The Book of Revelation – Part 59 – The Reapers

Revelation 14 ends with a vision of harvest and wrath.  It starts with an announcement that the earth is ripe for harvest and it is time to put forth the sickle to cut and harvest the wheat.  There is also a harvest of grapes which are thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath.

This vision takes us back to Jesus because on one occasion we hear the harvest was ripe but the laborers are few.  If we are to look at this symbolically and we have to because it is clear that John is seeing something that resembles many of Jesus’ parables on harvesting people and the wrath of God.  We are seeing a lot of that teaching hear played out in symbolic language.

The seven churches I think would have also remembered this, the synoptic gospels had been around for a while and John himself has written a gospel where some of this language is used by Jesus as well.  The fact is this is a vision that re-emphasizes God and Christ as lords of the harvest.

The thing is when this happens is at issue because Jesus himself said the harvest was ready in his lifetime.  If this is so then what we are seeing through John is the continual state of mankind now that Christ’ and the gospel have gone forth.  The reapers are constantly bringing the harvest of souls that love him but also a harvest of wrath as well for the misdeeds of mankind – waiting perhaps for the final outpouring of God’s wrath.

Next: A Scene in Heaven