Third Vision: Judgment (Part 3)

Chapter 14 is the third and final chapter of the third vision; this third vision is broken into three sections:

Part 1 (Ch. 12): The heavenly scene of the woman who is persecuted by the dragon.
Part 2 (Ch. 13): The earthly scene of the Beast persecuting the saints.
Part 3 (Ch. 14): Judgment.

This judgment scene is itself broken into 4 parts:

1) The 144,000 redeemed from the earth.
2) The 3 angels.
3) The Second Coming/Harvest
4) Wrath

At first glance, it may seem strange above to find the 144,000 redeemed standing on Mount Zion prior to the harvest, but this scene is entirely consistent with the other visions (Chapters 7 and 20) wherein the saints are seen in Heaven prior to the end events. These visions are expressed in the "prophetic past", meaning that the eternal destiny of the saints is as good as done.

PART 1: 144,000.  Verses 1-5

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. (v.4)

This is obviously not referring to men only; this is talking about spiritual fornication.

PART 2: 3 Angels. Verses 6-13

1st Angel: Gospel

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—  (v. 6)

Recall that in Matthew 24, Jesus said the Gospel would be preached to all nations, then the end would come.

2nd Angel. Judgment of Babylon.

And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” (v. 8)

The judgment of Babylon will be expanded upon in Chapter 18; even the phrase "Babylon is fallen" will be repeated in 18:2.

3rd Angel. Judgment of Beast.

Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,  he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. (vv. 9-10)

Notice the difference in the above two angels' messages: the 2nd angel assures us that Babylon will be judged in the future. However, the 3rd angel's message is conditional: if you worship the beast, you will be subject to the wrath of God. This is not "prophetic past" because it has not been determined who will do what; each will make their own choices.

The same order of judgments--Babylon, beasts, dragon--will be repeated in following visions.

In verse 13, we then read that John hears a voice from Heaven telling him:

“Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’”

The from now on part means from the time of the vision, or the first century onward. This line is detached from the judgment section and is simply a reference to the "blessed" that we find in Daniel 12 as well as Revelation 20:

Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.

The futurist would have you believe that the from now on refers to being martyred during the supposed 7-year tribulation. But this reading merely propounds an act of self-salvation that is preposterously un-scriptural. 

PART 3: Second Coming/Harvest. Verses 14-16

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” (v. 15)

God's people are removed from the earth. If the reader is inclined to use the word rapture, then this would be it.

PART 4: Wrath. Verses 17-20

So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. (v. 19)

Thus ends the third vision of Revelation. To reiterate: the judgment scenes mark not only the end of the vision, but the end of everything on earth, i.e., nothing follows. Ergo, what follows next in the text (Chapter 15) is a parallel vision going back to a prior point in time.