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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 Jeremiah 51:33 and Revelation 14:15

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation uses imagery from Jeremiah’s judgment against Babylon, including Babylon as a threshing floor prepared for harvest. Revelation 14 echoes this with its description of an angel announcing that the earth is ready to be harvested.

Passages

Jeremiah 51:33

Hebrew Bible
32 They will report that the fords have been captured, the reed marshes have been burned, the soldiers are terrified. 33 For the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘Fair Babylon will be like a threshing floor that has been trampled flat for harvest. The time for her to be cut down and harvested will come very soon.’ 34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches; he made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out.”
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jeremiah

Revelation 14:15

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!” 16 So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... Interestingly, the book of Revelation has many quotations or allusions to the book of Jeremiah, including about a dozen texts from chapters 50–51. Revelation 18:2-19 picks up on the theme of wailing over Babylon (= Rome) in a taunting dirge for the fallen city. Just as with Israel, Christians are summoned to flee the city (Revelation 18:4). The image of drinking/pouring out the wine of God’s wrath, used in 51:7 (see also 25:15-29) is utilized in Revelation 18:3. In Revelation 18:5, the sins of Babylon are piled so high that they have reached heaven and God remembers their iniquities; in Jeremiah 51:9, it is their judgment (= the effects of their sins) that has reached the heavens. The image of Babylon as a volcano (51:25-26) is also picked up in Revelation 18:8-9. The image of the harvest in 51:22 is referred to in Revelation 14:14-15. The announcement of judgment on Babylon that its sea would become dry (51:36) may be echoed in the promise of Revelation 21:1 that the sea would be no more. The rejoicing of heaven and earth at the defeat of Babylon (51:48) is appropriated by Revelation 18:20. The symbolic act of Seraiah in throwing Jeremiah’s scroll into the Euphrates (51:59-64) is adapted in Revelation 18:21 ..."
Terence E. Fretheim, The Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Jeremiah (Smith & Helwys, 2002), 647.

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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Jeremiah 51:33 and Revelation 14:15

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