Ripe For Harvest – Revelation 14:8-20

Revelation 14:8: “And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

Babylon forced nations to drink of her fornicating ways. What did her drink do for the nations? It brought upon them the wrath of God.

In Revelation 18:19, those who became rich by Babylon’s wealth lament and say, “In one hour she is made desolate.” Revelation 18:20 states that Babylon’s merchants were the great men of the earth because by her sorcery all the nations were deceived. According to what I see happening nowadays, people were likely deceived to buy and sell goods and services that they didn’t need, and that were actually harmful to their wellbeing.

God had a similar message for the Babylon of Jeremiah’ day. In Jeremiah 51:6-8, he prophesied, “This is the time of the Lord’s vengeance. He shall recompense her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine. Therefore the nations are deranged. Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed. Wail for her!”

In Revelation 18:20, heaven, holy apostles and prophets are told to rejoice because God has taken vengeance on Babylon on their behalf. In Revelation 18:24, the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth were found in Babylon.

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus said that a wise man hears His sayings and practices them. A fool does not. A wise man’s house is comparable to a house built on a rock while a fool’s house is comparable to a house built on shifting sands. The fool’s house will not stand during times of storms but wiseman’s house will. Babylon’s prideful pomp will fall quite suddenly like a house made of cards. Those who stand with Christ will stand forever.

Revelation 14:9-11: “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’”

A cup filled full strength with God’s wrath (not diluted with mercy) is poured out on those who worship other gods. In Psalms 11:6, David wrote that God shall rain fire and brimstone on the wicked. “This shall be the portion of their cup.” Psalms 75:8 says, “In the hand of the Lord there is a cup... all the wicked... shall drink...” In Jeremiah 25:15, the Lord said to Jeremiah, “Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.”

In Matthew 20:22, Jesus asked, “Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?” In Matthew 20:26, Jesus prayed, ‘O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as You will.’” Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath that was meant for us sinners. When we believe in Jesus, the wrath we deserve for our sin, is paid in full by Him.

God’s wrath against sin is great. In Matthew 13:41-42, Jesus prophesied, saying, “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity ... and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

The Lord gave a similar word to John in Revelation 13:10. He said, “Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” He said this in lieu of His judgments on the kingdoms of the world. As God’s plagues on Egypt were a series of events culminating with Israel’s freedom, so God’s end times plagues on the world will culminate with Christ followers being freed from evil to be with God.

It is likely that just as people mocked Noah for building a boat on dryland, so they will mock last days Christians for holding to “that old time religion, that was good enough for Paul and Silas.”

Revelation 14:13: “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’”

In Hebrews 4:11, the Lord encourages us in His Word to make every effort to enter the rest. We enter the rest of God by believing what He has taught us. We trust in His ability, not our own.

Only God is able to transport a soul from this life to the next one. We must not be like the people in Isaiah’s day. In Isaiah 7:2, they were shaking as trees shake in the wind. So, the Lord gave them a sign: a virgin would conceive a child. His Name is called Immanuel (God with us).

Revelation 14:14-16: “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’ So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.”

This first harvest is the harvest of believers in Christ. They are good fruit. The Son of Man on the cloud is Jesus Christ. He brings in the harvest of souls to God His Father.

In Revelation 1:7, it is written, “Behold, He [Jesus] comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him...” In Luke 21:27, Jesus said, “They shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” In Daniel 7:13, it is written, “I saw in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven.”

In Mark 4:29, Jesus said, “When the fruit is brought forth, immediately He puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” In Matthew 13:39, Jesus said, “The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” They collect what the sickle has cut down.

Revelation 14:17-20: “Then another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.’ So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for 1,600 furlongs.”

“The vine of the earth” is condemned because its fruit is not from God. Apart from Christ people produce bad grapes. They try to save themselves apart from Christ but fail. In the Gospels, our Lord’s strongest words of condemnation are towards imposters.

In Deuteronomy 32:32-33, the Lord says, “Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter... Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.”

In Isaiah 5:5, it is written, “He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.”

In Isaiah 63:3-4, the Lord says, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.”

In Joel 3:13-14, the Lord says, “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.”

A scholar named Bengel believes the 1,600 furlongs area is the valley of Kidron, between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. His view agrees with Joel’s prophecy that the valley of Jehoshaphat is where the antichrist will be overthrown.

In Jeremiah 25:30, it is written, “‘The Lord... will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.”

In Jeremiah 51:33, the Lord says, “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her. Yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.”

Concerning the phrase, “blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for 1,600 furlongs,” the Lord said in Isaiah 26:21, “For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.”

In Revelation 14:13, the Lord gave to John a word for the wise, saying, “Write: blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” The key to being in the first ingathering, the one that ascends to be with the Lord, is to “die in the Lord.” Be in Him! Be in Christ! Abide in Him and in His Word, and you will rest from your labors and your works will not be burned up. They will follow you. They will yield blessings for you and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.