4. THE HARVEST AND VINTAGE Revelation 14:14-20 14 And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man,--In this paragraph the saints are further encouraged by a symbolic description of the final judgment on both good and bad. Harvest is a common figure used to indicate the final separation of the two classes. "He will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire" are the words of John the Baptist. (Matthew 3:12.) "The harvest is the end of the world." (Matthew 13:39.) The expression "like unto a son of man" is found in Daniel 7:13 and Revelation 1:13. Since verses 17 and 18 of the latter chapter clearly show Christ to be the one meant, it is safe to presume it means Christ in all three passages. Jesus frequently referred to himself as the "Son of man." (Matthew 8:20; Matthew 9:6; Matthew 10:23; Matthew 11:19.) The person John saw in the vision was either Jesus or one that represented him by resemblance. That this vision pictured the coming of Christ at the judgment is evident from what is said about the harvest and the vintage. That the symbol should represent him as coming on a cloud harmonizes with the plain language that describes his return. When he ascended "a cloud received him out of their sight," and two men (probably angels) told the apostles he would "so come in like manner" as they beheld him going into heaven. (Acts 1:9-11.) Appearing upon a white cloud at the judgment is just what we would expect from what the Scriptures say of his return. having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.--The crown upon his head indicates that Christ had become a victor--conquered his enemies and his truth was now ready to be finally vindicated. Since the whole vision includes the judgment, Christ's royal or kingly power is also implied. In Matthew 25:31-46, where the judgment is described in plain words, Christ is represented as sitting upon the "throne of his glory" when the nations appear to hear their destinies declared. The word "throne" here does not signify Christ's reigning, but his judging--passing sentence upon the wicked and announcing the reward of the good. Sickle is the implement with which grain is cut, or vines are pruned. It is, therefore, an appropriate emblem to indicate the harvesting of the righteous or the cutting off of the wicked. 15 And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud,--This makes the fourth angel that is mentioned in this chapter. (Verses 6, 8, 9.) He appeared to John as coming out of the temple. (See Revelation 11:19.) The most holy place of the temple represented heaven, the very dwelling place of God. This angel in the vision bringing the command from God to him who sat upon the cloud means that the time had come for God to announce the judgment. As only the Father, according to Christ's own words, knows the time for Christ's return (Acts 1:7; Matthew 24:36), the command for it would naturally come from the Father. The angel was only the messenger by whom the command was given. Using a great (loud) voice may indicate that it was designed for all to hear, for the judgment pertained to all. Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.--Send forth the sickle means do the reaping. The hour has come shows that the time God had in his own mind for the judgment and end of the work had arrived. It was fitting that the command to reap should be given to Christ, for he was the sower who scattered God's word as seed. He was the proper one to harvest it. All that will be saved will be through that word. The harvest being ripe means that everything is ready for gathering the saved into heaven's garner. 16 And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.--This verse tells us that the thing commanded was done--the earth was reaped. This part of the vision depicts the end of time and what will occur so far as the righteous are concerned. 17 And another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.--Again John sees another angel come out from the temple, which is plainly stated as being in heaven. A peculiarity of this angel is that he also is said to have a sharp sickle. Regarding the harvest and the end of the world, Jesus said that "the reapers are angels." (Matthew 13:39.) Perhaps the whole truth may be stated by saying that Jesus was to reap through the angels as his agents. The figure of the harvest, by its very nature, would include both good and bad--wheat and chaff; but that of the vintage refers only to the wicked. The point in the emblem is not the preservation of the clusters, but the pressing out of the juice which represents the condemnation of the wicked. This figure is thus applied by Joel. "Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great." (Joe 3:13.) 18 And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying,--This is the sixth angel mentioned in this chapter. The brazen altar stood in the outer court before the temple. It was the place where burnt offerings were presented to God. The work to be done was destructive in its nature, and the altar of burnt offerings was the appropriate place from which the angel should come. Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.--This means that the clusters were to be cut off and cast into the wine press. Being fully ripe means that wickedness had continued till it was the proper time to remove the sinners from the earth. Sin had reached the full limit to which God's mercy would allow it to come. 19 And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God.--In this symbol John saw the angel obeying the command and casting the clusters into the wine press. Crushing the grapes and the red juice flowing like streams of blood was a most striking emblem of destruction. It forcefully represented the overthrow and final rejection of the wicked. The vintage of the earth would be the wicked part of the earth. The wine press of God's wrath means that the wicked will be forced to feel the power of God's righteous indignation, when they find themselves rejected. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the. bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs.--In the vision John saw the juice pressed out with men's feet, which was the method used at that time. Wine presses were usually placed in vineyards, not in cities; hence, the statement that it was without the city. Apparently there is no figurative' significance in that fact unless it be the final separation of the wicked from the righteous. The city of Jerusalem represented the final city of God, the home of the saved, and of course the lost are without that city. The text says blood came out. In this expression the symbol--juice of the grape--is dropped and what it represents is stated. Blood, however, is but a symbol of the overflowing of the wicked--their final rejection. The wine press was called great because of the immense number of the lost. The flowing of the juice, like blood in a great battle, looked to John like a great lake, sixteen hundred furlongs and up to the bridles of horses in depth. If this measurement means a square, the surface covered was two hundred miles square. It indicates the immense, even countless multitudes, that will be lost when God's wrath is finally poured out upon the wicked. This is the last, sad event in the experience of the condemned before entering their final state. It was designed to encourage the saints in their trials by the assurance that in God's own time they would be finally relieved of their persecutions--their persecutors would depart from them forever. The ultimate happiness of the faithful in Christ is the especial lesson pictured in the symbols of this chapter. LESSON 19. THE LAMB AND THE Read Rev. 14 1. Where did John see the Lamb standing? Ans. Revelation 14:1. 2. Who was with him? Ans. Revelation 14:1. 3. What was written on their foreheads? Ans. Revelation 14:1. 4. The voice from heaven sounded like what three things? Ans. Revelation 14:2. 5. The one hundred and forty-four thousand sang the new song before whom? Ans. Revelation 14:3. 6. Who alone could learn that new song? Ans. Revelation 14:3. 7. Who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand singers? Ans. Revelation 14:4-5. 8. What was the mission of the angel flying in the midst of heaven? Ans. Revelation 14:6. 9. What was his message? Ans. Revelation 14:7. 10. Give the proclamation of the angel that followed. Ans. Revelation 14:8. 11. Give the message proclaimed by the third angel. Ans. Revelation 14:9-11. 12. What two things are the saints to keep? Ans. Revelation 14:12. 13. What was John told to write concerning the righteous dead? Ans. Revelation 14:13. 14. Describe the one who sat on a "white cloud." Ans. Revelation 14:14. 15. What did the angel from the temple tell him to do? Ans. Revelation 14:15-16. 16. From where, and with what, did another angel come? Ans. Revelation 14:17. 17. What was the angel with the sharp sickle told to do? Ans. Revelation 14:18. 18. What then was gathered in? Ans. Revelation 14:19. 19. What can you say of the amount of blood that came from the trodden winepress? Ans. Revelation 14:20.