◄ Revelation 14:19 ►
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
Study Bible
So the angel swung his sickle over the earth

The angel carries out the command announced from the altar, where the prayers of the saints and the demand for righteous justice have risen before God. The sickle marks the appointed end of human rebellion. As harvesters cut a ripened field without delay, God brings history to its determined moment of judgment (Matthew 13:39; Joel 3:13).

Jol 3:13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.…
Mrk 4:29 And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings…
Mat 13:39-43 and the enemy who sows them is the devil.…

and gathered the grapes of the earth,

The grapes represent the ungodly world system that has ripened in idolatry, persecution, and defiance of God. In contrast to the faithful who belong to the Lamb, those gathered from the earth have identified with Babylon and the beast. Israel had once been pictured as God’s vineyard, yet unfaithfulness brought judgment (Isaiah 5:1–7); here the imagery encompasses all who reject the true God.

Jer 6:9 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant”…
Jer 49:9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not…
Num 13:23 When they came to the Valley of Eshcol, they cut down…

and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

The winepress portrays the crushing force and holiness of God’s final judgment. Isaiah saw the Lord treading the winepress against His enemies (Isaiah 63:3–6), and Revelation later identifies the conquering Christ as the One who treads “the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty” (Revelation 19:15). God’s wrath is not uncontrolled anger but His righteous response to persistent sin, violence, and rejection of His rule.

Rev 19:15 And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword…
Isa 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one…
Lam 1:15 The Lord has rejected all the mighty men in my midst;…

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Angel
A divine messenger tasked with executing God's judgment. In the context of Revelation, angels often serve as agents of God's will, carrying out specific actions that fulfill His divine plan.

2. The Earth
Represents the world and its inhabitants, particularly those who are subject to God's judgment due to their rebellion and sin.

3. The Grapes of the Earth
Symbolic of the wicked and unrepentant people who are ripe for judgment. The imagery of grapes suggests fullness and readiness for harvest, indicating that the time for judgment has come.

4. The Great Winepress of God’s Wrath
A metaphor for the execution of divine judgment. In ancient times, a winepress was used to crush grapes to extract juice, symbolizing the thorough and complete nature of God's judgment on sin.
Teaching Points
The Certainty of Divine Judgment
God's judgment is certain and will be executed at the appointed time. Believers should live with an awareness of this truth, striving to align their lives with God's will.

The Righteousness of God's Wrath
God's wrath is not arbitrary but is a righteous response to sin and rebellion. Understanding this helps believers trust in God's justice and sovereignty.

The Urgency of Repentance
The imagery of the harvest underscores the urgency for repentance. Believers are called to share the gospel, urging others to turn to Christ before the time of judgment arrives.

The Role of Angels in God's Plan
Angels are active participants in God's plan, serving as His messengers and agents. This reminds believers of the unseen spiritual realities at work in the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the imagery of the winepress in Revelation 14:19 help us understand the nature of God's judgment?

2. In what ways does the certainty of divine judgment influence your daily life and decisions?

3. How can the connection between Revelation 14:19 and Joel 3:13 deepen our understanding of God's plan for the nations?

4. What role do angels play in the unfolding of God's plan, and how does this impact our view of spiritual realities?

5. How can we effectively communicate the urgency of repentance to those around us in light of the coming judgment described in Revelation 14:19?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Isaiah 63:1-6
This passage describes the Lord's vengeance and the imagery of treading the winepress, which parallels the judgment scene in Revelation 14:19.

