24/06/18 Revelation 14:13-20 “The slaughterhouse of
Armageddon”
Revelation 14:13 – And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are]
the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that
they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
Vs 13 does appear to just follow on from Vs 12, but then Vs 14 appears then to follow on from Vs 13. In fact, Revelation Ch.14 reads as one single account yet looking at both sides of the equation, the saved redeemed, and the lost condemned.
Blessed – or “How happy” Note its use in the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-11. Here we have but one more “beatitude”. And why are they supposed to be so happy? Because they are those dead who have died in the Lord from henceforth (or from that point in time on). It is clear that all who die in the Lord will be blessed, even before this time, but in some way those who are to die from this point onward (from henceforth) are to be especially blessed.
In the context of what’s about to happen, it may well be that this is going to be a particularly bad session of tribulation coming up. Those who serve satan by marching into battle with the antichrist’s army at Armageddon are about to get slaughtered, literally butchered, but not before they have inflicted terrible punishment upon those who still resist them, especially those in Jerusalem who oppose them. Those of Israel who have returned from the wilderness and have given glory to God after the earthquake of Revelation 11:13, are now defending God’s city against an army of unimaginable size and power. They are outnumbered probably thousands to one, yet they have God on their side.
However, before the actual second coming of Christ, the city of Jerusalem will be taken and half of the inhabitants will be captured. Houses will be stripped of their possessions and people will be tortured and abused. The other half (the residue) will not be cut off from the city but will manage to hold on until the second coming of their Messiah who will then provide a way of escape and fight for His people.
Zechariah 14:1-5 – 1
Behold, the day of the Lord
cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For
I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be
taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city
shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut
off from the city. 3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight
against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And
his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before
Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very
great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half
of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee [to] the
valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal:
yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of
Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, [and] all the
saints with thee.
that they may rest from their labours – Hebrews 4:9-11 – 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
their works do follow them – Their reward follows with them to heaven (Matthew 5:12); it is laid up in heaven instead of being used here on earth (Matthew 6:19-21); we must be judged on what we have done, good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Revelation 14:14 – And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Those who have died in the Lord will be allocated their rewards. Now the earth will be harvested (see next Vs) because its time is fulfilled; its end-fruits are now ripe, and ready to be picked and judged. Some say this is the harvest of the righteous before the harvest of the unrighteous later on. But, the stephanos crown does seem to signify victory, especially over enemies, and one would expect that if these were the righteous of the earth, then they would be described as such, rather than just being the harvest of the earth (Vs 15). Others say that it is the general harvest of the earth in general, a time of winding up all the affairs of the earth, separating the sheep from the goats, assessing all to do with the earth.
Jesus is seen as the one who comes with His winnowing fan (or shovel) in His hand to separate the wheat (God’s people) from the chaff (the wicked ones).
Matthew 3:12 – Whose fan
[is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge
his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire.
fan – winnowing shovel; it was like a pitchfork but made of wood. It was used to throw the crop into the air and the wind would blow the chaff to one side while the wheat, being heavier, would fall to the floor and be gathered. Any method of throwing the wheat crop into the air to separate it could be used. This was termed wind winnowing.
Note the judgment of the works of all mankind in 2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things [done] in [his] body, according to that he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.
It is likely that this harvest is a general one, although I tend to see it as still having more to do with the reaping of the unrighteous fruit ready for its destruction, because there is just so much more wickedness in the earth now than there is good. These are evil times!
A view taken by some is that this reaping is only of the wicked, that those who defy the Lord will receive their allocated rewards for their extreme disobedience. However, Vs 17 suggests that there will be a separate, more specific judgment upon those who oppose God and His people at Armageddon. Firstly, the whole earth will be harvested (Vs 14), all will be assessed as either good or bad (note the resurrection of all mankind for either life or death in John 5:26-29). Note also the parable of the fish in the net; all are gathered, and then the bad ones rejected.
Matthew 13:47-50 – 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, 50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then secondly, the more specific harvest or judgment of Armageddon is dealt out (Vs 17).
The golden crown (stephanos) signifies victory, rather than rulership. The sharp sickle signifies that the harvest is ready and the harvesting implement has been sharpened for efficient use (“sharp” can also mean swift or quick). The sickle was used to slice off whole bunches of ripe grapes at a time, or a great swathe of other crops. The word “sickle” means a pruning hook, or a hooked pruning knife such as reapers and vinedressers use.
