Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

It is the middle of harvest season and autumn officially starts tomorrow.

Eldon has inundated me with delicious tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, and cucumbers.

Truly, it is time to harvest.

When we consider the Bible, God has a lot to say about harvesting.

The word harvest appears over 75 times throughout Scripure and is even implied several more times.

Jesus, speaking with His disciples, applies the act of harvesting to evangelism:

This is the harvest of the earth and it’s fruit lasts for eternity.

This harvest season even lasts all year.

BUT, the season is not eternal—there is one last harvest time recorded in the Book of Revelation.

Transition:

The harvest of the earth is composed of two visions that continue the judgment theme from 14:6–13: the grain harvest (vv.14–16) and the grape harvest (vv.17–20).

Both these units (14:6–13 and 14:14–20) are linked not only by the theme of judgment but also by the mention of seven angels (14:6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 17, 18) — This is the message of the angels.

Jesus, the Gentle Lord, meek and mild—always showing love— right?

NO, not always.

This is one of several passages in Revelation reminding us that Jesus is the Judge as well as the Savior, a truth consistant throughout the New Testament (e.g., [[Matt.

10:33; John 5:22]]).

Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain but also the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, symbolic of his perfect strength and penetrating insight.

So let’s read about this last harvest

Scripture Reading:

Revelation 14:14–20

The central interpretive question, much debated by commentators, is whether the first vision depicts the gathering of the righteous at the return of Christ or whether both visions portray God’s judgment of the wicked.

Both theological truths are affirmed elsewhere in Revelation, but the meaning of both harvests in this passage is difficult to discern completely.

Jesus is both the sacrificial Lamb and the conquering Ram (Rev.

17:14).

The wrath that condemns the wicked comes from both YHWH and the Lamb.

Disregarding passages like this morning’s, it would then be easy to create a Jesus in our own idealistic image.

Usually this results from a selective reading of the full biblical text or reliance upon a one-sided view of the Son.

The danger with such a view is that we might begin to think that Jesus exists simply to meet our needs.

But the Lord of lords refuses to be tamed.

Transition:

So to balance our view to a more biblical view of Jesus we must consider both harvests spoken of here:

I.

The grain harvest (14:14–16)

The first of the two earth harvests, is the Grain:

The “son of man” image is drawn from Daniel 7:13 and refers to the risen Christ in both Revelation 1:7, 13, and the present text.

Just as the son of man is seen “coming with the clouds of heaven” in Daniel, so here Jesus is seated on a cloud—well… isn’t that quaint?

sitting on a white fluffy cloud.

No, because He demonstrating His power and glory as both Redeemer and Judge.

He wears a golden crown, symbolizing his sovereign kingship, and the “sharp sickle” represents an instrument of judgment.

This angel is not commanding Jesus to commence the reaping but is simply delivering the message from God (i.e., from “the temple”).

But what is the “harvest” in this first vision?

Who are the ones being harvested?

two options really: 1 is the righteous being harvested, the other is the condemned.

Those favoring a harvest of the righteous in vv14–16 make the following observations:

the action is taken by Jesus rather than an angel as in verse 17,

the image of a grain harvest is used elsewhere in a positive light (e.g., Matt.

9:37–38; John 4:34–38),

the description of the 144,000 as “firstfruits” in 14:4 points to a greater harvest to come, and finally

in the second vision, the grapes are harvested and then trampled, while in the first vision the grain is only harvested, not winnowed or threshed or burned.

While these observations are significant and this interpretation may be correct, the view that both visions portray judgment seems plausible also for a couple reasons:

the “time” or “hour” (14:15) of reaping occurs ten times in Revelation, usually with reference to the judgment of the wicked (3:3, 10; 9:15; 11:13; 14:7, 15; 17:12; 18:10, 17, 19).

both passages are patterned after Joel 3:13, a verse set in a chapter that describes God’s judgment of the nations:

The mention of “sickle” in both visions also suggests that both visions depend upon Joel 3. The Joel passage is “the only OT passage where harvesting with a ‘sickle’ is spoken of figuratively.”

If both visions here indicate judgment, this doubling would point to the severity of the punishment.

The judgment of 14:6–20 then stands in contrast to the fate of the righteous already established in 14:1–5.

I tend to lean on the view that it is the righteous because of the more natural differences between the two accounts.

Plus, this would make more sense as to it personally being Jesus:

This, then, is coforting!

Jesus comes to gather His sheep, call His children!

We can entrust ourselves to a just God

If you were to print out all the “junk” email and collect all the snail-mail offers you receive over the course of a week.

The stack will be high and the lies outrageous.

We are offered perfect health in pill form, money for nothing, and real estate for a dime.

Most of us understand this.

Over time, we can become cynical of any offer that comes into our email in-box.

But we can be sure of the Lord and his promise to balance the scales someday.

Every one of his promises will be proven true!

After all, the most important one, the promise of his Son, certainly has been.

Transition:

So there is the first of the last harvest.

But to better balance our view of Jesus & judgment, let's finish this last season:

II.

The grape harvest (14:17–20)

The second harvest is not pleasant

“another angel came … And another angel”

YHWH now sends yet another angel as an agent of judgment, again he too holds a sharp sickle.

And again, another angel comes from the heavenly altar to instruct the first angel, perhaps suggesting that YHWH sends judgment in response to the prayers of his people for vindication.

“ the angel who has authority over the fire ” —Who is that?

Fire is symbolic of judgment throughout the Bible.

One day God will come to judge

Quote: Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis.

God will invade.

But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does.

When that happens, it is the end of the world.

When the author walks onto the stage the play is over.

God is going to invade all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left?

For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.

It will be too late then to choose your side.

The “wrath of God” refers to God’s holy and righteous condemnation of sin and evil.

God’s wrath is both a present reality (Rom.

1:18; 1 Thess.

2:16 ) and a future certainty (Rom.

2:5,8; 1 Thess.

1:10; 5:9).

The unrepentant wicked will experience God’s wrath, whereas God’s people will never experience his wrath (Rom.

5:9; 1 Thess.

1:10; 5:9).

Revelation uses two primary words for wrath:

orgē (Rev.

6:16, 17; 11:18; 14:10; 16:19; 19:15) and

thumos (12:12; 14:8, 10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 18:3; 19:15).

Ironically, thumos is also used to describe the wrath of Satan that leads to the persecution of God’s people (12:12, 17).