The second half of Revelation 14 is about the fulfillment of
God’s purposes on the earth, represented by two harvests. Just as pregnancy
represents the passage of time until God’s purposes are birthed, so a harvest
represents the passage of time until God’s purposes have accomplished what they
were intended to do.
God often speaks of the beginning of His purposes as being a seed. Jesus tells us in the parable of the sower and the seed that the seed is God’s Word (Lk 8:11). The seed goes through a process of being watered, receiving sun shine, and being nurtured in the soil of our hearts to produce a final harvest. The yield of the seed is more seed that can be planted for the next season, and “bread” or food for the present season (Is 55:10-11). God has put the message of salvation in the earth like a seed sown in the hearts of men and is looking for the yield of His efforts.
The passage of time from when God sows His seed until the harvest takes place represents individual lives in which seed is growing. There is a maturing process for the seed. Jesus said that first a stalk appears, then the head, and then the kernel in the head (Mk 4:28-29). Individually, believers mature at different rates and have differing yields in their “head”. We learn in the book of Hebrews that the Lord disciplines us so that we will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace (Heb 12:11). God’s purpose in sending His word to us is that we become righteous, and filled with peace. Part of the nurturing which produce growth is His discipline.
God plants His word in us and then it is we who allow it to mature. We sow into our own lives thoughts, words, and deeds that will either yield a harvest of righteousness or a harvest of destruction (Gal 6:8-9). It takes patience to know what sort of harvest each man will be, and so the Lord waits patiently over His harvest (Jms 5:7). He sends the sun and rain so that His word has every chance to grow inside the hearts and minds of men. And yet, there is an appointed time to reap the harvest.
Jesus told a parable about a man who sowed good seed in his field (Mt 13:24-30). “While everyone was sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” When the servants wanted to pull up the weeds the master told them no, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned: then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” Jesus explained to His disciples that “The One who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the Kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.” (Mt 13:37-39). This parable gives us a clear picture of the two harvests and who plants each kind of seed. Both harvests take place at the time in which the collective righteousness and wickedness of men have come to full maturity.
The first harvest is the harvest of righteousness. God will have a people from all that He has sown in the earth. The second harvest is the harvest of those who are appointed to God’s wrath. He has held back His wrath until the time of the appointed end in order to give the seed time to mature. The lives of the wicked will be destroyed “outside the city”, indicating that its inhabitants are left out of the judgment of His wrath.
God often speaks of the beginning of His purposes as being a seed. Jesus tells us in the parable of the sower and the seed that the seed is God’s Word (Lk 8:11). The seed goes through a process of being watered, receiving sun shine, and being nurtured in the soil of our hearts to produce a final harvest. The yield of the seed is more seed that can be planted for the next season, and “bread” or food for the present season (Is 55:10-11). God has put the message of salvation in the earth like a seed sown in the hearts of men and is looking for the yield of His efforts.
The passage of time from when God sows His seed until the harvest takes place represents individual lives in which seed is growing. There is a maturing process for the seed. Jesus said that first a stalk appears, then the head, and then the kernel in the head (Mk 4:28-29). Individually, believers mature at different rates and have differing yields in their “head”. We learn in the book of Hebrews that the Lord disciplines us so that we will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace (Heb 12:11). God’s purpose in sending His word to us is that we become righteous, and filled with peace. Part of the nurturing which produce growth is His discipline.
God plants His word in us and then it is we who allow it to mature. We sow into our own lives thoughts, words, and deeds that will either yield a harvest of righteousness or a harvest of destruction (Gal 6:8-9). It takes patience to know what sort of harvest each man will be, and so the Lord waits patiently over His harvest (Jms 5:7). He sends the sun and rain so that His word has every chance to grow inside the hearts and minds of men. And yet, there is an appointed time to reap the harvest.
Jesus told a parable about a man who sowed good seed in his field (Mt 13:24-30). “While everyone was sleeping his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.” When the servants wanted to pull up the weeds the master told them no, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned: then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” Jesus explained to His disciples that “The One who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the Kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.” (Mt 13:37-39). This parable gives us a clear picture of the two harvests and who plants each kind of seed. Both harvests take place at the time in which the collective righteousness and wickedness of men have come to full maturity.
The first harvest is the harvest of righteousness. God will have a people from all that He has sown in the earth. The second harvest is the harvest of those who are appointed to God’s wrath. He has held back His wrath until the time of the appointed end in order to give the seed time to mature. The lives of the wicked will be destroyed “outside the city”, indicating that its inhabitants are left out of the judgment of His wrath.
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