HE first five verses of the 14th chapter of the Revelation describe the character and triumph of that company saved at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The threefold message which develops these characters follows. This message is divided into three parts, the first containing great positive truth, the second a sad lament, the third a mighty, solemn protest and warning. And once again is described the character of those who embrace the message: "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
Then follows our lesson of to-day. Let us note—
The Answer of the Text
[The answers to the questions are from the American Revised Version. Omitting questions, and disregarding sometimes the capital at the beginning and the period at the close of an answer, the text may be read continuously. In notes and comments both versions are used without designation.]
1. What voice did John hear from heaven?
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them. Rev. 14:13.
2. What vision was next shown the prophet?
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw One sitting like unto a Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. Verse 14.
3. What was said to Him on the cloud?
And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Verse 15.
4. What followed?
And He that sat on the cloud cast His sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped. Verse 16.
5. What did the prophet next see?
And another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. Verse 17.
6. What was said to the angel?
And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. Verse 18.
7. What was done with the harvest?
And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and cast it into the wine-press, the great wine-press, of the wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden without the city, and there came out blood from the wine-press, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs. Verses 19 and 20.
A Vision of Judgment
8. What was next shown to the prophet?
And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God. Rev. 15:1.
A Vision of Victories
9. What victorious company was shown John?
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God. Verse 2.
10. What song of triumph did they sing?
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the ages. Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy righteous acts have been made manifest. Verses 3 and 4.
Note and Comment
1. "BLESSED ARE THE DEAD."—We are frequently told by those who seem to be spiritual that the faith of the Christian ought to take hold of healing just as strongly as it takes hold of forgiveness of sins, justification, and regeneration, and that faith is wanting unless it does this. But a scripture like this lies strongly against such a view. The Lord here declares that even in the very last days, so filled with blessing, and yet so full of trial, those who die in the Lord are blessed. This blessing may seem to lie in their being saved from the awful perils through which the remnant church must pass. We read in Isaiah 57, concerning this very time: "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness." God saves aged and worn servants from additional trials. They have been tested and proved. Their works will follow after them. Being dead, they will yet speak, and yet will rest until the Lord shall come and call them.
2. "BEHOLD, A WHITE CLOUD."—John sees the culmination of the work to which the great threefold message pertained. "White" is indicative of purity. The "cloud" represents God's angels. When Jesus ascended to heaven, He was received by a great company of angels that had the appearance of a cloud; and when He comes again, He will come surrounded by hosts of angels, which will appear like a great cloud of glory. (See Acts 1:9-11; Rev. 1:7; and other passages.) "Like unto a Son of Man" is the One sitting upon the cloud. This is the term that is used in Rev. 1:13, where our Lord is described as ministering for His people as Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Such is the term that is used in John 5:27, where we are told that God has given Jesus "authority to execute judgment, because He is a Son of Man." He is coming on the cloud to consummate His work. He comes as King, and on His head is a golden crown. This carries us back to the promise and prophecy of Ps. 21:3, "Thou settest a crown of fine gold on His head."
He has in His hand a sickle, showing Him to be a reaper. The harvest is at hand. And this harvest also is according to promise, as we learn from Matthew 13. He is coming to reap the results of the great threefold message. God sends this message to the world to save the world. Those who utterly reject the message, will be as truly ripened by the message as those who accept it. The same sun that ripens the wheat, ripens the tares; that ripens the grain, ripens the weeds. Those who reject God's saving messages, are ripened in wickedness in a character unworthy of salvation, just as truly as those who accept it and walk in it are ripened for the heavenly garner. This passage does not represent a different message, as some have erroneously thought; it represents the result of the great threefold message already given.
3. ANOTHER ANGEL.—Another messenger from God, one who comes out from the temple where our Lord has finished His ministry. That ministry closed with the judgment, and that judgment demands that the harvest shall be gathered, that judgment shall be executed. Consequently the loud call to Him who sits upon the cloud, just as tho He were still lingering in mercy, to "send forth Thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." The great voice indicates that the time is at hand, that the action is urgent. This is said to Christ; it is the culmination of the appeals which have been made through all the centuries of the past, ever since sin entered, for the King to come to His own. It is the answer of the fourfold cry of the living creatures—"Come."
