Calvary Chapel Puerto Rico
APOCALYPSE: The Reaping of the Earth! - Revelation 14:14-20
Locations & Times
Los Jardines Shopping Center, Calle Marginal, Guaynabo, 00969, Calle A, Guaynabo, 00966, Puerto Rico
Wednesday 7:00 PM
Message Outline
1. The WHEAT of God's Grace! (v.14-16)
2. The GRAPES of God's Wrath! (v.17-20)
1. The WHEAT of God's Grace! (v.14-16)
2. The GRAPES of God's Wrath! (v.17-20)
1 - The WHEAT of God's Grace! (v.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.
-"Judgment" over 500x and "judge" is found 188x in the Bible.
-"angel" or "angels" appear almost 300x in Scripture.
-"harvest" or "harvesting" appears 71x in the Bible
This imagery of the HARVEST was very common in ancient times, especially in the nation of Israel. They were common agrarians. They lived off the land.
If you were to ask the average Christian about what HARVEST means, they would say "evangelism" probably. It's the time where we bring people in and harvest souls for Jesus Christ.
Matt 9:37-38 - “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
John 4:34-35 - "Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"
The idea of the HARVEST in the Bible is the time of JUDGEMENT. It's usually an image of judgment upon the earth, a final judgment upon a nation, upon an individual, or upon the world. Here in Rev 14, it's the reaping of the earth, harvest time is judgment time. Here are some other examples from Scripture:
JEREMIAH - Jer 51:33 - "..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."
JOHN BAPTIST - Matt 3:11-12 - "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
JESUS CHRIST - Matt 13:30 - ".. the harvest is the end of the age. The reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Jesus taught the field of judgment is the world. The harvest, He said, is the end of the age or the end of the world."
This HARVEST is personally supervised, by this Son of Man - Jesus Christ!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as A LAMB. The second time, He'll be A LION!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as One OBEYING. The second time, He'll be COMMANDING!
-The first time He came, He came in HUMILITY. The second time, He'll come in MAJESTY!
-The first time He came to SAVE the lost, the second time, He'll come to SENTENCE the lost!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as THE SOWER. The second time...AS THE REAPER!
The word is used here for "ripe" is the word "dry, withered, overripe, rotten might be a translation". The sickle would be taken out and thrust into the dry stocks of wheat and they would be cut and then they would be separated.
That is the condition of the world today, isn't it? It's ripe. It's rotten. It's overripe. Withered, dry. And it will be the condition that marks the world at the time of the end and the only response God could have to it is to put in a sickle of judgment because it's dry, it's withered.
Jesus spoke of this Tribulation HARVEST during His teaching on the "Kingdom Parables":
Matt 13:24-30 - "Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’
Since we are compared to WHEAT and unbelievers to TARES, have you ever thought how Christians and wheat are similar?
-When wheat ripens the heads become BOWED DOWN with weight. You can also tell that the wheat is ready to pick because the tops of them are bowed. At first, they're straight up. At the end, they're bowed down. (Tares stand tall & proud)
-The hot sun RIPENS the grain of the wheat. In fact, the hotter the sun gets, the quicker the ripening process gets. Or you might say, the better it gets. (Tares only get dryer)
-As wheat ripens upward, it DIES downward. The riper the head becomes, the stalk which holds it, the root which supports it, dies. So it has less of a grip on the earth, as it is ripening at the time of the end.
"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.
-"Judgment" over 500x and "judge" is found 188x in the Bible.
-"angel" or "angels" appear almost 300x in Scripture.
-"harvest" or "harvesting" appears 71x in the Bible
This imagery of the HARVEST was very common in ancient times, especially in the nation of Israel. They were common agrarians. They lived off the land.
If you were to ask the average Christian about what HARVEST means, they would say "evangelism" probably. It's the time where we bring people in and harvest souls for Jesus Christ.
Matt 9:37-38 - “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
John 4:34-35 - "Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"
The idea of the HARVEST in the Bible is the time of JUDGEMENT. It's usually an image of judgment upon the earth, a final judgment upon a nation, upon an individual, or upon the world. Here in Rev 14, it's the reaping of the earth, harvest time is judgment time. Here are some other examples from Scripture:
JEREMIAH - Jer 51:33 - "..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."
JOHN BAPTIST - Matt 3:11-12 - "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
JESUS CHRIST - Matt 13:30 - ".. the harvest is the end of the age. The reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. Jesus taught the field of judgment is the world. The harvest, He said, is the end of the age or the end of the world."
This HARVEST is personally supervised, by this Son of Man - Jesus Christ!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as A LAMB. The second time, He'll be A LION!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as One OBEYING. The second time, He'll be COMMANDING!
-The first time He came, He came in HUMILITY. The second time, He'll come in MAJESTY!
