October 30: GATHERING FOR HARVEST CONTINUES…
Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. Revelation 14:17
Like the previous angel, this angel also emerges from the Most Holy Place of the heavenly temple (naos, in Greek). He is poised for another kind of reaping, in accordance with the explicit directions of the Righteous Judge. While the idea of judgment has a very positive connotation for the downtrodden saints that Daniel was shown—the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:22)—we are about to be shown a different side of the coming judgment. It must be noted that the standard of judgment is the very same for both sides. In the simplicity of His unchanging standard, as laid out in the Ten Commandments, God has revealed His love and His desire for the happiness and joy of all. It is the glory of God to preempt every conceivable problem with His perfect law. Every possible sin is addressed simply and completely.
Because all people in our world have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), the Savior demonstrated to the world the unchanging nature of the Standard of Judgment by taking upon Himself the full penalty of His broken law. This is unfathomable love! And then, the glory of God is revealed in repentant sinners who recognize the beauty and peace that His law supports; He makes of them a dwelling place for Himself (for you are the temple of God! 1 Corinthians 3:16) and by His Spirit, empowers them to honor His law. The glory of God becomes the joy of man. Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble (Psalm 119:165).
Remember that Jesus spoke of the remarkable similarity between the wheat and the tares as they are growing (Matthew 13:29). This is due to the fact that those who are deceived by Satan become effective deceivers themselves. However, by the time of the harvest, the characters of both the righteous and the wicked will have fully ripened (see v.30). Only the Lord can peer into the heart, but the attitudes and actions of both the righteous and the wicked will be clearly made manifest in the end. The Lord’s servants, the angels whose job it will be to gather the wicked, will be able to see the fully ripened character of everyone still alive.
Like the sickle in the hand of Christ, the angel’s sickle is also sharp, symbolizing that the coming judgment is both thorough and flawlessly accurate. Both groups at the end of time are judged by the same Judge using the same criteria. But that is where the similarities end. Jesus spoke of false prophets who would rise up and deceive many (see Matthew 24:11). They will preach eloquently that the law of God has been done away with. This deception is very popular today, and one of its “side effects” is love that grows cold (v.12). Those who buy into it will inadvertently advocate the trampling of God’s law. Have no doubt about this: accepting even one error instigated by Satan leads to many more. Jesus said: “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 13:41).
He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4
For further study: Deuteronomy 5:29; Matthew 19:17; John 14:15,21; 15:10,14; 1 Corinthians 7:19; 1 John 2:3; 3:22,24; 5:2-3; Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:14