FINAL HARVEST AT THE THRESHING FLOOR
And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” And He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth; and the earth was reaped.
(Rev 14:15-16 NASB)
Messiah called His disciples to lift up their eyes and to look at the fields, for the harvest was ripe. The field of harvest on which they were to sow the Word of God would produce “fruit for life eternal” for those who would reap, (John 4:35-38). The apostle Paul confirmed this principle in his epistle to the church in Corinth, indicating that some will plant, others will water, and that God would bring to fruition a harvest for the Kingdom, (1 Cor 3:6-9). It is clear from these passages that the harvest refers to the souls of those who receive the implanted Word of God.
Jesus elaborated on this principle in His parable of the harvest at the end of the age. In His parable on the sower, Messiah compared the Kingdom of God to a field on which a man sowed good seed. In the continual act of sowing, it became evident that tares also arose, and His disciples wanted to immediately clear the field; yet, He prohibited them. The tares would grow together until “the time of the harvest,” for only then will He allow the reapers to “separate the wheat from the chaff,” (Mat 13:24-30). Interpreting the parable, Messiah indicates clearly that “the harvest is the end of the age,” and that a clear separation will come to pass as He separates the wheat from the chaff on the threshing floor, (Mat 13:36-43). [See also Mal 3:16-18 & Mal 4:1-3.]
A very vivid picture of this Final Harvest at the Threshing Floor is depicted in Revelation 14. There are two reapers in this passage. The first is One like the Son of Man who will reap a symbolic 144,000 who will be purchased from the earth (every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues), as first fruits to God, (Rev 14:14-16; Rev 14:1-5). These are the ones who will not “worship the beast and his image,” and who will not “receive the mark on their foreheads or upon their hands,” for they will persevere and “keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” They are blessed because they will “die in the Lord,” (Rev 14:9-13). This harvest of souls is sealed on their foreheads with the name of the Father and the Son. [See also Rev 7:1-3 & Rev 7:9-17.]
The second reaper of the harvest at the threshing floor is an angel who will “put in a sharp sickle to gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe,” for these clusters of grapes will be gathered into the winepress of God’s great wrath, (Rev 14:18-20). A vivid picture of gathering the grapes into the wine press was foreshadowed by the prophet Isaiah in order to accomplish the wrath of God. The prophet wonders to whom the red garments belong and Messiah responds, ‘I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the
We thus witness a very clear distinction emerging on “the threshing floor” as the wheat (righteous) is separated from the chaff (unrighteous) through two distinct marks of “ownership.” Those who are sealed by the blood of Messiah will have the name of Jesus Christ and the Father on their foreheads (Rev 14:1), while those who are sealed by the Beast (Antichrist), will have received his mark on their foreheads or upon their hands, (Rev 14:9-10). The season of the Final Harvest at the Threshing Floor will thus transpire during the time known as the Great Tribulation. Those who will persevere by keeping the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus will have the privilege to lay down their lives for the Lord (Rev 14:13), and will complete the number of martyrs (witnesses) who will be gathered before the throne and under the altar of God, (Rev 6:9-11). [See also Rev 7:9-17 & Rev 13:15-17.]
We conclude from the Scriptures that the prophets foresee a very distinct separation between those who belong to the Kingdom of God and those who will belong the Kingdom of Antichrist during the fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel’s Last Week. Almighty God will “seal” the righteous with the blood of Messiah and “mark” them with His name and the name of His Son, and thus complete the full number of His Household. Yet, those who receive the “mark” of the Beast (Antichrist) will be sealed and gathered into the winepress of God’s wrath – the destruction of ungodly men by fire, (2 Peter 3:5-7).
