation chapter 14 through Revelation 15:1-2 describe what the reward is for the faithful and persecuted saints, and the final punishment of their enemies. John interprets the sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7. Chapter 14 answers two pressing questions, what happens to those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast and are killed in verses 1-5, and what happens to the beast and his servants, described in Revelation chapter 14:6-20.
Revelation 14:1-5 English Standard Version
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 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. 2 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, 3 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. 4 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, 5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
Verses 1-5, Jesus Christ, the Lamb is standing in glory on God's holy mountain, in heaven. Jesus is standing beside His army, believers who have died in their faith, refusing to accept the mark of the beast. The new song they were singing celebrates God's triumph over sin through the Lamb. The phrase, "not defiled themselves with women," symbolizes the Old Testament commandment of God for the army of Israel to obstain from sexual relations prior to going into battle. Though portrayed as celibate males, the army here includes redeemed believers of both sexes who have remained spiritually pure and not worshipped the beast. Revelation chapter 14:1-5 is a fulfillment of Psalm 2:6 and Mount Zion, is the heavenly mountain of God, discussed in Hebrews 12:22-24.
Psalm 2:1-6 English Standard Version
The Reign of the Lord's Anointed
2 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The 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.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then 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.”
Hebrews 12:22-24 English Standard Version
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Revelation 14:6-7 English Standard Version
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 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. 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.”
The phrase in Verse 6, "angel flying directly overhead," or "angel flying in midheaven," to modern day readers disguises an ancient cosmological understanding of people living in John's day. Flying directly overhead, or in midheaven, means the angel appeared in the place where everyone on earth could see and hear the angel and what he was saying. This of course, requires the earth to be flat. The conception of a flat earth was the cosmological understanding of the earth in Roman times.
The gospel is "eternal" because it is the fulfillment of God's saving purposes for mankind, determined before the creation of the universe. It is also called an eternal gospel because the consequences of either believing or rejecting the gospel are eternal, heaven or hell.
Revelation 14:8-11 English Standard Version
8 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.” 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.”
Revelation chapter 14:8, all wicked world systems, including Rome, were called by the symbolic name "Babylon the Great." Babylon is the symbol of human civilization with all its pomp and circumstance organized in opposition to God. It is the sum total of pagan culture, social, intellectual, commercial, political and religious. It symbolizes all collective rebellion against God in any and every form. It symbolizes the world system of unbelief, idolatry and apostasy that opposes and persecutes believers in Jesus Christ.
In verse 9, this third angel also announces judgment. The verbs translated “worships” and “receives”, Rev 14:9, are both in the present tense, pointing to a continual, obstinate and thus final allegiance to the beast, in spite of the warnings issued in Rev 14:6-8. Those who choose to "drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality" in Revelation chapter 14:8, will also be forced to "drink the wine of God's wrath in Revelation chapter 14:10.
The intoxicating effect of drinking Babylon's wine is only temporary and will wear off. The effect of drinking the wine of God's wrath is eternal
Revelation 14:12-13 English Standard Version
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!”
These verses provide a motivation to believers to persevere, whether by pointing to the reality of judgment or to the promise of reward of eternal rest. Believers in John's days, especially in Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey, were often physically persecuted, sometimes to death. Jesus promised in His messages to the seven churches and to us, that believers must conquer the temptation to deny Jesus, even to the point of death.
The conflict between the beast and the saints in Revelation 14:6-11, confronts the nations with two choices; repent from idolatry, Rev 14:7, or face God's judgment on all who worship the beast, Rev 14:9-11. The result of this choice, the outcome of the conflict, is depicted in a new image, a traditional image of the end of time, the eschatological consummation of history, introduced at this point in Revelation.
Revelation 14:14-20 English Standard Version
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.
John presents this consummation of history in two forms, the grain harvest in Revelation chapter 14:14-16 and the grape harvest in Revelation 14:17-20.
This double image view of the harvest comes from Joel 3:13. Although this verse actually depicts the two stages of the grape harvest, the New Testament word most commonly used for the harvest is for the grain harvest.
John alludes to the Joel 3:13, and other verses, such as Isaiah 63:1-4 and Matthew 13:39-42, shown below, to draw two images of the harvest of the earth at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
John has used the two images of the harvest of the earth at the consummation of history to represent two different aspects of the harvest of the earth, the positive and the negative side. The positive side, the grain harvest is the gathering of the converted nations into Jesus Christ's kingdom and the negative aspect, represented by the grape harvest, is the final judgment of the unrepentant nations.
Joel 3:11-13 English Standard Version
11 Hasten and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves there. Bring down your warriors, O Lord. 12 Let the nations stir themselves upand come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great.
Matthew 13:36-43 English Standard Version
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Isaiah 63:1-4 English Standard Version
The Lord's Day of Vengeance
63 Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.” 2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? 3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.
The "great winepress of the wrath of God," Rev 14:19, connects with both "the wine of the passions of her sexual immorality," Rev 14:8 and the "cup of the wine of the anger of God poured undiluted into the cup of his wrath", Rev 14:10.
Babylon's wine is the corrupting way of life she offered the nations, enticing them to worship the beast.
The grain harvest connects to the 144,000 who "have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb" in Rev 14:4.
This kind of sacrifice of the grain, is the "first fruits" which was a sheath of wheat taken from the field and sacrificed to God, before the harvest of the field.
The descriptions of the harvest (grain) and the vintage (grapes) have a significant difference. The reaping of the grain is not considered a judgment, threshing and winnowing, would be, in that the wheat is separated from the chaff.
Treading the winepress is a symbol for judgment. The grain harvest occurs in only one action, reaping. The vintage has two actions, gathering grapes into the winepress and treading the grapes.
These two connect to the gathering of the kings of the earth and their armies to Armageddon, Rev 16:12-14 and the judgment of the nations in Rev 14:19-20.
The grain harvest is done by "one like the son of man, seated on a cloud and wearing a crown" Rev 14:14. The two actions of the vintage are performed by an angel, Rev 14:19 and one whose identity is not disclosed until Rev 19:11-16 depicting him as the divine warrior and judge.
The figure who reaps the grain, is Jesus Christ, Rev 1:13 and so is the one who treads the winepress, but the two images of Christ are different.
Perhaps the clearest and most understandable description of the end of days, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, is Revelation chapter 14.