The Future According to GodSample

REVELATION 14: Are You Ready?

In Revelation 14, we will read about the Lamb and the harvest on earth. There will be a last harvest. The question is, are you ready? Are you ready if your personal harvest is today? Please read or listen to Revelation 14.

COMMENTS

In 1995, after reading Revelation 14, I wrote in my personal Bible reading journal, “Harpists play their harps. I want to learn to play a harp someday.” Then I wrote, “144,000 blameless, no lies.” I continued to write, “Angels, angels, angels everywhere carrying out the desire of God. I need to learn more about angels. He, like the Son of Man, comes on a cloud to reap his final harvest.” In my prayer time after reading Revelation 14, I wrote, “For understanding of what I’m reading and for acceptance by faith.”

In 2008, I wrote, “The mark of the beast or the mark of His name and the name of His Father?” I was questioning verse 1. I continued, “144,000 purchased from the earth by Jesus, spiritually pure during persecution and tribulation, referring to Revelation 14:3-5 NASB." I added, "Another angel preaches the gospel to every nation and tribe, tongue and people one last time. God continually reaches out to people. He will also judge evil, according to Revelation 14:9-11 NASB. God orders the final harvest.”

In 2013, I was traveling. I was on my way to Mobile, Alabama, and I did not take my normal Bible, but did read Revelation 14, and wrote, “Without footnotes. I don't think I understand some of this, like, who are these 144,000?" I continued to write, “Jesus harvests the earth. Souls are saved. Is this the last harvest? God give me understanding.”

There is no question that these chapters in Revelation are difficult to understand. I look at my footnotes. I also look to my church. I depend on the teachings of pastors to understand these things. But I also read the Word of God myself to try to discern what the Holy Spirit would have me learn from these chapters.

DIGGING DEEPER

As we look at Revelation 14, let’s start with the first verse, “Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (Rev 14:1 ESV).These 144,000: “have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless” (Rev 14:4-5 ESV). That makes them pretty special people. I refer to my footnote in my English Standard Version Study Bible about the 144,000: "Most dispensationalists see these 144,000 as the same group mentioned in Revelation 7:4 ESV: Jewish believers who have trusted in Christ as their Messiah during the great tribulation” (ESV Study Bible, Crossway Bibles 2008, 2482).

Next, we see another angel giving people one last chance to be saved, “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people . . . ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth’” (Rev 14:6-7 ESV). Oh, the mercy of God, the love of God, the grace of God, that even before the last harvest, He gives people one more chance to come to faith in Him.

But those who do not, those who will not, hear from the third angel, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath” (Rev 14:9-10 ESV). It is their choice, and it is our choice to worship the one true God who made heaven and earth or worship something else and suffer the wrath of God. Revelation 14:12-13 ESV say:

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

I hope we are among those who keep the commandments of God and have faith in Jesus.

Then, the moment most of us wait for, we long for, the second coming of Jesus Christ. Look at Revelation 14:14 ESV, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand” (Rev 14:14 ESV). It is time for the final harvest. “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe” (Rev 14:15 ESV). The moment we wait for, the second coming of Jesus, the final harvest, the end of days, is coming. Are we ready? Are you personally ready?

If today you looked up, saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man, would you be ready? Whether it is the end of days or it is the end of your days or my days, the question still is, am I personally ready to meet Jesus? We said all along in Revelation, it is our choice. Are we those who keep His commandments and have faith in Jesus, or are we those who will suffer the wrath of God? Make yourself ready today.

PRAYER

Father, we do not know when our going up day is coming. It may be the last days on earth, and it may be today, our last day on earth. The warning we get from Revelation is, are we ready? As we read through this last book of the Bible, Lord, cause all of our hearts to be ready to meet You face-to-face. For those of us who are ready, we look forward to the day. For those of us who are not ready, cause us to fall on our faces before You, repent of our sins, and claim You as Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Write our names in the Lamb’s book of life. Make us ready, Lord, and open Your arms to welcome us. In Jesus’ name, amen.