“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left” (Matthew 25:31-33). That’s how Jesus explained what would happen at His coming, and that seems to be what John’s vision in these verses is describing.

And his vision makes it clear that those who reject Christ as Savior and refuse to bow the knee to Him as Lord should have no reason to look forward to Jesus’ coming. Instead, they are described as grapes that will gathered only to be crushed in a winepress. In fact, Isaiah saw a similar vision of the Messiah as the agent of God’s justice, treading the winepress of God’s wrath, and bringing all those who deserve God’s judgment to a bloody end (Isaiah 63:1-6).

But at the same time, there is much good news for the followers of Jesus here. Notice that verse 14 gives us a clear image of Christ, the Son of Man who reigns as King. He is the One Who reaps the harvest of the earth, the One Who is personally responsible for gathering “his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). So, if we trust Jesus with our salvation today, we can be sure that He will take us to Himself on His great Day of Judgment.

Now, we don’t know how long we have to wait for that day – in fact Jesus Himself said that only the Father would determine the time of His return (Matthew 24:36). That same truth is displayed in John’s vision, as the voice authorizing the harvest of the earth comes, not from the royal Son of Man but directly from the temple (14:15). But while we wait, we can have confidence that even those who die while having faith in Christ are blessed (14:13) – because He will keep us safe forever.

Isaiah 63:1-6 (ESV)

Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red, and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

Revelation 14:13-20 (ESV)

13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
14 Then I looked, and behold, 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 on 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 on the cloud swung his sickle across 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 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.