}
REVELATION 14
HEAVEN'S MOUNT ZION
AND
THE SICKLE JUDGMENTS
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Rev. 14:1-5
Then I looked,
and behold,
[NU
changes:
a to:
the]
Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him one
hundred and forty-four thousand,
having his
[NU adds:
name and his]
Father's name
written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of
many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of
harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne,
before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that
song except the hundred and forty-four
thousand who were redeemed from the
earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are
virgins. These are the ones who
follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being
firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no deceit,
for they are without fault
[NU
omits:
before the throne of God].
14:1-2
We return now
to the linear action of the Great Tribulation in time. Keep in mind that the
events of which we are about to read will occur in the exact sequence that they
are set forth in this chapter. For quite a while now, we have been looking at
the dark side of the Great Tribulation. But, here in chapter 14, we come to a
shaft of light. Down below, John has been observing Hell on Earth. But now, God
takes him back up to Heaven where he once again can see the wondrous glory of
God and his Lamb in the midst of his people. In spite of Satan’s stranglehold on
the earth below, all is well in God's Heaven and God’s program is right on
track.
In this new
vision, John says,
I looked, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. Now
remember, this is the real
Mount Zion. In the Greek with its
article, it could be translated
the Mount Zion. This Mount Zion is
the original of which the one that is down on Earth is just a mere shadow. As
you have it in
Hebrews 12:22-23,
But you have come
to Mount Zion and to
the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect…
It is at
Heaven's
Mount Zion that this scene is set
before us. John saw the Lord Jesus standing on that holy mount. Because Christ was
standing on Mount Zion and not
seated on his throne, this clues us once again he is
on the move. Notice that the 144,000 are there as well. We recognize
them because they have
his name and his Father’s name written on
their foreheads. You will
remember they received that seal back in chapter 7, before they went out into
the storm of The Great Tribulation to serve Christ. The fact that we find them
up in Heaven now, tells us they have all been martyred. Yet, what a triumphant
scene this is! These 144,000 who loved, preached, suffered and died for their
Master are now singing to him on Mount Zion. And, their song is at the request
of the one whose voice is like the sound
of many waters.
That, of course, is the voice of the omnipotent Son of God described to us back
in 1:15.
As the 144,000
began to sing to their Lord, John says he also heard
the sound of harpists playing their harps. Who might these
accompanists be? I take it they would be the Church. You will remember that,
back in chapter 5:8, the elders, who are representatives of the Church, were
seen holding
harps. So, I don’t feel it is much of a stretch at all to say
that you and I, dear believer, are scheduled to take part at this happy occasion
by way of manning these instruments.
14:3-5
The 144,000,
sang, as it were, a new song. Truly it will be a great privilege for the
Church to accompany the
new song of the 144,000,
before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders
on that future day. Verse three says they sang a song that belonged exclusively to
the 144,000.
May we step
aside again here for a moment? The Lord loves for his people to sing new songs
to him. In the Psalms, the Lord
repeatedly requests his people to
sing …
him a new song. New songs come from the heart and God loves that. They
cannot be sung by mere rote. Make up a song, dear saint, and sing it to him. Any
song, you say? Sure. Go ahead. Any new song will do. It doesn't even have to
rhyme if it comes from your heart and he will love it.
Coming back to
our text, in verse four we are given a good deal more information about the
144,000 that we were not told back in chapter 7. We read:
…These
are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.
Some people try to explain this statement by saying that it simply means
these 144,000 males are pure and single-hearted fellows. However, I see no
reason to take it for other than what it says. That is, that they are indeed
virgins
who have not defiled themselves with women. Now, let me explain what I mean before I
get myself into hot water for making such a politically incorrect statement.
Think about it for a minute. What kind of women do you think will inhabit the
earth during the closing days of the Great Tribulation? They will be ungodly
wicked ones, right? Hooking up with one of those gals would, in fact, truly
defile a righteous man. All the godly women will, for the most part, have been
removed, either by at the Rapture or by being hunted down and killed by
Antichrist … or they will be camped out in the wilderness at the place of
refuge. And, believe me, these fellows will be far too busy serving Christ and
getting the Word of God out to have time for romance and marriage. Their
ministries for Christ will be their dynamic, hectic, dangerous and short-term
obsession. They will only be interested in doing their job. Hence, indeed, they
will all be virgins to a man. It would be well for us to remember the Apostle
Paul’s admonition to us believers today along these same lines...
Are you bound to
a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife?
Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned;
and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble
in the flesh, but I would spare you. But this I say, brethren, the
time is short, so that from now on even those who have
wives should be as though they had none… First Corinthians 7:27-29
Each and every
one of the Lord's 144,000, will have carried out this admonition to the letter.
They went out to minister for Christ as
virgins. They died as virgins.
They were single minded in purpose and they didn't allow themselves to become
entangled with the wicked women of Antichrist's dark kingdom to which they were
preaching. A very wise pastor I once knew, who lived and ministered for Christ
well into his nineties, said that over the years of his ministry he had observed
that there were three things that remove good men from the ministry …
pride, money, and women. The 144,000,
will escape all three of these pitfalls. May the Lord multiply their like in the
Church, today.
…These
are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.
The devotion
of these men to Christ will be on display for all of Heaven to see. They are
enamored with their Lord and Savior. They follow him around like puppy dogs.
Won't that be a wonderful sight to see such a congregation of Jews adoring
Christ Jesus? We shall see it one day when we encounter Christ's 144,000, and
accompany them in their new song to their Savior.
…These were redeemed from among
men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
This word,
firstfruits, is a word that speaks
of a greater harvest to follow. The fact that these 144,000, are designated
firstfruits means that a much greater harvest of the Jewish people is
yet to come. As you have it in
Romans 11:26,
And so
all Israel will be saved, as it is
written: ’The Deliverer will come
out of Zion, and he will turn away
ungodliness from Jacob…
…And
in their mouth was found no deceit.
Deceit means to be crafty, sneaky and disingenuous. These fellows are
true blue. They embody God’s original
design for his people to be the righteous people of God. Nathaniel was such a
Jew. When Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, he said to Philip,
Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom is
no deceit. John 1:47b
The 144,000,
will be a 144,000, Nathaniels! By the way, the company that you and I will keep
in Heaven is going to be amazing! What a great delight it will be to make the
acquaintance of each and every one of these 144,000, men of integrity as we live
together with them in eternity.
Let's step
aside for a moment. How many of these fellows went out into the Great
Tribulation? 144,000, right? How many do we find standing here on Heaven’s Mt.
Zion singing to the Lamb? 144,000. Our God certainly is able to keep his own, is
he not!? 144,000, went out into the Great Tribulation and 144,000, have arrived
safely in Heaven. Jesus keeps his own, beloved. Let's take a minute to look at
some of our Lord's great promises in Scripture to that effect. Job said,
For he
performs what is
appointed for me, and many such things are with him. Job 23:14
The Psalmist
said,
The LORD will
perfect that which concerns me; your
mercy, O LORD, endures forever; do not forsake the works of your hands. Psalm
138:8
Jesus said,
My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And
I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has
given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. John 10:27-30
The Apostle
Paul said,
In him you also
trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in
whom also, having believed, you were
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise… Ephesians 1:13
…being
confident of this very thing, that
he who has begun a good work in you will
complete it until the day of Jesus Christ… Philippians 1:6
For this reason I
also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Second Timothy 1:12
The Apostle
Peter, speaking of those who are Christ’s, said,
…who are
kept by the power of God through faith
for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. First Peter 1:5
Jude said,
Now to him who is
able to keep you from stumbling, and
to present you faultless before the
presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is
wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. Jude
24-25
One hundred
forty-four thousand started out down on the Earth and a 144,000, arrived safely
home in Heaven and so will you and I, dear saint. That's because it is God who
does the keeping, you see. We can take that to the bank. He never loses a single
one of his own.
