November 21, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Lamb and the Harvest
Scripture: Revelation 14(NIV)
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 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.
Devotional
This chapter forms a bridge between the earlier and later parts of the book of Revelation. It references the four living creatures and elders (ch. 4), the Lamb (ch. 5) and the 144,000 (ch. 7), while also introducing the fall of Babylon (chs. 16-18) and the tormenting in burning sulfur (chs. 19-21).
The 144,000 symbolically represents all God’s people, who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” They belong to Jesus, and are not ashamed to admit it! In their zeal, true believers worship the Lord with their hearts and honor Him with their bodies. What a picture of what it means to love God!
Three angels then come with declarations. The gospel of Christ is both eternal and for all people. Human systems and kingdoms set against Christ will fall and fail. And people who refuse Jesus but embrace evil will face God’s wrath. In John 3:18, Jesus said about Himself, “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” God’s salvation is available to all, but is ours only when we embrace it.
The images then shift to two scenes involving sickles, with a similar message as the three previous angels. In the first scene, Christ uses the sickle to reap the righteous, “for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” After Jesus had met with the Samaritan woman at the well, she went back to her village and brought the whole town to meet Him. At that point, Jesus told His disciples, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).
The second angel at the close of Revelation 14 swings a sickle to grapes, which when trampled in the “winepress of God’s wrath” bring forth rivers of blood. This is a stirring and sobering image of the God’s judgment upon the wicked who refuse to surrender their lives to Jesus.
Heaven is real, and real people go there. It is an eternity of blessings and praise in the presence of God. Hell is real as well, and real people go there. It is an eternity of torment and darkness from the very presence of God. Revelation 14 reminds us that when people die, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Poem
Standing Passionately Patient
Amidst the hours of suff’ring
When wailing tears are spent
The Saint will enter silence
In sanctuary’s tent
Then passionately patient
This Saint by Christ shall stand
Just like their Lord of Heaven
Just like God’s muted Lamb
Then angels from the heavens
Will cry out to the land
“Give glory to the Father!
Do not fear Evil’s hand!
Be sober while you’re waiting
Drink not the whoring wine
Quench thirst only from Christ’s cup
His holy blood divine.”
Stay faithful to the Gospel
Stand in God’s word alone
With diligent obedience
Commands of God your home
The harvest time upon us
The sickle bar will swing
While we stand full in passion
To Christ, we patient cling
