Revelation 14:14-16

14  And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand sharp sickle.

15  And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

16  And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.

This passage is about a reaping on the earth of grain and a gathering of the grapes to be crushed in the winepress. This passage talks about the reaping done by the Son of Man (Jesus). The reaping is what Jesus was talking about when He said to leave the wheat and tares to grow until the end of the age. The tares are those who grow among the wheat and from all appearances look like wheat. Tares are weeds that take nourishment from the soil and stunt the growth of the true wheat. They are the sons of Satan masquerading as sons of light.

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

This passage in Matthew says the tares would  first  be gathered in bundles to be burned. Some might think the passage in Matthew says the tares are reaped before the wheat. That seems impossible; tares are counterfeit wheat that grow in the same field - they must be reaped together. What the passage is implying is that during the great tribulation the tares are first removed and gathered in bundles to be burned and then the wheat is threshed to remove impurities before it is gathered into the barn.

The reaping and threshing is the time of the great tribulation. Matthew indicates that the time of the burning of the tares put in bundles (locations) on the earth comes first. This happens when the Beast burns the harlot woman (all organized religion) at the beginning of the great tribulation of 3 ½ years (see chapter 17). The threshing that occurs immediately after that during the great tribulation removes all but the wheat kernel before the kernel is put into God’s barn (the book of life). The threshing of the wheat occurs when the Beast persecutes all on earth that hold the testimony of Jesus and keep his commandments.

This wheat harvest is over just prior to the last judgment during the great tribulation. The grapes actually will be crushed after the seventh vial judgment at the sheep and goat judgment of the nations. This occurs just before the post-harvest marriage feast for the Son of the field owner (God - the owner of the earth).

The harvest is so great that John said that the number of saved that come out of it is greater than any man could number. Those living in this period will be threshed and many will die in the flesh rather than take the mark of the Beast. Billions of souls will be saved in the great tribulation when the wheat stalks that bind people to this earth are removed in the threshing of the great tribulation.

A bit of the wheat on earth will still be in the field after the harvest. These are the gleanings that by mosaic law are required to be left in the fields after the general harvest. These are left to repopulate the earth during the millennium but scripture says that men will become rarer than gold after the great tribulation.