In this episode of Hope for Today, we delve into the profound spiritual visions of Revelation 14 as shared by Bible teacher David Hawking. The passage illustrates a powerful scene of divine judgment, where the unrepentant are harvested and cast into the great winepress of God’s wrath. Through these vivid descriptions, the episode unfolds the urgency of understanding the final harvest, not as a period of salvation but as a time of ultimate judgment. Join us as we explore the implications and significance of this sobering biblical prophecy.
Jesus Christ is going to exercise judgment in this world. And what I think is describing the bloodbath of the battle we call Armageddon at the end of the tribulation, or what is described in the parables as being the harvest at the end of the age. The final harvest here is not people coming to Christ. The final harvest here is God’s judgment on all the nations of the world.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is Hope for Today. And yesterday on the broadcast, we began our look at Revelation 14, 14 through 20. And today we continue in this sobering, sobering vision. John sees the Son of Man seated on a cloud holding a sharp sickle. A cry goes out from heaven, “‘Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.'” And so, the people of the earth, rebellious and unrepentant, are gathered and cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God. It’s a scene of final judgment, swift and terrible, as the full weight of God’s holiness falls on a world that’s rejected Him. Stay tuned as Bible teacher David Hawking takes us even deeper into Revelation chapter 14, verses 14 to 20. Next, on Hope for Today. First, Matt, it’s time for a listener letter, and this one comes from Gary and Margie.
SPEAKER 01 :
Their note’s really encouraging. Go ahead and read that. It says, Dear Hope for Today, thank you so very much for all of your great ways that you are spreading the gospel. Amen. That’s our whole point. We are very blessed by Dr. David Hawking through teaching every day.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, we were just talking about this recently, Matt, you and I, about the lack of hope in today’s world. And you know something? God’s Word has hope. And it’s not a whimsy. It’s something you can utterly, completely rely on. It’s the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. Thank you again, Gary and Margie, for your note. And folks, if you have a comment for us, a prayer request, do get in touch with us. Hang on. We’ll tell you a bit later how to do that. Now turn to Revelation chapter 14, verses 14 through 20 for day two of The Harvest of the Earth.
SPEAKER 04 :
I think this is Jesus Christ. I don’t think there’s any question about it in the book of Revelation. In his hand is first the seven-sealed scroll that deals with all the judgments of the tribulation from Revelation 5. And now we see in his hand a sharp sickle assigned to all those who know farming were ready to reap the harvest. Only the harvest is not people coming to Christ. The harvest is the judgment of all the nations of the world. So his awesome purpose The purpose of the Lord during the tribulation is to judge. Yes, the same Savior who walked the hills of Galilee and went to the cross and died for our sins, He is the one who will come and judge the entire world. Now go back to verse 15. In verse 15 to 18 of chapter 14, we have the instruction that is given concerning the sharp sickle, and it involves three things. We have, first of all, the reason for this instruction. What is the instruction? Thrust in the sickle and reap. What’s the reason? Verse 15, for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. We are told that it’s ripe to It is referring to a farmer who’s delayed so long that it’s now dry and withered. The word for ripe is to dry up or wither in Greek. What it is is a testimony to the patience of God. You know, in the midst of this awesome scene of judgment, there is that sweet breath of fresh air, the patience of God. When this passage pictures that tremendous event of God’s judgment in the world, it pictures a harvest that is now far beyond the time of reaping, reminding us that God is so gracious, so loving. There’s no reason at all to explain this except one thing, that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. What a marvelous, gracious, loving God we have. But do not presume that God will never bring it. It’s coming. A second thing, in addition to the condition of the harvest that I see in this passage, is the connection to Bible prophecy. Turn to the book of Joel, chapter 3. The connection to Bible prophecy. Here in chapter 14, the picture of the sickle and the harvest, I know it’s hard to understand, but we have a Bible passage here. That is being quoted. The book of Joel. Daniel, Hosea, Joel. And look please at chapter 3. Chapter 3, verses 12 to 16. This is the passage that we believe is being quoted in Revelation 14. Remember, there are some 400 quotations from the Old Testament, the book of Revelation. You go back and see all these, you can put together what is happening. What is this final harvest described at the end of Revelation 14? Well, let’s take a look at it. Joel chapter 3, verse 12. It says, “…let the heathen or the nations be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.” The valley of Jehoshaphat is referring to what is also called the Kidron Valley. It’s on the east side of the old city of Jerusalem. It’s the valley between the hill we know as Mount Moriah and the hill we know as Mount Olives. and it goes right between the two of them, the Valley of Jehoshaphat. It was known to