Title: Two Harvests
2013. 1. 27 Sunday morning worship service
Bible: Revelation 14:8-20
Title: Two Harvests
Revelation 14:8-20 ‘8. Another angel, the second, followed after him, saying, "Falled, fallen is Babylon the Great, who gave all the nations the wine of the wrath of wrath because of her fornication."
11. The smoke of their afflictions will rise for ever and ever. Whosoever worships the beast and his image and receives the mark of his name will find no rest day or night.” 12. Here is the patience of the saints, who He who keeps the faith...
15. Another angel came out of the temple, and cried with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Switch your sickle and reap, for the time of harvest has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
18. Another angel, who had control over the fire, came out of the altar and called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Switch your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth, for their grapes are ripe."
20. Outside the city, the mold was trampled on, and blood gushed from the mold, reaching the bridles of the horses, and spreading for a thousand and six hundred stadia.” - Amen.
In Chapter 12, the Jews, God's visible people, fled to a safe place, and in Chapter 13, many people who converted to Christianity as Jews and Christians all over the world suffered martyrdom in the great tribulation of the Antichrist. It is a very severe tribulation from the middle to the end of the great tribulation.
In order to convince the faith of the saints after seeing this tribulation, he showed the certainty of the salvation of the people chosen in chapter 14, prophesied about the suffering of those who received the mark of the antichrist, and gathered the wheat and tares, that is, saints and unbelievers. shows the last activity of the angels. Let's look at the title of <Two Harvests>
1. Harvest the grain (saints)
First, in verse 6, the angel's last preaching of the gospel appears. This is the end of the mission as the evangelism of angels at the end of the world. In verse 8 of the text, it foretells that no matter how severe the tribulation of the Antichrist, their castle will fall. The great city of Babylon will become the city of Jerusalem, where the Antichrist has already taken over and he reigned as a god in the temple.
2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called a god and is worshiped, and sits in the temple of God, proclaiming himself God.”
In verses 9-11, it is prophesied that apostates and unbelievers who received the mark of the Antichrist and bowed down to the idol during the great tribulation period of the last days will face eternal judgment. Suffering from fire and brimstone means the destruction of hell. And you will not be able to rest day and night under the management system of the Antichrist even during your earthly life.
At this time, we will receive the faith that God gives us and will not betray us.
Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and the faith in Jesus.”
Verse 13 reaffirms that the dead in the Lord will be blessed and that there will be a reward for faithfulness.
In verse 14, we see an angel harvesting grain.
Revelation 14:14 “And I saw a white cloud, and on the cloud one like the Son of Man was sitting, and on his head was a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.”
Many interpreters mistake it for Jesus. Because Jesus foretold that the wheat and chaff would be covered on the threshing floor on the last day. Matthew 3:12 “He will take the helm in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into the barn, and burning the chaff with an unquenchable fire.”
But in the end times, it was said that the harvesting of the grain was done by angels, and Jesus will return in chapter 19 after the tribulation.
Matthew 13:38-41 ‘38. The field is the world, and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39. The enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are angels. 41. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will bring out from the kingdom every stumbling block and those who practice lawlessness.'
Matthew 24:31 “He will send his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
2. Bloody Grapes
Then another angel comes out with a sharp sickle and gathers bunches of grapes, which symbolize unbelievers. In John 15:4-5, grapes refer to the saints or the deeds of saints, but here they refer to unbelievers. Therefore, metaphorical interpretation should follow the flow of the context. In verse 18, it is expressed as an angel who controls fire, which symbolizes the fire of judgment.
Revelation 14:19-20 ‘19. And the angel swung his sickle upon the earth, and gathered the grapes of the earth, and cast them into the winepresses of the great wine of God's wrath. 20 And the presses were trampled outside the city, and blood came from the presses, reaching the bridles of the horses, and spread for a thousand and six hundred stadia.
- 1,600 = 4 x 10 x 4 x 10 (4 is east, west, south, north, 10 is full of the world) -
In this way, just as unbelievers are thrown into a winepress and grapes burst and squeeze to produce red juice, so they are thrown into a winepress and bleed, that is, they are judged.
Jeremiah 51:33 “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Babylon the daughter of Babylon is like an early threshing floor, and soon the harvest time will come.”
Since the harvest will be clear like this, it is a picture that suggests that we should not be too hard on the tribulation up to chapter 13 and be courageous. Chapter 14 is a prophetic vision, not the end itself. Then, until chapters 16-18, the last trumpet plague will come, which is a disaster that ends history and pours fire into the seven bowls. Just as the bowl is poured out quickly when the bowl is overturned, the saints will not suffer from the calamity that destroys the world with fire just before the coming of the Lord.
That is why, during the great tribulation, even if the afflictions of the antichrist and false prophets are severe, God will surely help you and give you faith to save you.