Revelation Chapter 14

VERSE 15-16 “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to 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.”

THREE MORE ANGELS.

“These three angels are related to the work which Jesus has returned to do. There is no break in the narrative at the end of Verse 14. While, for convenience, we divided the chapter into three sections (viz. Verses 6-12, Verses 13-14, and Verses 15-20), it divides on a construction basis more clearly into two: 6-13, and 14-20. Here is a brief summary of the last three angels before examining the context in detail:

ANGEL # 4 comes out of the temple. Verse 15
ANGEL # 5 comes out of the temple in heaven Verses 17 & 19.
ANGEL # 6 comes out from the altar Verse 18.
ANGEL # 4 has a message for the Lord.
ANGEL # 5 has no message, but does have a sickle.
ANGEL # 6 has a message for Angel # 5.”

“Verses 15 and 16 describe the wheat harvest (the harvest of the vine of the earth is given in subsequent verses).

In Verse 15, who or what was the “angel”?

Why did the angel come “out of the temple”?

By what authority did he command the one seated on the cloud to do a reaping work?

Since Jesus was the one on the cloud, a literal angel, a subordinate, would not give him such an order. And the “angel” (messenger) could not be God because of the peculiarities of the Almighty’s office—He could not place Himself in such an inferior role.

Then how could an “angel” tell Jesus in such an authoritative manner that the time had come for him to thrust in his sickle and reap?

The answer is that the “angel” was a message from God Himself, from “the temple,” and particularly a time message: “For the time is come for thee to reap,” and “the harvest of the earth is ripe.”

This angelic time message is observed to come out of “HIS [Sinaitic MS] temple.”

Verse 15 and 16 as explained another way:

“The TEMPLE can represent several things, but all of those things are parts of one thing: THE DIVINE PLAN. Note that this angel tells the Lord what to do!

Who can have such authority?

Obviously, God, Himself can. But this angel IS NOT GOD. It is part of God’s PLAN.

Which part?

The chronology. Notice his message: IT IS TIME TO REAP. Jesus WILL listen to this angel because, as part of his Father’s plan, the chronology dictates when the Son acts. The chronology is a LOUD VOICE. It woke up the Christian world about the time of the Miller movement (Matt. 25:1-13). The message also includes the purpose of the TIME: TO REAP. The harvest is ripe (margin: DRIED). This is the harvest of the earth.

What earth?

It is the earth of Acts 1:8 (“the ends of the earth” the utter most parts), and the “all the nations” of Matt. 28:19. It is the search everywhere for wheat (the DRIED [ripened] harvest.) Verse 16 has the Lord following the direction given. He reaps the earth. The earth WAS REAPED — that is, the Church is completed. The end of Verse 16 takes us to the glorification of the 144,000.”

“Early in his earthly ministry the Master said: “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (John 4:35).

These words appear to have a symbolic as well as a literal significance. In the light of other prophetic time periods, the four months (4 divided 30 days each) may suggest a (possible) harvest of 120 years’ duration at this end of the Gospel Age.”

If this last were true as Brother Shallieu had suggested it would have meant that the harvest would have ended in A.D. 1994. 1874 + 120 years = 1994. This of course was merely a supposition on his part. Personally, I believe the Lord hinted that the Harvest would end sometime on the third day, dating from his death in A.D. 33. As a day is as a thousand years with the Lord, three (1000 year) days dating from his death would bring us to the year 2033 A.D. as the likely completion of the harvest.

For a more detail summation of this theory, please see, Matthew Chapter 24, Part 67.

Another thought in regards to the date 2033 A.D., and note this is only a suggestion, is this.

If you recall it was 120 years from the time the Lord judged the first world or dispensation, declaring it corrupt and filled with violence and that it was his intention to destroy it. (Their lease was up). He then instructed Noah to build the Ark. 120 years later the work was finished and Noah and his family entered the Ark, and the Lord closed up the door to the Ark and the flood destroyed the world that was (2 Pet 3:6).

This could correspond to the end of the “Times of the Gentiles” in A.D. 1914 (Autumn 1913 according to Jewish reckoning), viz., from the time in which their lease was up to the time of their final eviction 120 years later in A.D. 2033. 1913 + 120 years = 2033. The time of the completion of the harvest and of the Church and the end of the present heavens and earth.

“The sickle is “sharp” (Verse 14) because it separates. Just as the Word of God has a separating influence, severing the Lord’s people from their earthly ties, even so present truth (the Harvest message) is shown to have a separating influence. Of course, harvesting is not instantaneous but involves a process. From a natural standpoint the reaping process includes cutting the grain, stacking it, threshing it to separate the wheat kernel from the chaff, and then harvesting the kernels into the barn. Spiritual cutting, winnowing, threshing, etc.—all the trials and separations—take place prior to the wheat going into the barn, which represents heaven, the condition beyond the veil.

Harvesting is a progressive work, culminating with finality. The statement “the earth was reaped” (Verse 16) refers to the time when the Little Flock will be complete, when the harvesting work will be finished. Paraphrased, Verse 15 in effect states,

“Reap, for now is the time to reap; it is the harvest time and the wheat is ripe.” And Jesus “thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped [future]” (Verse 16). Although the reaping is not finished yet, some of the wheat has already been gathered into the barn. However, the harvest will not be over until the last grains of wheat have been gathered into the barn. The expression “the earth was reaped” is synonymous with the clause “the harvest is past [over]” (Jer. 8:20), indicating God’s purpose with respect to this class in the present life is finished.”

Note: this clause, “the harvest is past”, taken from Jer 8:20 is in regards to a yet future event, when the tribulation class, the foolish virgins come to the realization that the door (to Church membership), is closed, the harvest is past and the Church complete, and they are left outside.

 Continued with next post.