Skip to main content

Revelation 14:14-17 Reaping the earth - Day 357

Good afternoon faithful readers,

Writing this the morning after "rains of biblical proportions" from Ida last night  (Originally 9/2/21).  Of course, these rains were a drop in the bucket to Noah's day.  But they do make man look very small and helpless.  For those who believe in scientism, this must be very depressing.  The natural world has very little concern for man.  Thanks be to God who knows the hairs on our head.

Blessings,

Jeff

 Between the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls.

From ESV study Bible notes:

Harvests of Earth and Vine. Two reapers appear in heaven, sharp sickles in hand. Angels emerge from the temple with God's directive, “Put in your sickle, and reap.” First “one like a son of man” gathers the grain of the earth, then an angel gathers grapes from the earth's vine, to be crushed in the “winepress of the wrath of God.” Although both harvests could signify either God's judgment on the wicked or Christ's gathering of his saints, probably the grain harvest shows the Son of Man's gathering of believers (cf. Matt. 13:30) and the grape harvest envisions the bloody destruction of the wicked. Cf. the Lord's gathering of nations in the valley of judgment because the harvest is ready for reaping (Joel 3:12–13).

Like we did with our previous devotion from Rev 6, let us look at this note and see if it makes sense.

1.  There are two different harvests.  One by the "one seated on the cloud like a son of man with a golden crown" Since he is not called and angel, certainly makes sense that this would be Jesus. It does seem odd that another angel would tell Jesus that "the hour to reap has come".  Why wouldn't He know this?  Or why wouldn't the Father tell the Son directly?  It is important to keep Christology straight.  After the incarnation, the two natures in one person does not end.  Christ remains fully God and fully man after the ascension.  His glorified body still has the wounds from the cross.  The two natures are not mixed or shared.  His human nature still isn't omniscient.  All this to say that his human nature would not know when the hour had  come.  The grain harvest imagery symbolizing the righteous seems to fit with the parables of wheat and tares.

The other harvest is by another angel who is given direction by still another angel.  The harvest is "grapes of wrath".  The imagery of blood and crushing fits with judgment of the wicked. 

While there are two harvests, they seem to be essentially coincident.  Trying to make the first "a secret return" seems to be a stretch.

So I would say that the ESV note is certainly supported by the passage.  Other interpretations may also be supported, but we can make sense of the ESV note.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Chronicles 33:7-9 Thoughts on Davidic covenant - Day 362

Good morning faithful readers, The finish line is in sight!!!  One of the themes of scripture is that God is a covenant keeping God.  There are many between God and man. Adam, Noah, David are examples.  Covenants are more than promises.  They are made between a superior and inferior with conditions for each side and blessing and penalties based on keeping the conditions.  These are covenants of works which fallen man was unable to keep.  Thanks be to God that the Father made a covenant of grace with Christ, the second Adam, which he fully kept. Blessings, Jeff The promise in v8 was made to David when he had planned to build the temple and God promised to build him a house forever. (2 Sam 7:10).  Seems like there are only two possibilities about Manasseh's disobedience.  Either he knew of this covenant that God had made with his 13th great grandfather and chose to disregard it, or he didn't know of it and was unaware of the penalty.  Let's con...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 30:16-20 Hearts set to seek the Lord - Day 359

Good morning fellow members of the household of God, After writing the devotional, I am thinking about the Passover as a household event.  In ancient Israel, the physical household of man was covered by the blood of the lamb.  Now, it is the spiritual household of God that is covered by the blood of the Lamb. Blessings, Jeff The account of the greatest celebration of Passover since time of Solomon (v 26).   Observations: One of the things that made this one great is participation of some of the tribes from the northern kingdom.  Israel was a united kingdom and Solomon and now toward the end of the northern kingdom, there is at least a semblance of being united. God allows some exemptions: Who offers the sacrifice:  The original Passover was a family by family sacrifice of a lamb.  However in  Deuteronomy 16:5-6 this changed to a centralized location once they entered the promised land.  (You may not offer the Passover sacrifice within any of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more