_________________________________________________________________
Rev. 14:6-12
Then I saw
another angel flying in the midst of
heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach to those who dwell on the earth; to every nation, tribe, tongue, and
people; saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour
of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and
springs of water. And another angel
followed, saying, ‘Babylon
[NU adds:
the great
is fallen, is fallen and omits: that great city, because she]
which has made all nations drink of the wine
of the wrath of her fornication.’ Then a
third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his
forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of
God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels
and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever
and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his
image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the
saints;
[NU omits: here are those] who keep the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus.’
14:6-7
No one who
lives through the Great Tribulation will ever be able to accuse God of not
giving them a chance. In addition to the testimony of the 144,000, and God's two
witnesses, the world in that dark day will also receive the testimony of three
separate angels whom God will send to circumvent the globe to preach to each and
every Earth-dweller during the final closing hours of that age.
God will send forth one preaching angel,
one proclaiming angel and, finally, one warning angel. Let’s look at them.
…The first angel John saw flying through the skies
(heaven
here, refers to the skies of Earth), had
the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth.
Incredible! In the closing days of the Great Tribulation our gracious and
merciful God will send forth his angel to
preach the everlasting gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ to all Earth-dwellers until every last soul has clearly
heard the good news of the salvation that is available to them in Christ Jesus!
This has got to be the greatest instance of amazing grace that the world will
have ever seen. Truly, as the Psalmist repeatedly exclaims in
Psalm 136,
His mercy endureth forever...
Quoted repeatedly here in:
...1b,2b,3b,4b,5b,6b,7b,8b,9b,10b,11b,12b,13b,14b,15b,16b,17b,18b,19b,20b,21b,22b,23b,24b,25b,26b
Now, for
millennia, the Church has been involved in carrying out the Lord’s commission to
go
into all the earth and preach the gospel to every creature (Matthew
28:19). However, she has never been completely successful. In fact, during some
ages the Church has been a complete flop at getting the gospel out. She has
failed in the past and will fail again in the future. Our own generation will
fail, as well. Sadly, we will not get the good news about Christ out to every
creature of our own generation. During the coming Great Tribulation, the
144,000, will also take their best shot, even giving their lives for it, but
they too will come up short. Ultimately, it’s going to take an angel from God to
complete the job. I believe it was this very angel with the
loud voice that Jesus was thinking of when he said,
And this gospel
of the kingdom will be preached in
all the world as a witness to all the nations, and
then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
It will be
impossible for men and women not to
listen when God sends forth his
angel with the
loud voice preaching the
everlasting gospel.
14:8
…The second angel went forth crying,
Babylon the
great, is fallen,
is fallen. When
Antichrist seizes Jerusalem at the middle of the Tribulation, there is a good
deal of evidence here in Revelation that he will literally change the city's
name to
Babylon. The name,
Jerusalem, means
city of peace.
Babylon is a name derived from the Akkandian,
babilu. It means
gate of God. Since Antichrist will declare that he is God and insist
that he be worshipped at the temple at Jerusalem, it makes sense that he would
choose the ancient name
Babylon, the
gate of God, for the name of his
capital city and center for his blasphemous worship. As we have previously
noted, Babylon was the first kingdom to introduce counterfeit religion on Earth
under King Nebuchadnezzar when that ancient king had a statue of himself built
and decreed that all his subjects were to bow down and worship it. When
Antichrist seizes Jerusalem and renames it
Babylon, he too will have his statue and require that all must fall down and
worship it … epitomizing the long tradition of man-worship in the Kingdom of
Darkness which began so long ago at ancient Babylon. However, before Babylon's
final demise, Earth-dwellers will be graphically warned of its inevitable
destruction by another of God's proclaiming angels. Though the city itself won't
literally fall until the pouring out of the seventh Bowl, this angel will
circumvent the globe and proclaim it as already fallen. By this bold
proclamation, he will be emphasizing the certainty of Babylon's fast approaching
destruction which, time wise, will be only hours, or at most, days away. What an
amazing warning that will be! This proclaiming angel’s ominous and prophetic
declaration will, no doubt, place a huge question mark in the minds of
Antichrist worshipers in that day. I can almost hear them thinking,
What's he talking about? Perhaps the
Holy Spirit will answer in their hearts,
You know what I'm talking about! God's proclaiming angel will be speaking
the Word of God to them, you see. This warning is in line with the Scripture's
statement in
Romans 4:17,
…even God, who
quickeneth the dead, and calleth those
things which be not as though they were…
14:9-11
…The third angel that went forth,
proclaimed,
If anyone
worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on their foreheads or on
his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God.
