Chapter 14 lets us know what the criteria is for being one of the children of God. “These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure.” Verse 4.
The saints are those who have not participated in the pagan festivals of Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Sunday worship. They did not participate in putting their money into big churches and costly church seats and programs. They did not take part in the doctrines of the false church which are against the teachings of Jesus. Those teachings that teach us to be perfect, stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to have (get) eternal life. That is why they are pure. They have not believed the lie that we are “saved by grace”.
“No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.” Verse 5. No lie? That is correct. No lie was found in their mouths. Why? Because they refused to believe the lie that they were saved eternally by grace. They refused to believe the lie that they could not be perfect. They refused to believe the lie that they could not stop sinning. They refused to believe all the lies that are being taught by all the churches of the world today. That is why only 144,000 will be translated off the face of the earth without experiencing death at the end of time. They are the only ones who will be alive after the close of probation who will be going to heaven. All other “Christians” will be destroyed. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” Verse 12.
That is why they are saints. They refused to believe the lies of Satan, and instead, they obeyed the commandments of God. Because of that, “their deeds will follow them.” They have been judged righteous and worthy of eternal life because they have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, even unto death. Verse 13.
The international Sunday law will go into effect right around Passover. Seven months later Jesus will come at the “Feast of Trumpets” on the “day of Atonement”. That is when we truly become “at-one-ment” with Christ when He lifts us up off this planet to be with Him for eternity.
Verse 14 jumps from the three angels’ messages to the coming of Christ and the end of this world. John is giving us a quick overview of the outline to explain why Jesus is coming. The why of the three angels’ messages was so important. And why the saints kept the commandments of God.
The reason? To prepare us for earth’s final gathering of the saints. “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’ with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” Verse 14. Jesus is about to reap the saints off this world. But He can’t just yet. He is ready, but He is waiting for something.
In Matthew 24:36 we read, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus is waiting for the command from His Father before He puts in the sickle. All heaven is one obedient family. Only those who have learned to be obedient to His commands will get to heaven.
In verses 15 and 16 of Revelation 14 we read, “Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to Him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take Your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So He who was seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” Here we see that Jesus is obedient. He waits until He received word from His Father, who is still in Heaven. The Father does not come to this earth during this time. He stays in Heaven. Only Christ, Michael, the Archangel, the Leader of the angels, and His angels come.
Here we see the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecies. Let’s review them so we get a fuller understanding of this most important event. The reason there is so much confusion about this event is that very few people are willing to learn the truth.
Matthew 25:31, 32: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
Matthew 13:30, 40-42: “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 16:27: “For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”
Matthew 24:27, 30, 31: “For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
This event will not be a quiet event as taught by the churches of today in the “rapture”. This event will be worldwide and will be seen by everyone. The texts above suggests it will be “visible” to all in the world. Not only that, but when Jesus comes He doesn’t just come to redeem the righteous, He comes to destroy the wicked; they do not keep on living after Jesus has come. They are destroyed at His coming by the brightness of His glory. “For our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:29. As the prophecies above indicate, Jesus destroys the wicked when He comes.
Now back to Revelation, starting with the 17th verse. “Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.’ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.”
As you can see, the prophecies, and the actual account as seen by John, both agree with each other. When Jesus comes He will personally reap the righteous. The wicked will be reaped by the angels to be trampled on and destroyed.
The earth will be left desolate for 1000 years. The only inhabitants who will be alive on it will be the devil and his angels. They will be bound and chained to this planet. Revelation 20:1, 2. They will have to look at the effects of their rebellion against God. They will have to experience the waste and destruction that their sin and rebellion have brought upon themselves and the world.
John has seen the outline. But now he will be shown the substance. From the outline of the end of time, Jesus shows him the meat, the fullness of it. He shows John the details of what will happen between the three angels’ message and His second coming. However, we are going to bring the Bible up to date by going back to Daniel and continue with chapter 11. It will bring us to where we are in Revelation.