AN EXPOSITION OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION

(Installment Twenty)

THE GREAT PARENTHESIS (11:15-15:4)

Part VII. Eternal Punishment and Some Highlights of the Day of Jehovah (14:9-20)


AS WE HAVE already learned, we are still in the great parenthesis of Revelation 11:15--15:4. In this passage which we have for consideration in this study (14:9-20), we have brought before us the eternal punishment of the wicked, the blessedness of those who die in the Lord during the latter half of the Tribulation, and the war of the great day of God the Almighty.

The Eternal Punishment of the Wicked

"9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, If any man worshippeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, 10 he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11 and the smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. 12 Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandment of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev. 14:9-12).

The teaching of the Word of God concerning the eternal punishment of the wicked is a very unpopular subject. Upon rationalistic grounds and for other considerations is this doctrine discredited by modernists.

In speaking of the wicked of the end time, the psalmist declared:

  1. "As for the head of those that compass me about,
    Let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
  2. Let burning coals fall upon them:
    Let them be cast into the fire,
    Into deep pits, whence they shall not rise" (Ps. 140:9,10).

The prophet Daniel spoke of two resurrections. Hear him: "2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2). The Hebrew text is constructed in such a way that we can see Daniel, as it were, pointing to a certain group of those that sleep in the earth and saying, "These shall awake unto everlasting life, but these [pointing to the second group] shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt." Such language can mean only one thing: that latter group will awake in resurrection and go into shame and everlasting contempt, into a place from which they will never return, but where they will have to abide through all eternity. This teaching is confirmed by our Lord in the following language: "Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, 29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28,29). We see these two resurrections in Revelation 20:1-15. The first one occurs before the thousand years' reign of our Lord. This is the resurrection to life and immortality. The second one occurs after the reign of Christ and is the one to shame and everlasting contempt.

According to Revelation 14:9-12 the angel said with a great voice, "If any man . . . receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand," he would have to suffer throughout all eternity in the lake of fire, whose punishment never ceases. The Antichrist will decree that no man can buy or sell or have any kind of business transaction, unless he takes the mark of the beast, or the number of his name. Doubtless many will sell their birthright to eternal life for a mess of pottage, but God gives fair warning in this passage that they had better not do that. He tells what the consequences will be. It is an awful thing to be lost eternally! It is a wonderful thing to be saved eternally by the grace of God.

Blessed Are Those Who Die in the Lord in the Latter Half of the Tribulation

"13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them" (Rev. 14:13).

People are blessed who come to the Lord, and who are "in Him." This is true at all stages of Christianity. It will also be true in the Tribulation. It is very unfortunate that people will not wake up and accept Christ before the Tribulation begins. But we do praise God that, when His judgments are in the world, the inhabitants of the earth learn righteousness--that is, the greater portion of them do accept the Lord.

Frequently, I am asked if there are people who will be saved in the Tribulation. Most assuredly! More people will come to the Lord in the Tribulation than have come for centuries. In fact, more than half the people of the Tribulation will accept the Lord during that time of wrath, "for when thy [Jehovah's] judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9). "In that day shall men look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 17:7). Even in the latter half of the Tribulation myriads of people will come to the Lord. In Revelation 14:13, quoted at the beginning of this section, we see that there is a promise that those are blessed who die in the Lord from henceforth, that is, from the middle of the Tribulation on to the very end of it. Many of those who accept the Lord at that time will go home by way of the chopping block, but they are not to fear what man can do to them, but are to trust the Lord who has saved and accepted them.

They will leave a testimony which will cause others to take courage and to stand boldly for the Lord, whom they accept as Saviour. Truly, "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church!"

The Harvest and Vintage of the World

"14 And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16 And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.

"17 And another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19 And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs" (Rev. 14:14-20).

There have been much misunderstanding and conjecture about these two scenes. But there should not be so much misunderstanding in regard to them. Some tell us that the harvest scene is one thing and that the vintage is another. These interpreters usually place them at different times. The proper approach to the understanding of these two visions is, as I believe, to be found in Joel, chapter 3. A perusal of the Book of Joel shows that he is talking largely about the Tribulation Period. A person should read Joel 3:9-15 which is talking about the preparation that is necessary for the war of the great day of God the Almighty, that is, the final great struggle of the world, when the Antichrist rises up against the Christ, who slays him. In verses 12 and 13 we have this language: "12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehosaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. 13 Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great."

The prophet saw the armies of the world gathered against Palestine, and against the Jewish nation at Jerusalem. In verse 13 he compares these vast hosts of armies to the ripened grain that is ready to be harvested. Then in the same breath, he compares them to grapes that are thrown into the winevat, and that are to be trodden out. Thus it is clear that these two figures of speech refer to the same great, final conflict at the end of the Tribulation--the war of the great day of God the Almighty. When a person sees this picture and then looks at Revelation 14:14-20, he sees instantly that this is but an expansion and an enlargement of Joel 3:13. If this is true, the harvest and the vintage scenes are one and the same thing, represented by two different figures, which depend upon the original passage of Joel.

This is in perfect accord with Isaiah 63:1-6, which speaks of the second coming of Christ and of His treading the winepress of the wrath of God alone at His second coming.

When we see that Revelation 14:14-20 is talking about the war of the great day of God the Almighty, we see that this is placed here by way of anticipation, but is referring simply to the events of the final overthrow of the Antichrist and all the forces of evil.

These verses speak of the events that occur at the very end of the Tribulation, which comes to a close at the time of the overthrow of Babylon the city, as described in Revelation 16:17-21. It is also talking about the same thing as that which is described in Revelation 19:11-21.