One can't help but think here about how
gracious and merciful God is. During the very last hours of the Great
Tribulation, he will still be sending out warnings to men and women in hopes of
they will repent and turn to him.
First Timothy
2:4b,
says,
…who desires all
men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Let's look a bit further at the important elements of this final warning by
God’s angel.
He warns:
…If anyone worships the beast and his
image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall
also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength
into the cup of his indignation.
That’s telling it like it is, brother … no holds barred. This angel will declare
to every Earth-dweller in that day that those who receive the mark of the Beast
will be made to drink of the wrath of God
full strength. This message, given
at that late hour, is an assurance that people can still be saved and remove the
beast's mark. It will still not be too late. However, he warns that
those caught with that mark at the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ will
experience God’s wrath undiluted, without a drop of mercy and with no way of
escape.
Psalm 75:8,
says,
For in the hand
of the LORD there is a cup, and the
wine is red; it is fully mixed, and he pours it out; surely its dregs shall
all the wicked of the earth
drain and drink down.
…and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone.
Jesus told a true story in Luke 16, about a rich man who died and woke up in
Hell. The scripture does not say that this was a parable. It is a graphic
illustration of what this angel is referring to. The “Hell” that Jesus was
referring to is not the Lake of Fire. Rather, it is the temporary holding place
of all of the wicked dead. The Lake of Fire, which this angel will be warning
of, is the permanent home of the wicked dead. The Bible describes it as a
horrible place that is to be avoided at all cost. It was originally created and
reserved for Satan and his demons. In chapter 20, we read that
hell and
death will be cast into it.
...in the presence of the holy angels and
in the presence of the Lamb.
The visibility to the wicked of God's Lamb, accompanied by the presence of his
holy angels, will no doubt greatly increase the suffering of the damned. There,
in all their naked unrighteousness, they will be fully exposed to the gaze of
the Holy One and his holy angels. In Proverbs 8, Christ, speaking as Wisdom
incarnate says,
Blessed is the
man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my
doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD; but he
who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
all those who hate me love death… Proverbs 8:34-36
…And the
smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and
they have no rest day or night,
who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.
Thus, he will forewarn Earth-dwellers of the eternal nature of the punishment
that Antichrist worshippers can expect. Eternal, conscious damnation is not a
popular concept today, by the way. It's not in the playbook of political or even
ecclesiastical correctness. Yet, Jesus and his Word speak of it openly and
specifically. In
Mark 9:43-44, Jesus said,
If your hand
causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed,
rather than having two hands, to go to hell,
into the fire that shall never be quenched; where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'
14:12
The angel concluded his message saying …
Here is the patience of the saints; who keep the commandments of God and the
faith of Jesus.
I suspect that this will be a great consolation for those who will be on the
receiving end of Antichrist's persecution and murders. When they hear these
words being proclaimed from the skies by God's awesome angel, it will assure
them that their trials are only temporary and remind them that a dramatic
reversal of circumstances is just around the corner. Their tormentors will soon
be disposed of in the Lake of Fire. It will just be a matter of time and only
require a bit of
patience.
_________________________________________________________________
Rev. 14:13
Then I heard a
voice from heaven saying,
[NU
omits:
to me] ‘Write: Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may
rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’
In the Psalm
116:15, it is written,
Precious in the eyes of the Lord are the death of his saints.
