“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.“ (Revelation 14:15). The angel that came out of the Temple in Heaven commanded the angel, sitting on the cloud, in the previous verse, to carry out his orders. Once again we read the Greek word (ἄλλος), pronounced “al-los,” meaning “different.” This angel was “different from the other one, the one that resembled the Son of man in the previous verse, which still does not help us to positively identify the previous one as an angel, or as Jesus. However, this strongly suggests that it is indeed an angel because angels certainly would not be giving orders to Jesus. The harvest is ripe!. The word ripe is (εξηρανθη), from (ξηραίνω), pronounced “xay-rahee-no,” meaning to desiccate; by implication to shrivel, to mature, dry up, pine away, be ripe, wither away. This tells us that the harvest was actually rotten. The people were corrupt, spoiled, diseased, and worthless. To harvest such a crop would be for the purpose of removing it from the field, to be burned, so that it will not infect other plants. Man has had his chance to subdue the earth and to serve the Lord but man’s history has been one of failure. The Lord will not allow it to continue on any further. God gave man every opportunity to do right and to serve Him but in every dispensation man has failed. Mankind has polluted this world through greed and through misuse; especially in the last hundred years. God gave us ample natural resources, and the skills to use them properly, but through greed and misuse a few have take the natural wealth, and then they have cast off their fellow countrymen, and today, in many places, their people live in horrible slums. We see this in many nations today where oil, diamonds, gold, and other minerals are mined in abundance but the people are starving, infected with many diseases, and depart this life by the thousands while the leaders build beautiful mansions, in various places, and build huge armies to protect themselves. In the first four chapters of the Book of Genesis we read of how God created all that there is and how He put man in charge of His creation, to name the animals, and to properly care for His handiwork. The commands that God gives to man are imperatives but man “cannot” do the good, which he is commanded to do. Man fails miserably, time after time. Man’s “will” is bent only towards sin and mankind “cannot” do right in his natural condition. That is why we need Jesus. Jesus did not fail. God knows our need and He supplies, yet many “will not” come to Jesus that they may have eternal life. Read John 5:40. Only those whom God has effectually called will come, and that only by God’s grace, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we get to Heaven not one person will be able to boast of how he somehow did something to earn his way to Heaven. Salvation is totally by grace, through faith, and God gives us that faith to believe. God removes our stubborn will and makes us willing in that day of salvation. Salvation is all of the Lord, from beginning to end.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 11:52:48 +0000
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