Three angels down… three to go… or is it four?
Then 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. Revelation 14:14
After John watches three angels give three messages to the world, he views someone that looks like a human, or an angel, sitting on a white cloud. The human-like person has a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Some people believe the human-like person is actually Jesus, mainly because he has a golden crown on his head. Others believe it must be Jesus because some translators have capitalized the “H” on “his” head and “his” hand. However… before you come to anyone else’s conclusion, let’s keep observing the text.
And 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, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:15
Another angel comes out of the temple crying for the one like a son of man (the Greek does not say “The Son of Man”, it says one like a son of man) to start reaping with his sickle. The angel’s reasoning is that the hour to reap has arrived because the harvest of the earth is ripe.
The Greek word for “crying” is krazos, the same word used of the souls under the altar who were screaming for God to avenge their blood. It means to croak, scream, shriek, or exclaim. Somehow I don’t see any angel being allowed to communicate like this to the Son of Man. In fact, I don’t see any created being telling Jesus, the Son of God, what to do—ever.
The crown on his head is a victory crown, not a ruler’s crown. There is no reason to assume, based simply on a golden crown, that this is Jesus. The book of Revelation is filled with crowns—and on many different types of heads. The overcomers were promised crowns, the 24 elders had golden crowns, the conqueror on the white horse had a crown, the locusts from the pit had crowns, even the woman, Israel, had a crown. Each of the crowns were stephanos and each was worn by a victor rather than a ruler.
In the book of Revelation, the only ones who wear diademas (the crown of a sovereign) are the dragon, the beast, and finally, the King of kings (Who will retain His crown for eternity, whereas the other two will be stripped of theirs forever). The one like a son of man sitting on the cloud is wearing a stephanos, not a diadema. Honestly, from the context, there is no reason to believe this is Jesus.
The one who is like a son of man has a sickle in his hand, and it is sharp or swift—in other words it will do the job well, and he is told to put his sickle in and begin to reap because the crop is dry and ready to be harvested.
Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Revelation 14:16
The one who was sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth and reaped it. The Greek word for “swung” is ballo and means to cast or throw in a violent or intense manner. From the crop’s point of view, this is definitely not referring to a pleasant event.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Revelation 14:17
Another angel comes out of the temple in heaven (if you are counting, this one makes six—that is, if you count the one like a son of man sitting on the cloud as an angel) with another sharp sickle.
Then 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”. Revelation 14:18
Then another angel (the seventh one if you count the one on the cloud) comes out from the altar in heaven—this one has power over fire. He calls out to angel number six and tells him to gather the clusters from the vine of the earth with his sharp sickle because her grapes are ripe. This is a different Greek word than the one used for “ripe” in verse 15. There it was xeraino which refers to drying up; here it is akmano which means to flourish or be in one’s prime. The two harvest’s are obviously referring to two different types of crops, the second one being grapes.
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. Revelation 14:19
The seventh angel swings his sickle to the earth and gathers the clusters from the vine of the earth. He then throws the clusters into the great wine press of the wrath of God. Again, the harvest is not a pleasant event for the fruit. If we remember that these angels are giving us a preview, pointing in general to the events which will take place in the seven bowl judgments, we can understand the severity of the harvests a little better. Verses 19 and 20 are referring to things that will take place toward the very end of the bowl judgments.
And 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. Revelation 14:20
The great wine press of the wrath of God will be trodden outside the city; blood (its wine) will spread for a distance of 200 miles and be as deep as the height of a horse’s bridle. The blood will be extracted from the people who are trodden in those last days… Horrific… but necessary… and righteous…
Israel is not very large… According to the Library of Congress Israel stretches 263 miles from north to south. Its width ranges from as wide as 71 miles to as narrow as 9 miles. Hmmmm…
Let me point you forward on the mountain range of Revelation to some not too distant mountaintops… I want to give you a little preview of my own… just to give you some perspective… and whet your appetite to continue observing the book of Revelation to its mighty and marvelous conclusion… Ready? Here we go…
As we get to the end of God’s wrath, close to the seventh bowl (when Babylon will be remembered and the battle of Armageddon will take place) there will be a gathering of armies north of Jerusalem in Har-Meggido (the valley of Megiddo). There will be a global coalition of ten kings at that time, three of which will break off from the rest and go east to Babylon in order to destroy her (Revelation 17-18). They will come back after their mission is accomplished and join the other kings who are on their way south from Har-Meggido to Jerusalem to wage the famous battle of Armeggdon (which does not actually take place in the valley of Meggido—only the gathering of the armies).
When the world’s armies come against Jerusalem, Jesus will come and collect the woman from the wilderness (possibly Petra, Edom, which is in southern Jordan). He will lead His people (the Jews) from the wilderness northward through Judah and gather those from the tribe of Judah.
Jesus will then fight the battle all by Himself—that is when even more great and glorious things will happen. He will dismount from His horse and the Mount of Olives will split. There will be a whole new topographical outlay to Jerusalem. Lots more things will take place but these should be enough to grasp the marvel of the scene…
Israel is not very large, only 263 miles from tip to tip… It is approximately 200 miles from Megiddo to Petra… There will be blood as high as the horses’ bridles throughout the entire range of the battle… No matter where the perimeters are, almost all of Israel will be flooded with blood…