This verse pictures Christ the Messiah as the peoples of earth will see Him when he comes again; life and blessing for some, and death and cursing for the rest.
Matthew 24:30 – And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and 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. (Also see John 5:26-29 below.)
The Son of man signifies Christ’s authority to execute judgment upon the earth.
John 5:26-27 – 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
The one who comes with the clouds of heaven is the one who will reign over all the peoples of the earth for all time (eternity).
Daniel 7:13-14 – 13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.
Note that “white” is leukos (light; bright; brilliant (from whiteness); dazzling) This white cloud is brilliantly white, glaringly so! This signifies the great glory of His second coming.
Revelation 14:15 – And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
The temple here is in heaven – see Vs 17 below. The angel cries with a megas-phone (loud voice) to the Son of man (who would be the actual reaper here), the one sitting on the dazzlingly glorious cloud, “Thrust in your pruning hook and reap (the harvest) for the time is just right for their harvesting; the earth’s harvest is ripe.”
Mark 4:29 – But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
This could be simply the winding up of the earth’s affairs at the end of this age, or it could mean (or include) a general time of accounting for those who have considered themselves above the law for a long time. Note the Psalm of Asaph where he bemoans the ease with which the wicked get away with breaking the law, yet in the end he notes that their feet are set in slippery places. That is, while they may seem invincible, above the law, their time will come when their feet start sliding and they will not be able to stop their downhill slide until they hit destruction at the bottom.
Psalm 73:17-18 – 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; [then] understood I their end. 18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
The end is drawing near; Armageddon is upon them, and the short time that the enemy had is now just about all used up. This age is about to draw to a close. The time for judgment has now arrived; there will be no more delay. If the harvest is left too long, it will be spoiled. However, it does seem that this is a general harvest of the earth; all things will be drawn into the net in order to be brought into judgment. And mostly things now are very evil rather than good!
Ecclesiastes 12:14 – For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.
Revelation 14:16 – And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
And the Son of man who sat upon the dazzlingly white cloud thrust in His sickle and the earth, with all its fruit, both good and bad over all the centuries, was reaped.
All things will come to an end and all things have been given into the hand of the Son; not one will escape the final judgment, some to life and the rest to death.
John 5:26-29 – 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Revelation 14:17 – And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Another sickle is mentioned here; it is likely that the previous sickle was a general reaping of judgment upon the earth, but this sickle represents the particular specific judgment that is about to be unleashed upon those armies of the world who have joined together in order to make war with Jerusalem and the people of God, Israel. This isn’t just a general reaping and judgment of all the earth; that appears to have already taken place. And not all the wicked seem to be dealt with here; there will be many on the earth who are opposed to God, who won’t be at Armageddon. This reaping appears to be for just that huge army of the antichrist whose ambition is to destroy the people of God and take the city of God, Jerusalem, for himself. This huge army will be slaughtered with so much blood spilled that it is pictured in this passage as red grape juice in a huge winepress, plentiful and free-flowing. It won’t be dripping blood; it’ll be splashing blood all over the place.
Revelation 14:18 – And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
This appears to be an angel who has the responsibility of tending the fire on the altar before the throne of God. Note the angel of the waters in Revelation 16:5.
cried with a loud cry – called out with a loud clamour
This angel calls out to the angel with the sickle in Vs 17, telling him to thrust it in and slice off the clusters of grapes on the vines, because they are fully ripe and full of juice (which will be red, symbolising blood).
People are often depicted as grapes in the Bible; note Isaiah 5:4 where Israel is the vineyard and Judah are the grape-vines. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
Also note the parable of the vine and the branches in John 15:1-6.
This crop of grapes is harvested from that great battle of Armageddon, where it seems that at least 200,000,000 (or maybe 2 or 3 times as many) soldiers are gathered to fight against that city of God, Jerusalem. Satan, through his antichrist, has gathered all the forces that he can muster; this is “all or nothing” time! He has to win this battle or go down trying. His time has run out and the game of dominion over the earth is about to end in favour of God and man, in particular those of mankind who would choose to be God’s people for all eternity. Satan will throw all his resources against God’s people, greatly outnumbering them, yet will still lose, once the champion of God’s people, Christ the Messiah, returns to take the victory. The antichrist will briefly take Jerusalem, and capture half its population, yet will get no further, because at this point Christ returns and totally wipes out the enemy forces. It will be literally a blood-bath. These grapes are ripe and when trodden will release a lot of red grape juice into that great winepress of the wrath of God.
