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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 14

1 Then I looked, and here was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I also heard a sound coming out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder.⁠ Now the sound I heard was like that made by harpists playing their harps, 3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one was able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from humanity as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, 5 and no lie was found on their lips; they are blameless. 6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!” 8 A second angel followed the first, declaring: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great city! She made all the nations drink of the wine of her immoral passion.”⁠ 9 A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, 10 that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb.⁠ 11 And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name.”⁠ 12 This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: ‘Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them.” 14 Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man!⁠ He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!”⁠ 16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he, too, had a sharp sickle. 18 Another angel, who was in charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to the angel who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes off the vine of the earth, because its grapes are now ripe.”⁠ 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth and tossed them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.⁠ 20 Then the winepress was stomped outside the city, and blood poured out of the winepress up to the height of horses’ bridles for a distance of almost 200 miles.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Revelation 14:14 and Testament of Abraham 4:9

New Testament · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

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Summary

Revelation describes the one like a son of man with a sharp sickle to reap the earth. The Testament of Abraham uses the same image for death, a sickle that gathers everyone who comes from Adam and Eve.

Passages

Revelation 14:14

New Testament
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: ‘Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them.” 14 Then I looked, and a white cloud appeared, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man! He had a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple, shouting in a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and start to reap, because the time to reap has come, since the earth’s harvest is ripe!”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

Testament of Abraham 4:9

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments
8 Now, Lord, what am I to do? How can I avoid this, sitting at the same table with him? The Lord said: Go down to him and do not worry about this, for when you sit down with him I will send a devouring spirit on you, and it will consume everything on the table out of your hands and through your mouth. 9 Rejoice with him in everything. Only be sure to interpret the things of the vision well, so that Abraham may know the sickle of death and the uncertain end of life, and may dispose of all his possessions, for I have blessed him beyond the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven.
100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Abraham

References

... A further explanation for the presence of a sickle might be an interpretation as a symbol for death, similar to Testament of Abraham 4:11 [Recension A], where Michael carries a “sickle of death”. The sickle as a symbol for death and destruction might hint at an identification of Christ with the Destroyer as in the Exodus tradition (see section 3.1.2.5. below). Fifth, the description of the one like a son of man as “sitting” can be explained by the assumption of the use of the Joel tradition, because Joel 4 also includes a scenario of judgement. Notably in Joel 4:12 God is judging in the valley of Jehoshaphat while he is “sitting”. Possibly the description of the one like a son of man as “sitting” could additionally express a certain increase of power and therefore represent his enthronement. The sickle can probably be interpreted as a sign representing a certain juridical function of the one like a son of man which becomes rather obvious by the following description of the scenario of the harvest in Apocalypse 14:15-20: The depiction continues to be very reminiscent of Joel 4. ...
Matthias Reinhard Hoffmann, “Angelomorphic Christology and the Book of Revelation” (PhD diss., The University of Durham, 2003), 48–49.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Revelation 14:14 and Testament of Abraham 4:9

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