-The first time He came to SAVE the lost, the second time, He'll come to SENTENCE the lost!
-The first time Jesus came, He came as THE SOWER. The second time...AS THE REAPER!
The word is used here for "ripe" is the word "dry, withered, overripe, rotten might be a translation". The sickle would be taken out and thrust into the dry stocks of wheat and they would be cut and then they would be separated.
That is the condition of the world today, isn't it? It's ripe. It's rotten. It's overripe. Withered, dry. And it will be the condition that marks the world at the time of the end and the only response God could have to it is to put in a sickle of judgment because it's dry, it's withered.
Jesus spoke of this Tribulation HARVEST during His teaching on the "Kingdom Parables":
Matt 13:24-30 - "Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’
Since we are compared to WHEAT and unbelievers to TARES, have you ever thought how Christians and wheat are similar?
-When wheat ripens the heads become BOWED DOWN with weight. You can also tell that the wheat is ready to pick because the tops of them are bowed. At first, they're straight up. At the end, they're bowed down. (Tares stand tall & proud)
-The hot sun RIPENS the grain of the wheat. In fact, the hotter the sun gets, the quicker the ripening process gets. Or you might say, the better it gets. (Tares only get dryer)
-As wheat ripens upward, it DIES downward. The riper the head becomes, the stalk which holds it, the root which supports it, dies. So it has less of a grip on the earth, as it is ripening at the time of the end.
2 - The GRAPES of God's Wrath! (v.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 one thousand six hundred furlongs."
This is the second harvest, and is different from the first. The first was the reaping of the WHEAT, but this is the harvest of the GRAPES. The harvest of the grapes, takes place in the summer from July to September. The summer was the time of the harvest for the grapes. People would leave the village, you'd see them all over the grape fields, they'd be picking, putting them in the buckets, taking them to the winepress. They would throw all of the grapes into the winepress together. They wouldn't separate them. Numerous people would get in this winepress, a cistern cut out of rock with a channel and hole that juice could drain through, and people would jump, pounce, and even dance all over the grapes. The grape juice would be spattering all the way up, several feet, all over their clothes, all over the rocks and the surrounding of the winepress.
This imagery GRAPES as a picture of intense JUDGEMENT is throughout the OT:
-Joel 3:13 - "..put in the sickle for 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."
-Isa 63:1-6 NLT - "Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes, marching in his great strength? It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation! It is I, the Lord, who has the power to save!” Why are your clothes so red, as if you have been treading out grapes? I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes. For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors. I was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm, and my wrath sustained me. I crushed the nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling their blood upon the earth.”
This particular event is thought by most to be the Battle of ARMAGEDDON:
Zech 14:1-2,3, - "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem...Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle...
Rev 16:13-16 - "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon."
"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 one thousand six hundred furlongs."
This is the second harvest, and is different from the first. The first was the reaping of the WHEAT, but this is the harvest of the GRAPES. The harvest of the grapes, takes place in the summer from July to September. The summer was the time of the harvest for the grapes. People would leave the village, you'd see them all over the grape fields, they'd be picking, putting them in the buckets, taking them to the winepress. They would throw all of the grapes into the winepress together. They wouldn't separate them. Numerous people would get in this winepress, a cistern cut out of rock with a channel and hole that juice could drain through, and people would jump, pounce, and even dance all over the grapes. The grape juice would be spattering all the way up, several feet, all over their clothes, all over the rocks and the surrounding of the winepress.
This imagery GRAPES as a picture of intense JUDGEMENT is throughout the OT:
-Joel 3:13 - "..put in the sickle for 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."
-Isa 63:1-6 NLT - "Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes, marching in his great strength? It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation! It is I, the Lord, who has the power to save!” Why are your clothes so red, as if you have been treading out grapes? I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes. For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors. I was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm, and my wrath sustained me. I crushed the nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling their blood upon the earth.”
This particular event is thought by most to be the Battle of ARMAGEDDON:
Zech 14:1-2,3, - "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem...Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle...
Rev 16:13-16 - "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon."
SOME APPLICATIONS TO CONSIDER:
-Are YOU wheat...or a tare?!?
-Are YOU bowing down to Christ, ripening for Heaven, and loosening YOUR grip on earth?
-Are YOU loving people enough to WARN your loved ones of God's holy righteous WRATH?!?
-Do YOU take comfort in the fact that ALL EVIL will be judged and punished by Christ?!?
-Are YOU wheat...or a tare?!?
-Are YOU bowing down to Christ, ripening for Heaven, and loosening YOUR grip on earth?
-Are YOU loving people enough to WARN your loved ones of God's holy righteous WRATH?!?
-Do YOU take comfort in the fact that ALL EVIL will be judged and punished by Christ?!?