The Time to Reap Has Come
(Rev 14:13-20)
We need to be reminded that Gods wrath precedes the eternal gospel. Our earthly life reflects our life to come. Therefore, our hellish life on earth foreshadows the actual hell while our heavenly life on earth forecasts the actual heavenly kingdom. Now we are standing at a crossroads between heaven and hell, the time of harvest that seperates the wheat from the weeds. Lets think about Gods harvest.
1. Its the harvest of salvation. Its reaping wheat. The reaper is Jesus Christ wearing a gold crown, who seperates wheat from weeds with a sharp sickle. All leaders need to notice that Jesus gold crown of leadership came from his thorn crown of servantship and his sacrifice. Matthew 24:36 says 'No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.' Thus God trains us with the unsealed time. What we need to do is just follow God and the Lamb, who know the time until we are enrolled in the heavenly genealogy after finishing our earthly training session. Now the harvest of salvation has started, when Jesus swings his sickle. The Hebrew word swing also implies cast or send. The wheat received the Word when it was cast to them and are saved. Matthew 13:26-30 shows us the parable of the wheat and weeds. Our life is getting tough because of the weeds that our enemies planted while we were asleep. Yet to our question 'Shall I pull up the weeds?' God answers 'Just leave them where they are.' Actually the weeds keep us alert, which makes us wheat. What truly distresses us is not the weeds outside but the weeds within us. The swing of God sickle, no matter how big it is, cuts the weeds only, and leaves the wheat intact. Thus any incident in our life, whatever it may be, prunes the greed within us, activating the process of our sanctification.
2. Its the harvest of judgment. Its gathering weeds. The judgment on the evil is executed by the angel of Lord, not God himself. Even though the judgment is under Jesus jurisdiction, two angels committed by God carry out this mission with their sharp sickles. The phrase, from the altar implies that this judgment is moderated by the prayer of Gods people. Thats why our intercessory prayer is important. The grapes refer to non-Christians. They look nice, but they are to be trampled in the great winepress of Gods wrath. No one can survive it. Those who are suffering now here on earth are blessed because they can avoid the eternal one by experiencing their earthly trials in advance. However, those who pass away without any suffering or mourning on earth despite all their misbehaviors are in a miserable situation. The 1600 stadia, as big as the whole area of Palestine, is the sum of 4amptimes4amptimes10amptimes10. The four refers to the four winds, four angels, and four corners while ten refers to fullness. Therefore the 1600 stadia stands for the pan-cosmic, global, and perfect judgment of God that covers the whole universe. Therefore, the wheat people respect the suffering Christians while the weeds people despise them. Schweitzer, the Jungle Saint was a full-time professor in a seminary with his PhD in philosophy on Kant and ThD on apostle Paul. He was an organist, majoring in Bach. Yet, on top of this splendid careers, he added another one, M.D, and started his ministry as a missionary for 50 years. Even though he was a pastor, he didnt accept Jesus as the Lord. He received the Nobel Peace Prize despite his patronizing attitude toward the native people. What a model of the false lamb, depicted in Revelation, which looks like but actually is not Jesus. How can we discern this 666, the climax of humanism?
3. Its the harvest of discernment The harvest calls for our special discernment A careless swing can cut wheat also. A true prophet needs to swing his sickle of the Word discerning the time to reap. So it is with our pastoral ministry or marriage or business. We can have this discernment by carrying our own cross in our daily life. The sharp blade of a sickle comes from many refining processes of passing through fire and water. After the process, some master blacksmiths roll water on the blade that they made, which calls for countless quenching processes. The same applies to the harvest that separates wheat from weeds. The water drops on the blade are like the people who know the reality of their sinful nature. We are simply struck dumb when facing our reality through the incidents that God sends us. When we are able to recognize who we are, we can easily discern others, too. Therefore, we need to foster our brothers and sisters with the sharp blade of the Word, but in different ways according to their case.
4. Its the blessing of dying in Christ. The best reward of God for those whove endured the persecution of their Babylon in order to keep the law and their faith in Jesus is the blessing of dying in Jesus. Thats the way of dwelling with the Lord, enjoying true Sabbath. For salvation, we need to follow the Lamb, carrying our own cross. However, we always keep company with the world. Without turning our back to the world, we cant walk on the way of salvation. Without risking our life, we cannot keep they way. Paul said, 'I die everyday.' We cannot keep anything on earth on our own. When we are thrown into the great winepress by our spouse, ready to be buried and die as a kernel of wheat, we can boldly say, 'Now, God wants me to enjoy the eternal rest from my labor, Hallelujah!' Be ready to die everyday. Thats the only way for us to say 'Hallelujah, Amen' when facing our actual death.
'Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' (Rev 14:15b)
