Revelation Chapter 14
VERSE 13-14 continued “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, [but] their works follow [with] them.” Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.”
THE LORD OF THE HARVEST
“Here with Verse 14, we begin the Harvest once more — from a new vantage point.
A cloud is trouble, but this cloud is white thus righteous trouble. It is righteous because it is the Lord’s wrath undoing the unrighteousness of the age. Jesus has returned; and as is the tendency of Revelation, he is not called Jesus, but the Son of Man. It is interesting to note that he SITS on the cloud. Sit is a symbol for control. This is not random trouble; this is CONTROLLED TROUBLE. No matter how severe the time of trouble may become, we may rest assured by this verse that it never will be out of control.
On his head is a golden crown — Divine authority. In his hand a sharp sickle — the device for harvesting. This verse shows so clearly that when the king returns it is not for the peaceable kingdom immediately; it is to control the trouble which will destroy Babylon, and to harvest the wheat.”
“Evidently, the setting of this prophecy and its fulfillment are pictured as taking place during the Second Advent, when the Master Reaper himself (the Lord of the Harvest) — with an attendant white cloud of blessing, mercy, and truth—superintends the harvest work foretold to occur at the end of the age (Matt. 13:39).
In no sense does the period of time in which this prophecy is located apply to the Jewish harvest at the beginning of the age; rather, it lies within the Gospel Age harvest at the close of the age, at which time a twofold harvest is indicated in the vision; i.e., “the harvest of [the wheat of] the earth” (Verse 15) and the harvest of “the vine of the earth [Christendom]” (Verses 18 and 19), both of which are closely related in time sequence and are pictured as the harvest of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24–30, 37–43) at the end of the age.
The “golden crown” on the Son of Man’s head corroborates the time period as the Second Advent, namely, the return of earth’s appointed King. Christ has ever reigned over his true followers since Pentecost (Psa. 2:6,7; Acts 13:33). Therefore, the Son of man’s reign over his true Church is not symbolized here but, rather, harvest activity. Nor does the context indicate Christ’s reign over the world.
The expression “which die . . . from henceforth” (Verse 13) bears investigation.
Attention is called to the fact that this blessing accrues to the dead not AT such a date but from a particular point on the stream of time forward. As John heard a “voice from heaven” explain to him the meaning of the things which were about to transpire, so the Holy Spirit there testified, and caused John to bare record, that a message from God would descend upon His people during the harvest, informing them of the arrival of this date and the significance of events as they pertain to the experience of the Christian dead thereafter.
This “voice from heaven” is similar to the message which enjoins God’s people to come out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4); as a sharp sickle, the voice or message constitutes the separating influence designed to induce God’s children to disassociate themselves from nominal Christendom and its ways. First preached in A.D. 1878, it was peculiarly associated with the work and ministry of Charles Russell, whose expositions of Scripture pertinent to the very subject under consideration have since gone forth, and there is no reason to doubt their authenticity.
The Apostle clearly states that during the sounding of the seventh or last trump, the faithful saints who die will no longer sleep in death but will experience an instantaneous change from death to life conditions. Hear his words:
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump[et]: for the trumpet [message] shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51–53).
Note: Excerpts for this study are taken from Brother Shallieu's work, "The Keys of Revelation" and from the "New Albany Notes on Revelation" as well as other Bible Student resources pertinent to this study.
Continued with next post.
