Vine of the Land

Revelation 14 ends with a harvest scene. First grain is harvested by the son of man, then grapes are gathered by an angel with a sickle (vv. 17-19a).

Three parts of the grape plant are mentioned: The clusters (botruos) of the vine (ampelos) and the individual grapes (staphule)_ Because the individual grapes are ripe, the clusters can be gathered in.

There is only one vine. Both times ampelos is used, it’s in the singular. There are multiple clusters on a single vine. And the single vine is called the “vine of the earth” (ge). It seems likely that ge here should be translated land, but even without that adjustment, the singular “vine” is revealing. For the biblical writers, there is only one vine that can be seen as the vine of the land, which is the vine of the whole earth:

“You removed a vine from Egypt; You did drive out the nations, and did plant it. You did clear before it, and it took deep root and filled the land (or earth, Heb ‘eretz). The mountains were covered with its shadow; and the cedars of God with its boughs” (Psalm 80:8-10).

Israel is the vine that fills the land, grows so large that even mountains and cedars are overshadowed. 

In Revelation 14, this confirms that the harvest from the vine is a harvest from Israel. It’s a harvest from the people of God. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the harvest is a harvest of the faithful. Sodom and Gomorrah produced bitter wine (Deuteronomy 32:32), and Israel can become a Sodom (Revelation 11:7-8). But I think it’s best to see this harvest as a harvest of the good grapes. 

Structurally, Revelation 14 matches John 15, the vine passage in John’s gospel. Perhaps the vine from which they are harvested is Jesus, who is the vine precisely because He is the true Israel. He is the vine whose wine-blood brings joy to the whole world. Revelation 14 shows the gathering of the fruit from those pruned branches that have come to full ripeness, the martyrs who have been wholly conformed to the true and faithful Martyr.