Lesson 32: The Harvest of the Earth

Revelation 14:14-20
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

These verses are also prophetic in nature, telling what is about to happen. Jesus wants us to know that His judgment never comes without warning. In the first two series of judgments – the seven seals and the seven trumpets – the judgment has basically come through nature and through consequences to peoples’ actions. Now, with the blowing of the seventh trumpet, the judgment will become very personal in that these will be judgments against individuals.

The person sitting on the cloud and wearing a crown is not Jesus, but one of His angels.


There is an interesting difference between this harvest and the harvest Jesus talked about in John 4. In John 4, the harvesters were the disciples (including us today) who tell people about Jesus with the intention of leading them to Him so they will receive eternal life. This is a harvest-to-life. The crop is mature and the harvest will mean gain. This writer grew up in farming country and still watches this process each year. There is a “best” time to harvest when the grain is ripe and the moisture content is just right. This grain means money for the farmer. There is a harvest, however, that is “too late” for several reasons. It could be that rains kept the farmer from getting equipment into the field, or illness made it impossible for the farmer to do so, or storms came and destroyed the crop with winds or hail. After a point, the crop is ruined, and then “harvest” means that what is left in the field is either plowed into the ground or is burned in the field. The warning in these verses today are about a harvest of destruction.

The imagery in these verses of a winepress causing blood to flow should strike terror in the hearts of everyone who does not believe in Jesus. There will be so much death in this judgment that blood will be as much as 3-4 feet deep in an area of over 180 miles long.

*If you are not certain now that you will escape this terrible harvest, talk with us to make sure!