Revelation Chapter 14:11-20/Commentary

Revelation Chapter 14:11-20 Revelation 14:11-20 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." 12Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. 13And I heard a voice from heaven, 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, for their deeds follow with them." 14And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16And He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18And another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe." 19And the angel swung his sickle to the earth, and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 20And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses' bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles” Introduction “Chapter 14 is divided into three sections, each one beginning with the phrase, ‘And I saw’ (14:1, 6, 14). The first scene presents the Lamb and His victorious saints on Mount Zion. The second section makes known the messages of three angels and a voice from heaven who call to action, warn and comfort. The third part reveals the divine ingathering of the righteous and a judgment of the world: harvest and vintage” (Hailey p. 300).

14:11 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night”: “Many of the saints had writhed in the fires started by 1

Rome, but they only lasted until the body was overcome—then there was rest.

For the wicked, our vision says there will be no rest, just endless writhing” (McGuiggan p. 219). “In contrast to the victorious saints before the throne who ‘serve Him day and night’ (7:15), these who worship the beast have no rest day and night. What a terrible price to pay for rejecting the Christ and bowing to Caesar as Lord!” (Hailey p. 310). The same fate awaits the devil (Revelation 20:10). This also agrees with what Jesus taught about the fate of the wicked (Matthew 8:11; Luke 16:23,28). See also Jude 7. “Had John wished to convey the impression that the punishment of the wicked was only of limited duration, he could hardly have chosen a more misleading phrase to describe it!” (Gregg p.

331). “Smoke of their torment”: “The smoke of such men’s torture ascends for timeless ages, and there is no respite from it, day or night. This torment is as age-lasting as the torment Satan shall suffer (Matthew 25:41,46; Mark 9:43-48)” (Harkrider p. 168).

Point to Note There are various groups that either do not believe in hell or who do not believe that hell is conscious punishment that lasts forever, yet that is exactly what the Bible teaches. The word torment and the expression they have no rest day or night are really meaningless if hell is not conscious suffering. The rich man in Luke 16:23 was not having a bad dream, rather he was conscious, he was suffering and there was no hope of relief for him.

14:11 “Those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name”: God is no respecter of persons, whoever worships the beast will end up lost. This would include people in positions of authority and just the ordinary citizen.

14:12 “Here is the perseverance of the saints”: The punishment of the wicked should provide an incentive for the patience of the saints. “The Caesarcult supplied the saints with a test of loyalty which strengthened and matured those who were worthy of the name” (Gregg p. 331). “The fact that this neverending punishment awaits those who persecute the Church and hate the Lord should encourage believers to hold out under affliction and trial” (Hendriksen p.

154). Patience is essential to gaining eternal life (Luke 21:29; James 1:2-4; Romans 5:3).

14:12 “Who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus”: The Christian is not saved unconditionally, rather the Christian must remain faithful.

In addition, faithfulness is something that is objective, it can be measured by whether or not one keeps the commandments of God (1 John 2:4-5). Faith and obedience just like love and obedience cannot be separated (John 14:15). Jesus taught the same truth in Matthew 7:21.

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14:13 “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord”: The term “blessed” means happy, fortunate, well-off, “O the blessedness of the man”. To die in the Lord means to die in a right relationship with the Lord, to die faithful to Him. “Even if these believers should be put to death because they keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, their blessedness is assured” (Hendriksen p. 154).

“Jesus never looks better than He does at a deathbed” (McGuiggan p. 220).

“From now on”: This is not intended to suggest that those who had died in Christ in previous times were not blessed. “Yes, says the Spirit”: This identifies the message as being from the Holy Spirit. “So that they may rest from their labors”: The word “rest” literally means, “They shall be refreshed”. The word for “labors” literally means to toil under great adversity. “The Christian finds death an entrance to a home where he is refreshed after his labor in this world” (Harkrider p. 169). “Don’t people who have died serve the Lord? Yes, but they’re not subject to the strife they’ve been under. There is no toil in their service anymore. This is not just rest, it is rest from labors. It is the reward of service” (McGuiggan pp. 220-221). There is a huge difference between the reward of the saints and the reward of those who serve the beast.

14:13 “For their deeds follow with them”: “Since there is little else that will.

The man who dies can take with him none of his gold, his lands, his raiment; none of the honors of this life; none of the means of sensual gratification. All that will go with him will be his character, and the results of his conduct here, and, in this respect, eternity will be put a prolongation of the present life” (Barnes). Our deeds also follow with us in the sense that our deeds have eternal significance to God (Matthew 25:23; 1 Corinthians 15:58).

