Revelation 14:17-20 – Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
Nahum 1:3 – The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Another angel came out of the temple with a sharp sickle. A sickle was a tool with a curved blade that was used in agriculture for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, either freshly cut or dried as hay. At times of war it could be used as a weapon. At the End Times it is used to separate the evil from the children of God (Joel 3:13). Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 tells of when Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares. In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus tells the parable and in Vs 36-43 He explains the parable. When the evil are separated from the good, it is the evil ones who are removed first (with the sickle). That leaves the ones who have been made clean by the blood Christ to shine (Vs 41-43).
The harvest referred to in Revelation 14:14-16 is not the harvesting of the saints to Christ. The sickle is a tool of severe and eternal judgment. This tool is not applied to the redeemed of Christ. This tool, as in Matthew 13 is applied to the wicked. The time of these sickles (Revelation 14:14-16 and Vs 17-20) being swung are at the very end of times, they are the preceding breath of God coming to punish the unrighteous. In Vs 14-16 the angel proclaims that “for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” The word translated here does mean ripe, and is better understood as “overripe.” Let us note the importance of that. The time for punishment of those who chose evil rather than righteousness has come. What is being stated is verification of 2 Peter 3:9 and Ezekiel 18:23. The wonderful truth of God’s love for mankind as revealed in John 3:16 shines brightly. So the first swing of the sickle is to harvest in evil and the clear meaning is that this harvest is overdue. God has given mankind every opportunity to repent, and beyond. He has resisted this day until this day could no longer be delayed. The evil of man has overflown the banks and flooded the world. It is time. God calls for the angel to cut down the evil. He has gathered those who would be His foe. Where He has gathered them to is the final battle when the evil once again rise up against Jesus in another futile attempt to overthrow Him. This will be explained later in Revelation.
While Vs 14-16 represents the grain harvest itself (the gathering of the tares) Vs 17-20 represents the severity of the judgement. Here the word for ripe is different than the preceding. This word does not carry the meaning of being “overripe” but rather fully ripe. It signifies that the time has come. It is has reached its fullness and it is time to be picked, or, dealt with.
Since Vs 14-16 represents the separating of the evil from the good, what do Vs 17-20 represent? The harvest this time is not grain, but grapes. This harvested swath represents the wrath of God in the form of wine that those who take the mark of the beast shall receive with unadulterated potency. Think of The Battle Hymn of the Republic lines “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.” God has always warned mankind of the consequences of sin. Adam and Eve died as God had said they would if they sinned. When Adam decided to sin with Eve they both died. The instantly died spiritually. They began to die physically. The righteousness of God and justice demands, the payment of sin. What Jesus suffered was the demands of righteousness and justice. He bore the wrath of God so that we did not have to. Jesus drank the undiluted wrath of God that we all deserved so that we would not have to. Indeed, Jesus is our Savior and Lord; He is our Hero! Praise God! The field of evil was ripe. No more time would pass. Adam and Eve received the recompense for their sins. The people of Noah’s time who would not repent suffered the recompense for their sins. Nineveh called upon the mercy of God and received it, but returned to their evil ways and eventually received the recompense for their sins. Ananias and Sapphira received a timely recompense for their sin. Galatians 6:7 warns us that man does not outsmart God and that God does not forget to bring justice. Joel 3:13 assures that the time of God’s wrath against evil, will surely come. These verses speak of that time. At that time all who call on the name of the Lord have been saved. Those who have not been saved shall receive the eternity they so earnestly fought against God to have.
Family and People let us heed the words of Jesus that all who have ears should hear (and learn and obey) (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29 and Revelation 3:6, 13, 22). Now, grace is free for us to receive. There is soon coming a time when grace will pass and eternal judgment will come to those who rejected the grace offered to mankind through Jesus. The other side of that coin is, again, that all the promises of God to His children, are now fully realized. Family, let us receive and live in the grace of God and then let us testify to the world about the love and goodness of God. We are not those who will harvested by the sickle, but are those who will gently gathered by angels unto to God. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.