Grapes
The harvest of grapes is identified by Stephen E. Jones as a type of the third and final resurrection group: the enemies of Christ who at the end of the ages are subjugated and pressed out as wine. Within Jones’ threefold harvest schema — barley (overcomers), wheat (believers and unbelievers), grapes (enemies) — the grape harvest represents the eschatological consummation of 1 Cor. 15:25-28: until God “has put all enemies under His feet.” The grapes are not destroyed but pressed: from the judgment flows the wine of God’s definitive victory.
Biblical Anchoring
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| 1 Cor. 15:22-28 | Three resurrection groups: Christ as firstfruits, then His own, then the end |
| Rev. 14:18-20 | The angel with the sickle reaps the grape harvest; the winepress of God’s wrath |
| Joel 3:13 | ”Tread the winepress, for it is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great” |
| Ps. 110:1 | ”Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet” |
| 1 Cor. 15:25-27 | Christ reigns “until He has put all His enemies under His feet” |
Typological Interpretation per Author
Stephen E. Jones
In Creation’s Jubilee, Jones develops an extensive threefold harvest schema based on the three Israelite harvest festivals: barley (Passover/Firstfruits), wheat (Pentecost/Weeks), and grapes (Tabernacles). Each agricultural product is for him a type of a specific resurrection group, with the grapes occupying the most challenging position: they represent the enemies of Christ who do not rise in the first or second resurrection but only at the absolute end, when God subjects all enemies to Christ.1
Jones defines the third group through the winepress metaphor:
“And so, this third squadron represents the grape harvest. In order for God to obtain the wine, He must tread out the grapes, that is, He must ‘put all enemies under His feet.‘”1
The typological logic here is remarkable: it is precisely the enemies who must pass through the winepress, yet the goal is still wine — God’s victory, won from the subjugation of evil. Jones connects this to 1 Cor. 15:25-28, where Paul writes that Christ reigns “until He has put all enemies under His feet.” The grapes are thus not merely a harvest that is destroyed, but a prophetic type of the consummation of the Kingdom: the last obstacle — the enemies — is definitively removed by God, and the harvest is won. This distinguishes the grape typology from pure judgment theology: the winepress is severe, but the result (wine) is positive.
In his more detailed description of the three “squadrons,” Jones adds that the grape harvest corresponds to the final phase of God’s restoration plan — the phase that only begins after the thousand-year reign (the Age of Tabernacles) is completed. The first resurrection brings forth the overcomers/barley; the second (general) resurrection encompasses the wheat-group of believers and unbelievers; the grapes are those who remain unsubdued even then:
“The first ‘squadron’ to be raised […] anointed firstfruits. […] Not all Christians will be raised in the first resurrection.”1
Although Jones says this citation specifically about the barley-group, he deliberately places the grape type at the opposite end of the eschatological spectrum: the outermost enemies, the absolute rearguard. For Jones this is no cause for despair but for praise: God’s love is so great that even the winepress serves to complete the victory fully.
Related Types
- Related: barley (first resurrection group — the overcomers)
- Related: wheat (second resurrection group — believers and unbelievers together)
- Related: vine (the vine itself as type of union with Christ; distinguished from the grapes as harvest product)
- Via number symbolism: 3 (three harvest groups as prophetic pattern)