It is notable that this angel is doing the reaping, yet it is Christ, the Son of man, who does the reaping of the previous harvest. Christ will be the judge of all mankind; therefore, He reaps the earth to assess it, winnowing the chaff from the wheat. But it may be assumed that in this current verse the angel is reaping because the harvest has already been judged. All mankind (all the earth) has been harvested and judged; now this angel merely delivers the judgment already pronounced by the Son of man in His reaping of the earth.
Revelation 14:19 – And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Jesus is depicted in the Old Testament as the one who treads the winepress of the wrath of God.
Isaiah 63:1-6 – 1
Who [is] this that cometh
from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this [that
is] glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I
that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. 2 Wherefore [art
thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? 3
I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none
with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and
trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain all my raiment. 4 For the day of vengeance [is]
in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. 5 And
I looked, and [there was] none to help; and I wondered that [there
was] none to uphold: therefore mine own arm
brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. 6 And I
will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I
will bring down their strength to the earth.
Revelation 14:20 – And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs (stadii).
The grapes are put into the winepress and trodden by foot to squeeze out all the juice. This juice is usually drained off into a container at the side. However, this winepress, which will be trodden outside the city (of Jerusalem here), will produce so much juice that no container will be able to hold it; it will just run out onto the ground. The blood (represented by the red grape juice) will be of such an amount that it will cause a flood of blood over a metre deep (to the level of the horses’ bridles) for a distance of 1600 stadii (plural of stadium). The standard stadium was about 185m long. The total length would then be 296 km, or about 183 miles. (Or apparently 200 Roman miles.) Some say that this represents the length of Israel itself, and that the flood is symbolic. But if you were to take the blood from even 200,000,000 men and tip it onto the ground, it would be around 1,100,000,000 litres or 123,000,000 buckets of blood. If there were 2 or 3 times that number of men, then 2 or 3 times that amount of blood. Regardless of whether the figures are literal or symbolic, there’s going to be so much blood around that you could literally swim in it. It’ll be a lake of blood that has to go somewhere!
This is the judgment of those who go to fight against Jerusalem, God’s city.
Zechariah suggests that this will happen at the point when all Jerusalem has been taken, along with half of its population. Christ then returns to fight for His people and His city, and the enemy, who may have thought they had a chance of victory, will suddenly realise that they have not won anything at all, except a whole lot of trouble and condemnation.
We’ll look at this again in Revelation 19, but here’s just a taste of what’s coming.
Revelation 19:11-21 – 11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
Some of the explanations given for this slaughter are merely efforts to move the emphasis away from Jerusalem. Some think the city is Babylon and that the slaughter represents God’s victory over it. Others think the actual battleground is Italy with the church of Rome being the target. But there is no doubt the city is Jerusalem. The context cannot allow any other city, for Jerusalem is the central focus of the battle at this point. This slaughter comes maybe around 30 days from the earthquake in Jerusalem (Revelation 11:13).
And that calvinist, Gill, says of Revelation 14:17 - And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven,.... It is a strange conceit of Mr. Brightman's, that
this angel is Thomas Lord Cromwell, in the days of King Henry the Eighth, a
sincere favourer of pure religion; and that the following angel is Thomas
Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, a martyr, that had power over fire; and that
the vintage, here spoken of, refers to the destroying of religious houses, and
disposing of abbey lands to other uses; which was done under the king's
authority, by the former of these, at the instigation of the latter, when those
who were set over that business made such havoc of the goods of the Papists,
that their houses seemed to swim in their spoils, as in a river of pressed
grapes. Dr. Goodwin much better interprets it of God's vengeance upon the carnal
Protestants and professors of religion; since it is an angel out of the temple
that will execute it, and another from the altar, zealous of God's worship,
that will provoke to it; and since the winepress will be trodden without the
city, the church; and which began in the wars in Germany, in the last age, and
will have its full accomplishment when the whole outward court is given to the
Gentiles;
Really? I
didn’t know the Bible said so much! Obviously this is
from a calvinist Bible!
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