That is also reflected in these words as well. This exclamation pours out from
the heart of God the Father and from the Holy Spirit and is directed at his
suffering people who are paying so great a price for believing in his Son during
those awful future days of tribulation. Had we been able to actually hear these
words as they were spoken, I believe we would have heard great empathy and
concern in their inflection as he said,
blessed
are
the dead who die in the Lord from now on. This statement from the Father
was immediately followed by an
Amen from the Holy Spirit.
Doubtless, many a suffering, Tribulation saint will take comfort in these words
as they pour over their Bibles in that day. The Holy Spirit, knowing the good
things that await those saints, adds …
that they may rest
from their labors, and
their works follow them. Jesus’
words in
Luke 6:21-23,
come to mind here...
Blessed are you
who hunger now, for you shall be
filled. Blessed are you who weep now,
for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men
hate you, and when they
exclude you, and
revile you, and
cast out your name as evil, for the
Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your
reward is great in heaven, for in
like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
May we step
aside for a moment and think a bit about the Person of God’s Holy Spirit as He
is revealed here?
First, notice that the Holy Spirit is a
Person, not an “it.”
He is the third person of the Trinity. All
through the Scriptures, the Spirit is referred to by personal pronouns.
Second, notice that he has a will, intellect and emotions.
For example, he can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). There is no room in Scripture
for the notion that the Holy Spirit is any less a person than the Son or the
Father. He is no mere force, as many have erroneously taught. Nor, is he a mere
quantity that someone can get more or less of … like pouring water into a glass.
You either have Him or you don't (Romans 8:9). His personality is clearly
demonstrated here by his words,
‘Yes,' says the Spirit, ‘that they may
rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’ This is a
statement from someone speaking from their heart. Sadly, there is a great deal
of confusion today about the person, work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
__________________________________________________________________________
Rev. 14:14-16
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
[NU omits:
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.
We come here
now to a new vision and it is, perhaps, the most sobering one in all the Bible.
It answers the question posed in
Hebrews 10:28-29,
He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under
two or three witnesses: of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath
trodden under foot the Son of God,
and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
(KJV)
Before we get
into it, let's lay a bit of ground work. The harvest of the souls of men can be
divided into two broad categories. The
first category is the harvesting of the righteous and the second is the
harvesting of the wicked. These two groups are not harvested together nor
will all the individuals in either group be harvested at the same exact point in
time. Here, in the last vision of chapter 14, we come to the first batch of the
harvest of the wicked. And, since we are back into the linear action of the
Great Tribulation, these events described here must take place immediately prior
to Christ's literal descent to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.
Because of the
difficulty this passage presents, many commentators interpret it as merely a
preview of the great battle of Armageddon described much later in chapter 19.
However, Armageddon does not fit here at all. It would be entirely out of
sequence. Everything in this passage points to the fact that this is the harvest
of wicked Israel. This harvest will occur immediately following the global
warnings of God's three proclaiming angels and just prior to the commencement of
the Bowl Judgments. I believe it is set here in stark contrast to the godly
144,000, Jews found just a few verses back. John the Baptist forewarned Israel
of this impending judgment saying,
I indeed baptize
you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than
I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and
He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His
wheat into the barn; but He will burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:11-12
When Christ
judges ungodly Israel one day, He will harvest them out of one of two realms.
They will either come from the Jews on earth who are still alive at the end of
the Great Tribulation or ... as a second source … they will come from
resurrected Israel (Dan. 12:2) … all Jews from all time all of the way back to
the beginning of God's dealings with them as a people. I believe this is what is
pictured here in its two phases. In the first part of the vision, John saw,
One
like the Son of Man upon
a white cloud. This is the same
name for Messiah that John used back in 1:13. It is the Old Testament Messianic
title for Christ from Daniel 7. No mistake about it, it is Christ who is sitting
on the
white cloud.
His Messianic title is the first evidence that this vision concerns the
nation of Israel. Further, he is seen wearing
a crown (singular), which points to the fact that he is
functioning here as a king rather
than the
King of kings. He appears
here as the King of Israel who will shortly be placed on the throne of his
ancestor, David. The Greek word translated
crown
here is
στέφανον
(stephanon), from
stephanos.