the Jewish people as the Valley of Judgment. When conquering kings would conquer Jerusalem, it was usually in that valley on the east side that they would set up a judgment and begin to evaluate what they should do with the captives and so forth. “‘Let the heathen be wakened. Come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen and nations round about.'” Now, folks, here’s a clear identification of the one who sits on the white cloud. Notice it says he sits there, and he’s about to judge all the nations. Who are we talking about? The end of verse 8, the Lord hath spoken it. It’s the Lord speaking. Now verse 13, put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come get down for the press is full. The wine vats are overflowing. Their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be dark and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion like a lion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall you know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy and will no longer be in the hands of the PLO. Oh, excuse me, that wasn’t there. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore. It’s a powerful text, and it should be obvious to all of you who have your Bible in front of you that this is what is quoted in Revelation 14. Put in the sickle. Back to Revelation 14. We’re talking about the reason for the instruction is the time has come. It’s overdue, long overdue. And God’s long suffering is the reason so that many will come to him. And we praise the Lord for that, for his kindness to this generation who has rejected him over and over again. But another thing that’s of interest here is the relationship of what appears to be two harvests. Did you notice that? One is grain harvest. And one is grapes. Did you see that? Verse 15 is grain. And then when you come to verse 18, it is grapes. Turn please to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. I believe that both of these are illustrating the same thing. The judgment of the nations. And Matthew 25 records what’s actually going to happen in the valley of Jehoshaphat. Now, Zechariah 14 says that all nations will come against Jerusalem. And the Lord is going to defeat them, which we’ll describe in just a moment as to what he’s actually going to do. But he’s then going to set up a judgment of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem as to how they’ve treated the people of God, the chosen people, the nation of Israel. Matthew chapter 25, beginning at verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come in his glory… and all the holy angels with him. Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all the nations. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. The day of the Lord is near. He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Our Lord’s going to set up the kingdom, a thousand-year reign of Christ, right after the tribulation. Verse 35, I was hungry, you gave me meat. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison, you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungred and fed thee or thirsty or gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked or clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? The king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brothers, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. One old time evangelist I read said, If you go to hell, you’re trespassing. It was made for the devil and his angels. I kind of like that. I was hungered, and you gave me no meat. I was thirsty, you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, you took me not in. Naked, you clothed me not. Sick and in prison, you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And thee shall go away into everlasting punishment. but the righteous into life eternal. Awesome. Go back to Revelation 14. All the nations will be judged as to how they have treated Israel. Some of them apparently will be kind to them, at least people within those nations, and they will go into the kingdom and God will reward them for their kindness. They go into the kingdom in natural bodies, by the way. They’ve not been killed. They will not be resurrected. And they will have children in the millennium. the children who are born to these people in the millennium, they will have 100 years to decide whether they want to bow the knee to Jesus Christ. If they don’t, they are cut off, according to Isaiah chapter 65. That’s why we believe at the end of the millennium, at the end of the thousand years in Revelation 20, when Satan is released from his bondage, he’s been bound all that period of time, he goes out and deceives the nations and they try to rebel against the Lord and he wipes them out. We believe that’s a youth movement, namely under 100 years. Because if they haven’t turned to the Lord by age 100, they’re cut off anyway. And all these people, they will be ruled, and we will reign over them, those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ. The redeemed of both Old Testament saints and church-age believers will be resurrected, and we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ over these people. There will be a massive population explosion also in the millennium. You say, well, people get saved in the millennium. Well, a lot of Bible teachers question that. But if God says you’ve got until age 100 until you’d be cut off, I presume that if they turn to the Lord, they could be saved in the millennium. It’s an interesting question. Now, in chapter 14 and verse 18, look at the role of the angel who came out of the altar. Look what it says. Another angel came out from the altar who had power over