A Time to Harvest
Notes
Transcript
Brief Background
Brief Background
For those who are just joining us, we are working our way through the book of Revelation. John the son of Zebedee was in exile on the isle of Patmos. Yeshua was revealed to him there, and John was commanded to write to seven communities in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).
Last week we discussed that this central section of Revelation, between Chapters 12 and 14, “not only reinterprets traditional images that it recounts, but provides a key to interpreting other symbols throughout Revelation.” (Craig Keener) We have covered the Song of the Redeemed and the Messages of the Three Angels, now we will conclude Chapter 14 look at the Harvesting of the Earth.
The Time to Harvest the Earth
The Time to Harvest the Earth
The Passage that we will read today covers two different harvests. There is the harvest of the Son of Man and the harvest of the Grapes of Wrath. Let’s read Revelation 14:14-20
Then I looked, and behold, there was a white cloud—and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man. He had a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Then another angel came out of the Temple, crying out with a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So the One seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. Then another angel came out of the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel—the one who has authority over fire—came out from the altar; and he called out with a loud voice to the one holding the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sickle and gather the grape clusters from the vineyard of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the clusters from the vineyard of the earth and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was stomped on outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for 1,600 stadia.
The Son of Man
The Son of Man
There are two different harvesters with sickles, and seem to be two different harvests described. Commentators are split over who these harvesters are, and what the harvest represents.
For the first harvest in verses 14-16, the majority view is that the Son of Man refers to Yeshua and to the passage in Daniel 7:13.
“I was watching in the night visions. Behold, One like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was brought into His presence.
Daniel is describing a Man who has the right to approach the Ancient of Days, and may approach Adonai Tzva’ot, the Lord God Almighty. We know that “Son of Man” was Yeshua’s favourite title for himself. And those commentators who agree with this interpretation, point out that this individual comes “on the cloud” not “with the clouds” which directly “alludes directly to Dan 7:13.” (Aune, D. E. (1998). Revelation 6–16 (Vol. 52B, p. 842). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.)
The other interpretation, looks as this son of man, as simply being another angel. The primary reason given for this interpretation is that it would seem that the angel who comes out of the Temple in verse 15, “commands” the son of man on the cloud to harvest. So the view is that Yeshua, the Son of God, would never be commanded by a lower angel therefore, this first individual must be simply another angel.
The First Harvest
The First Harvest
The second area of contention has to do whether the first harvest, constitutes a harvest of the wicked and therefore judgement, or a harvest of the righteous and therefore salvation. Although this hinges a little on who the harvester is, there is the question as to the usage of the word harvest. There are two passages in the prophets that we will look at. The first, and probably most prominent is Joel 4:9-15
Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war. Stir up the mighty men. Let the warriors advance and attack. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning knives into spears. Let the weak say, “I am strong.” Rouse yourselves and come, all nations around, and gather there. Adonai, bring Your mighty ones down! “Let the nations rouse themselves and go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the surrounding nations.” Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full —the vats overflow— for their wickedness is great! Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of Adonai is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon become dark, the stars withdraw their brightness.
This passage is clearly a harvest of judgement that is brought against the nations. In fact, this is the passage that Yeshua is referring to in Matt. 25:31-33.
“Now when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on His left.
The Grape Harvest
The Grape Harvest
The vision of the second harvest of grapes is much clearer than the first. We see two angels, one with a sickle and the other making a declaration. This grape harvest seems to follow the passage in Joel much closer than the harvest of the Son of Man. Here we see that judgement is clearly expressed, in that the harvested grapes are thrown into the great “winepress of the wrath of God.” Craig Keener puts it this way,
“Whatever the point of the first vision, the meaning of the second vision is relative plain. It portrays the wicked as gathered grapes now crushed into wine in God’s winepress, responding to the cup of wine of God’s anger poured out on them.” (Craig Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation, 2000, p. 377)
The result of Adonai’s judgement is described as blood flowing from the winepress of his wrath as high as a horse’s bridle for almost 296 Km. This concept of blood flowing in terrible streams was a common description of wars in ancient times. There are both historical and fictious examples. As an example, the Rabbis would use a similar description of the slaughter of their people by the Romans at Bethar in A.D. 135. They said that,
“Horses [were] drowning in blood, and blood [rolled] huge boulders forty miles out to sea; the blood filled the sea as far away as Cyprus.” (Craig Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation, 2000, p. 378)
There is no doubt that John uses hyperbole in writing some of Revelation, but it is still an image of terror to watch the waters turn red from the blood of those killed.
My Perspective
My Perspective
When I initially read this passage, I was immediately reminded of a parable that Yeshua told about the Kingdom of Heaven. Matt. 13:24-30
He presented to them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while the men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Now when the stalk sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. So the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Master, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ But he replied, ‘An enemy did this.’ Now the slaves say to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go out and gather them up?’ But he says, ‘No, for while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the weeds and tie them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”
Later, after the crowds had left, Yeshua explained this parable to his Talmidim, Matt. 13:37-43
He answered, “The one sowing the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world. And the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Therefore just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness. They will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear!
From this parable, I see the same elements of the passage in Revelation. Yeshua will be the one leading or directing the harvest. The harvest includes both believers and unbelievers. There will be those who are righteous, those who are the good seed, those who have taken the word of Yeshua and applied it in their lives. These will be gathered to the Lord and will shine forth as the sun!
And then there will be the unrighteous, those who are the bad seed, whoes father is the Devil, who are stumbling blocks and lawless, those who have not applied the word of Yeshua to their lives, who will be “gathered up and burned with fire.”
Application for Today
Application for Today
How do we apply this to our lives? As I look at this passage in Revelation, I see several points that are relevant to us
Yeshua is in charge of the Harvest: Regardless of how we may interpret a single passage, we need to remember the weight of Scripture clearly demonstrates that Yeshua has been appointed as the Man by whom the entire world will be judged. He will be the one separating the Sheep and the Goats, and no one will be able to get around His judgement.
Time of judgement is appointed: An hour is coming when the wickedness of this world will be judged. The concept of the grape harvest being “fully ripe” gives the sense that the world is growing more and more evil, but it also reminds us that Adonai knows of this growth and is waiting for the right time. He is the one who knows when that time will come, and He will respond in righteousness.
Warning of God’s wrath: I realise that we like to focus on the love of God, and as stated in Jude 21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God, eagerly waiting for the mercy of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah that leads to eternal life.” We also know that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and will keep us from death. This was stated in Rev. 14:7 “He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of water.””
As believers and followers of Yeshua, we are “not appointed to wrath” and so to close I will read from 1 Thes. 5:1-11
Now concerning the times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. When they are saying, “Shalom and safety,” sudden destruction comes upon them like a woman having birth pains in the womb—there is no way they will escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, so that the Day might overtake you like a thief. For you all are sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or of darkness— so then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain on the alert and sober-minded. For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober-minded—putting on the breastplate of faithfulness and love, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not destine us for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. He died for us so that, whether we may be awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up—just as you in fact are doing.