It is a word that refers to a victor’s
crown. By way of contrast, when he comes to judge the whole Earth and to
rule the nations, he will be wearing
many diadems (Revelation 19:12).
In sharp contrast to the mocking Jesus received by the Jews at the cross over
being the
King of the Jews … when Jesus appears on this future day, he
will come as their undisputed King indeed.
John says he had a
sharp sickle in his hand. J.B. Smith, an early expositor of
Revelation, says that this Greek word,
sharp, is used sixteen times in the New Testament and it is always used in
a negative and uninviting sense. Sickles
are frequently associated with judgment in the Bible.
Joel 3:13-14,
speaking of this very event, says,
Put in the
sickle, for the harvest is
ripe. Come, go down; for the
winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the
valley of decision.
What we are
observing here is the fulfillment of that very prophecy. The word,
ripe, in verse fifteen, is a
Greek word that literally means
dried up or
withered. It indicates
that the recipients of this judgment are long overdue. Now, let’s look to see if
there is any scriptural basis for a future harvesting of wicked Israelites from
off the earth and then taking them off to judgment. Here, we will need to look
at the teachings of Jesus concerning wicked Israel and carefully compare his
words from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42 and 24:37-42.
Another parable
he put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed
good seed in his field; but while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares
among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a
crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said
to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
tares? He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him,
'Do you want us then to go and gather
them up? But he said, 'No, lest while
you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest, and at
the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them,
but gather the wheat into my barn.’ Matthew 13:24-30
Then Jesus sent
the multitude away and went into the house. And his disciples came to him,
saying, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.' He answered and
said to them: ‘He who sows the good
seed is the Son of Man. The field is
the world, the good seeds are the sons of
the kingdom, but the tares are the
sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil,
the harvest is the end of the age,
and the reapers are the angels.
Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be
at the end of this age. The
Son of Man will send out his
angels, and they will gather
out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:36-42
But as the days
of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days
before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the
flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the
Son of Man be. Then two men
will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be
grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore,
for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
Matthew 24:37-42
The Jews were the people of whom and to whom Jesus was speaking in all
three of the passages above. Who did he say would be
taken? His teaching is
clear. It is the unrighteous Jew who will be
taken and gathered
out
of his Kingdom at the end of the age. They will all find themselves suddenly
removed (harvested)from off the earth
... ultimately to be cast
into the furnace of fire. It is the godly Jews who will be left on Earth
to meet their Messiah at his coming and enter into his kingdom with him. This is
a very important concept to get a hold of.
Now, God has been in a continuous covenant relationship with the Jewish people
from the days of Abraham. His Mosaic covenant with them, the Law, contained both
blessings and curses. For example, in
Deuteronomy 11:26-28,
we read,
Behold, I set
before you today a blessing and a
curse: the
blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I
command you today; and the curse, if
you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the
way which I command you today, to go
after other gods which you have not known.
At the cross,
God instituted the New Covenant with his chosen people, the Jew, sealed with the
blood of Christ. In the closing days of the Great Tribulation, Christ will
resurrect and judge his Jewish people according to whether they were wicked or
righteous and in accordance with his covenants with them. Those Israelites who
lived their lives under the Old Covenant will be judged by the standards of the
Old Covenant. Those who lived their lives under the New Covenant will be judged
according to the standards of the New Covenant. As you have it in
Daniel 12:23,
And many of those who sleep in the dust
of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life, some to shame and
everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of
the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever
and ever.
This is the
subject of John's vision here of the two sickles. In the first step, Christ, the
Judge of Israel, will cut off all the withered fruit from his
vine, Israel, that remains
down on the earth … differentiating between the ungodly and godly like a
gardener hoeing weeds from his garden. This is pictured here when Christ thrusts
in his
sickle upon the earth. Notice that there is no product of that
reaping mentioned ... just the statement that
the earth was reaped. I
believe this will include both the resurrected Jews ... who will find themselves
staring up at Christ as he descends from the sky ... along with all the wicked
Jews who are still alive on earth at the end of the Great Tribulation. Together,
they will all behold the beginning of Christ’s very visible and glorious return.
Then, suddenly, they will all be cut down by Christ.
_________________________________________________________________
Rev. 14:17-20
Then another
angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp
sickle. And another angel came out
from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who
had the sharp sickle, saying, ‘Thrust in your sharp sickle and
gather the clusters of
the vine of the earth, for her grapes
are fully ripe.’ Sothe angel thrust his
sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the
great winepress of the wrath of God. And
the winepress was trampled outside the city, and
blood came out of the winepress, up
to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
This is the
second phase of the judgment of unrighteous Jews. It is the
gather phase by Christ’s
angels of the already cut down, dry and rotten
clusters that Christ cut
off and simply awaits to be gathered by his angels and taken away to the place
of judgment. This second phase of the harvest of wicked Israel will culminate in
great carnage. John saw an angel come out of the temple in Heaven carrying a
sickle. The fact that he emerges from the temple is a reminder that he
has received his orders from within the Holy of Holies itself. All judgment
begins with Holy God in accordance with his holy character.
Another angel
from the altar of sacrifice and burnt offering
called to the one with the sickle saying,
Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth.
The fact that this second angel calls from the altar of sacrifice reminds us
that those who are about to be gathered and taken away to judgment have not
responded to their God in faith but have completely rejected the sacrifice of
the Lamb of God that was so repeatedly pictured at this altar under the Old
Covenant.
Notice that
the harvest by the angel with the sickle is said to be a
gather of the
clusters of the
vine of the earth. This phrase,
vine of the earth, adds
further weight to the case that what we are looking here at here is the judgment
of unrighteous Israel. The picture of Israel as God's
vine is a prominent one in the Old Testament.Psalm
80:8, 14-15, says,
You have brought
a vine out of Egypt; you have cast
out the nations, and planted it." "Return, we beseech you, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see, and visit
this vine and the vineyard which
your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for yourself.
Jeremiah
quotes the Lord's speaking to Israel as follows,
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before me into the degenerate plant of an alien
vine? Jeremiah 2:21
This is the
judgment of that
vine
… specifically, the judgment of the over-ripe
clusters of its rotten
fruit at the end of The Great Tribulation. The cleansing away of these withered,
rotten
clusters will be the final step in the Lord’s refining of his
covenant people in preparation for his return to rescue them and to fulfill his
promise of a Jewish kingdom on Earth. As you have it in
Zechariah 13:8-9,
And it shall come
to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be
cut off and die; but the third shall
be left therein. And I will bring the
third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will
try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I
will say,It is my people: and they
shall say, The Lord is my God.
(KJV)
John says the
severed
clusters were cast
into the great winepress of the wrath of God. As I see it, these
things will take place in the following order:
First, all
wicked Jews who have ever lived (newly resurrected or currently alive at that
time) will observe Christ’s Second Coming but will then be immediately cut off
by Christ. The Son of Man, seen here as thrusting his cycle over the earth, is
probably referring to the exercise of his Word. This is when Jesus’ words to
Caiaphas will be ultimately fulfilled.
Jesus said to
him, 'It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter
you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power,
and coming on the clouds of heaven.'
Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He has spoken blasphemy! What
further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!'
Matthew 26:64-65
Did you notice
that Jesus specifically told Caiaphas that he would see him
coming on the clouds of heaven?
That can only occur at, or at the very beginning of, Christ’s Second Coming.
Second, all
these wicked Jews will be carried away by Christ's gathering angels …
taken away bodily … to judgment. As to Caiaphas’ case in particular, he will
one day be suddenly resurrected … find himself gazing up at the Son of God in
the glory clouds of Heaven … and then, experience being suddenly cut down and
extracted from off the earth by Christ’s angels.
Third, we read
that the severed clusters will be cast
into the great winepress of the wrath of
God. In Luke 17, Jesus said that ungodly Jews would one day be snatched
from the earth. That passage has great bearing here. His disciples asked him,
where, Lord? His answer was clear. Let’s read it.