Joel 3:13
The prophet Joel uses similar harvest imagery to describe the coming judgment of the nations, emphasizing the ripeness of the harvest as a metaphor for the readiness of the wicked for judgment.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares illustrates the separation of the righteous and the wicked at the end of the age, akin to the harvest imagery in Revelation.
Sermons
A Coronation SermonG. Clayton.Revelation 14:14-20
Judgment Again RepresentedR. Green Revelation 14:14-20
The Harvest and the VintageS. Conway, B. A.Revelation 14:14-20
The Harvest and the VintageS. Conway Revelation 14:14-20
The Harvest of the EarthR. Tuck, B. A.Revelation 14:14-20
The Moral Seasons of HumanityD. Thomas Revelation 14:14-20
The Twin Mysteries: Life and DeathJ. Stoughton.Revelation 14:14-20
People
John
Places
Babylon, Mount Zion, Patmos
Topics
Angel, Anger, Blade, Bunches, Cast, Clusters, Cut, Flung, Forth, Fury, Gather, Gathered, God's, Grapes, Messenger, Press, Reaped, Sickle, Swung, Threw, Thrust, Vine, Vintage, Wine, Wine-crusher, Winepress, Wine-press, Wrath
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Revelation 14:19

     1025   God, anger of

Revelation 14:14-19

     4508   sickle

Revelation 14:15-19

     4113   angels, agents of judgment
     4510   sowing and reaping

Revelation 14:17-20

     4458   grape

Library
The Approval of the Spirit
TEXT: "Yea, saith the Spirit."--Rev. 14:31. The world has had many notable galleries of art in which we have been enabled to study the beautiful landscape, to consider deeds of heroism which have made the past illustrious, in which we have also read the stories of saintly lives; but surpassing all these is the gallery of art in which we find the text. Humanly speaking John is the artist while he is an exile on the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. The words he uses and the figures he presents …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Declensions of Christianity, an Argument of Its Truth.
"When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" That the coming of the Son of man, is here intended of Christ's coming at the commencement of the latter day glory, hath been alleged in the preceding discourse, and several considerations adduced in proof. Additional evidence will arise from a view of the prophecies relative to the great declensions which were to take place in the church, during the gospel day. These, we observed, are of two kinds, one, a corruption of religion, …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Heavenly Worship
"Up to her courts, with joys unknown, The sacred tribes repaired." Between the wings of the cherubim Jehovah dwelt; on the one altar there all the sacrifices were offered to high heaven. They loved Mount Sion, and often did they sing, when they drew nigh to her, in their annual pilgrimages, "How amiable are thy tabernacles O Lord God of hosts, my King and my God!" Sion is now desolate; she hath been ravished by the enemy; she hath been utterly destroyed; her vail hath been rent asunder, and the virgin …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

20TH DAY. Bliss in Dying.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord."--REV. xiv. 13. Bliss in Dying. My Soul! is this blessedness thine in prospect? Art thou ready, if called this night to lie down on thy death-pillow, sweetly to fall asleep in Jesus? What is the sting of death? It is sin. Is death, then, to thee, robbed of its sting, by having listened to the gracious accents of pardoning love, "Be of good cheer, thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee?" If thou hast made up thy …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser

Wherefore Also the virgins of God Without Blame Indeed...
49. Wherefore also the virgins of God without blame indeed, "follow the Lamb whithersoever He shall have gone," both the cleansing of sins being perfected, and virginity being kept, which, were it lost, could not return: but, because that same Apocalypse itself, wherein such unto one such were revealed, in this also praises them, that "in their mouth there was not found a lie:" [2205] let them remember in this also to be true, that they dare not say that they have not sin. Forsooth the same John, …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Let the Inner Ear of the virgin Also...
24. Let the inner ear of the virgin also, thy holy child, hear these things. I shall see [2284] how far she goes before you in the Kingdom of That King: it is another question. Yet ye have found, mother and daughter, Him, Whom by beauty of chastity ye ought to please together, having despised, she all, you second, marriage. Certainly if there were husbands whom ye had to please, by this time, perhaps, you would feel ashamed to adorn yourself together with your daughter; now let it not shame you, …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Widowhood.

