(4) The harvest of grain and vintage--14:14-20. From the beatitude of the blessed dead in verse 13, the apocalypse turns to symbols of reward and retribution respectively for the living in the earth. As before repeated, the earth in Revelation imagery referred to the land of which Jerusalem was the center--Judea and all of Palestine, the scene of these visions of the persecuted church. The harvest of the grain symbolized the rich reward for the faithful still living in the church; the vintage of grapes signified retribution of the wrath of God for the enemies of the church. Indulging here in repetition, it is necessary to keep in perspective the fact that this fourteenth chapter is a prolepsis--an interposition between the parts of the apocalypse, relating events out of sequence, on the order of reading the last chapter of a novel first to see how the story ends. So this latter part of chapter fourteen envisioned scenes at the end of the apocalypse of the compensations of reward for the faithfulness of the saints in symbols of reaping the harvest of grain; then the retribution of wrath for the oppressors of the church represented by casting the vintage of grapes into the winepress. With these essential considerations in mind, the latter part of this chapter may be epitomized as follows: 1. The Son of man on the white cloud was Jesus Christ. He alone is called by that title in Revelation--and in one other place only, in the vision of the golden candlesticks of chapter 1:13. The white cloud of this chapter was the same symbol as was mentioned by the Lord himself in Matthew 24:30 : “ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” It identifies the Revelation symbol with the Lord’ s description of the destruction of Jerusalem. The passage in Matthew 24:1-51 states that “ all the tribes of the earth shall mourn,” which is parallel with Revelation 1:7 :: “ Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him: and all the tribes of the earth shall wail (mourn) because of him.” As mentioned in the comments on this verse in chapter 1, the passages had reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the mourning of all Jewish tribes and families all over the world, because of that calamity which had befallen their city and their state in the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem. There is a further parallel between the vision of chapters 6:2 and 14: 14. Christ was the Rider of the white horse vision of chapter 6, and He was the Reaper of the white cloud vision of chapter 14--both visions being the scenes of triumphant procedure, picturing the conquering of the imperial persecutor and his minions. The Son of man had in his hand a golden crown--the symbol of the highest royalty, identifying him as the King of heaven, above all potentates of the earth, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. He had in his hand a sharp sickle --the symbol of reaping. The sickle was a harvesting implement comparable to the scythe of our time, which was unknown in scripture language. They are both instruments swung by hand in the mowing of ripened grain. The one sitting on the white cloud had come to reap the harvest of the earth--meaning Jerusalem and Judea.