Two men will be
in the field: the one will be taken and the other left. And they answered and
said to him, ’Where, Lord?’ So he
said to them, ’Wherever the bodyis,
there the eagles
[vultures]
will be gathered together.’ Luke 17:36-37
Jesus’ answer
to his disciples as to
where they would be taken is specific. He said that they would
be taken to a place of slaughter where vultures were waiting. Spiros Zodhiates,
in his work The Complete Word Study
Dictionary, defines the Greek word used for
eagles above as,
An eagle or vulture, a species of
rapacious birds represented as preying on dead bodies where some species of
vulture is probably intended. In the book to the Hebrews, the Jews, under
their New Covenant, were warned over and over again of the severe judgment that
they would receive if they turned away from Christ and spurned the blood of his
new covenant with them. As you have it in
Hebrews 2:3,
How shall
we
[Jews]
escape
if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard him…?
Following
Jesus teaching that ungodly Jews will be caught out of his kingdom and taken
away to judgment, it follows that their judgment will take place somewhere other
than on Earth. You will recall that this chapter opened at the
city in Heaven. I take it
therefore, because of the context here, that the
city spoken of in verse 20
is still the Heavenly Jerusalem, not the earthly Jerusalem. Apparently, the
judgment of wicked Israel will take place
within eyesight of the very city whose gates bear the names of their
twelve tribes and that should have been their eternal home. What a terrible
judgment that will be. The scene before us truly answers the question as to what
punishment should be appropriate for those who have
trampled the Son of God under foot and
counted the blood of the covenant
a common thing and
insulted the Spirit of grace
(Hebrews 10:29). These wicked Jews will be snatched bodily off the Earth and
will then be unceremoniously trampled underfoot by the Son of God in the
winepress of the wrath of God. I say,
bodily, because, ultimately, all
judgment of all the ungodly will be a bodily judgment. Jesus confirmed this in
Matthew 5:29-30,
when he said,
And if thy right
eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy members should
perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy
right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell.
(KJV)
Our text says
that, as a result, blood ran
up to the horses' bridles for sixteen hundred furlongs. The
picture here is of the notch-like gully that was chiseled below a winepress
where the wine would run out as the grapes were pressed. Blood however, will run
from this winepress. I expect this trench will be five or so feet deep and run
for approximately two hundred miles. To account for that much blood, I did some
calculations based on the amount of blood in a human body. This probably is
unduly gruesome and graphic, but I felt it was necessary to show the possibility
and reliability of these amazing statements in the Word of God. A one foot wide
ditch running for two hundred miles at the depth of say, five feet, (the
approximate depth of
horses' bridles) would equal 5260
feet times 200 times 5 times 1 foot. Such a gully would have a capacity of
5,260,000 cubic feet. Rounded to 5,000,000 cubic feet and then multiplied by
approximately eight quarts per cubic foot, such an outlet would hold 40,000,000
quarts of liquid. 40,000,000 divided by 6 (assuming approximately six quarts of
blood per human body) means that it would take 6.6 million people to produce
that volume of blood. More than likely, there will be more people than that in
this
winepress of the wrath of God. The
warning from the writer to the Hebrews comes to my mind here, does it not?
It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31
I make no
apology for this. It is what it is. It is a terrible mistake to assume that God
is all love and never a God of judgment.
One last
thought … Daniel 12, says that the resurrection of Israel will occur all at one
time and will include both righteous and unrighteous Jews. So, not only will all
the unrighteous Jews of all time
meet him at the Second Coming (to be cut down and then extracted from off the
earth) … but all the righteous Jews will meet their Messiah at his Second Coming
as well … to proceed on in, with their Messiah, into his Kingdom. So, on the
positive side, Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah and Rachel,
David and Bathsheba … and countless other godly Jews will be resurrected to
greet their Messiah and enter with him into his Kingdom. What a joyous occasion
that will be for them.
Scripture taken
from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.