The harvest of the earth Revelation 14 v14-16.
"And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one 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".
There will come to an end the patience and longsuffering of God with this sinful world. Graciously, He allows men time to repent; He waits until sin is fully grown; All the while He persuades them to turn to Him for mercy. meanwhile He feeds them, and provides all good things, but there is a time limit, and, in these verses the time limit has arrived. Note the overall context:
- v7 "......the hour of His judgment is come."
- v15 ".....the time is come for Thee to reap."
- v18 ".....her grapes are fully ripe."
It is what Jesus described as "the end of the age"; the hour of reckoning, the final harvest. The world jocularly speaks of the "grim reaper". It is no joke, Jesus is the reaper with the angels. The vision is in two parts 1) the grain harvest.....v14-16 and 2) the grape harvest...v17-20. The first refers to the world as a whole, the second to the nation of Israel. In both cases the sickle is used, the instrument of agricultural separation. This is the time for the separation of human beings for good and evil cannot continue to dwell together, scriptures are very clear about this. There are a number of metaphors used to illustrate this:
- Lawless and righteous Psalm 1v4-6
- Sinners and saints Deuteronomy- Revelation
- Foolish and wise Matthew 7v24-27
- Tares and wheat Matthew 13v24-26
- Bad fish and good fish Matthew 13v47-48
- Goats and sheep Matthew 25v31-33
The angel emerges from the temple with the call to separation. This particular separation is of the tares from the wheat; the professors from the true. Tares are darnel, called "bastard wheat"; looks like the real thing, can only be identified when full grown. It is a solemn fact there are many who pay lip-service to the kingdom of God, but who belong to another kingdom. According to Matthew 13v37-43 the understanding is as follows:
- The field is the world
- The tares are the children of the devil, the wheat are the people of God
- The harvest is the end of the age
- The reapers are the angels
The harvest involves the separation of the real from the unreal in relation to Christ. It will be a twofold ingathering. Matthew 13v30 reveals "Gather ye together first the tares and bind them into bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn". In the same chapter He says "...as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire so shall it be in the end of this age. 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 weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear let him hear." Matthew 13v40-43.
Solemn warning indeed! The title "Son of man" refers to His judicial status in the kingdom of God; the cloud is always a symbol of impending judgment; the white cloud of His absolute purity as against the filth of this world; the golden crown of His moral right to judge the world, by reason of His perfect life and sacrifice. He has always truly represented God in every way, now it is in separation of good from evil, now it is the time of reckoning for all who are alive at this time.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
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