Revelation 14:14-20

¹⁴ I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So He who was seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

The word sickle appears 12 times in the Scriptures, seven times in this chapter.  This is a perfect and complete judgment of man.

“Mine eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord; He is trampling out the vinetage where the grapes of wrath are stored” says the song The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Daniel Akin writes to the subject of God’s wrath in today’s culture: “The idea of God trampling out sinners in wrath is not a popular idea in our culture.  One denomination recently refused to include the popular hymn ‘In Christ Alone’ because it found offensive the line ‘When on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.’  They preferred to change the latter phrase to ‘the love of God was magnified.’  The idea of the wrath offends modern sensibilities.  However, the wrath of God is a thoroughly biblical concept we neglect or deny at our peril.”

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs—O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!  Rise up, O Judge of the earth; Render punishment to the proud.  – Psalms 94:1-2

This is our first glimpse into the hour of judgment.  This is Armageddon.  The grapes are fully ripened, the time is now.  There are many references to this wrath upon nations and treading of grapes.

“Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.  Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.  Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.” – Joel 3:12-13

I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me.  For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes.   For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come.  – Isaiah 63:3-4

 ³⁰ “Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: ‘The Lord will roar from on high,
and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold.  He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.  ³¹ A noise will come to the ends of the earth—for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh.
He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the Lord.”  ^{…  33} And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth.  – Jeremiah 25:30-31, 33

Verse 20 tells us that the blood will be as high as a horse’s bridle, or about four feet, and extend 1,600 stadia, or about 184 miles.  This is an unimaginable slaughter.

Josephus tells us in the book Wars of the Jews, that in putting down the rebellion in AD 70, the Roman general Titus killed so many Jews that the whole city ran with so much blood that the fires of many houses were quenched with it.  As hard as that is to even imagine, the coming battle at Armageddon will be much more violent.

If we sit here today and think it is terrible that God speaks so strongly of a time of wrath, just know that He is presenting every opportunity for all of mankind to know Him because He loves us and does not want a single person to perish.  Even so, there are many hearts who will not be turned and who will not surrender to His Lordship. 

Now is the time to reflect upon our own hearts and decide that we either know He is real and the Spirit is within us or we don’t.  Decide today to know Him if you don’t and to know Him better if you do.