12This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 13Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them."The Harvest of the Earth
14I 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. 15Then 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." 16So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
Dig Deeper
During the last winter of the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington had a major problem. His men were suffering through yet another brutal winter with little to no provisions. They had nearly run out of food, their shelter was not sufficient, and to top it off, they were bored. To make matters far worse, they had not been paid in months as the new Continental Congress did not have the power to tax and was out of money. Understandably, talk of mutiny became to bubble up throughout the camp in New Jersey. Then a group of men actually rose up and began a mutiny. Washington dealt with that one patiently, capturing the leaders and bringing the followers back, but soon after another broke out. Washington’s patience had been tried enough and if he didn’t deal with things now it could be disastrous. If the army disintegrated, there would be no revolution. Washington had the leaders of this latest mutiny arrested and then in a shocking move, gathered up the best friends of the leaders and forced them to be the execution firing squad for the mutineers. This judgment seemed harsh but it was not only necessary and just, it had the effect of cementing the confidence of the loyal and brining back into the fold those that were on the fence.
In the middle of a passage in which John is describing the announcement and execution of the judgment upon rebellious Israel, he describes the appearance of the Messiah, seated and enthroned, ruling over affairs. The judgment that he has been describing now becomes more clear. It was not just a necessary and just judgment upon those who had rejected God and His Messiah, it was the means through which those loyal to the Messiah would be vindicated, encouraged, and strengthened. Thus, the judgment on Israel would not only accomplish God’s plan of righteous judgment but also was part of His plan of reconciliation with a world marred by sin.
14:12-13 - The patient endurance, hope and confidence on the part of the saints is in the justice and governance that God exercises over the earth. His judgment is a certainty that can be counted on. The saints can be confident that we do not need to fear or fret evildoers because they will wither like grass and the righteous will eventually inherit the earth (Ps. 37). James told the readers of his letter the same idea, that they should be patient because the Lord is the judge and he was standing at the door ready to judge (James 5:7-9). This hope and perseverance is tied together with obeying God’s commandments and remaining faithful to Jesus. There is no provision in the New Testament for a lawless Christian or a Christian not devoted to the content of the "faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jude 3). Christians will face opposition and persecution, but faithful obedience is a requirement of the patient endurance of the saints.
As an encouragement, John writes the next words of the voice from heaven, which says, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on . Before Christ, God’s people resided in Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:22). With the work of Christ, though, heaven has been opened. Abraham’s Bosom was unlocked and its inhabitants freed (1 Pet. 3:19; 4:6). Although Christ promised the thief next to Him on the Cross that he would be with Him in Paradise on that very day (Luke 23:43), he is no longer there and wasn’t there for very long. Christ has ascended on high and led the captives in his train (Eph. 4:8). Even though those in Paradise were God’s children, they could not be in God’s holy presence until their sins had been paid for once-and-for-all by the death of Christ on the Cross.
The early Christians understood that death had been conquered by the Resurrection of Christ. The early church father, Athanasius wrote: "All the disciples of Christ despise death; . . Instead of fearing it [they] trample on it as something dead. Before the divine sojourn of the Savior even the holiest of men were afraid of death. . . But now that the Savior has raised His body, death is no longer terrible, but all those who believe in Christ
tread it underfoot as nothing, and prefer to die rather than to deny their faith in Christ, knowing full well that when they die they do not perish, but live indeed, and become incorruptible through the resurrection."
14:14-16 - These verses serve as the centerpiece of the section from verses 6-20. Three angels have already been making proclamations to the land of Israel (v. 6-13). Three more are about to come to perform symbolic actions over the land (v. 15, 17-20), and in the middle is a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head. This is the now familiar glory cloud with which Christ was clothed in 10:1. Now it is white and not dark as it was on Sinai (Ex. 19:16-18; Zeph.
1:14-15). In referring to the cloud and the son of man, John is clearly connecting this passage to Daniel 7:13-14, his prophecy of the coming of the Messiah which follows his vision of the Beasts with seven heads and ten horns.
John’s point is that the Beasts can do their worst, but the son of man has already ascended in the clouds and received his eternal dominion over all peoples and nations. This is not a vision of some future event but of Christ’s original ascension in the clouds. The son of man also had a sharp sickle and began to reap, because the time to reap has come. The fourth angel repeats what the first angel had said, namely that the time had come. His emphasis, though, is on blessing, the gathering of the elect, not on judgment. The son of man swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. This is connected with Jesus’ words that he would send out His angels, His apostolic messengers, to gather in the elect (Matt. 24:30-31). As Christ had said, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few" (Luke 10:2). The image of the sickle is connected with the Pentecost, which was celebrated after the grain had been harvested (Deut. 16:9).
Devotional Thought
This passage tells us that those who are faithfully obedient will be part of the harvested gathered by God. What are you doing today because of that? Remember, you don’t have to do things so that you will part of the harvest, you do things for God because you are a part of the harvest. What can you do today to serve God?
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