John and the Future of the Nations - Institute for Biblical Research

260 Bulletin for Biblical Research 12.2
same time to the judgment of those who did not repent and who are
sentenced to eternal condemnation. That is, the metaphor of the grain
harvest may be a general picture of the coming judgment. 52 This understanding
of the grain harvest does not necessarily imply a conversion
of the nations. (2) If the grain harvest of 14:14-16 has to be
interpreted in connection with the firstfruits of 14:4, the former expanding
on the latter, John would speak of the redemption of the believers
in 14:14-16 and of the judgment of the rest in 14:17-20. 53 The
figurative use of "harvest" does not by necessity refer to redemption.
Harvesting is sometimes a metaphor for judgment (Jer 51:33; Mic
4:12-13; Matt 3:12; Luke 3:17), and the probable allusion of 14:15-16
to Matt 13:30, 39-42 confirms this interpretation. 54 Matthew 13:30,
39-42 mentions a harvest in the sense of gathering unbelievers, has
angels as reapers, and relates this event to the "end of the age" and
to the authority of the "Son of man." Still, John does not hint at a
mass conversion of people and nations that are hostile at the present
time. (3) The content of the programmatic messages of the three angels
in 14:6-11 who proclaim the coming judgment makes it unlikely,
however, that the grain harvest signifies the gathering of the elect (or,
more generally, of those who repented). 55 (4) The allusion in 14:14-20
to Joel 3:13 [MT 4:13] can indeed be interpreted as a twofold metaphor
describing the final battle in which God vanquishes the evil powers:
the Joel text, the only OT passage where harvesting with a sickle is
spoken of metaphorically, speaks only of judgment. 56 Beale takes issue
with Bauckham's claim that John twists Joel's meaning by turning the
harvest image into a positive picture of redemption, pointing out the
fact that "John uses the OT consistently with its contextual meaning,
even when creatively developing it." 57 (5) The parallel pronouncements
in 14:17-19 confirm that the metaphor of the grain harvest in
14:15-16 refers to the judgment of unbelieving mankind:
15 kai_ a!lloj a!ggeloj e)ch=lqen e)k tou= 18 kai_ a!lloj a!ggeloj [e)ch=lqen] e)k tou=
naou=
qusiasthri/ou [o(] e!xwn e)cousi/an e)pi_ tou=
puro/j
kra/zwn e)n fwnh|= mega/lh| kai_ e)fw/nhsen fwnh|= mega/lh|
tw=| kaqhme/nw| e)pi_ th=j nefe/lhj tw=| e!xonti to_ dre/panon to_ o)cu_ le/gwn
52. Mounce, Revelation, 278.
53. Cf. Beale, Revelation, 774.
54. Beale, Revelation, 777.
55. Caird, Revelation, 190-94, relates both metaphors to the ingathering of the
elect, which is implausible in view of the "heading" of 14:14.
56. Cf. Beasley-Murray, Revelation, 228-29; Muller, Offenbarung, 270; Giesen, Offenbarung,
338; Beale, Revelation, 774-75, who also points to Zech 5:1-3 LXX for the image
of a "flying sickle," implied in Rev 14:14 and 17 as a picture of imminent judgment.
57. Beale, Revelation, 777-78. See generally his John's Use of the Old Testament in
Revelation (JSNTSup 166; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998).