4. THE EARTH WAS REAPED.—"And He that sat on the cloud cast His sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped." It will be noted that there are two reapings. There are two different thoughts expressed in the reapings. We read of one reaping in Matt. 3:12: "He will gather His WHEAT into the garner." The reaping or the gathering of the righteous ones is represented by the gathering of the grain that can be stored up for the future. It is a reaping which pertains to eternity. The other reaping is that of the vineyard. The gathering of the vintage is the gathering of that which is temporary. Grapes do not keep; wheat does. Wheat can be preserved indefinitely; grapes soon perish. This gathering of the vintage is not of the good grapes, however; it is of those which are evil. But the reaping of the One who sat upon the cloud is the gathering of the wheat, the taking to Himself His own. "And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet" to the uttermost parts of the earth, and gather those who are His. Matt. 24:31. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. 13:43. This the parable of the wheat and the tares points out as the end of the age: "The harvest is the end of the world." Matt. 13:39.
5. ANOTHER ANGEL.—This angel comes out from the temple, or sanctuary (see margin), where our Lord has finished His ministry, where the judgment decisions have been rendered, when he that is filthy shall be filthy still, and he that is righteous shall be righteous still. Rev. 22:11. This angel has also a sharp sickle. He also is a reaper.
6. "ANOTHER ANGEL" from the altar comes forth, who has power over fire, and who calls to the angel with the sickle, saying, "Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe." Fire is indicative of judgment, for judgment in many cases is rendered with fire. He also comes from the altar. This carries us back to Rev. 6:9, where many of God's children are seen as slain underneath7the altar, the altar of sacrifice upon the earth. In chapter 8: 3 we have the angel represented as offering incense upon the altar, with the prayers of the saints, before the throne; and when that ministry is finished, the angel takes the censer, and fills it with the fire of the altar, and casts it upon the earth, and there follow thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake, the great judgments of God upon a world which has rejected Him and identified itself in sin and rebellion. This is the angel that has power over fire that comes forth from the altar. The prayers of God's children for deliverance through all the ages will be answered, and judgment will be rendered against those great systems of earth that have plotted and planned and set themselves against God's work in the earth.
There is another thought in connection with these two harvests. It would seem as tho our Lord reserves to Himself the privilege of gathering His own children. The yearning of heart expressed in His prayer in John 17, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am," is now to be realized, and He Himself is the reaper. But in the judgment which is to be executed against the wicked of earth, the commission is given to the angel who presided at the altar, and the angel executes the judgment of God.
There is another thought, also, expressed in the call both to Christ and to the angel. The great voice tells our Lord to cast in His sickle and reap, for the time has come to reap. It is the great voice, like the voice of the Gospel angels, a voice of strength and triumph. But it is not so said in the original concerning the angel who calls to the angel with the sickle. He CRIES. It would seem as tho all the cries for justice and deliverance through all the ages had culminated in that one great cry of the angel in this last judgment.
7. "THE ANGEL CAST HIS SICKLE INTO THE EARTH."—The cry of all the ages is to be answered. The vintage of the earth, the ripeness of wickedness, is to be reaped, cast into the wine-press, the great wine-press of the wrath of God. Sin is to be ended. Not always will it curse the earth, or God's universe; it is not God's design, however misinformed theologians have represented it, that His fair universe shall be blasted forever by the sight of sin and persistent rebellion against God. The sin will be ended; the fruit will be reaped, and the wrath of God will end in its utter destruction.
The scene that is presented in the 20th verse, of the blood from the wine-press even unto the bridles of the horses, is variously interpreted. It may relate to the great battle of Armageddon, which will take place around Jerusalem, where the nations which have drunk of the wrath of God will be gathered, according to Jeremiah. If the battle of Armageddon is to be fought in the valley of Jehoshaphat, as some scriptures seem to indicate, where the great judgment will take place, as foretold by Joel, it would not be an astonishing thing at all, if the blood would flow in streams equal to what is here stated. It is also thought by some to refer to its final fulfilment, to the great judgment day, which will include not only one generation, but all the generations of earth, when the wicked will be gathered and come up around the city of God, as outlined in Revelation 20. And there the judgment of God will be visited upon them. However it may be, whether applying to the battle of Armageddon, before Christ comes, or to the thousand years, or both, we may leave all that safely with God. The great and important thing to us is to be ready for that harvest.