fire. You say, what’s that all about? Turn back to Revelation chapter 8. Now, the word another angel is another of the same kind, perhaps mentioned earlier in the book, and this is what I think it’s referring to. Revelation chapter 8, look at verse 3 and 4. Who is the angel that has power over fire that comes out of the temple? What is being pictured here? Revelation 8.3. Another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. There was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. The angel took the censer, filled it with what? fire from the altar and cast it to the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. And this is announcing the seven trumpets. You see, I think this is the same angel. So what we have pictured here is that dumping the fire of the censer on the earth, the harvest at the end of the age of this bloodbath of the winepress of the wrath of God is in reality an answer to prayer. It’s an answer to prayer. It’s the prayer of all the saints. Turn back to chapter 6, please. Chapter 6. We keep going back and relating verses to help us put the package all together. In chapter 6, verse 9, when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. They cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them. It was said unto them that they should rest forever. Now these are the martyrs of the ages. How long, O Lord, until you avenge our blood? And then in chapter 8, the angel pictures the answer as the censer is taken off the altar of incense where the priest would stand and offer the prayers to God. And now we have a vivid illustration. The prayers are ascending to God. How long, O Lord? And the answer in Revelation 14, the angel has power over fire, comes forth and says, now. The harvest at the end of the age is the final judgment of God that answers the prayer of those who have been martyred all the way through history. When are you going to avenge our blood? This is the time. This is the event. Go back to Matthew chapter 3, and I want to show you something kind of interesting. I’ve always been troubled a little bit about Matthew 3, which deals with the baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire. I’m not discussing that here. However, I have been teaching on it regularly and I have brought this issue up. It’s a very interesting one. In this passage, John the Baptist is confronted with Pharisees and Sadducees who come to his baptism. That’s clear from verse 7. And John is a very kind, gracious, loving, tolerant one who said, oh, generation of vipers. He obviously was not looking for strokes or scoring points with anyone. Oh, generation of snakes who have warned you to flee from the, what? Wrath to come. Tells them to bring forth evidence that they really repented. And they say, we don’t need that. We got Abraham. And He mentions the axes laid upon the root of the trees. If they’re the root, Jews, the axes laid there, and every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the what? Fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, says John, but he who cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with what? Fire. Fire. The next statement, whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor. Wow, sounds familiar to Revelation 14. Gather his weight into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable what? Fire. Well, unquenchable fire is referring to God’s judgment in hell. It is not referring to the power of the Holy Spirit on the believer. My point is simply this. How often we have read verse 11 as though the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is a baptism with power is illustrated by fire. In fact, you’ll even see a flame in many drawings and illustrations to illustrate the power of the Holy Spirit. I’m sorry, I have a problem with that. It’s a nice little illustration, but it doesn’t check out with the context. The fire is judgment. The issue here is Pharisees and scribes who need to repent. who are a generation of vipers who are told, flee the wrath of God to come. So what he’s saying is that the, understand that the Savior, the same one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and gives power to believers, is also the exact same one who baptizes the unbeliever with fire. So verse 12 explains that. His fan is in his hand. He purges the floor, gathers the wheat up. Yes, believers. But what does he do with the chaff who are unbelievers? He burns them with unquenchable fire. You follow what I’m saying? Back to Revelation chapter 14. So the angel whose power over fire comes, it’s announcing God’s judgment, and it’s an answer to the prayer of the saints who have been saying, how long, O Lord, until you avenge our blood?
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David will be back in just a moment or so to close out today’s study time. Do stay tuned for that. First, though, Matt’s here, and together we’re going to tell you about a powerful study resource. This is going to bring great hope into your life. There are a multitude of reasons we lose hope. any number of trials that surround and push into our lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, it’s very easy and very human to lose hope. And the enemy of our soul loves to taunt us and divert our focus away from our source of true and certain hope, the Lord Jesus and God’s word. Matt, what is hope? Is hope just a whimsical wish like when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake or is there more? No, God’s word guarantees us that true hope is much more. And when we understand and fill our hearts with the hope God graciously provides in his word, wow. Wow. The result, phenomenal.
