In Revelation 14:14-20, the last four (4) of seven (7) angels in this chapter¹ reap the earth at the end of the Second Woe.² Some scholars mistakenly believe these four Harvest Angels are destroying angels only.³ However, this part of John's vision correlates directly with the Savior's parable of the wheat and tares in Matthew 13.⁴ Following the pattern of this parable, exaltation-worthy saints will be reaped first in Revelation 14:14-16 and then safely stored.⁵ The wicked tares‒or grapes in John's vision‒are reaped by treading them in the winepress of God's wrath in Revelation 14:17-20.⁶ The Savior repeated the parable of the wheat and the tares in Doctrine and Covenants Section 86 to clarify its meaning in a latter-day context.⁷

The reaping of tares (grapes) in Revelation 14:17-20 will occur at the end of the Second Woe. This reaping will destroy all mortal sons of perdition as the physical battle of Armageddon from Revelation chapter 9 comes nearly to an end. The last two verses in chapter 9‒verses 20 and 21‒specifically indicate that telestial-worthy people will survive the Second Woe reaping. John describes what happens to these telestial survivors during the Third Woe in Revelation chapters 15 to 19. Some scholars say, however, that these chapters merely add details to the Second Woe reaping.⁸ This section will clarify these events by summarizing the symbols from the parable of the wheat and the tares found in Matthew, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field that represents the world.⁹ The sower is Jesus Christ and his apostles.¹⁰ The good seeds are the children of the kingdom who are faithful church members.¹¹ The members of the ancient church were converted to the gospel after they listened to the message taught by Christ and his ancient apostles.¹² But while men slept during the Great Apostasy,¹³ the First Beast from Revelation chapter 13¹⁴ sowed noxious tares in the field.¹⁵ These tares represent wicked and apostate people.¹⁶ The tares choked the wheat¹⁷ and drove the ancient church into the wilderness of apostasy.¹⁸

When the gospel was restored in 1830,¹⁹ blades of wheat sprouted again in the field, but the tares also emerged in the form of a little horn foreseen in Daniel 7:21,²⁰ which is also the Second Beast foreseen by John.²¹ Since the dawn of the restoration in 1830, exaltation-worthy wheat²² has been allowed to grow side-by-side with the noxious tares,²³ that represent telestial-worthy people and mortal sons of perdition.²⁴ Even now, the wheat and tares cannot be readily distinguished²⁵ because the tares have grown up in the image of the Second Beast from Revelation 13:11, which looks deceptively like a lamb even though it speaks like a dragon.²⁶

When both the wheat and tares are fully ripe at the end of the world (the Second Coming),²⁷ the interwoven plants will be clearly distinguishable.²⁸ The valuable wheat will then be separated from the worthless tares²⁹ as the harvest of both occurs together.³⁰ The Lord will reap the wheat first³¹ and the tares second³² in that specific order before the field is burned.³³ The King James version of the Bible reverses this order in Matthew 13:30.³⁴ However, John clearly indicates that the righteous wheat will be gathered first to stand with Christ on heavenly mount Zion at the end of the Second Woe³⁵ as described by John in Revelation 14:1-5.³⁶ Since the exaltation-worthy saints (wheat) will be raised up (harvested) to meet and stand with Christ at the end of the Second Woe they will be spared from the physical horrors that will accompany the seven Vial Plagues that follow during the Third Woe.³⁷ Sons of perdition will be reaped as the tares (grapes) at the end of the Second Woe and then the burning of the vineyard will occur during the Third Woe, including telestial-worthy people who survive the Second Woe reaping.³⁸

Christ's parable of the ten virgins³⁹ also corresponds in time with the reaping of the righteous during the Second Woe in Revelation 14:14-16.⁴⁰ According to this parable, only half the people with invitations to the wedding feast (i.e., members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)⁴¹ will be prepared with oil in their lamps when the bridegroom comes.⁴² The five wise virgins are those that make and keep temple covenants so they will ready to stand with Christ on heavenly mount Zion as righteous wheat at the time of the Second Woe reaping.⁴³