14:14 “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man”: Most see this as a reference to Jesus. In the Old Testament, God is pictured as riding on the clouds (Psalm 18:9ff; Isaiah 19:1; Psalm 104:3). “The cloud here is white, indicative of purity and majesty and power” (McGuiggan p. 221). For the expression “son of man” see Revelation 1:7 and Daniel 7:13. Ogden views the white cloud as meaning that this is a peaceful harvest and not the black threatening clouds of judgment.

14:14 “Having a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand”: Upon His head, Jesus has the crown of victory and in His hand He has a sharp sickle which is a instrument used in harvesting. Jesus is viewed as the Lord of harvest and often sends laborers into the fields, whether these reapers are men (Matthew 9:38; Luke 10:2), or at the final day, angels (Matthew 13:39,41).

14:15 “And another angel came out of the temple”: This angel comes from the inner sanctuary in heaven. “Some have objected to the seeming inappropriateness of Christ being told what to do by a mere angel (15). However, the objection does not give proper weight to the fact that the angel proceeds directly from the temple, that is, the presence of God” (Gregg p. 335). “Crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle and

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reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe”: This seems to refer to the gathering of the righteous (Matthew 3:12; 9:3738; John 4:35-38). “This harvest is distinguished from the one to follow in which the wicked ones, represented by the clusters of grapes” (Harkrider p. 170).

14:18 “Then another angel, the one who has power over fire”: This appears to refer to the angel mentioned in 8:3-5 who had taken the fire and cast it upon the earth, indicating a judgment from God upon the unrighteous in response to the prayers of God’s people.

14:18 “Came out from the altar”: Two altars have been mentioned thus far in the book, the altar of burnt-offering, under which the souls of the martyrs rested (6:9-11), and the altar of incense, upon which the prayers of the saints are offered (8:3:5).

14:18 “And he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth’”: Some see this vine as being Israel (Isaiah 5:1-7), and thus it is a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet it seems better to me that the vine represents “the entire multitude of evil men; its grapes are the individual unbelievers” (Gregg p. 339). This vine of the earth is opposed to the true vine who is Christ and the branches who are His people (John 15:1-8). “Because her grapes are ripe”: “This indicates that the wickedness was full, and so God’s judgment against them was just (Genesis 15:16; Deuteronomy 9:4-5)” (Harkrider pp. 170-171). “To be prime, fully ripe” (Vine p. 315).

14:19 “So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God” In the Old Testament we find similar language when God judged various nations (Joel 3:13; Isaiah 63:1-6). All those who leave God out of their lives will experience a similar fate (19:15), including every nation that turns its back on God. “The classic Biblical figure for the judgment on the wicked. Grapes for the ‘winepress of the wrath of God’. The redness of the grape, so like blood. The trampling fierceness of God as He presses upon the ungodly. Above we heard of the ungodly being made to drink the wine of the wrath of God. The figure has now changed and they become the grapes trodden under His terrible feet.

Sinner, this isn’t written for nothing! God takes sin seriously” (McGuiggan pp.

221-222).

14:20 “And the wine press was trodden outside the city”: Vineyards and winepresses were typically outside the various cities in ancient times. This may simply mean that the wicked are forever excluded from the redeemed or God’s heavenly city. Ogden applies this statement to the fact that the Romans rod upon Jerusalem from outside the city as their weapons of war constantly bombarded

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its inhabitants with arrows, darts, and stones. Yet the Romans also fought within the city as well.

14:20 “And blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles” “In the picture John sees, a lake of blood results. It is so deep that horses can swim in it” (Hendriksen p. 156).

Premillennial writers often take this verse literally and argue that this is the result of the Battle of Armageddon (19:17-19). Others argue that this is a literal spattering of blood through the entire area of Palestine, or an area within a 200mile radius from Jerusalem. Hailey notes, “Literalism is ruled out by the whole picture. If old physical Jerusalem is the city in the vision and the area of Palestine is the lake, one cannot interpret the picture literally because that territory is not two hundred miles long or wide; also, the low depth of twelve hundred ninety feet below sea level at the Dead Sea makes any literal interpretation impossible” (p. 316). That is, if the level of blood in Jerusalem (at 2500 feet) is up to the bridle of a horse, then obviously the level is going to be much higher some 30 miles away near the Dead Sea where the elevation is almost 1300 feet below sea level. He concludes, “The picture indicates the gory completeness of God’s judgment upon the wicked” (p. 316).

Final Observation What is God revealing in the above passages? Is this the final judgment?

Certainly it can include that, but the same type of language has also been used when God judges nations (Isaiah 63:1-6; Jeremiah 51:33; Joel 3:12f; Revelation 19:11-16). In spite of the efforts of Satan, Jesus will continue to harvest good and honest hearts (Matthew 9:37f).

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