I don't see any rapture in Rev 14, all i see is the grapes being harvested by the means of a SHARP SICKLE which means tribulation.
A sickle is an instrument of harvest. It has nothing to do with tribulation. And Revelation 14 has nothing to do with the harvesting of grapes. The clusters and grapes represents believers being harvested.
In chapter 14, "the son of man" sits on a white cloud.
Rev 14:14 "And I looked, and behold a
white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto
the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown,
and in his hand a sharp sickle."
The rapture and the resurrection is a time of reaping and harvest.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the
harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mark 4:28-29 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the
sickle, because the harvest is come.
The gathering will take place in the the clouds of the sky (Mt. 24:30; 1 Thess. 4:17).
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Before the rapture Christ first raises the righteous dead. Here is the resurrection of the dead and the gathering of the living righteous. We know this event is said to precede the rapture of the living.
In Mathew 13 both the righteous and the wicked are harvested and that's the same situation in Revelation 14.
Revelation 14:14-16 T
hen I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in
His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice t
o 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." So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
In verse Revelation 14:14-16 there is a harvest. Both the resurrection of the righteous dead and the rapture are included in verses 14-16. In Mathew 13 the Lord tells us that the harvest is the end of the world and the angels do the gathering.
Mathew 13 is about the wheat and the tares and how they are allowed to grow together until the harvest where they are BOTH reaped. And coincidentally, the wheat and the tares are mentioned in Revelation 14. The wheat between verses 14-16. The tares between verses 17-20. Our Lord said in Mathew 13:36-42.
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil;
the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire;
so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
A close look at Mathew 13's wheat and tares and Revelation 14's two harvest reveals that they are almost identical.
So my conclusion is that Revelation 14:14-16 is the resurrection of both the dead in Christ and the living righteous, or the wheat.
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
And Revelation 14:17-20 is the resurrection of the wicked or the tares.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. *And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
Notice too that the angel in Rev 14:18 is said to have power over fire. And this is also mentioned in Mathew 13:39-42.
Matthew 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Joel 3:13 13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; For the winepress is full, The vats overflow -- For their wickedness is great."
The tribulation has a purpose. It's to purify the Church by bringing it to repentance, and to restore Israel. The rapture happens in Revelation 14 just before God's wrath is poured out so that Christians aren't the recipients of, and God is not guilty of, "friendly fire" like the plagues in chapter 15.