The Harvest

Reflections on Revelation 14:14-20

The opening of the seven seals and the sounding of the seven trumpets ended with God's judgment.  After revealing God's enemies, John again reassures the saints that those enemies will be judged, so this section, like the previous two, ends with God's judgment. 

This time, the judgment is pictured as a harvest.  The righteous are gathered safely on Mount Zion (14:1), but outside the gates, the harvest is ready.
 
The picture of the harvest is based on a couple of passages in the Old Testament.  Joel 3:12 speaks of the nations being gathered in the Valley of Jehoshaphat outside the holy city for judgment.  At that time, God commands, "Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great" (Joel 3:13 ESV). 

The grapes are gathered and trampled in the winepress of the wrath of God.  The Lord himself says, "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come" (Isaiah 63:3-4).