Revelation 14:13 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the vision of the harvest and the vintage, introduced with a solemn opening.

This prophecy came from heaven, not from people, so it is sure and carries great authority. It was also meant to be written down, so God’s people could return to it for comfort and strength at any time. Its main purpose is to show how blessed all faithful saints and servants of God are, in death and after death: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Revelation 14:13).

Those who are blessed are the ones who die in the Lord. That means they either die for Christ’s cause, or, more fully, they die in living union with Christ and are found in him when death comes. Their blessedness is shown in two ways. They rest from their labor, and their works follow them.

They are blessed in their rest, because they rest from sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution. There, the wicked no longer trouble them, and the weary are at rest. They are also blessed in their reward. Their works do not go before them as if they earned heaven, but they follow them as proof that they lived and died in the Lord. Their memory will be sweet, and their reward will be glorious, far beyond the value of all their service and suffering.

They are also happy in the time of their dying when they live to see God’s cause growing again, the church at peace, and God’s wrath falling on their idolatrous, cruel enemies. Such times are good times to die in. They have the desire of Simeon, the man who held the infant Jesus, when he said, “Now, Lord, let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30). All of this is confirmed by the Holy Spirit, who witnesses with their spirits and with the written word.

Now we come to the vision itself, shown by a harvest and a vintage.

The harvest is described in Revelation 14:14-15. A harvest can picture either the cutting down of the wicked when they are ripe for judgment, or the gathering of the righteous when they are ready for heaven. Here it seems to point more to God’s judgments against the wicked.

The Lord of the harvest is one who looks like the Son of Man, and so it is the Lord Jesus himself. He is pictured riding on a white cloud, which had a bright side toward the church, even if it looked dark to the wicked. On his head is a golden crown, showing that he has full authority to do all he does. In his hand is a sharp sickle, the instrument of his judgments. He is also moved by requests from the temple to do this great work. What he does, he is asked to do by his people. Even though he is determined to act, he still lets himself be sought by them, and he answers their prayers.

The harvest work is the thrusting in of the sickle and the reaping of the field. The sickle stands for the sword of God’s justice. The field is the world. Reaping means cutting the people of the earth down and carrying them away.

The harvest happens when the grain is ripe. That means when men’s sin is full and they are ready for destruction. The most stubborn enemies of Christ and his church are not destroyed until their own sin has made them ripe for ruin. Then he will wait no longer. He will thrust in his sickle, and the earth will be reaped.

The vintage is shown in Revelation 14:17. Some think the harvest and the vintage are only two pictures of the same judgment. Others think they point to different acts of God’s providence before the end of all things.

This vintage work is given to an angel, another angel who comes out from the altar, that is, from the holiest place in heaven. Like the harvest, it is carried out at the request of an angel from the temple, meaning the ministers and churches of God on earth. The vintage work has two parts: first, the clusters of grapes are cut off and gathered, since they are now fully ripe (Revelation 14:18). Then they are thrown into the winepress (Revelation 14:19).

The winepress is the wrath of God, the fire of his anger, some terrible disaster, most likely the sword that sheds the blood of the wicked. The place of the winepress is outside the city, where the army lay that came against Babylon. The amount of blood is described as reaching up to the horses’ bridles, and stretching for 1,600 furlongs, about 200 Italian miles, which some think matches the length of the holy land and may point to the territory of the papal see around Rome. But these are uncertain guesses.

This great event may not yet have happened. The vision is for an appointed time. So even if it seems slow in coming, we should wait for it. But who can live when the Lord does this?