G. The Harvest Of The Earth (14:6-20)
G. THE HARVEST OF THE EARTH (14:6-20)
Though John gives it no special emphasis, this seventh sign is itself septiform. Seven angels either proclaim judgment or take some part in bringing it about. The series culminates in a dreadfully final picture of the earth as drenched in blood. We may regard the messages of the three angels and of the voice from heaven as an interlude between the sixth and seventh signs (cf. the interludes between the sixth and seventh seals and between the sixth and seventh trumpets).
i. Three angels proclaim judgment (14:6-12)
As three angels in succession proclaim judgment, the saints are assured once more that the triumph of evil will be short-lived. God will certainly bring judgment upon evil-doers, but in his own good time.
6. Another angel is difficult since there has been no preceding angel since 12:7. Perhaps it differentiates this angel from those mentioned later, and another is common in this chapter (w.8,9, both omitted in NIV, and 15,17,18). Earlier an eagle flew ‘in mid-air’ (8:13, where see note) proclaiming a threefold ’woe’ to earth’s inhabitants. Now an angel proclaims there an (not the) eternal gospel. This is the only occurrence of gospel in this book.
At first sight there is not much of the ‘good news’ about the message this angel brings. But first, judgment is a necessary implication of the gospel (cf. Rom. 2:16). The words in fact form a last appeal for repentance from those about to be judged (cf. Mk. 1:15; Acts 14:15; etc.). Secondly, the gospel means the final overthrow of evil and that is certainly ’good news’ (Hoeksema sees it as ‘the gospel that God is sovereign’). Thirdly, John was writing to Christians facing persecution. For them it was indeed good news that everyone, their persecutors included, would be called upon to give account of themselves, and that the time of the power of evil was determined. Torrance comments, ‘It is impossible for the Church at any time to come to easy terms with the contemporary order ... as long as the Cross is in the field and the everlasting Gospel is preached, God’s love will strike in judgment at all the defence-works of evil thrown up in state and society and history by the banding of men together in massive reaction and perverted self-defence against the will and Word of God.’
Eternal points to a message that is permanently valid, while those who live on the earth (see note on 6:10) and every nation, etc. (see note on 5:9) show that it is universally applicable.
7. The angel speaks in a loud voice for his words go out to all mankind. He calls on people to fear God. Evil-doers have much to be afraid of (cf. 6:15-17); 11:11,13). But the angel’s message is not basically negative and he calls on people to give... glory to God and to worship him. God is characterized as Creator and the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water are singled out for mention. Everything that exists comes from the hand of God. Those who oppose him are in a hopeless position. The worshippers of the beast had been impressed by his power (13:3,7-8, 13,15). Now they are compelled to recognize real power. ‘Here is the bitter irony of their lot: though they damn themselves eternally by their refusal to face the truth, one day they will be forced to face it. Sooner or later the “glory” they refuse to “give” the Creator willingly will be torn from them by the spectacle of His wrath’ (Kiddle).
8. A second angel announces that Fallen! Fallen is Babylon (cf. 18:2), where the position of the verb and its repetition put emphasis on fallen, and the aorist marks completed action. All this gives the impression of imminence and certainty. There can be no doubt about the fall of the city. This is the first mention of Babylon in this book (again in 16:19; 17:5; 18:2,10,21); in every case Babylon is called ‘great’. There is no reason for holding that John means the Mesopotamian city of this name (though he may well have in mind Je. 51:7-8). The first time the Bible mentions Babylon (Gn. 11:9; but cf. Gn. 10:10) we read that after the Flood people tried to scale the heights of heaven by building a mighty tower. The name thus stands for the pride of mankind and for the heathen city-empire. For John, Babylon is the great city, the symbol of mankind in community opposed to the things of God. Sometimes in other writings Babylon means Rome (2 Bar. 11:1; Sib. Or. 5:143,159,434; possibly 1 Pet. 5:13). John does not go as far as this, though doubtless to first century people there was no better illustration of what Babylon means than contemporary Rome. John is looking forward to the overthrow of all the evil that Babylon stands for.
