The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Last Days, #6

And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. (Revelation 14:17-20)

The harvest of the wicked is described above.

The reaping of the righteous and the wicked includes the defining of the two categories. One of the undesirable aspects of the present hour is that there is not a clear line of demarcation between righteousness and wickedness. In order for the way of the Lord to be made straight, a line of separation must be drawn between righteousness and wickedness. We need to know who and what are righteous and who and what are wicked. The Lord will show us plainly in that Day.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41,42)

The righteous are those who keep the commandments of Jesus. The unrighteous are those who do not keep the commandments of Jesus.

The burning sun of the great tribulation will result in the maturing of righteousness and the maturing of lawlessness. The environment of the earth will become such that the righteous will be forced to be clearly righteous and the wicked will be forced to be clearly wicked.

Let us remind the reader that the several judgments of the Book of Revelation are not sequential in time. It is not that after the seals come the trumpets, and after the trumpets comes the reaping, and after the reaping come the bowls of wrath, and after the bowls of wrath comes the judgment on Babylon. Such a chronological interpretation causes endless confusion and contradictions.

Rather, the Lord is pointing out that the end of the age is a time of harvest. The Lord will reward each individual according to his works. Those who do not worship the Beast or his image will be raised in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6). Those who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb will be brought up to the throne of God where they will serve Him day and night in His temple.

The wicked will be gathered by the angel who has power over fire and will be cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Antichrist will put the righteous to death, sending them up to love, joy, and peace around the throne of God. Satan and wicked people, although they do not intend to do so, always send those who love God to places of peace and joy. But the Lord will slay the wicked until their blood flows as from the winepress—and this is just the beginning of their torment.

So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:49,50).

To be continued.