
CLOSING EVENTS: Revelation 14
CLOSING EVENTS: REVELATION 14
That is why they are saints. They refused to believe the lies of Satan, and instead, they obeyed the commandments of God. Because of that, “their deeds will follow them.” They have been judged righteous and worthy of eternal life because they have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, even unto death. Verse 13.
The international Sunday law will go into effect right around Passover. Seven months later Jesus will come at the “Feast of Trumpets” on the “day of Atonement”. That is when we truly become “at-one-ment” with Christ when He lifts us up off this planet to be with Him for eternity.
Verse 14 jumps from the three angels’ messages to the coming of Christ and the end of this world. John is giving us a quick overview of the outline to explain why Jesus is coming. The why of the three angels’ messages was so important. And why the saints kept the commandments of God.
The reason? To prepare us for earth’s final gathering of the saints. “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’ with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” Verse 14. Jesus is about to reap the saints off this world. But He can’t just yet. He is ready, but He is waiting for something.
In Matthew 24:36 we read, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus is waiting for the command from His Father before He puts in the sickle. All heaven is one obedient family. Only those who have learned to be obedient to His commands will get to heaven.
In verses 15 and 16 of Revelation 14 we read, “Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to Him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take Your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So He who was seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” Here we see that Jesus is obedient. He waits until He received word from His Father, who is still in Heaven. The Father does not come to this earth during this time. He stays in Heaven. Only Christ, Michael, the Archangel, the Leader of the angels, and His angels come.
Here we see the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecies. Let’s review them so we get a fuller understanding of this most important event. The reason there is so much confusion about this event is that very few people are willing to learn the truth.
Matthew 13:30, 40-42: “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.” “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 24:27, 30, 31: “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
This event will not be a quiet event as is taught by the churches of today in the “rapture”. This event will be worldwide and will be seen by everyone. As the text above suggests, it will be “visible” to all in the world. Not only that, but when Jesus comes, He doesn’t just come to redeem the righteous, He comes to destroy the wicked; they do not keep on living after Jesus has come. They are destroyed at His coming by the brightness of His glory. “For our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:29. As the prophecies above indicate, Jesus destroys the wicked when He comes.