The prophet Joel, looking forward to that time, saw the great multitudes of earth deciding concerning the messages which God is sending out to the world. Said he, "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision." Men are ranging themselves under one banner or under the other, yielding themselves to God and eternal truth, or yielding themselves to wickedness and eternal death. And when that time comes this also is true, that Joel declares in connection with the great battle which is to be fought: "Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the wine-press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great." Then God shall speak and the heavens and the earth shall shake. But in all the trial, the war, the battles, the calamities which shall be visited upon the earth, "Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel." See Joel 3: 9-16.
8. "SEVEN ANGELS HAVING SEVEN PLAGUES."—The wrath of God is mentioned in the message of the third angel, verses 9 to 11 of the 14th chapter. The wrath of God is mentioned in the verses that we have just passed over in our lesson. Now we are told in what that wrath of God will be completed. John has shown seven angels, indicating fulness, completion, "having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God"—"in them is filled up the wrath of God." That is, all the wrath which will be visited upon a wicked world is filled up in those plagues. When those plagues are poured out, the beginning of the culmination of the wrath of God is reached; and those plagues will continue their work until sin is utterly blotted from God's universe. Of this we will learn more in our next.
9. THEY THAT COME OFF VICTORIOUS.—John sees another vision. Again and again, in the midst of all these calamities, the strife, the wickedness, the persecution, God brings before His children the glorious triumph. He would not have them discouraged by any of the lessons which are given, by any of the calamities which are foretold, by the persecutions which are sure to come. He ever holds out before them the glorious triumph which awaits those who are faithful. In the beginning of the 14th chapter, the triumphant remnant church is represented by those who have no guile in their character, without fault before the throne, and who have the Father's name written on their foreheads. The character of God has been transmuted into theirs. The same company is shown in the 15th chapter, showing that they not only have this character, but they have been victorious over evil. They are not a holy company who have not been tried, they are a righteous company who have stood the test of the severest temptations which have come upon any generation the world has ever known. They have had against them the world-combined influence of the beast and his image. Before them has been placed peace and quiet and ease if they would but worship, or yield to the influence of, the beast power; but in their loyalty to God they have resisted this. They stand before the throne on that sea of glass mentioned in chapter 4, victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, having harps of God, showing that they are singing songs of triumph.
10. THEY SING A DOUBLE SONG: (1) The song of Moses, the servant of God. In Exodus, the 15th chapter, we have recorded the song of Moses. That song expressed deliverance from all earthly foes. The children of Israel were menaced by the strongest power on earth. God gave them glorious and complete deliverance from that power. The children of God in the last generation are menaced by all the powers of earth. God gives them glorious deliverance from all these persecuting, rebellious governments. They can truly sing the song of Moses, the servant of God. But the children of Israel who were saved from the power of Egypt were still slaves of sin, and the great mass of them died in the wilderness because of their bondage to sin. But this company sing not only the song of Moses, deliverance from Egyptian bondage, from the power of earthly enslavement, but they sing the song of the Lamb. Our Lord Jesus Christ won victory over sin—absolute and complete—and the song of the Lamb is the song of that victory over sin. Therefore this last generation are not only triumphant over all the powers of earth through the mercy of God, but are triumphant over all the power of sin. Therefore it is said in the 3d verse of the 14th chapter, that it is a "new song," which no man could learn save this company, because no other company have ever had the experience of this company. No other company have met the combined foes which this company have met, with all the world combined against them, and with all the power of evil combined to destroy their souls; and through God they have come off victorious from both. Therefore the new song.
There are some thoughts emphasized in this song: one, that God is worthy of all fear and reverence. "Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?" Note that these are the two points given in the first part of the great threefold message, "Fear God, and give glory to Him." This triumphant company have done this, and they have found Him worthy of all reverence, worthy of all honor, the only One who is holy.
Another point emphasized in that message is, "and WORSHIP Him that made the heaven and the earth." And so they sing, "All nations shall come and worship before Thee." Those who would not, have perished in their own corruption. Those who are saved, are those who count God worthy of all worship. They also declare that God is just. His righteous acts have been made manifest. The King of Ages has demonstrated that He is love. We read in Gen. 18: 25 the question of Abraham, the father of the faithful, in connection with God's judgment upon Sodom, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Men have ranged themselves on both sides of that question ever since. Some have declared that God is not just. In their blind ignorance they see only one side of God's dealings. Some in simple faith say, "I know that He doeth all things well." But after the storm is cleared, and God's judgments have been rendered, then it will be said, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of Ages."
Why may we not join in that song, with anticipation, now? And even tho we can not see all things clearly, God has given us enough evidence so that we may trust and be true.
