Revelation of John 14:15
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Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest; for the crop of the earth is ripe.”
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Thrust in--Greek, "Send." The angel does not command the "Son of man" (Rev 14:14), but is the mere messenger announcing to the Son the will of God the Father, in whose hands are kept the times and the seasons. thy sickle--alluding to Mar 4:29, where also it is "sendeth the sickle." The Son sends His sickle-bearing angel to reap the righteous when fully ripe. harvest--the harvest crop. By the harvest-reaping the elect righteous are gathered out; by the vintage the Antichristian offenders are removed out of the earth, the scene of Christ's coming kingdom. The Son of man Himself, with a golden crown, is introduced in the harvest-gathering of the elect, a mere angel in the vintage (Rev 14:18-20). is ripe--literally, "is dried." Ripe for glory.
Open source ↗After an account of the great trials and sufferings which the servants of God had endured, we have now a more pleasant scene opening; the day begins now to dawn, and here we have represented, I. The Lord Jesus at the head of his faithful followers (Rev 14:1-5). II. Three angels sent successively to proclaim the fall of Babylon and the things antecedent and consequent to so great an event (Rev 14:6-13). III. The vision of the harvest (Rev 14:14, etc.).
Open source ↗14:15-18 The Temple and the altar represent God’s presence (see 9:13; 11:19; 16:7).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full; the wine vats overflow because their wickedness is great.
And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
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 into my barn.’”
Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe.”
hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “It is done!”
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests.