Rev.14:14,15 – – Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like 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 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.”
We have been chosen and privileged by the Lord to live at the very end of the gospel age. I think many of us in the Christian world are not really aware of the seriousness of the hour that we live in. Jesus Himself said that “the harvest is the end of the age”. The harvest of the earth is the culmination of all that Jesus came to fulfill. When Jesus first called His disciples ‘to follow Him and become fishers of men’ this calling served as some sort of prophetic glimpse into the very reason Jesus came. He came to harvest the earth, He calls us to join with Him in this great quest, to follow Him into the fields of harvest. Here are some thought from The ESV Study Bible followed by the Fire Bible that discuss this serious moment that we are in.
ESV Study Bible
“Two reapers appear in heaven, sharp sickles in hand. Angels emerge from the temple with God’s directive, “Put in your sickle, and reap.” First “one like a son of man” gathers the grain of the earth, then an angel gathers grapes from the earth’s vine, to be crushed in the “winepress of the wrath of God.” Although both harvests could signify either God’s judgment on the wicked or Christ’s gathering of his saints, probably the grain harvest shows the Son of Man’s gathering of believers and the grape harvest envisions the bloody destruction of the wicked.”
Fire Bible
“One like a son of man, seated on the cloud and wearing a golden crown is Jesus, the Lord of the harvest. He came first as gospel sower but will return as just reaper. The harvest of the earth refers to wheat or barley, for ripe describes dried heads of grain. Christ’s harvest, of which the martyrs were first fruits, is gathered safely into his barns.”
So there will be two harvests at the end of the church age. The first is the gathering of the righteous, all of those who have believed in the gospel message and received Christ into their lives. Unfortunately not everyone has opened their hearts to the Lord and harvest day is approaching also for all of those who have rejected the gospel. So the great day of the Lord will be great and terrible at the same time. For those who have had their sins washed away by the blood of Jesus harvest day is the beginning of the eternal day of celebration. To those who never came to the Lord harvest day will begin an eternity of sorrow.
