John is going to continue to draw off of very rich and deliberate apocalyptic imagery from the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. Let’s take a look at Revelation 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.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.” So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
As John continues to build on this picture we introduced in our last discussion, more and more angels are getting in the mix. Now, the angel John “sees” is described in language that deliberately makes us think about the book of Daniel. As John speaks of judgment, he calls back to the apocalyptic story that speaks of one coming with books and rendering judgment on the injustice of the world. Also, this same period of apocalyptic imagery often depicts a harvest. This is true in extrabiblical writing, as well as the teachings of Jesus. In other words, John is trying to give the people hope by speaking undeniably about a metaphorical (and maybe literal) day they often think of when they long for justice in a world of oppression.
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 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.” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 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.
While he’s using the image of the grain harvest (the first sickle referenced in the Greek [verses 14–16] is a larger sickle used for wheat or barley), John transitions into another image the prophets often used to speak of God’s judgment — the grape harvest (the Greek word used here references a smaller sickle used for grapes). Outside of the direct prophetic passages in Tanakh that speak of God treading the grapes and the nations under his feet, one might also think of the picture of Isaiah 5 (and others) where God comes expecting a harvest of righteousness from His people.
These images don’t evoke terror for the readers — they evoke hope. The people of God long for the day when justice would be served and their patient faithfulness would be rewarded with restoration of God’s created order.
Now, on to Revelation 15.
I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
John mentions that this wrath is a restorative justice to put things back in place; it is a purifying fire, leaving that which ought to remain; it is not a fire of destruction that destroys everything in its path. This wrath has an end, and upon its completion there are songs of victory. The reader will notice that God’s people stand and sing the song of deliverance — the song of Moses — as they celebrate the rescue of God and the triumph of the Lamb.
After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
But while there is an end to this wrath, it has not found its end yet, for all the earth has not been made right, and this purification (try to think in apocalyptic pictures and less literally, if you can) does not come without groaning and strife. These bowls are full of plagues and, even though the images here are pulled from other literature and meant to be used as pictures, the readers have experienced many of these atrocities firsthand. As God has said before, “He causes it to rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike.”
And so with that, the next chapter will lead us into a description of the terrible things experienced by folks all over the ancient world.
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