Letter Xlix to Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia.
To Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia. He urges upon him the proposal of the religious life, recalling the thought of death. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to his dear Romanus, as to his friend. MY DEAREST FRIEND, How good you are to me in renewing by a letter the sweet recollection of yourself and in excusing my tiresome delay. It is not possible that any forgetfulness of your affection could ever invade the hearts of those who love you; but, I confess, I thought you had almost forgotten yourself …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Whether virginity is the Greatest of virtues?
Objection 1: It would seem that virginity is the greatest of virtues. For Cyprian says (De Virgin. [*De Habitu Virg.]): "We address ourselves now to the virgins. Sublime is their glory, but no less exalted is their vocation. They are a flower of the Church's sowing, the pride and ornament of spiritual grace, the most honored portion of Christ's flock." Objection 2: Further, a greater reward is due to the greater virtue. Now the greatest reward is due to virginity, namely the hundredfold fruit, according …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Glory of the virgins and Religious.
Here are two other bright throngs that present themselves. They are the holy Virgins and the Religious. Let us first contemplate the bright glory of the virgins. I quote again from the Apocalypse: "And I heard a great voice from heaven. . . . And the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers, harping upon their harps. And they sang as it were a new canticle before the throne. . . . And no man could say that canticle but those hundred and forty-four thousand. These are they who were not defiled …
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Naked or Clothed?
'As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.'--ECCLES. v. 15. '... Their works do follow them.'--REV. xiv. 13. It is to be observed that these two sharply contrasted texts do not refer to the same persons. The former is spoken of a rich worldling, the latter of 'the dead who die in the Lord.' The unrelieved gloom of the one is as a dark background against which the triumphant assurance of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ripe for Gathering
'Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2. And He said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon My people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3. And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Which Sentence Dishonoreth the Holy Martyrs, Nay Rather Taketh Away Holy Martyrdoms Altogether. ...
3. Which sentence dishonoreth the holy Martyrs, nay rather taketh away holy martyrdoms altogether. For they would do more justly and wisely, according to these men, not to confess to their persecutors that they were Christians, and by confessing make them murderers: but rather by telling a lie, and denying what they were, should both themselves keep safe the convenience of the flesh and purpose of the heart, and not allow those to accomplish the wickedness which they had conceived in their mind. …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Therefore, if we Compare the Things Themselves, we May no Way Doubt that The...
28. Therefore, if we compare the things themselves, we may no way doubt that the chastity of continence is better than marriage chastity, whilst yet both are good: but when we compare the persons, he is better, who hath a greater good than another. Further, he who hath a greater of the same kind, hath also that which is less; but he, who only hath what is less, assuredly hath not that which is greater. For in sixty, thirty also are contained, not sixty also in thirty. But not to work from out that …
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Letter Lii to Another Holy virgin.
To Another Holy Virgin. Under a religious habit she had continued to have a spirit given up to the world, and Bernard praises her for coming to a sense of her duty; he exhorts her not to neglect the grace given to her. 1. It is the source of great joy to me to hear that you are willing to strive after that true and perfect joy, which belongs not to earth but to heaven; that is, not to this, vale of tears, but to that city of God which the rivers of the flood thereof make glad (Ps. xlvi. 4). And in …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

A Treatise of the Fear of God;
SHOWING WHAT IT IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM THAT WHICH IS NOT SO. ALSO, WHENCE IT COMES; WHO HAS IT; WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS; AND WHAT THE PRIVILEGES OF THOSE THAT HAVE IT IN THEIR HEARTS. London: Printed for N. Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, over against the Stocks market: 1679. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "a fountain of life"--the foundation on which all wisdom rests, as well as the source from whence it emanates. Upon a principle …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Appendix the Daughters of Jerusalem
The question is frequently asked, Who are represented by the daughters of Jerusalem? They are clearly not the bride, yet they are not far removed from her. They know where the Bridegroom makes His flock to rest at noon; they are charged by the Bridegroom not to stir up nor awaken His love when she rests, abiding in Him; they draw attention to the Bridegroom as with dignity and pomp He comes up from the wilderness; their love-gifts adorn His chariot of state; they are appealed to by the bride for …
J. Hudson Taylor—Union and Communion

Vanity of Human Glory.
"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."--1 John iii. 1 Of St. Simon and St. Jude, the Saints whom we this day commemorate, little is known[1]. St. Jude, indeed, still lives in the Church in his Catholic epistle; but of his history we only know that he was brother to St. James the Less, and nearly related to our Lord and that, like St. Peter, he had been a married man. Besides his name of Jude or Judas, he is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus in the Gospels. Of St. Simon we only …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

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