We pick up our study in Revelation 14:14. This is a picture of the Second Coming of Christ. The fuller picture will be found in Revelation 19, but we get a prelude to what is going to happen here in Revelation 14.
In Revelation 14:14 we have this, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” That little verse covers a lot of material. First, “I looked and behold a white cloud.” This is a picture going back to Daniel 7 for those that knew the Old Testament, and many of the readers of the original group that read this did. There we have a great scene of the Father and the Son, and the same phrase, One like the Son of Man. The term Son of Man originates also in this context back to Daniel 7. It is a picture of the Messiah. It is a title for the Messiah. When Jesus was on earth, He often called himself the Son of Man, going right back to Daniel 7. As a matter of fact, He got Himself in trouble on the final time with the Pharisees and Sadducees that sent Him to the cross when He determined before them that He was the Son of Man. They knew exactly what He was talking about because they knew Daniel 7. It was a depiction of the Messiah who was to come, and they knew that. We now have a picture of the Son of Man taking us right back to Daniel 7. Then it says, “having a golden crown on His head,” that would be a picture of His rulership and reigning over the earth. At the Second Coming of Christ, He assumes the reign that has always been His over the whole planet and universe, and He will have a crown to show us that. Then it says, “a sharp sickle in His hand.” One more piece of information here. This sickle would be a sign of judgment. This is going to be part of the means by which judgment comes upon those who have rejected Christ and followed the antichrist. That entry verse says a great deal about what is going to happen next.
In Revelation 14:15 we have another angel. We have had four angels now going back to Revelation 14:6 who have stepped up and said something. Now we have another one. “And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud.” So, here is an angel proclaiming something. What is he going to proclaim? He says, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” What he is saying here is that it is time for judgment. It is time for the Son of Man, Christ Himself, to bring judgment upon the earth. So, he calls for that and he says, “the harvest of the earth is ripe.” This is interesting because not only is the harvest ripe, but the original Greek word means “dry.” It would be like fruit, like a raspberry that has gone beyond ripeness all the way to beginning to dry up. In other words, the time for judgment has come and it is even past time. The Lord has tarried in patience and longsuffering with those who have rejected Him, even beyond what He ever should have done in some ways. That is what the angel is saying. It’s ripe, it’s ready to go, it’s time for the harvest . . .
