Revelation 14:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

NIV: So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

NASB: Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

CSB: So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

NLT: So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.

KJV: And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

NKJV: So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

In response to the angel's call to thrust His sickle into the harvest, the "one like a son of man" "seated on the cloud" (identified as Jesus) (Revelation 14:14) swung His sickle across the earth. Consequently, the earth was reaped. Not a single unbeliever anywhere on the planet will escape Jesus' judgment. The psalmist asked, "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3). After sinning in the perfect environment God had placed them in, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God's presence by secluding themselves among the trees of the garden. But their attempt was unsuccessful, and God confronted them about their sin (Genesis 3:8–13). Likewise, when Christ thrusts in His sickle to judge the wicked, no sinner will be able to hide from Him.

Revelation 19:17–21 further describes this thorough and deadly reaping. The wages of sin have never been reduced. Romans 6:23 identifies those wages as death. The death is physical, spiritual, and eternal, but God has provided a remedy. Romans 6:23 also states that "the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Revelation 14:14–20 anticipates the judgment of the wicked that takes place at Christ's return. Matthew 13:36–43 and 24:21–46 disclose Jesus' words about this future event. Second Thessalonians 1:5–12 predicts it, and so does Jude 1:14–15. Isaiah 63:1–6 also describes the Lord's day of vengeance on the wicked. This event is poetically described using the image of a winepress, with blood streaming from it as high as a horse's head.

This chapter distinguishes two groups of people: those who believe in Jesus during the tribulation and those who worship the beast. John sees the Lamb, Jesus, and the 144,00 sealed Jewish servants of God standing together on Mount Zion. The scene anticipates the end of the tribulation with the 144,000 celebrating their victory over the beast. Heaven, too, celebrates their triumph. The eternal good news of salvation reaches the ends of the earth, calling upon everyone to turn to God or face His judgment and announcing the collapse of commercial Babylon and the eternal punishment of the beast, whose image so many unbelievers worshiped. This impending judgment is cause for believers to stay loyal to the Lord. Many believers will face martyrdom, but their temporary suffering does not compare with the eternal suffering worshipers of the beast will experience. When Christ returns to earth, the destruction of the wicked will be so complete that blood will flow so high it will reach a horse's bridle.

This chapter continues a segment of Revelation which deviates from the chronological account of the end times. These events occur at the end of the tribulation, when Christ returns to defeat all the remaining wickedness on earth. This event is given more details in chapter 19. In Acts 14:19–22 we learn that Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged the believers by saying believers must endure many tribulations before they enter the kingdom. Revelation 14 and 15 offer similar encouragement to stay loyal to Christ in the face of persecution. Chapter 16 resumes a step-by-step account of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''