The reason for her fall is her bad influence. She made all nations ‘drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication’ (AV; again in 18:3; NIV has taken thymos in the sense maddening). John is combining two thoughts: first, that Babylon makes the nations drink the wine of her impurity (she corrupts them with her evil ways), and second, that this impurity brings down on it the wrath of God (cf. Je. 25:15). ’The nations, having drunk the wine of the fornication of Babylon, have really therein drunk the wine of the wrath of God’ (Charles).
9-10. A third angel spoke in a loud voice. He concerns himself with those who worship the beast and his image and who have his mark (13:16). They will be the objects of the divine wrath. John uses two words for wrath here: thymos (NIV fury) and org
(wrath; see note on 6:16). The two words do not differ greatly in meaning, but org more readily denotes the kind of anger that arises from a settled disposition and thymos anger of a more passionate kind. It accords with this that in the New Testament orge is the usual word for the divine wrath. Indeed, outside Revelation thymos is used of the divine anger only once. But as it is the more vivid word it is not surprising that it occurs often in this book (12:12; 14:8,10,19; 15:1,7; 16:1,19; 18:3; 19:15). Stählin can say, ‘But one might very well say that thymos, to which there clings the concept of passionate outburst, was well adapted for describing the visions of the seer, but not for delineating Paul’s concept of the wrath of God.’92
(wrath; see note on 6:16). The two words do not differ greatly in meaning, but org more readily denotes the kind of anger that arises from a settled disposition and thymos anger of a more passionate kind. It accords with this that in the New Testament orge is the usual word for the divine wrath. Indeed, outside Revelation thymos is used of the divine anger only once. But as it is the more vivid word it is not surprising that it occurs often in this book (12:12; 14:8,10,19; 15:1,7; 16:1,19; 18:3; 19:15). Stählin can say, ‘But one might very well say that thymos, to which there clings the concept of passionate outburst, was well adapted for describing the visions of the seer, but not for delineating Paul’s concept of the wrath of God.’92The wine of God’s wrath is poured full strength, where poured really means ‘mixed’. The word is used for preparing wine for consumption by mixing it with spices, water, or whatever was It is paradoxical to say ’mixed without mixing‘, but this is John’s way of saying that it is not broken down in any way. The wrath of God will be visited on these sinners with no mitigation (cf. Ps. 75:8, and for this verb and adjective Ps. Sol. 8:15). The effect is torment with burning sulphur. This is, of course, to be taken symbolically, but seriously. The modern vogue for dispensing with hell has no counterpart in Revelation. John is quite sure that the consequences of sin follow sinners into the life to come. Here on earth they may rejoice over their misdeeds. There they will suffer for them. This will take place in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. Christians who suffered for their faith did so in the presence of crowds of onlookers. Ultimately their tormentors will be punished in the presence of more august spectators ’in keeping with many other scenes of this book where the deepest sting that bitter conscience is dealt is that it must suffer while utter purity is looking on’ (Love).
11. The torment in verse 10 is eternal (Sweet sees it as ‘the most terrible’ picture in the book). The beast’s worshippers have no rest day or night. They contrast with the four living ones of whom exactly the same expression is used to describe their unceasing worship (4:8). John spells out the identity of the sufferers: those who worship the beast and his image and anyone who receives the mark of his name.
Some complain about John’s handling of this theme, feeling that the topic should not be dwelt upon. But John is not gloating over the suffering of the wicked as some later Christians have done. Nor is he describing suffering for suffering’s sake in the manner of the horror thriller. He has a sense of serious purpose. Motives of self-interest impelled many to try to escape martyrdom; they thought they would be better off if they denied the faith. John wants them to be under no illusions. They must reckon with ultimate realities. And, despite our modern hesitation, we must reckon with them, too. We may shut our eyes to facts, but this does not do away with them.
12. A consideration of ultimate realities sustains the people of God. They must pass through troubles, but they know that their troubles are temporary whereas those of their tormentors will be eternal. This sense of values keeps them calm. It issues in steadfastness (see note on 2:2). The saints are characterized by their obedience to God’s commandments and their faithfulness to Jesus. Both ethical conduct and reliance on the Saviour are important.
ii. The dead who die in the Lord (14:13)
An interjection details the blessedness of those who die in Christ. Our natural tendency is to think of blessedness in terms of this life. But in a persecution situation John wants it to be clear that there are more important things than this life.
13. Once more John hears from heaven a voice he does not identify. It has the highest authority, but whether it comes direct from God or through an intermediary he does not tell us. It pronounces blessed those who die in the Lord (for the seven beatitudes in this book, see note on 1:3). This is a noteworthy piece of encouragement in a situation where the steadfastness of the saints was most important. God’s people may be grossly maltreated even up to and including the death penalty. But they, and not their tormentors, remain blessed. It is not easy to see whether we should take from now on with what precedes or with what follows. Grammatically it could go with either, but the difficulties of attaching it to “Yes,” says the Spirit leads most to take it with the preceding (as NIV). Yet those who die in the Lord are always blessed and not only from now on, so some suggest we should link it with resting from their labours. This would be attractive were it not for the intervening words. They are absent from some MSS (see the textual note in GNT, TCGNT), but most accept them, as NIV. We could, however, take ap’ arti (from now on) as aparti (‘assuredly’) and translate ‘ “Assuredly,” says the Spirit, “they will rest ...” ’ (see NEB mg.). That the speaker is the Spirit adds solemnity to the words. The Spirit does not often speak in this book, but he does in the letters to the churches (2:7,11, etc.) and in the final invitation (22:17).
The word labour (kopos) means ‘labour to the point of weariness’ and sometimes merely pain. It is in this latter sense that we should understand it here. Heaven is not so much a place where no work is done as one where pain has ceased. Believers rest from their labour, but their deeds (erga) go into the life beyond the grave. This gives dignity to all the work in which Christians engage. They are occupied in no insignificant task.
iii. The reaper on the cloud (14:14-16)
John sees an angel with a sickle sitting on a cloud. The harvest of the earth is ripe and is reaped. This vivid way of speaking about the end of the world would come home with great force in an age when people were more familiar with agricultural processes than they are now. The harvest is the climax. Three angels have already pronounced judgment. This builds up to the moment when the angel sitting on the cloud plunges his sickle into the earth’s harvest. There is drama and finality about the action.
14. For I looked, and there before me see note on 6:2. John sees the scene vividly. Many see the one like a son of man as Christ. The name, the fact that he sits on a cloud (cf. Dn. 7:13), and his wearing of a crown of gold favour the identification, and the holding of a sharp sickle would not be out of character. But the Greek means ‘a son of man’, not ‘the son of the man’, which is the form used of Christ in the Gospels. And a command is given him in rather peremptory terms (v.15), which is very hard to reconcile with this identification. We could regard the command as coming from God and the angel as no more than a messenger, but the command is still peremptory and no-one seems to have explained why the angel is closer to God than is the glorious Christ. On earth, it is true, Jesus did not know the time of the End (Mk. 13:32); he said that this is a matter for the Father himself (Acts 1:7). Yet when full allowance is made for this it remains curious that the exalted Christ should receive a command couched in the terms of verse 15. And it is more than curious that the Lamb who is ‘in the centre of the throne’ and who throughout this book is depicted as in the closest communion with the Father, should need an angel to tell him of the Father’s will. That the incarnate Jesus should be ignorant of the time of the End is explicable. That the Lamb who is ’in the centre of the throne’ should be ignorant of it (and need an angel to tell him that the time has come) is not.
It is also unlikely that John would depict the glorious Christ as doing essentially the same thing as an angel does (v.19). A small point is that if this were Christ we would have six angels in the series, whereas it is much more in keeping with John’s method that we should have seven. We should also bear in mind that, whereas to modern Christian ears, ‘one like a son of man’ sounds like a reference to Christ, it is not a strange designation in apocalyptic. There it is a normal way of referring to an angelic being, men being usually symbolized by animals of some sort. It is best to think of the holder of the sickle as an angel, albeit an important one.
15-16. The familiar description, another angel, introduces the fifth in the series. He comes out of the temple (or ‘sanctuary’) which means from the very presence of God. His words are addressed to one person alone, the angel sitting on the cloud, but he called in a loud voice, as befits an angel. The time (lit. ‘the hour’) has come is not unlike some passages in the Fourth Gospel, where ‘the hour’ is an important concept. It denotes the inevitability with which things come to their climax. There, however, the cross is meant. Here it is the end of the world, as the harvest of the earth makes clear.
