From: Revelation 14:14-19
The Harvest and the Vintage
[14] Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one
like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle
in his hand. [15] And another angel came out of the temple, calling
with a loud voice to him who sat upon the cloud, "Put in your sickle,
and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth
is fully ripe." [16] So he who sat upon the cloud swung his sickle on
the earth, and the earth was reaped.
[17] And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had
a sharp sickle. [18] Then another angel came out from the altar, the
angel who has power over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him
who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle, and gather the clusters
of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." [19] So the angel
swung his sickle on the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth,
and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
Commentary:
14-20. This preliminary description of the Last Judgment is given in
two scenes--the harvest (cf. 14:14-16) and the vintage (cf. 14:17-20)
--no doubt following the prophecy of Joel about how God will judge
nations hostile to Israel: "Let the nations bestir themselves, and come
up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I shall sit to judge all the
nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in,
tread, for the wine press is full" (Joel 3:12-13).
In the first scene Christ himself appears, described as "son of man"
(cf. Dan 7:13); it is he who will deliver the judgment (symbolized by
the harvest), as in the parable of the wheat and the weeds (cf. Mt 13:
24-30). In the second it is an angel sent by God who gathers the grapes
and puts them in the press to be trodden on either by God (in keeping
with the prophecy of Isaiah 63:3, which says, "I have trodden the wine
press alone") or by Christ (as we are told later in Revelation 19:15).
In either case we are being told that Jesus Christ, true God and true
man, has been empowered to perform the General Judgment which,
according to Jewish tradition, will take place at the gates of
Jerusalem (cf., e.g. Zech 14:4) and which involves a huge bloodbath
(cf. Rev 14:20).
In both scenes, an angel has the prominent role of giving the order
(cf. vv. 15, 18). The fact that he comes out from the temple and the
altar shows that the outcome is linked to the prayers of the saints
and martyrs, which stir Christ to take action (cf. Rev 8:3-4). So it
is that the moment Christ is made present on the altar through the
consecration of the bread and wine the Church calls for him to come
again--calls for his second coming, the Parousia, which will make his
victory complete: "When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we
proclaim your death, Lord Jesus, until you come in glory" ("Roman
Missal", eucharistic acclamation).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.