SPEAKER 02 :
It is the joy we see portrayed so vividly in the lives of biblical characters who came through the toughest tribulations, torment, and trial, stronger and filled with hope.
SPEAKER 01 :
And right now we’re spotlighting the book, Hope in Difficult Times. And with the despair of our age, flourishing evil and hurts and pains, this book study of biblical hope is just what we need, Jim. Oh, we do. We see so much of it today, just recently in the news.
SPEAKER 02 :
And folks, we need to know hope in the Word of God. Let us get Hope for Difficult Times by David Hawking into your hands.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, it’s a 195-page dynamic study. Scripture, illustrations, stories from the Word, wisdom and insight. for hope, and it’s just $20.
SPEAKER 02 :
And when you purchase, please consider adding an extra amount, a donation to Hope for Today, or make a donation by itself. Your gift makes you a part of this ministry.
SPEAKER 01 :
And as always, please start by praying for hope for today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. To get a hold of us, call 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. Or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible is 24253. You can also order this great book, Hope in Difficult Times, at DavidHawking.org. Now, before David returns, let me be… straight with you. Hope for Today isn’t backed by big sponsors or corporate money. This broadcast stays on the air because God uses listeners like you who care about hearing his word unfiltered, uncompromised, and boldly proclaimed. Your donation does more than cover radio time. It keeps this message of truth piercing through the darkness. And boy, we see so much darkness around us today, don’t we? It puts the Bible into ears that might never hear it otherwise. It gives hope to people who are hanging on by a thread. We were talking about hope earlier. So don’t wait for someone else to do it. If the Lord is stirring your heart, step up and partner with us today. You can tell us you’re praying or send a gift by mail to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California. 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 8P1. Or call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Or you can give online at davidhawking.org. Let’s go back to David for his closing comments.
SPEAKER 03 :
One of the great things about our Revelation teaching on the radio is that it is all about hope. Oh, sure, there’s some terrible things going to happen, but the hope of the believer, we’re going to be with the Lord forever. If you die before it all happens, hey, absent from the body, but present with the Lord. The hope we have is the return of our blessed Jesus Christ our Lord. And the last half of chapter 14 of Revelation is about the harvest of the earth. No, it’s not about salvation. No, it’s about the judgment of God falling upon the earth. It is an amazing teaching as the whole earth is looked at as a great winepress of the wrath of God. That winepress apparently is referring to the nation of Israel, and there is going to be a bloodbath at the Battle of Armageddon at the end of Tribulation. We’ll have more about that when we get to chapter 16. But here we are seeing that the blood comes out of the winepress to the horse’s bridles for about 200 miles. It says 1,600 furlongs. which is about 200 miles, the total distance from Dan to Beersheba and the entire land of Israel will be a bloodbath. The nations of the world think that they can hurt Israel without God’s judgment? You better guess again. God is going to destroy all the armies of the nations of the world who thought they could wipe Israel off the face of the earth. The armies of the world are talking about that even as I speak. May God help us to be watching and to be ready, for our Lord is going to come in power and great glory and judgment.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen, David. Amen. Friend, if you missed any part of today’s program or maybe a recent broadcast, you can hear, well, recent broadcast at davidhawking.org for a limited time. And be sure to check out all the other Bible study resources we have waiting for you there. You can purchase a number of them and that helps you and the ministry. And then we have free video streaming, the broadcast streaming free, and some free downloads on our homepage. Check it out at davidhawking.org. Next week, be sure to join us for day three of this message as we take a final look at Revelation 14, 14 through 20. John sees the Son of Man seated on a cloud holding a sharp sickle. And the harvest, the harvest of the earth is ripe. And the people are gathered into the winepress of God’s wrath. It’s a scene of judgment, and we’re going to see more of that that’s final, terrible, and true. But it also points to the hope that belongs to those who are his. So don’t miss day three as David Hawking continues in this sobering passage and shows us why it matters so much today. And let me also encourage you to invite a friend to listen along with you, someone who needs to hear the message, and your simple invitation could make an eternal difference. So join us then on Hope for Today. Hope for Today