Is ripe (exranth) points to the drying off of plants when the crop is fully ripe. The time for the intervention of him who bore the sickle is not chosen arbitrarily. He puts in the sickle at exactly the right moment. Persecuted believers may know that if God’s intervention is delayed this is only because it is not yet the right moment to reap. Reaping is certain as soon as the harvest of the earth is ripe. Some take this to refer to the gathering in of the righteous with the symbolism of wheat harvest (cf. Mt. 13:30,38; Mk. 4:29). They see the wicked in the next section where the grape harvest, with its treading out of the grapes, is more suitable imagery for the judgment of the wicked. This is possible. But it is usually supported by seeing Christ as the Reaper who gathers in the saints, a suggestion which, as we have noticed, is not soundly based. Moreover there is nothing in the context to show that the righteous are in view. Wheat is not even mentioned, for example. It is better to see the harvest as general.
ranth) points to the drying off of plants when the crop is fully ripe. The time for the intervention of him who bore the sickle is not chosen arbitrarily. He puts in the sickle at exactly the right moment. Persecuted believers may know that if God’s intervention is delayed this is only because it is not yet the right moment to reap. Reaping is certain as soon as the harvest of the earth is ripe. Some take this to refer to the gathering in of the righteous with the symbolism of wheat harvest (cf. Mt. 13:30,38; Mk. 4:29). They see the wicked in the next section where the grape harvest, with its treading out of the grapes, is more suitable imagery for the judgment of the wicked. This is possible. But it is usually supported by seeing Christ as the Reaper who gathers in the saints, a suggestion which, as we have noticed, is not soundly based. Moreover there is nothing in the context to show that the righteous are in view. Wheat is not even mentioned, for example. It is better to see the harvest as general.The angel on the cloud did as he was told. He reaped the earth. This is not explained and we are left to apply the imagery for ourselves.
iv. The vintage (14:17-20)
We move on to grape harvest, a very suitable figure of judgment with its treading of the grapes.
17. There now appears another angel, the sixth in the series, and he too has a sickle. Like his predecessor he came out of the sanctuary. And, as with the first-mentioned reaper, it is specified that his sickle was sharp.
18. The seventh angel came from the altar (see note on 6:9). The altar has earlier been associated with the prayers of the saints and with judgment (8:3-5, where see note). This may well be in mind here also. John sees the judgment as God’s final answer to the prayers of his suffering saints. This angel has charge of the fire, an unusual expression which is not explained but fire and judgment are often closely connected. He commands the angel with the sickle to gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, adding its grapes are ripe (cf. v.15). Drepanon may denote a pruning-knife as well as a sickle, but the point here is its grim overtones. John may have in mind the words of Joel 3:13: ‘Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow - so great is their wickedness!’
19. The angel obeyed. He reaped the earth’s vine and hurled what he gathered into the great winepress of God’s wrath (cf. 19:15), a vivid description of the judgment of the wicked.
20. John does not say who trod the winepress, nor what was the city outside which it took place; presumably neither is of great concern. For treading the winepress, cf. Isaiah 63:3, and for action outside the city we might compare ‘outside the city gate’ (Heb. 13:12). John’s major concern is to show that there will be a cataclysmic destruction of mankind at the end of the age. The vast quantity of blood (cf. 1 Enoch 100:3, ’the horse shall walk through the blood of sinners up to his chest‘) points to the blotting out of all mankind. The earth has come to a final end. John is doing no more than allude to this at this point. He develops the idea later.
1,600 stadia is a distance of about 184 miles (300 kilometres). But John’s interest is rather in the number than in the precise distance it represents. Of the explanations suggested perhaps best is that which sees it as the product of sixteen (the square of four, the number of the earth which is the abode of the wicked) and one hundred (the square of ten, the number of completeness). It is also the square of forty, a number associated with punishment. Blood stretching for 1,600 stadia thus stands for the complete judgment of the whole earth and the destruction of all the wicked.