Revelation 14:15-16

Revelation 14:15-16. The fourth angel of the chapter now appears, and cries with a great voice to him that sat upon the cloud that the hour is come to reap. The message is from God, for the Son knows not the hour Himself (Mark 13:32; comp. Acts 1:7), and no sooner is the message heard than the Divine will is recognised and obeyed: the earth was reaped. The angel it will be observed performs no part of the act of reaping. That act is performed wholly by Him that ‘sat on the cloud.' At Revelation 14:19 it will be different. The question is interesting and important, Whether we are to understand by this harvest the ingathering of the righteous alone (thus separating it by a broad line of distinction from the vintage which immediately follows) or a general reaping of the wicked as well as of the good. The analogy of Scripture as well as the mode in which the passage before us is conceived point distinctly to the former view. The good are alone the true ‘harvest,' the wheat gathered into the garner. At John 14:3 Jesus comes for His own, while at Matthew 13:41 the angels gather in the wicked to their fate.